12 Characteristics of a Well Functioning Family

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How well does your family function?

Every family functions … on some level.

But, at the same time, every family can function better.

Here’s some great food for thought.

1. The well functioning family has the kind of balance that can adapt and even welcome change. This balance is different from homeostasis – which acts to maintain the status quo in the presence of change.

2. Emotional problems are seen as existing in the unit, with components in each person. Put another way: there is no such thing as an emotional problem in one person.

3. Connectedness is maintained across generations with all members of the family.

4. There is a minimum of fusion (too close), and distance is not used to solve problems. In other words, you don’t seek to smother or distance yourself from others when there are problems.

5. Each twosome in the family can deal with all problems that occur between them. Triangulating onto a third person who is used to arbitrate or judge or solve the dispute is discouraged.

6. Differences between people are not only tolerated, but encouraged.

7. Each person can operate selectively using both thinking and emotional systems with other members of the family.

8. There is a keen awareness of what each person gets functionally from himself/herself, and what he/she gets from others. These are the areas of identification and differentiation (growing up).

9. There is an awareness of the emptiness in each member of the family, and each person is allowed to have their own emptiness. There is no attempt made to fill someone else’s up.

10. The preservation of a positive emotional climate takes precedence over doing what “should” be done and what is “right.”

11. Function in the family is determined by each member saying that this is a pretty good family to live in over time. If one or more members say there is a problem, there is a problem.

12. Members of the family can use others in the family as a source of feedback and learning, but not as an enemy.

From Thomas Fogarty, MD.
(photo source)

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13 Sources of Inspiration When Life has You Down

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Post written by Blended Family columnist Melissa Gorzelanczyk of Peace & Projects.

The highs and lows of life can feel like a roller coaster.

You’ve probably experienced a day that starts out smooth, but quickly hurtles to the bottom when a family member is cranky or stubborn or decides they don’t care about your feelings at the moment. I know it happens in our house. One bad mood can put a damper on the whole group. Those are the days when life reminds me that the good times don’t last.

But neither do the bad.

That’s the advice someone gave me during a low time in life. It’s proven true, time and time again. When the bad days come in our blended family, I remind myself the drama and bad feelings will pass, in time. And then I try to do something to help make that happen. (The list below can help.)

The truth is, I will never have a perfect marriage. I’ll never be a perfect step mom and my kids, like yours, will make mistakes that will embarrass the hell out of me.

That’s life.

I’ve found it bears repeating:

The good times don’t last … But neither do the bad.

Here are 13 places to turn for inspiration, motivation and a new perspective when life has you down.

  1. Words to live by board via Pinterest. Here’s a great quote I found by Marjorie Pay Hinckley: “The trick is to enjoy life. Don’t wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead.” Amen!
  2. Empowering Parents archives. If you’re not sure what to do when your kids get bad grades or lie or disrespect you, the articles on Empowering Parents have given me many helpful ideas. Knowledge is power.
  3. Watch one of these inspiring TED talks (each video is under 9 minutes).
  4. National Geographic’s Photo of the Day. These images help me remember the world is bigger than my problems and challenges.
  5. 43 Things Zeitgeist. Users recount the action steps they used to achieve their goals. Inspired? Sign up for a list of your own 43 Things.
  6. TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people of the world. Check out the 2011 list or browse the archives.
  7. Inspiring stories on Reader’s Digest.
  8. Read a book from the inspiring books shelf on Goodreads.
  9. This article from Psychology Today: 10 Ways to Feel Better About Yourself.
  10. Browse the archives of Dear Photograph, a site that features family photos and stories, blending past and present into a creative work of art.
  11. 17 Ways to Lift Your Spirits via Reader’s Digest. Will eating seafood twice a week lift your mood? Sounds like a delicious experiment to me.
  12. Write a list about things you appreciate. Check out this post on 50 Lists to Write to Lift Your Spirits via Demanding Joy for ideas. Recalling things like the best days of your life or the best advice you’ve gotten can help turn around a down day.
  13. Finally, something all parents need: 55 Ways to Get More Energy via Zen Habits.

Where do you turn for inspiration during bad times?

(photo source)

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Save Your Family Stories NOW

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Post written by Home and Family columnist Beth LaMie.

Four years ago, I became a Personal Historian, after taking some creative writing and memoir writing classes and joining the Association of Personal Historians (APH).

