March 25, 2012
An old Epidemic in our Suburban Neighborhoods… This is meant to be a thought provoking discussion.
Educated people, great careers, working so hard to make the American Dream. They work, and have children… they seem to have it all. It is about being happy and many want to look good. In our more wealthy areas, folks are more concerned about “keepin’ up with the Jones’.” But alas, nothing is ever as it seems these days, and an epidemic has taken over our neighborhoods… over scheduling, and partying with our children to relax. Is this self-absorption the cost to looking good and having it all? Our neighborhood friends can’t even manage life sober when they are home. And they can’t think straight to get a sitter when they are not.
March 6, 2012
The Time is Now…. Babies
The time is now to enjoy, for You to enjoy and move into the life you are meant to live. Yes, You should read into this. Time and time again, I see women who are ready for babies, and believe it is their responsibility to be married before they bring a child into this world. They must find a suitable mate, and marry him, and start the baby making process, in that order, and for some it only to ends up in divorce. But in recent years a new trend has started. Educated, fully employed women have been having babies, just out of wedlock. Why you say? Because they are educated and smart women who are not going to get married Now and/or do not feel the obligation to be married. So this brings us back to our Now. It is our responsibility to enjoy every moment. Don’t let anything hold you back to your own happiness. Granted we all need to think about the responsibility it takes to be a parent, the time, the love to share, and the money. If you are ready to walk into parenthood in a responsible and mature way, you are much further ahead than many of the folks that are married and having children.
October 5, 2010
Emerson Speaks!
Emerson is getting the word out and folks are catching on. Check out this article on Marraige and Emerson’s family on CNN. Check out more discussions from Emerson on our blog.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/19/autism.divorce.rates/index.html?iref=allsearch
January 24, 2010
Something to think about marriage…it’s a LOT OF WORK!!!!
Something to think about marriage…it’s a LOT OF WORK!!!! We all know that, but what does it really mean? I think it means that in order to create or sustain a WE, it cannot be about ME , much of the time. We are not really wired this way in our society. We are taught to look to ourselves to define much of what is important and consider how we FEEL as a major deciding factor in almost every aspect of our lives. And that very perspective causes us great pain when we need to blend it, especially if it doesn’t meet our vision of what we want or believe is correct or preferable, in any given scenario. It is easy to blend our will when it matches our desire, for example, we both want Chinese food tonight or agree that a purchase is warranted and can be afforded. It is much harder when we see a parenting situation differently or don’t agree on a purchase or lifestyle choice. That’s when the WORK aspect becomes necessary. And I just don’t see that many of us in this day and age are prepared or expect that we should have to compromise or communicate effectively with both send and receive aspects working equally. Yet, we will NEED to do just that, over and over again to sustain a successful marriage. We think that if we just pick the “right” person we can bypass this process. And it is true that the more compatible we are with our spouse the easier this will be. But there are no two people that are so compatible that we can bypass this entirely, so we would be well served to look at ourselves and take stock of how flexible we are, and how maybe we can learn ( and teach our children to be) to be more open to others, accommodating or accepting of compromise unless major boundaries are being violated.
January 16, 2010
Divorce and Autism: They don’t have to go hand in hand. A father’s struggle to heal his son, his family and beat the odds
Let me introduce myself. I’m Emerson Donnell. Born and raised in New Jersey I waited until my 40’s to have a child. Little did I know I was a perfect match, a statistical poster of the typical parent who sires an autistic child, (an older white male living in New Jersey, the state with the highest incidence of autism.) And little did I know after the birth of my son Emerson that my wife Jen and I were being railroaded right into the next widely accepted statistic. Supposedly over 80% of marriages that sire an autistic child end in divorce. 
August 16, 2009
What Makes a Strong Marriage Anyway?
WHAT MAKES A STRONG MARRIAGE, ANYWAY….? We all want a great marriage. Yet, we know the grim statistics regarding the survival of marriages in the US. About 52% end in divorce within the first 10 years. Worse yet for second or third marriages, much worse for families where special needs are present in children-UPWARDS OF 70% end in divorce, (AAMFT Family Therapy magazine May 2008).
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