Awareness
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Helping Your Family Cope with Robbery
Whether it happens in the middle of the night or while vacationing far away, there are few events that can shatter the comfort of your home as badly as a criminal invasion – especially if it involves violence or an extensive loss of property. No matter the extent of the crime, a robbery can leave you and your entire family feeling lost and violated somewhere where you thought you were safe. Every person responds to tragedy in their own way, and nobody can predict how long emotional recovery from such an event can be. But there are several things you can do to make sure that your family is…
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Money :: Saving On Summer Fun
Saving On Summer Fun Those long, hot, lazy days are just around the corner. Have you planned how your family will spend them? Maybe more importantly, have you figured out the cost of your plans? There are about two months of days to fill during summer time off from school and kids want to be entertained every waking hour. No matter the size of your family, entertainment can be costly. With the average price of a movie ticket around $10 a family of four can expect to pay nearly $100 for a trip to the theater. I chose the movie theater example because it was a lower cost example…
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Three Things to Teach Your Kids About Being Mindful
Three things to teach your kids about being mindful “Mindfulness” is about being in touch with the present moment — paying attention to what is happening now – your thoughts, your feelings and your way of being. Practicing mindfulness is a powerful tool for creating a sense of well-being, for managing stress, and for creating overall good health. Therefore, it is an important skill to teach our kids. There are three things to teach your kids about being mindful: First teach them to look for the “grungies”. Grungies are “negative feelings” such as fear, anxiety, frustration, and worry which often come from thoughts about the past…
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Community :: Honoring Memorial Day
Many of us will be celebrating Memorial Day with our friends and family and enjoying some down time. I plan to relax, pick up a bit (if I am so inspired) and enjoy this time with my family. But I also plan to talk to my daughter in an age-appropriate manner about the true meaning of Memorial Day and why we celebrate the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. We are fortunate that the men in our immediate family who fought in previous wars (WWII Veterans, Vietnam War Veterans) came back home, but it is so very important to honor all those who did…
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Longview World of Wonders Provides Hands-On Discovery
The woman of the twenty-first century often wears many hats. Mine include wife, mom, educator, gardener, leader, volunteer, accountant, chef, planner, story teller, wonder woman and currently, facilities chairman of Longview World of Wonders, a children’s hands-on discovery center in the making. Longview World of Wonders: Over the past four years, LongviewWOW, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, has operated as a museum without walls serving East Texas children and their families in educational and hands-on programming featuring literary works, STEM, dramatic arts, LEGO ™ and more. In a city, in which there is a large population of children in poverty, LongviewWOW hopes to inspire a life-long love of learning…
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Teaching Your Kids About Money
Teaching Your Kids About Money As a bookkeeper I have seen just about every method of saving and spending there is. Everyone has their own way of doing it. But where did they learn how? My mother always tells the story of when I got my first babysitting job at age 12. I took the money I earned and divided it into thirds. I put one third each into a Holiday Savings Account, my regular bank account and into my pocket for spending that week. The following week I took whatever was left in my pocket, added it to what I made and then did my dividing. I was…