As I started to get more clients, I noticed a disturbing trend: my subjects had a tendency to die.

Most of the life stories I’ve written have been about elderly people. I learned very quickly to determine the most important topics to be covered before staring any interviews, and then address them first. Obviously, none of us know just how long we’ll live, but older people most likely have less time remaining. However, we can lose anyone at any age.

By the end of my first year in business, I was becoming discouraged—not because I didn’t have enough clients, but because the majority of them had passed away. To be honest, I almost felt like the Grim Reaper.

For a while, I contemplated whether this was the right field. During the interviewing and writing processes, it was easy for me to get involved with my subjects, through the good and the bad in their lives. When they died, it was heartbreakingly sad.

One of my clients died very suddenly, but peacefully, while watching her favorite television program. I had just completed the interviews and written her story; all that remained was to finish pulling in the scanned photographs. After talking to the daughter who had commissioned me, we decided to complete her mother’s story in a booklet and give it to the family members, which I did two days later.

At the wake the next day, the family made me feel that my efforts were not only worthwhile, they were greatly appreciated. Without the stories I had preserved, the children and grandchildren would never have known some of the details from the woman’s life.

I continue to write life stories for people and encourage them to write their own. The important thing is to preserve those precious family stories before they are lost forever. None of us know exactly how much time we have. Here are some suggestions to help you start saving your own family stories now, while you still can.

Record Them
When you start working on your own family stories, I do strongly recommend getting a digital recorder, which is small, unobtrusive & fairly inexpensive. Mine is a Sony ICD-P520, which is less than $50 on Amazon.com. Another nice feature is that you can use the USB to load it to your computer and create CDs. Once you have a recording, you can also transcribe it into a Word document.

Prioritize Subjects
If you want to capture stories and folklore from the elderly, I urge you to start right away. You never know when they (or perhaps just their minds) may be suddenly taken away. Whenever you get a group of people together, encourage them to talk about their experiences. If possible, record them talking, but if not, then take notes to expand later.

Writing Journal
Keep a writing journal to remind yourself of stories you want them to talk about, or events you recall yourself. Use photos & memorabilia to help them reminisce. That often has a starburst effect – one memory leads to three others and each of them to several more. It is a wonderful way to keep expanding their legacy.

Helpful Websites
Here are some of my favorite websites to help you get started. And of course, my book has some excellent ideas on how to capture your family stories.

About.com: Genealogy website has a list of 50 questions to help on interviews.

Ancestry.com: This website says, “Feel free to print and distribute” a Script for Video or Audio Interviews with Family Members.

Bethlamie.com: My website, where you can sign up for a free monthly newsletter (via email) with tips on writing family history.

One Story at a Time: My blog with writing suggestions and examples of family stories.

Association of Personal Historians (APH), which offers an anthology of personal stories.

Cyndi’s List.com: More than 200,000 website links to help with genealogy and family history.

Grandparents TLC.com: This site offers “Technology to Help Loving Grandparents Connect with Grandchildren!”

Smithsonian Institute: This booklet in PDF format explains how to get started with interviews, sample questions and additional resources.

Story of My Life.com: Free private website to easily gather all your family stories from friends and family and invite participation from around the world.

However you decide to start your own family stories, please start sooner rather than later. When something happens to one of your loved ones, you’ll be glad to have a keepsake of them.

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Simple Ways To Build Strong Parent/Child Relationships

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Post written by mom and parenting columnist Susan Heid of The Confident Mom.

One of the most profound and influential relationships you will ever have is with your child.

That statement can be somewhat overwhelming, but when you take time to truly be intentional in building a strong relationship – your child will reap the benefits.

Finding ways to celebrate your child, especially if you have more than one takes time and some detective skills.  Determining what makes your child ‘tick’ and their unique characteristics helps to ensure parents and children stay connected through all ages of their upbringing.

Here are a few tips on enhancing the bond with your child that you can start today.

Learn Your Child’s Love Language

You have probably heard of Gary Chapman’s book, The Five Love Languages which helps couples learn to speak the other persons love language.  We all “feel” love differently and when you can determine how best to “give” that love to your partner so they will truly feel it, your effort is receive positively.  Well, the same concept can be adapted with your children.  He has a book specifically for parents to determine how their child gives and receives love.

There are 5 main categories, Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Quality Time and Gifts.

