Examine Family History this Mother’s Day or Father’s Day for a Better Future

On Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, we pay homage to those who gave us our start in life. Whether it was in a warm, structured, loving atmosphere or a cold, painful, abusive situation, these holidays can be a time to examine and improve relationships with our parents.Every family has relational habits – positive and negative – that are passed down from generation to generation. The good habits are a blessing that continues. But how does one break the chains of negative habits and lift that weight off future generations? Overcoming the Sins of the Family, a new book by Beverly Hubble Tauke, a clinical social worker and family counselor, provides inspiring insight to help families break their negative patterns and grow toward more understanding and happiness. The book presents eight destiny-changing practices to help families overcome a painful past and move on to create a legacy of joy for the future.“Family history is either a reliable engine or a flat tire for your journey through life,” says Ms.

Tauke. “Often, the impulse is to change the wrong tire: dump the spouse, ditch the job, move far away. But the flat tire stays with you. Count on it.”If you have a flat tire-family, there are ways to find and plug the holes and re-tread for a smoother ride. In the process you gentle the journey for generations to come.

And, if a family villain sabotages your journey, there are choices within your control to de-fang such culprits, whether or not they cooperate.Some people dread time with relatives who fall into old roles of dominator, passive one, verbal abuser, pet, scapegoat, rescuer, peacemaker or blamer. There are strategies for replacing negative family-assigned roles with positive self-chosen roles. Such role shifts might mean rejecting scapegoat or blaming behaviors; letting other adults absorb consequences of their behaviors instead of rushing to their rescue; or resisting a habit of passivity when others demand how everyone’s time and energy will be used during family visits. The goal is to move out of child-like compliance into adult decision-making, which subsequently can reduce anxiety, frustration and depression tied to family reunions. In the process, the new behavior model will help develop and sustain positive family relationships for generations to come.The transforming habits from Overcoming the Sins of the Family include these actions:- Warm your heart through nurturing relationships.- Explore and resolve wounds from family history.- Find reason to celebrate, even in your grief.- Define your own role in your extended and nuclear family.- Minimize the family tyrant’s power over you.- Seek one-on-one relationships with each member of your family.- Embrace a vibrant connection with God.- Exercise judicious generosity.Years ago, the author approached her own mother to make a change in family dynamics that had literally crippled her.

After Ms. Tauke recognized her own enabling relationship pattern, she took a stand that created significant positive changes in her relationship with her parents that continue to provide benefits today.“All of us are at risk if we refuse to admit and understand destructive family influences on our minds, emotions and relationships. It’s when we explore old family wounds that we become less likely to unload a legacy of pain, abuse and failure on the next generation or on others,” said Ms. Tauke.Overcoming the Sins of the Family and additional information is available online at www.sinsofthefamily.org.\ Read Full Article

The Truth About Persistence and Success

- By Royane Real

If you really want to be successful, you probably spend a lot of time reading motivational books and articles. You want to know what qualities are required for success.

When we read about the tools required to achieve success, very often we are told that if we really want to be successful, we must have persistence.

Persistence is the quality of never giving up when we encounter challenges. Of holding on to our dream. Of refusing to be discouraged no matter what the odds, no matter what happens.

And when you read the life stories of very successful people, they will often tell you about all the hardships they encountered along the way. They will tell you about the discouragement they occasionally felt when they encountered failure, and about all the people who laughed at them along the way.

And then they will often tell you that the reason they are successful today is because they were persistent. They perservered in chasing their dream, no matter what happened.

So if you have been facing a bit of discouragement while you pursue your dream, reading these success gurus can give you the boost you need to keep on doing what you’ve been doing. After all, persistence is the key to success.

Almost everyone says so.

And all those people who encourage you to be persistent are wrong!

Persistence can lead to certain failure if you do not apply persistence in the right way.

Let me explain what these people are leaving out when they tell you to be persistent.

Every day as I drive to work in the city where I live, I always see a middle-aged blonde woman who paces back and forth on the sidewalk in front of a big government building. She is always carrying a big protest sign. She smiles and waves at all the cars that pass.

I’m not sure exactly what her sign says because the words don’t really make any sense.

There seems to be something about an injustice that happened to her when her husband’s pension was divided up during their divorce. And there’s a few comments about a government conspiracy to cover up the injustice that was done to her. I guess what she’s trying to accomplish with her protest is she’s trying to get this divorce decision changed.

Every day, no matter what the weather, this woman comes out to walk back and forth for two hours in front of this government building and wave at all the people. Her smile never fails.

After the first two hours of protesting are up, she goes to another place downtown. She spends another two hours walking back and forth, smiling and waving, in front of a different building a few blocks away.

She has been doing this every day for at least seventeen years.

She is certainly persistent.

All that persistence and dedication for so many years does not seem to be having any effect, but she does not seem to notice.

If seventeen years of her walking back and forth carrying this sign hasn’t had any effect, I don’t think that one more day of walking with this sign is going to change the outcome of her divorce. But she is persistent in continuing her protest.

Probably every big city has a few people like this woman, people you can see standing on the sidewalk. People who spends years holding some sign that doesn’t make sense.

These people can teach us all about the real value of perserverence and persistence.

These people are certainly very persistent, but usually they are not successful.

When success gurus tell us that persistence is an important quality on the road to success, they are often leaving out something important.

When successful people tell you that they got to where they are today because they were persistent, they are actually leaving out part of the story. A very important part of the story.

And the part that they are leaving out is this: They forget to tell you that before they were persistent, they had a goal, and they had a plan on how to get there.

And all along the way, after every step they took, they stepped back to evaluate the results to see if the results they were getting were the results they wanted. And if they weren’t getting the results they wanted, then they would change the steps they took.

These successful people did have persistence, but they were only persistent about holding on to their vision.

They were never persistent about the method they took to get to their goal.

All along the way, they were prepared to be very flexible and experiment to see what techniques and strategies worked best to get where they wanted to go.

Why do so many successful people leave out this important detail when they tell us the secrets to their success? Why do they so often neglect to mention that if a strategy wasn’t working, they abandoned it quickly and moved on to another strategy?

I don’t think that successful people deliberately leave out this key information because they have a conspiracy to keep other people from becoming as successful as they have been.

I think that successful people often leave out this key detail because they assume it’s very obvious to everyone already. They assume that everyone already knows that you test each step of what you are doing to see whether it’s working or not. And if it’s not working, you change it. And you keep trying new approaches til you get something that works, that gets you closer to the result you want.

People who admire persistence often use the example of Thomas Edison who kept trying to produce an electrical light bulb even after ten thousand failed attempts.

But people often forget that while Thomas Edison was persistent in believing in his goal, he was not persistent in the way he tried to achieve it. Thomas Edison did not repeat the same experiment over and over again ten thousand times.

Thomas Edison performed about ten thousand different experiments on his way to trying to find a practical electrical light bulb.

