5 Keys to a Happy Home

How to infuse your home with genuine joy.

by Slovie Jungreis-Wolf for aish.com

A woman approached me after a recent parenting lecture. “I own three houses but I don’t have any place that I can really call home. My family is filled with unhappiness and it’s miserable spending time together.”

Without joy, even the most beautiful surroundings feel dark. How can we help build an atmosphere of happiness in our homes?
1. Happy families take work

Looking at everyone else’s Facebook and Instagram pictures makes some people feel as if all other families are experiencing bliss. Photos of smiling kids, loving couples and exotic vacations… Don’t fall into this ‘happiness trap’. No photo ever gives you the full picture. Every family struggles with moods, dynamics, and challenges. True happiness takes work. There is never a home where it is “all fun, all the time.”

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Helping Children Transition from School to Summer

Tips for a Sunny Summer Transition

From PJ Library

MANY CHILDREN will be saying Shalom Chaverim  to their school friends this month, and saying hello to the fun summer days of play. While the respite from everyday school routine can be fulfilling for many PJ Library readers, many still may nevertheless need some help making the transition.

Helping Children Transition from School to SummerBelow are some ways parents and families can help their preschool, kindergarten, and early elementary-aged children make a happy and healthy transition into summer.

TALK IT OUT

As it’s put in the Scholastic.com article, “Saying Goodbye to the School Year,” parting with school friends can by tough for young children. “Some children will even appear to regress to an old behavior, such as separation anxiety or childish misbehavior,” Scholastic.com states. Talking it over as a family, including discussions about the future (and when school returns) can go a long way.

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Genes Of Most Ashkenazi Jews Trace Back To Indigenous Europe, Not Middle East

By Matthew Mientka for Medical Daily

A genetic study of Ashkenazi Jews shows a “whiter” heritage drawn more from prehistoric Europe than from the Levant, home to the modern state of Israel.

A team of international researchers from Malaysia to Salt Lake City found in a study published Tuesday that most variance in mitochondrial DNA — passed from mother to daughter, like Judaism — derives from the indigenous peoples of Western and Central Europe, as opposed to the Levant, as previously thought. Four of the major “founders” of Ashkenazi Jewry derive most variance from European sources, accounting for some 40 percent of the genome. The remaining 60 percent from minor founders, too, comes mostly from Europe.

“These results point to a significant role for the conversion of women in the formation of Ashkenazi communities, and provide the foundation for a detailed reconstruction of Ashkenazi genealogical history,” lead investigator, Martin Richards, and his colleagues wrote. “The origins of Ashkenazi Jews—the great majority of living Jews—remain highly contested and enigmatic to this day.”

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The Ridiculous Reason My Family Was Kicked Off a US Airways Flight

Emily Kaiman for Kveller

I’m pretty sure that no one would ever tell you how much they LOVE traveling with their kids on planes. Particularly when we’re talking about small children, preschoolers, and toddlers.

But when my mom invited me and my four children (5, 5, 3, and 17 months), for a “vacation” in Florida, for some ungodly reason, I thought it was a great idea! Of course, with limited direct flights these days, we had layovers each direction for our “vacation.”

Truth is, my children did incredibly well on the planes to Florida. And, while I’m pretty sure we are still cleaning out the sand from their hair, the beach was, in fact, refreshing and maybe even just a little relaxing. Our trip home however, was another story.

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Maintaining Faith Throughout the Harder Times of Life

Mayim Bialik for Kveller.com

I’ve talked a lot here on Kveller about my religious faith, even in the face of my horrible car accident, and even in the face of doubt and fear. And I think I have realized that it is that sense of faith that helps me get through my moments/hours/days/weeks/months of despair.

Have you heard the fable about the man who complains to the local Rabbi that his house is too crowded? And the Rabbi tells him to add animals to his home one by one? Well, I am sure you can guess that the house gets more and more and more crowded, and the man gets more and more and more distressed, and just when he thinks he can’t handle anything else, the Rabbi tells him to kick all of the animals out. And lo and behold: his house does not seem at all as crowded and chaotic as before.

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