Maybe you are a parent who hugs and cuddles with your child thinking that you enjoy it and they must enjoy it and know how much you love them.  But if you child’s main love language is Acts of Service, they are not getting the same result out of that action that you may be intending, thus you are missing that big connection of relating your love to that child.

Take a look at the book, The Five Love Language of Children and see if you can determine your child’s primary and secondary love languages.  If you have trouble, there is even a great quiz that you can give your child in the back of the book that will help determining it for you.

Date Your Kids

We hear a lot about making time for date nights for couples, but dates with your children are just as important.  Spending time together as a family is wonderful, but you will also learn so much about your children if you are able to spend time alone with each of them on an occasional basis.

This works well for both parents, not just moms.  Find out what your child likes to do and then set up a time once a month to enjoy that activity with your child.  Make sure to write it on your calendar just like you would any other important appointment and let your child know so they can look forward to that time too.

Spending regular one on one time will increase communication with your child and help them feel incredible value.  I can remember one particular time where my son and I chose a book to read together for our date time.  We each would read a portion and then we would go to a local coffee shop, grab a snack and discuss what we read.  This may not appeal to all children, but this was a huge time for me to understand and hear my son’s perspective on a really interesting social topic.  I would never have learned these things had I not taken the time to spend it with him.

Establish a Special Name

Create a special name for your child that is positive and special  that you can use between each other. Use the name as a simple reinforcement of your love. You can even come up with a special code word or sign that only you two understand.

When my son was young and began swimming with the older kids on a swim team, he was very nervous.  So I decided to have a special “signal” that I gave him every time he went up to start a race.  He would find me in the crowd and look for me to give him “our sign”.  Even 8 years later, we enjoy sharing the sign and it triggers for him some special memories.  I also have given all of my children little names of endearment, which are theirs alone.

Be Spontaneous

Plan your daily routine so that there are some opportunities for you to have relaxed, unhurried, unstructured time together every day.  It seems families today are rushed from one activity to the next and have very little downtime or space in their day to be spontaneous, so be intentional in making that happen.

Create space in your calendar.

Have some fun activities in mind that you can surprise your family with.  Being spontaneous was something I did on a regular basis a few years back, then I began to really cherish my routines and really fell off the wagon when it came to switching gears.  I realized that I was losing a lot of precious time where significant memories could be made, so now I try really hard to do the unexpected.

Just today, as we are off on a little break on the Pacific Coast,  I asked who wanted to go for a walk in the pouring rain!  They looked at me like I was crazy, but when they knew I was serious we all went out, got entirely soaked on our walk and came back to get warmed up with dry clothes and hot chocolate.

Celebrate Birthdays

Birthdays are the perfect time to show kids how much they mean to you.  This does not mean you have to rent out the skating rink, invite the entire class of 30 kids and provide pizza.  What it does mean is finding ways that are meaningful to your family.

I find that simple is usually best.  Some of my fondest memories of birthdays from my younger days are when I had a couple friends over, my mom made a homemade cake and we played a few games.

I am a firm believer that family celebrations which are simple and full of tradition are best.  I recently read a great book by Mary Ostyn, A Sane Woman’s Guide to Raising a Large Family where she shared how each of her children get breakfast in bed on their birthday, delivered by the entire family.  The person whose birthday it is is made to feel like a king or a queen and is even given a bell in order to call for assistance at any point during the meal.  How cool is that?  This can be a fun tradition to begin in your house – especially if you might get in on the birthday routine too!

(photo source)

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33 Ways for Fun with Grandchildren

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Post written by Home and Family columnist Beth LaMie.

Spending time with grandchildren is among the best things in life. In fact, it is priceless.

Although it’s always a pleasure to visit my son and his family, I thoroughly enjoy having the two grandkids all to myself. It seems the dynamics of how we relate to each other is totally different when their parents are elsewhere. That’s why I encourage them to go out on a date, or run some errands, or just go off by themselves for several hours.

That gives me a chance to spoil the six- and seven-year-old grandchildren just a bit while we have some fun. Of course, I keep them safe and secure the entire time, but a few of the minor rules may happen to fall by the wayside. Nothing serious, though.

By the way, one rule I try to enforce is that we play nothing that requires batteries. It seems to me that children have much more energy that grownups do, so it makes sense to let them use up some of that vigor while they play.

