Midlife Foibles! Archives - Page 13 of 15

We Think Your Health, and Everyone Else’s, Too, is a Matter of Laughing…More

by Perrie Meno-Pudge

Dear Reader: We’d like to introduce Perri Meno-Pudge, the character created by Barbara Kimmel and Joanne Fsadni. From time to time, we will feature their wonderful cartoons. We can all use a laugh!

While the reason is not always clear, people who laugh more, generally have a better sense of well-being and control in their lives. The power of humor has been recognized and recommended for centuries. Today, modern medicine offers a multitude of clinical studies showing that humor and laughter have a positive effect on our immune system, our heart, liver, internal organs, stress levels and even pain management all appear to benefit from laughter and a positive outlook. A shared laugh is often the best kind of remedy for what’s got you down! […]

KidsHealth’s Tips for Going Back to School (Part II)

First-Day Mania

There’s no escaping the fact that the first day of school can be crazy. New kids wander around in circles. Lockers won’t open. The school nurse needs your medical records. You forgot your gym shorts. Freshmen are running in all directions, looking for their homerooms.

How can you combat first-day chaos? If you’re headed to a new school, try to arrange a visit before classes begin. Explore any areas that are of particular interest, such as the gymnasium, library, or science labs. Some schools offer maps. Get one and give it a read before school starts — then keep it in your backpack until you’re familiar with your new surroundings.

Other topics include: Emotions, Making Your Way Through the Lunchroom, Having a Brain Drain?

http://kidshealth.org/teen/homework/back/back_to_school.html

Not a Daddy, But a Husband!

by Andrea Lynn

Leaving the soccer field last night, Claire said “I want to have a daddy.” Yeek! It was boiling hot, we were all exhausted, Anna was whining and crying her way to the car. I was carrying the folding chairs, the bag, the water. I had no energy for this kind of discussion. Not to mention the setting of the parking lot was not as I’d hoped. […]

Full Circle

by Peg O'Neil, M.D.

“I can do it myself!” says my six-year-old, as he swings his leg up the high bottom branch of the cherry tree in our front yard. I have just given him a barely perceptible, gentle nudge to help him get where he wants to be, but it’s clear that he doesn’t want this. I need to back off. What he really wants at this point is for me to be there, to cheer him on and observe his triumph. […]

The Father Fix (From a Single Mother by Choice)

Andrea Lynn

Father’s Day has never been a big deal in our house. My girls are too young to know the occasion exists, since they are still at home and sheltered from both Hallmark and earnest preschool teachers. But my legion of Single Mothers By Choice friends all have tales to tell about school projects mislabeled to “daddy” and efforts to substitute variations of grandpa and uncle on hand-written cards and macaroni photo frames. It is an annual discussion that is sometimes painful but mostly handled in stride. I’m pretty sure Jewish kids have more trouble with Christmas than fatherless children have trouble with Father’s Day, though perhaps I’m in denial. […]

The Journey to Bitch and Back

by Peg O'Neill, M.D.

Mother’s Day was a little different for me this year. During my past decade-plus of Mother’s Days, my general approach, similar to that of many of us who wear these shoes, has been that this is a day for my children and husband to appreciate me. But this year, I decided that I needed to mix it up a little bit. […]

Midlife Media Interest Hits Portly Zoologist (43)

by David Bainbridge

Everyone seems to have an opinion about middle age.

I’d hoped many people would feel like that – not least when I was bashing out the 80,000 hard-won words of ‘Middle Age: A Natural History‘ – yet I didn’t realise until the book came out how almost everyone seems to want to express their opinion about the topic. […]

Guest Blog Post: A Valentine’s Day Salute to Parenthood’s Impact on Marriage

by Len Filppu

This Valentine’s Day, I’d like to put in a good word or two about marriage. Statistical studies show that married men live longer than single men.

I’m not sure about marriage’s impact on wives (I’m afraid to look), but as a husband who became a first time dad in midlife, I’m happy to subscribe to this notion. You see, my children are pre-teens, and I still have plenty of work ahead preparing them to be able to make a great living in order to support my dreamed and schemed about lavish retirement lifestyle. (Just kidding.) […]

You Want Fries With That Birth Order?

by Julie Donner Andersen

Being pregnant with baby number three – my midlife “oops” – was about as much fun as a funeral, and the responses to the news of our baby’s impending arrival were often just as depressing. Instead of the gasps and hugs by teary-eyed well-wishers the other pregnancies had solicited, this pregnancy was greeted with responses such as “Oh, I’m so sorry!” or “Better you than me!” It was as if I had just informed them that I was dying and not welcoming a new chapter in the book of our family by means of extending it.

I felt about as welcomed as a leper at our friends’ homes. No one patted my swollen tummy like a Buddha, hoping luck would rub off on him or her, as they had with my other pregnancies. Instead, our friends made hex signs with crossed fingers and said weird things like, “Hmm…wonder what’s in the water? I’M not drinking it!” or “Stay away from me! Your condition might be catchy!” No one wanted to feel this baby move, since that was old hat, too. Instead, they shot me sympathetic looks while secretly hoping my bladder would withstand the internal soccer match so I wouldn’t pee all over their sofas. […]

PTI (Parent-Teacher Illuminati)

by Julie Donner Andersen

There exists in my neighborhood a gaggle of women who, on the outside, appear as normal as you and I. They lovingly raise children, cook dinners, and support their husbands. They tend to perfectly manicured lawns and rose-covered gardens while wearing strings of pearls and aprons. […]