Give the Gift of Getting Along.
By Jessica Williams
The holidays can be a time of precious memories and great stress. This season, in addition to the presents that light up the faces of your children, you have the opportunity to create peace in your home that will last a lifetime.
What if the best of today’s progressive parenting experts sat in your living room and gave you the advice, comfort and solutions you have been looking for? I have spent the last months conducting video and audio interviews and collecting written contributions from best-selling authors, psychotherapists, educators, PhD and MDs. I designed a program with eight essential parenting themes, and have created eight video compilations from the interviews, so that expert research, science, experience and expertise lies within your grasp in one cohesive program. There is also a downloadable handbook, highlighting action steps you can take with your children to manage day-to-day conflict with new awareness, and to lay the foundation of a healthy connection and attachment that will inform the rest of your days.
As parents, we all want to ensure that our children and loved ones eat healthy, unadulterated food, free of hormones, pesticides and chemicals. But are we as vigilant about the liquids and drinks we ingest? Did you know that there is a hidden chemical in most beverages and liquids we consume, including tap water, the iced tea served by most restaurants, your child’s favorite soup from the local deli, even your glass of red wine? A vast majority of beverages and foods that are made with municipal drinking water in the US will contain a chemical additive called fluoride. If ingested in large amounts, fluoride may be harmful to the body, particularly in children. 
For children, the world is wondrous place filled with new experiences and new challenges. Every parent knows that some life events are more complicated and require more attention and discussion than others. As a mother of three, I came to realize the power of storybooks in helping parents explain new situations to their children. I learned that these books can play an important role in facilitating an honest and open discussion about the issue at hand. Upon seeing the benefits of these storybooks, I decided to launch a website which allowed parents to create customized stories which addressed specific issues that were significant to their child; a place where families could write their own stories. 
There are a lot of questions about whether or not one should prep their child for the all important playdate/entrance exam to private school Kindergarten.
Maple Brined Turkey (Makes 10-12 Servings)
In your arms is the most precious, beautiful bundle of joy you could ever have imagined. You know your heart should be filled with loving warmth, jubilee, and sheer wonder at the little miracle in front of you; BUT, instead, you’re a wreck! You haven’t slept in weeks and you’ve lost your brain and a few other things you can’t remember at the moment. The deep, dark bags under your eyes are reminiscent of the Bride of Frankenstein. You’re completely overwhelmed and leaking from every orifice in your body, especially your eyes…uncontrollable tears are streaming down your face.
Spookie Grilled Cheese: What kid doesn’t love a grilled cheese sandwich. But this one up’s the Halloween anty by cutting out your favorite spooky shape in the middle making the perfect filling meal before the little ones head out for a night full of candy and fun.
You all know the family. The one in which the siblings seem to magically get along, support each other, work well together, and talk through difficult moments with little to no yelling, or homicidal threats. You also know there is a reason you probably only know one family like this. It is a rarity. It doesn’t exist in nature in large numbers. Parents aspire to have that sense of familial calm and sibling cohesion, and may feel that it will always be beyond their reach. Then, a new sibling is brought into the mix, and that aspiration for familial magic seems like an ever-more-distant hope.
Have you unpacked your child’s backpack yet from the last day of school? What does one do with the backpack contents when it’s finally unpacked? With certainty, that stack of artwork the teachers sent home is in there and most moms will simply add it to the pile of artwork collected throughout the years.