My Child Is Moving Back In With Me! Now What?
Almost a year after I was born, my parents bought a new house and sold their old one. Left in limbo for a few months between the official move, my family decided to settle in with my grandmother, Mar [...]
You Can’t Always Get What You Want—Until Now
In 1969, the Rolling Stones sang “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” claiming that instead, you get what you need. While the lyrics of this hit song may have held true in your earlier years, I dare [...]
Long Distance (Family) Relationships: Are They Possible?
When family is scattered across the country, life’s moments can get in the way of staying in touch. We can lose sight of staying connected with family members whom we don’t see on a daily basis. Howe [...]
How to Make Your New Place Feel Like Home
It’s finally starting to feel like spring, and with the changing of seasons come many other important changes as well. For my parents, it’s the fact that my little sister will be graduating high scho [...]
How to Get Your Grandchildren Off the Couch and On Their Feet
Don’t let laziness run in the family! Young children are known for their everlasting energy and exuberance. However, peeling the kids away from the screens of their iPads or iPhones is often a daunti [...]
Take the road less traveled – make it a road trip!
The night before a road trip always felt to me like the night before Christmas. The same way you wrap all your gifts and get the cookies set for Santa, you make sure your bags are all packed and squa [...]
How Can I Prepare My Children For Financial Independence?
A little over a year ago, I applied for my first credit card. My name, my bank account, my money - no one else’s. This card was a first for me, representing a pivotal moment in my life. Up until this [...]
Is Listening To My Grandchildren’s Music Really That Bad?
Music is such an important aspect of who we are. Music can define a certain time in our lives, remind us of a specific event or person, lift our moods, and evoke deep emotions. Best of all, music is [...]
How to Weather the Storm of Conflict in a Multigenerational Home
Almost all homes are multigenerational, most commonly with parents and children living together. Some households also include grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, or a mix of it all. Whether out of [...]
How Can Broadway Bring My Family Together?
When I was a toddler, my favorite movie in the world was The Lion King – I watched it weekly! My parents always knew that if they played that movie for me, sometimes even a few times in a row, they c [...]
Should You Follow Your Children After They Graduate College?
In May, my brother, Ed, will graduate from the University of Notre Dame and then move to Chicago to start a new career and a new life. To put things into perspective, Chicago is ten hours away from w [...]
Crafting Across Generations: Getting in Touch with Your Inner-Child
Do you miss the feeling of coloring outside the lines? As we age, we are burdened with more responsibilities and less excuses to let our imaginations run wild, dodge the rules, and get a little messy [...]
GOTCHA! 9 April Fools’ Jokes to Play on Your Family and Friends This Year.
Ah, April Fools’ - a day when no one is safe and everyone can become a prankster. Want to make your family unsuspecting victims of some clever pranks? Check out some of popular favorites below and le [...]
Put Away the iPad!
What can I say?!? I’m a sucker for Traditional Toys, as I’d mentioned in this article. Although video games and iPads are popular, traditional “play” helps young children build skills that last long [...]
Family-Friendly Games to Bring Everyone Together
Every year, my family comes together to our same rented beach house at the Jersey Shore, courtesy of my grandparents. The small house that somehow sleeps 16 is always overcrowded with extra air mattr [...]
Traditional Toys for Child Development
We love spoiling our grandchildren, whether that means reading with them or playing with them. If you have been a grandparent for a while, you probably already have a few favorites, but if you are n [...]
Becoming a Caregiver: What You Need To Know
The path we follow as we age is far from straight. Instead, we are often faced with many obstacles and must adapt as we go. When you become a caregiver for a loved one, your role, and potentially the [...]
Music Therapy for Alzheimer’s
Besides being a nice way to wind down on your commute, music might have additional emotional and cognitive benefits for Alzheimer’s patients. Over the holidays, I went to visit my grandpa, who has se [...]
9 Favorite Books To Read To Your Grandchildren
When we become grandparents, a whole new world opens up to us, and we are so enthralled with this new little creation that we want to shower him/her with love. We fight for our turn to hold this swee [...]
On Choosing Where to Live in Retirement: Two Will Never Be One
You’ve seen them. Those “Best Places to Retire” lists. They evaluate retirement locations on the availability of cultural events and attractions, along with the cost of living and access to medical c [...]
“I’m Baaaaack!”
When Adult Children Move Back Home If hearing cries of “I’m baaaccckkkk” from your adult daughter or son sounds more to you like a scene out of Jack Nicholson’s 1980 movie, The Shining, you’re not al [...]
Re-connecting with Family Members Across Generations
Growing up was punctuated by zesty family interactions during the holidays. Something about those few days- where my aunt would fly in from Georgia, my grandparents would make the trek from Maine, an [...]
How to Bring Up The Topic of Inheritance With Your Family
For many, discussing finances is considered a very private matter. Growing up, I was never supposed to ask how much money my parents made, and we left it at that. However, whether you are a child hel [...]
De-Materializing the Holidays
The holiday season is marked by store sales, wish lists, and piles of presents. The value that our society places on gift-buying is so high that stress levels are proven to also rise during this time [...]
Special Gifts with a Personal Touch
The holidays…. ‘Tis the season of giving. When you give someone a gift, it lets them know you were thinking about them. There’s something nice about giving something willingly without wanting anythin [...]
Online Dating
When I was 7 years old, my grandmother moved to Florida to live in The Villages, an over-55 retirement community. Between the warm weather, golf courses, town squares, and a huge homogeneous circle o [...]
When the Birds Fly From Home
Coping with the Empty Nest Syndrome If you’ve had children, then you know raising them takes up a huge majority of your life. Now I don’t have any kids, but I witnessed my parents raise my sister and [...]
Adding to the Family
Pets-- A Welcome Member of the Family Since as long as I can remember, all family gatherings have been held at my grandparent’s house. The whole family knew, though, that these get-togethers entailed [...]
Healthy Aging: Keeping in Touch with Family
Family structures and dynamics have changed significantly when compared with past centuries. In today’s world, we tend to idealize and foster independence and individuality. From a very early age, ch [...]
Plugging in – Using Your Smartphone to Connect with Family
A handful of years ago, my grandfather purchased an iPhone for the first time. The jump from a flip phone to a smartphone should not be underestimated. It didn’t matter how many times he read the han [...]