Simply Stated Blogs » Family Life

Can Your Pets Have Too Much Fun?

Jennifer Mirsky — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:30:25 +0000

Chances are, at some point, you’ve experienced pangs of guilt when it comes to your pets. Either you’re gone for too much of the day or you don’t play enough games with your pets [...]

Why Birds Make Good Pets

Jennifer Mirsky — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:04:24 +0000

Cats and dogs steal the spotlight most of the time, but Petfinder.com is branching out in January with Adopt-a-Rescued-Bird Month, a campaign originally conceived with the ASPCA. Appropriately, my interview with Petfinder.com co-founder Betsy [...]

The Top Names for Pets in 2011

Jennifer Mirsky — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 21:04:55 +0000

As my friend would say, the cats have the headline this time. According to Veterinary Pet Insurance Co (VPI) and Petfinder.com, a roundup of the most popular pet names in 2011 marked a real cat fight versus [...]

Did we need different Legos for girls?

Kristin Brandt — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:31:14 +0000

This past Christmas, my family collectively acquired 4,074 Lego bricks through gifts given to my 9-year old son, 39-year old husband and 6-year old daughter, so you could say we are a Lego-loving family. [...]

Last-Minute Pet-Themed E-Cards

Jennifer Mirsky — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:00:17 +0000

Let’s face it. It takes a juggler to take care of our families, keep up with our busy lives, and send out our holiday cards ahead of or on time. Right? If, like me, [...]

Helping spread Cheer to military families

Kristin Brandt — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:57:11 +0000

As readers know, I recently took on the role of Girl Scout leader for my daughter’s Daisy troop. Each week, one parent takes responsibility for helping the girls earn a patch by running an [...]

Finding new holiday traditions for my family

Kristin Brandt — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:36:52 +0000

When my husband and I had children, I found myself craving holiday traditions but found that we didn’t have many. In particular we didn’t have any foods (other than clam chowder from Captain Marden’s, [...]

Should I renew my subscription to Amazon Prime?

Kristin Brandt — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:58:31 +0000

Sometime before January 15th, I have to make a decision – whether or not to renew my subscription to Amazon Prime. For those not familiar, Amazon Prime is a membership program that, to quote the [...]

How I fixed my holiday cards (and why I didn’t have to)

Kristin Brandt — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 03:50:48 +0000

Last week I received the holiday cards I ordered from Shutterfly, and realized something. . . I hated the picture of my daughter I had selected. Other than the one picture, the card was everything [...]

Stranger Than Fiction: Pet Training Requests

Jennifer Mirsky — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:22:40 +0000

File this under the header “Strange but True.” I asked dog trainer and Animal Planet pet expert Andrea Arden about the most bizarre training requests that have crossed her desk. Top of mind concerned [...]