Etiquette for Everyday

  By  Kelly  on September 2, 2016    If you’re living in the 21 st   century (check.), have kids (check.) and engage with others on any of the various social media platforms (check.), this is a hot topic. It’s not an issue that would have dictated a discussion a decade ago, but today with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat….oh heck yes!  I’m talking about sharing stories and pictures of our beloved children on social media. I’ve written about the cost of living life on-line in a  previous blog,  but this blog is dedicated to our kids and what we share about them. We are just finishing up the first week of school here in Mt. Airy, Maryland. 6AM wake-up. Not fun. Seeing all the first-day-of-school pictures on Facebook and Instagram. GREAT fun!  I love the pictures of the first day  of school, prom, graduation, new driver, sporting events and cute-babies-doing-cute-things! Since both of my daughters are in college, my 15 year ol...

  By  Kelly  on March 15, 2017      Conflict. Discourse. Emotions. Hurt Feelings. Incivility. Disagreements, both personally and professionally, are part of life. We’ve all had them. We will continue to have them. Challenging, questioning or offering your thoughts regarding another’s opinion does not have to be a negative exchange. While the two paths shall never cross, the exchange does not need to be nasty. Regardless of the encounter, each situation should be approached with  consideration ,  respect  and  honesty . Ditto for the  words   you  choose to use in these interactions. In their book,  Crucial Conversations , authors Patterson, Grenny, McMillan and Switzler define a Crucial Conversation as “ A discussion between two or more people where (1) stakes are high, (2) opinions vary, and (3) emotions run strong.”   They further point out that in these crucial conversations, we can do one of three things: Avo...