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Sara Brooke Curtis (@sbcsays) is a radio producer and writer living in Western, Massachusetts. To offer your own advice, call Zak @ 844-935-BEST TRANSCRIPT: ZAK: Today's advice could be a game-changer. It's not gonna be easy, though. SARA: So, what if every-time you get the impulse to obsessively refresh your email, instead you do a little dance, you take a breath, eat a piece of fruit, call a friend, even just look outside. See what that does for you instead. ZAK: I mean, I guarantee that that is gonna be better for my life...if I do that. I refresh my email like a hundred times a day. What am I doing? SARA: What are you doing? Like, doesn't it make you feel so frenetic. ZAK: Yeah, and there's like...I don't even know what email...I think I'm gonna be getting an email like where someone's gonna be giving some award or something. But I didn't apply for any awards. I haven't done anything to earn the award. Like, I don't know what I'm hoping for. SARA: But that's the thing, right? Like...those are the questions that I think are really important to ask yourself. When you're stuck in that loop, because I feel like it essentially is a loop when we keep refreshing our feeds of any kind. Like, what do you want and how can you tangibly get it? You know what I mean? Like what is the hunger? If it's just that you're looking for attention or you're looking for affirmation that you're a good human on this planet, you're doing something interesting, you're beautiful, you're smart, you're successful...like, how do you find that recognition in ways that you have more control over it and maybe that are more nourishing in the long run. SARA: My name is Sara Brooke Curtis and I am a radio producer and writer living in Western, Massachusetts. ZAK: Have you figured out ways to ween yourself off your tech addiction? I would love to hear what you're doing. Call me at 844-935-BEST. You can also e-mail me at Zak@BestAdvice.Show. Thanks.
Tattoos from Italy, parts of the wall from Berlin and toilet paper from Vegas, these are the kind of souvenirs that we and our guests have brought home from our travels. Every souvenir brings with it its own unique memories and feelings that will stay with us after we get back home. (Yes, even that toilet paper from Vegas!) Find our friends featured in this episode! Drive With Us Podcast by Bhavneet and Taranjit Flying Smarter Podcast by Andrew Not Another X-Files Podcast Podcast by Carolyn and Vanessa Wayward Pineapple Creations by Julia (crochet) You Globe Girl Podcast by Ro and Sara What kind of memories do you take home with you when you travel? Tell us at our social media links below! Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! Visit our website at www.thatstheticketpod.com Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or on Podchaser. Music By: Dj Quads @ https://soundcloud.com/aka-dj-quads
I am trying to install a faux stone veneer around a TV Mount and a Fireplace on an interior drywall wall. Here is the question from Sara: What kind of Stone should I use for this project? This is a very common question we receive with interior remodels. I am going to answer it right […]
Show Notes Let's all take a few nice, long, deep breaths. Hi Friends, We'll be needing a lot more deep breathing in these coming weeks! This week's episode is a recording of a live webinar Sara Kuljis & I did earlier this week. Our topic was Creating Structure, Fun, & Connection while we have our kids home and have a whole lot of unstructured time on our hands. Participants shared many amazing resources, which I have included in this post (scroll down). If you'd prefer a downloadable PDF (with links), use the sign up box below. While this is a challenging time, we can also view it as an opportunity to evaluate and doing a reset - adding in some fun and connection to our family lives. Please send me your challenges, questions, and feedback. I'd love to connect! Stay well! Big Ideas Connection is weaved through everything we do. Try weaving some connection into the structure of your day - a walk with the dog, family dinner, or a nightly game or puzzle are all great options! STRUCTURE The schedule at home will not be the same as at school, and that's okay. But it's good for there to be some predictability. For kids who have synchronous classes, their schedule will be dictated by their online classes. For younger kids, or those who do not have scheduled online classes, consider having guidelines about getting school work done before other activities or in the morning. Instead of following a rigid schedule, consider using a "Daily Checklist." This allows kids (and parents) some autonomy to choose when to do different things. We're all feeling a lack of control right now, so giving our kids some choices (when possible) is helpful. Audrey's daughter, Gretchen, created a checklist for her high school students that works well for adults, too. It incorporates not just the school work, but the other things that will make us feel emotionally and physically healthy. Read more and download Gretchen’s checklist for her high school students (that also works for adults)! REMEMBER THE "ESSENTIALS" I talked with Dr. Jess Shatkin about the "Triumvirate of Good Health" (Sleep, Exercise, Nutrition) in Episode 24. Now's a good opportunity to look at how we (and our kids) are doing in those important areas! It's also important to attend to your kids' emotional needs during this unsettled time, listening and empathizing with them over their losses and frustrations, some of which may seem trivial from an adult perspective. Rather than discounting their feelings, we need to validate their emotions and show empathy. I made this one-minute video about validating kids' feelings a few years ago. It seems especially applicable right now. This is also an excellent opportunity to make sure your family has enough of each of what Challenge Success calls "PDF": Playtime, Downtime, & Family Time. These are common-sense strategies to promote health and well-being. Download Challenge Success PDF for Elementary-Age Kids Download Challenge Success PDF for