Long Car Rides? No Problem!

ALBERTA FISH and GAME ASSOCIATION booster plate (Photo credit: woody1778a)

Long car rides with children can be a handful! Parenting expert Robert Nickell a.k.a. Daddy Nickell, founder of DaddyScrubs.com and father of six, gives his suggestions for parents to make car travel easier and even fun.

1. Plan ahead. Make sure you allow enough time for food and bathroom breaks. If you are running late you and the kids will be stressed. Remember that stops take longer with kids.

2. Pack a "travel bag" for EACH kid. Pack their favorite books, coloring pages, stuffed animals and activity books.

3. Invest in some travel games (headbands, cards, bracelet making kits).

4. Invest in a travel DVD or gaming system for longer car rides.

5. Books on tape engage the whole car.

6. Stop at restaurants with play lands. Give the kids 10 minutes to run around and use some energy.

7. Let them sleep. It may throw off your schedule a bit, but it will make the car ride more tolerable!

8. Play "I spy," "the alphabet game," "license plate game," and "car bingo."

9. Switch up seats. Sometimes a new point of view means a whole new outlook on the trip.

10. Require them to go to the bathroom whether they think they need to or not.

11. If you have time, swing through attractions. Going 10 minutes out of your way to see a landmark will break up the trip and create shorter legs. Remember that "getting there" should be fun.

12. Plan your route, but be flexible. Often times the side roads really don't add that much time but allow you to see more and be adventurous. Stop to dip your toes in a local stream, hit the little candy shop in town or take your picture by the state boundary sign. These are the parts of the trip you will remember most.

13. Have fun. Sing along with music, tell funny stories, laugh out loud.

My biggest tip!

14. Relax. You are the leader of your gang and they will take their cues from you. The more calm mom or dad is, the better the kids will be! If you are uptight and yelling, the car ride will be no fun for anyone!

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Counselling In Mental Health

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Ultimately, counselling is (or should be) about learning and practicing how to HELP YOURSELF. A counsellor's job or task is to help others to help themselves! A misconception among general society about counselling relates to advice giving. A counsellor should only give advice in certain or particular situations or under certain circumstances such as if somebody is pointing a dealy weapon to their own head (the counsellor could rightfully use "shoulds" then in such circumstances). Generally, for a counsellor to give advice is going against the principles of what counselling is about or intended to be (if used correctly) A core idea of counselling as a general rule of thumb is for the client (or person receiving counselling) to grow in him or herself and become self-sufficient as far as handling/managing current and future problems, NOT to become dependent on a counsellor or

ANYBODY else to make decisions for them (such as advice giving) which will only hinder or stalemate personal growth and resolution of problems. The term "therapist" may loosely be used as a broad term covering counsellors and more recognised psychotherapists. Speaking in loose terms, a physiotherapist, a diversional therapist, a pastoral counsellor, an art therapist, a hypnotherapist, a counsellor, a psychologist, a behaviour therapist and many others could all be loosely termed or grouped as therapists. A constable and a sergeant are both police officers but one more highly recognised and a similar comparison could be made between a counsellor and a psychotherapist. An interesting point to note also is that studies have revealed/concluded that paraprofessionals (those with somewhat minimal training such as those who have only had a few hours of training in communication skills such as active listening, using reflective skills, empathy and the like, and others such as college students and those with no formal qualifications in "therapy") can obtain very positive results in working with those presenting for treatment of general life problems. In other words, many people can be aided in a "therapeutic" relationship or atmosphere with non-professionals (non-therapists) as much as certain professional people who are therapists. It's not always the case such as in adults who present with more disturbing issues, but the point is that helpers may not absolutely need to be an "expert therapist" in order for others (generally speaking and in general situations) to reap benefits of personal interaction in dealing with general life issues. Certain types of theories and those used in many forms of counselling state and believe that humans have the capacity for self-healing with general problems or issues in life. But it is ideally suitable to associate with others when we need to whether we are facing depression, anxiety problems, relationship problems, addictions and so-forth and a part of the healing package or the "ingredients" that are required for many of us to overcome various problems is to communicate ( in one way or another) with paraprofessionals, non-professionals AND sometimes professional people in whom may come in the form of a warm, empathic and accepting counsellor.

How might a counsellor help? What benefits are there in seeing a counsellor? How DO they help? What role can they play? Many questions may be asked and these seem to be some common ones. A counsellor may be able to help in various ways and some of this will be the actual approach that they use ("approaches" here meaning an actual school of thought as in different types of psychotherapies). Counsellors are generally trained at least in certain aspects of psychotherapy (such as Person-centred therapy developed by Carl Rogers) and will generally have certain skills not only in areas such as communication skills, conflict resolution, portraying a congruent attitude and demonstrating unconditional positive regard and so-forth, but they generally are able to utilise skills of particular techniques used in various forms of psychotherapy. Counsellors may not be as skilled or have specific expertise skills as somebody such as a psychologist who is trained in helping those with mental health problems, but they still do have a fairly large repertoire of "things up their sleeve" that they can use for helping to work with others ( remembering that counselling is or should be about helping others to help themselves). Most counsellors are renowned or have a reputation of being very warm-hearted people. It may be pleasantly surprising to discover some of the benefits in talking to a non-judgemental, empathic, listening, open-minded, genuine or "real" person as a climate of such an environment in such cases can contribute to personal growth and/or other positive aspects that may be so fruitful in fighting or facing the battle of mental health issues.

