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Stephanie Foster has enjoyed being a stay at home mom since before her children were born. You can learn more about being a stay at home parent at http://www.homewiththekids.com/family/
Mace is one of the original self-defense weapons. And it?s been the best friend of many women, college students, senior citizens, and others who need a portable device to help them fend off would-be attackers. At first thought it is amazing that with all of the new self-defense technologies out there, mace is still around, and as popular as ever. However, it is easy to see why Mace is still such a popular choice for personal safety.
Let?s go back a few steps, and look into the very beginnings of Mace as an essential self-defense weapon. Mace is actually a consumer version of tear gas, the old pal of police officers who would use the noxious agent to stop riots and put would-be bad guys (and sometimes rowdy college students) on the ground and out of commission. Considering its industrial-strength chemical agents were designed for use with the police, Mace is a very able self-defense tool in most situations.
But Mace isn?t perfect. It works, by irritating the mucous membranes of a person?s eyes, nose and throat, causing them to tear, run and otherwise flare up with pain. They may get a headache, feel dizzy and have tightness in their chest. What isn?t this perfect you ask? Well, as many cops have found out, if someone is high on drugs, drunk off his rocker or even completely out of his mind, he won?t tend to feel pain. No pain means no gain if you are using Mace.
That could put you, an average American citizen, in a very tight bind if you are attacked by someone and the Mace doesn?t work. For a cop, this problem isn?t such a big deal, because they?re also armed with things like a billy club and gun. But for us, we generally have one self-defense weapon, and if that doesn?t work, we could be in for it.
Enter the next generation of Mace products, including products like Mace Pepper Spray and Mace Pepper Foam. These products come with the original Mace tear gas chemicals in them, but they also have hot pepper mixed in, called oleoresin capsicum. It is the same chemical, in effect, that causes hot peppers and fiery salsa to burn your tongue and get your sweating. But in the case of Mace, this capsicum, or OC for short, is super concentrated.
Instead of just causing someone pain and tearing eyes, OC causes a person to stop and drop. It is an inflammatory, instead of just an irritant. OC causes eyes, nose, and throat to burn. An attacker?s throat swells to the point where he can only cough and can barely breathe. Their eyes swell so shut that they cannot see out of them. In fact, the blood vessels in their actual eye balls swell so much that the person goes temporarily blind. Problems with their eyes may make them loose their balance and the lack of oxygen will hopefully stop them from being able to run after you.
In other words, no one is able to fight through the effects of OC. An attacker has no choice but to feel the heat, and leave you alone. It is this combination of old-fashioned tear gas and OC, in an easy to use and easy to carry form that makes today?s Mace the new friend of everyday citizens everywhere.
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Victoria Lee is the Director of Marketing for Safety Chest. Safety Chest carries a complete line of mace for your personal protection. For more information about Safety Chest please visit http://www.safetychest.com.
More and more grandparents are caring for grandkids these days and well one has to ask if that is really fair, because it seems that the grandparents although responsible also need their own peace and quite and deserve a somewhat less problematic family situation at home. Raising kids and teens in this current up and coming generation is not similar to back then and kids have so many different needs, desires and complications.
September 10, 2006 is National Grandparents day and well they deserve their own day indeed. It is estimated that over six million kids and teens live with their grandparents on a permanent basis and that is huge number considering there are nearly sixty million grandparents still living in the present period. In fact that number will only grow due to the fact people are living longer too. It use to be that grandparents were living with one of their offspring in old age, but now more grandchildren are starting to live with their grandparents instead?
It would seem that we need to give these grandparents an award for all they do. Because if you consider grandparents taking on the responsibility of kids on a fixed income then you have to consider the lessening of their quality of life as well. This sacrifice should be rewarded and people should not have kids unless they can afford them. We have to stop and take a look at how all this is progressing and how it changes the American way of life and what those demographic shifts mean for the future of our civilization. Consider all this in 2006.
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‘Lance Winslow’ - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington
January 26, 2008
We recently started to play board games on a regular basis in our family. Even I was surprised how great of a time everyone involved is having. Not only was it a lot of fun to play board and card games, but we also got to chat about our day and anything else that?s going on in our busy lives.
How do you start your own game night? It doesn?t have to be complicated at all. Start by picking one night a month that everyone will be at home. If you have busy teens in the house, you may want to let them know about a week ahead of time that you expect them to stay in that night. With younger kids it?s usually just a matter of finding a night without soccer or swimming practice and your husband doesn?t have a late meeting or bowling night with the guys.
