The Gifts We Give Our DogsWritten by Carolyn Schweitzer
Whoever coined phrase, "It's a Dog's Life" wasn't familiar with 21st century dogs. Time was when average canine slept outside, ate whatever scraps of food were tossed his way, and if he was lucky, was thrown occasional bone. He was even expected to earn his keep! Times have changed. As world has grown more affluent, so have our pets. We're obsessed with keeping our canine companions happy, healthy, and properly accessorized. So much so that many of us worry about our own welfare less than that of our dog. This didn't happen overnight-- trend started decades ago. Take, for example, my grandmother Rose. During 60's and 70's, Rose and Henry discovered cruise vacations. On every cruise, whenever they pulled into port to "shop", Rosie made it her mission to find stray dogs and feed them. She'd head straight for butcher, buy a few pounds of fresh meat, and comb islands for hungry and homeless. She would exclaim, "It's a crime way these animals live!"-- in spite of fact that people of those islands were desperately poor! Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not passing judgment on Grandma, or anyone else. I spoil my pets as much as next guy or gal, and take immense pleasure in it. Truth be told, I'd rather hang out with my dog than with a whole lot of people I know. We share a special bond, my best friend and I. Hey, admit it... lots of you feel same way! The fact is, man has always had a close relationship with animals, and has enjoyed having pets around for companionship. Having a pet can bring great pleasure into our lives, and is believed to have a therapeutic effect on owner. For empty nesters and those who've delayed or opted out of having kids, pets almost take place of children. We bond with our pets especially because they don't judge us. Dogs in particular offer kind of unconditional love we all crave. They're always thrilled to have us around! So, how do we spoil our pets? Probably in much same way that we spoil our children! Aside from all of care attention lavished on America's pets, a tremendous amount of money is spent providing goods and services that were once deemed a luxury-- but are now considered essential. Today's dog sees vet for regular checkups. She eats premium dog food and munches on gourmet doggie treats, is enrolled in obedience classes, and runs agility courses. She has her own collections of toys, clothing, and possibly even dog jewelry and canine cologne. She sleeps indoors on a luxury orthopedic bed and takes shelter outdoors in her cedar dog house. She wears a safety harness when riding in family car, a reflective vest on hunting trips, and rain gear in foul weather. She can even dodge UV rays with a pair of doggie sunglasses. Her responsibilities are few. I could go on (don't worry, at some point I will!). But one of most notable signs that we regard our dogs as members of our family is fact that we buy them gifts. A dog gift for holidays, a dog gift for a special occasion, or a dog gift to show our appreciation for how much our dogs appreciate us. Any reason will do. Heck, we even wrap our dog gifts! Here are some very interesting statistics regarding gifts for pets:
| | What Parents Should Do For Children To Do Their Best After Divorce?Written by Ruben Francia
Why do some children still do best after divorce and separation? Is there divorce parenting approaches that really work? Read and learn divorce parenting approaches that really work.Going through process of divorce is a challenging life transition for both parents and children. During their parents' divorce, children often feel a wide variety of conflicting emotions. It is very important for parents to provide their children with understanding and support. Overall, children who do best after divorce and separation are those whose parents dominantly employ 5 divorce parenting approaches. They: 1. Listen to children and nurture an independent and empathic relationship with each of them. 2. Fully support children's relationships with other parent making them feel loved and wanted in both homes. 3. Develop positive strategies for setting limits and imposing appropriate discipline. 4. Continue to hold reasonably high expectations for children, regardless of trying circumstances. 5. Shield children from their parental disagreements and resentments. Each of above is presented here below in great detail. 1. Listen to children and nurture an independent and empathic relationship with each of them. To better help our children we must first understand them. To be able to understand them completely, we need to listen and create an environment favorable for them to speak out. To make things happen, you need to: · Encourage your children to talk about how they feel. Let your children know that they can openly talk to you about their feelings of your separation or divorce. · Keep lines of communication open and answer all questions about changes. Make sure your children feels like they can ask you questions and get answers about why divorce happened and what to expect. · Convey that you are genuinely interested in their input. This will make your children feel they are participating in contributing to process of recovering from divorce. 2. Fully support children's relationships with other parent making them feel loved and wanted in both homes. Research tells us that children benefit from keeping familial ties in their life that were meaningful and important to them prior to divorce. Of these familial ties, most important are child-parent ties. Remember that divorce does not end children's need for parents or it ends your role as parent. You should: · Recognize that for your child to have best chance of growing up to be a functional human male or female, he/she will need both parents as role models and nurturers. This means that there should be some pathway of getting through to child whatever good that parent has to offer. · Respect your child's needs to have both parents there for them, without having them worry that they are going to die of embarrassment if you both start to fight in public. Encourage other parent to stay involved in children's school and extra-curricular activities. · Allow children to enjoy time that they spend with each parent. Encourage your children to spend good times with other parent. Don't be jealous or upset, as children do not want to take sides and love one parent more than other. · Help your children and ex-spouse have a successful relationship as just as you would help your children to succeed in school or sports. Remember that your ex-spouse is an important part of your child's life. Just like you, your children have a shared history with this person as well as present and future. 3. Develop positive strategies for setting limits and imposing appropriate discipline. Often after a divorce parents will either become stricter or more lenient. Some parents feel like other parent is letting child get away with everything; therefore, they attempt to enforce discipline across both homes. Other parents do not want to spend limited time they have with their child punishing them and tend to be too lenient. It can be difficult for children when their parents have drastically different rules and expectations. To give child a sense of stability and security, you should do following:
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