Category: Family & Relationships

All You Need To Know About Choosing A Funeral Headstone Or Monument

Funeral directors provide a range of services and products for bereaved families, and one which does need considerable thought by those purchasing it is the headstone or monument that will be placed at the grave of the departed. We are writing this with advice from experienced funeral directors, not just for those who have lost a loved one but also those who plan to have every aspect of your funeral pre-arranged and possibly paid for.

We do so due to the increasing number of people who wish to have peace of mind, not just for themselves, but more especially for their family, so that, when they pass, their loved ones do not have the added stress of making decisions, including the location, invitations, and of course, the headstone or monument.

Terminology – Headstone vs. Monument

One of the first things people become confused with is the terminology, and they often think that a headstone is the same as a monument. What confuses them further is that other terms are used to describe headstones, such as tombstones and gravestones.

For this article, we will continue to use ‘headstone’ and explain that its definition is a marker placed at the head of or over a grave, and in most instances, they and any base they sit on are made of stone.

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How Speech Pathologists Work With Children Who Have Selective Mutism

How Speech Pathologists Work With Children Who Have Selective Mutism

Unless you know a child who has suffered from it, whenever you first hear the term “selective mutism” you can be forgiven for not being sure what it is, but if you ask speech pathologists, they will tell you it is a complex condition that is not always recognised easily.

Often, when the parents of a child who has selective mutism notice their child not speaking in certain situations they think it is because they are “shy”, or “the quiet type”. Indeed many children without selective mutism show those traits, but, as the child grows and their reluctance to speak becomes more apparent, it may be time to seek the advice of a speech pathologist.

For those reading this who wish to learn a little more about selective mutism in children, read on and we will explain what it is, what its symptoms are, and how speech pathologists treat it.

What Is Selective Mutism?

Have you ever been confronted with something that scared you so much that you were frozen with fear and rendered speechless? A large spider, a snake, or a mugger brandishing a knife, perhaps? All very unpleasant scenarios and enough to cause a flurry of psychological and physiological responses, including choosing to remain completely silent.

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All You Need To Know About Grooming Your Puppy

All You Need To Know About Grooming Your Puppy

There is a type of dog that is asked more dog grooming questions and causes more angst amongst its owners about how to care for its coat than any other. Do you know which type of dog we are referring to? Well done if you answered puppies. Just as parents of babies have a million and one questions about caring for them, likewise, most owners of new puppies have a whole list of questions, too.

As we mentioned, many of those questions are about how to care for the puppy’s coat and whether or not they require any proper grooming other than an occasional brush. The simple truth is that puppies should indeed be groomed, and initially, much of that will take place at home until they have had their vaccinations, at which point they can safely visit a professional dog grooming service.

That brings us to owners wondering what grooming is suitable and safe for their puppy. If you are also unsure, then please keep reading as we are going to explain all you need to know about grooming your puppy which hopefully will make them even more cute, cuddly, and adorable than they already are.

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A Man’s Guide To What To Wear With Western Boots

A Man’s Guide To What To Wear With Western Boots

There can be many reasons why a man would choose to wear western boots, also known as cowboy boots. He might find them the most comfortable footwear, he may like the styles and designs, he may love the fact that they are so hard-wearing, or it could simply be that he is a huge fan of all things associated with cowboys and/or old westerns.

No matter what reasons men are wearing western boots for, what many men might not be so certain about is what they should wear with their western boots. Now, we are sure many men wear western boots for practical reasons rather than trying to be stylish, and for them, they could not care less about how they look when wearing them.

However, there are certain to be men who wear western boots who also want to dress, not just for practical reasons, but also for how it makes them look and feel. So, in this article, we are going to provide some advice as to what men should wear with western boots, both for practical reasons, and also so that they look great too.

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7 Tips For Introducing A New Puppy To Your Family Dog

7 Tips For Introducing A New Puppy To Your Family Dog

When a family with a dog decides to get a puppy, there will be a list of things they must arrange such as vaccinations, house training, dog daycare enrolment, etc. However, the one task that needs more thought than any other is introducing that puppy to its big brother or sister, the existing family dog.

In most cases, an older dog will accept a new puppy into the home, but this process must be done correctly. For example, simply turning up one day with a little puppy and expecting your existing family dog to welcome it with open paws is usually asking too much of that dog, even if it has been well-trained.

Remember, dogs are not people, and their instincts and personalities follow well-established traits. One of those is a dog’s sense of territory and sense of protection towards its family. Although a little puppy carries no threat, it does not mean that your existing dog’s instincts are not triggered, and it sees it as such.

In the worst case, this can lead to aggression towards the puppy, but more commonly, it can also mean the dog rejects the puppy, starts behaving erratically, or shows signs of emotional distress, such as becoming withdrawn.

