Should You Have a Second Child? 10 Tips for Deciding

Deciding whether or not to have a second child can be agonizing. Two
children is the norm. Yet more and more couples are stopping with one.
How can you determine what's best for you?

candyland game

Here are some tips for making one of life's biggest decisions:

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*Consult your partner. Your spouse's insights may help with
your own thought process. It's also important to understand each other's
concerns. Hearing my husband's fear that another child would stress our
marriage, I kept date night on the agenda after our second baby arrived.

*Don't rush. Having children who are three years or less apart in
age is hard on parents early on. If you've just had your first and aren't
racing the biological clock, take a breather. Some of the happiest
parents have children who are widely spaced.

*Weigh the sibling factor. Providing a sibling for your firstborn is
not a sufficient reason for having another baby. Not all siblings get
along, and singletons do fine. You need to want to raise another child. If
you want a playmate, arrange a playdate.

*Visualize life with two. With one child you can hang on to your
adult life. Two puts you firmly in the kiddie world. Expect dinners at the
pizza restaurant, not the bistro. Prepare to double the sick days, but also
double the fun, especially as your kids grow and play together.

*Visualize life with one. You get lots of time together with an
only child. You're also the default entertainment. Count on enjoying a
close, special relationship, and playing a lot of Candyland.

*Think ahead. Okay, so you want another baby. But do you want
another teenager? Or are you just trying to preserve the baby stage of
parenthood, which passes no matter how many kids you have?

*Consider your resources. The second child can strain you
financially, emotionally and physically. But you'll also grow to meet the
challenges and realize how much you learned the first time around.

*Reframe the question. How would you feel upon learning that
you couldn't have another child? Sad? Relieved? Listen to your first
reaction to this question.

*Make a choice. Decisions are hard, but empowering. If you
can't decide, consult a therapist. Therapy can be especially helpful if you
and your partner disagree on whether or not to have a second baby.
Recognize that stopping with one child is a choice too.

*Revisit your decision. Asked whether I wanted a second when
my first was a baby I answered, "No way!" A year later I'd decided to go
for it. Everything can look different once your little one sleeps through
the night. Rest can make you eager to have another, or determined to
stop with one!

(c) 2005 Jennifer Bingham Hull. Reprint rights granted as long as the
article is published in its entirety, including the resource box and its live
links.

Should You Have a Second Child? 10 Tips for Deciding

Want the real scoop on life after the second child? Need help handling two small kids? Read the award-winning book Beyond One: Growing a Family and Getting a Life by Jennifer Bingham Hull. Visit www.growingafamily.com to sign up for her free newsletter and find more tips.

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Baptism Invitations - The Basics of Baptism Invitations

The best part about baptism invitations is that they're most informal, colloquial, personalized kinds of cards there are. Baptisms are less formal than christenings and less intense than birthday parties. Infant baptisms are fun, free, important events for Christian denominations all across the world. So, who should be invited? Where should it be hosted? And what should the invitations look like, what should they inform the guest of, and when should the momentous event take place?

invitations for baby shower

As to the first question, it's sufficient to invite very close friends, God parents, and extended family. That last point is contingent on the proximity of relatives to the event, their closeness to the family, their affiliation with the faith, and other circumstantial factors. If they're in the neighborhood and aren't appalled at religious services, it's a must to invite them, although it's probably cheaper to just make phone calls. On the other hand, in-laws are tough to talk to sometimes so it's wise to send out invitations.

INVITATIONS

As to the second question, it should be hosted at your church; in that case, there's really no need to send out invitations because everyone will already be members of the church, and it will occur, most likely, during the Sunday church service. You can completely skip over the invitations and just schedule the event with your pastor.

Finally, as to the third question, the invitations should look personal, informal, and patently child-like. Infant baptisms need not be any more formal than a homemade collage of baby pictures with glitter and stickers pasted around it. That's an analogy, of course, but infant baptisms are the least formal of all popular celebrations. They're much less formal than a Christening and hardly even worth sending out invites for. Everyone at your church will already be there, of course. However, if you're hosting the event elsewhere, it's essential that the clergy, church members, friends, and relatives all receive invites. There's just no reason not to. Afterward, you can all go out and have lunch as a way of celebrating. The invitations should inform people of the following: the baby's name, a photograph of the baby, and the day, date, time, and place of the infant baptism.

