JAK CHAT

Pain of Empty Nest Came Early. So Did Freedom. by JAK guest blogger, Julie O'Keeffe, of Wauwatosa Many moms face empty nests with high school graduation and the college send off. My experience came when my kids were 5 and 8. When my kids were almost 5 and 8, we sat them down on the couch in the living room. Then we gave them the news: We're getting divorced. Read more... Ten years have passed. During high school graduation season, as moms sense the new limitations of their parenting role, I can only reflect back on my own experience. I went through the letting go process when my kids were just kids. Sons and daughters are going off to college in the fall. My kids went to their dad's. These college kids will have all sorts of adventures in which we're not involved. Yep, started doing that ten years ago. It hurt. Really hurt. I'll never forget the time that my daughter came home after an exciting adventure with her new family. The outing had been on my list of specia

Océane Returns Last year, I wrote about my becoming a surrogate mother to a teen foreign exchange student in "The Accidental Hostess". Well, our young friend from France has returned and we are experiencing the French Invasion...family-style! [caption id="attachment_803" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Océane Returns[/caption] Read more... Crazy, but it was much easier to pick up a traveler from the international flight terminal than from the domestic flight terminals.  The only setback was the stupid $60 ticket I had plastered (by the rain, yay!) on my car window for not have a license registration sticker on my plates.  Oh I had it alright, just in my purse.  Better than the boot, two of my neighboring parkers had on their wheels.  Seriously, I can't believe Chicago has officers cruise through the airports parking lots writing tickets.  What evs, I can/will contest it. Okay, back to our visitor...we whisked her up to Bastille Days in Cat

Eating Ice Cream Can Help Racine’s Kids sponsored by Just Add Kids and written by Karen Fetherston, Child Abuse Coordinator at SCAN The Stop Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) program of Lutheran Social Services provides child abuse awareness programs to preschool, kindergarten, 2nd, 4th and 6th grade students throughout Racine County in public, private, and parochial schools. All programs aim to teach children to identify abusive situations, to disclose abuse when it occurs, and to identify sources of support. SCAN also discusses stranger safety with younger children and older students get information about cybersafety including email scams, cyberbullying, internet predators, and sexting. Read More... Above all, we want children to realize that abuse is never the fault of the child. SCAN programs have been in the Racine community for almost 30 years and touched the lives of over 9,600 children during the 2011-2012 school year, alone. Chances are your children or grandchildren have partici

By All Means  I messed up yesterday.  In my efforts to correctly prioritize my life (faith, family, friends, work - in that order) I got things all mixed up and I am paying for it with guilt and a great deal of a sense of loss. I am busy.  Just like you, I have a kakagillion things on my plate...Housework, work work, stuff, stuff and more stuff on the to do list. Read More... Family from across the country have been trickling into town...I am mostly talking about my husband's siblings' families.  At this time, they are scattered across the country from Florida to Texas, to Arizona to California.  It's a homecoming at each 4th of July with a lot of his family (extended to aunts, cousins, friends, and a stranger or 4 sprinkled in the mix) and my family (parents, siblings and their children) descend on Racine for pre-fourth activities, the parade, the party and of course, the fireworks! This year ALL of my husband's brothers, sisters, spouses and kids came.  My father in-l