Chile is near and dear to my heart as my cousin and her husband live there.  Fortunately, they are safe along with the rest of their family and friends but not everyone in Chile is as fortunate.  I have been searching for charities that are collecting for Chile and came across this article that tells you how you can make donations to both World Vision and Habitat for Humanity (it is as easy as texting).  Check out the article to see how you can help!  Thanks for all that are lending a helping hand! 

Lately I have really been struggling with feeling blue.  I am pretty sure the weather, cold and gray, has been a big factor in how down I have been feeling but I have also wondered if my eating habits have played a role in it all as well.  I wrote a post awhile ago about being blue possibly being connected to me being a vegetarian.  I know that I have to work harder than meat-eaters to make sure that I get enough B vitamins and omega3s which are all important to mental health.

As one, not so friendly reader, pointed out I can get those nutrients from walnuts and yogurt.  I didn't appreciate the way the advice giver came at me but nonetheless I try and take advice when it is good even if it was said rudely.  I have been replacing the peanutbutter I use to put in my oatmeal with walnuts and I have also begun eating Greek yogurt (super high in protein, 20 grams per serving)!  It is a little too early to tell if adding these foods to my diet will be beneficial to my moods but either way I am happy to know that I am eating healthy foods that will be beneficial to my body one way or another. 

I just bought St. John's Wort as well.  Unfortunately, I won't know if that is working for about 3 months or so but I really hope it does help!  Have any of you tried using St. John's Wort before?  If so how has it affected you?  Any other good mood boosting advice you can give is greatly appreciated, I need all the help I can get right now.  Thanks!

When you have more than one young child how do you do birthdays?  I have seen families who give more presents to the child whose birthday it actually is but the other young children in the family will still receive gifts so that they are not upset or jealous. 

Recently, I had a little cousin who had a birthday and I thought about bringing his younger sister a present too in order to avoid any jealousy that might occur.  Sharing is something we are all trying to teach my little cousins but I began to think that bringing presents for everyone may not be the best idea.  I mean it is one thing to share your toys with your sibling but should you have to share your birthday simply to prevent the other child from whining?

The more that I thought about this situation the more I began to think that by giving the younger child whose birthday it was not a present would inevitably only be confusing for them and lead them to expect gifts when they do not necessarily deserve them.  I just came to the conclusion, that children, even if they are really young would benefit more by learning that some days are special for them and some days are special for their siblings or others in general.  Again, if I were to give the child whose birthday it was not a gift they may come to expect things that they may not necessarily deserve all throughout life and really that would only be hurting them in the long run.

I think that children definitely need to learn that there is always going to be a time and a place when they get special attention/treatment but that that same concept goes for other people as well.  In my opinion children need to learn that not everything is about them and that it is normal and healthy for others to at times be deserving of attention and gifts and that their own time will come for such things. 

Sharing is an important lesson for sure but children also need to learn when it is appropriate for others to have special attention and that their time for special attention will come. Yet again I feel that it is important to drive home that receiving special attention is not necessarily something that will/should be done at every waking minute of every day,

How do you handle birthdays or special occasions where one child is in the spotlight?  Do you think kids need to learn that not everything is not about them at all times or do you think that everything should be shared?