Tag: preparing

According to a survey from the U.S. Travel Association, couples who travel together have happier, healthier relationships compared to those who tend to stay local. The survey also found that couples who enjoy joint vacations ultimately feel more satisfied and romantic, communicate better, and even enjoy greater intimacy.

While traveling can propel your relationship forward, planning your next adventure comes with its caveats and stressors. Determining the best destination to visit, how to plan and what to expect can all create bumps in the road to your journey. Nonetheless, take your vacation planning in stride and tackle one detail at a time to work toward planning your first adventure together. Here’s how to get started.

There is no time more sensitive for divorced parents and their children than around the holidays. I’m no stranger to emotionally-charged custody disputes, and the need to negotiate to keep the peace­­–particularly at this time of year, when preventing arguments, hard feelings, or even worse—physical scuffles might come into play.

Anticipating the birth of your first baby is at once exciting and intimidating. Along with the countless joys this new little person brings comes the insistence that you plan your family’s financial future wisely. Still, rather than be daunted by the facts—according to recent estimates, raising a child from birth to age 18 costs on average about $230,000—and that doesn’t include the cost of sending them to college.  It’s best to start at the beginning with a reasonable budget, thoughtful planning and a long-term dedication to savings.

Packing a healthy lunchbox is simple when you include each MyPlate food group, including vegetables, fruits, proteins, whole grains and dairy. This approach will offer your child plenty of healthy choices at lunchtime and one that you can be confident with as a healthy alternative to normal school-serve lunches.

Researchers, during the 2006-2007 school year, studied 4,870 eighth-graders in 40 states and found schools that did not exceed the standard nutritional standards were two times more likely to be obese compared to those in schools where a healthy alternative was served. It was concluded that stricter national standards were effective in controlling weight gain in young children.