You are here: Home / Archives for Family

3 Things to Avoid When Starting a Family

Some parents-to-be plan in detail what they should have when they start their family, but few put much thought into what they should avoid. If you’re thinking about becoming pregnant, here are three things to remedy before you start down this road:

1. Health Problems. If you have any type of health problem, try to take care of it or get it under control before conceiving. While some chronic disorders, like diabetes, can’t always be cured, you can take steps to be as healthy as possible before making this life-changing decision.

2. Housing Problems. Before starting a family, it’s a good idea to know where you will live for the next few years. Although the need to relocate can pop up at any time for many reasons, try to avoid this situation during a pregnancy. Leaving friends and family behind during a move can be a traumatic time for some young children while others view it as a big adventure. You never know how your child will react until it happens.

3. Relationship Problems. Many couples start a family thinking it will solve their relationship problems, but nothing could be further from the truth. The additional demands that come with kids only puts more stress on the relationship. It’s never good for a child to live in a home with constant arguments and tension. If you just can’t seem to get along, see a marriage counselor or a divorce attorney Connecticut families can trust before having children.

Before getting pregnant, plan both what you should and should not do to create the best home environment for your new family. After all, the worst plan is no plan at all.

Filed Under: Lifestyle, Relationships Tagged With: ,

Technology and Interpersonal Communication

Technology, like the cricket android, iPad and blackberry can sometimes bring people closer together, and it can also drive people further apart. That is the dynamic between family relationships and the advance of technology. As the Internet makes the world a smaller place, it can also begin to alienate people from each other. Here is a list of the ways that technology works to affect relationships.

 

1) Parents to Children

When kids are growing up, they tend to want to communicate with their friends more than their parents. Before the Internet, it was difficult for kids to talk to each other all day long. So children had to listen to, and talk with, their parents. With WiFi devices and cellular phones, kids keep in touch with each other all day long. Now it is possible for a child to be in a restaurant with his parents, but never say a word to them or even look at them in lieu of communicating with his friends. It is the wedge that technology drives between parents and children.

 

2) Family and Friends

The very same Internet that can conspire to eliminate communication between parents and children can reunite friends who have not seen each other in years. Middle-aged people are able to find high school friends that have moved hundreds of miles away through social networking websites. Family members that do not talk throughout the year can now stay in touch over the Internet.

 

3) Older Family Members

One of the aspects of family relationships that gets lost in the discussion of technology and people is the alienation of older family members. Not everyone wants to learn to use the Internet, and the older family members that do not use it do not get an email address or a social networking page. As children focus more on communicating through the Internet and handheld devices, these older family members get left behind.

 

The use of technology can be both a curse and a blessing to interpersonal relationships. The ability for younger generations to use technology to limit communication with their parents can be a great reason for parents to become more in tune with technology and the reach of the Internet.

Filed Under: Lifestyle, Technology Tagged With: , ,

Lemonade Stand Basics

For generations, the lemonade stand has been a kid’s introduction to business. The tradition of setting up that little table, or homemade stand, and selling drinks to the neighborhood is one of the most heartwarming things a person can participate in. If you’re a parent who is helping your child with his first lemonade stand, here are a few basics to consider.

First make sure your child is aware of the longstanding tradition behind the lemonade stand. Let him know that there will be many different generations of people who do business with him over time. Therefore, they’ll need to demonstrate respect and good customer service. Teach your child to smile and be friendly as he serves lemonade. Make sure your child asks customers to come back and/or spread the word. Help your child choose a prominent place to set up the stand. Finally, your child will need flyers to advertise the business.

Since the flyers will be an expense, make a loan to your child to get them done. That way he learns that a start-up business has to pay back its lenders. Today’s generation of youth needs to understand that responsibility and hard work are how one gets those fancy cars, clothes, and, in your child’s case, toys. Therefore, make sure he pays back whoever paid for the flyers before spending any money on himself. These early lessons in financial responsibility are some of the best instruction you can give today’s youth. If you succeed with your children, they’ll pass the lesson on to the next generation of lemonade proprietors.

Filed Under: General, Trends Tagged With: , ,

What are you Buying?

Middle-class residence in Lewiston, NY 

Image via Wikipedia

One of the worst things about coming out of generational poverty and making it into the middle class is dealing with the expectations of your parents. Notwithstanding how they often implicitly expect you to take care of them during their twilight years, your parents’ expectations about your spending patterns can become downright punishing. After their years of struggle and sacrifice for everything they own, it can be somewhat embrassing to tell them what you might be spending on certain items.

In many poor cultures, conscious spending is not practiced because there is simply not any disposable income to spend consciously. For a lot of the poorest individuals, scraping together enough money to send their children to any kind of school is considered one part blessing and another part sacrifice. So how could you possibly explain spending into the high six figures on your home? While your parents may be infinitely forgiving of such things, some other parents consider the most successful members of the family to be ultimately responsible for supporting its less successful constituents.

This can cause a cultural clash, as you spend what you earn on what you really want while your “obligations” to the family go unmet. There is no easy answer to the dilemma of spending for what you want (since you made the money) or giving it back to the people who didn’t earn a penny of it. In cases where providing for family causes you genuine financial hardship, the best answer is to keep your money for your own needs. However, many people find themselves being happiest when they give freely to people in need.

Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: , ,

Where Older Generations More Materialist

As we look back through family history we might uncover the grandmother who never threw anything away, or the great grandparents who always wanted to show you the refrigerator that they bought twenty years before. Many of us think that these older generations were more materialist, but they were not. They had simply worked harder for the luxuries that we take for granted.

Older generations, especially the ones that grew up during the Great Depression saw their families lose everything they ever owned. They watched as everything was rationed and the economy struggled to regain its footing. For many of them they know the reality to losing everything and do not want to face that kind of lifestyle again. So they keep things to ensure that they will always have them. For them, the fear of returning back that kind of lifestyle is not something that we could ever understand. Their need to hang onto materials is not born out of being materialistic but rather it comes from being fearful of the future.

Older generations that cam before us had to work harder for what they have than we do. I do not think that anyone would decide to rent a house that did not have heat and air conditioning and did not have a refridgertor. While these items are standard for our time, our grandparents had to work to provide these types of equipment for their families. They are not materialistic in wanting to show you their accomplishments and lifestyle, they are proud of the way that they have been able to provide for their family.

For many younger generations it is hard to imagine the lifestyle that older generations came from. We take for granted that we will have running water and appliances. In most cases, we even demand the best. While it might look that our grandparents are hoarding their possesssion or are showing signs of materialism, we need to understand the hardships that they have seen that have made them the way they are.

Filed Under: General, Relationships Tagged With: , , , , ,