Christmas in the Villages and Happy New Year!

The lights are my husby's favorite.  Places do look nice, but we haven't had much of a winter this year, except for October and the harrowing adventure we had then.  But winter in a bucolic wonderland is quite lovely.  Some musings, after the jump!

Consumer's Guide to Art Therapy

Art therapy is pretty cool.  I'm a fan . . . but I'm also biased, since it's my living.  A lot of people who work in mental health don't understand what art therapy is and even fewer consumers who are looking for a therapist.  There's also a difference between therapists who use art in their practice and art therapists.  After the jump are some things to consider if you're looking for a therapist or get connected with one who is an art therapist.

Be Honest with your Kids, Not a Bitchface

There are many balances in parenting.  There are many situations in which giving and taking and picking your battles wisely save parents' sanity.  One of the things that seems hardest for parents is the difference between being honest and being a big, fat, meany.  The whole truth and nothing but the truth, after the jump.

Daily Art Cards

Did you know that making art for as little as 20 minutes a day can improve your mood?
The deets, after the jump.

The Harsh Veil of Winter Snuck up on me

I can't remember the last time it snowed before Halloween here in the great white north, though, I'm not that old.  Also, realization; I need to take more photos in the snow.  I have like, two snowy pictures.  Here's the thing, I went to visit my Grandmother in south Connecticut having no idea it was going to snow like bonkers.  Also, no one who knows me will ever let me live down that the 4 to 4 and half hour drive to Connecticut which then took about 10 hours in the snow on the ride home.  Why won't I be allowed to ever forget it?  Because my very own father is a meteorologist.  And a good one.  The harrowing tale, after the jump.

America's PTSD

I must admit that I was going to write this post a while ago, closer to the 9/11 decade anniversary.  But I didn't, because I assumed that surely someone else already wrote about it.  While I'm sure that someone did, I can't find anything.  It's true though; The United States of America has Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.  Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder and the good ol' USA has it and is in need of treatment.  I'm going to break down the DSM IV-TR criteria (in a vague non-copyright infringement kind of way) for PTSD and show you just what I mean.  Examination, after the jump.

10 Reasons Not to be a Child & Family Therapist

A self explanatory list.  I write this from one year in.  Five years from now, who knows what crazy things I will have learned that I hadn't experienced yet and didn't make it to this list.  From poop to getting called every name in the book and 'roid rages . . . some days, are bad days.  Say what you will about a noble, people oriented profession, but poop is still poop, no matter your job.  Don't get me wrong, helping people is great and I truly love my job . . . but there are some downsides.  Countdown, after the jump.

The Garage: Everything but the kitchen sink

        This is a picture of an actual garage.  The garage is, in most cases, an essential and quintessential piece of the bucolic lifestyle.  We shall examine the incredible clowncar-esque storage capacity of the garage and the bizarre nature of what lays behind those vertical sliding doors.

 

The analysis after the jump.

Chamber Pots. They Exist . . .

. . . in my Mom's modern world.






The story after the jump.

An amazing seduction OR the ubiquitous happy meal

      Ah, McDonald's.  The butt of many an American joke and some would say, the large butt of America.  I get to travel with some of my kids out into the community.  Every community has a McDonald's, as it turns out (except, notably our neighboring state capitol of Montpelier).  McDonald's is a great place to take kids; they tend to be rather clean, have ample bathrooms, you can loiter, you can make someone extremely happy for 99 cents.  But those toys.  Like a woodpecker to a rotting tree, my kid made a beeline to the toy case.  What the hell is with those toys!?  More after the jump.