by MeiMei Fox
A recent article in The New York Times points to a growing mountain of research supporting the idea that gratitude is good for us. The article states that “cultivating an ‘attitude of gratitude’ has been linked to better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher long-term satisfaction with life and kinder behavior toward others, including romantic partners.” […]
By Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. and Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D.
By now your college student has settled into the dorm and adjusted to campus life. Despite the relief you feel, are you surprised to discover that letting go is more difficult than you imagined? Even with the time constraints and daily pressures that you experience as a member of the Sandwich Generation, are you ambivalent about cutting the apron strings? […]
by Cyma Shapiro
I am an only child. My childhood was spent alone. As the youngest cousin on one side of the family and the very oldest on the other, family gatherings were lonely and unpleasant. In short, I had little interaction with anyone; I quickly learned the skill of self-play and self-containment.
Now, as the mother of four children – two in each generation – I watch their interactions with wonderment and, this year, with joy. I also recently learned a thing or two about love and family. […]
Rachel Snyder
Find your freedom in mothering. Taste the freedom of leaving the high-pressure work world for time at home. Feel free enough to play and discover. To ask questions and seek answers and grow alongside your child in beautiful ways. In the company of young ones, a freedom exists that you won’t find in the adult world. Take a deep breath of this freedom. With every step of independence your children take, take a few steps of your own. Free up your thinking; liberate old attitudes and ways of being that keep everyone in the house from soaring free. Structure isn’t a prison; it’s a framework that can support you as you test out new freedoms. What tools for living free will you hand to your child? How will you help him to free up his passion? How will you show her to live her own truth? Exercise your right to choose. Flex your muscles of freedom.
by Phyllis Goldberg and Rosemary Lichtman
Our economy is in a meltdown and the crisis in confidence couldn’t have come at a worse time. You’re likely facing tough buying decisions this holiday season. With the pressure of being stretched financially, the commercialism of the holidays may even be getting you down. These are challenging times. In more ways than one, you just have to let go of the idea of a perfect Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa this year. […]
by Cyma Shapiro
During the past few weeks, I’ve read several interesting articles on the 
website http://www.Kveller.com: the inclusion of Santa Claus in the Macy’s Day Parade; the struggle that interfaith relationships (esp. with children) present relative to their respective families (esp. at this time of year); and how the sending of year-end holiday cards presents a predicament if I, as a Jew, choose to celebrate my holiday in the most traditional of manners. […]
by Jane Samuel
Years ago my husband had a colleague by the name of Les Moore. He was a hardworking, quality guy, but he was not a “big man” in physical stature – a geeky engineer for sure. My husband, also a geeky engineer at the time, would always joke about Les and his work ethic and his trim stature by saying this little ditty whenever Les’s name came up in conversation, “Ah, Les Moore – when Les is Moore!” […]
by Rachel Snyder
Contentment invites you to be at peace with what is. It’s more subtle than happiness, more grounded than rapture, and accessible every moment. Contentment tells you that you have enough and you are enough and that it’s good. When you’re content, you rest in what is, instead of racing after what should be. When you find contentment, you still have dreams, but the difference is that they don’t have you. Right now, are you content? Do you feel present and complete with what this moment provides? Can you savor the apple in your hand, take delight in the child at your side and appreciate all that surrounds you – without wondering if there’s something better? Can you survey your world and feel the calm of contentment? Can you let yourself bask without reaching for more? Contentment never asks you to settle for less, simply to acknowledge there’s enough in what there is now.
by Peg O'Neill, M.D.
As always, it’s hard to believe that we’ve arrived so quickly at the end of the year, the season of giving thanks for what we’ve received, of giving to others and of reflecting on where we’ve been and where we’re going […]
I attended a class on “how to become a foster and or adoptive parent” this past weekend. The class consisted of me and five couples. Three of the couples said were unable to have children and are considering adoption; two have grown children and want to foster or adopt. As the only single person there, I felt like a freak. But by the end of the first Friday night session, that feeling had subsided. We were all there for one thing only: to have a family. […]