Search Results for: blog laugh at stress

Don’t Forget to Laugh

After going through a difficult divorce you probably don’t feel much like laughing. Life is hard, you’re struggling trying to find your way along this new path in your life, the stresses are piling higher and higher, but I’m here to tell you, laugh anyway. Trust me, it makes all the difference in the world. Recent studies have actually shown that laughter creates a physiological response in your body that strengthens your immune system and gives you more energy. Both of those things happen to be extremely important as a single parent. You need the energy to parent your children … Continue reading →

Learn To Laugh

Everyone has advice for single mothers. Do this, don’t do that, never allow this, don’t put up with that. When I was first divorced everyone gave me a hard time for allowing Hailey to sleep with me. How was I ever going to remarry if my daughter was in my bed, I was setting her up to resent my future, non existent husband. I finally stopped paying attention, it’s too overwhelming, especially since most of the advice is conflicting. As a single mother who has been in the trenches for a while I can honestly say that the two things … Continue reading →

Laugh Your Way Through It

In the beginning, when I first became a single parent, most days it took everything I had not to break down and cry all day every day. If you had told me I needed to laugh my way through it, I think I would have about killed you. I did not feel like laughing. I was absolutely miserable. Then one day I read a quote by Marjorie Pay Hinckley. She said, “The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a … Continue reading →

How To Relieve Stress

Just when you think you can take a break, just when you think you won’t worry so much, something else comes along and smacks you in the back of the head. I had a moment like that over the weekend and our lives are pretty much being turned upside down. I’ve had a constant stomach ache, I’m running around trying to do a million things at once and nothing was being done well. I realized I needed to slow down and take a few minutes for me. As a single mother I always feel guilty taking time for myself. There … Continue reading →

When Stress Mounts: Rest, Reevaluate, Remember

There comes that inevitable day for every mother when the burden of daily self-sacrifice, lack of sleep and the constant barrage of needs and offenses finally takes its toll. A wave of guilt follows a perfectly normal and expected response to the hectic lifestyle of motherhood: I don’t feel like being a mom today. I’m sure there are days when an astronaut looks out of his spaceship and wishes he were back on earth. I’m sure the president sometimes wakes up in his White House bedroom and wishes he were back in Chicago. Every job, every privilege and every dream … Continue reading →

Uncontrollable Laughter

Recently our son has been laughing. He’s been laughing and laughing and laughing. I don’t know if he just saw a different side of his parents (and himself) when everyone dressed up for halloween, but he’s been giggling his way through life these past few weeks. It’s not as if he didn’t laugh before. He has always laughed. He’s a happy child. But something about the past couple of weeks has made him just giggle uncontrollably for extended periods of time. While I can’t be completely certain as to the reason I have noticed a common link during these moments … Continue reading →

Lessons Learned – New Health Blogger Intro

As a new health blogger for Families.com I wanted to take some time to introduce myself. Through the years I’ve been a granddaughter, daughter, two times a wife, sister, and a mother—five times over. At this point, my family consists of only my girls and my sister. Everyone else in my family passed on at a young age, even my first husband. I feel that facing so many health-related tragedies is what spurred me on to study many health fields, as well as doing my best to take care of my own health and that of my girls. No matter … Continue reading →

Reduce Your Stress for Your Baby’s Health

Posted on by

Recent research conducted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical Center revealed that stress during pregnancy increases the child’s risk for asthma. Stress in the mother triggers an immune response, evidenced in the cord blood collected at birth, possibly later heightening their response to inhaled antigens. It stands to reason, therefore, that reducing stress during pregnancy can only have a positive effect on both the baby and the mother. Most of us immediately want to remove the source of the stress. Sometimes it is simple enough as hiring a babysitter for a few hours or telling someone to mind … Continue reading →

December Laughing

December is already here and it is a bit alarming. This means that classes are coming to a close, final papers are needing to be written, and my son is getting even older. He’ll be 4 months old very soon. My mother tells me that 4 months old is her favorite age for babies because they’re responsive and interactive. They’ll laugh and talk and play but they’re not moving themselves around yet and are still cute cute babies. This is not to say that she hates the other stages of infancy because she just loves babies and certainly loves her … Continue reading →

Getting Those Baby Laughs

Last night I was at a meeting. There was a baby boy there, and he was smiling like anything at the person next to him. I love baby smiles, laughs and giggles, but he sure wasn’t smiling at me! Since I’m a sucker for baby laughs, I’ve become a bit of a ham in seeking them. • Play peek-a-boo. For babies, it’s amusing when you disappear and reappear. Use a play silk so that you’re not entirely hidden. You can put the silk over your head, too. Or try hiding with your baby and have someone else find you. Hide … Continue reading →