A counsellor can help by using certain skills, by actually wanting to listen to you and in other ways such as helping you to become more aware of parts of yourself, using your own inbuilt skills and abilities, practicing certain skills and techniques, right though to simply offering you a non-judgemental attitude and a caring relationship, helping you to find suitable other people who have specialist skills in helping in all sorts of different areas, helping you to vent feelings and thoughts which in itself can be therapeutic, dealing with unresolved issues of the past and becoming more fully-equipped to maximise the value of the present and putting things into place for future problems or challenges, assisting you to challenge negative self-defeating beliefs, reconstruct healthy, rational or adaptive ways of thinking and much, much more. Counsellors may not be psychiatrists or have quite the in-depth knowledge of mental health issues and disorders, but they can offer aspects of healing in oneslf to a lot of people with various mental health problems.

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Welsh Rugby Player Wakes Up Gay After Suffering Stroke

A Welsh rugby player who claims suffering a stroke turned him gay says he is happier now than when he was straight.

Chris Birch, 26, was a 19st beer-swilling athlete from Caerphilly who loved motorbikes and was engaged to marry his girlfriend at the time.

However, after suffering a stroke, he woke up to realise that he was no longer attracted to women, reports the BBC.

He has since slimmed down, quit his job in a bank to become a hairdresser and is engaged to another man.

Mr Birch told BBC documentary 'I Woke Up Gay': "The Chris I knew

had gone and a new Chris sort of came along.

"I came to the realisation that the stroke had turned me gay. I'm happier now than I ever have been, why would I want to change?"

Mr Birch had been attempting a forward roll down a hill in 2011 when the blood supply to his brain was cut off, causing a stroke.

Dr Qazi Rahman, an expert in human sexual orientation, invited Mr Birch to undergo tests to see if he might have been born gay.

He found that in half the tests, Mr Birch performed in the "expected direction" for a gay man, and for the other half was within the range of a straight man.

Dr Rahman said: "The bulk of the evidence in the biological sciences of genetics and psychology and neuroscience suggest that sexuality is something you are born with and it develops later on through life.

"Sometimes it takes something like a neurological insult - which is what a stroke is - to make you reassess those feelings, perhaps that are lying dormant, and bring them into the front of your mind and it is possible that is what has happened."

  

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Snickers Bars With A Kick

I don't know if this guy is an idiot or potential genius. A Spanish drug smuggler was jailed in the UK after trying to take nearly £550,000 ($880,000) worth of cocaine into the country inside Snickers bars.

Sniffer dogs at London's Gatwick airport detected Ivan Sacido's stash in January after he arrived on a flight from the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago.

Officers who searched the 39-year-old's luggage found more than two

kilograms worth of 100 percent pure cocaine concealed inside authentic-looking candy bars, the Crawley Observer reported Thursday.
Croydon Crown Court heard earlier this month that Sacido, from Madrid, was offered €6,000 ($7,885) to carry out what UK Border Agency officials described "a sophisticated smuggling attempt."

Sacido pleaded guilty to a charge of importing a class A drug and was sentenced to five years and three months behind bars.

A British man was jailed for seven years on Wednesday for trying to smuggle £13,000 worth of cocaine into the UK inside bell peppers. Peter Avery, of the UK Border Agency, said, "The potential danger to the public is always increased when drugs are hidden inside food or drink packaging in this way."

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Who Wants Yesterday's Papers?

Image via CrunchBaseHello and thank you for visiting my latest blog. As you will note I have selected an online newspaper theme. The reasons for this are, as you will find out if you choose to re-visit my online newspaper, I can write blogs of varying length. Additionally, that you can quickly view headlines and introductory text and can make your mind up there and then if there is anything there that appears to them. How many of us have spent an age searching for an article only to find ourselves wasting hours?

I invite you to sign up to my online newspaper via email (to the

top right of the Home page) in order to receive updates as they arise. Fear not, dear reader, I'm not one for letting my followers know every time I cough. I'm quite the opposite; to the point of near neurosis. Updates will be sent to you (if you have subscribed) when a decent amount of news has been accrued.

On occasion, if one gets into a bad mindset, it can become quite daunting when writing to an unkonwn number of people and people of all races and religions. For the purpose of this online newspaper I imagine myself reciting it to an audience. It's something of a 'kick' and has aided my mental state on numerous occasions. The views that I express in this online newspaper are my interpretation of news that I have seen or heard and are purely my opinions

You will notice, amidst other things, widgets for a few of the sites that I am engaged with. Feel free to hook up with me on any of these sites and likewise invite me to your sites if you wish.

Due to my location, namely Stanley, Tasmania, the news that I receive from the rest of the is limited. Thank goodness for Twitter! Additionally, I was born in Scotland and emigrated here in 1979 at the age of 12 so I keep a keen eye on activities over there. I keep an eye on Australian and a closer eye on Tasmanian politics. The nations political goings on are relatively transparent due to the low population of the country. Tasmanian politics are even more transparent. Despite a population of just over 5,000,000, State politicians are so arrogant and hard-faced that they think they general public....that's you and I, folks....Can't see through their smoke and mirrors routines.  I  also happen to be a recording artist. Now; combine all of these things and factor in time constraints, I guarantee that you'll be more than entertained here on my online newspaper.

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