Thankfully, all of those unwanted scenarios can be avoided by following the recommended actions for introducing a puppy to an older dog. Read on for seven tips, including actions and advice for successfully introducing your newest four-legged family member to your existing dog.

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5 Ways Your Child’s Siblings Can Help With Their Speech Therapy

5 Ways Your Child’s Siblings Can Help With Their Speech Therapy

If you have a child that requires a speech therapist, you will doubtless look for as many experts and resources that you can find to support your child’s communication development. These could include your family doctor, speech pathologists, speech therapy sessions, support groups and online resources. These are all excellent options, but there is one source of help that could be much closer to home, and that is your other children.

Anyone who grew up with one or more brothers or sisters may recall those times as ones where you and your siblings seemed constantly at loggerheads, always seeking to blame the other, and all wishing we were an only child. These are all part of growing up and hopefully, now that you and your siblings are adults your relationship has matured and is now one of compassion and mutual respect.

Going back to childhood siblings, the evidence shows that a child’s brothers or sisters can be an enormous help to them if they are struggling with speech and language. Such is the positive influence that a sibling can have on a child’s communication development that many speech pathologists include the role of the sibling as part of their plan to achieve speech therapy goals.

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How Can Family Violence Affect Property Orders

How Can Family Violence Affect Property Orders?

In Australia, and internationally, domestic abuse is sadly an ever-growing concern. As well as the criminal consequences which follow, family lawyers will tell you that family violence can also have implications for property settlements following a divorce.

Property settlements are determined under the Family Law Act depending on how much each side, in both financial and non-financial respects, has participated in the partnership. Previously, the actions of partners throughout a marriage were not a significant consideration, however that has changed, and one case in particular has influenced that.

The Kennon Marriage Case is one of the pioneering judgments where domestic abuse was a central factor in deciding the right of a claimant to the marital property. Kennon’s 1997 Family Court of Australia decision examined whether domestic abuse could change the result of a settlement of the property.

The husband had a considerably higher salary than his wife and had added far more money and assets to the marriage by the time they came to divorce. The wife claimed a number of abusive actions against her had occurred, comprised of seven separate charges of physical abuse, and believed that a property change in her interest should result from these actions.

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All You Need To Know About Decorations For Your Wedding Car

The church is booked, the cake design agreed with the bakers, the invitations have gone out, the reception venue has been hired, the wedding cars have been arranged, and the bride’s dress is being made. As much as that might seem quite a list of tasks, believe it or not, there are still dozens of other matters to be taken care of by anyone planning a wedding.

One often overlooked detail that can make a huge difference to a wedding’s visual spectacle is the wedding car decorations. Many couples do not bother, but it is always eye-catching when the wedding cars, especially the one the bride is riding in, have decorations to mark the occasion.

Given that weddings are not every day for most people, having to choose the decorations for a wedding is an even rarer event. As such, and if you are planning your wedding and unsure how your wedding car should be decorated, here are some ideas.

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How To Prevent Pet Urine Damaging Your Carpets

How To Prevent Pet Urine Damaging Your Carpets

Along with the rise of modern office culture, diversity, and gender acceptability, a new phenomenon has emerged in the form of office pets. Many offices these days are even adding their pets to their team pages or describing them as their team mascots. While this can be good for team morale, it can also keep the commercial cleaning team busy if the dogs aren’t proficiently toilet trained.

Your carpets can take more than their fair share of abuse, including mud, dirt, grime, and staining. Carpet cleaning is needed to get them back looking as they should, prevent further damage, and reduce their lifetime.

One type of stain found in many homes and (now some offices), given our love of pets, is staining from pet urine. Most pets are lovable creatures ranging from tiny kittens all the way up to full-grown giant dogs like Dobermans, and whilst they may all differ in size, they all share one natural function: the need to pee.

Of course, many adult pets will have complete control over their bladders, and the likelihood of their urine ending up on your carpets is negligible. However, even these pets may occasionally have an accident due to illness or simply getting overexcited. Obviously, with pups and kittens still learning that the place to urinate is outside or in a litter tray, the risk of urine on carpets is much greater.

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Bridesmaid Traditions Best Left Forgotten

Bridesmaid Traditions Best Left Forgotten

When looking online for appropriate bridesmaid gifts, such as bridesmaid robes and matching sashes, you may come across some crazy traditions and roles bridesmaids used to play. While you might think you’re asking too much of your bridesmaids for your upcoming nuptials, spare a thought for those, who followed these traditions below.

