Gurus

LifeTips Home
Become a Client
Become a Writer
Entertain/Events
Exercise/Fitness
Family/Safety
Food/Drink
Gear/Gadgets
Health/Disease
Hobbies/Pets
Home/Garden
Kids/Games
Relationship/Love
Sports/Sporting
Style/Fashion
Travel/Cities
Holiday/Observances
B2B/Business
Careers/Jobs
Education/Training
Small Biz/Home Biz
Green/Living
Legal/Taxes
Marketing/Promotion
Manage/Employees
Money/Investing
Internet/Web
Hardware/Software
Supplies/Gear
Wheels/Auto
Religion/Spirituality

Listen to our Radio Show
Hot topics for both consumers
and webmarketers
on WebmasterRadio.FM

Every Wednesday, 5PM Eastern.
 

Marie Whelan

Expert Guru
Working at high-tech corporations offered me experience in editing scientific material for publication and substantial exposure to scientific and medical fields. As program coordinator for a medical-related corporate program, I wrote reports and informational material and gained experience in questionnaire design. Reporting to a vice president and later the director of corporate planning, I worked on marketing research and other projects in the areas of medical procedures, medical equipment, and laboratory tests. As part of one company's newly established business-planning department, I was involved with the acquisition of materials and the establishing of a business-planning library, as well as acting as librarian.

Freelance writing experience includes straight news, feature writing (on a wide-range of topics), some public-relations work, and miscellaneous projects. I've spent over a decade researching the educational issues, including learning problems and giftedness, with the idea of eventually putting together a book or newsletter. Educational issues have been my passion. Adoption, child development, psychology and the business of writing are other areas with which I have strong familiarity.

My writing strengths include the ability to easily adapt tone and style to a wide range of assignments and the ability to write powerful, persuasive, material when that is required.




7 Tips from Marie Whelan

Non-Custodial Parents Need "Ordinary" Time with Children too

Being the non-custodial parent doesn't mean no longer being a parent, but it can mean putting in a little extra effort to make sure children continue to see the non-custodial parent as the same parent he/she has always been.

While it is, of course, tempting and right for non-custodial parents to want to take children out somewhere special during their time together parents need to remember that sometimes the most special time together is that ordinary, everyday, time kids and parents share. Remembering to have some ordinary time together gives non-custodial parents the chance to talk with their children about the small stuff, the big stuff, and the important stuff - like values. A day at the amusement park is a lot of fun, but at places like amusement parks the talk is often limited to what ride to go on next or when to get some cotton candy.

Having an ordinary dinner together at Dad's house and being surprised when Dad brings out a particularly special dessert can help children see their non-custodial parent in the rightful role of parent and remind children that while their parents may now live under separate rooves both parents continue to be the parents they've always known.

To Tell the School or Not to Tell the School - That Is the Question

When a child has been adopted from infancy parents often feel so blessed to have their child they enjoy discussing the adoption or sharing their delight with others.

It may be wise, though, to carefully consider whether or not to share the fact that a child has been adopted with teachers or administrators at his school because there are times when this particular information can cause people at the school to begin to watch the child for signs of problems that may not exist and may never exist. When it comes to adoption our society (and in particular school administrators and teachers) still harbors some misconceptions about adopted children. The fact that when older children are adopted they often do have emotional issues or learning problems helps fuel misconceptions about adopted children in general. Some adopted children may, in fact, have difficulties in school; but not all do - and that's the reality that too many school officials far too often fail to see. Once the school has the information and begins to place the child "under a microscope" it may not be possible to prevent this type of prejudice from following the child throughout his school years.

For children who have been adopted from infancy it may be wisest to not to share the fact of the adoption unless and until the child begins to have problems in school, and even then it may be best for the child to address the school issue with a private psychologist before deciding to share the information about the adoption with the school.

Summer Shoe Safety for Toddlers

Those teeny, tiny, little, sandals for babies and young children are adorable. When your child is either too young to walk or has been walking for several months there may be no reason not to buy those adorable little sandals.

