Kicking the habit can be a difficult process
I am happy to deliver my first article of the new century. So far I am Y2K compliant. However, the clutter and disorganization that lurk in my home and closets have not gone away with the 20th century.
While trying to get organized I was inspired by my son Carter, who had a question about the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill. Why Jill would bother carrying pails of water up the hill, he wanted to know. Why doesn’t she just get a tank of water? Now that is the kind of logical thinking I need to get it together.
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As I find space for my family’s new gifts, namely toys, I find it refreshing to read my new book The Family Manager’s Everyday Survival Guide by Kathy Peel.
She is the founder and chair of Family Manager, Inc., a company that provides families with the information they need to achieve a balanced lifestyle. She has armed North America with a new definition for the people who run households.
Peel says the words housewife and homemaker don’t work any more. They don’t give the credibility or validity to the job that millions of women (and men) do every day.
Managing a home and family is serious business. It’s a full-time job that deserves an official title, whether or not the person has another full or part-time job. So Peel created a new title of family manager with its own creed.
“Family Manager: I oversee an organization – where hundreds of decisions are made daily, where property and resources are managed, where health and nutritional needs are determined, where finances and futures are discussed and debated, where projects are planned and events are arranged, where transportation and scheduling are critical, where team-building is a priority, where careers begin and end. I oversee an organization. I am a family manager.”
This book is filled with advice, but what caught my attention was the daily to-do list. For many of us, the end of the day leaves many items still not completed, resulting in frustration. Peel suggests dividing the list into categories such as food, home, finances and tasks under each.
Then comes the three Ds:
- Do – You have made a list of everything that needs to be done.
- Delegate – Ask what you can have others do? Give others your delegation list so they do not forget.
- Delete – Once you have delegated, are there some items that do not have to be done today? Put them on a future to-do list.
Give this list a try, because improving family management could result in a home that is warm and welcoming, and a healthy, happy and productive place for you and your family.
Plan for shopping
The book also covers the know-when-to-shop segment.
January is a good month to buy appliances, art supplies, bicycles, blankets and quilts, books, carriages and strollers, carpet, china, clothes dryers, men’s coats and shirts, costume jewelry, dishes, dresses, furniture and home furnishings, furs, glassware, handbags, hats, housewares, in-line skates, infant wear, linens, lingerie, radios and stereos, refrigerators and freezers, resort and cruiseware, shoes, storm windows, toiletries and toys.
Schedule some time to go out and buy or borrow a copy of the family manager’s survival guide.
National non-smoking week
Since Jan. 17-23 is National Non-smoking Week, I would like to note a quit-smoking program, One Step at a Time, which was launched by the Canadian Cancer Society in December.
A new national survey commissioned by pharmaceutical firm Novartis shows that this year about twice as many smokers are thinking of quitting than there were five years ago. The main reason is to improve their health.
“One out of every two smokers in Canada will die because of his or her habit,” said Cheryl Moyer of the Canadian Cancer Society.
“Cigarette smoking remains the number one preventable cause of death in the world.
“This new program will give smokers the resources they need to help them quit and, hopefully, save their lives.”
Actor William Davis, best known as Cancer Man on the popular TV show X-Files, is working with the cancer society to help spread the word about the new program. More than six million Canadians smoke, but nearly all say they would quit if they could.
“Quitting smoking is probably the hardest thing I ever did,” Davis said.
“I smoked far too long, but somehow I managed to quit. If ever I feel a lack of self-esteem or feel like I haven’t accomplished enough in life, I think to myself, I did quit smoking. And that’s harder to do than people realize. If you can get some help, get it, because this is so important.”
Davis quit smoking more than 20 years ago and started campaigning against tobacco use when his brother died of lung cancer due to smoking.
One Step at a Time
The society’s One Step at a Time is a self-help program based on a tested scientific theory of behavior called the stages of change model.
The program recognizes that smokers’ needs vary depending on their stage in the quitting process.
The program meets smokers’ needs at each stage and guides them along the way to becoming smoke-free.
At the heart of the program is a series of resource booklets that help smokers and their families understand the stages and learn how to deal with them to become and stay smoke-free. A novel aspect of the new CCS program, a first in Canada, is that it also supports smokers who are not ready to quit and people who want to help a loved one quit.
The booklet for helpers, If You Want to Help a Smoker Quit, offers advice on how to help a smoker through each stage of quitting, how to deal with stumbling blocks, and lists common mistakes that most helpers, or influencers, make.
“Smoking is a difficult addiction to overcome, and it’s also difficult for those who have loved ones who smoke,” said Paul McDonald, assistant professor of health studies and gerontology at the University of Waterloo, a cancer society-funded researcher in behavioral change.
“It’s important that both the smoker and the influencer realize that it takes patience and hard work.
“It may take several attempts, but research shows that with each attempt, smokers are that much closer to quitting for good.”
The One Step at a Time self-help booklets are available for free by calling the Canadian Cancer Society’s national toll-free Cancer Information Service at 1-888-939-3333. They are also available on the society’s website at www.cancer.ca/tobacco.
Smoking and lung cancer
As we embark on the 21st century:
- Tobacco use remains the single most important preventable cause of death in the world.
- Tobacco causes about 30 percent of all cancers in Canada and about 85 percent of lung cancer cases.
- Tobacco use causes 45,000 deaths per year in Canada.
- Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for Canadian women and men.
- Environmental tobacco smoke is the number one risk factor for lung cancer among non-smokers.
- It is estimated that smoking prematurely kills three times more Canadians than car accidents, suicides, drug abuse, murder and AIDS combined.
A winter beauty regime
Many of us dress up more during winter than we do all year. Experts from the Body Shop and Estee Lauder agree that the first place to start to achieve a fresh and elegant look is with proper skin care. Here are some tips:
- Follow a basic cleansing routine. For example, cleanse, freshen and moisturize in the morning to make a skin barrier for the day ahead and cleanse, exfoliate and moisturize at night to lift dead skin cells and stimulate renewal. Never go to bed without washing your face.
- Always wear sunscreen on exposed skin when outdoors. Yes, even in the winter. And use a heavier moisturizer in the winter, especially in the upper area of the cheeks where there are fewer oil glands. Use a special cream for the eye area as regular moisturizers can be too heavy for this delicate skin.
- Apply creams gently, never pulling the skin. Lips only have a thin layer of skin, so you need a good barrier cream to keep them soft and supple.
That takes care of the outside, now for the inside.
- Drink eight to 10 glasses of water every day. Water helps flush your system and eliminate toxins.
- Exercise regularly, preferably 30 minutes a day. A brisk walk will do the trick – bringing the blood and nutrients to the skin and toning the muscles.
- Get plenty of sleep.
- Eat fruits and vegetables.
- Quit smoking, as it destroys the vitamin C that keeps collagen fibres attached to the skin.
- Learn how to relax, unwind and handle stress.
Now that the skin is in good shape, how about special party makeup?
- Try some pearlized eye make-up. Ivory shades are a good choice. You can apply them damp for shine, or for a more discreet look, apply dry.
- Try some skin glitter, perhaps on your shoulders.
- Try one of the new stick foundations on the market. They fit easily in a handbag and are simple to apply.
- Purplish lipstick is in. Tones from mauve to heather to wine are hot, says Estee Lauder’s product development specialist.
Have fun and look great. Happy celebrating, whether for an anniversary or Valentines Day.
Source: Canadian Living – Fashion and Beauty and the Body Shop’s book of well-being.