Every time he tried an experiment to produce an electric light bulb, he then backed up and took some time to evaluate the results. He figured out what was working and what wasn’t working. Then he would try something different the next time. And he would keep track of the results.

So, remember this crucial difference the next time someone tries to tell you that persistence is the key to success.

Without taking some time to evaluate whether or not what you do is actually working, you can be persistent for years, and not achieve the goals you want.

So, if you want to be successful, be sure to hold on to your dream, but remember to check frequently whether the actions you are taking are getting you closer to your goals.

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This article was written by Royane Real, who is the author of several self help books available at her website, including "How You Can Have All the Friends You Want" and "Your Quick Guide to Improving Your Learning Ability" To subscribe to the free Royane Real newsletter filled with tips and ideas to improve your life, go to http://www.royanereal.com

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Family Tales Translate into Children’s Classic

Lisa M. Hendey

Family Tales Translate into Children’s ClassicAuthor Interview with Steven E. Jones and Steven E. Jones, Jr., The Ballad of Blue EagleBy Some of my most precious childhood memories come from hours spent listening to my daddy tell us stories as we drove across the country in our motorhome on various family road trips. In these days before mobile DVD players and satellite radio, Daddy could spin a tale that would keep us swept up for hours and begging for more. While I don’t have my father’s storytelling creativity, I love to share wonderful books with my own children.One of my new favorites is The Ballad of Blue Eagle (Synergy Books, October 2004, hardcover, 48 pages).

This first in a planned series is a father-son team project created by Steven E. Jones and his son, illustrator Steven E. Jones, Jr. A lifelong Texan, Jones grew up listening to his father tell tales of Blue Eagle and his life safeguarding the various creatures of Peaceful Valley. After his father’s death, Steven wisely wrote these stories down for posterity.

The Ballad of Blue Eagle is a beautiful collaboration between Jones and his son Steven Jr., who has artfully illustrated this classic children’s hardcover. Steven Jones Jr. brings the characters of Peaceful Valley to life with his bold and sweeping watercolor scenes. The themes present in The Ballad of Blue Eagle emphasize virtues you will want to share with your own children: peaceful coexistence, community, friendship and not judging others.I had the opportunity to speak with the author and illustrator and am pleased to share their comments on the book and the importance of sharing stories in our families.Q: Thank you for your time and for participating in this Book Spotlight interview. Please tell our readers how you decided to take on the project of writing The Ballad of Blue Eagle from your collection of family stories.A: This is an interesting question, you see, I actually wrote this story as a tribute to my father shortly after he died.

That was in 1980, when my son was only 8 years old. I wanted to have it for our family as a piece of memorabilia that we could share, there was no serious thought of it being published, - we needed an illustrator. Finally, my son grew up to be an artist/graphic designer, and wanted to illustrate the story. This is when the publishing decision was made.Q: What was it like to work collaboratively as a team on this project?A: It was a lot of fun. There was some frustration involved for both of us because it was new territory, and both of us could only work on it part time.

The main thing I experienced though, was gaining a new respect for my son. I knew he was talented, but I didn't realize just how capable he really is.Q: Steve, how did it feel to see the characters of your stories come to life through the artwork created by Steven?A: Wow! This was amazing. I never talked to Steven about how I thought it should look, and yet he created images that were almost identical to the visions I had when writing it. I think I got a little emotional.Q: I am always looking for wonderful stories to share with my children and find it a bonus when these stories include a moral or teaching component. I loved Blue Eagle for its emphasis on a peaceful community.

What do you feel is the moral of The Ballad of Blue Eagle and why was it important to you to include this theme in your book?A: There are a number of messages and moral lessons in this and future stories. Some more subtle than others, some examples are:Stop and smell the roses! Toby's "see the wonders that be!" Don't be in such a hurry that you miss life's beauty, natures grandeur. (God's creation)Friendship, friends helping friends - Toby and Pete did their best for Sammy.Don't underestimate others - Toby, the slowest and least likely, turns out to be a hero!Q: Steven, how did you conceptualize the illustrations for the book and what were your goals with the artwork?A: I wanted to achieve a more traditional, classic look and feel with the artwork. Initially I was using a computer to color the illustrations, but felt that the look did not match the story, so I decided on watercolor, which has a softer, more natural look. The character illustrations themselves maintain a bit of realism without sacrificing character and emotion.

I was also used Texas Hill Country, where many of the original stories were told, as an inspiration for the setting. Q: Will we hear again from the creatures of Peaceful Valley? Do you have plans to make the book a series?A: Yes, the second story is nearly finished. I'll be sending the manuscript to Steven for illustration in a few days. Q: How can parents share the art of storytelling with their children and why do you feel this is important?A: Reading to children is the best way to get started. The stories may be other's, but they can serve to stimulate our imagination to build on the story or create our own.

Taking time regularly to read to them, ingrains the reading habit, which will serve them well for a lifetime.Q: Are there any additional thoughts or comments you'd like to share with our readers?A: When I was a child, we didn't have computers or TV sets. It was not uncommon for families to tell stories, read together, or play games for entertainment. Today, it is far too easy to turn on the TV or computer and leave it to others to provide the entertainment. We lose the growth that comes from interacting together as parent/child or as a larger family group. My father was able to impart a lot of wisdom through his stories, things I may never have learned without them.For more information on The Ballad of Blue Eagle visit http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0974764442/catholicmomcom , wife, mother and webmaster of http://www.CatholicMom.com and http://www.ChristianColoring.com is an avid reader and writes from Fresno, California.

Visit her at http://www.lisahendey.com for more information.

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Helping Your Family Survive a Home Makeover

Lisa M. Hendey

Helping Your Family Survive a Home MakeoverAn Author Interview with Laura Jensen Walker, This Old Dump: Renovate Without Decking Your MateBy The Hendey family has been caught up in the home improvement craze for years, but our children have gotten in on the act too since becoming fans of one of those “home makeover” shows. So when we took our teenager to pick out paint chips for his room last summer, we shouldn’t have been surprised when he chose a “moon rock” green hue, embedded with grains of sand and flecks of glitter. OK...we invited his involvement in the project, so we were going to have to live with the results! What we didn’t think to do was to begin the room makeover with prayer – as it turns out we could have definitely used the guidance of the Holy Spirit! Had I read the new book by Laura Jensen Walker, I would have approached this project and others around our home with a little more wisdom and a lot more patience. This Old Dump: Renovate Without Decking Your Mate, (Revell, September 2004, paperback, 156 pages) offers fun and humorous suggestions for surviving your home improvement projects without destroying your marriage in the process. Laura blends hilarious home improvement tales with practical tips and solutions.Laura Jensen Walker had the following comments on her book and surviving renovation projects:Q: Laura Jensen Walker, author of This Old Dump: Renovate Without Decking Your Mate, it’s so great to have the opportunity to share your new book with our readers! Could you please start off by telling our readers a bit about you and your family?A: I’m a full-time author and speaker and have been married for over thirteen years to Michael, my wonderful “Renaissance-man” husband (the man can do ANYthing—from sewing beautiful quilts to reupholstering furniture to knocking down walls, putting up fences, gardening, woodworking, cooking, painting, acting, and singing—just to name a few.) In fact, the first time I saw him, he was singing.