When your baby is new at walking, though, you may want to consider a shoe that's less likely to cause your little sweetie to trip or get his/her foot caught somewhere - or just let him/her go barefoot.

Your little cutie-pie's feet will still fit into teeny, tiny, sandals next year, and next year he/she will be a little more steady on his/her feet.

Morning Coffee and the Perfect Scent

On those days when you're not headed off to work in a hurry don't head to the nearest drive-through coffee place.

Make yourself a pot of your favorite coffee, melt a scented tart in your potpourri burner, sit near a window that lets you see the sunrise or that lets the sun shine in, and sit for an hour or so and enjoy.

Lighter scents, like ginger-and-sage or lavender-lemon, make excellent morning scents; but, of course, any scent that is your own particular favorite will help you start your day in a very nice way.

Add a dish of fresh blueberries or a pastry (if you're not watching calories) and a newspaper - who could ask for anything more?

The Best Value from the Frozen Food Case

When shopping on a tight budget most grocery-shoppers will tend stay away from the freezer cases because frozen foods are generally among the most expensive items.

While the careful grocery-shopper may still want to pass by many of the freezer cases, a careful look at the case where frozen vegetables are displayed may reveal some surprises. While the bags of frozen vegetables remain as relatively inexpensive as always, today's frozen vegetables come in with an eye-opening array of sauces as well - and often at very reasonable prices. Vegetable combinations with pasta, chicken, or shrimp come in packages that will serve one or two adults or one adult and two or three young children; and although some of these products (in larger packages) are every bit as expensive as one would expect, many are surprisingly inexpensive (as little as $1.50 or less per person).

These quick-and-easy meals and side dishes can put stopping at the freezer case back on the list of even the most budget-conscious shopper.

What to Ask When You're Buying A New Cellphone

When getting new cellphone service many people are more interested in what the plan offers than they are in the device, itself. Having an "I-don't-care-as-long-as-it-works-well" attitude, though, can mean having a few regrets later, once the phone has been in use and any disadvantages of its features become clear. Shoppers buying their first cellphone may not know what they should be asking, and shoppers replacing an existing phone may not think to ask about a feature they've come to take for granted with their old device.

Looking at the quality of the display and the styling of the phone isn't enough. Most cellphones are similar when it comes to operating them, but some have completely different ways of operating. The first consideration a shopper should have is whether its important that the phone operate the way most others do or not. Some people may prefer a ring that has the option of starting low before getting louder. Some devices don't offer the option of having the ring loud from the start. If text messaging will be frequently used a phone that doesn't erase message if the wrong button is pushed. Some phones automatically return to predictive text almost every time the user presses a different key. This is extremely inconvenient and something about which to ask.

How many steps are involved in deleting messages, call logs, etc. is something worth considering. Some users prefer the additional steps associated with lots of safeguards. Others don't want to be bothered with extra button-pushing. Asking whether the phone will easy sign itself onto the Internet if the owner forgets to lock the keys would be wise as well.

Finally, when replacing an existing device it may make sense to make a list of the features that are most important to you and that you use regularly and compare your old phone with any phones you're considering purchasing. Sometimes its the smallest things about a cellphone that are the most aggravating, and these are precisely the things that are most often overlooked when buying a new phone.

Quick and Easy Vegetarian Meal

When you're expecting a guest who is a vegetarian. preparing an informal, vegetarian meal doesn't have to involve a trip to the local health-food store and a crash course in vegetarianism.

A casserole dish of mashed potato, rice, or egg noodles that are topped with mixed vegetables (such as carrots, lima beans, corn, and chopped onions) make up the main part of this hearty, home-cooked, meal. Adding soy scrambles ("fake scrambled hamburger") and mushroom gravy make it complete.

A variation is serving soy "meatloaf" or soy "meatballs" (usually available at any grocery store) on the side with sauteed onions If your vegetarian guest does not rule out dairy cream of celery, cream of broccoli, or cheddar cheese soups can be used in place of mushroom gravy.

Don't forget the biscuits. This hearty meal is for vegetarians - not dieters.