In my high school, there was a big push for sons and daughters to get to a college or university and get a degree. There was even a big emphasis to get a degree as soon as you could. One summer I took some classes for my Elementary Education degree so I could graduate in… Read More Don’t Hurry to College
When we were taking our firstborn son home from the hospital, no one gave us any instruction book on how to take care of this little guy. There was a manila envelope stuffed full of pamphlets on SIDS, shaken-baby syndrome, and how to install a car seat. There wasn’t anything on how to actually care… Read More It Takes a Village
I have been teaching for 25 years and I see the same thing over and over again. The students who are doing well educationally, mentally, and socially have parents who are plugged in at home. What do I mean by that? Well, these parents are invested in their education. They care about who their children… Read More It Starts at Home…
The storm rages on. Our boat is taking on water and it seems like there is no end in sight to the crashing waves. I’m not here to just vent all of the problems we have in our life in this blog. I am writing so if you come across the same difficulties or curveballs… Read More How to Ride the Waves
Life had been going very well for the Neilan family these past 6 1/2 years. Yes, we have had our little tiny speed bumps during those years but nothing too major we couldn’t handle quickly. Since the end of 2019 and now the beginning of 2020, the state of things in our family has taken… Read More When God Throws a Curveball
I grew up with three younger brothers and God blessed our family with three sons. I think He has a plan in mind for me to be surrounded by boys, but I’m not sure why. As our family began to grow certain phrases or mottos, started to be incorporated into our daily lives. We still… Read More 4 Mottos Our Family Lives By
I am a computer teacher at a public middle school and one of the units I teach is all about Digital Citizenship. For an entire week, 5-8th grade students will take a journey with me on how to be safer and more kind while being on the Internet. The students know I am passionate about… Read More What I Wish Everyone Knew About CyberBullying
I live with mental illness…….. It is not me personally; it is my husband and two of our three sons who are afflicted with this condition. Looking back on my family and history, we never saw anyone who was depressed or anxious about anything in their lives. If they were depressed or anxious, they hid… Read More Living with Mental Illness
I grew up during the 70s and 80s when music was exploding on the radiowaves. Our family listened to music whenever we could. Mostly we listened to Pop and Rock with a little Country sprinkled in every once in a while. Music was playing at the workplace, in our van, and in our home when… Read More Music…my first love
When we were engaged, one of the decisions we made was that we wanted to be one faith on our wedding day. My soon-to-be husband was a Wisconsin Synod Lutheran and I was Catholic. After lengthy discussions with our parents and our priest, we decided that being a part of the Catholic family would be… Read More 10 Steps to taking children to Mass…From babies to teens