Simone Jennifer Smith’s Post

10 Gift Care Habits 2024; Spread the Holiday Cheer! The holiday season is upon us, a time filled with joy, love, and reflection. However, for many, it can also be a period of: stress, loneliness, and financial strain. At Brothers Who Care, we believe in the power of community and the importance of taking care of ourselves and others. That's why we're launching our annual "10 Care Gift Habits" campaign this December. It's a simple yet powerful initiative to promote acts of kindness, self-care, and community support. We encourage you to adopt these habits and spread positivity during this special time. The Brothers Who Care “10 Care Gift Habits” brings something special to the season. They include the: Gift of Laughter, Gift of Play, Gifts of Honour, Gift of Sharing, Gifts of Learning, Gift of Reaching Out, Gifts to Self, Gifts of Imagination, Gifts of Love. Stay tuned for the 10 Gift Care Habit Challenged being released tomorrow...

10 Gift Care Habits 2024; Spread the Holiday Cheer! The holiday season is upon us, a time filled with joy, love, and reflection. However, for many, it can also be a period of: stress, loneliness, and financial strain. At Brothers Who Care, we believe in the power of community and the importance of taking care of ourselves and others. That's why we're launching our annual "10 Care Gift Habits" campaign this December. It's a simple yet powerful initiative to promote acts of kindness, self-care, and community support. We encourage you to adopt these habits and spread positivity during this special time. The Brothers Who Care “10 Care Gift Habits” brings something special to the season. They include the: Gift of Laughter, Gift of Play, Gifts of Honour, Gift of Sharing, Gifts of Learning, Gift of Reaching Out, Gifts to Self, Gifts of Imagination, Gifts of Love. Stay tuned for the 10 Gift Care Habit Challenged being released tomorrow...

10 Gift Care Habits 2024; Spread the Holiday Cheer! The holiday season is upon us, a time filled with joy, love, and reflection. However, for many, it can also be a period of: stress, loneliness, and financial strain. At Brothers Who Care, we believe in the power of community and the importance of taking care of ourselves and others. That's why we're launching our annual "10 Care Gift Habits" campaign this December. It's a simple yet powerful initiative to promote acts of kindness, self-care, and community support. We encourage you to adopt these habits and spread positivity during this special time. The Brothers Who Care “10 Care Gift Habits” brings something special to the season. They include the: Gift of Laughter, Gift of Play, Gifts of Honour, Gift of Sharing, Gifts of Learning, Gift of Reaching Out, Gifts to Self, Gifts of Imagination, Gifts of Love. Stay tuned for the 10 Gift Care Habit Challenged being released tomorrow...

✨ Time flies in December, doesn’t it? ✨ If your holiday season is feeling more frantic than festive, here’s your chance to infuse it with some joy and connection. My 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧 is still available, and there’s plenty of time to use its ideas to bring meaningful moments into your family’s days. 🎄 It’s packed with 24 simple activities designed to fit into your life without adding stress. You don’t have to do them all - just pick what works for your family and enjoy the moments together. For us, 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗼 was a highlight this weekend. It started as good fun, but when my older son didn’t win a single round, he was 𝘯𝘰𝘵 happy! 😅 We lightened the mood by playing a silly game we call “𝘸𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵,” gently pulling on his limbs while he giggled and protested. And then there’s the 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗼𝗻 - a beloved tradition in our house. 🦌 My kids adore picking out a small Christmas decoration each year, and they cherish them as if they were treasures. 👉 Whether it’s a quick bingo game, a cosy movie night, or visiting a local spot that makes the season special, these small moments add up to lasting memories. Download your calendar here: https://lnkd.in/ebP7aUbr — Hi, I’m Blanka, helping parents to… 🤝 Get their kids to cooperate without nagging. 🚦 Set limits without power struggles or parental guilt. 🌱 Create a harmonious home environment where their kids can grow into kind and resilient adults.

