D Beart

Playful Pet Ideas for Creative Family Fun

Having a pet is one of the most memorable parts of being a child. If you had a dog or cat when you were small you probably know this all too well. Days of running a field, being followed on your walk to school and returning home to see a familiar friend o... Read >

Bringing Home a Baby to Live with Your Existing Pets

So there you are . . . at the pet store or local rescue shelter. Your daughter’s pigtails sway as she rushes to pick out “the one” that makes her heart bounce high. You clench as she passes the golden puppy on the right that has drug his food bowl all acr... Read >

Gender Roles in a Marriage

You’re married now, and suddenly your liberal vision has changed to one that seems to integrate gender roles into your home. Likely, it didn’t happen purposely, but just sort of settled like dust, into the marriage after time of being together. So, how do... Read >

5 Reasons NOT to get Married

At some point in your life, you will feel the pressure to get married. For most people marriage is something that they feel expected to do. But does it make your life or your relationship necessarily better? For some people marriage is the cornerstone o... Read >

4 Simple Ways to Re-Ignite Your Marriage

Remember when the two of you first started out? You couldn’t get enough of each other and spent all of your off time together. Chances are you took wild adventures, had lazy evenings on the couch snuggled up and watching movies, and had plenty of opport... Read >

Pregnancy is the Perfect Time to Consider Working at Home

Some time during pregnancy, it will occur to you. Soon you will have to leave your professional life behind for a few weeks or months in order to raise your baby. Up until the moment it happens, you honestly have no idea how you are going to handle the ... Read >

Raising Step Children

Over the past twenty years, blended families have become part of the societal norm. A mom and dads remarriage can cause a host of issues for the children involved. It seems that every other drama series involves a wicked stepparent who is emotionally to... Read >

When Your Children Drive You Crazy!

At some point, your child will drive you crazy. All the time! In fact, you will have days where you wonder if your child is even yours because you are so different. You will wonder what you have done to deserve the insanity of parenthood and question y... Read >

Too Old to Trick or Treat

At some point, your children will feel like they are too old to trick or treat. Even more complicated is that while they may not want to visit house to house collecting enough candy to last an entire year, they are probably somewhat disappointed about th... Read >

Handling the Stomach Virus

Perhaps one of the most common illnesses your child will catch in their early school years are the hundreds of varieties of stomach viruses. They normally come on very quickly and involve either diarrhea, vomiting or if your really unlucky both. The onl... Read >

Staying in Touch with Family

It can be surprising that no matter how close you and your family have been – things can change over the years. Once you grow up and have a family of your own, life circumstances can often take brothers and sisters, mothers and daughters, fathers and sons... Read >

Helping a Child that Doesn’t Like to Read

In the education system today, reading is more important than ever. Most school districts have programs like Accelerated Reader – that are implemented to award students points (and grades) for reading a certain amount of words. They then take comprehens... Read >

Is that Glass of Wine TOO Much When Breastfeeding

For nine long months, you gave up your body for the sake of your child. You avoided your favorite Cokes, made sure you did not intake too much salt, stayed away from shellfish and resisted that beautiful glass of red wine that you used to enjoy with your... Read >

Helping Kids with Homework

In today’s educational system, homework is becoming more abundant and definitely more important in meeting the curriculum needs. As a parent, it can be frustrating to see your child come home from a full school day, only to have another few hours of work... Read >

Step Families

When mom and dad remarry the blending of the children can be the hardest part. Suddenly, you feel cheated by all those episodes of the Brady Bunch where the kids seemed to get along so perfectly without jealousy and discord. (Except for Cindy of course)... Read >