Teens CONNECTION & FUN Try having at least one meal together. If you haven't been able to have family dinner, try starting now! And let the kids cook or help you cook! Do some sort of family sharing. If your family has a faith tradition, consider watching a live-stream of the service or listening to a podcast together. Exercise together! Get outside if you can to walk, hike, run, or bike. If you have a ping pong table, basketball hoop, or trampoline, take advantage of those resources. Or, stream a fitness or dance video to do together. It could be good for a laugh trying to attempt some new dance or yoga moves! Cultivate gratitude during these stressful times. With your family, name people, things, experiences and opportunities you are grateful for. Gratitude builds hope, stamina and a kind of “emotional immunity," and helps us feel less alone. Model how to keep moving forward for our children. Read together. Consider doing a family read aloud of one of your favorite books. Come up with a hobby or new activity you can try together, either in pairs or as a whole family. Pull out some games or puzzles. Learn a new card game to play together. Resources Shared by Webinar Participants, Audrey, & Sara What are things we can do together as a family? My son is 12 and really misses playing with his friends. We take our whole family (son 12, daughter 8) and throw and catch a football on the beach. We only last a half hour or so, but they love it. Also we bike a lot and that is great with social distancing. We are doing a lot of reading aloud. Right now my kids are LOVING the book "Ungifted". It makes us laugh a lot. Went for a walk and did physical distancing with my 23 year old niece yesterday to connect with her. Books - it is nice to step away and get into a story. Reading out loud with kids while they work on puzzles/legos. There are several restaurants in my town that are offering pick up. I’m taking my daughter a few times a week to pick up her favorite lunch and walk to the beach to eat. If you have access to fleece via amazon or elsewhere kids can make fleece blankets for a group called Project Linus. They are easy to make and fun to do while chatting or listening to music . Beetles Project - resources usually for outdoor educators, but in these times, perhaps for families, too Coursera classes are often free and wonderful. My daughters and I did a Yale course on the science of well being and I highly recommend it. For families of the Christian faith, I think this is a great time for family bible studies or book clubs, too. We've started asking our kids to research something and bring fun facts to dinner to share with all of us. Funnily, our son thought I asked him to bring facts about Candyland instead of Canyonlands, a place we want to visit, so last night we got a great laugh over the miscommunication! 20 Screen Free Things to do with Your Kids Indoors Watch a TV series together Take a virtual trip to a museum Another virtual museum list (Travel & Leisure) Soul Shoppe Teach Peacemaking at Home – Dara Ackerman who works at our camps is involved! Free every day for the next two weeks each mid-day. What resources are you finding helpful to take care of yourself? Peloton App - yoga, strength workouts, outdoor run/walks and treadmill/spin bike workouts I do the Calm app each morning with my husband, plus 7 minutes of Pranayama (free app) first. We've been doing that for the past 3 years, so nice to already have established. What are academic/educational opportunities? PBS Kids for Parents provides resources on things like how to talk to your children about Coronavirus as well as activities to do together . PBS LearningMedia helps you design at-home learning across grade levels . DreamBox is offering free 90 day accounts for online math resources grades K-8. BrainPOP is offering free accounts to students of closed schools, and has short videos on a wide range of subjects with quizzes to take afterward. Outschool - online classes for homeschoolers and is offering discounts during school shutdown KQED TV will be broadcasting educational programming aligned with state standards . What are things kids can do independently (or, for younger kids, with us setting them up)? Bitsbox - coding for kids Creative Bug - online art classes for kids and adults Hulu (galinaatencio) The CEO Kid - very cool program for kids to brainstorm and walk step by step thru starting a business The Jackbox Party Pack on AppleTV for super fun multiplayer games. Write in names of favorite books & color (from My Ideal Bookshelf) Let’s Doodle Together Audible is streaming kids books for free while schools are closed!! Let Grow's Independence Kit https://letgrow.org/free-curriculum-independence-kit Final Encouragements “Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength—carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” - Corrie Ten Boom Watch Facebook Live (webinar was streamed) Further Listening (or Reading) Ready for Adulthood Ep. 124: Promoting Mental Health Ep. 130: Uncluttering our Schedules & our Homes https://www.additudemag.com/webinar/coronavirus-homeschooling-parent-strategies/ https://www.positiveparentingsolutions.com/parenting/strategies-for-grieving-children https://letgrow.org/social-distancing/