The Thanksgiving holiday brought an important realization for several families as they noticed the impact of their child’s food refusal in a new light. At home, routines may feel manageable, but holiday gatherings—full of unfamiliar foods and bustling environments—can quickly highlight underlying challenges. When these families reached out for guidance, I reminded them that nearly all children struggle more in new or chaotic holiday settings. This alone isn’t always a sign that intervention is needed. However, for some, this behavior was just the tip of the iceberg. Through our conversation, many parents began to uncover the layers of accommodations they had unintentionally built into their daily lives to manage mealtime struggles. While these adjustments were made with the best intentions, they were often creating unseen stress for both the child and the family. These moments served as a great starting point for exploring how I could best support the child and the family as a whole. Sometimes, it takes those “out-of-the-box” situations—like holiday gatherings—to shine a light on a larger need for support. What time of year do you find to be your highest level of service inquiries? Does it correlate to anything?

It's all very well working your bum off to make an experience and to turn Christmas into the best day of the year but do we really need to spend all the money to do it? How about changing the rules. How about putting the effort into making memories with your family instead of more fodder for the land fill. Make up some games, get the kids to design a board game even. Play those throughout the day and have fun prizes rather than presents. Parents and families all over the country are feeling so much more pressure than ever this year and many are "cancelling Christmas" because of the financial strain. We need to cut it back. Stop being pulled into the commercialism of the day and start remembering the peace on earth and goodwill towards men part of it. Maybe get the family involved with a local community Christmas dinner or get everyone you know together who is doing it tough, everyone bring one dish and share it all out as a pot luck style meal. That way no one person or family is putting on all the effort and stress. No gifts just spending time and making memories together. Teaching children that it's not about who got what and how many, but it's about what they will remember in years to come. Christmas and the other holidays don't have to be cancelled but maybe the day and what happens and the activities need to change. #christmasonabudget #handmadechristmas #costoflivingcrisis

Looking to have some good conversations this Thanksgiving? Try these three questions from our Healthy Wealthy Talks conversation deck! - What is something you have learned from your parents or caregivers about money? - What advice would you give to 22-year-old you? - Would you loan money to family or friends? As you're sitting around waiting for the turkey to cook, have some money conversations. I have found that it's often easier to talk about the money in the past than in the present. And we can learn a lot about what we would have done differently. Happy Thanksgiving!

What do you do when you see someone in need of help? I have 3 rules for myself l that I strive to follow: 1. Help them as much as you can. 2. Find someone who can help more than you can. 3. If you pass it by and think again about it, turn around. Sometimes just showing up will help someone tremendously. I’m often doing this in the ER I work in. I will pass by someone that looks like they’re in need or have a call light on, and even though it’s “not my job”, I’ll do one of those three things majority of the time. Another thing is, whenever my coworkers are stressed and busy and I’m not, I try to do things I’m able to do for them. I am ALWAYS listening for patients needs just in case I can do something about it (so the nurse doesn’t have more on their plate) This actually is not that common. People will turn a blind eye, they will ignore the issue for their own sake, they will say “it’s not my job”. Maybe no one else will do it! Maybe YOUR act will be what saves them from experience. I want to challenge everyone to try out those three things and even start LOOKING for ways you can help someone nearby. This season is hard for many! If you can’t give gifts, give your time and effort. Happy December all, choose to give yourself! 🎄✨

Happy short holiday week! As Thanksgiving approaches, families are preparing for a time of togetherness, but also for the delicate balancing act of avoiding conflict. While the holiday season is filled with opportunities to reconnect, it's also a time when differing opinions and past tensions can surface. Click below for some tips on how to handle a holiday meltdown. https://lnkd.in/guyrqeYY

Sometimes spending time with family and family friends over the holiday period can be anything BUT a happy time. This can particularly be the case if you are a member of a Rainbow Community and the people around you are unsupportive of who you are and who you love. I'm writing a blog series in the lead up to Christmas about coping strategies. Coming up next is how to navigate holiday events when you're out to yourself, but not to anyone else. The final installment will focus on supporting your Rainbow child / young person through the festive season. Firstly, I look at how to prepare yourself for the safest and sanest holiday period possible. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/eeb9Swkz