Commercialism, celebration, confectionary or claptrap?

​But let’s put all that aside for the time being…..
 
So, just what is Easter all about and where did it come from? ​

Siblings Awareness Day!
Full… Half… Step! Brothers and SistersThink about this for a moment:
your relationship with your siblings is likely to be the longest you will have with anyone in your life
 
We hear much about the negative interaction and impact of siblings on each other. As kids, we don’t usually get the choice of living with our siblings…it usually just happens!

​So, when sibling relationships go bad, it can really mess with you.

It seems that never before has the issue of bullying and violence being so obvious in our community and so widespread.
It has become a daily occurrence on our streets and in our news reports… and in our schools we frequently see students fighting and bullying those more vulnerable.

Shocking road rage incidents are captured almost daily by car cameras and broadcast to the world.
 
Family and domestic violence continues in all layers of our society.

Why? What’s the answer?

In Part One of this series, I introduced you to the idea of Mummy Guilt…
 
…not that most parents/caregivers reading this will need much of an introduction to this guilt…!
 
In Part Two, I’m going to talk a little more about managing Mummy Guilt…
 
First, it’s important to know that Guilt is a typical feeling that occurs when we have done something that deep-down, we know is wrong… being aware of
feelings of Guilt can help us ‘correct’ our behaviour to match our deeply-held beliefs.
 
However, this is not Mummy Guilt…!

It’s that time of year again!
School’s back…
our children, and us, are back into new routines and rituals that will carry us through the weeks…and months… ahead.

And now, that thing called Mummy Guilt has resurfaced in my head and in conversations with other mummies (and daddies!).
But for some reason, this time, strangely, it’s because I am NOT feeling it!
​
So, what’s happened?

Relaxation
First, it’s important to understand that I’m not using the word ‘relaxation’ here to mean watching television, gardening, or having a glass or two of your favourite drink…while each of these things might have a place in your life, let’s call them methods of recreation.

Christmas is one of the times in the year that brings mixed emotions for many people.

• Some people look forward to Christmas and experience a sense of joy and celebration around family gatherings, sharing happy times with friends, singing Christmas carols, buying gifts, gift giving, eating good food and lots of laughter.

​It’s unfortunate that the harassment tactics of bullies that has being existent probably for all time, now surfaces in the dark side of modern technology, giving rise to Cyber Bullying.

The significant growth of such technology has led to a rapid and extensive growth in the use of email, texting, chat rooms, and mobile phones including mobile phone cameras, and social media processes that are all so common in today’s world.
It is now through these methods that many bullies have found an outlet for their often insidious and almost always destructive behaviour.

​Now, first, I have to say that I don’t entirely agree with the use of the word ‘Happy’ – this is an over-used word and frequently when we strive to be ‘happy’, it invariably eludes us… more about this in another blog!
In his article, John Obedzinski suggests 10 reasons ‘Why happy families are different’ : here they are, with some of my thoughts:

This series of ‘Surviving Adolescence’ is about supporting parents and caregivers with the delicate balancing act that is adolescence…
One of the first things to remember is that adolescence is a stage of development, a stage that is vital for the future health and well-being of the young person. It’s a stage of identity formation, thinking about the future, and development of independence.