A Special Gift of a Mother

Women have the sensitivity to love their children unconditionally and under any circumstances, even when their children disappoint them. What a gift!

There is no love in the world more absolute than a mother's love for her child. No matter what your children do, you want to protect them. It doesn't matter what mistakes they make, you believe they can still get it right.

What a gift you are to the world. By being steadfast and unconditional in your love, you help your children recover from their mistakes and gain the courage to fact future hurdles.

You give them the strength and tenacity to become some of the world's most valuable adults - just like you knew they would.

Source: Meditations for Women

How beautiful are you?

When you look in the mirror what do you see?

Do you look only at flaws? Your big nose, your doubble chin or perhaps your not so perfect skin?

Every woman has her own self-proclaimed list of flaws. We're all guilty.

Did you know the more you focus on your flaws the less you see your perfections? Your perfections can be seen in the mirror too!

Why not consider your positive attributes - your perfect lips, your beautiful eyes, your shiny hair and your fantastic smile?

Accept who you are and what you have and leave perfection behind.

You're a beautiful woman!

Source: Meditations for Women

Dancing With the Stars

My daughter and I drove down to Peoria, Illinois this past Sunday for the Dancing With the Stars 2007 Tour. Amanda became a huge fan this past season due to Apolo Anton Ono. The show was great. The dancing was great and the three Joeys (Joey Fatone, Joey Lawrence and Joey McIntrye) were very entertaining. Amanda even got her picture taken with Julianne Huff (Apolo's partner), Edyta Sliwinksa (John Ratzenberger's partner) and Joey McIntrye.

A positive attitude is yours for the making....

There will be times when you find yourself in situations that seem impossible to deal with.

Maybe you are in one, now. Perhaps you're in a dead end job, or a relationship that seems to be going nowhere. Maybe your family is driving you crazy.

Whatever your situation, remember, many women have stook in your shoes. They found a way to overcome obstacles and solve problems. But, how did they do it? They figured out a way to keep a positive attitude through the hardest of times. They did not focus on the gloom, but on the resolutions. If they could do it, so can you.

A positive attitude is yours for the making. Grab it now and turn those bad situations into mere bumps in the road of life.

Here's to the crazy ones....

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." ~ Apple Computer

You're not alone in the journey of life

There’s not a single woman in the world that hasn’t had to struggle with something or overcome difficulties at some point in her life. We all face challenges and adversity.

At this very moment you may be facing one, whether they’re related to money, health, children, partners, family or careers. It’s all part of being alive.

Recognize that obstacles are just part of your journey. Don’t let them stop you and never give up. Instead, think of them as milestones that once passed, will bring you closer to your goals.

Remember that with every challenge passed, you’re a little stronger, a little wiser and more prepared for the rest of your journey.

Talking With Kids About Sex, Love & Character

PART II

A SEXUALLY TOXIC ENVIRONMENT

For both schools and families, the task of teaching sexual wisdom is made much more difficult by the fact that young people today are growing up in a world that pushes sex at them constantly. A mother of an 8th-grader picked up a copy of Teen People magazine for the first time and was "amazed . . . it was page after page of young teens dressed in very provocative ways and in very provocative poses."

The sexualizing of the young and the way it warps their development are evident all around us. A colleague who directs a character education center recounted a conversation with a 13-year-old boy who "spoke enthusiastically about all the pornography he watches with his friends. All kinds of sex—oral sex, anal sex, you name it. He says older kids rent these videos from the adult section of the video stores and then pass them around to the junior high kids. He said he and his friends also play ‘Truth or Dare,’ in which they perform sexual acts on each other."

A 6th-grade girl in a nearby small town told her school counselor she had sex with her boyfriend in 5th-grade and didn’t understand why she was upset afterwards. Through tears she asked the counselor, "Why didn’t someone tell me not to do this?"

A 3rd-grade girl in another small community asked her student teacher if she had watched Beverly Hills 90210 the night before. When the student teacher said no, this 8-year-old said, "Oh, you missed a good one, because Dylan is smoking pot now, and Brandon and Kelly had sex." Beverly Hills 90210 was the favorite show of most of these 3rd-graders.

The educator James Coughlin sums up this scene: "We socialize kids to have sex. No culture in human history has ever done this to its children."