Toys, books and games are great if you want to give your grandkids an alternative to Easter eggs and keep them entertained at Easter. Some of the following toys can also make great prizes in an Easter egg hunt. Your grandkids will have great fun without overindulging in chocolate and becoming hyperactive and irritable. 1. …
8 Easter Gifts for Grandkids that last longer than Chocolate Read More »
Coronavirus has jolted us off-balance and as many of us have never faced a crisis of this nature before, we don’t know how to respond. For many, a sense of security, safety and certainty has disappeared. Don’t give in to fear We all have assumptions of how life should be and when something as unexpected …
Visiting the South of France has been on my bucket list ever since I read Peter Mayle’s “A Year in Provence”. Little did I know that my sister and her husband would move from South Africa to Cabrespine in France and I would be flying to visit them on the eve of my 62nd birthday. …
It appears that many people over 50 have overcome their initial prejudice about e-books. Many of them already own one or are considering purchasing one. I was one of those who resisted the idea of using an e-reader, despite pressure from my children to buy one. I have loved reading books all my life – …
It may feel as if your life will never be the same after the years of hands-on parenting end. You are right – it won’t ever be the same. It will be quite, quite different. But although it’s different, there are ways in which it can be very rewarding. You have spent years wiping away …
I have the best of both worlds. I spend the week in my empty nest and my 21-year-old daughter comes home from university nearly every weekend. She has the attraction of a boyfriend who lives down the road from me but I don’t care why she comes – I just care that she comes. In …
In Release My Grip, Kami Gilmour shares her own journey and offers encouragement to all of those facing a time when their kids are leaving home and learning to fly. She writes with humour, honesty and insight, offering wisdom that can only come from someone who has learned the hard way about “letting go”. Her …
Feeling mixed emotions when your children leave home is perfectly normal. Even those who thought they would handle the transition with ease may find it is more difficult than they expected. Some grieving is bound to occur. An empty nest often comes at the same time as various other challenges such as caring for ageing …
The book Tools by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels is aptly named as it offers five life tools or techniques to unlock our potential. Phil Stutz is a psychiatrist and Barry Michels a psychotherapist and they have many years of experience between them. At the heart of this book is their belief that we have …
If you are terminally ill or are coming to the end of your life, talking about your wishes for your final months should be part of the process. Nobody really wants to face the idea of planning for death. However, when you have written down your personal preferences and wishes, it lightens the decision-making burden …
When you create a living will, you take responsibility for the manner in which you choose to die. It comes into effect when you are no longer able to voice your own wishes or make your own decisions. Everyone has a legal right to sign a living will (as long as you are older than …
The word ‘whine’ immediately evokes images of a child complaining in an annoying way. Nobody wants to listen to people who whine and complain about their circumstances, no matter how dire. However, I recently came across a blog with the title ‘Stop whining about your empty nest’ in the Huffington Post. I had to write …
Does empty nesting only apply in Western cultures? This question is asked because in many other cultures it is common for adult children to continue living with parents and grandparents. Some research being done in India is very interesting because it shows that parents are going through similar empty nest challenges to their Western counterparts. …
In his book, Love Life, Rob Lowe expresses what he felt when his sons left the nest. He says “I’m trying to remember when I felt like this before. Like an elephant is sitting on my chest, like my throat is so tight and constricted that I can feel its tendons, like my eyes are 100 …
Bringing up children is often an all-consuming, unselfish phase of life. This is why when our children leave home it can be so hard to readjust and settle into the next phase. Some children stay close, taking more and more frequent trips out of the nest, making it somewhat easier for their parents to adjust. …
Many of us know the Khalil Gibran quote “If you love somebody, let them go ….”. We don’t usually think of applying it to letting go of our children as they begin to mature. It is perfectly natural for us to experience some fears and worries when the time comes for them to leave home. …
When your children are small, they usually come home from school with a handmade card or special poem for Mother’s Day. I still have the card my daughter brought home in her first year at school with her tiny hand prints all over it. It said “Sometimes you get discouraged Because I am so small …
I have watched many a fixer upper TV show over the years but HGTV’s show, Fixer Upper, hosted by Chip and Joanna Gaines is one of my favorites. This down-to-earth couple lives in Waco, Texas with their four children, Drake, Ella Rose, Duke and Emmie Kay. Drake, the oldest, is six and Emmie Kay, the …
My empty nest has been full for the holidays. As I sit down to write this, my daughter will soon be returning to university to do her honours in Psychology. She completed her degree at the end of last year, moved out of her flat and came home for a while. My empty nest was …
I found the poem below in a book by Shelley Bovey The Empty Nest: When Children Leave Home. It is a beautiful poem that describes a broken heart – a mother’s pain on parting. It reminded me of an article I read in the Daily Mail written by Maddy Paxman, author of The Great Below. She lost her husband, …
