A few days ago, the public elementary school that Dora attends hosted its quarterly skating party. Beth loves to attend, for it provides an opportunity for her to see her old classmates. However, as we hopped in the car to pick Dora up at school and head to the skating rink, Beth commented on how “homeschooling is where (she) should be!” She and I both love this new arrangement. It has exceeded our expectations.

But this blog isn’t about homeschooling. It is about a conversation I had with my neighbor whose kids were also at the skating party. This neighbor has a daughter... more

Continuing with my thoughts about a Reader’s Digest article on happiness, a sidebar in the article was a list of “Ten Ways to Turn That Frown Upside Down.” There were some great ideas here, and I felt they were worth sharing.

1. “Be less virtual, more 3-D.” This suggestion encourages us to seek out healthy relationships rather than sitting at a desk or computer all day, or hunkering down doing nothing at home. Of course, this is far more complicated... more

I have mentioned before that I am a fan of Reader’s Digest. I like to be able to read short bytes and not get committed to a book. The February 2008 issue arrived about a week ago. It has a wonderful article that is very helpful in addressing how we might survive life in a war zone. The article is called, The Way to Happiness; Proven tips to help you get where you want to be.

The introductory paragraph in this article states: “… happy people thrive. They’re more creative and productive, earn more money, attract more... more

Last week I discussed PTSD, and several readers commented about living with chronic PTSD. How does one rise above the fray? How can we focus on the bigger picture, find joy in the moment, and reframe our lives so that our entire family is not centered around our disruptive kids? The latter can be very difficult to do when, in fact, our entire family is centered around our disruptive kids …

I really wasn’t sure what sterling advice I had to offer. I survived my long period of struggle with Amy one day at a time. There were many, many days where... more

I haven’t posted much about Dora lately, but she is struggling. Her anger rules her decisions, in spite of awesome therapy sessions addressing her issues and providing her with better choices. Her therapist commented that she knows many smart kids who make dumb choices ... and currently Dora is one of them.

Dora continues to give nothing back, but wants to leap into Beth’s life just the same. My response is to explain to her it doesn’t work like that; if she chooses not act like a daughter, she can be a boarder, but she will have to contribute to the household... more

My topic this last couple of days has been PTSD, with the emphasis on parental PTSD because of living with toxic children. My intent was to write about how I survived living in a war zone for decades. However, I am going to postpone that a day or two in favor of addressing the PTSD our children bring with them into our homes—how their past becomes our present.

My latest issue of Reader’s Digest arrived in my mailbox this week. In it, I found a story about Andrew Bridge, a former foster child who attended Harvard Law School and now advocates for foster children.... more

Continuing with my discussion about PTSD, here is an interesting article that postulates low cortisol levels may predict PTSD risk. This article describes a study of the children of Holocaust survivors. The article states:

A major conclusion of these studies is that these children have a higher risk of developing PTSD than other people. In a study presented in the August 2000 The American Journal of Psychiatry, the research group discovered that adult children with at least... more

If one Googles “PTSD definition”, what pops up on your computer monitor is a long list of definitions and associated links. The definitions all describe variations of the same basic mental health issue … chronic stress reactions to some acute trauma, considered acute even if the trauma spans a few months or even a couple of years, such as military service. Of course,... more

A friend from my Chicago days sent me a link to this article that appeared in the Chicago Tribune last Sunday. The article describes the Ranch for Kids in Montana, a residential and respite facility for children adopted internationally. Most of the children are from Eastern Europe. The Ranch serves children from 0-17, and the average stay for a child needing behavior modification is 3-12 months.... more

This is the first chance I have had in three days to sit down and write a blog. Although the washer repairman was supposed to come last Thursday, I received a call an hour before the scheduled appointment, informing me they didn’t have the part and wouldn’t be coming. I haven’t yet received a new appointment time … so of course, I still have no washer. Thursday night, I schlepped 6 loads next door to my neighbor's house and brought them home to dry in my still-functioning dryer. A highly inefficient way to do laundry ... not to mention that we live on five acres and my neighbor is not... more