We can no longer ignore that there is a host of reality television stars who are educating our kids.

I don’t like it and I’d prefer to bury my head in the sand like an ostrich. That tact however, will leave me starved for air and my nieces and nephews without the benefit of a moral and cultural counterpoint to the “GTL” (gym, tan, laundry) lifestyle.

I’m an aunt to forty nieces and nephews all by relation and many of them they love the “Jersey Shore.” Their facination with these pop-culture nitwits finds me reaching for my rosary beads. It’s gonna be a cold day in hell before I sit back and let these morally devoid characters corrupt my little darlings. So, what’s an auntie to do?

Here’s what I came up with. Read more

Happy New Year!

The end of January is fast approaching and for me, it can’t come soon enough.

While February is more attractive than January — it’s May, June and July I’m PINING away for.

As I write this post it is only seven degrees outside. Seven. Here on the east coast, that’s darn freezing. We can do temperatures in the twenties with moderate complaining but seven degrees brings out the Debbie Dower in just about everyone.

I hope your holidays were full of mason jar moments.Spending time with my family ranks numero uno on my list of things that make my heart burst with love and thank God, I got to do lots of it over the holidays.

Family

Speaking of family, this year’s first post comes from my brother-in-law who is working in Afghanistan for a year. We were lucky he was able to make it home for the holidays and God willing he will be home safe and sound permanently July 1. Please remember him, our troops and all those working overseas in your thoughts and prayers.

After almost 48 hours of traveling and a week back on his base, my brother-in-law sent out an email and shared some beautiful insights about what this experience has taught him. With his permission, I’m sharing it here with you.

I hope your new year is off to a wonderful start. And now, What I’ve Learned from my brother-in-law.

I’ve learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.  In time, all things must pass.

I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things:   a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I’ve learned that, regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.

I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as making a ‘life..’

I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands.  You need to be able to throw something back sometimes.

I’ve learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you.  But, if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you.

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.

I’ve learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone.   People love that human touch — holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.

What have YOU learned?

While I’m off enjoying some time with family and friends you might want to check out my latest piece at Savvy Auntie.

This time of the year is tough for many. Nostalgia has a way of creeping in at our holidays tables. For those actively grieving, this time of the year can be riddled with pangs of sadness. Even more so, people who long to have children struggle as well. In my latest column at Savvy Auntie, I share some tips on how to survive this time of year when dealing with infertility or longing for children of our own.

Gobble, gobble!

Happy Funny Friday!

Wonderful news! This column is now coming to you courtesy of Laugh Magazine!

Here in Delaware Laugh Magazine is a free publication dedicated to laughter. Pick up a copy at your local favorite eatieries or coffee shops or you may visit online at Laugh Magazine.

Ever wonder exactly how special you really are when someone tells you you’re special?

“Oh, you’re so special,” people say to one another.

When I see things like this video–a tribute that made me laugh, cry and think, I wonder if I am this special. Watch the video and you’ll see what I mean.

When I first saw it and the video came to an end, I gently closed the lid of my laptop and did some thinking.

I want to live my life well. I want to always do the right thing–and be big enough to offer an apology when I fall short, (which I will because I’m human, despite my best efforts).

Today, I am posting something that made me laugh, cry and imprinted a smile in my soul.

I hope I am the kind of friend, wife, therapist, aunt, sister, daughter, daughter-in-law, etc. that would make me deserving of a tribute like this.

Enjoy!

Happy Sunday!

This Sunday is sponsored by one of my Godsons and his identical twin brother; both who share their first names with my husband and his identical twin brother. Italians really only have a few standard first names we use when naming our children. We use them from generation to generation, from family to family, from sea to shining sea.

Thursday evening, after I finished up with clients, my best friend, Stef, called and asked us to swing by to hang out with her and the kids before the kids’ standing evening date with the sandman.

Guess Who?

We piled in The Bird’s navy blue Ford pick-me-up truck, as he affectionately calls it, and drove the half a mile over to Stef’s. The garage door was up and before I could shout, “Guess who?” when I walked into the kitchen, the twins in their Sponge Bob pjs with freshly washed noggins, accosted me, smiles so big their faces had to hurt, waving pictures they drew. Read more

These last few days, I found myself spending way too much time focused on the long list of things in my life I haven’t accomplished.

Littered with sentences that begin with the proverbial, “When I,” “Someday,” or the more toxic, “I should really…” that list seduces me. It disguises itself as a devoted lover but only uses and abuses me. When I’m finished reading it, I frantically collect what’s left of my self-respect as I dash out the door on the walk of shame. Read more

My nephew cutting the field out back of our house in anticipation of hunting season. (I have very mixed feelings about hunting…mostly, I don’t like it. I don’t have mixed feelings about my nephew-I love him).

I’m about to tell you something you already know.

Hold on to your panties…

Over fifty percent of all marriages will end in divorce.

Indeed, this is a sobering statistic.

“Well, duh, Steph. We know that, right?”

I know, I know but please DO NOT CLICK AWAY.

I come with glad tidings!

If fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, that means another fifty percent of marriages work!

Now you might be asking, “No $#%&, Sherlock-but what’s the secret?”

Today, I’d like to let you in on a few of my own.

Wednesday, my husband and I celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary.

Yes, we are the proud parents of twenty years of marriage-a very, happy marriage.* One with so much PDA (public displays of affection) at times people tell us to “get a room.”

*Disclaimer: DOES NOT equate with absent of cares and woes (The common misconception that happy marriages are devoid of complexity is the genesis of trouble).

As Wednesday drew near, I found myself making a mental list of why I think our marriage has been so successful. Busy formulating my list while tossing laundry into the washer and my hands deep in dirty dishes, I recalled a conversation we had last winter with my nephew. Read more

(Bianca)

Ever feel like, “Gee whiz?”

That’s how I feel as I write this post.

Gee whiz.

My Mom reserved that expression for times when there really wasn’t anything else to say.

Times like the day I called her to tell her I that I had been struggling to get pregnant, and the time when I was visiting my parents in Florida and my husband called to tell me that our dog, Bella was so sick they weren’t sure she was going to make it.  While I sat in tears on the powder blue lazy boy, my cell phone in my lap, she kissed me on the forehead, sighed and said, “Oh, Steffi. Gee whiz.”

Today, if I called her to tell her the “bitter” of my week, I’m sure she’d say, “Oh, Steffi, gee whiz.” Read more

On Sundays, I like to take note of something in my life that under the lens of hustle and bustle morphs into something sacred when I stop to take notice.

Here’s what I saw this Sunday.

Fresh from my garden…

I chopped up basil, oregano and curly parsley, stirred them into my homemade tomato gravy and served up a classic Sunday dinner-macaroni and sausage to my husband and surprise guests, our niece and nephew who biked over to see us, and their parents.  Yummy! (and sacred)