Birthday Parties with Special Needs…

by Julia Garstecki

birthdaycake

Raising a child with a special need certainly has its ups and downs. An impending birthday party, either for your child or a peer, can be a roller coaster ride of emotions for both you and your child. With creative planning and realistic expectations, your child can be a part of the fun.

If you are hosting….

Let your child guide the planning. What does your child like? What are they able to do? If your child doesn’t like chaos on a daily basis, they certainly won’t have fun with a house full of kids amped up on cake and ice-cream! You can still decorate and get a cake, even if there are only a few guests to make it special. […]

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My Worst Fears Have Come True…

by Marc Parsont

I have become…a soccer mom.soccer ball

Car pools to ballet, soccer, art class, camps, play dates, school(s), and it’s just beginning. It’s going to get worse.

It was o.k. being the vacation pack mule.  I have qualifications for lifting car seats, backpacks and 20 suitcases for an overnight trip.  I’m male and I’m breathing. […]

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Chicken Backs

by Ann Sheybani

When did we women decide that everyone else should come first? Who proclaimed it our job to guarantee the pleasure of others and settle for whatever crumbs fell off their plates?

I like to call this the Chicken Back Syndrome. Preparing a chicken dinner, encouraging our husbands and children to take the best pieces—the breast, thighs and legs—and insisting that we actually like the chicken back best. And somehow, without question, everyone believes we’re just loopy enough to crave bone and gristle. After awhile, we even convince ourselves that those tiny scraps of meat buried between the ribs are worth the effort. […]

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Why Midlife Rocks Your World

by Kathy Caprino

In my career and executive coaching, I work with hundreds of women each year going through major transitions. Recently, I was speaking with a fascinating client of mine — let’s call her “Carol” — who shared with me her views about midlife BEFORE she had arrived there, and then what happened when her 40s came. […]

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How It Ends Matters…

by Valerie Gillies

“There are no classes in life for beginners; right away you are always asked to deal with what is most difficult.”  Rainer Marie Rilke

There’s an old video game called Prince of Persia.  You progress from room to room, and need to choose, hidden among the clutter — shall I take the flashlight or the dagger? or maybe the rope?  There is no way of knowing what will come next, what you will need.  You just have to do your best, with no time to think, and keep on moving. […]

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Living Longer, ‘Midlife Crisis’ Can Become ‘Midlife Opportunity’

by Maggie Lamond Simone

“What do you want to do with your life?” It’s a question I ask my college students this time of year to help them define their goals, and I’m beginning to realize the silliness of the question. It’s almost like asking people casually at the grocery store what they did over summer break — expecting them to sum up 10 weeks of their lives in a sentence. Not an easy task. […]

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Is Midlife the New Teenage Years?

by Vivian Diller, Ph.D

As someone well into my fifties, the popular aphorism “50 is the new 15” makes me laugh. As a therapist who writes about the psychology of aging, it baffles me. Who are we kidding? Sure, being 50 today means something different than it did for our parents or grandparents — more of us are fit, active and expect to remain that way well into our 80s and 90s — but 50 to me, well, is simply the “new 50!” […]

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Cyma’s Picks: Nurturing Mothers Rear Physically Healthier Adults

by Susan Chaityn Lebovits

Nurturing mothers have garnered accolades for rescuing skinned knees on the playground and coaxing their children to sleep with lullabies. Now they’re gaining merit for their offspring’s physical health in middle age.

In a recent study published in the journal Psychological Science, Brandeis psychologist Margie Lachman with Gregory Miller and colleagues at the University of British Columbia and the University of California, Los Angeles reveal that while children raised in families with low socioeconomic status (SES) frequently go on to have high rates of chronic illness in adulthood, a sizable minority remain healthy across the life course. The research sought to examine if parental nurturance could mitigate the effects of childhood disadvantage. […]

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