FAMILY
Welcome! Here You will find a vast collection of all things family, blended families, divorce, domestic violence, marriage, mental illness, suicide and much more.
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WHAT SHOULD THE PARENTS OF THE GROOM EXPECT TO PAY FOR?
Your son has let you know that he is getting married. Now what? What should you, as the parents of the groom, expect to pay for in the upcoming nuptials? I will tell you what I have read on the internet and then I will tell you what I did, as the mother (I am not married to my sons father). EXPENSES BASED ON WHAT I FOUND ON THE INTERNET Traditionally, the brides family paid for everything. Nowadays, things have been split a little bit as the costs of weddingS have increased. These are some suggestions for weddings, now. SUGGESTIONS…
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YOUR SON GOT ENGAGED, NOW WHAT? My top 10 tips.
Congratulations on your childs engagement and congratulations on your new daughter in law! Here are my tips for surviving and, hopefully, enjoying this new experience. MY TOP 10 TIPS FOR YOUR SONS ENGAGEMENT AND UPCOMING WEDDING 1. KNOW YOUR OWN EXPECTATIONS It is important to ask yourself–maybe even write down–the expectations that you have for your sons engagement and upcoming wedding. It will help you to know what is motivating your choices and driving your feelings. 2. ABANDON THOSE EXPECTATIONS, NOW Honestly, this is a necessity. You won’t survive the emotional toll that this may take on you unless you…
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HOLIDAYS AND SINGLE-PARENTING: Why I no longer post images of my tree on Christmas morning
Single-parenting during the social media era is hard enough without having the added challenges of single-parenting, holidays and social media. The pressure of seeing the Christmas trees swamped with gifts is pretty hard when you are picking yourself up after a divorce. I have been watching old home videos the past few weeks and trying to be more sentimental this Christmas. As such, I am converting old VHS movies and mini DVR’s to MP4’s and loading them onto thumb drives for my sons to have as gifts. I am astonished at how many videos we have of Christmas morning and…
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THE INTERSECTION
This is a post that I wrote for our church blog. We all find ourselves at intersections in life; but this is unlike one of those spiritual intersections. Read along as I go for a leisurely drive with my middle son to the intersection and get a snippet of what it can be like if we are the hands and feet of God. I have five sons, of my own; And, I have had to teach and practice driving with four of those five sons, thus far (number five is still too young to drive, thank God). So, essentially to…
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WHEN MY STEPSON COMPLETED SUICIDE
It is a very unseasonably warm November night and I am laying in a hotel that overlooks the river. I can see and hear barge horns from the patio door as the barges are slowly pushed down the river by pusher boats. They are illuminated with blue and green lights against the dark night sky. My husband lays beside me. He breathes deeply, letting me know that he is asleep. We were running–not far, mind you–just two hours from home; far enough to be enough and close enough to be back home by bedtime, we thought. But, once we were…
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10 Things to Look For: Suicide Prevention
FOREWORD After a stepchild has completed suicide is no time to reflect on fault or blame, pointing fingers this way and that; however, for the sake of writing a blog post that may help someone else, I am going to share about a lot of my own personal experiences here. It is not my intention to hurt anyone with what I have written. INTRODUCTION I had known my current stepchildren most of their lives. We attended church together. I was married to my ex-husband and was step-parenting his three children, as well as parenting my five sons; we were a…
