Search Results for: blog the annual holiday family newsletteryea or nay

Rich Parents Doing Away with Expensive Holiday Gifts

Did you hear the one about the billionaire parents who plan to give their family members homemade gifts only this holiday season? Actually, it’s no joke and you might have heard of the parents in question… their names are Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Despite Jolie just earning the title of highest-paid woman in Hollywood, and Pitt raking in $20 million for starring in his new flick “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” the parents of six little ones say they won’t be placing pricey presents under the Christmas tree this year. In a recent interview with Hello! Magazine, Pitt … Continue reading →

Holidays and Family Dysfunction

Twas the dinner of Christmas and all through the house everyone was stirring… while visions of food fights danced in their heads. If that pretty much sums up your family gatherings during the holiday season, then you might want to take a cue from Demi Moore and Bruce Willis. That’s right; the famously divorced Hollywood couple is now giving tips on how to avoid conflict during holiday get-togethers involving extended family. According to the actors, there is a way to co-exist with your dysfunctional family members minus the drama and fights. After all, they say, they do it on a … Continue reading →

Keeping Your Kids Safe During the Holidays

So, yesterday my friend calls to ask me if our Christmas tree was up and decorated. (It is.) Then, she proceeded to tell me that after spending three hours trimming her family’s 7-foot Douglas fir the entire thing came crashing down… on her 16-month-old son. Fortunately, he didn’t suffer any major injuries, but since the fall the tree has been banished to the corner of the living room and is trapped behind a wall of child safety gates. Not that it really needs the protection given that her son is now deathly afraid of the fir. My pal’s anecdote serves … Continue reading →

Holiday Travel with Allergy Sensitive Children

Sensitive to dust, pet dander, peanuts, wood burning fireplaces, etc. When you have children who suffer from allergies, asthma, and other immune deficiencies holiday travel can be down right horrific. You’ve hosted Christmas for the past five years in order for your child to remain in a controlled environment, but now your relatives are complaining about making the trip yet again. You can’t rob your family of holiday fun with your kids, so what do you do? Do you make the trip and deal with your child’s sniffling, sneezing, wheezing and coughing? Or do you stay at home and risk … Continue reading →

Family Holiday Viewing Traditions

Whether it’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “Frosty the Snowman,” or “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” we all have our favorite holiday TV classics. I listed some of my family’s must-see Christmas specials in a previous blog, but neglected to include another important part of watching TV as a family during the holiday season—-the commercials. Yes, even the ads are festive this time of year. In fact, besides the Super Bowl, this is probably the only time of the year that I actually sit and watch TV ads. The ones I enjoy the most are family-friendly and stick with you long … Continue reading →

The Family Christmas Photo

Whereas I wouldn’t dare bore family and friends with a lengthy holiday newsletter detailing every milestone my precious offspring has accomplished in the last 365 days, I have no qualms about stuffing a mini photo album’s worth of pictures in our annual Christmas card. Okay, I don’t really cram mountains of photos in a single card (think of the postage), but I am one of those parents that opts for the multi-square photo card, and I sheepishly admit I do sometimes… all right… often… supplement it with my own 8×10-inch photo montage. When it comes to picking the perfect Christmas … Continue reading →

Parental Rewind: Holiday Edition

Now that your Thanksgiving guests are gone and the holiday leftovers are slowly disappearing you can finally kick up your feet and relax for a bit. After all, it won’t be long before you’ll have to get up again to drag out the Christmas decorations, trim the tree, bake cookies, finish (or start) shopping for presents and get the house back in order for round two of holiday guests. But before you get caught up in the countdown to Christmas chaos consider taking a few minutes to see what you missed in the PARENTS blog this week: November 24th—–Desperate Dad … Continue reading →

The Truth Behind the Smiles

How many of these photos did you get over the holidays? I received about 80… along with detailed Year in Review newsletters on fancy winter-themed stationery. Yesterday, I finally got around to putting away all those photos. Nearly seven dozen pictures of friends and family members showing off their pearly whites. As I stored the photo cards and newsletters I couldn’t help but think about how happy they all looked. Look at all those happy faces. Just so darn happy, happy, happy. Man, that’s a lot of happiness in one shot. Boy, what great lives they must lead. What happy, … Continue reading →

Christmas Card Coma

I received my very first Christmas video card last week and bid adieu to my electronic holiday greeting virginity. The Hallmark e-card stripped me of my seasonal innocence and now I guess I should expect my mail carrier to travel a little lighter next Christmas. Apparently, holiday e-cards are the wave of the future and soon traditional Christmas greetings, like these, will go the way of the Walkman and typewriter. Say it ain’t so. How many paper holiday cards did you receive this year? I sent out nearly 90 and have received more than half that amount as we wrap … Continue reading →

Have a Merry Minted Christmas

I don’t drink, but walking into Target or Wal-Mart right now makes me want to run home and pour myself a boot of something stronger than beer. Tis the season for breakouts and breakdowns. Seriously. Have you been to the mall recently? Retailers have dumped their Halloween costumes and candy; bypassed Thanksgiving paraphernalia; and are shoving Santa down customers’ collective throats. Fa-la-la-la. We’re not even 85 hours into November and I already feel my inner Christmas Grinch bubbling up from the bowels of my being. How can I feel so behind on Christmas preparations when I still have buckets of … Continue reading →