Regardless of a child’s age, there are endless ways to have fun with them. Every age offers its own challenge as well as opportunity. Keep an open mind and look for various resources for suggested activities to accommodate your young ones.

The trick is to figure out several options to offer them and to have any necessary items prepared in advance. For example, on my last visit with them, I brought along pages to color, a craft project, new books to read, a few snacks, some word games and puzzles, and the expectation that we’d have a wonderful time together.

In addition, my fallback plan was to investigate their roomful of toys, games, books, balls, etcetera, that they love to share. At least usually.

Here are some ideas on things to do with your grandchildren. Use it as a thought-generator to come up with your own activities. Some of these will appeal more than others, so don’t be afraid to experiment, either.

COOK SOMETHING YUMMY
1. Pancakes with mouse ears or rolled up with cinnamon and butter
2. Cookies from scratch or prepared mixes
3. Cupcakes frosted in fun ways
4. Make-your-own pizza
5. Dip pretzel sticks in chocolate or icing, then sprinkles
6. Build a gingerbread house (Hint: Use graham crackers for easy structures) XXX

GET CREATIVE
1. Dress-up or make-believe
2. Modeling clay, crayons, pipe cleaners
3. Scrapbook album or a single page
4. Art projects
5. Make hand or sock puppets

PLAY GAMES
1. Card games, word games, dominoes
2. Tic-tac-toe, connect-the-dots
3. Board games – checkers, Candyland, Sorry, Bingo
4. Hide-and-seek, blind man’s bluff, follow-the-leader
5. Simon says, Mother may I?

GET OUTDOORS
1. Walk, bike, go to a playground
2. Pick apples, pears, or other seasonal fruit
3. Draw with chalk on the driveway or sidewalk
4. Play tag, hop-scotch, or statue
5. Toss a ball, balloon (water?), or frisbee
6. Explore your yard – flowers, trees, birds, animals
7. Build a snowman

GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER
1. Play 20 questions
2. Talk about what you remember from your childhood
3. Ask about the child’s friends, toys, dreams, and share your own
4. Interview – Getting to Know You: A How-To Story for Kids on How to Interview Family Members (pdf) The Mini Page, Dec. 25-31, 2010) (c) 2010 Universal Uclick (2.0MB)

MORE IDEAS ON Grandparents.com
1. Instructions on how to play simple games
2. Great newsletter
3. Activities by age group, including seasonal pages to color
4. Easy recipes that kids enjoy
5. Suggestions on books, games, toys
6. Groups to join, such as “Grandparenting From Afar”

What are your favorite pastimes with your grandchildren? What activities can you plan for the upcoming holidays?

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7 Steps to Stop Nagging

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Post written by mom and parenting columnist Susan Heid of The Confident Mom.

When you’re asking your children to do things for you, do you ever feel like you’re talking to a wall?

One of the most challenging tasks that moms often face is teaching their children to listen and follow directions. It becomes frustrating for the whole family when you repeatedly give the same directions multiple times. As moms’ we can easily become the nagging machine, which is not only frustrating but exhausting.

The trouble is, we tend to think it is all our children’s doing – “making” us repeat ourselves multiple times in order to get them to comply.  Here is the catch, if we have fallen into that pattern; we have conditioned our children to expect that mom will repeat herself multiple times before she really means what she is saying.

Yep, we have created the monster!

So instead of continuing the pattern, change your actions – take some of these tips into consideration and put them into practice in your home and see how you can escape the nagging habit.

Get Their Attention

You should always get your child’s attention before giving a direction and especially avoid yelling directions from another room. Few people respond favorably to being hollered at from across the room and I would rather create an environment in my home which would train my kids to respond to a calmer, quieter tone.  Instead get close to them and use a pleasant, calm voice and use the word “please”. Since we want our children to use the magic word, doesn’t it make sense that we ought to model it?  It is amazing how adding that word into the request can influence follow through.

Don’t Ask – Rather Give Choices

You should avoid phrasing directions as questions.  Don’t say, “Would you like to pick up your toys now?”  You are asking for non-compliance with a question, your child feels that they are being given an option rather than a direction.

Instead, try giving choices instead of just commands whenever possible.  Allow your child to decide how or when to follow your directions.

With a younger child is can be as simple as asking them if they would like to brush their teeth before or after their bath.  It does not mean you are allowing them to take complete control. Be careful, however, not to use words implying that not doing the task is one of the options.