Baptism invitations are ultra-fun, and you can make one by hand and scan it into your computer and print multiple color copies. Or, order from the thousands of pre-made designs on dedicated greeting card and special event invitational card websites.

Baptism Invitations - The Basics of Baptism Invitations

Jeff Fain is an author for Dependable Printing. Please visit Dependable Printing for a great selection of wedding invitations, wedding anniversary invitations, baptism invitations, party invitations, and much more.

INVITATIONS

Affordable DIY Wedding Invitations

Creating your wedding invitations on your own is an ideal approach to impart style and personality to your wedding, and also is an innovative technique to save your wedding costs. Do-it-yourself wedding invites range from handwritten cards to those printed on home printers with the help of DIY wedding invitation kits or templates; or sometimes, some prefabricated invitations are bought from a wedding invitation dealer and personal touches are added to them.

invitations for 50th birthday party

Sometimes, brides create wedding invites on their own not to save costs, but to add more details and accessories to their invitations to the maximum possible extent. These DIY invitations will be so much elaborate and intricate and will take much time for their design and creation to the extent of costing much more than the invitations that can be bought from a dealer. Also much stress would be experienced in their making.

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We don't mean to say that you will have to forego style or sanity for saving cost. There are plenty of exciting, innovative DIY wedding invites which can be created by brides of varying levels of crafting without the need to spend more money or time. Check out these ideas for some unique, personalized DIY invitations which will surely impress your guests.

Printable (fill up blanks) DIY wedding invitations:

Nowadays computers are more high-tech but more user-friendly; so why not use them? You have many options to create your DIY wedding invites on your computer, depending on your computer and design skills. Pre-designed invitations are available from many super stores, craft stores and invitation printers; you can buy them and insert your wedding details using your home printer.

This idea will be wonderful for the brides who are cost-conscious, but not very eager to design the entire wedding invitation. Yet it won't work if you don't have a printer suitable for the job. So before buying the blank DIY invitations, confirm whether your printer can printout in the particular paper type of such invitations. Otherwise you will have to take the costlier option of buying a printer.

Total DIY wedding invitations:

Perhaps you may find 'fill up blanks' to be too easy or you may not get those printable invitations which meet your requirements such as theme, color, etc. You want your invitation to be totally unique. Whatever the reason may be, you can go ahead with total DIY wedding invites to achieve your objective. This will require buying your card stock, creating the design template, cutting the paper and printing the invitations - the whole works!

This idea is great and will work only if you have the necessary materials, tools and skills. If you have to buy everything from scissors to printer, you will have to think again. When you choose this option you should be able to create truly distinctive and beautiful invitations that live up to your expectations in style, theme and personality; otherwise it will be a collapse. So, you should consider the cost and availability of materials and time before embarking on the project.

Affordable DIY Wedding Invitations

Visit the Modern Wedding Invitations website.

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Wedding Anniversary Party Invitations

Anniversary Party Invitations to Celebrate Your Special Party!

invitations for sweet 16

If you need to find Anniversary Party Invitations for that special event you're throwing for friends, family members, or someone else close to you, take a few things into consideration when making your choices.

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Anniversary Party Cards: Picking a Theme

When throwing an event, you probably have decided on some type of theme for the event. For example, if you are celebrating a 25th silver anniversary or 50th golden anniversary get together you might choose a color theme of silver or gold, respectively. A similar idea is to match the theme with the traditional wedding gift for that event. Regardless of which theme you choose, anniversary party cards should match that theme so guests will get some hint of what to expect from the event.

Anniversary Party Wedding Invitations: Location

Obviously, you can't start sending out wedding anniversary invitations until you've selected a location for your anniversary wedding party. The good news is choosing a location isn't difficult. There are many options available, including party rooms at restaurants, private homes, botanical gardens or public zoos, hotels, and more. Before choosing a location for your event, make sure you know your budget and the size of your guest list.

Party Invitations: Personalized Cards

The wedding anniversary party invitations are important for the event. You want to choose ones that are unique and that will make an impression on the guests. Simply going to a local card store or discount retailer and choosing the first bulk party anniversary invitations you find isn't a good idea, even if you want to save money.