Can you say smitten? I’m also a 12-year breast cancer survivor (I was diagnosed the day after our first wedding anniversary) who knows firsthand the healing power of humor. Michael and I live in Sacramento, California with our “canine-daughter” Gracie.Q: People take their home renovations so seriously these days. What was your motivation for writing a humorous book on the topic?A: To get people to lighten up a little. And to realize they’re not alone in their home improvement horror stories. AND to give them a reality check that it’s not like what they see on TV.

Their renovation will not be complete in 60 minutes. (Something about not having Ty Pennington and 250 Home Depot workers to help.) Most of all, to make them laugh rather than tear their family members from limb to limb - or head to divorce court.Q: What are the most important tips you’d share with families considering taking on home improvement projects?A: Be aware from the very beginning that every home improvement project will probably cost at least twice as much as you thought and take three times as long (and most likely require an electrician.)Flexibility is key. So is communication. Don’t be so rigid in having to have your own way/the most beautiful home on the block that you can’t adapt/adjust when things go wrong. (But along those same lines, guys: as much as humanly possible, let her have her way or you will pay.)And women: Every man needs a room of his own (with apologies to Virginia Woolf) and not just the garage.

Let him have a space of his own to decorate however he wants - whether it be hunting/fishing chic, football frenzy, or gadgets galore. Just be sure there’s a door you can close. (You get free rein in the rest of the house, so don’t begrudge him his space. Besides, that way you don’t have to have his sports trophies in the den.)Q: Do you have any ideas for including kids in renovation projects?A: Our four-footed canine daughter doesn’t like whenever we renovate/make changes around the house - she always runs and hides under the bed. We tried to get her opinion on paint color, but she wouldn’t tell us.

With actual two-footed children who can respond, ask their opinions, and depending on their age, give them something to do (that doesn’t require scary power tools) so they’ll feel part of the process too.Q: Your book includes wonderful scriptural references at the completion of many of the chapters. What role should faith take in tackling projects around the house?A: Prayer is essential. Daily. To help you get through the stress and strain of renovation. And it helps to keep in mind the big picture.

There’s that old saying “Home is where the heart is.” Your family is your heart and your home, given to you by God. And they’re more important than any house. I especially love the proverb (24:3): “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established.”Q: What’s your favorite story shared in the book?A: That’s a tough one. It’s a toss-up between my Wisconsin cousin racing to the bathroom and in her hurry not realizing the carpenter was framing the window until she looked up and saw this big smile on his face. Luckily, she had on an oversized sweatshirt, so she figured she’d just pull her shirt down over her knees and back out the door.

Once out of his line of vision, she pulled her pants up and her shirt down. Then she looked up and there in the bedroom window was another carpenter with a grin on his face. He thought she was mooning him! (I told her that gives new meaning to worker’s compensation.)The other story is of my friends Bill and Andrea. Andrea had a hard time choosing a paint color for their dining room. She thought she wanted green and selected her paint chip, then bought a quart of paint and painted a small section.

Of course, the color was never exactly the same as the chip, but she kept trying. Green after green after green. Then after visiting a friend’s house who had a pretty taupe (dark tan for you guys) color, she tried a couple variations of that. When Bill got home that night, he took one look at the tan-and-green camouflage wall and shouted “Get down!” then he made the sound of a machine gun firing.Q: Laura, thank you again for your time and participation in this interview. Could you say a word or two about your previous and future writing projects? Are there any additional thoughts or comments you’d like to share with our readers?A: I’ve written a total of ten non-fiction books so far, but the one closest to my heart is Thanks for the Mammogram: Fighting Cancer with Faith, Hope, & a Healthy Dose of Laughter.

Another one that was fun to write and came out this year is Girl Time: A Celebration of Chick Flicks, Bad Hair Days & Good Friends. What I’m most excited about, however, is that my first NOVEL will be coming out in Spring 2005! It’s called Dreaming in Black & White and is in the funny ‘chick-lit’ genre. (Like Bridget Jones’s Diary, only if Bridget went to church. My website is www.laurajensenwalker.com) Thanks so much for the interview! The last bit of advice I want to share is: couples should never EVER wallpaper together! (Talk about a straight shot to divorce court.)For more information on This Old Dump: Renovate Without Decking Your Mate visit http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0800759672/catholicmomcom is a mother of two sons, webmaster of numerous web sites, including and http://www.christiancoloring.com, and an avid reader of Catholic literature. Visit her at http://www.lisahendey.com for more information.

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Picky Eater Coping Needs To Be a Family Affair

Jason Katzenback

Why does it seem that the pickiest of eaters always try to pass themselves off as the latest upcoming culinary critic? It is especially annoying when you have spent a couple of hours on a special Sunday dinner, only to have your six-year-old son tromp the kitchen loudly declaring... "Something stinks and I’m not eating it!" Trisha, from England, said that her son is still her pickiest eater and although he does not do it so much now, he used to be famous for turning up his nose at her home-cooked meals and insisting on eating prepackaged foods that were just made with water. On the other hand, some children have been known to prefer instant macaroni and cheese because they can fix it themselves, which gives them a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. That is why I highly recommend letting your children help you in the kitchen with meal preparation. You see the more familiar your picky eater becomes with handling the food the more inclined they will be to taste it.

"Get a stepstool and ask your kids to lend a hand in the kitchen with easy tasks," says Sal Severe, PhD, author of the book, How to Behave So Your Children Will, Too. "If they participate in helping to make the meal, they are more likely to want to try it," he says. This can include pouring ingredients into a bowl, draining the liquid from the corn, washing vegetables, or stirring the contents of a dish. In addition, encourage your child to help with mealtime preparations by setting the table, folding napkins, clearing the table after dinner, washing the dishes, or other age-appropriate tasks. Plan weekly menus together with your children, allowing them to be involved in the decision making process.

That does not mean that mealtimes are planned around their expectations, but at least they will have a heads up if you are going to serve something new or different. You might even let your child pick one night where he can decide what the menu will be. Even if he just wants buttered pasta noodles and nothing else, you can still serve sauce on the side along with a salad. Most important of all... Do Not Make Food a Major issue! This will only lead to more serious problems in the future.

As children get older they want independence, they want to be able to make their own decisions. If they start to feel that food is an area they have no control over then they will often try to take control, usually by becoming less open to new foods which can lead to more problems in the future. Allow your picky eater to make their own decisions and allow them to be part of the solution!© 2005 Jason Katzenbac.

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Best-Family-Photography-Tips.com Provides Free Tips For Taking Great Digtial Photos During Fourth of July and Special Occasions

Bloomingdale, IL (ContentDesk) July 1, 2005 -- Thousands of sites provide information on which digital camera is the best to buy. Best-Family-Photography-Tips.com provides expert tips on how to take terrific photographs with any camera, whether the subject is Fourth of July fireworks or other special occasions. "Owning a digital camera won’t result in great photos anymore than buying a basketball guarantees playing the game like Michael Jordan,” states site owner Robert Bezman. “Purchasing a digital camera is the easy part; using it well takes information and practice.”The popularity of digital cameras continues to explode; however, information for taking better photographs has been sorely lacking. Best-Family-Photography-Tips.com was developed for first-time and amateur photographers to address this problem.Spending $500 - $1,000 on a digital camera is not uncommon.

Consumers read through the owner’s manual and run out to take pictures. Disappointment usually hits once the images are viewed on their computer. Consumers know how to operate their camera, but they often have no idea what techniques are required to produce a superb photograph.The most popular subjects for photographs are family members. Best-Family-Photography-Tips.com explains how to pose everyone from babies to grandparents, individually and in groups. Whether taking pictures at a family reunion, anniversary party, or summer vacation; camera owners are shown photographs and tips that illustrate what make or ruin a priceless photo.Best-Family-Photography-Tips.com is a family-oriented repository of easy-to-understand photography tips that address many categories, including:--Baby, child, pet, and family group posing--Family events and vacation specifics--Fireworks, landscape, and nature photography --Indoor and outdoor techniques--Flash, must-have accessories, and storage options--Recommended camera equipment for different events About Best-Family-Photography-Tips.comBest-Family-Photography-Tips.com is a wholly owned site of Custom Photographic Expressions, a professional photography studio founded in 2003 by Robert Bezman.

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The changing shape of family finances

Rachel Lane and Cashzilla

Families are becoming an increasingly complex unit when it comes to money management. Parents are working longer hours, couples are spending less time with each other and children are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their material wants and information needs. Whilst centralising funds is important in the family, so is an analysis of the individual roles and associated financial requirements.Super-mumsIt seems that the proof of maternal efforts is no longer found in the pudding … it’s in the spending. Women are increasingly outsourcing personal grooming tasks and the pressure of looking good, feeling healthy, maintaining a tight ship and IQ level has meant that housecleaning and gardening are again fashionable methods to promote the family brand; housewifery is now a career, with all the attitude of 21st century post-feminism. It emerged in a recent BBC report, that a new type of parent was surfacing….the “manager mum”.

Manager mums tend to use the internet to save time on tasks and streamline activity, using the Web to undertake jobs such as grocery shopping or banking. Once they’ve got their partner, it doesn’t seem women can relax about their appearances, with women in relationships spending more on their appearance than their single counterparts. UK housewives spend a massive £5 billion on ‘keeping up appearances’, in terms of gardening, home furnishings and personal grooming, according to a study by Virgin Money Credit Cards. UK women are splurging out an average of £3,488 each on personal appearance and their home and garden. Of the £3,488, 47% is spent on the home and garden, whilst the remainder goes on clothes, haircuts, beauty products and treatments.The pressure to look good may be a factor in women being labelled as the worst savers, as reported by Guardian Unlimited.

In an annual study by IFA Promotion, 63% of the women who stated that they were unable to put aside further savings, admitted to spending their spare cash on costly and unnecessary luxuries, whilst 28% of women get themselves into debt with expensive purchases. Women apparently seem to be content with spending up to 75% of disposable income and saving less than 20%, in contrast to men who save over 25% of their income and invest 8%.Peter Pan fathersWhilst fathers are not physically getting any younger, there is evidence that their mental age may be falling. The BBC recently reported that a new type of dad had emerged – the “gadget dad”, whilst in November last year, the Guardian reported that men were significantly delaying fatherhood. In a study by Panlogic, “gadget dads” love technology and have all the latest tech toys, from Sky TV to a car navigation system. Perhaps this love of tech toys is also the reason inhibiting men from diverting funds to babies.

According to the Guardian, 81% of men admitted that financial fears would make them postpone having children and if current trends continue, the average age of men becoming fathers will rise to 40 by 2065. Virgin Money Life Insurance also reported in their studies that new fathers were waiting longer to start families and that UK fathers are working the longest hours in Europe.Savvy kidsA recent investigation by Halifax found a positive attitude towards saving is increasing amongst children. Whilst in 1998, a third of children saved more than they spent; now that figure is over fifty percent. The bank discovered that most children are prepared to save for an expensive item, though parents of younger children faced more of a struggle, as 22% of seven to eleven year olds pestered their way towards getting what they wanted. Piggy banks, it would seem, may become sentimental souvenirs, as more children save their money in a bank or building society.This trend of ‘keeping up appearances’ seems to induce individualistic behaviour in families, reducing co-operation on financial issues.

This erodes family values in society and discourages future generations from investing in children. Without the motivation to invest in sustainable communities or even a sustainable standard of living, (currently supported by £1.1 trillion of debt), the issue of successful management of family finance remains trivial. Additional information:Family finance information: http://www.moneynet.co.uk/ Useful brochures & fact sheets from http://www.unbiased.co.uk/website/brochures/ Random financial ranting: http://cashzilla.blogspot.com/ Read Full Article

Texas Family Law – Child Support

T.Going

Texas Family Law – Child SupportTexas is very precise on the guidelines of family law when it comes to child support. Most statues for child support place consideration on the income of the obligated parents capping it at $6,000 a month. Based on the amount of income, the number of children and the situation of the divorce, the parent is obligated to pay a minimum of 20% of their net resources to the parent with the possession of the child. In addition, the child must have health care and the payor must also provide this if it’s not available through their employer. These obligations must be paid until the child turns 18 years old, or graduates from high school.If either party wants to adjust their obligation to this child support, they must petition the court for a reexamination of the situation and provide proof of the changes to the circumstances.

This process of dealing with the courts can be long and confusing without the proper legal help. In addition this process is also taxing both emotionally and financially while not always providing the desired outcome. In this situation it is in one’s best interest to be consulted by an experienced family lawyer. An experienced family lawyer will significantly increase the chances of the decision going in your favor. Your child is worth it.

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The Future and Your Family

William Cate

The Future and Your FamilyByWe're on the Titanic. The iceberg has been visible for over fifty years. Governments have done little to avoid the collision. Do you have a lifeboat for your children?The World Economy Is An IllusionGovernments manipulate the economy to achieve short-term political stability. For instance, most Government statistics have a strong bias in favor of leaving the populace with a favorable view of the present economy.

While special interest groups and many politicians may disproportionately benefit from the ongoing economic manipulation, the goal is to keep the electorate content. In general, Government manipulation has succeeded since the 1930s. However, the short term illusion has deferred long term problems. It hasn't solved them.Fiscal conservatives argue that U.S. Government debt financing of over $5.7 trillion isn't in the public interest because it creates currency inflation.