Choose some games ahead of time and make sure all the game pieces are complete. You don?t want to find out that you can?t play monopoly, because someone took all the little houses out of the box years ago. Think about what games you have around the house and take a look at what shape they are in. When it comes time to choose the actual games, keep all players in mind. If you have younger children, you may want to start with games like memory, Candyland or Go Fish. Older kids may enjoy the game of life, mystery or card games. Choose at least one game that each family member will really like to make sure everyone is having a good time.
Of course board and card games aren?t your only options when it comes to family game night. Younger children will enjoy simple games like ?Simon Says? and of course charades are always a favorite. Other ideas are hangman, tick-tac-toe and ?I Spy?. I?m sure once you start playing some of these games, you?ll remember some other old time favorites.
Get some sack foods like chips, popcorn and pigs in a blanket for everyone to munch on while you are playing. You could even fix a few different types of appetizers and skip dinner. Grab some ice and a few different sodas and you are all set for game night.
Pick a comfy spot for your game night. The kitchen table usually works well for board games, but your living room coffee table may work as well. You can even throw a few pillows on the living room floor and hang out there to play games.
That?s all there?s too it. Just get everyone playing and see for yourself what a great time you can have with game night. They?ll be ready for more next month, or you could even make it a weekly event. What a great way to reconnect with your family and enjoy each other?s company.
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For more great activities for you and your kids as well as craft ideas and parenting tips join our free newsletter at http://www.kinderinfo.com/newsletter
January 25, 2008
The fact remains that everyone fears growing old. And all want to age gracefully. However, it is difficult to face old age in grace when medical conditions affect your taken-for-granted ability to function in daily situations. Bladder control and bowel control are two bothering problems that plague many of our older citizens who have few other health issues to face. They also plague those who already do. Adult diapers are a welcomed solution to the dilemma. However it is difficult to find a company which provides good products and values the person?s privacy as well.
Not everyone who requires adult diapers is suffering from dementia or other mental conditions associated with aging that make the individual unaware of the events that are taking place around him. Hence the adult diaper-user cares a lot about how his use of diapers may affect his image in other people’s eyes. Family members may also want to keep their loved one?s condition private for any number of reasons.
Of course, many people are not bothered by what other people think. They will proudly walk into any store, buy adult diapers and join the crowded queue at the cashier under the public’s critical eyes without a second thought. This is admirable but it is not always the case among our vain, image-conscious population. Many of us would prefer that our adult diapers be sent directly to our homes in a discreet manner.
Discreet is the key term in this case. The last thing on earth that I want to find sitting on my front porch is a big box that has Adult Diapers written across the package in bold, bright-colored letters. It may seem a little paranoid, but I do like to keep certain things confidential. Coping with bladder or bowel control problems is difficult enough, let alone it being common knowledge or gossip topic of the entire sharp-nosed neighborhood. I like to stand straight and take my afternoon walks in the park in stride.
I finally found a company that will deliver adult diapers right to my doorstep in an acceptable, discreet manner. The packaging is low-key and there is absolutely no mention of the actual contents of the package, which is greatly appreciated by many customers. It is also applauded by many of the customers? loved ones who don?t want their grandfather to be remembered for ages as the adult diaper guy on the block.
There are two types of adult diapers offered by this thoughtful company. Both are disposable but the first resembles a baby diaper and is usually used for more severe cases of bladder and bowel control problems. The second is a pull up that function just like a regular undergarment. The latter is preferred for adult diapers by many high-functioning elderly citizens who want to maintain their independence as well as their dignity.
Caring for an aging loved one is the greatest gift you can provide for them. Your compassion and time are so very valuable to your elderly relative. A little thing like discretion when it comes to issues like adult diapers will prove your thoughtfulness as well as your love. Never make your aged loved ones feel like a crying baby even when they occasionally behave like one.
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John Wellington provides readers with up-to-date commentaries, articles, and reviews for health, skin care and other related information.
January 24, 2008
In Proverbs 12:4, the Bible says an excellent wife is like a crown to her husband and a shameful one is compared to rotten bones. What could this possibly mean?
‘If a good wife is like a crown, it means that she does not fight and yell all the time,’ says Morgan, age 8. ‘But a disgraceful wife is like a disease in his bones means that she is always fighting and yelling.’