The Double Act

These days, it’s considered bad taste to dress in a similar dress to the bride. In fact, doing so has broken up families and friendships. However, wearing the same outfit as the bride was encouraged in Victorian times. To confuse evil spirits who wanted to ruin the bride’s day, the bridesmaids had to dress the same or similar to the bride to confuse the evil spirits and drive them away. However, the bridesmaids possibly thought they were at risk by doing so. Therefore, you’d have to hope the bride and groom put up some generous bridesmaids’ gifts.

Garlic Not Geraniums

If similar dresses to the bride weren’t enough to confuse and drive evil spirits away, then maybe the assortment of posies would be. Bridesmaids used to have to carry bouquets of herbs and grains down the aisle, as opposed to the bright and beautiful flowers they get to take now. Garlic was a firm favourite and worked not only as a deterrent to evil spirits but also to mask poor hygiene. Showers were a rarity in Victorian times.

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How Long does a Divorce Take?

How Long does a Divorce Take?

If you are in a very unhappy relationship you might be considering divorce proceedings. How long will it take to get a divorce? It is not quite as simple as it may sound. A good family lawyer will tell you that you must be separated for 12 months before you can apply for a divorce. And if you’ve been married for less than two years you must go to counselling together first, unless there is a good reason that this is not possible.

When getting advice from your family lawyers, you’ll find that if your spouse is violent and abusive, you won’t need to go to counselling. Or if your spouse refuses to attend counselling, there is no way you can force the issue, so this is also a reason that counselling may be avoided.

So, the very first step to a divorce when the relationship has broken down irretrievably is to separate from your spouse. At 12 months and one day after the separation, you can put an application in to the courts to file for divorce. You will have to attend court for the divorce hearing and if it is granted on that day, the Divorce Order will be issued one month and one day after the hearing.  This is only if both parties agree to the divorce. The whole process takes about four months if everything goes well.

If the other party does not agree or if there is a delay in serving with the Notice of Divorce – for instance, if he cannot be found, there will be a delay, because the divorce cannot be granted until this happens. This can delay the divorce for some months.

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What Kind of Education Is Suitable for Your Child?

What Kind of Education Is Suitable for Your Child?

We have all heard that there are some children who slip through the cracks when it comes to childcare and education. These are children that somehow get through highschool without even having learned how to read and can hardly write their own name. As adults, they will find it difficult to gain employment, do their tax, understand or fill out forms and even do the grocery shopping.

Most mothers who want to give their child the best child care, try to ensure hope their child leaves school well-educated, but what can they do about it if their primary age child is simply not coping at school? There are many factors that mix and mingle to cause children to have trouble learning basic skills such as reading, writing and simple maths. Bullying, changing schools often, dyslexia, illness, days missed for other reasons and so on.

If you don’t think these are affecting your child, or if you have worked with the teacher to see what can be done but their grades are still not very high, it could be time for a bolder approach. Not all children are suited to the kind of learning environment that is by necessity used in public primary schools. In many, the class numbers are large and cater to the middle learners. Slow and very fast learners will both have problems in this environment.

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How to Have Fun Planning Your Wedding

How to Have Fun Planning Your Wedding

Planning a wedding doesn’t have to be complicated or stressful if you have dedicated wedding planners to help you. Every bride and groom want their wedding day to be perfect and rightly so. But all the organisation and planning can easily stress you out, especially when you have to deal with several companies for your different event hire needs.

It’s much easier to deal with one company who can provide many of the elements you need for your wedding – and especially the wedding reception. The best way is to write a list of all the things you need:

  • A wedding DJ
  • Great music/speakers
  • Room/table decorations
  • Lighting
  • Crockery and cutlery
  • Photography/photo booth
  • Wedding cake
  • Flowers

Then you can choose a wedding hire company that provides most of them, thus saving you from having to deal with many companies.

Sometimes, everyone in the family wants to make decisions for you, but this is your wedding and you have a right to decide for yourselves what you want. Therefore, be tactful, but tell anyone who is interfering with your plans that it is all taken care of and will be a delightful surprise to them on the day.

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solving-relationship-problem

Relationship Problem Solving Skills

Don’t let your problems overrule and ruin your life. Relationships are meant for keeps; do not let petty problems deter you from a great relationship. Learn from your problems and use them to strengthen a love relationship.
According to research, it is possible to have a troubled relationship if your parents too had a bad relationship with each other. We are born and brought up in a society where there is no formal education for solving relationship problems. It is up to us to keep a love relationship in good condition.
Whatever the state of your love life, the ability to solve any conflicts can be the key that makes a relationship work well. For that, both the partners have to find a mutual solution.
Some of the skills needed to make a relationship work:
– Communication – It is vital to communicate with one another, even if you have had a fight. The lack of communication may lead to serious problems and misunderstandings.
– Attitude – Do not show indifference towards your partner’s behavior. An indifferent attitude can really break a relationship that ultimately ends in a divorce. For example, if you have had a horrible fight and your partner is all in tears, make the effort to pacify her, or show in some subtle way that you too are feeling terrible about the brawl. Do not be indifferent, even though it is the easiest way to get out of a sticky situation.
– Share – For all the men, do not let the male ego stop you from doing household chores. If your partner is sharing your financial responsibilities, it is your duty to contribute to domestic tasks. Sharing both your duties and love will work wonders for improving your relationship.

