"One person caring about another represents life's greatest value." Jim Rohn My mother never wanted to be dependent on anyone, but by age 76 the demands of caring for herself amidst her growing confusion became overwhelming. She left her beloved apartment on the beautiful Victoria harbour to live closer to her two children in order to get the help she needed. By midlife many of us are ready to kick back, relax more, and maybe begin a new venture, but ...

Coming from a life long career in education, I believe in teaching by example. The first thing is to recognize the situation and the problem. The possible solutions come later. The following is a short story which may hit home for you or for someone you know. It presents a scenario to be considered. Even if this situation is in your face, you need time to digest it before you can consider an action. Ideas will follow.   As you have ...

Parenting Our Parents Today’s blog deals with a sad topic, but one we all must deal with sooner or later—aging parents. It’s amazing how time flies.  As children, we’re dependent upon our parents for virtually everything in life.  The next thing you know, we’re all grown up, giving our parents advice, telling them what to do and trying to organize their lives.  The amazing thing is that they actually listen and sometimes even comply. I was always very proud of ...

I just received this email from a Happy Kids reader who attended the Melbourne Parenting for Resilience seminar three weeks ago: “When I saw you present recently you urged we mothers of sons not to ask ‘how do you feel…’ but rather ‘what do you think …’ I put this to the test last week when my son woke in the middle of the night to say his urine was red.   We’d already been to hospital the day before ...

It’s Christmas week. My mom flew in from Philadelphia to do her part in the retention of my oft-disputed sanity. I was far behind in the wrapping, taping, labeling, and, well, sleeping departments. She has helped me to manage the house and the kids. As always, she will need to rest after her vacation. C Day approaches. She’s going home tomorrow. Her bags are packed and it’s 2AM. I’m like a hamster that goes on a tear after midnight. The ...