Over time, inflation destroys the populace's faith in the currency and the economy fails. What these fiscal conservatives fail to realize is that the trillions in debt financing creates jobs today in both the Government's growing bureaucracy and in the private sector that supplies whatever goods and services the government seeks. It creates a rosy now for a dark future.At the end of WWII, the Bank of America introduced the first VISA credit card. The credit card industry has evolved into a multi-trillion dollar consumer-lending program. If you combine credit card debt and mortgages in the U.S, consumer debt is greater than Government debt.

You can borrow your way to temporary happiness. You can't borrow your way to solvency.Built upon this unstable Public/Private multi-trillion dollar debt structure is the multi-quadrillion dollar Derivative's Market. It puts at risk more than thirty-six times the value of all the currencies in the world. Banks and Hedge Funds are betting that governments can maintain their economies against growing debt. It's a bad bet.In The Great Contraction by Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz, they argue that the Great Depression was the result of monetary forces.

Applying this thesis the results are the Depression started when one Austrian bank failed. Within months, ten thousand banks failed. Unemployment was rampant for years. Extremists rose to power. WWII resulted.

The Depression ended when debit spending for WWII created sufficient jobs. The success of debit spending paved the policy path for governments after 1945.Today, the Public/Private debt structure is far worse. Derivatives put the world banking system at extreme risk. National economies are integrated. The first time a major government stumbles, the Mother of All Depressions will result.

It will be global.The Environmental DangerEnvironmental issues are long term economic issues. From the Paleolithic to the present, technological advancement usually means increased population and reduced biodiversity. As any observant caver or aquarium owner realizes, the simpler the ecosystem, the more likely it is to fail.The Industrial Revolution gave mankind the ability to destroy the global ecosystem. Most scientific research supports the fact that we are doing a very efficient job in increasing the world's population while reducing the ability to sustain that population over time. The results will be a multi-century Depression of unbelievable hardship.Consider the Romans.

Their technology produced no more than a quarter horsepower of power. Using their limited technology, they converted Southern Europe and the Mediterranean into arid agricultural land. Like wheat farming in Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle during WWI that resulted in the dustbowl of the Depression, the Romans soon learned that the resulting farms weren't profitable to work. Farmers fled the land for the cities. The Romans passed laws to keep the farmers on the land.

These laws tying the poor farmers to the land formed the basis for the serf system of the Dark Ages that followed.Global WarmingGlobal warming is reality. Ocean levels will rise. Low-lying countries will disappear. River deltas, like the Nile, will either be covered with salt water or salt water will invade the groundwater table making irrigation agricultural impossible. Since deltas are a major source of food production around the world, food supplies will diminish.

Climatic zones will move North and South from the Equator. While the North American wheat belt will go north, it will take centuries for the Taiga soil to evolve to the point where it can support commercial wheat production. As global warming continues and the population grows, the food production will fall. Within thirty years, there won't be any food exporting countries. The economic bubbles that are India and China will have burst and the struggle will be to feed people not to export goods to the West.There are scores of environmental problems whose bills will become due in the next fifty years.

We lack the resources and technology to meet the challenges of these costs. The Mother of All Depressions will be followed by a Multi-Century Dark Ages.Your Family's Lifeboat OptionsIf you're over 50 years of age and without descendants, you need not worry too much about the future. You won't be around when things really turn bad. If you have a family and want to see your children survive the future, there are some steps you should consider taking now:1. If you live in a country that is likely to have severe economic and environment problems in this Century, immigrate now.

Canada or New Zealand should be your first choices. You should consider Australia, Western Europe and the United States. Immigration is difficult, but it is certainly possible.2. Anyone under 40 years of age should have some skill that would be needed in a Depression where the local currency has become worthless. For instance, if your profession is in construction, agriculture or medicine, you have such barter skills.

If you are a store manager or a bureaucrat, you should consider developing a useful hobby, like gardening, canning, or fishing, into a barter skill. You should encourage your family members to do the same.3. Globalize to Survive. While governments discourage their citizens from moving assets offshore, it is essential to do it for the long-term survival of any family. If your children must move to another country, having the money to do so is essential to making a success of life in their new home.

It's not that difficult to open an offshore bank account or create a foreign corporation. It's a wise insurance policy against an uncertain and probably bad future.If you disagree with my view of the future, make a copy of this article and read it again in twenty years. If you believe that the preponderance of evidence supports my vision of the future and want more detailed advice on how to function in a world gone mad, email me at: Beowulfinvestments@Earthlink.ne.

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You cant lose weight if you listen to your family and friends

Winston Ng, Phenogy Health Advisors

I bet you already know all the health benefits for keeping slim. You have probably tried every diet; the Atkins, the Southbeach, the metabolic, the fruit, the water or just plain starvation. In fact, you may even have gained extra weight. You know all the intellectual stuff about keeping healthy, exercising and eating consistently. But you are still as heavy as ever.How is it that all those intellectual knowledge is not driving you towards weight loss?This is because the human body is driven by passion and not intellectual knowledge.

Knowledge teaches us techniques; passion dives us to make it happen.In this situation, external circumstances are not conducive in igniting our passion for keeping healthy and slim. If we have failed numerous times in our weight loss efforts, it may be time that we evaluate our external environment. That may be the cause of our failures. Our family, partner and friends make up this external environment that we live in. It is not by malice that they want to sabotage our weight loss plans.

It is rather their own innate fears that they wrestle with. They are like the mother who nearly drowned. Hence, she will never allow her child to go swimming. Ultimately, they are not passionate about encouraging you to lose weight because they attach certain meaning and value to your weight. It is good intentions but ultimately bad expressions.FamilyFamilies can affect personal diet plans when everyone in the family has a preference towards heavy weight.

Let us take for example that all your brothers and sisters (or fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts) are 200 pounds (100 kgs) and yet, seem to be having a whale of time in their life.How motivated will you be to lose weight?The Chinese FamilyIn the Chinese family, food is good and our parents insist that we eat as much as possible; chubbiness is a mark of fortune and blessing. To add to this conundrum, it is superstitiously believe that every plate has to be cleared up. Otherwise, you will get an ugly wife/ husband in future. This, to me, sounds like the perfect setting to guilt-free weight gain.The American FamilyIn a similar vein, most American family diets contain unhealthy fats and weight gain ingredients. You would feel obliged to eat a similar meal while at family functions to prevent being the centre of attentionI am sure that there are many other cultures that have unhealthy eating rituals and superstitions.

Think about your own growing up experience – what are the values placed on food and the consumption of food. How does it affect your weight loss efforts at this moment?PartnersThen, there are those other people called partners!Our partner spends the most time with us, and their implicit, silent actions create a massive amount of pressure on us, regardless of the actual words they say.An overweight partner who does not want to lose weight will definitely not help you ignite the passion that you need to lose weight. He/ she will have a comment for every exercise day and every healthy meal. Every action towards health may seem like a personal attack on him / her.FriendsLastly, we have our circle of friends. Friends can, of course, affect us in the usual manner of over-eating and cajoling us to follow suit.

