Tips on how to make Valentine’s Day fulfill your expectations.
By Samara Fabrick, LCSW
So you’ve made it through the holidays. Your extended family has gone home; expectations, disappointments, fun and frolic are behind you. Just when you thought you could relax, BAM, here comes Valentine’s Day. For many of us Valentine’s Day is a chance to sit down with our kids to make cards for their classmates, think of fun ways to surprise our honey or have an excuse to eat that box of chocolates. However, for many Valentine’s Day is another opportunity to have a million expectations that are so often dashed by our clueless spouses and our inability to express our wants. Here are a few suggestions to make sure that your Valentine’s Day is a happy one filled with whatever your heart desires. (more…)
I’m a total sucker for holidays. I love decorating, baking, and doing things as a family that reflect the happy spirit of whatever the holiday is for. Valentine’s Day always was THE Hallmark holiday to me, but now that I have kids, I have a whole new perspective on it and it’s even more fun celebrating love. 
Next summer may seem far away, but before you realize it, it will be June and your kids will be out of school. NOW is the time to start thinking about choosing a summer camp for your child. Summer camps help children develop new interests, choose a new direction and make lifelong friends. How do parents decide which is the right program for their child? Here are a few guidelines to help you make a wise choice. 
There comes a time in every gym-goer’s life when she feels the need to shake up her routine. Shuffle the deck. Take a break from the hamster wheel-like doldrums of the treadmill and elliptical machines. The answer to the workout blahs just may lie in a round of cardio tennis — a brilliant blend of cardio class, tennis camp, and the most enjoyable PE class you ever had. Cardio tennis gives you all the heart-pumping workout and the wacky satisfaction of a real tennis game — except that it’s OK if you’re truly terrible and have more chance of hitting the lottery jackpot than hitting the ball. 
It was always a tradition when I was growing up to make holiday cookies come this time of year. I used to love rolling out the sugar cookie and gingerbread dough with my mother, cutting the cookies into fun shapes and then decorating them. I wanted to continue that tradition with Kenya, but the thought of making cookies with tons of sugar didn’t seem like such a good idea (Kenya jumping off the walls at bed time never appeals to me), so we stuck with gingerbread. This recipe does have some sugar, but not a lot. It also contains molasses, which is full or iron, a bonus for kids. Kenya and I didn’t use any icing on these because, in my opinion, they don’t need it, but if you want to put a little piping on them, I included a simple icing recipe. This recipe makes dozens of cookies (more or less, depending on the size of the cookie cutters you use), so you’ll have plenty for friends and your family during the holidays. 
Learning disabilities are problems that affect the brain’s ability to receive process, analyze, or store information. The term Learning Disabilities sounds scary, but actually includes a very broad set of issues that are quite common and diverse, and, most importantly very addressable. The good news is that there is a vast array of resources available to help with learning disabilities. The earlier an issue is identified the better it can be addressed. Detecting and identifying problems can be challenging and navigating all the assessment options can be dizzying. 
Most of what afflicts young children is related to immune function and digestion: colds and the flu, ear aches, belly aches, allergies, asthma and eczema. And since both Western and Chinese medicine agree that the strength of the immune system stems from the health of the digestive system, ultimately it is all about digestion. We are certainly born with some pre-disposing factors that can influence our health, but it is diet and lifestyle that can act as the trigger in most cases.
Fall is in the air. Kids are settled into the rhythm of school and homework. You are once again enjoying the freedom of owning your life from 8 to 3 Monday thru Friday. All is good. And then it hits you, it is “YOUR year” to cook Thanksgiving Dinner.