by Margaret Paul, Ph.D.

When we think of giving gifts, we usually think of things to buy for people. Yet if you think back on gifts you’ve been given, it might not be the material gifts you received that are foremost in your mind – it might be the kind of gifts that deeply touched your heart and soul. It might be various ways, other than material things, that people expressed their love to you.

There are five gifts of love that we can give to our families that can make a huge difference in their lives.

The Gift of Caring and Compassion
We all yearn to feel cared for, yet many of us withhold caring and compassion for others. A profound gift we can give to our loved ones is to listen with our heart, to understand and accept rather than to judge, and to stay open to learning rather than to protect against being hurt.

Think about the last time someone actually listened to you and gave you understanding and acceptance. The feeling of being understood and accepted with caring and compassion is one of the best feelings in the world. Instead of focusing on getting this from others, why not focus on giving it to others? You might be surprised at how wonderful you feel in giving this gift to your family.

The Gift of Courage
One of the best gifts we can give our loved ones is our own courage. This means being having the courage to stand in our truth, to be honest about what we want and don’t want, what we will do and won’t do, what is and what is not acceptable to us. It means having the courage to take good care of ourselves, even if others don’t like it. It means not succumbing to our controlling behaviors that come from fear: anger, withdrawal, compliance, resistance, but instead being honest and above-board about ourselves. It means being willing to face conflict rather than give ourselves up to avoid it.

When we have the courage to face conflict and tell the truth, we not only provide our family with a role model for courage, but we provide opportunities for our loved ones to step up to the plate in the face of our truth and learn to be courageous too.

The Gift of Service
We are on this planet to learn to love ourselves and each other, and to help each other. One of the best gifts we can give our family is to role model this by doing service. Helping others fills the heart and soul in ways that nothing else can. If children do not see their parents doing service and helping others, they may never learn the great joy and fulfillment that comes from giving. One of the best gifts we can give to our family is to provide ways of doing service.

The Gift of Creativity
All of us are born with various ways of expressing our creativity. Expressing creativity is a profound way of connecting with Spirit, since expressed creativity is a direct expression of Spirit. Providing your family with many ways of expressing their creativity is a great gift. Creativity can be expressed in so many ways – cooking, crafts, building things, music, art, movement, telling stories, writing, humor, photography and video – the possibilities are endless! Creative family projects are especially wonderful in creating family closeness.

The Gift of Lightness of Being
Lightness of being – fun, joy, laughter, playfulness – is a great gift to give to others. Lightness of being is infectious – our laughter and playfulness can help others take life less seriously and “lighten up.”

Lightness of being is one the results of all the other gifts – of caring, courage, service and creativity. When we give these gifts, we feel a wonderful lightness within, the lightness that is the result of fully giving from the heart. Our own lightness of being can bring lightness into our whole family. Children love it when their parents are playful, funloving and joyful. Laughing together as a family is one of the most precious experiences in life.

We need to focus of giving these gifts each day, not just during a holiday season or special occasions. These gifts are far more important than any material thing we can buy for someone. In fact, we might not be so focused on material gifts if we frequently give the gift of love – of caring, compassion, courage, service, creativity, and lightness of being.

About The Author
Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You? She is the co-creator of a powerful healing process called Inner Bonding. Learn Inner Bonding now! Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: www.innerbonding.com or margaret@innerbonding.com. Phone sessions available.

by Deborah Shelton

Family meetings provide opportunities for feelings to be aired and validated. They also allow younger children to feel they are an important part of the decision-making process when it comes to family vacations and other major and minor family functions.

Before the first meeting commences, set a few ground rules such as:

• Speak in a calm tone.
• Avoid name-calling, finger-pointing, and sarcasm.
• Turn off the TV, radio and telephones.
• Allow each person to voice his or her concerns and ideas.
• Listen to all opinions before making a decision.
• If a person voices a complaint, they must also bring to the table at least one possible remedy to the situation.

