SANITY SAVERS: Tips for Women to Live A Balanced Life is in bookstores and is filled with suggestions to save your sanity every day of the year.

A must for any woman seeking to find her balance!

You may wonder whether it is worthwhile to get a pet. You're not home all the time and a pet would be one more thing to think about, this is true. But floppy ears and a wagging tail to welcome you is not the only thing that makes having a pet appealing.

Whether or not you had a pet when you were a child, you can open your heart to an animal. The returns can be beyond measure. Pets provide companionship; improved physical, emotional, and mental health and well-being; connection; security; playfulness; laughter; and exercise. Pets can be a source of great comfort. Dealing with loss is more tolerable because you will enjoy the pet's company and feel less desolate. Older people with pets are usually less lonely, more social, and have fewer frequent doctor visits.

Pets helps you stay balanced as you learn the joy of taking care of another, observe the way they take in the world, and become the recipient of unconditional love. The research on the positive therapeutic effects on people just validates what pet owners have always known. If you live alone, have an "empty nest", or have recently retired, having the right pet companionship can save your sanity while enhancing the quality of your life. And if you have a pet and wish to help others, consider entering a certified animal therapy training program so that you and your pet can enhance the quality of life for children or adults in such places as hospitals, schools, and day care programs (adult or child.) You can discover more about such programs by visiting sites as www.thegooddogfoundation.org or www.deltasociety.org. And have a look at Sarah Kershaw's New York Times article, "Good Dog, Smart Dog," at: www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/weekinreview/01kershaw.html?scp=1&sq=good%20dog%20smart%20dog&st=cse.

The space between your pet and you is a deep source of energy, love, communication and care, and that goes both ways. In our busy and stressful lives the human-animal bond is becoming more meaningful. The testament is the statistic that 62% of all homes in the US own a dog, cat or horse. As Janet Marlow, of www.musicforpetsandpeople.com, states, "Follow the trail of an animal into the human heart and you will find a better world."

Companionship comes in many forms. Do not overlook the value of the human-pet bond.

TODAY Show (NBC)
Nov. 6th: 9AM: Secrets of Happily Married Couples
Please check my website, www.drdaleatkins.com, for the most current updates.

Center for Hearing and Communication
Nov. 4th: 6-7:30PM. Featured Speaker: Finding and Keeping a Life in Balance.
50 Broadway, 6th Floor, New York, NY.
Please visit www.chchearing.org for early registration.

Read Dr. Atkins' chapter, "Family Involvement and Counseling in Serving Children Who Possess Impaired Hearing," in the new text, Introduction to Aural Rehabilitation.
Edited by Raymond H. Hull, and published by Plural Publishing.

See Dr. Atkins' and Rabbi E. Mencher's article, Are You a Buttinsky?, in Reform Judaism Magazine, Fall 2009/5769, pg. 8. www.reformjudaismmag.org. There is also a complimentary discussion guide offering thoughtful questions for conversation.

See Dr. Atkins' article, Sanity Savers for a Balanced Life, in Black Tie Magazine, Volume 7, Issue 1, pg. 64. www.blacktiemagazine.com

Stretching

Many of us spend long hours in a particular position and we may stretch unconsciously to feel better. Why not include a regular stretching program as part of your daily routine? Stretching is important for people of all ages, and can help lengthen your muscles and make daily living activities easier.

Benefits of regular stretching include: reduced muscle tension, enhanced muscular coordination, increased circulation of the blood, and increased energy levels. As you stretch repeat to yourself, "I can bend and not break." Start a program of stretching and give yourself the chance for improved well-being.

Among the most valued and precious experiences children can have is to be read to by an adult. The act of sitting close to someone you care about, feeling the warmth of their arm around your shoulder, hearing the lilt, rhythm, and tone of their voice, helps to create a sense of safety, security, and a love of books and reading. As a result of these trying economic times, there is an increasing number of children who are living in poverty and in lower income situations. Without books, children cannot develop the pre-literacy skills they need to become readers. By the time children are in kindergarten, they do not have the basic early literacy skills for life long success. They enter school behind and they just don't catch up. Access to age appropriate books and early education programs are vital for children to be able to learn to read. I am grateful to Jumpstart for Young Children for sharing their suggestions about preparing children for success.

Our country is experiencing a severe early literacy crisis. This literacy gap affects children from low-income households, primarily because 2/3 of these PRE-SCHOOL children do not have age appropriate (or any) books in their homes. About 10 million children have difficulties learning to read. Of those children many drop out of school. A disproportionately high number of our youth with criminal records have trouble reading. Each of us can help to develop pre-literacy skills (alphabet and print knowledge, phonological awareness, name writing, recognition of letter sounds, rhyming, and developing a vocabulary) in all children.

Here are some tips for reading to children on a regular basis, and making story time fun and interactive:

"Serenity is not freedom from the storm but peace during a storm."

Anonymous