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Celebrating Thanksgiving Worldwide

Americans are not the only nationality to celebrate Thanksgiving. Just about every country has celebrated a bountiful harvest and a time of giving thanks. Though these harvests and celebratory days are not all at the same time, and have different rituals and customs associated with them, they are still family celebrations none the less. One of the things each of these holidays and celebrations have in common is that they involve food.

Thanksgiving in the United States

In November, more than 350 years ago, the pilgrims and the Native Americans gathered together for three days, singing, dancing, and feasting on wild turkey, fish, Indian corn, and venison. Today, families still get together, eat a grand dinner, try out new Thanksgiving dessert recipes, and enjoy each other’s company.

Incwala in South Africa

In December, this six-day festival, also called the Festival of the First Fruits, includes priests gathering seawater and foam from the ocean, young men cutting branches from a Lusekwane tree, and lots of chanting and dancing. The highlight of the event is when the king bites, chews, and then spits out the first piece of fresh fruit of the season. Now, all people have permission to eat their crops.

Lammas Day in the British Isles

On August 1, during medieval times, the first wheat harvest took place. People would bake bread and place it on church altars as offerings. They also made dolls out of sheaves of grain and then planted them in the spring to ensure a plentiful crop. Today, fairs are still held throughout the British Isles to commemorate the annual harvest.

There are many more interesting and unique harvest celebrations and events to give thanks held all around the world. Each holiday has its own customs, but they are all happy times spent with loved ones.

Filed Under: Driving Tagged With: , ,

If They Steal the Car

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Image by dchrisoh via Flickr

Some parents have had an unfortunate incident happen during their teen’s early driving career. While no one may get hurt physically, the incident is ultimately harmful in a lot of ways. Simply put, sometimes a teen will choose to “borrow” the car without first asking to do so. When this happens, a lot of feelings can go through a parent’s mind beyond mere anger. This is actually a form of betrayal committed by their own flesh and blood.

While filicide might feel like a justifiable option at the moment, it isn’t worth it. Digging a deep enough hole is very difficult. Plus, the CSIs will notice the freshly turned earth, even if you put down sod. What you need to do is develop a punishment that will strike back at your teen and give them pause to do something of that nature in the future. Down the road, your teen may want to be able to use their legs. So don’t break them. Physical punishments tend to be bad deterrents, anyway.

If your teen steals your car, you first need to keep tighter control of your keys. If you can, keep them in your room, where your teen might be less inclined to go and search for them. Secondarily, forcing your teen to walk wherever they need to go for awhile can hammer home the point that you are the master of transportation in your home. In addition to this slow-burning punishment, you can also force your teen to wash your car for a time, such as one thorough washing and detailing for every mile they drove it illicitly.

Filed Under: General, Rebellion Tagged With: , ,

The Responsibilities of Parenthood

Jack Whinery and his family, homesteaders, Pie...

Image by The Library of Congress via Flickr

Being a parent is never easy. Being a parent during a massive economic recession is even tougher. That is because finding jobs and saving money can be extremely hard during a recession. Luckily, there are many ways that parents can be smart about saving their money and helping keep their family on budget.

If you are a struggling parent during this tough economic time here’s a look at some of the things you can do to save money and keep your family’s finances on the right financial track.

Extreme Couponing. While it might seem a bit odd to clip coupons that only save a quarter here and there, if you know how couponing can work best, you can really save hundreds of dollars. There are dozens of websites that can help parents learn the finer arts of using coupons and how to use coupons in conjunction with sales. This allows families to save money and get the basic essentials that they need.

Refinancing Options. Most families have to budget in a mortgage payment or car payment. It can be beneficial to families if they look into a mortgage or car loan refinance. The ability to refinance the loan allows the loan holders take advantage of lower interest rates and therefore reduce the amount of their monthly car or mortgage payment. These payments are lowered because the interest rates are lower and therefore the payment can be reduced.

Trimming the Excessive Spending. There are always ways that families can reduce the amount of excessive spending that they do. By sitting down and figuring out where you and your family can save money can help reduce the family’s budget. Many families can reduce their spending by eliminating things like dining out, getting coffee every morning or even downgrading their cell or Internet services. By trimming the excess of spending families are able to save the excessive amount of money every month.

Filed Under: Education, Parenting Tagged With: , , , , ,

Get Ready for April 15th With Tax Blog

Every year on April 15th, central post offices stay open until midnight to provide late tax filers with getting their returns postmarked by the deadline filing date. News crews stand by with cameras posing the question, “Why did you wait so long?” It doesn’t have to be that way. As complicated as filing tax forms can be (and it is!) help is just a mouse click away at tax blog. Will you be ready for April 15th?

Taken as a whole, the tax forms present a perfect example of what’s wrong with our government. They are bloated, overwritten and sometimes hard to understand. Yet, somehow we manage to muddle through. One valuable tip for preparing your return is not to wait until the last minute like those procrastinators. While it is true that you can’t really spring into action until you receive all your tax information for the year, you can still begin to gather together all your bills and records into an organized manner. This is vital for a family who intends to take deductions on their return. By starting early, you will have plenty of time to work through the forms, make adjustments and not feel pressured. By doing that, there is less chance of mistakes.

If you were truly organized, you managed to keep an ongoing record of these possible deductions as they came in throughout the year. This can be done “old school” by filing the receipts and statements into a file folder or you could go high tech by entering these figures into a software program set up for just such a purpose. A tax blog has plenty of insider information about preparing your returns because they’ve gone through the tax code line by line. There is no need for you to become an accounting expert when you can take advantage of all those helpful hints.

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Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , , , , , , ,