Enter Our Photo Contest

Tired of winter? Warm up your heart by going through some of your family photos. You'll enjoy reliving happy times. Maybe you'll reminisce with your children about when everyone was young and carefree. Or remember just last month when you all gathered to celebrate the holidays together. You can savor the love all over again.

Photo (c) Andres Rodriguez/Fotolia

Then be a part of our special contest. Enter and you can win the right to download a series of unique pictures from Fotolia.com. They'll be the perfect fit for your blog, website or newsletter. You can even use them to spice up your Facebook page.

Photo (c) Ambiance/Fotolia


Fotolia.com hosts a wide selection of unique royalty free images and they have generously offered to share some of them with you as an introduction to their site. The winner of our contest will be able to download 1 photo a day, at no charge, for a 30-day period.

Photo (c) Tim Osborne/FotoliaHIp

How do you enter? Take some time and choose a photo of your family that means a lot to you. Email it to us at Mentors@HerMentorCenter.com and include 2 or 3 sentences about the emotions this photo evokes for you and why that is.

We’ll be choosing a winner and announcing it on our blog Friday, March 9. And you'll see the winner's family photo and narrative on our post that day. So what are you waiting for? Join in and tell your friends about it.

Photo (c) Pavel Losevsky/Fotolia

Mail your submission to Mentors@HerMentorCenter.com by Monday, March 5 and get ready for the chance to download 30 unique and FREE images.


And join us again on Wednesday for a chat with Mark Saunders about his hilarious novel, Nobody Knows the Spanish I Speak. Mark will be available to answer your questions about his mid-life adventure when he dropped out, sold everything and moved to Mexico.

Photo (c) John Keith/Fotolia

Increasing Your Gratitude

During this holiday season, do you feel as though the emphasis on presents overshadows the real value of the gifts you give and receive? To be significant, a gift doesn't have to be an actual physical entity - it can be an expression of love, caring and thanks that is given from the heart. For Sandwiched Boomers, caring for aging parents and growing children, these can be the most meaningful gifts of all. When you decide to focus on the people and events in your life for which you are grateful, you will find yourself open to sharing your gratitude with those you love:

Re-live and savor each of these events. Spend time re-creating in your mind the happiness of the experience. You will feel your body becoming more relaxed, your emotions more positive and your thoughts more focused. The joys of life are not only in present activities but also in remembering pleasurable occasions.

Think about what you did to open yourself to these moments. Then decide to direct your actions to include more of these delights in your life. Recognizing your own personal power will strengthen your belief in yourself as well as your willingness to consider the part others play in your happiness.

Realize why this piece of good fortune came your way. It will help you identify the people you're grateful to have in your life. You can then thank them for playing a part in improving your world. Sharing your gratitude can be one of the richest gifts you can give this holiday season - or any day of the year.

We both are grateful to Line Brunet, a family coach, who hosted us last week on her weekly radio show, Family Focus, on Blog Talk Radio. To listen to the full interview, click on the post title above. You will be able to listen to our wide-raging discussion of The Sandwich Generation on your computer or download it to your mp3 player or itunes. If you have any follow-up questions for us about our tips for Sandwiched Boomers caring for a family-in-flux, we'd enjoy hearing from you.

Long-distance Grandmothers

When your grandchildren live far away, you probably don't have the opportunity to see them more than every few months, particularly in this economy. Here the most salient issue is building connections. Likely you will need to enlist the aid of your adult children and children-in-law to help you form the bonds between you and their kids. The way you do this will vary as they grow and will certainly flow from your own interests and creative talents. Whatever you choose, your efforts will be well worth it when you see how they remember you and experience their excitement on your next visit.

When your grandkids are babies, you will want to help them develop an impression of you. You can best do this by using all the sensations babies respond to. Let them begin to identify your voice by cooing to them on the phone or sending them tapes or CD's with your voice - singing, reading or speaking to them. They can begin to recognize your face from pictures of you in their room or on the computer via Skype. Have a special song or book that you share with them as you cuddle on each visit. Wear the same perfume - or even a dab of vanilla - every time you visit so that they learn to associate that with you.

As they begin to grow up, you can continue to use phone calls, letters, cards, Skype and emails between your trips to stay in touch. After you do visit, you may want to create a scrapbook for them of pictures and souvenirs from your time together. Their memories of you will be enhanced when they have something tangible to look at over and over again. You can write them stories or poems about some of the things you do together, with them as the star of the piece.

Learn about your grandchildren's activities and interests so you can engage and talk with them about topics that are meaningful to them. Pay attention to their friends when you attend their birthday parties or sports team events or special occasions - then you can ask about them later when you have returned home. Integrate what you find out and keep up with their changing activities. All of your efforts will help cement the connections between you.

For more tips on forming a close relationship with a grandchild who lives far away, click on the title above to go to our website and the article, Create Meaningful Bonds with Your Grandchildren Across the Miles.

The political pundits have been wondering, "What does Hillary want?" There'a a lot of speculation - a guarantee of universal health care, major input on the war and the economy, a place on the November ticket. John Fitzgerald Kennedy once said that "Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan." At least for now, that's not true for Senator Clinton - she brought 18 million voters to the table and she wants an assurance that their voices will be heard.

The bottom line is that change is difficult and involves a process that takes both time and patience. Perhaps Clinton is considereing her options in concert with her family, advisors and closest friends, or working up a strategic plan to help unite the Democratic party, or even taking a few days to reflect on the past 18 months and to savor the positive memories.

Like a kaleidoscope, looking through different lenses may change the experience. It seems that everyone has their own opinion of how, why and when - but there are likely only a few people who really know what Clinton is going through. And she did say last night that she will speak on Saturday. Don't you think she deserves the opportunity to end it her way?

Gloria and Marilyn's article, in closing, suggests that you keep the channels of communication open. Dialoguing and sharing experiences requires listening, not necessarily agreeing. Each party needs to be heard and wants to be understood. The challenge lies in working it out in a way that is respectful to family members. The reality is that being gracious takes less psychic time and energy, and you may indeed grow to like, even love, your parent's new spouse or partner. Family harmony often means only relatively minor changes in long held perceptions or entirely new perspectives that genuinely reflect your own maturity.

Most of the Sandwiched Boomers who have made comments over the past few days tend to concur with these observations. Although some of them struggled with questions such as, Will this person take my place? What will happen to my mother's treasured possessions or my inheritance? Will I still be special and loved? Yet, despite initial ambivalence, they want their parent to be happy and are relieved that someone else will share the responsibility as their parent ages.

If your family has already made this sort of transition, share your experiences with others who are facing it now. And if you widowed parent is beginning to date, think about what you can do to take care of yourself and still understand your parent's position. How can you grow to know and accept your parent's new relationship - and still savor the memories of your parent who has died. By giving yourself permission to be open, it's a gift to both of your parents and yourself.