By: Tonya Foust Mead

Ok admit it. If you were raised in a family with multiple siblings, there have been times when you envied the gifts received by your brother or sister, right? For  birthday, graduation or Christmas;  one teen gets the Camel hair sports jacket;  the other ; a wool, polyester blend. Or one young adult,  for a wedding gift, he receives a  conservative, stately  Toyota Camry. That same year,  another in the same family, drives home a sexy,  though slightly used BMW.

Gift-selection for our ... << MORE >>

Life is short. Too short for many of our youth. This article, then,  is a tribute to Jessica Fashano and a wake up call to parents of children at high risk for attempting suicide. The third leading cause of death for adolescent and young adults between the ages of ten to twenty-four years is suicide. Do it Now Foundation theorizes that there are three main groups of young adults who try to kill themselves.

(1) Well adjusted, but coping with a stressful environmental crisis  that could trigger a suicide attempt. Possible triggers:  parents’ ...

<< MORE >>

Have you heard the latest news about John Travolta and Kelly Preston? Celebrity gossipers are wondering aloud who donated the egg. Does it matter?  Or that Madonna is the single parent of five adopted children, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have a blended family of seven children. Or that Bruce Jenner is the step parent to the Kardashian girls?

How prevalent is this trend?
Every day, there are about 1,300 new blended families formed (U.S. Census, 2007). Additionally, about 65% of all remarriages in the United States involve children from one or both ...

<< MORE >>

Have you explained to your kids the meaning of Christmas? What about Santa Clause or Saint Nick? Well, to be honest, I  haven’t. And, Father Time did not wait for me to get my act together. My son cried last night while I tucked him in. It looks like the Gosselin situation spread from Pennsylvania to Virginia in real time. Upon reflection, this incident reminds me of the time my six year old niece in describing mating to my eight year old son, beat me to the punch.

Researchers point to definitive studies ...

<< MORE >>

In the alleged action of throwing her granddaughter off a parking garage walkway, a Fairfax County woman has taken  the holiday shopping experience to a whole new level. See the entire article here.
In the Psychology of Anger (2010) a psychologist has argued that aggressive impulses are necessary. They provide us with the energy and drive we need to stay competitive. The rationalization is that without inner aggression, we  ‘will [would] never  achieve anything in life.’ (Roy, 2010) Whether we agree or disagree with that statement is not the point. The purpose of this article ... << MORE >>

1. Stress the importance of frequent handwashing to your family members

2. Inspect hands of occupants upon arrival and before leaving home
3. Institute the 20 second hand wash rule (hum A-B-C song, Lala, These Boots are Made for Walking)
4. Wipe down school backpack, lunch box, briefcase, thermos with alcohol based solution
5. Wipe down transported pencils, pens, MP3, WiiFii, D3 players, Blackberry with alcohol based solution
6. Place handi-wipes and/or alcohol based anti-bacterial cream in a ‘to go bag’ or place in the car
7. Consider forgoing transportation via subway- car pool or drive alone
8. ...

<< MORE >>

There are hundreds of PG movies offered for entertainment. This article proposes to conduct a character analysis and an assessment of the main plot story lines of popular movies as it relates to the psychological, growth and development of children. It is anticipated that parents may find use these movies as tools to foster strong moral character, reasoning skills, honesty and integrity in the midst of a chaotic world where seemingly-- anything goes. It will be updated periodically. Please enjoy. << MORE >>

Medical Regression and Re-lapse. Just this month, the newly issued March 2, 2009, issue of Forbes contains a cover story based upon the article, Miracle Survivors written by Robert Langreth. The journalist reports that recent studies suggest that as many as 1 in 3 breast tumors vanish on their own before detection by a doctor. The magazine with a rich history in taunting pharmaceutical drugs making significant breakthroughs in the fight against cancer wryly quoted Jedd D. Wolchok, an oncologist at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, on spontaneous remission, he says, is “either divine intervention or the immune system.” Incubation. It is widely known that for premature babies, the provision of natural light, love, human touch, and tenderness while they are housed in incubators greatly reduces the effects of stressors associated with delayed growth. Winter of America’s Soul What do these processes have to do with the restoration of the American spirit, in modern society and during modern times? Well, during times of chaos, economic recession/depression, unemployment, home foreclosures, business bankruptcies, wanton federal spending, maybe this time is the winter of our souls. << MORE >>

Abstract: This paper examines the role of the accompanying spouse as an unlikely change agent in expatriate management. An international relocation is classified as a work transition and one in which significant change issues can, and do, arise at the organizational, employee and spouse/family levels. In particular this paper examines the discourse surrounding the causes of expatriate assignment failure, with a focus on terminology and the mis-use of language to suit an agenda. It seeks to examine, through narrative, the lack of spousal adjustment and family issues as the most often cited reason attributed to premature return and/or assignment failure. Challenging this widely held view was the basis of two studies presented in this paper, both of which were conducted using samples of more than 80 expatriated families (employee and accompanying spouse). The narrative findings lend support, based on narratives and individual stories of ambiguity and contradiction, that poor organizational change management during expatriation is largely attributed to the lack of corporate policy addressing the specific needs of internationally mobile families. Keywords: Expatriates, Accompanying Spouse, Narrative, Empirical Research << MORE >>

This article is to celebrate the birthdays of two presidents, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, to honor all past US presidents, to reflect upon the personal philosophy our new president, Barack Obama and to offer him our support.

Just yesterday, president Obama was quoted paraphrasing  Macbeth while attending the re-opening ceremony of the Ford Theatre in celebration of Abe Lincoln’s 200 birthday. President Obama took the proverbial beating as apparently quoting Macbeth is considered an omen and precursor for bad things to come.

Bad things to come?  Does Obama believe in omens? ...<< MORE >>