In Morgan’s interpretation, the husband gets crowned sometimes or all the time. Of course, I’m speaking of the kind of crowning that occurs when flying household objects strike the head. This interpretation calls for boxing headgear worn by the husband at all times.
‘This proverb means to me that a good wife is like God, and the bad wife is like the devil,’ says Josh, 11. ‘A good wife is like God because she makes sure everything is right and good, and makes everyone happy. A bad wife is like the devil because she does not care what you look like when you come out of the house. She also doesn’t care what you eat, and one day, everyone will be unhappy.’
Frankly, I would expect something a little more sinister from a wife who acts like the devil, but I’m not the one wearing wrinkled clothes and eating bad food every day.
‘If you are a good wife to your husband, you would have a crown like a queen, and your husband would be crowned as king,’ says Meghan, 10. ‘But that’s only if you are generous and act nice toward your husband.?
The excellent wife being her husband’s crown relates to his reputation, says Trey, 11: ‘It means that a wife can have a great effect on a husband’s image.’
‘A good wife makes the husband look good,’ adds Andrew, 11. ‘A good wife can keep a family straight in the will of God! A bad wife is like a disease to her husband by not doing what the Lord says to do.’
This idea of a wife enhancing her husband’s reputation is echoed in the famous Proverbs 31 text where it reads, ‘Her husband is known in the gates’ (Proverbs 31:23). Sitting among the elders in the city gates of the ancient world could be equivalent to serving on the city council or a prominent board.
The Hebrew word for ‘excellent’ as in the excellent wife of Proverbs 12:4 is the same word translated ‘virtuous’ as in the virtuous wife of Proverbs 31:10. It’s the same kind of woman in both texts.
‘A good wife honors her husband so that he takes pride in her, just like a crown,’ says Karoline, 11. ‘A disgraceful wife does not bring her husband pride and joy. She only brings problems. It’s not right to divorce her, so the wife needs to act better. We should all try to honor Christ first.’
The Apostle Paul unveiled a mystery about marriage in his New Testament letter to the Ephesians (5:22-33). Christian marriage parallels the union between Christ and his bride, the church. Just as the church is subject to Christ, a wife is to be subject to her husband ‘in everything,’ the text says. Also, the husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church and ‘gave himself for her.’
Think about this: Marriage is not a 50/50 proposition. It’s 100/100 percent. A woman can be an excellent wife even if her husband is a pain, and vice versa. Trust God by submitting to him 100 percent without a thought of receiving anything in return, and see what happens.
Memorize this truth: ?An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones? (Proverbs 12:4).
Ask this question: Does your husband wear a crown?
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Carey Kinsolving is a syndicated columnist, producer, author, speaker and website developer. To see Carey’s Kid TV Interviews and more, visit http://www.KidsTalkAboutGod.org/ The Kids Talk About God website contains free, online content for children and families. Print free lessons from the ‘Kids Color Me Bible’ and make your own book. Watch for free the adventures of an 11-year-old girl traveling around the world, visiting missionaries in the Mission Explorers Streaming Video. Print Bible pictures drawn by kids that illustrate Scripture verses. Receive a complimentary, weekly e-mail subscription to our Devotional Bible Lessons. Bible quotations in this column are from the New King James Version.
Copyright 2006 Carey Kinsolving
Happy Halloween
Halloween is such a fun holiday, especially for kids. My family loves a good haunted house. But have you ever noticed how most haunted houses are all about blood and gore, and are much too frightening for children? Who wants their kids viewing torture chambers and beheaded zombies? In my opinion, those things really don?t have much to do with Halloween.
I really wanted to have a haunted house that was all about Halloween - witches, ghosts, pumpkins, bats, etc. So about 7 years ago we started building a kid-friendly haunted house in our garage, which is a HUGE hit every year. Our house is the most popular in the neighborhood on Halloween, and every year we get more and more visitors. Our haunted house includes fun Halloween scenes which kids of all ages can enjoy. (The parents seem to enjoy it too!)
We change the haunted house around every year, and each year we add a little more. Here are some scenes from last year?s haunted house.
Entrance/first hallway: Haunted Forest - Fog machine, scary trees with blinking eyes, strobe light, flying ghost, and a talking witch with cauldron.
Second hallway: Black light, green spider web with skeleton and spider, pirate scene with hanging sword that moves via a pulley.
