by apdk When I was a kid! Children often get restless while on winter break. Parents often find themselves at wits end trying to keep them entertained. Being one out of 10 children my mom always put us to work. We lived in an old farmhouse and every winter break she had us paint the inside of ... [Read more]
Family & Relationships
by apdk
When I was a kid!
Children often get restless while on winter break. Parents often find themselves at wits end trying to keep them entertained. Being one out of 10 children my mom always put us to work.
We lived in an old farmhouse and every winter break she had us paint the inside of the home including all of the woodwork. I remember listening to Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash as we slapped our paint on the walls. Looking back she didn't really care how good our job was done, just that we finished it.
When we were finished we were then sent to the city to help my Aunt Helen clean and paint her large apartment complex. At the end of vacation we had the feeling of accomplishment and my mom and Aunt Helen were thrilled!
My payoff: My husband and I continue to do all of our own painting. Two summers ago we painted my granddaughter Mackenzie's bedroom orange and grandson AJ's room gray with a dark blue "English D" on the wall for the Detroit Tigers. We allowed them to "slap" on paint with us just as my mom did many years ago. For them the moments were magical, the finished project delightful.
I do encourage all parents to give their children chores and special projects to do during their vacation time. Not only will it save you time, it will give them an opportunity to do good and honorable work.
Spend time helping if you can and praise, praise, praise. You need 5 compliments for each criticism!
However the following tips are mostly fun. It is called a "break" after all. Inviting friends and neighbors to join you will double the fun!
- Make popcorn and watch a movie.
- Make play dough.
- Sign up for a walk or run for a cause.
- Write letters to soilders.
- Go to the library and take out books, rent books on tape and movies.
- Take a trip to the museum.
- Have coloring contests.
- Plan a picnic indoors.
- Have breakfrast food for dinner.
- Hold cooking classes in your own kitchen, invite friends.
- Go biking or sledding.
- Share favorite birthday and vacation stories.
- Walk the beach or hike in the evening.
- Paint bedrooms.
- Learn magic tricks together and put on a show.
- Rent dance videos and hold a dance contest.
- Have a photo taking contest. Share cameras.
- Create books using pictures from magazines.
- Visit nursing homes, bring musical instruments and put on a show.
- Volunteer at a soup kitchen.
- Make cupcakes and have a decorating party.
- Make your own bananna splits with all kinds of toppings and sprinkles.
- Make smoothies.
- Create awards at awardwinner.com
- Download free e-books.
- Play online games together.
- Make bubbles.
- Hold a family game night.
- Visit the zoo.
- Design a family website.
- Fill with family pictures and essays.
- Ride bikes in another city.
- Go rollerblading.
- Attend free festivals.
- Attend free concerts.
- Press flowers and make cards.
- Decorate thank-you notes, write messages inside, put stamps on envelopes they will be ready to go as needed.
- Decorate placemats on construction paper and cover with contact paper.
- Play charades.
- Decorate small notebooks and begin daily journal.
- Organize dresser drawers.
- Clean bedrooms.
- Draw pictures and mail to other family members.
- Finger paint with pudding.
- Collect rocks and paint them.
- Tie dye T-shirts and matching socks
- Share daydreams.
- Rent a yoga video for kids.
- Rent dance videos and have a contest after practicing.
- Make a bird feeder.
- Wash the family cars together.
- Make macaroni jewelry and art.
- Visit playgrounds and local parks.
- Visit a working farm.
- Take nature walks.
- Go fishing.
- Arrange photo albums.
- Play flashlight tag.
- Practice musical instruments or learn how to play the guitar
- Do brain teasers.
- Make gift cards.
- Make birthday cards.
- Trace cookie cutters, decorate and cut out.
- Write stories about past family events you have in photo albums.
- Play card games.
- Decorate clay pots.
- Plant flowers in the decorated pots.
- Do jigsaw puzzles.
- Sleep outside under the stars.
- Research a new hobby at the library.
- Play a family memory game. ie What are the name of your great-grandparents?
- Make a collage of what you are thankful for.
- Make paper bag puppets.
- Write love and appreciation letters to each other.
- Cut out coupons together.
- Read to each other from joke books.
- Make friendship pins.
- Make potatoe stamp art.
- Play scrabble.
- Do science expeirments.
- Create a secret family code.
- Plan next summer's vacation.
- Go bowling.
- Play indoor golf.
- Play broom ball.
- Practice and become good at hackeysack.
- Each child collects things they don't use anymore. Play bingo and choose things for prizes.
- Have a fashion show.
- Study a topic and hold a debate.
- Tour a city.
- Visit a beekeeper.
- Visit a farmer's market.
- Visit a flea market.
- Visit an auction.
- Watch a sporting event you've never seen before.
- Learn how to use a compass and practice your skills.
- Try to break a world record.
- Ride horses.
- Go rock climbing.
- Have a Frisbee
- Go on a scavenger hunt.
We live in a time when many have forgotten what makes life meaningful. We have lost touch with what really matters. The holidays will be here soon and we will be spending time with family and friends we love. How are you going to celebrate this year? Where do you want to spend your time ... [Read more]
We live in a time when many have forgotten what makes life meaningful. We have lost touch with what really matters. The holidays will be here soon and we will be spending time with family and friends we love. How are you going to celebrate this year? Where do you want to spend your time and with whom?
How can you make it more meaningful, joyful and peaceful?
I have blocked out time in November and December so I can get in touch with what is important to me and what I can do to simplify my holiday plans.
The following are some ideas I would like to share:
Refuse to complain. All of my needs are met. Many people are less fortunate than me. Some have been devastated by losses of jobs, bonuses, homes and loved ones in the war. I have not. I will release frustrations and be more patient.
Be kind. Gift people with your kindness. Smile and be patient with retail staff. Put yourself in their shoes. Often return lines are long and patience runs short. Plan ahead and bring a book to read as you wait. See how often you can say please and thank you in one day.
Simplify. Prepare a budget and stick with it. The reason so many are in trouble is because of greed and overspending. Does anyone really need an updated phone or iPod? Stick to basics. Refuse to over give out of quilt.
When the fancy wrapping paper and ribbon are gone how much love fills your home?
Focus On Togetherness. This is what really matters. Give the gift of time. Play games. Take walks.Share. Smile. Laugh. The health of your relationships is determined by how much laughter is in your home.
Volunteer. Help others. Ring the bell for Salvation Army. Work at the soup kitchen. Deliver food baskets. Help decorate your place of worship. Stock shelves at the food pantry. Baby-sit for someone who can’t afford to go out. Sit with an elderly person. Sing at a nursing home. Send cards to soldiers. Read to children. Needs are great –go and give with spirit!
Drop the holiday drama. Refuse to get upset with anyone about anything. Make your mind up to remain peaceful in any situation. If you need to talk about something with someone do it after the party is over.
Forgive. Is there someone who irritates you or someone you have resentment towards? Practice seeing the good in everyone. Life is too short to be mad at anyone. Forgiving doesn’t mean you have to spend time with that person. It means you bless and release that person. Journal any anger and it will lose energy.
Practice Gratitude. You can’t be grateful and unhappy at the same time. Thank 5 people a day. Thank your friends, family and neighbors. Thank the clerks, bus drivers, community leaders, and janitors. Write words of thanks inside your holiday cards.
Donate. Donate to your favorite charity. www.SmileTrain and www.heiffer.com are two of my favorite. We all know someone who is struggling, we all know someone who has lost a job. Find them and donate anonymously.
Reach out and touch someone. We thing we are connected with our cell phones, email and faxes. The truth is we have never been so disconnected. Kiss and hug the people you love. Giving a pat on the back, a touch on the shoulder, or gazing with loving eyes are gentle ways to express love. We live in a high tech low touch society. Make an effort and don’t hold back.
Spend time in nature. Walk, snow shoe, ice-skate, go sledding, surf or swim depending on where you are located. If you did nothing but sit outside 10 minutes of day silently it would work wonders for your emotional state.
Make a list of everything that went right this year in your life.
Reflect. Review the past year month by month. You will be amazed at what you find! What went well for you this year? What do you want to do more of next year? What didn’t work for you? What do you want to let go of, release? Make your plan for 2009, you have the power to make it the best year of your life!
Pray or Silently Bless Others. Pray for peace, soldiers, leaders, the sick, the elderly, and children. Pray that the world will be a better place and do your part to make it so.
Love. Think loving thoughts, speak loving words and do loving things. Love yourself, love others and love life. It’s all about love tell everyone. In the end life is what we make it. Choose to make yours peaceful and happy! What are your ideas for making your holidays the best ever? Please share!