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long-distance-relationships

Are Long-Distance Relationships Real Relationships?

Are Long-Distance Relationships “Real-Relationships“? You have to wonder because there’s so many people asking the same question…

  • Are long distance relationships real?
  • Long Distance Relationships: Are They Real?
  • 10 Reasons Why Long-distance Relationships Just Don’t Work
  • Is a Long distance relationship a “REAL” relationship?

This has a couple of answers depending on your outlook:

1. Is long-distance “real”? The word “real” is just a bad word. What’s “real”? Certainly, your long-distance relationship is just as “real” as any other kind. In fact, it’s not even that new a thing – long before the Internet, we had the concept of “pen pals”, where people would write each other letters through the post. And yes, people often dated this way through correspondence, too.

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What's Love Got To Do in a Relationship

What’s Love Got To Do in a Relationship

When you think hard about relationships, you would understand how intricate they actually are. To safeguard any rapport for a long time needs tactfulness and sincerity. Every person on this planet tries to have an innumerable number of relationships. They can have a liaison based on pure friendship or it can be dating devoid of any commitments and it can also be the bond of marriage. Every relationship has its own significance.

The question here is what exactly is the role of love in a relationship. When you look back through the pages of literature, Shakespeare captured the hearts of many with his much-adorned sonnets and poems on love. According to him, love is supreme and eternal. These are of course poetic expressions. On a practical note, relationships can lose their charm if the partners involved have no feeling of love towards each other.

The scenario has changed today and love for many is just a word or rather an emotionless idiom. Lets not emphasize on those relationships that have no commitment in them. Such liaisons can make or break any time. But when we throw a glance at long-time relationships like marriage, the term love plays a pivotal role.

First of all, for a relationship to survive, it is necessary that two people like each other, a stage that later transcends into love. If you definitely are in love with one another you will tend to agree on what each of you think and you will notice that your relationship will have less problems as compared to others. Also, love can help you in supporting your partner in every aspect. It helps build a strong pillar of respect and trust towards each other.

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Signs That Show You May Be In Love With The Wrong Person

Signs That Show You May Be In Love With The Wrong Person

Love can happen anytime, anywhere, and with any one. Everyone experiences love once in his/her lifetime. It is a great feeling that brings joy and peace.

However, if the person you fall in love with is not the right one, your life can be miserable. Love is certainly a beautiful feeling and can change your life for the better or worse. There are times when we initially love and adore someone and feel on top of the world to have a girl or guy like that. As days pass by, the same person may become someone you simply want to avoid.

There are many relationships that begin on a great note and then face a traumatic end, as the relation turns sour, just because one did not realize that the other was not the right person for them. Here are a few warning signs that will help you to figure out if you are in love with the wrong person.

-It is good to be caring and loving, but to be obsessed is not the right feeling in a relationship. Many find possessiveness to be healthy in a relation, but if he/she is trying to control your every move and wishes to have you all the time, then he/she is certainly not the one for you. Possessiveness may look sweet at the beginning, but as time passes, you will find it difficult to spend life with such a person.

-He/she is addicted to drugs or alcohol, cannot spend a single day without it, and not willing to go through a drug rehab program for you. They may be good people, but drugs and alcohol can turn them boisterous and make life miserable for you.

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Hot Online Dating Tips

Hot Online Dating Tips

Create an attractive profile. Remember if you are serious about looking for a great date, you need to be honest with your profile, making sure you use adequate etiquette for Online Dating. Faking at the outset can make you lose the love of your life. Write about who you are, what you like; however, make it interesting and lively. Your writing style should hold the other’s attention. When uploading your pictures, put up your best photograph, however the picture should be recent one, you don’t want your date to wonder whether it was you he or she was chatting with all this while.

Be as natural as you can be. Do not adopt others ways and means to find love. It is a myth that being too frank will attract the date; you need to come across as decent if the first few conversations and meetings. Don’t have sex on your mind throughout; if that is what you are looking for, you better go another place. If you want your profile to be seen, make sure you have decent names on the net. Ugly and vulgar names simply turn down the women. And sexy sounding names may make the guy wonder just who he’s dating. Follow some etiquette if you want to win the hearts.

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