Third hallway: Lit up coffin with smiling mummy, and a graveyard scene with a ghost that rises up and down.
Last hallway: Pumpkin patch including pumpkin with blinking eyes, full moon, scarecrow.
Exit: Hauntville scene ? display of haunted houses, ghost on black light that goes up and down.
Tips
Start planning your scenes well before Halloween. Although the first year we did it, we put the whole thing up two days before Halloween. We only had three scenes, and just used decorations we had around the house. We have certainly expanded since then.
Start building the haunted house about one - two weeks prior to Halloween. You want to have everything ready to go the day before Halloween.
To make non-moving things move, we use fish line and drape it over a beam on the garage ceiling. Then we pull the string when someone walks by. This is how we make the ghost rise above the tombstone, and make the sword by the pirate move.
We have also purchased several props that move by themself. We have a ghost that flys back and forth, and a skeleton that rises up and down by itself.
For easy walls, we just use plastic tarp which is very inexpensive from someplace like Target or Walmart.
Some of our props are homemade. We took several boxes and made them into haunted houses. We cut out windows and put flickering table top strobe lights in them for an eerie effect. We also put miniature posable skeletons around the haunted houses as well. We call this area Hauntville. These types of projects are great for kids - they can certainly help out with making things for your haunted house.
Lastly, remember to have your kids invite all the kids in their class. It makes your kids feel kind of special.
Watch a video of my haunted house at www.hauntedhouseforkids.com
Happy Haunting!
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www.hauntedhouseforkids.com
January 21, 2008
I?m sure the answer you have to this question is probably yes. You feel like your home mail box has been invaded on a daily basis with lots of unwanted mail you just can?t seem to stop! It just keeps piling up in your mail box.
You say to yourself, I?ve been able to stop lots of the junk mail coming to my email address because of the anti-spam policy on the internet, but, that does not affect the mail coming to my home. It?s almost like the junk mail you were getting on the internet is now coming to your home mailbox. And lets not forget that if you?ve placed your telephone number on the do not call list, that this may have upset some of the companies that are trying to market to you. So, it appears that the new tactic of the current day is to pile it on in your home mailbox.
Do you find yourself going through tons of mail on a weekly basis and using your shredder like your life depended on it? What about when you?re looking to find your important mail and you?re having to carefully sift through the junk mail so you don?t accidentally trash that check you?ve been waiting for! Doesn?t that irritate you that your mailbox is being invaded with advertising mailers that you haven?t asked for? You even try to call your post office to find out what you can do. You find out there?s really nothing you can do but accept all of the junk mail that piles up in your mailbox until you sort through it!
And by the way, if you plan on going on vacation or out of town for more than a week, you better make sure you either contact the post office to hold your mail or have a humongous mailbox to hold all of the mail you?ll be receiving while you?re gone. You probably already know that the majority of the mail you?ll have when you come back from vacation, is mail from advertisers that you probably don?t want.
What can I do to reduce or eliminate the amount of junk mail I am receiving in my home mailbox? Well, there are a few things you can do to reduce the amount of junk mail you receive at home. Just keep in mind that you?ll probably receive some junk mail, but, not as much as you have been. You may want to consider doing the following:
1) Send a letter to the following company to request that your name and address listed on all mailing lists and databases be removed: Direct Marketing, P.O. Box 643, Carmel, NY. 10512-0643. This should stop some of the advertising mailers you receive for at least five years. After that, you?ll probably want to send them another letter requesting the same as you have before.
2) Consider sending letters to the advertisers directly which are sending you the mailings and request to have your name and address removed from their mailing lists. The members of your household may want to do this as well if they are receiving unwanted mail.
This information should assist you with reducing the amount of unwanted mail you receive in your mailbox. Hopefully, you?ll eventually be able to go to your mailbox and actually get to the real mail that you?ve been waiting for, without having to sift through tons of mail that you don?t want. You?ll be happier when you can do this. I know I am!
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Nocita Carter is a writer and web designer that creates websites providing informative tips on various subject matter including personal finance tips on your personal finances at http://www.personal-finance-tips-for-you.com; dating tips at http://www.mydating-tips.com and your choice of ebooks at http://www.ebook-corner-for-you.com
We all know that not all parents are created equal. Some are good parents and some are bad parents. But good and bad parenting are results of both conscious and unconscious choices. Why so? That’s because good parents made it their choice to learn beneficial ways and methods in parenting. Perhaps they have a good upbringing as well. However, does that mean bad parents are bad by their own choice? Nothing can be further from the truth. Bad parents do also feel that they can do better and often times, they too want to be loved and adored by their children. Often times, their inability to make the transition in becoming a better parent is because they feel overwhelmed by their personal situations.
One of the major things that causes bad parenting is bad parenting. I know that sounds a bit odd but read carefully. Imagine a child growing up in a poorly managed family. I don’t mean poor as in destitute but as in poor methods of parenting. Their children will learn to become the parents they so despise. When they are young, they were already being programmed to become the parents they so dislike. Therefore, when they grow up, they too become the clone of their own parents. A total MIRROR IMAGE. Which is why, in some cases, breaking that mirror is simply a must.
Now how do you do that? Well, here are ways to go about breaking that mirror. This is best done before marriage and before deciding to have children. Always ask yourself first. What kind of parent do I want to be? What kind of a leader do I want to be for my child? Do I want he or she to go through some of the unpleasant circumstances I was born into? If I am my child, what kind of family do I want to be born into? With these questions, it will bring light to what sort of a parent you desire to become.
After knowing what you want, it is still impossible to break the mirror as you do not know how to do it. this is the time you consult your 6 best friends on earth. Namely: Why, Who, How, What, When and Where.
For example, if your situation is your own bad temper, then ask the following questions:
1) Why do I want to change and eliminate my bad temper?
2) Who do I seek help from to deal with my temper problems?
3) How can I get the most benefit from the people I seek help from?
4) What techniques should I apply to make myself calm down during a temper?
5) When to apply the best technique for temper control for the best results?
6) Where can I find more resources related to my problem?
With these 6 best friends by your side, you are on your way to breaking that old mirror image of the bad parenting traits your parents may have left in you. You will be able to break free from the ill effects of bad parenting and begin a good and happy family of your own. Of course, anything good requires effort for maintenance. Always remember, your journey to good parenting and break all mirrors will be life long and that you will need to always work closely with your 6 best friends from time to time. Good luck and may you be happy always!
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infohub2006.blogspot.com/
presents you with the (HOW, WHAT and WHO) of good parenting, do visit us for
more info and resources! Remember,
Good Parenting is a choice.
January 18, 2008
The time has come to leave the place you have been living for the some time now and travel back home. Whether you have finished a degree or your job placement abroad was just terminated, the process of having to pack everything up and transfer them and yourself to your old room back home is never easy.
Being a graduate student in a foreign country for the last couple of years, I have found myself, more frequently that I would like to admit, to miss my old room, my mother’s cooking, my father’s advice, my cat sleeping on my lap, my house. From the furniture to that movie I have stored somewhere in the living room, my house ’smells’ familiar everywhere I decide to look when I visit my home-country. Needless to say, when time comes for me to leave again, although I am excited to come back to my beloved apartment here in the ‘other’ land, something seems impossible for me to leave behind; the memories of where I grew up.
Everything I do now I love doing. I so lucky that I am not anywhere I do not wish to be nor do I suffer from being homesick that often. I am just concerned with the fact that although I love my parent’s house and I am always unhappy that I will not be able to see them anytime soon, I have come to a ‘weird’ realization. My life now goes forward in another country. I am not feeling trapped or unable to do otherwise. I really enjoy the time I am spending in this foreign country and I will dare to admit that it has somehow become my ‘new’ cherished home. My apartment, my friends, my truly incredible professors, my studies, my happy or unhappy memories, everything has made me evolve and become the person my folks see whenever I visit the house I grew up. Whether I want to admit to myself or not, the only thing that I miss is people. Friends or family would be silly for me to think that I can replace, but the things that I once seemed to cherish so, have already been replaced in my heart. I would love to have my CD collection available, or my beautiful couch to sit on and watch a movie, but regardless of their presence I will continue having a wonderful time and experiencing life as I should.
What I am trying to say is the following. Although we tend to associate our home with the house we grew up in, which in many cases is where our parents still live, home is actually where our hearts belong. Perhaps in another graduate student’s case, home would actually be another house, country, or continent, but for me, I recently realized, home is where my mind travels when it wants to think of something relaxing. The last three times that happened, home was my ‘new’ place. Hopefully, by the time I will have to go back, I will be glad I experienced my stay here in such a positive way. I wish you all the same.
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