Locations for future family meetings may also be brainstormed at the first meeting. Here are a few examples:

Circle Time
Very simply, sit on the floor together, in a circle. Designate an object as a “talking token”. This can be a small stuffed animal, a necklace to be worn, a hat, or any other item that will be passed around. Whoever holds the talking token may speak. Once they are finished, they must pass the token to the next person.

Restaurant Rendezvous
Take turns choosing a favorite restaurant to host your family meetings. For this option, choose an afternoon or evening in the middle of the week, or at off-peak times, to avoid heavy crowds. End the meeting before dessert arrives, so everyone can indulge their sweet tooth happily.

Hobby Haven
I know of several families who hold their meetings at places that cater to their favorite hobbies. For instance, one family conducts their meeting at a bowling alley. Once the meeting is over, they enjoy bowling together. Another family combines their gathering with their love of books, by meeting at a café in their favorite bookstore. And yet another family I know holds their weekly meeting after a joyful round of put-put golf. This option combines family communication and fun.

However, and wherever, your family decides to host the meetings, remember this all-important point: Always end each meeting with a hug!

About The Author
Deborah Shelton is a mother, freelance writer, and author of the brand new book, The Five Minute Parent: Fun & Fast Activities for You and Your Little Ones. Visit Deborah’s website for more family-friendly ideas: www.fiveminuteparent.com.
deborah@fiveminuteparent.com

by Kimberly Hargis

Age 1: Invite only family members and close friends only because this birthday is more for the parents than for the child. At age 1, a child doesn’t understand the concept of “Birthday Party.” He or she is getting a lot of attention—which is all a 1-year-old wants or understands anyway. You should not go overboard on presents because too much could scare or confuse a child. You should consider getting specialty items such as a plate that says “First Birthday,” a 1-year-old candle, and possible a table cover that everyone could sign with fabric paint to have as keepsakes that can someday be shown (or given to) to your grown child.

Age 2: 2-years-olds should have one or two playmates over for a small Birthday Play Day. Again I suggest you keep a birthday plate and other keepsakes for your 2-year-old.

Age 3: 3-year-olds should have three to four playmates over, and at this age you might have try a birthday game such as “Who can stack the blocks the highest?” I do not recommend having a clown or playing any games that require a blindfold over a child’s eyes such key due to the fact either can scare children at this age. Remember your child has just turned 3, and the playmates are around that age. They are still not able to understand fully structured games very well. They only know if they do something good or better than other children, everyone will give them attention. Again I suggest you collect keepsakes.

Age 4: At 4, children should now be ready for a “real” party. I suggest four or five playmates. 4-year-olds are ready now for party decorations, but I suggest you do less and save your money for the big number “5” birthday (or buy decorations that you can put away and use again). Games such as Musical Chairs, and carrying a hard boiled egg on a spoon to the finish line without dropping it relay race can be appropriate, but remember that games will be played and finished much sooner than you think. Consider having a few of your child’s favorite videos on hand. Even if the kids have seen them 100 times, they will enjoy them. After an hour or so, you will probably need a break and the children might be cranky. A movie they are all spellbound by will be a great way to relax the kids and you. You might want to consider spreading a couple of blankets on the floor and have some pillows handy for sleepyheads!

Age 5: 5-year-olds should have a big party, but remind them that this is because they are the big “5,” and either starting school or just in school, and having a “big” party will not happen every year. Explain to them that big parties are only for special birthdays such as 5 because they have started or are starting school, 10 because that is the first double-digit number, and of course 16 (“Sweet 16” for girls and “Driving Age” for boys). This will save you money in the long run. On the fifth birthday, I suggest you first decide if you want to do it yourself, rent a building or park area but still do it yourself, or call local businesses (like McDonalds) to see what party-planning packages they offer. I personally suggest renting a park area if weather permits because the kids will be just as happy playing on park equipment as they would if you spent a ton of money on a professionally planned party. Have several inexpensive disposable cameras on hand and let your Birthday Boy or Girl take pictures of his or her first “big” party!

Great games for 5-year-olds whether inside or outside are:

By Chick Moorman and Thomas Haller

International Parenting Commitment Day, March 20th is fast approaching. What do you have planned to celebrate this special day? Are you ready to commit or recommit to the sacred and important role of parenting so you can uplift, encourage, and inspire your children to become responsible, caring, confident people?

Please consider joining with millions of parents around the world who are making a commitment to parent with purpose. To celebrate International Parenting Commitment Day with your family consider implementing one of the following celebrations/rituals.

Commitment Celebrations

Pledge night
Convene a family meeting. Propose that the family design a pledge that reflects your belief that feelings of oneness and a sense of belonging are important in your family. Include the importance of placing family first, honoring each other’s uniqueness, and the security of family structure somewhere in your pledge. Allow all family members to have input by inviting suggestions and reaching a mutual consensus on the pledge. Display your pledge prominently in your home.

Principles of work
Create a poster to display at you work site. Include beliefs you have about how you want to “BE” during your work time. Include items such as treat others with respect, listen to other’s ideas, encourage others, and keep confidences private. Put at least 10 items on your Principles of Work. At the top add, SUCCEED AT HOME FIRST. Share your work principles with your family.

Goal setting evening
After your children are in bed for the evening, set some family goals with you spouse. Pick two or three to focus on for the upcoming year. With each goal you choose, list activities you can do that will help you move in the direction of accomplishing it.

Example:
Goal: Use self-responsible language with our children.
Activities:

1. Eliminate the words “Makes me” from our language patterns. Change “You make me mad,” to “I am feeling angry about this.”
2. Use the words “choose/decide/pick” over and over with our children. We will say, “I see you chose to help your brother,” and “If you choose to throw the toy you will be choosing to give it a rest on the shelf for awhile.”
3. We will stop “shoulding” on our children. We intend to replace our “shoulds” with “coulds.”

Balloon release
Buy two helium filled balloons. Write several parenting concerns on file cards that have troubled you recently. Also fill file cards with parenting stressors, situations that you create stress around with your children (loud radios, poor table manners, etc). Attach the cards to the balloon strings. Go outside, say a prayer asking God to take your stress and concerns and handle it in a way that achieves the greatest good for all concerned. Communicate your desire to be free of stress. Take a few deep breaths. Release the balloon, you concerns, and your stress into the air. Watch as the balloons carry your problems away. Feel lighter after having let go of all that stress.

Warm-fuzzy clothesline
A warm-fuzzy is a compliment (written or verbal) that is given to another person. Why not begin a warm-fuzzy clothesline in you home? Have each family member decorate clothes pins in their own image and write their names on them. Hang them on a clothesline that you place in a prominent spot in your home (kitchen or den wall). Use the clothespins as mini-mailboxes to share notes of encouragement, affirmation and praise with one another. Model this technique by sending at least one a day yourself.

Use this special day, March 20, to re-connect with your children by celebrating your mutual caring using one of the rituals above. When you do you will be demonstrating the importance you place on the sacred role of parenting. Enjoy.

About the Author
Chick Moorman and Thomas Haller are the authors of The 10 Commitments: Parenting with Purpose.They also publish a FREE email newsletter for parents. Subscribe to it at ipp57@aol.com. Visit www.chickmoorman.com, www.thomashaller.com, and www.10commitments.net.

by Cheryl Tallman and Joan Ahlers

Some of the key nutrients in brown rice include B vitamins, maganese, selenium, iron and fiber. The health benefits of brown rice read like a laundry list to disease prevention and boosting the immune system. These benefits include lowering cholesterol, reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, stroke and colon cancer, reduced severity of asthma, and lower frequency of migraine headaches.

Whole grains, like brown rice may also help women in weight management. An obesity study conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health showed that women who consistently consumed more whole grains weighed less than women who consumed fewer.

When it comes to eating brown rice, most people discover the nutty flavor is far more appealing than the bland taste of its stripped down relative.

Age to introduce: About six months old in the form of infant cereal only. About 12 months for cooked grain texture.

At the market: Brown rice contains natural oils, which can turn rancid on the shelf. For packaged rice, check for usability dates and when buying in bulk, choose a store that has a high turnover. If organic brown rice is available, consider purchasing it over conventionally grown rice. Conventionally grown brown rice has been found to contain small traces of arsenic. While the levels of arsenic are low and will not cause immediate illness, the build up of arsenic in the body, might be linked to some cancers.

Storage: Oil-rich brown rice will turn rancid at room temperature. If stored in a tightly closed container in the refrigerator or freezer, it will stay fresh for up to a year.

Tips on cooking rice: Rice can be a little tricky to cook perfectly. Here are a few tips from the U.S. Rice Federation that will help you out:

• Accurately measure rice and liquid.
• Set timer to prevent under or over-cooking.
• Keep lid on pot during cooking to prevent steam from escaping.
• Rice triples in volume. Use cookware appropriate for the amount of rice you are preparing.
• Do not stir. Stirring releases the starch, resulting in rice that is sticky.
• At the end of cooking time, remove lid and test for doneness. If rice is not tender or liquid is not absorbed, cook 2 to 4 minutes longer.
• When rice is cooked, fluff with fork or slotted spoon to allow steam to escape and keep the grains separate.

For those who plan ahead, soaking brown rice overnight cuts the cooking time dramatically. Soak the rice in the measured amount of water you’ll need to cook it, and cook it in the same water, adding more if necessary. DO NOT drain the rice after soaking it, nutrients will be lost.

And for those who do not like to cook rice, you can pick it up from your local Chinese restaurant. Almost all Chinese restaurants offer a choice of white or brown rice.

Here are some creative and tasty ideas for adding brown rice to your family meals: Never serve a boring side dish ever again. Adding a few simple ingredients to brown rice will put a gourmet spin on any family dinner. After your brown rice has been cooked, and while it is still in a hot pan, try adding any of these ingredients:

• Chopped cilantro, parmesan and lemon zest with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
• Chopped mango, black beans, 1 tablespoon lime juice and 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Chopped, cooked shitake mushrooms, green peas, sesame seeds (or a drizzle of sesame oil) and 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Chopped tomatoes, scallions 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Chopped pineapple, cilantro and 2 tablespoons coconut milk
• Chopped cooked carrots, sliced almonds, and fresh parsley and 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Creamed spinach, crumbled gorgonzola, and chopped walnuts
• Chopped cooked broccoli, cubed firm tofu, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon olive oil

Don’t throw out leftover rice. It is great to have on hand for stirring into soups and broths. You can also use it to make terrific salads, here are two simple recipes.

Veggie Brown Rice Salad
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked brown rice
1/2 cup corn kernels (roasted is a nice touch)
2-3 seeded, chopped plum tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped green and red pepper
2-3 chopped green onions
1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions: Toss all ingredients in a bowl, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Fruity Brown Rice Salad
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 cup vanilla or lemon yogurt
1/4 cup of honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice.

Directions:
Toss all ingredients in a bowl and serve.

About the Authors
Cheryl Tallman and Joan Ahlers are sisters, the mothers of five children and founders of Fresh Baby, creators or products such as homemade baby food kits, baby food cookbooks, baby food and breast milk storage trays, breastfeeding reminders, and child development diaries. Visit them online at www.FreshBaby.com and subscribe to their Fresh Ideas newsletter to get monthly ideas, tips and activities for developing your family’s healthy eating habits!

by Tanya Sturman

If you ever walk through an orphanage, it will be an experience you’ll never forget. Witnessing children in poverty, children discarded, children stunted both physically and emotionally, will stir your heart beyond belief. And adopting a child is a joy as great as witnessing the first sharp intake of breath by your very own newborn infant.

The suffering of orphans vary from country to country, but even in the US, where conditions are as good as they get outside of Western Europe, less than 20% of those that age out of the foster care system are completely self-sufficient as young adults.

The conditions elsewhere are sad and sadder, and the need for families to take these children home is dire, in some cases a matter of life and death. The orphans in Sierra Leone bear pain and suffering that no human being should have to endure. Food, potable water, and healthcare are in short supply. The median age in Sierra Leone is 17. Due to war and shortages of food supply, many of these children won’t make it to that median age.

Children waiting for adoption in Sierra Leone
The future looks bleak for even the average orphan. In Russia, 40% of the orphans who never find homes as children become homeless as adults, and 10% commit suicide after aging out of the system.

For those with special needs the future is even grimmer. Disabilities are not tolerated anywhere in the world as well as they are in the United States. Wheelchair ramps and accessible public bathrooms are just a couple of outward signs of how integrated our society is. In many countries, special needs orphans will never leave the institution. In Russia, they are considered incurable invalids and put in a sanatorium for life. Kimberly Reese described the situation in both Hungary and Bulgaria, “I saw NO special needs people ANYWHERE outside the orphanages.”

Susan Buchholz adopted from Vietnam twice. Both of her Vietnamese daughters are special needs children. The only people she saw outside the orphanage with disabilities were those peddling postcards to tourist.

She also witnessed many children begging on the streets. This image still haunts her. Poverty is a way of life in Vietnam. She describes bringing home her second daughter, Teresa. “Even at 14 months of age, she had only had formula and “rice soup” which I imagine to be a kind of rice cereal. Thai, from International Mission of Hope, told us that Vietnamese families do no teach their children to feed themselves until they are 7 or 8 years old to limit their intake of food. He said the teachers in the younger grades also feed their students for the same reason.”

Bulgaria’s orphans suffer emotional neglect. Kimberly Reese adopted two children from Hungary and one from Bulgaria. “Ella’s orphanage in Bulgaria was awful. I can say that both of my Hungarian children were well cared for and came home very stable emotionally. My Bulgarian child was clearly mistreated. …she was like a wild animal. It was very sad.”

Nikki from Hungary, and Ella from Bolivia. Like Susan, Kimberly adopted special needs children. Kimberly’s oldest child, Nikki, is missing most of her left hand. Nikki was offered to Kimberly and her husband by the adoption agency and since they didn’t think her special need was a big deal, they accepted her. “Once we got Nikki home, we realized that these kids rarely ever get adopted in Europe– unless by Americans. Nikki is so wonderful. We requested special needs after that.” Ella’s special needs were emotional. Their youngest, David, was adopted from Hungary and doesn’t have any hands. “Because both Nikki and David have upper limb deformities, Ella always wants to be just like them. Strange, isn’t it? She wants a hand like Nikki’s or arms like David’s. I have seen her try to eat or drink using her elbows like David.”

These disabilities are a part of a natural life to Susan’s and Kimberly’s families. Life is a joy with their beautiful children, and if anything the disabilities create laughter. “One of the funniest comments I remember was when we first brought Nikki home. My cousin had adopted two kids form the states and we were having a party to celebrate. We were at the pizza place and my little cousin said, ‘Kim, don’t panic! They have got to be here somewhere!’ He was so serious that I started to get concerned as he almost frantically looked around for something. I said, ‘what is it, baby?!’ He said, ‘I’m sure Nikki had them when she came in but she has dropped three of her fingers!’ It was a scream!”

Many parents choose international adoption just for this reason. They can offer a better– a much better– life to a child from an underprivileged country. They can see an angel where others have only seen an invalid. They can offer steak and chocolate cake to a child that has hungered for rice.

Hundreds of thousands of children are waiting for families to rescue them from coming of age in an orphanage. For most the wait is futile.

Sadder yet are the potential matches between orphans and families that go unpaired. There are thousands of families with the financial and emotional resources it takes to raise another child. They are willing and eager to care for and love a child as their own but unable to come up with the large adoption fees required upfront. The $20,000 price tag is a hard hurdle to overcome.

Many adopting families beg and borrow enough to cover these initial fees from families and friends. Those who are able to cash in their IRAs or take out a second mortgage are fortunate. Some run up credit card debt to cover adoption fees. Many give up and never consider adopting again.

The road to adoption is steep, but the rewards are tremendous. Imagine giving a child a warm bubble bath before bed. Now imagine that this is a brand new experience for your child. Warm bath water is a luxury many of these children never know.

Even if you are unable to adopt a child yourself you can still make a difference by donating to a children’s charity which offers adoption grants to families adopting older or special needs children.

About The Author
Tanya Sturman is the volunteer director for A Child’s Desire, Inc., a 501 c(3) children’s charity. A Child’s Desire offers adoption grants to children waiting over a year in an orphanage for a family to choose them. More information can be found at www.aChildsDesire.org. grants@achildsdesire.org

By Cheryl Tallman and Joan AhlersA festive drink for the Holiday season. One the whole family will love.

Ingredients:
1 pear peeled, cored and cut in chunks
1 cup of egg nog (dairy or soy)
2 ice cubes cracked
Dash of cinnamon

Directions:
Place all ingredients in blender. Blend at high speed for 15 seconds. Makes 2-3 kid-size servings, or 1 1/2 cups.

About the Authors
Cheryl Tallman and Joan Ahlers are sisters, the mothers of five children, and founders of Fresh Baby. Raised by parents who love fresh foods and entertaining, their mom, a gourmet cook, ensured that they were well-equipped with extraordinary skills in the kitchen. Both with long track records of business success, they decided to combine their skills in the kitchen with their knowledge of healthy foods and children to create Fresh Baby. Cheryl and Joan put a modern twist on the conventional wisdom that when you make it yourself, you know it’s better. Their goal at Fresh Baby is to make the task of raising a healthy eater a little bit easier for all parents. Fresh Baby’s breastfeeding accessories and baby food making supplies provide parents with practical knowledge and innovative tools to support them in introducing their children to great tasting, all-natural foods – easily and conveniently. Visit them online at www.FreshBaby.com and subscribe to their Fresh Ideas newsletter to get monthly ideas, tips and activities for developing your family’s healthy eating habits!

by Nancy Wurtzel

Looking for an unusual and memorable gift? Why not preserve a slice of history by creating a time capsule for your loved one?

A personalized time capsule can be made for any special event, such as a birthday, wedding anniversary, graduation or even the birth of a child. Your personally designed time capsule preserves history, popular culture, special memories and can help link generations of a family together. It is a unique and thoughtful gift that will be appreciated and long remembered.

There are a number of steps to keep in mind when creating a time capsule gift.

Make Your Own History
Traditionally, a time capsule provides a “snapshot” of a specific day in history. Consequently, if you are making a capsule to welcome a new baby into the family, then you would focus on the baby’s birth date — what was happening in the world and with the baby’s family on that day. On the other hand, if the capsule is to mark your grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary, you probably want to make it more of a “retrospective” on their many years of marriage.

Time Capsule 101

1. Start Early. The best part of any time capsule is the thought and preparation that goes into it. Be sure that you don’t rush the process. If you leave everything until the last minute, it will look that way!
2. Choose a Container. Think cool and dry when you search for just the right container. Check online for affordable time capsules and you will find a variety of styles. Some will even engrave the person’s name on your selected capsule. However, to make it very simple, you can make your own capsule by choosing a sturdy metal container that can be properly sealed.
3. Select an Unsealing Date. Perhaps you want to set a significant date, such as a child’s 21st birthday, a couple’s silver wedding anniversary or return from military service. Most people give their time capsule to the recipient unsealed so additional items can be added. However, you can seal it before it is presented and have the contents be a total surprise when it is opened.
4. Put it in Writing. This is especially important if the time capsule will be opened far in the future. Make a capsule document that details everything about it, including the contents, unsealing date, purpose of the capsule and who should be present when it is unsealed. Then keep it in a safe place.
5. Storing the Time Capsule. Although you may be tempted, it is not advisable to bury your capsule. You are likely to move or forget exactly where it is buried, and the contents could be damaged by the elements. It’s a better idea to give the capsule a special place in your home — perhaps the fireplace mantle or on the family piano. Let the capsule become a conversation piece as you show it to friends and family and talk about its significance.

Capsule Contents
The key to a meaningful time capsule is to make it personal, relevant and interesting. Following are some ideas on items to include and more importantly a few to leave out. www.allbaby.com

First, it is strongly recommended not to include food, drinks or liquids. Basically, anything that could ruin the contents or create a bad odor. Instead, consider coins, money, stamps, a small keepsake album, newspapers and magazines. Write a letter explaining the time capsule’s purpose — be sure to use acid-free paper that won’t deteriorate as quickly. Cards and photos are an excellent choice, but consider layering them with acid-free paper as well.

If you are making the capsule for a person with special interests, try to incorporate their personality into the contents. For instance, a political junkie will enjoy campaign buttons and literature. Someone who is a golf fanatic will love golf paraphernalia or the signature of a famous golfer. A college graduate will get a kick out of seeing the plastic and metal “character” style toys that kids were playing with when he was born.

You can choose contents that are more lighthearted and funny or more serious and reflective. Just remember that you set the tone.

To learn about the history of the time capsule and how to register your personally created capsule, please visit the All About Baby website at www.allbaby.com.

About The Author
Nancy Wurtzel founded her ecommerce business, All About Baby, in 1995. All About Baby specializes in personalized and memorable gifts for children. Ms. Wurtzel also consults with small businesses seeking to enter the marketplace.

by Rachel Paxton

A family memory journal is a fun, easy way to preserve family memories. A couple of years ago I was sorting through a pile of unused journals (many given to me as presents!) and was trying to come up with a way to put them to good use.

One day after a family gathering, I sat down and wrote a short description of the gathering in one of the unused journals. I wrote where the gathering took place, the occasion we were celebrating, the names of the people who had attended, and anything about the day that had stood out in my memory. I did this for the next couple of family get togethers and then just stuck the journal in a drawer somewhere.

It didn’t seem like that big of deal at the time, but probably a year or more later I pulled out the journal again and looked at the entries I had made. It was really fun reading them again. I had already forgotten some of the things that had happened, or thoughts that I had at the time that fortunately I had thought to write down.

I’ve been really forgetful about writing in my family memory journal, but in the past couple of years have probably chronicled two or three family events a year. When you think about it, 25 years from now, the journal will be full of family memories.

Family journals are a great thing to pass down to your children and grandchildren. At the time they don’t really care about what’s going on, but some day they will appreciate being reminded of some of their childhood memories.

In the past year or so I’ve really gotten into scrapbooking. I was just thinking that my memory journal will be a great resource for my scrapbooking projects. Sometimes it takes months to get your photos ready and pages laid out. By that time you will forget any memories you had to go along with them. If you have your family memory journal, you can use it to add journaling to your scrapbook pages, with your memory as clear as if you had taken the pictures yesterday.

Don’t let time pass you by and let those special family moments get away from you. Sometimes an event as routine as “another family birthday party” might make a great memory later in life. Especially when older relatives start passing away, it’s special remembering the times they were involved in family get togethers. Someday when you’re that older person, your youngest family members will enjoy reading about their great- and great-great grandparents.

About The Author
Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of What’s for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quick easy dinner ideas. For recipes, tips to organize your home, home decorating, crafts, and more, visit Creative Homemaking.

by LeAnn R. Ralph

Preserve Your Family History by Writing Family Stories
“Everyone has a story to tell.” It seems like a cliche—but it’s true. After working as a newspaper reporter for more than eight years, I know that everyone does, indeed, have a story to tell.

But even before I started working as a journalist, I knew that life experiences make interesting stories. Consider my parents.

