Remember about a year ago when Alec Baldwin was caught cussing out his daughter over the phone? Well now it has been attributed to a fairly new disorder called ‘Parental Alienation Syndrome’. What is this you ask?

What is Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS)?
This is the definition of PAS as described by R.A. Gardner who discovered the syndrome and has become an expert in dealing with the issue.

Gardner’s definition of PAS is: “The parental alienation syndrome (PAS) is a disorder that arises primarily in the context of child-custody disputes. Its primary manifestation is the child’s campaign of denigration against a parent, a campaign that has no justification. It results from the combination of a programming (brainwashing) parent’s indoctrinations and the child’s own contributions to the vilification of the target parent.”

(Excerpted from: Gardner, R.A. (1998). The Parental Alienation Syndrome, Second Edition, Cresskill, NJ: Creative Therapeutics, Inc.)

Basically, this means that through verbal and non verbal thoughts, actions and mannerisms, a child is emotionally abused (brainwashed) into thinking the other parent is the enemy. This ranges from bad mouthing the other parent infront of the children, to withholding visits, to pre-arranging the activities for the children while visiting with the other parent.

Don’t you find this reaching too much for an excuse? Hasn’t this been around since the dawn of time? I would take a bet that anyone and everyone that has been through a divorce, with children, has been plagued with PAS. Wouldn’t this ’syndrome’ apply to many other areas of our lives? What about when you are fired? You say things about the company/boss. Wouldn’t this be a type of brainwashing? Wouldn’t letting others know the ‘bad’ things about the company and thus causing people to have negative thoughts be considered brainwashing? What if you purchase a product and don’t like it? You then tell someone about it. Aren’t we brainwashing the other person about the product? Right now, my 18yo son is having issues with his best friend (they are no longer friends). Since they are both talking bad about each other – does this qualify as some sort of syndrome and now they both need help? This happens in everyday life all the time.

I have always thought that a syndrome was something more of a medical condition – like Down Syndrome. So I looked up the definition and here is what I found:

1. Pathology, Psychiatry. a group of symptoms that together are characteristic of a specific disorder, disease, or the like.
2. a group of related or coincident things, events, actions, etc.
3. the pattern of symptoms that characterize or indicate a particular social condition.
4. a predictable, characteristic pattern of behavior, action, etc., that tends to occur under certain circumstances

It is amazing the things they can come up with to justify mad-mouthing others. I don’t think that feeling bad about a situation causes the right to be called a syndrome. How is it treated? What do you think?

“A Mother’s Promise” is a Facebook community supported by Evenflo, and it’s focused on bringing moms together in a quest to keep children safe while on the road. With so many people traveling for the holidays, it seems like the perfect time to raise awareness. Supporting “A Mother’s Promise” is free, super simple, and only takes a moment.

If you already have a Facebook account, just visit “A Mother’s Promise,” and post on the Wall, pledging to your children to do everything within your power to protect them. (There’s also a really cool video of other moms making their individual promises – it definitely made me a little teary!) If you don’t have a Facebook account yet, now’s the time! Once you’re a member, just search for “A Mother’s Promise” and post your promise.

Then, invite all your friends and family – other moms, dads, grandparents, and neighbors inside and outside the Facebook community – to do the same.

Motor vehicle injuries are the leading cause of death among children in the U.S., but together, we can make a difference.

You can learn more about car seat safety at the following sites:

Painterly Creations – Personalized Name Train

Etsy has so many great creators. Here is one of my favorties!

About Painterly Creations:
All of Painterly Creations items are made entirely out of wood which Christel paints herself with paints and finishes that are water based, child-safe and US made.

Product Review:
I received a personalized name train (with my son’s name – Mitchell). This personalized train will help teach your child to spell their name. The train is also a fun toy that you child can pull around. This train does contain magnets which connect the letter cars. So make sure your child is old enough to play with it. This train would wonderful to to display in any little boy’s room until they could play with it responsibly. Included in the price is the locomotive. The entire train is painted in primary colors with a high gloss finish. Each letter is approximately 2 ¼ “ long, 2 ½” high and 1 ½” wide and made of heavy hardwood made to last. Christel is very detailed oriented with her items. Mitchell and his two sisters have been playing with this train constantly and it has dropped many times. It still looks great. Christel takes great care in making sure that her painting stays looking good even through my little tornados. 

Shipping was quick and packaging is professional. Christel is quick to respond and is a pleasure to work with. If you are looking something unique to give as a gift, especially a baby shower, then check out Painterly Creations.

 Shine, restore, and refresh your wood furniture!

Pledge® Natural Beauty is ideal for quickly cleaning your wood furniture and wood surfaces. Its Anti-Dust™ formula keeps surfaces looking less dusty, longer. It removes dust, dirt, smudges, and common allergens like pet dander found in dust from your wood furniture in a flash. Plus, it protects against water damage and stains. Dusting with Pledge® leaves surfaces with no waxy buildup. Pledge® Natural Beauty removes up to 84% of allergens from dust mites and pet dander that is in dust.

I had always believed that Pledge was ONLY for wood. To my surprise it can also be used to add a great clean shine to Stainless Steel, Leather, Marble and Granite. Pledge doesn’t leave a grimy build up like some other cleaners can. My mother and grandmother both used Pledge and I can now see why.

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Giveaway ends on Monday, January 5th at noon EST

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This post was written for Family Review Network as part of a program by SC Johnson, who also supplied the product for review and giveaway

I hope everyone’s Christmas went well. Thanks to others my kids were able to have a great Christmas this year. I have lots of great giveaways coming up and lots of funs things planned.

My New Year’s Resolution is to (at least) reduce my debt. What are you New Year’s resolutions?

I am not much of a video game person but a Nintendo DS is something I really want. There are so many cool games being made for it. Maybe Santa will surprise me with one this year. Although, I am not holding out hope, lol.

How the enter Giveaway:
Go to The Zenses site and then come back here and comment on which game you would pick and one feature of that game.

Extra Entries:
-Subscribe to my updates (1 extra)
-Carry my button on your sidebar (3 extra)
-Twitter this giveaway (leave a comment with link to your tweet) (1 extra per day per tweet)
- Blog about this giveaway (3 extra)
-Follow Me (1 extra)

please leave a separate comment for each extra entry

Giveaway ends on Thursday, January 1st at noon EST

(you MUST leave a way for me to contact you or another winner will be chosen)

This Giveaway opportunity was made possible by: