The Family First
Newsletter
Promoting family unity one issue at a time
Vol. 10 Issue 4 - Week of January 22, 2007
ISSN: 1527-6201
©2007 - Joyce Pierce --All Rights Reserved
In this issue:
Are You an Impulse Buyer?
Hosting a Family Game Night
Journaling Prompts for New
Mothers
Adult Add: Why Can't Somebody Else Do It?
Good morning!
I hope you're all staying warm and cozy!
Last week I read a suggestion about using the netting that vegetables come in to
scrub your dishes. That afternoon as I pulled the last onion out of the net bag, I
decided to give it a try. I had been using a Scotch scrubber, but food would attach to
it and it was difficult to clean. I cut the end of the net bag to remove the staples, and
cut the remaining portion into a square. I was really surprised, and delighted, that
it worked great for cleaning my dishes and pans. Food doesn't stick to it, and
when I'm putting my last load of dishes in the dishwasher, I include the netting.
Give it a try! Just one more way to save money by recycling something you
already have.
Please forward this issue to someone who may benefit from it!
Joyce Pierce
Are You An Impulse Buyer?
By Terry Rigg
Impulse buying is simply defined as making an unplanned
purchase. This can be an extra pack of cookies when grocery
shopping or buying a car on a whim. Most of us are guilty of
this at one time or another. Even though the term is simple, it
probably accounts for the majority of money problems family's
have.
Planning a purchase of any kind is absolutely necessary if you
intend to use your money wisely. That extra pack of cookies I
mentioned isn't going to break your budget, but with the prices
of groceries today, it doesn't take too many items to put a dent
in your grocery allowance. However, buying a car without prior
planning can get very expensive. Besides the obvious things like
finding the best purchase price and interest rate, down payment,
money for taxes and license, etc., you need time to decide which
car is right for your family.
The below list of tips may help prevent impulse buying:
If you see something you like, leave the store without it. Go
home and look at your budget. Then if you feel you can afford
it, go back. In addition, this will give you time to think about
whether you really need it.
Always go to the grocery store or dollar store with a list. Buy
just what is on your list. If you see items you would like to
have, make a note to put them on your list for your next trip.
Always consider the entire price of an item before buying. In
my state, if you buy a car that costs $20, 000, you have to pay
about 7% in sales taxes within 30 days of the purchase. That
$1400 may not be that easy to come up with.
I know that the above ideas takes all the fun out of spending
your money. Planning and budgeting are about as dull as watching
grass grow. However, a family that budgets their money and plans
purchases, will no doubt be able to make more purchases and feel
much better about it.
Terry Rigg is the author of Living Within Your Means - The Easy Way
http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/ebookadpage3.html and editor of the
Budget Stretcher web site. To Subscribe to The FREE Budget Stretcher
Newsletter and receive The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer
absolutely free just visit his home page at http://www.homemoneyhelp.com
Hosting A Family Game Night
By Kadence Buchanan
More and more, families are finding that their connections with each other are not as strong as they should be. With the rush-rush attitude of today and TV and the internet taking up more and more of our individual time, we often take our families for granted. To that end, many families have begun creating ‘game nights' as an opportunity to spend time with loved ones while having a great time. With the business of modern day life, scheduling a game night once a week or even once a month can provide a much-needed break from the stressful aspects of life. When we play games, we allow ourselves to have fun and let the wild side of our personality come out. You can learn a lot about your family members when you take them on in a board game challenge!
Having a good time with their parents is one of the greatest opportunities that you can give your child. Society often tells us that to be good parents, we need to take our children to various activities, signing them up for sports and hobbies and letting them learn things on their own. Game nights provide a way for children to interact positively with their parents and siblings, helping them to develop a stronger sense of family than most children.
If your children are hesitant about the idea of participating in a weekly game night, one method to get their children excited that some parents partake in is a points system. When you play games, assign points to everybody playing the game when the end comes. You can assign a prize for the person with the most points in a week, month, or whatever amount of time you choose. If you're working on a tight budget, you can make simple rewards for game night winners such as a week without chores.
Relaxation is often neglected by those in today's world. Just taking a night out of your schedule to relax, kick back, and enjoy games and fun with your family can offer an enormous payoff on your psyche. Everyone deserves a break, and game night can provide exactly that.
About the Author: Kadence Buchanan writes articles on many topics including Family, Kids And Teens, and Society
Source: www.isnare.com
Journaling Prompts for New Mothers
by: Susie Cortright
If there is one
story my kids love to hear again and again, it
is the story of their birth. But they are
interested in more than the birth statistics.
They want to know how I felt. They want to know
how much their new presence in the world meant
to me.
The most meaningful baby albums, scrapbooks, and
journals go beyond the details of birthweight
and time of day to capture the true emotion
behind the birth.
Here are some questions to help you remember the
details, whether it was yesterday or years ago.
When responding to each of these journaling
prompts, do not do so directly on the pages of
your scrapbook. Write the answers in a journal
or even a piece of scrap paper first, and make
sure to keep your pen moving across the page. If
you get stuck, write "I remember" and then write
the first thing that comes to mind.
Try not to think too hard about what you are
writing. Just try to just keep that pen moving,
and do not cross out anything. You will edit
your journaling later and choose which details
to include on your scrapbook pages. The most
powerful words and emotions often are not the
first to flow from your mind.
Sit with these questions and journal your way to
poignant memories and the most sentimental of
scrapbooks.
What do you remember about your surroundings at
the time of the birth? What was the temperature
like? The lighting? Detail the sights and
sounds. What small, specific details can you
recall that really bring the memories home? For
me, it was the cherry Popsicle the nurse wanted
me to eat and the coffee my husband was
drinking, the smell of which made me so nauseous
that my nurse made him take it a trashcan clear
down the hallway. What was it for you?
What about the process of childbirth did you
find surprising? (I know, the answer is
"everything! " but try to find some specifics).
You will notice that the more specific the
memories you recall, the more poignant they will
be to those who shared the experience with you.
Describe the feeling when your baby was first
placed in your arms. Think about the experience
in terms of a snapshot. Imagine someone had
taken a photo, just then. Describe the photo.
What one or two details most stick in your mind
about the experience?
Who were your first visitors?
What was your first meal after childbirth?
What was it like to feed your baby for the first
time? Make a mental snapshot of those first
feedings and describe it in as much detail as
you can.
What are your memories of your spouse or
partner? What feelings washed over you when you
were together with the baby for the first time?
Were there any feelings of fear? If so, what
were you frightened of?
What advice would you now have for mothers to
be?
Reflect on how you told distant family members
about the birth.
Recall how you felt upon seeing the other
members of your family. In what special way did
they each bond with the baby?
Describe the tiny hands and feet of your baby.
Which baby gifts were particularly meaningful?
Why?
How did your pets respond to the new baby?
What was the first song you sang to your baby?
Tell the story of bringing the baby home from
the hospital. What was the first thing you
remember doing?
Do you remember when you were first all alone
with your new baby, in your home? Describe how
you felt.
What values do you most wish to pass on to your
new baby?
What dreams do you have for him or her?
What traditions would you like to instill, to
mark the occasion of this birth each year? Maybe
you will write your child a heartfelt letter
each year on this day, or take a photo of your
child wearing the same outfit. A daughter may
wear your wedding dress; a son may wear the high
school letter jacket of his father.
In what way are you proud of yourself, as a new
mother?
How did the instance of becoming a mother change
you? How did your worldview change upon becoming
a mother?
How did your relationship with your own mother
change? Was there a shift in perspective?
Using the above questions as a guide, try to
open up and go beyond the surface of the moment.
Writing about the birth experience will help you
tap the true bliss of this birth. For many of
us, this is the most life changing moment that
we will undergo. Make it last for generations.
