You and Your Children's Happiness

Do you lead a happy life, generally speaking? Then chances are your children will also lead a happy life.

A group of scientists from four major universities examined over 1,000 pairs of twins from a huge study on the health of American adolescents. In “Genes, Economics and Happiness," they concluded that about a third of the variation in people’s happiness is genetic. And although their conclusions were indisputable, they were unable to isolate the happy gene. Why? Because they used only American subjects in their test, which skewed an ethnic genetic bias. Asians are typically less happy than their North American counterparts. Africans span the gamut of happiness, depending on the origins of their tribes. Intersting stuff, this genetics!

External circumstances are just as important to determining the happiness of your children. It's common knowledge that people who are satisfied with their careers are generally happier with their lives, which caries over to their family life. Extroverts are generally happier than introverts. And people who are very young and very old are generally happier than those in the middle-aged group who seem overwhelmed by life's many commitments. Many factors come together to determine the happiness of your children. One-third, the genetic factor, is beyond your control. The other two-thirds will involve hard work and a positive outlook on life. But when you think of it, hard work and a positive outlook generally lead to a happy life. Hmmm...

And certainly, physical disabilities will also play a role in a child's happiness. If a parent is seriously injured in an accident or gets a debilitating disease, that child's life will be less happy than a child with an able and capable parent. Hovever, I've also noticed that people who are more positive and happy generally have a lower incidence of accidents and disease. Another hmmm....

So the bottom line with this post? When you're chosing a life-long partner, find one who likely carries a happiness gene for the health and welfare of your family! And then work hard to maintain a positive outlook for a happy existence.

Happy parenting!

Host Your Own Game Show

Here's a fun idea for summer entertainment.  Establish a date and time to hold a family Game Show.  Everybody gets a category to choose questions to answer.  Use family-specific questions like Favorite Vacations, Homework Help, and Dinner Dilemmas.  Develop about 20 questions in each category.  Using a regular board game, play using the family-specific questions.  For extra fun, personalize the game pieces by having each person make their own using self-hardening clay.  Have fun playing The _____ (fill in family name)  Game!

If you are creatively-challenged, you can purchase a Make Your Own Game kit: http://www.boardgameratings.com/game/2399/

Family Getaways

If you're looking for an inexpensive, yet fun getaway for your family, consider renting a house in the area where you want to visit.  We've done that since the kids were little and it's so much better than staying in a hotel or motel.  You have a home-like atmosphere where you can spread out, watch TV, and play games without worrying whether you're disturbing the folks on the other side of the wall.  You can do your own cooking to save money ... or simply order out.  As a base of operations, you can leave everything, visit the local areas of interest, and then return "home."  We have rented houses all up and down the east coast where we live plus Las Vegas area when the "kids" got older.  We have rented quaint houses, log cabins  in state parks, and extravagant homes on the water, depending on the age of our children and the family finances that year.

How do you find those rental houses?  Look on the Internet using the key words vacation, rental, house, and the area you want to visit. Or you can go to some of the commercial sites:   www.vacationrentals.com, www.vrbo.com, www.homeaway.com, www.cyberrentals.com, and www.tripadvisor.com/VacationRentals.  Add the keyword pets and you'll find pet-friendly places, too.  Sometimes the houses come with outdoor sports equipment like volleyball or a canoe.  Sometimes they come with hot tubs or their own backyard pool.  Whatever your family enjoys is probably waiting for you to rent for a fun-filled week of family togetherness.
Happy hunting!