Family Library


F E A T U R E D    A R T I C L E

Listening to Our Loved Ones with OCD

June 5th, 2013
After my son Dan was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), I was determined to do whatever I could to help him. Always a believer in mother’s instincts, I followed mine, and did whatever ...

Summer Island

BOOK REVIEW.
"It was the impurity in her heart that made her successful. She was an ordinary woman who’d made extraordinary mistakes. She understood every nuance of need and loss." ~ Summer Island Given my love for women’s fiction, I’m enthusiastic when I discover a new writer’s collection. Happily, best-selling author Kristin Hannah captured my interest immediately with ...

Prevent the Summer Academic Backslide

Prevent the Summer Academic BackslideIt's a fact. Kids lose academic ground during the summer months. Come September, even the best students are several weeks behind where they were in June. Struggling students can lose up to two months. This is especially true in math and ...

How to Improve Your Mood in a Hurry

How to Improve Your Mood in a HurryOne week not long ago, I found myself busier than normal and unable to do my daily workouts. I didn’t worry because I knew I would get back to my routine the following week. ...

Selfishness in Couples: Narcissism, Lack of Interpersonal Skills, or Something Else?

Selfishness in Couples: Narcissism, Lack of Interpersonal Skills, or Something Else?Disclaimer: The characters from these vignettes are fictitious. They were derived from a composite of people and events for the purpose of representing real-life situations and psychological dilemmas. Couples commonly talk about feeling unsupported ...

Happy Mother’s Day to Moms with Kids with Special Needs

Happy Mother's Day to Moms with Kids with Special NeedsA recent TV ad says it all. It follows a mom through her day with a little boy who appears to have some kind of developmental delay. The voice-over tells us ...

Things I Wish I’d Known: Cancer Caregivers Speak Out

BOOK REVIEW.
This is truly a book I wish I’d had years ago. The aptly-titled Things I Wish I’d Known: Cancer Caregivers Speak Out, by Deborah J. Cornwall, is a welcome resource for those struggling to help the people they love who have cancer. My grandmother, mother, father, and wife all had cancer. My mother was a caregiver for both ...

Advocating for Your Child within the School System

Advocating for Your Child within the School System“I’ve had it.” The parent on the phone is incensed. “The teacher just won’t listen to me. My child needs more individual attention. She isn’t a bad kid. She just needs more help. She’s on an education plan ...

OCD and Isolation

OCD and IsolationOne of the most heartbreaking aspects of my son Dan’s descent into severe obsessive-compulsive disorder was his progressive isolation from his friends. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence for those with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and often becomes a ...

April is Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness MonthNaming a time for awareness brings an issue into focus. It gives us a reason to do something extra (such as post this article) to help more people understand it. It makes people who are dealing with it feel less alone, ...

Diary of a Stage Mother’s Daughter

BOOK REVIEW.
One of the quintessential “bad” mommy characters that many are familiar with is Joan Crawford, a.k.a. “Mommy Dearest.” Who can forget that terrifying scene from the movie with the wire hangers? Personally, I do not keep a single wire hanger in my home because of the film -- I worry that the ghost of Joan ...

OCD and the Need for Reassurance

OCD and the Need for ReassuranceOne of the most common manifestations of obsessive-compulsive disorder is the need for reassurance. “Are you sure it’s okay if I do this or that?” “Are you sure nobody got ...

When Your Parents Disapprove of Your Partner

When Your Parents Disapprove of Your PartnerIt’s a problem that is probably as old as time. Adult children don’t always choose the mate their parents want for them. Shakespeare immortalized it in Romeo and Juliet. A central theme in the Broadway musical, Fiddler ...