Instead, you should go online and look for the anniversary parties wedding invitations or anniversary announcements you want. For one, you'll find a much wider selection, such as photo anniversary invitations. Brick and mortar stores are limited in the designs they can carry but that's not the case with online vendors. Additionally, the costs are much lower. Because of the lower overhead, you can purchase high-quality cards at an affordable price online. Plus, you can choose your invitations from the convenience of your home.

Regardless of where you purchase the anniversary party cards, make sure you have them early. It's customary to mail anniversary party invitations at least two weeks before the date of the event to give people plenty of time to make arrangements for attending. Also when planning an anniversary party invite only people who are close to the couple and who they would enjoy having at the affair.

Wedding Anniversary Invitations: Refreshments

One of the other big planning areas you'll need to worry about is refreshments. If you're on a budget, consider keeping refreshments at a minimum. Serve some cake and punch but nothing more. For casual parties, you could have a barbecue or a cookout. Lunchmeat and cheese trays are a nice idea for an early afternoon celebration. If you're planning on having a formal wedding anniversary party, hire caterers to set up a buffet or to serve your guests. When the wedding anniversary party is over, you want all of your guests to be able to look at those invitations and remember the great time they had celebrating a special couple.

Wedding Anniversary Party Invitations

About the Author: Sarah Porter is author of several articles including Anniversary Invitations
Wedding Anniversary Invitations Golden & Silver Anniversary Cards and many more on Express-Invitations

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How Cool to Golf in Autumn

As summer rolls to a close here on the Grand Strand, golfers are making their preparations to switch game strategy from warm weather play to cool weather play. Sure, some fair-weather players clean their clubs and pack them away until next year, but actually, here in the Carolinas that would be a waste of good playing time. Here, we have two outstanding reasons for playing through fall and winter to the warmer months - weather and price.

candyland castle game

Playing golf in autumn here in the Mid-Atlantic area means that players enjoy all the advantages of having lower temperatures: colorful foliage, wildlife on the move, and (best of all) price specials. Whether they are drawn here by lower accommodations rates, events discounts, or affordable golf tee times, golf groups come in droves during this time. Even so, there are still plenty of rooms for the occasional travelers and weekenders from the surrounding states who enjoy shorter stays.

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The first day of fall, September 22nd, here on the Grand Strand was a Monday. It came and went with partly cloudy skies, moderate humidity, gentle breezes, and a temperature that started in the morning in the high 60's and never drifted much above 82 along the coast. Of course, the exciting aspect of playing golf in the fall is that no two days are alike; one day all sun, and the next day sharp winds off the ocean demand golfers wear a jacket or wind-breaker. It is conditions like these that have inspired greats such as Arnold Palmer, Pete Dye, and Rees Jones to design courses here along the Strand, using geography and weather as part of their artistry.

Stiff winds, for example, can be 30-40 mph requiring players match it with equal amounts of their own mental stiffness, as well as using special techniques in club selection and shot-making.

Golfers who know our conditions plan for them by warming up their muscles on a cool day, wearing gloves on both hands, plus wearing a hat to keep heat in the body. All of these efforts are at first conscious, then habit, because they are a "must" in order to remain healthy and play golf through the cooler months. Waterproof apparel, lightweight pants and jackets, and layers are also crucial for out-of-doors physical performance. Since a player's environment can range from "balmy" on the first nine to "chilly" on the back nine, wearing something easily removable can mean the difference between sweating unnecessarily for 18 holes and catching cold unnecessarily.

So, prepared with warm-up exercises and the right gear and warm-up exercises, golfers from all over the world set off to find the right golf courses. Some place telephone calls to the courses before arranging their accommodations. However, lower prices are available by doing the reverse. The standard published rates of accommodations and courses during the autumn season can be quite daunting until players realize that golf agents in resort accommodations can help them find even more affordable combinations of courses and tee times. Package deals offered through the resorts in cooperation with golf courses can bring a smile to the face. For example, some courses such as King's North or Tidewater encourage mid-week play with lower prices, and some accommodations such as the Myrtle Beach Seaside Resorts have managers' special rates.

