Parenting
Morning!
For everyone who celebrates Christmas, have a super happy holiday and an awesomely relaxing week!
We plan on visiting the family and traveling to the Chinese buffet for the holiday dinner. I love going there for holiday occassions – great food that my kids actually *eat*, and no dishes I have to wash! Yay! ’tis a winwin all over!
Enjoy,
Barbara
ps – Other great Xmas stuff includes:
Morning,
Well! In 7 days, it will be Christmas. And if you celebrate that particular holiday, chances are, you’re quite in the market for excellent holiday discounts. But how can you find them online?
Glad you asked! Here are some of my favorite resources.
Bargain Watch at Video Fitness – This is where I found the 25% off Sports Authority goodies.
Amazon.com Fitness Discounts – Truly wonderful savings on all sorts of dieting and fitness goodies!
Amazon.com Electronics Discounts – HDTVs, LCD screens, PDAs, Phones….all at super hidden discounted prices
Retail Me Not – Coupon codes for online merchants – nice deals are found here!
CouponChef – Ditto – Top stores, featured coupons and more
And of course, you cannot forget about eBay. I have gotten more great deals there than I can recount! My last hit was getting the complete P90x program for only $116 or so (quite the savings there).
In closing, the deals are out there – you simply have to putter around to uncover them.
Enjoy,
Barbara
ps – Here’s what I’m hoping for the holiday gift!
Morning,
One of the most devastating things that can happen to your child is being on the receiving end of bullying. It can utterly decimate a child’s view of himself or herself…and lead to more and more difficulties down the road towards maturity.
Personally, I hate bullies…and would gladly take great pleasure in sending them to the front line of any war. However, in today’s “Let’s blame the victim”world, such consequences are generally frowned upon greatly….so instead, here are some resources you can use to help your child deal.
First off, of course, there’s the self-confidence factor. One way to help your children assert themselves and discover their own personal value is through the Martial Arts; I came across a great compilation of resources from Amato’s Goju Ryu site. Other super sites include:
Next, what about the middle school bullying? Girls against girls, boys against boys…it can really get brutal especially if your child is involved. Thus, please benefit from the following reviews I’ve uncovered from Queen Bees and Wannabees. Enjoy!
Morning,
I’ll be the first to admit it – I love math. Don’t have a natural knack for it, mind you, as a matter of fact, I’m not gifted in it whatsoever….but wow, I do adore math. Loved it so much I majored in it in college and founded the first Math Club there as well. Ah, those were the days.
Now, you might be wondering – gee Barbara, if you’re so totally an idjut in the subject, why do you love it so much? And that’s a very legit question. You see, when in grammar school and the like, I never pushed myself to learn math…and so never could do the subject adequately. But upon graduating from college, I learned that math is the foundation for just about any and all technical endeavors. My math degree got me interviews that a comp sci degree would not!
One of my favorite sayings I learned from college is the following:
Apply the logical deductions of mathematics to questions like the above….and you uncover your answer far sooner than if you flailed around like a fish out of water.
So! One of the promises I made myself was that when I raised my kids, they wouldn’t have the same problems I myself possess with math. I made darned sure that my kids learned to love the subject and the beauty the numbers showcase – to this day, they’re all straight A students in the subject.
Which brings me to math resources online! Here are some of the super sites I’ve used myself to teach me kids – enjoy!
Want some resources for dealing with current math phobia? Consider:
As a parent, you owe it to your children to give them the gift of mathematics competency. Math is the king of subjects – it will help your children immensely as they grow. Make certain they benefit from it.
Enjoy,
Barbara
ps – need help with math?
Morning,
It’s getting close to that time of year again – New Year’s Resolutions!
I’m very pleased that my New Year Resolutions of last year (get healthy) have happened most swimmingly. My goal back then was 135 pounds – I’m now bouncing between 131 and 133.
This year, I have the following New Year’s Resolutions.
I’ll admit it – I’m pretty psyched about trying it out (when I’m totally healed, of course!). In the meanwhile, the husband installed the chinup bar in our guest room, and I’ve been having a blast doing unassisted chinups every half hour or so.
And people think I don’t have a life. Hah! 
Enjoy,
Barbara
ps – P90x goodies include:
Now, as anyone who knows me will testify, I adore Star Wars – I find the whole series to be a marvelous melding of self-knowledge, inner strength and the ultimate fight between good and evil. I even built a sales site for Star Wars long long ago, and came up with a rather nifty color-coded plot description as well, the Evolution of a Jedi.
That being said, I’m a sucker for truly superb Star Wars humor. I managed to inhale my soup a few moments ago when my daughter showed me:
OMIGOSH, it’s hysterical!! I couldn’t believe how hilarious they were. Definitely check them out!
