http://www.theprocessofparenting.com/Site/Blog/Blog.html I’ve started this blog as an outlet of my research for updating my book and to support parents. Parenting is full of changes Just as we have mastered one set of challenges, the child has grown into a new set of behaviors with new problems. This Blog offers parenting support but I would also like to focus on the joys and satisfactions parents have and how parenting changes them as people. iWeb 3.0.1 http://www.theprocessofparenting.com/Site/Blog/Entries/2010/1/7_Having_Fun_in_Tough_Financial_Times.html d6fac161-9a0e-43c7-9a62-c9e0c0113da4 Thu, 7 Jan 2010 18:59:57 -0800 As families have less money for expensive vacations, day trips, and home improvements, they are turning to simpler, inexpensive activities with families and friends. <br/><br/>For fun, families and friends take hikes in parks, go to museums on free days, rent a video and make popcorn. They organize game nights, invite relatives, and people of all ages play board games that showcase new talents and engage people across generations as partners.<br/><br/>To get work done, families and friends can join together to complete projects. They can clean homes one after another on a Saturday and get all the work done while having some laughs. They can clean up and replant areas at their homes or in the neighborhoods. Family and relatives can work together on a scrapbook about a family reunion or a special anniversary or they can work together on a common project for grandparents.<br/><br/>Though prompted by necessity, these simpler, social activities often bring greater joy and satisfaction than those involving outlays of cash.<br/><br/>Link to: Damien Cave, “In Recession, Americans Doing More, Buying Less,” New York Times, 1 January 2010, p. A12.<br/> http://www.theprocessofparenting.com/Site/Blog/Entries/2009/11/6_Blog.html 6578eb29-1680-4d12-9924-1973bd61a6d2 Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 I read a great article in the New York Times Science (Tuesday, November 4) section on research showing that fathers become more involved in parenting when they have 16 weeks of parenting sessions alone and their children are less aggressive and moody. But when fathers attended couples groups to talk about parenting issues, fathers’ were also more involved in parenting, and, in addition, the couples were happier and less stressed. So being able to rely on each other for emotional support and figuring out solutions together helped parents. The study emphasizes the importance of being supportive to your spouse and trying to figure out solutions without being critical. Unless parents have a good support network, it is hard not to release tensions by criticizing the other parent and wanting them to change, I think.<br/>