However, the realm of friends has an added unique dimension. It is quite common to see overweight people group with slim friends.Social dynamics dictate that friends of the same characteristics (especially physical) tend to polarise towards each other. Hence, the babes shop together and the hunks hang out together.Nonetheless, groups that comprise both fat and slim individuals usually come together because of a different similarity. They associate because of their low levels of self esteem. Such friends do not want you to face up to your inadequacies, because it would make you different from them.

Your insecurity is in your fat body and they would help you to maintain it.The Crux of the ProblemOur concepts, meanings and values of health have been moulded through childhood years, then the teenage years and then far into the adulthood years. It is definitely not a new notion that popped out of yesterday. The lifestyle and size that we have today, is the product of years of cultivation.It is not right to blame our family, partners or friends; they are just living life the way they know best.Now that we know the value of being healthy, we should see our family, partners and friends as the main crux of our motivation to slim down.We mould a better future for our lives so that we can be in the position to help them reshape theirs!What do we do now? Everyday, we are faced with these emotional challenges that need to be sorted out. Only then, can we see past the nearby obstacles and look further into the promising future.We have to reflect if we are truly satisfied with our lives. Is our extra weight affecting us now and will it affect us in the future?Do we believe that being fat will forever keep us in a perfect marriage?Will we die before we see our children graduate? Some obesity statistics to help us frame our mind: •Twice the risk of raised blood pressure.•Increased risk of heart problems•A weight gain of 11 – 18 pounds (approx 8kgs) increases the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 100%.•Obesity during pregnancy increases the risk of maternal high blood pressure by 1000%!•Middle aged fat people have the same reduced life expectancy as smokers.Do we want to burden our family with the hefty financial obligations of heart surgery, costing no less than a $100,000? Action TimeTake out a piece of paper, draw a line horizontally across the paper to divide it into 2.Write down all the scenarios that would happen if you do NOT lose weight.

Write it down as detailed and as many as possible. Give yourself 2 minutes and write every single thing down.Use specifics. Who will it affect if you fall ill? (Use your son’s name, e.g. John, or your husband, Tim, who has to pay for all your medical bills)You can use the above statistics to help you. ...……..All done? GREAT!Next, write in the bottom half – How you would like your life to be in 1 years time AFTER you have lost all your weight.

How much weight would you have lost?Are you running around the garden with your children?Is your wife/ husband “showing” you off to his friends?Are the neighbourhood people giving you 2nd glances?Do you wake up energetic and bounce off to your daily work routine?Have you listed every beautiful image that you want in a year? Same as above, be specific, use names, and let your pen write freely. Don’t think of how it will be done. Focus on what you want. Feel free to add some colours, draw some pictures....……..Your 2 minutes are up!Great!One additional thing to do, go to http://phenogy.com/model to be linked to a great service that allows you to build your future body shape that you want!Print out this future shape and paste it right next to your description of life in 1 year!The Final Bit1. Now fold the paper in half and stick it up at a place where you can frequently see it.

IT could be the toilet where you shower, or the fridge door, or the key hanger.Keep the side with the bad stuff covered and your dream life facing you.2. Every morning, look at it and recite, shout, declare out the great life you will have in a year!For days that you feel lazy, flip over the other side, look at the messed up life you will have if you do not do something now!… and Congratulations!Congratulations that you have come this far and are prepared to radically shift your mindset. You are now on your way to a new life and to be strategically empowered to help your loved ones achieve theirs too!Nonetheless, I would be lying to you if I said that mindset training ALONE will make you lose all your weight. It is critical. It is the most important start.However, you have to equip it with the right diet (does not mean you can never eat the fun stuff) and exercise (does not mean it has to be painful).You would want a weight loss programme that is fun, so that you do not find it to be a chore.You would want a system that is natural and have no side-effects.You need a system that saves you time, so that it does not affect your current daily commitments.You need a system that is sustainable, so that your life can be changed forever and not a passing fad.If you already have health plans that meet all these key qualities, please go right ahead! I wish you all the best and do tell me how it turns out!If you are still looking for a system that meets these hallmarks of fun, natural, quick and sustainable, you need to call up a Phenogy Health Coach right now! Have a chat with them and see how they can help you grab hold of that dream life in 1 year!http://phenogy.com= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =The author, Winston Ng, is an avid peak performance coach and CEO of Phenogy Health Advisors Pte Ltd, based in Singapore.

His Health Consultancy programmes are renowned worldwide for their efficiency, simplicity and independent unbiased advice. The Phenogy Health Concierge™ is unparalleled internationally in providing cutting edge Natural Health Alternatives to the busy individual who needs viable options to invasive surgery, dangerous synthetic pills and overpriced ineffective therapies!They want you to experience their service before spending a single dime! Receive FREE Health Coaching and find out more about their E-Manuals and Consultancy Services! http://phenogy.com Winston Ng and his Coaches are contactable at enquiries@phenogy.com = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =Reproduction of this articleYou are free to reproduce this article on condition that it is reproduced in its entirety and with all the hyperlinks intact. The article is not allowed to be sent out as spam, unsolicited mail or in print format. Phenogy Health Advisors Pte. Ltd.

Reserves the right to ask any person to remove the article from their site or email in the event of abuse.Earn Money! – Receive Commission when you sign up for our Affiliate programmes. You can change the links to include you Affiliate Id and leave us to do all the rest! Earn money in your sleep without ever needing to know nuts about health! We do everything. Find out more on our Affiliate Page at http://phenogy.com/joinus.htm Read Full Article

Welcome an Adopted Baby into the Family with an Adoption Baby Shower

Randy Wilson

The addition of a new child to a family is a wonderous occasion! An adopted baby is just as much a miracle as any other and should be celebrated as such. And all babies need “stuff”, even an adopted child, so having an adoption baby shower for this child is not only acceptable, but necessary. There are some differences you should consider when attempting to plan this a baby shower for adoption. You will need to know the age of the adopted child first of all. Some couples may have adopted a baby, but others may have adopted a toddler or older child.

You will also want to find out if the family wants to celebrate the baby shower for adoption before or after the baby/child is adopted. For infants, the basic necessities, such as diapers, clothing, feeding items, and nursery décor are appropriate for adoption baby showers. The parents-to-be of an adopted baby/child should register for baby shower gifts just the same as any other parents. Though it is rare, some adoptive mothers are able to breastfeed their infants, so you should take care to find out what this mom-to-be will be doing. If she will be bottle feeding the baby, gifts of baby formula will be helpful, though you may want to wait to find out what type of formula she will be using, since there are so many.Some families choose to acknowledge the adopted baby’s birth mother in some way.

In some cases, they have formed a close bond with the birth mother and may choose to include her in the adoption baby shower festivities. Or they may want to give the birth mother a gift. Discuss with the parents (tactfully, since it is a delicate subject) if this is their wish. Then consider asking guests to bring a gift to the adoption baby shower for the birth mother. Because this baby is adopted and the mom-to-be is not pregnant, stay away from any maternity-type games at the adoption baby shower, like “how big is Mom’s tummy” or any other such games.