And of course, one cannot forget
Star Wars mythology is an extremely fascinating area to explore. Some of my favorite sites are:
For me, I’ll always remember the time when I was 14 years old and played Luke’s theme virtually perfect in concert band (I, who was shy beyond belief), and then later in college, when I entered a different time-space continuum during our Star Wars marching band performance. I’ve always equated Star Wars with one’s own personal hero’s journey….and the way that brings peace to one’s life.
It’s truly a masterpiece.
Enjoy,
Barbara
ps – want great Star Wars stuff? Consider:
Morning!
Being pregnant can be a wonderful thing…and staying healthy during that time is even better!
Pregnant moms get bombarded all over the place with how they should eat and how they should exercise and how they should take care of themselves during this crucial time in their lives. So I’ve gathered some great pregnancy forums and resources to help you zero in on the advice you want. Check out:
If you’re pregnant (or someone you care about is), do yourself a favor and check out the above resources! You will be pleasantly surprised at all the goodies you uncover for yourself and your baby.
Enjoy,
Barbara
ps – Not sure you’re pregnant? How ’bout:
Morning,
Well! I might have mentioned a few days ago how I was going to play hooky and escape from the daily Mom demands. My husband was taking care of the kids, and I decided to watch Beowulf in 3d. And I lasted a whole! 8! minutes!
My gosh! The gore! The violence! The undeniable ickyness! While I’m sure it must appeal to the gamer audiences, for me….it was just too disgusting. Give me Transformers any time! I walked out after 8 minutes, came home and did my circle walk. At least I got something good out of that evening!
And during the weekend, I took my kids to see Enchanted. Now THAT was a super feel-good movie – the whole family enjoyed it thoroughly.
I will confess – I have zero desire to see any blood/guts/gratuitous violence movie and am rather proud that I’m raising my family the same way. When you see such things again and again, I believe you get inured to them…and violence becomes the expected way of dealing with problems.
“Blah!” is all I have to say regarding that.
“Enchanted” is a super family film – I highly recommend it.
Enjoy,
Barbara
ps – some enchanted goodies!
Morning,
Well! 6 more days and I shall be sliced and diced and hopefully have my leg problem resolved.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that I’m fast running on empty with regards to all of this. I find myself besieged with emotional roller coasters…and sometimes just want to give myself permission to give up and be despondent.
Idiot me, however, can’t even manage that!! Walking-wise, my legs were quite lousy today, so I opted to miss (only for the second time I can imagine) my karate classes (even my beloved kendo). I figured I’d stay in bed and watch TV, but oh no! I had to idly glance down at my legs and think, gee, I wonder how difficult balancing on my left foot (the one with the 1/2″ shortened fibula) really has to be?
I never learn (or…I simply continue to grow). I spent several minutes trying to keep myself balanced and amazingly, was able to achieve more than 3 seconds (something I’ve never done before). But not only that – I can bend my knee a fraction of an inch more, thus helping my balance improve.
But wait! That was supposed to be impossible to achieve…I always thought my physical condition was WHAT IT WAS and it would never change. And one thought led to another which led to me thinking, gee, I wonder how hard a split would be to do?
Answer – quite difficult, I cannot achieve it. But…just because I cannot now, doesn’t mean I cannot in the future.
All these years I’ve been limiting myself by what I thought were my boundaries…and not giving myself permission to actually see if they’re rock-honest facts, or merely another challenge I can overcome.
I’m humbled by this knowledge. It’s really kinda sorta priceless….the idea that sometimes, it’s your own mind’s blindness that keeps you stationary and unmoving.
6 days and counting,
Barbara
ps – I’ve heard that yoga is great for splits:
Morning,
I first came across this poem back in 1986 – enjoy!
Life is a four letter word……..
I think you spell it L-O-V-E
It’s really as simple as that……
No, I don’t really think that I can totally describe love
but I do know some things about it.
Seems to me that in order to be in love, you have to be
able to be weak. Sure, certain aspects of love take
a real strength. But, it is true that in order to
experience love at its best, you have to be able to
be weak, vulnerable and accept the possibility that
you might get hurt. If you are too tough to let
yourself be so open for attack, then I am afraid you
can never feel love to its fullest.
Is it worth it to take such a risk. I don’t know the answer to
that….but I do know that even though I have gotten
hurt occasionally, I would do it all over again. The
Joys were more memorable than the pain.
Actually, most of the times that I ended up hurt were not because
I left myself vulnerable, but rather that my stupidity tricked
me into arming myself against “the one I loved”, so that she
couldn’t hurt me. Once I let myself take the defensive,
I usually ended up causing more problems than I solved.
What should a person do: Should a person be tougher and more
protective of themselves even though they take away from
the full effect of love….Or should you be more vulnerable
and weak and open to possible attack….
I am WEAK! Not because I choose to be this way….but rather because
in all honesty, I know no other way.
I am weak….I sometimes get hurt….but I have felt love….
-JT
Enjoy,
Barbara
ps – want more poems? Consider: