This Full House Archive

Tag: this full house

  • Blogging is not dead, it just needs a little airing out.

    It's no secret, I have this terrible habit of taking pictures of other peoples houses. Some folks would call it creeping, but I like to think of my fascination with other people's houses as simply appreciating good curb appeal.

    Abandoned

    Then there are the houses like number 1658, up there. At first glance, it looks and feels a bit foreboding, as if the stairs or the railings would give way at the slightest touch and send you right back down into some serious hurt.

    Although, growing up in an urban neighborhood, where folks sometimes made a habit of misunderstanding your stuff as community property, I totally get the chain across the stoop thing. 

    I wouldn't want a bunch of uninvited strangers sitting on MY lap, either.

    And yet, even when looking back on it now, I can't help but walk away and imagine there being SO MANY stories here, just waiting to be told, if given the chance.

    This is why I am and will always be an advocate for the blogging community.

    Stories take time to manifest themselves, sometimes they appear within a blink of an eye and then life moves on to the point where we often times miss things, especially when facing in a totally different direction.

    On the other hand, I am also guilty of not reading as many blogs posts (as I used to) and I am also engaging in a lot more conversations on Facebook.

    On the third hand, social media platforms (like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr and Twitter) are just a quick snapshot of a person (in this case, a blogger like me) and very much like a virtual Open House.

    For example: I follow Momofali on Facebook (because "stalk" is such an ugly word!) because she's smart…and funny…she also posts smart and funny updates about her kids and dog…and then Momo occasionally shares a link to her latest blog post.

    Momofali's Awesome Blog Post

    Aaaaaand, this is the best example of how social media helps us to appreciate the curb appeal of an amazing blog post AND further proof in my evangelizing…NOPE!…blogging is SO NOT dead.

    Moral of the Story: Shut up and just blog, already.

    Until then, I'mma continue creeping on your Facebook (or Instagram, etc…) and you can leave the rest up to my imagination, you're welcome 🙂

    ©2003 -2014 This Full House with a fan page on Facebook, a way for you to subscribe to receive This Full House blog post by Email and everything! 

  • Parenting teens: the face infographic.

    Having entered my 11th year of blogging…she said, in a Gandolf-like voice…I sometimes feel this incredible need to share a few insights, if you will, to help save other parents a few headaches — especially, parents of younger kids.

    In case you missed it: there's the little infographic to help reinforce a more realistic homework ritual and the how much should you help your child with their school project infographic.

    This week? I'm laid up with a kidney stone-type pain (they ARE the devil!) and, once again, my husband used his super-power of being able to assess EXACTLY how badly I feel with 8 simple little words: do you need to go to the hospital?!?

    You know, I could never figure out those pain scales…either…which inspired me to create an infographic to help other parents decipher their child's facial expression(s), based on the top 5 faces I get from my teens.

    The Face Infographic Framed

    **passes bottle of [insert favorite brand of pain reliever, here]**

    You're welcome.

    ©2003 -2014 This Full House with a fan page on Facebook, a way for you to subscribe to receive This Full House blog post by Email and everything! 

  • One Small Change Challenge: Step #3 – taking accountability for my inaction(s).

    #onesmallchange

    I’m very excited to be partnering with the good folks over at Puritan’s Pride in accepting their One Small Change challenge: to make one very personal (yet simple) change toward healthier living and then committing myself to remain accountable by posting my progress in a three-part blog series, throughout the month.

    In my first post (Step #1 – The Brain Dump), I started by cleaning out the most cluttered area in the house, my head.  In my second post (Step #2 – Permission To Take a Break), I recorded a couple of break-reminders and set them as notifications, throughout the day.

    Finishing up this blog series, I was really hoping to share with you some awesome progress in meeting my goals of walking every day and to make time to do things that quiet the mind…but, I can’t…not exactly, anyway.

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  • #OneSmallChange Challenge: Step #2 – Permission to Take a Break

    I’m very excited to be partnering with the good folks over at Puritan’s Pride in accepting their One Small Change challenge: to make one very personal (yet simple) change toward healthier living and then committing myself to remain accountable by posting my progress in a three-part blog series, throughout the month.

    In my first post (Step #1 – The Brain Dump), I started by cleaning out the most cluttered area in the house, my head:  because I’m constantly reminding my kids to make time to do things that quiet the mind and…NO!!!…I have never been very good at taking my own advice…EVER!!!