You can however, play games to guess the baby’s sex or birth date (if they have not yet been born) for adoption baby showers. It is important to know the age of the child being adopted in order to know what types of baby shower gifts to purchase. Buying rattles and baby booties for a 3 year-old is not helpful to Mom and Dad! Parents can still register for an older child at any retailer that has a baby registry for the baby shower. Make sure you have an idea of not only the child’s age, but also what size clothing they wear. For families adopting an older child, a fun idea is to have a “welcome” party for the child after he or she comes home.

Find out the child’s sex, age and what toys or types of entertainment they like.

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Great Family Camping Trips Make Excellent Traditions

Valerie Giles

A wonderful way to invest in your families’ treasure trove of memories is by spending time in the great outdoors. Camping trips can be an excellent tradition that your family will look forward to and in time, look back upon with fond memories.Whether you plan to camp at the same place every year or seek out new places doesn’t matter as camping is always filled with new adventures. Your family might have a favorite place you go to every year mixed with a new spot you select together for another weekend or extended holiday during the year. There are so many national parks to explore; your options really are quite limitless.Camping doesn’t have to be an overly expensive expenditure. Again this all depends on how you’ll be camping.

Camping in a tent carries a completely different dynamic than camping in a fully equipped camper. Camping in a tent is also relatively inexpensive. Perhaps the camper is something you’ll decide to invest in after a few years of tent camping, then again there are some who prefer to only go tent camping. There’s something to be said about the rustic quality of sleeping in a tent, you can hike to far off remote spots where you couldn’t get to with a camper in tow.Regardless of how you’ll be camping you’ll want to have the proper camping gear and accessories. First off you want to have the best tent and sleeping bags you can possibly afford.

As your tent will be your home away from home for your trip and your sleeping bag will keep you warm and covered for those long nights under the stars (there are tents available that have mesh roofs for star gazing, of coarse if it starts to rain, you can just cover it up with your tent fly), you’ll want to be sure that both these items keep you appropriately covered so to speak.Next you’ll want to have proper camp accessories; a trustworthy camp stove, a lantern, flashlights, a first aid kit, tarp, cooking and eating utensils, a little axe (for chopping firewood, also doubles as a hammer for hammering in tent pegs), some rope (for clothes lines and securing tarp), and cooler. Along with your sleeping bag you’ll want to remember comfy pillows (unless your backpacking then you might want a convenient inflatable pillow) and very importantly a good sleep pad. An uncomfortable sleep experience on hard ground may steer you off tent camping altogether, so come prepared, a good sleeping pad is worth its weight in gold. A good idea to help you remember all these items is the camping check list.It’s a good idea to store your camp gear in some plastic containers. This way it’s all in one place (with your camp list included), so when it’s time to pack up and go camping you can go through the containers making any necessary additions needed.

It’s very important to check that all your equipment is properly maintained and cared for; there is nothing worse than getting to your destination and finding that your camp stove is not working. You’ll also want to be sure that your camp fuel supply is replenished and you have extra batteries (for flashlights, lanterns or radios).One of the best things about the whole camping experience is the food. Now depending on where you’re camping and what time of year it is, if you’re lucky you’ll be able to do some of your cooking around the campfire. During dry seasons there may be fire restrictions due to forest fire concerns, if that’s the case you’ll do all your cooking atop your camping stove. Every meal always seems to taste a bit better when you’re camping, it might have something to do with all the fresh air, or maybe all the fun activity builds up you’re appetite, either way you’ll want to bring along some family favorites.

For dinner maybe some grilling of the families select choices, accompanied by some corn on the cob and potatoes wrapped in tin foil cooked on the coals with a nice salad and later for dessert smores (marshmallow and a slice of chocolate sandwiched between two graham wafers), add to that some hot chocolate before bed and that’s a night of food to dream about.The activities (or lack of activities) will also make your camping trip one to remember. Hiking, kayaking, cycling and sailing might be on your agenda. Most parks offer excellent groomed hiking trails. Research in advance the area you will be visiting to know what activities will be available, you may be able to rent a kayak and take a lesson at the same time. Many areas also offer great bike trails that the family can cycle on together.

A late night walk is among favorite suggestions; you can check out the stars and just listen to the silence.Bring along a book you’ve wanted to read or some magazines. Games are another excellent pastime, a deck of cards or a board game might be some fun. Of course you can always bring along some baseball gloves and a ball for a game of catch. Soccer balls, badminton rackets and a net or volleyball and net all make for a fun day at the park.If your family has little one’s you’ll be presented with a whole new challenge. Depending on the ages of your babies or toddlers you’ll want to pack some extra conveniences.

There are excellent baby back carriers available allowing you to hike all sorts of terrain with baby in tow while keeping your back feeling comfortable, as well there are a numerous variety of baby strollers to select from which are great for using on trails. For toddlers you may want to bring a playpen to keep baby safe. You can never bring too many toys; the more your child has to keep them entertained you can rest assure they will be more content.Be prepared for weather changes by bringing along extra clothing. Most likely you will be camping in the warmer spring, summer and fall months. It’s wise to remember however that the evenings can often get quite cool.

Bring along heavy sweaters or extra jackets for added warmth, it can never hurt to bring along a couple of extra blankets for comfort beside the fire (or for use at a day picnic). Rainwear is another excellent addition to your camping wardrobe. With good quality rain jackets, hats, rain pants and boots you can take advantage of the rainy weather and actually go out for a hike rather than staying inside the tent or worse yet ending your camp trip all together.Camping certainly has its challenges. Knowing what to bring and having the proper equipment and accessories is the first hurtle. Once you arrive at your destination and set up you want to keep everyone as comfortable and happy as possible, whether it’s keeping the kids occupied without the use of video games or cooking a surefire dinner.

Rest assured that after your first couple of trips when you find out what everyone enjoys doing and you realize all you like to include on your trip, you will certainly add camping to your families list of favorite excursions and traditions. The wonderful thing about camping is its always different, perhaps the site is different or the campground you selected is unique to the last you stayed at, whatever the difference is it always seems to be an adventure that the whole family can enjoy.

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Family Journals

Doreene Clement

Family Journals By www.the5yearjournal.com info@the5yearjournal.com Keeping a journal, diary, or diaries, can not only be beneficial to you as an individual, but it can also be a benefit to your family. Do you remember the family vacation to Disneyland when you were 12? What about your parent's 20-year anniversary? Or your birthday party when you turned 15? The new house you moved into in 8th grade? High school graduation?All those family memories from family events -- all those moments in time, now past.A family journal is a book, or a series of books, where family members can journal about any event that has taken place. For example, there could be one individual journal that you take to every family reunion to capture current events year to year. It could have photos, memorabilia and journal entries from those who attended the reunion. The journal could also include letters, announcements and other updates from family members.