Asking, ”Would you mind brushing your teeth?”  opens up the door to an argument because your child sees this as a choice of doing it or not doing it. When offering a choice, make it clear that what your child gets to decide is when to do the job, not whether to do it.” Giving your child some say in compliance can often prevent power struggles.

Be Prepared to Enforce

Parents should avoid giving their children a direction unless they are prepared to enforce it. If parents do not enforce their directions, then children learn that their parents don’t mean what they say, a phrase I often use with moms I work with called, “Giving Empty Threats.”  You have to follow through if your child decides to not do what is being asked of them. Ahead of time, have a plan for how you’ll respond to noncompliance or defiance.
If they refuse to comply, or they dawdle about or begin arguing, make sure you have your next action step prepared in advance.

Be Clear and Specific

Avoid giving vague directions such as “Be good,” or “Be careful.” There may be significant differences between how you and your child interpret vague directions such as “being good” which leaves them open to misinterpretation. Parents should make their directions clear, specific and easy to understand. Instead of just telling your child to clean out his closet, break the task down into several steps of how that is accomplished.  Perhaps create a checklist to use on this task which includes what needs to be done in order to meet your expectation.

Ask Your Child to Repeat Your Request

This is critical with younger children. Having your youngster to recite rules and instructions out loud can prevent tearful protests of “I didn’t know” or “I didn’t understand” later on. Ask young, easily distracted children to repeat directions back to you. Older kids can repeat them or even better, have them write down the information themselves.

Resist Multiple Requests

As I stated early, if you threaten, lecture, or give repeated warnings after you have given an instruction – this is a tough one to break.  Just remember, when you use threats, lectures, and repeated warnings you are training your child to need threats, lectures, and repeated warnings in order to accomplish tasks.

Show appreciation

When the task is complete let your child know that you appreciate their compliance.  A quick, “Thank you” is something everyone loves to hear.

(Photo Credit)

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Melt Your Honey’s Heart with Character Appreciation

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Post written by premarital columnist Susanne Alexander of Marriage Transformation.

When we are talking seriously about marriage, the phrase “I love you” constantly pops out of our mouths.

Once we are married, we often end cellphone calls with “love you”, but the frequency of loving expressions tends to slow down.

Whatever the timing and quantity of these expressions of affection, you can especially melt your loved one’s heart by including what specifically you appreciate about them and what they do.

To start, carefully observe what’s happening and look for specific positive actions that you appreciate or admire.

Perhaps she remembered to put a tool back after using it. Maybe he washed her car without being asked or reminded. He helped her father with a building project. She took his mother shopping. He helped a child with homework. She got a great promotion at work after completing a project. Whatever you observe, make sure that you sincerely applaud the action. Sincerity will cause your appreciation to touch the heart and soul of your loved one.

Next, link the action to a quality of character.

This takes more skill.

Some excellent qualities to consider connecting to actions are:

• Caring
• Compassion
• Confidence
• Cooperation
• Courage
• Creativity
• Enthusiasm
• Flexibility
• Helpfulness
• Honesty
• Patience
• Responsibility
• Thoughtfulness

When you use qualities like these in an acknowledgement, it spreads light into the recipient’s heart, encourages them to be aware of and keep practicing the quality, and creates a positive bond of appreciation or love between you.

Here are some examples using the above list:

• “You were very caring with your friend Justin today when he shared he was diagnosed with cancer. I appreciate what a compassionate friend you are to people.”
• “Your courage in asking your manager for a raise today was totally awesome. I love that you are so confident in your abilities that you could approach her with your request.”
• “Thank you so much for helping me out with cleaning up this mess. I was feeling overwhelmed, and your patience with organizing everything made all the difference.”
• “I appreciate how thoughtful you are in our relationship. Making sure we have coffee every morning, carrying the laundry baskets to the basement, and getting the oil changed in my car make our lives together smoother and easier.”

This practice is called using Character Quality Language.

Remember to observe, be sincere, include at least one character quality, and be specific about the actions involved.

Now step back and think about the effect you can have on your children when being consistent with a practice like this. As parents, we have a primary responsibility to rear our children to have good characters.

We can influence the development of their qualities by modeling good character to them, by encouraging them to practice character qualities, and by using Character Quality Language with them when we observe their successful behavior.

I recently noticed a woman in a store repeatedly and impatiently scolding her children for acting out and asking them to “Just wait a minute!”. She then commented to the clerk that “Children these days have no patience.”  Then she took them for ice cream to compensate for making them wait while she did the transaction. Unfortunately, this dynamic is quite common.

From the time children are very small, parents can say to them, “Please be patient” or “I need you to practice patience for a few minutes”.  This reminds the parent and the child both to use their best behavior.

When the child is successful, the parent can say, “Thank you for being patient while I put dinner on to cook.” Affirmation can be one of the biggest encouragers of good behavior, especially in children.

Character Quality Language makes all our interactions more gentle, more thoughtful, more connecting, more kind.

We can close an email with “Thank you for your flexibility” or “I appreciate how helpful you are”. We can send a text message that says “Great cooperation!”. We are more attentive to what the people around us are doing. This helps us strengthen and unify our relationships through expressing sincere appreciation that melts their hearts and touches their souls.

It’s one of the many paths to having an excellent and happy relationship and marriage.

(photo source)

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Never Too Old to Learn

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School is for everyone!

Kids are starting to gear up for a new school year. Stores have special sales on school supplies, book bags, clothing, shoes, and everything else students need.

This is also the time of year to start planning your own education. Regardless of your age, learning something new keeps your mind active, which goes a long way to keep you from growing old. Never subscribe to that old adage – you CAN teach an old dog new tricks.

Easier to Learn
In fact, getting older makes it easier in some ways to discover new activities. For example, retirees have several advantages over younger students. They have more time available, more interest in learning for the sake of learning, and have less pressure to get good grades. They can actually learn just for the fun of it. Have you always had an interest in geology or astronomy? Then this may be your chance to finally study it.

Financial Breaks
Another benefit older students may find is financial. Senior citizens can often audit classes for free, or qualify for reduced fees and tuition, at some four-year universities and community colleges. More than twenty states offer senior discounts, so check out the opportunities in your state at www.fastweb.com.

Government Assistance
Students of any age may be able to claim one of these three benefits: 1) the Lifetime Learning tax credit for up to $2,000 a year, 2) the American Opportunity credit for up to $2,500 a year, or 3) deductions for up to $4,000 a year. Make sure you check out the requirements first. You can learn more at www.TaxBenefitsForEducation.info, which is the IRS’s Tax Benefits for Education Information Center.

Scholarships
For anyone needing more assistance with tuition, there are scholarships aimed at returning adults and non-traditional students. In addition to the Fastweb site above, check your local institutions, as well as www.scholarships.com.

Are you interested in whale watching, archeology, or the Galapagos Islands? Two organizations support some 500 Lifelong Learning Institutes (LLI) nationwide for short-term intensive study. Check out Elderhostel (renamed as www.roadscholar.org) and Osher (www.osher.net). They offer something for almost everyone.

Those Who Can, Teach
Another possibility to study economically is to trade your expertise for what you want to learn. For example, if you excelled in the trades, such as electrical wiring, investigate teaching a class on it in exchange for a class in photography. Many schools have limited budgets to hire instructors, but may be more than willing to work out an arrangement. Be creative in your suggestions and you just might find the ideal arrangement.

Conferences
Many organizations open their conferences to the public, in addition to their members. For example, the Association of Personal Historians (APH) is holding their annual conference in Las Vegas in October, details at www.personalhistorians.org. It is a wonderful way for anyone to learn more about preserving their family stories. Check out other offerings on the internet, at your local library, or in trade magazines.

Ask Others
When you notice someone doing something out of the ordinary, either in person or in the newspaper, ask them how they learned it or discovered it. People enjoy talking about their hobbies and you may find both a new activity and a new friend with whom to share it. You can also find information at your library, bookstore, craft or hobby stores, and on the internet. There is a wealth of knowledge available when you start researching an area.

Other Opportunities to Learn
Many Senior Centers schedule group events for people to play cards, games, chess, crafts, book clubs, etc. Find one or two you like and participate. If you don’t find a group that shares your passion for cribbage, start your own. You can post a notice on a bulletin board, local newspaper, or community calendar.

Watch for the new catalogs arriving from your community college, continuing education provider, park district, and neighborhood associations. If you don’t find anything of interest, call them to ask for future classes on topics of your choice. You’ll never know how they’ll respond if you don’t ask.

What have you always wanted to learn, but never tackled? Discover a whole new world of exciting things to learn, both in school and out. But the important thing is to start today!

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