    So, in preparation for this post, I’ve recorded a couple of daily “break-reminders” and this it what they sound like (click the banner to hear it, I mean me, in real time):

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  • #OneSmallChange Challenge: Step #1 –
    The Brain Dump

    Now that it’s October, the beginning of cold and flu season (a.k.a. creeping crud) here in Jersey, I’m very excited to be partnering with the good folks over at Puritans Pride in accepting their One Small Change challenge: to make one very personal (yet simple) change toward healthier living and then committing myself to remain accountable by posting my progress in a three-part blog series, throughout the month.

    Okay, that’s great, but why?!?

    That’s a very fair question and I am MORE than happy to tell you EXACTLY why, thanks:  because I’m hoping to help encourage other folks to slow down, take a few minutes out of every day, to think about simple ways you can take good care of YOU, too!

    I’m going to start by cleaning out the most cluttered area in the house: my head

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  • Dealing with mean girls (and boys) from a teenager’s point of view.

    2 days into the new school year and my youngest has already had to deal with 7th grade (a.k.a. the birthing ground for mean) girls, who seem to be prepping themselves to be catty women when they grow up (if ever), and it’s breaking my heart.

    Unfortunately, it’s easy for us parents to say things like, “they’re just jealous” and “because the new boy talked to you at lunch, first” or “they see you as a threat” because we’ve ALL been there, right?!?

    Aaaaaand, therein lies the rub.

    You see, my kids have a real hard time understanding (or even believing) that their parents may or may not have dealt with mean behavior, at some point in our lives, and that at least one other person in the bathroom/class room/gym/hallway/lunchroom imagined it to be really funny, at the time, too.

    In this case, calling your name out loud, turning their backs and then giggling their little fool heads off or just walking into a room…

    [cue: giggling little fools]

    …then casually glancing down at yourself, wondering if you’ve mistakenly put your pants on backwards or something and, well, as if being 12 years-old wasn’t difficult enough, right?!?

    So, having lived through a couple of mean moments (or twenty) of their own (dammit), I asked my two oldest girls (they are 19 and 17) and my son (he’s 14) for their thoughts on dealing with mean girls (or boys) from a teen’s point of view.

    Because I am very open-minded, not to mention they are MUCH smarter than me, like that! 

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  • Simple Ways to Show Your Husband You Love Him: Then, There’s MY List!

    My husband's niece is getting married in two weeks and the kids are ALL invited to, what they've begun to very dramatically refer to as, "the wedding".

    They also get to witness their father (you know, my husband) officiate over "the wedding".

    Garth (not his real name) recently became an ordained minister (because his niece and her future husband asked him to) and for $25, or something like that, so can you!!!

    [ducks to avoid lightning bolt]

    Aaaaanyway, the kids CANNOT wait to be able to say, "That's our dad, Reverend Garth (not his real name) up there!" even if it is for just one day.

    In other words, "the wedding":  is a very BIG deal.

    I thought it would be nice to have each of us write a letter to Amy and Jim, expressing our gratitude for allowing ALL of us to celebrate their wedding…I mean, "the wedding"…together. 

    So, I searched the interwebs for some ideas and…holy hints from Heloise…I couldn't help but feel like an old fart (or a seasoned flatulent, for those with verbal sensitivities) especially, when reading newlywed advice like, "How to Show Your Husband You Love Him".

    After 20+ years of marriage (which is almost as long as when we were single, YO!) I'm all like, we still married?!?  GOOD!!!

    Still, I wish some seasoned flatulent would come up with practical marriage advice.

    [one beat, two beats]

    So, you want to see MY list?  Based on actual advice, for newlyweds, I found published on the interwebs:


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  • When it Rains, It Pours and Other Stupidly Obvious Things

    You know that awesome feeling, when you've managed to handle some really difficult aspect of your life, sort of like mastering a jigsaw puzzle:  everything falls into place, without banging them with the side of your fist?  

    Yeah, this is NOT one of those times.

    Pouring in Jersey

    Cue vague-blogging:  dude, it's friggin' pouring, the lights are flickering and, well, Imma need BIGGER fists.

    What doesn't help:  when you've got friends and family going through some really difficult stuff (some requiring the use of both fists, at the same time, even) and, well, am I the only one about to go all…HULK SMASH!!!…and then want to try and fix, all the things?!?

    Guess what?!?  We cannot fix all the things, which is a BIG surprise to no one, except me, obviously.

    However, I can share a couple of OTHER stupidly obvious things (that perhaps make no sense to anyone, but me) which made at least one person in my family want to go all…HULK SMASH!!!…on my ass:

    • Me, after Garth (not his real name) wanting to know why I would walk from the pool, to the house, in wet feet, while holding 2 pairs of flip-flops: because they're dirty.
    • Me, after his trying to make sense of previous bullet: I just washed them in the pool.
    • Me, after his giving me a blank stare: the flips flops, I mean.
    • Me, after his wondering why I would worry about the flip-flops and not my feet: because they are not my flip-flops.
    • Me, after my daughters' realizing it was their flip-flops I was holding: you're welcome!

    Just think, that was one conversation and if you giggled or if the side of your mouth turned up, just a little: then my job here is done.

    Moral of the Story: we cannot fix, and sometimes it's even hard to understand, all the things and that's okay.

    However, if that doesn't work or the next time you have a similar…HULK SMASH!!!…moment,  just be really, really glad you are NOT living with me.

    [sound of circkets chirping]

    Oh, look…OVER THERE!!!…there's something really, really shiny in the water.

    [the sound of our bathroom door, SLAMMING]

    Stupid rain, dumbass bladder.

    © 2003 – 2013 This Full House

    With a fan page on Facebook and everything!  

  • This Full House Monstrous Giveaway

    Comments are now closed: sincerest congratulations to Mary Calabrese (comment #49), Jenn Hammond (comment #3) and Melissa Meyer(comment #42)!!! Please check your email for further instructions 🙂

    My husband, Garth (not his real name) and I have been helping prepare our two oldest girls (mostly ourselves) for college.

    Holly and Heather June 2012

    look, we’re smiling (on purpose!), no more braces 🙂

    Holly (our 19yo) has been working full-time since graduation and will start taking classes, towards a teaching degree, in the fall, while Heather is beginning her senior year in high school — emotionally, we’re ready; financially, not so much.

    Then again, with today’s economy, who is, right?!?

    I am very excited to partner with Kellogg’s and their Scare Scholar promotion on Facebook, launched in conjunction with the super-adorable Monsters University movie:  the promotion offers folks the chance to win instant prizes each day and culminate in one grand prize drawing for a $10,000 scholarship in August. 

    Here’s the really fun part:  I get the chance to share three (3) pretty fabulous prize packs (each including a $200.00 gift card and movie tickets) right here, with you…yes, maybe even YOU!!!

    Because, we roll like that.

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  • So, What’s the WORST That Can Happen?

    I have a hard time believing that my husband, Garth (not his real name) and I have been together for 24 years:  we met on a blind date in July of…[reaches for calculator]…1989 and were engaged by November.

    Because any man who hands his date a handkerchief…in the middle of blowing snot during one of the most saddest movie endings in history…and then takes that same handkerchief back from her…all snotted up and everything…is worth hanging onto, verdad?

    Long story, short (you're welcome!):  what makes our relationship work (most of the time) is that Garth (NHRN) is very good at dealing with an emergency.  

    My husband has this awesome ability of assessing almost any situation in a very calm and rational Jedi-type manner, while my approach is much more apocalyptic in nature.

    Which makes me LOTS OF FUN at the end of the world-type disaster movies — World War Z, Walking Dead, I live there, every single day!

    Because, raising teens and a 12-year old who knows MORE stuff than I do, jumping to the worst possible conclusions is about the only exercise I get, these days.

    On the other hand, I am an expert at not sweating small stuff:  because I've already imagined the worst that can happen.

    For example:  hypothetically speaking, say one of our girls were to be asked out on a date, for the first time…like in, EVER!!!…my husband and I would both handle it very, very differently.

    Garth (NHRN):  if I am not home from work, make sure he comes in to meet your mother.

    End of story.

    Me?  Totally different scenario:  okay, so I'm going to visit with your aunt and you're going for sushi and the sushi place happens to be a couple of blocks from your aunt's house, so if you find yourself feeling uncomfortable or the date goes all weird on you, text me and I will call you back with some sort of emergency that requires you to come home right away and…WHAT?!?…why are you looking at me all funny like that?!?

    This is NOT your child and you know we're talking totally hypothetical, right?!?

    [one beat, two beats]

    Fiiiiiiiiiiiine, at least I don't have to worry about what we're having for dinner tonight, the other 3 kids LOVE sushi.

    [sound of crickets, chirping]

    Aaaaaaand, thank goodness we live right on the water, don't even get me started on the subject of seafood sustainability in landlocked states (you're welcome)!

    © 2003 – 2013 This Full House

    With a fan page on Facebook and everything!