Family

From the time my two daughters were born, I have loved showing them the world, keeping them busy and engaging them in activities. They didn’t sleep until noon; they were helpful around the house and always had friends and many things to do.

This was never more true than when we went on vacation. While I would have enjoyed just finding a nice beach to sleep on all day, they wanted to do things. So we traveled to cities, starting our action packed 14-hour days and ending them with a happy state of pure exhaustion.

Every new parent is told over and over again to eat dinner as a family, but no one has ever explained why. So because it’s said over and over again, a lot of young parents believe this is just one more piece of fiction handed down from their parent’s generation.

Parents are busy today and dinner as a family, at the same time every night, seems impossible. Here are seven reasons why you must change your thinking about this.

We’ve heard it a million times before, but it can be very hard to implement; put yourself first if you really want to be able to be there for your family. Remember, you have to put on your breathing mask before placing one on your child. And, you may need to take a 10 minute power nap before asking your child to stop playing on his phone for the seventh time in one day. You don’t want to lose your breath or just plan lose it. Either way, lives will be saved!

This is easy to say and we all pretty much agree—and yet, we don’t do it. It’s hard. At any given moment, we feel that our child, spouse, work, friends and home are the priority.

As we walk past the card aisle of our local grocery store or scroll through our social media feeds, one thing becomes clear. It’s Father’s Day.

For some of us Father’s Day is a day for celebration—or at least an excuse to pull out the grill. But for others, it can be triggering and a day we’d like to forget about altogether. It can be a traumaversary.

The media has called the aging of America the "Silver Tsunami." Our families, health system, and economy can either surf, or drown. Where’s your parents surfboard?

The first Baby boomers reached age 65 in 2012, ushering in the largest group of seniors in American history, but these silver foxes don’t intend to rock on anybody’s porch. We (yes, I'm a Boomer) plan to stay physically and mentally active as we handle challenges that confronted no generation before us. Here's a message I'd like passed along to the other Boomers out there.

In-laws—everyone has them, and there are numerous stories and jokes about how terrible they can be. But, that doesn’t mean it has to come between you and your spouse. Follow these steps and see why you and the in-laws don’t have to be enemies.

1. Don't automatically consider your in-laws competition. Get rid of the stereotype of the meddling mother (or father) in-law. Consider the in-law that is giving advice or offering help may be doing it because she wants to help rather than "meddle" in your personal affairs. In-laws can be a great source of knowledge and assistance.

With the holidays just the corner some traditions are outgrown while others become as stale as last year's fruitcake. Since traditions are handed down from year to year, we often forget how they came to be in the first place, and ignore the opportunity to launch our own traditions. Heed the following advice if you're looking for help on how to change things up this year, whether by choice or necessity.

No need to apologize. Don't ask for permission to break free from a family ceremony. If you are interested in doing something new this year, politely let everyone know well in advance.