My mother was the daughter of Norwegian immigrants, and her grandfather homesteaded our dairy farm in Wisconsin in the late 1800s. My father was the son of German and Scottish immigrants. When Dad was a little boy, his parents worked as cooks in a lumber camp in northern Wisconsin. As I was growing up, Mom and Dad would tell stories about their own childhoods. When Mom was a little girl, the whole family would sleep in the screen porch on hot summer nights. Indians also used to stop at our farm, and gypsies would camp nearby during the summer. When Dad was a little boy, he enjoyed spending time at the lumber camp kitchen because all of the cooks knew that little boys needed special treats during the day: a piece of Key-Lime pie, a slice of chocolate cake, or a couple of extra-large sugar cookies. When Dad wasn’t staying with his parents at the lumber camp, he lived with his grandmother, a tiny tough-as-nails German woman who owned a German shepherd named Happy.

Unfortunately, I never wrote down any of those stories, and I never asked Mom and Dad to sit down with a tape recorder and tell those stories. My mother died in 1985 at the age of 68, and my father passed away in 1992 at the age of 78. The majority of their stories, except for the few that I remember, are lost forever. Your family stories do not have to share the same fate.

Here are some tips for writing your family stories:

• Decide which person you want to interview first (Grandma or Grandpa, Mom or Dad, Aunt or Uncle), and then tell that person about your plan to write a collection of family stories and ask for permission to conduct an interview.
• Set a formal date and time for the interview. This will give your interviewee an opportunity to mentally prepare and to remember various stories that he or she would like to talk about.
• Provide a list of questions several days or weeks before the interview. This will also give your interviewee time to remember various stories.
• Focus on a single subject or event in your list of questions—school, holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July), birthdays, seasons (spring, summer, winter, fall)—the list is endless.
• Ask open-ended questions and not “yes or no” questions. “How did you get to school?” is better than “Did you walk to school when you were growing up?”
• Use a tape recorder to record the interview. Taping the interview will help you gather details that you might miss if you are only taking notes.
• Chat about something else for a while if the person you are interviewing seems nervous at the prospect of being tape-recorded. Your interviewee will soon relax and won’t even notice the tape recorder. And once you start the interview, you will find that one subject will lead to another and one question will lead to another.
• Transcribe the tape and write up your notes after you have finished the interview. This, in itself, will provide a fine record of the stories that are told “in their own words.” And you will be in good company–Studs Terkel’s oral history books are written that way, and they are fascinating to read. Terkel’s books include Division Street (1967), Hard Times (1970), Working (1974), The Good War (1984), The Great Divide (1988), and RACE (1992).

After you have finished all of your interviews and have written down the stories, print the stories from your computer and put them into a three-ring binder. Make multiple copies and give them to family members as gifts. Or you might want to consider publishing the stories POD (print-on-demand). There are many POD companies, and for a price that starts out at a couple of hundred dollars, you can publish the stories as a trade paperback. To find POD companies, conduct an Internet search with the keywords, “print-on-demand.”

Here are some examples of questions to help you get started with your interviews:

Subject: school

• Where did you go to school when you were growing up?
• Tell me about any amusing or unusual incidents that happened on your way to or from school.
• What kinds of clothes did you wear?
• How many students were in your class? How many students were in the whole school? How many grades?
• What was your favorite subject? Why?
• What was your least-favorite subject? Why?
• Who was your favorite teacher? Why?
• Who was your least-favorite teacher? Why?
• Tell me about your best friend.
• Tell me about your happiest moments in school. What was your best accomplishment?
• Tell me about your worst moments in school. Did you learn anything from your worst moments?
• What advice would you give to students who are in school today?

About The Author
LeAnn R. Ralph is a freelance writer for two newspapers in west central Wisconsin, is the editor of the Wisconsin Regional Writer (the quarterly publication of the Wisconsin Regional Writers’ Assoc.) and is the author of the book, Christmas In Dairyland (True Stories From a Wisconsin Farm) (Aug. 2003); trade paperback. For more information about Christmas In Dairyland, visit ruralroute2.com.  bigpines@ruralroute2.com