Don't Hold Grudges-Do you play reruns in your mind of what someone did to you in the past? Hanging on to past issues causes you to feel frustrated, doubtful and suspicious. Holding grudges leaves no room to feel or be loving. Often times we have high expectations of the people we love. Remember everyone is human. ... [Read more]
Don’t Hold Grudges-Do you play reruns in your mind of what someone did to you in the past? Hanging on to past issues causes you to feel frustrated, doubtful and suspicious. Holding grudges leaves no room to feel or be loving. Often times we have high expectations of the people we love. Remember everyone is human. Everyone makes mistakes, we all do dumb things and make bad judgments. Refuse to turn small issues into major drama.
Refuse To Keep Score. Focus on what family and friends do right instead of what they do wrong or not at all. Relationships are never fifty-fifty. Think of the soilders coming home from war without limbs. Their caretakers will need to give more physical energy than they get. The best way to improve your relationships is complement and focus on what the other person is doing right. What you focus on expands.
Know What’s Important In Life. Stop all conflict over mundane tasks. Be the first to volunteer to do unexpected jobs that come up. Be the first to apologize. Go the extra mile.
Laugh At Your Mistakes. Learn from your mistakes but be light hearted. It will keep you calm, kind and happy.
Let Go Of Bad Moods. Take a time out. Go for a walk. Have a change of heart. Realize we are all doing the best we know how to do.
When In Doubt, Don’t Speak. Don’t overreact or act on impulse. Instead of voicing your annoyances, irritation and frustration with one another keep quiet. Learn to bite your tongue. Let the other person have the last word. You won’t have to worry about apologizing.
Raise Your Standard of Living. Take your relationships up a notch. Integrity, honesty, compassion, a willingness to forgive other like qualities reveals the kind of person you are.
Happy or Right? You will never agree about everything with anyone. Often times we use time and energy proving ourselves right and the other wrong. We give up our happiness to be right about the most ridiculous things. Choose happiness.
Let Go Of The Top Three Things That Bug You. Learn to ignore the quirks and habits. Let go of the small stuff. Allow them to die from lack of attention. You’ve given them too much importance. You’ve allowed them to take away your peace of mind. One of the things that bugged me about my husband in the past was he left his shoes everywhere. Today I pick up his shoes and I’m grateful he’s in my life and I have the opportunity to do so.
Look In The Mirror. It’s easy to blame someone else for everything that goes wrong. Normally when we attack someone else it’s really ourselves we’re angry with.
Don’t Give It So Much Meaning. If someone forgets your birthday, when somone doesn’t return your call, when someone fails to live up to your expectations…drop it. Stop dwelling on it. You get to decide if you are going to make this a major issue or let it go!
Accept Apologies. Both offering and accepting apologies is necessary in any relationship. Apologizing is opening a door. Not accepting it is closing it. When you can give and receiving apologies allows for deeper more loving relationships.
Choose To Be Supportive. Refuse to put people down. Refuse to talk negatively about others when they aren’t present. Learn to bring others and yourself up. We never know what someone else is going through. Be gentle with others.
Become More Agreeable. Being stubborn causes us to blame, refuse to let go of an issue, or admit we are wrong. Take your relationships to the next level and practice being considerate instead of stubborn.
Look For The Love. Everyone needs and wants to be loved. Look for the love. Focus on love. Then act in a loving manner. When you give love you will receive love.
Work Together In Harmony. Have a genuine intention of helping each other. For the first 25 years of our marriage we always did the work others hired out. We painted together, laid tiles, did our own yardwork and never hired a caterer for a party. When something was wrong we fixed it ourselves. We simply didn’t have the money to pay someone else to do it. The gift we gained is we work well together.
Forgive. People who do have less stress, cancer and other illnesses. Forgiving doesn’t erase the pain. But you don’t have to allow your hurt to control you. Work through the issues and forgive for good.
Seek out help and support if necessary.
Thing Well Of Yourself. Learn that you are worthy of the best self care. Give yourself credit for what you do right and the wonderful person you are. Give yourself positive messages. What would your life look like if you saw yourself as happy, successful and kind?
Master Simple Living. Possessions won’t make you happy. More money won’t make you happy. Even the very wealthy feel they never have enough. Stop unnecessary aquisition. Become clear about your priorities and purpose and let go of whatever doesn’t support these.
Simplify Your Self Care. There are thousands of products on the market that make false promises. Don’t buy into them. Find a few things that work for you and stick with them. Take yourself out of the herd. Say no to things you don’t want to do and people you don’t want to be with. Learn to politely decline. Don’t take on other peoples feelings.
Welcome! I'm Tess Marshall and I’m Passionate about supporting people who want to lead a fearless and bold life.
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