Whether one or twenty in a group, golfers decide which courses to play and call the booking agents, asking for as many price breaks as possible. Sometimes even the golf group "leader" can receive discounts beyond the groups' discounts, just by being a group leader. As the agents then juggle the details to find the best price for the group, golf groups also explore savings on a variety of other trip details: tickets for theatrical performances, concerts, restaurant meals, and rental cars, to name a few. In the fall, not only prices, but also wait times decrease, so in autumn golfers receive benefits for everything from dining tables to tee off.

Autumn golf packages at romantic oceanfront resorts are enjoyable for everyone in the group, whether all are players or not. While one part of the group plays fabulous rounds of golf on exciting coastal, tidewater, and inland courses, non-golfing members of the group can take advantage of the discounted tickets at the theater, sales for pre-holiday shopping, and park events such as those found at Hard Rock Park and Brookgreen Gardens. So golfers and non-golfers, let two little words, "weather" and "price," persuade you to spend a week or two on the Grand Strand. We treat you right here!

How Cool to Golf in Autumn

Sue Duncan is a staff writer for Myrtle Beach Seaside Resorts and MyrtleBeachGolf.Net and is a long time resident of Myrtle Beach.

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4 Bedroom Condo, Myrtle Beach - A Great Place to Enjoy Your Vacation

Myrtle Beach is truly a romantic getaway and a great place to enjoy your vacation. This wonderful place has 60 miles of sandy beaches, more than 100 world-class golf courses, great accommodations, famous restaurants, luxury hotels, and night clubs. Known as the Grand Strand, Myrtle Beach area is truly a fantasy for couples and other vacationers. There are so many hotspots where your spouse, family and friends can enjoy together. Vacationing at one of the finest Condo ensures enjoyment for vacationers from morning to night.

candyland party

The Myrtle Beach area, popularly known as The Grand Strand, consists of 12 separate communities, each with its own appeal. They provide great entertainment in places such as amusement parks, water parks, race tracks, live entertainment theaters and nightclubs. You can indulge in golfing, surfcasting, deep sea fishing, parasailing, surfing, ocean kayaking, nature walks, shopping, swimming and you can also just laze your day away in the sun on clean wide beaches. At this place, you can indulge in so many fun-filled activities.

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If you are a vacationer and want to enjoy a laidback lifestyle, then this place is ideal for you. You can quench your thirst for more fun amidst scenic hotspots. You can play in the sands and sing to the tunes of ocean. You can slow down the pace of life and sit leisurely gazing at the Atlantic Ocean. Visit Margate Towers located in Kingston Plantation to relish the experience. The Margate Towers is a popular vacation destination which is located along the oceanfront in the heart of the resort area. It offers a half-mile of secluded beach surrounded by 145 beautifully landscaped acres, golf courses, world-class restaurants and shopping. This place provides home like living at affordable prices. Vacationing at this 4 bedroom Myrtle Beach Condo is great fun and no other place can match it. The luxurious rooms are studded with excellent amenities that can surpass the standards set by all good hotels in the area. There are plenty of rooms for vacationers in this comfortable Myrtle Beach 4 bedroom Condo with 4 bedrooms featuring 3 king and 2 twin beds. The kitchen is fully equipped and you can cook your own lip smacking food. You can live here on your own terms. The customer service and room service are beyond comparison. There is a plethora of fun activities that you can indulge in. You can go for deep sea fishing, relax on the beach, rejuvenate your body in the pool, dine at quality restaurants, play golf and also enjoy the beauty of night life.

To end with it can be said that the Margate Towers in Kingston plantation has set a new standard in providing new kind of luxurious living that is similar to living in your home. If you are a vacationer in need of 4 bedroom Condo Myrtle Beach where you can enjoy life according to your wish, then this is the place to be in. Come and avail Vacation Rentals. The amenities offered at this condo are world-class and the facilities can surpass the standards of luxury hotels.

4 Bedroom Condo, Myrtle Beach - A Great Place to Enjoy Your Vacation

The author is a renowned name in offering advice on various Myrtle Beach Vacation Rentals. He has written many articles on 4 bedroom Myrtle Beach Condo. If you want more information, you can log on to Rentmycondomyrtlebeach.com.

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