Show notes & links available here. In this episode, my friend Sara Kuljis and I are back together talking about uncluttering our schedules and our homes. Sara and her husband Steve Kuljis are the owners and directors of Yosemite Sierra Summer Camp and Emerald Cove Day Camp. Sara is also a certified Gallup Strengths Coach. Sara and I have been friends for two decades, and she has been a regular guest on the podcast talking in past episodes about strengths, sibling conflicts & relationships, gratitude, how to compliment our kids, grit, and more. Together we also do a live parenting workshop. Big Ideas Uncluttering our Schedules Look back at past events that family members enjoyed and identify what was special about those experiences to help you determine what your family values. Talk about people or families you admire and why you admire them. Use their example to inspire your family's values or actions. Look at your calendar of activities to see which ones support your values. Note where the gaps of downtime are so that you can make time for activities that move your values forward. Consider using the values worksheet to assess what you value most individually or as a family. If your kids are younger, select one or two to focus on for a season or year. Some questions to consider: What are our family values? What are the things we hope our family is known for? Try to identify two 0r three characteristics or values you'd like to be hallmarks of your family. What are qualities we want to develop? If you want to do a deeper dive into your family values, consider downloading Sara's Family Pace & Space worksheet (also available in the resource section of Happy Campers). Consider coming up with a short family motto or song that represents something that's important to you. One of Audrey's favorites that she put on a poster photo of her kids was from Lee Brice's song Love Like Crazy: Be a best friend, tell the truth, and overuse I love you Go to work, do your best, don't outsmart your common sense Never let your prayin' knees get lazy And love like crazy Uncluttering our Homes Involve the whole family in a decluttering project! Decide together where to donate any used items in good condition. Keep the time short and model how to give things away and clean out your spaces. Consider using something like Amazon's givebackbox to make it easy to donate. Quotes Audrey: "Life is so busy and chaotic and so we have to be really intentional about making it not that way." Audrey: "Spring is a time when it is starting to get warmer, flowers are blooming outside and it always feels kind of like a fresh start. We can think of this as our psychological spring cleaning." Sara: "When our schedules are so packed and our children are racing from one thing to the next, it is really hard--perhaps even impossible--to be the parent we want to be, the spouse we want to be, the family we want to be. That's because we love others slowly, not quickly. We serve each other slowly, not quickly. We empathize slowly, not quickly. Some of the best things in life have to be slowed down enough to do well." Sara: "At summer camp, we have kids show up and they're just exhausted. They've had no downtime, no unorganized playtime, no just hanging out with mom and dad time. They are as exhausted as I am after a heavy-duty month of work and that is not our best space in which to grow and learn and thrive." Sara: "What are our family values? What are the things our family stands on? What do we hope our family is known for? What are the qualities that we honestly want our kids to be learning? There are a number of amazing values that we can build into our family culture if we do it intentionally and involve everybody. Identify two or three values that are going to be the hallmarks of your family." Audrey: "Businesses have taglines or vision statements. It's kind of fun to think about what your family's motto could be." Sara: "It's helpful to look at the calendar of a given week or month together and look at the balance of activities. Mark the ones that match your values. It's scary to realize that only one thing our family did actually supported that value. All the rest were very busy and demanding things, but they didn't actually help move our family along in that value. That indicates our activities are not reflecting our values." Sara: "Sometimes we, as parents, in our anxiousness for our kids to be successful adults, add activities to our kids' schedule like extra tutors, extra club sports, and very academic, achievement-focused activities and we're overlooking those activities that actually build character and the human being parts of them that are the real things that create future success, healthy relationships, strong communities, sense of identity and self-confidence." Audrey: "I always thought the service/volunteering things we do need to be grand gestures, but a lot of times what our kids will remember might be more of the simple gestures." Sara: "Most things aren't grand. Most of life is every day. So how do we make these things an everyday moment?" Sara: "I would urge us not to add anything to our schedule unless we cut something out. That's just more stress, more anxiety, more feeling overwhelmed." Sara: "Decluttering is skill we can teach our children. It's way more fun to declutter together than all by yourself. Consider spending even only an hour and inviting your kids to help choose something to declutter." Audrey: "If we just take 30 minutes and each person picks what thing they are going to organize and together come up with one bag to donate or declutter the house, it would really move the needle and make your home feel less cluttered." Audrey: "I'm a believer that outer order leads to inner calm and so I think this is a great practice." Resources/Related Ep. 7: Family Pace & Space with Sara & Audrey Ep. 108: Simple Acts of Giving Back with Natalie Silverstein Does our Family’s Schedule Reflect our Values? Ep. 120: Family Traditions & Rituals Getting Organized Gretchen Rubin book, Outer Order Inner Calm
Put your mac in its sack and throw caution to the autumn, because it's raining Ella!Ben is joined by illustrator, club master, and previously Australian lady, Ella. The two talk about increasingly-unstable-Britain's future in an increasingly-unstable-world and ruminate on the potentially impending world-war. It's also a bumper harvest for features as Ella builds the, now permanent, 'Biscuit Corner' and Ben debut's his new item, "Single Use Jingle".Hold out for the final few minutes when Sara walks in for a chat about hair dye.Who is Sara? What does she think about hair dye?There's only one way to find out.https://ia601509.us.archive.org/30/items/IRBPElla/IRBP%20-%20Ella.mp3
Amanda and Mike are back with an all-new episode of Quiver: The Green Arrow Podcast to recap the CW Arrow episode, “Beyond Redemption!” Can Team Arrow stop a crew of crooked cops? Is Sara really Sara? What’s going on with Felicity’s phone? Why can’t Ollie and Captain Lance just get along!?! All these questions and […]