Susie Cortright is the founder of Momscape.com,
http://www.momscape .com and Susies-Coupons.
com,
http://www.susies- coupons.com where she
hand picks only the very best online coupons,
including coupons for photo processing and photo
gifts:
http://www.susies- coupons.com/ photo.htm
Adult Add: Why Can't Somebody Else Do It?
By Tellman Knudson And Stephanie Frank
When you're bored, and you have ADD, you procrastinate about doing boring things and become frustrated, and well... they just don't get done. There are many things that you can do. We’ve already really beaten into the ground the fact that, as soon as you can, you need to start outsourcing and delegating them one at a time to other people.
However, when you have to do the boring tasks—when you’ve got to do the dishes, take out the garbage, or some kind of accounting if your accountant is sick or you haven’t hired an accountant yet— and you have ADD, what can you do?
One thing is to go out and exercise right before doing something boring. You can do 10 minutes of jumping jacks. You can go take a jog around the block. You can run up and down the stairs a few times to get your heart pumping.
Whatever it is, you want to get the blood flowing to your brain, and get your ADD brain active so that you have the power to be thinking about something else while you’re doing that boring task. You already know you’re good at multi-tasking. You already know you’re good at shifting gears and switching from thing to thing. People with ADD just are.
So, give your ADD brain the fuel it needs to occupy its thoughts with something interesting, while you’re doing something boring. It sounds simple and that’s because it is simple. This is one of the most important things that people with ADD can do to immediately to engage their bodies and their minds, and to start getting things to move forward.
All of us have to do boring things once in a while.
If those of us with ADD can systematize a boring task, we stand a much greater chance of being able to ask someone else to help us with that boring task. For example, let’s say that you get up every day and, while it’s necessary, you really find it boring to feed your dogs in the morning. Well...
What if you have kids? Do you think that you could maybe delegate that task to the kids? Do you think that maybe you could write a system that says, “Put the food in the bowl. Put the wet food in. Give them a pill. Check it off when you’re done,” and make a little checklist that would be fun and exciting for them, that would get your task done. It would get the boring task off your plate
Or, if your kids have ADD, too, that's OK. In fact, that's great! You can start teaching them how to deal with boring tasks early on so it won't affect them so much when they're older. They'll already know how to bring in other senses to stimulate their ADD minds and make boring things less boring.
If they're older kids, you let them know that they can crank whatever music they want to at the top of its volume while they’re doing it. It’s interesting for them in the process. If they're young children, reward them in some way. If they aren't old enough for an allowance for tasks completed, they might love a special sticker. In fact, give them a card to fill with stickers because with ADD, they probably love to collect things. When the card's full, they've earned something, right? So, decide what that is, and there you go.
You're alleviating the boredom from your ADD brain and not feeling a bit guilty about it. You aren't just avoiding boredom, you're teaching your ADD children the value of money, too.
If you don't have kids to delegate things to, when you absolutely have to do a boring task, a great thing to do is set a timer. Your ability to sit down and fill out an application, fill out a form—or some of those things that ADD people get bored by, like dealing with money or whatever—you may be able to deal with all those things if, you look at them and say, “Okay, I’m going to do 15 minutes, and in that 15 minutes, I’m going to fill out this one form. Go!” Make it a game. “Let’s see if I can beat the clock.”
Or, turn up the music, get a candle going, involve all the senses, make things happen so that your ADD brain is actually a little bit more stimulated than just sitting there trying to focus on one thing. Otherwise, whatever it is might not get done. Don't allow your ADD to control you. Take control of your ADD.
About the Author: Tellman Knudson, certified Hypnotherapist, is CEO of Overcome Everything, Inc. Stephanie Frank is an internationally known speaker and author of "The Accidental Millionaire." Take the ADD Test at Instant ADD Success.com.
Source: www.isnare.com
Support Family First - visit our sponsors and friends
To view past issues:
http://www.emersonpublications.com/famfirst.htm