Parents can journal daily to their children and include photos, drawings and other memorabilia. Grandparents can create a family journal filled with pictures, thoughts, and experiences of the grandkids. Children can start a journal to their parents, sharing their experiences, dreams and desires. The family can keep a sports, singing, dance, or other activities journal to record memorable moments and events.You can create a family travel journal. It is packed and taken along on every family vacation.

Each family member can journal their daily or weekly experiences. This is a great place to add photos of your vacation as well as other items such as addresses and phone numbers of where you stayed, names of restaurants where you ate, or monuments or other attractions you visited. You can even include other souvenirs that were collected during each trip. For those that take photos with Santa, this can be a wonderful family memory that you can record from year to year. From a child's first Christmas, the picture taken with Santa can document growth and memories.

You can also take the family to a special place and take an annual photo. The special place can be in the back yard or at the mountains, anywhere your family enjoys being together. Then each person can journal where they are and what they are doing that year. The younger children can draw a picture or write with a crayon in the family journal. Your family journal can include the house or houses in which you lived.

You can document your family homes throughout the years. If you never moved, you can take photos of when you changed the paint color, or as the foliage grew. Each family member can write an annual memory of living in that home.Another function of your family journal can be to record health histories of your family members. This becomes a medical journal for easy reference to past medical histories. At the same time, you can record your family tree.A family journal becomes a treasured keepsake and a wonderful, memorable project and adventure that the whole family can work on together.

This is something that becomes a priceless treasure book filled with memories that can be enjoyed for decades to come.Copyright All Rights Reserve.

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Clean Home, Healthy Family? How To Make Sure One Leads To The Other

Vincent Platania

It is estimated that the U.S. Poison Control Center sees nearly 1.5 million cases of accidental ingestion of poisons every year. It is sad but true that most of these accidental poisonings happen to children under 12 years of age. Most of us are concerned about keeping our homes clean and our families healthy. We all want our living space to be clean and germ free, because we believe this will help keep our family safe from disease.

It is true that cutting down on germs will help any family stay healthier, but we also need to be concerned about how we are getting rid of those germs, and if the cleaning products we are using are even more dangerous to our health. The above number represents a sad statistic, but it gives any parent reason to be concerned. We can lock up cupboards, put dangers out of reach, and do a lot of other things to make our homes "kid-safe," but no matter what we do, accidents are bound to happen. If your home is pretty typical of the modern household, you already have dozens of cleaning solutions and personal care products that contain harmful, even fatal chemicals. Recent studies have shown that most households contain more than 63 hazardous cleaning products.

All told, that amounts to hundreds of dangerous chemicals. The truth is that most household cleaners contain very dangerous chemicals that can irritate the skin, cause problems in breathing, do harm to fabrics and other surfaces, catch fire easily, and even poison us, our pets, or our kids. In fact, the chemicals most cleaning products contain have the potential to severely harm or even kill your kids, your family pets, and you. In using these products, we need to exercise the utmost in caution to ensure proper use and safe storage. For certain safety and their own peace of mind, many consumers choose to simply avoid these potentially hazardous formulas in favor of non-toxic, environmentally-friendly cleaning solutions.

This not only ensures that no accidental poisonings or other hazards occur, but is just a wise thing to do for our families' health. What surprises many people is that these cleaning products work just as well--and often better--than their commercially-made counterparts. Users find that their homes are just as clean and smell just as fresh. Furthermore, they have the peace of mind that the products they have used to achieve these results are 100% safe for them, their families, and even their pets. Thanks to scientific research and testing, these safe cleaners are more readily available and more affordable than they have ever been.

Most health food stores will carry a line of bio- safe, non-toxic cleaning products, and they're widely available for ordering on the Internet. As more and more people discover the potential hazards and dangers of traditional, commercially-produced cleaning products, the popularity of safe cleansers continues to rise. The more people you talk to, the more people you'll find--including many physicians--who advocate the use of these safer products. So, if they don't use harmful chemicals, how do these natural products get your home clean? Many of them use citrus-based oils, as well as ingredients from corn and other replenishable, organic materials. These bio-safe, non-poisonous cleaners contain no dyes, artificial fragrances, or pesticide residues.

Many even use recycled materials for packaging and labeling. Even if we aren't concerned about the environmental factors, all of us are concerned about the health and well-being of our families and ourselves. Especially for people with young children, getting rid of dangerous chemicals in the home is an important step in ensuring the safety of those we care about.

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Top 10 Travelers Tips for a Happy Family

Steve Waterhouse

As an international speaker and consultant, I cover the world from Sydney to Dubai . Here are 10 secrets that have made the difference for me and my family. Send postcards from everywhere. It makes younger children look forward to your next trip and reminds your spouse that you are thinking of him or her. Use your frequent flier miles for the family.

My family knows that long trips mean many miles to apply to great summer vacations. This helps them see the positive side of my time away. Be home when you are home. When I had a non-traveling job, I would leave for the office at 6am and return at 11pm . The funny thing is that I called that 'being home'.

When I started traveling, I knew a change was needed. I scheduled breakfast with each of my two children each week at our favorite bagel shop. It was great one-on-one time and ensured that they did not get lost in the post-trip paperwork. I actually spend more high-value time with the family now than I did before. Don't whine! Your family doesn't want to hear about your delayed flights and bad hotels and you don't need to rerun it in your mind.

Tell them about the good stuff and you'll all feel better about it, too. Marry the right person. Gina and I have been married for over 25 years and her friends think she's nuts for 'letting me do all that travel'. Fortunately, Gina is an independent type who enjoys her time alone and takes advantage of my time away.Bring a little home with you. I have my favorite picture of the family on the background in my laptop.

Every time I turn it on, they are there.Have your children's teacher's email addresses. When there are problems at school, I can keep in touch with the teacher from anywhere with email. The teachers love it and I know my children feel my presence (even when they wish I would disappear). Keep available. I give the kids my cell phone number so they can call me anytime, anywhere.

My daughter once called me in Europe to get directions to a restaurant in Boston . It was great to hear from her! Help out when you are home. Gina knows that she can count on me to do doctor and dentist runs when I am home. I assume this role and others so that she doesn't feel like a single parent when I am on the road. Plan some family fun time.

When I am home I feel an obligation to encourage fun family time. Whether it's dinner out, a trip to the mall or a movie, we have fun together. You can plan this while you are traveling and give them something to look forward to. For a free copy of "10 Ways to Motivate Your Sales Team", please email article21@waterhousegroup.com and ask for article #21. Stephen Waterhouse is Principal and Founder of Waterhouse Group (www.waterhousegroup.com).

They specialize in helping companies increase their sales and profits. He can be reached at 1-800-57-LEARN or steve@waterhousegroup.com. Re-Print PermissionThis article may be reprinted in it's entirety if the following conditions are met:The complete tag with the author's name and contact information is included immediately after the article. A copy of the printed article is mailed to the author at 1467 Walnut Creek Drive, Orange Park, FL 32003 within 30 days of publication. The article is presented in a positive light as part of an appropriate business related publication.

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