A Second Helping

Cute story about how the title for A Second Helping came about – according to Sandy Lingo, author of A Second Helping, “A writing friend came up with the name for my blog, A Second Helping. She says when she finishes reading one of my pieces, she is hungry for a second helping. The first helping makes her laugh; with the second helping, though, she tastes the seasonings.  Most of what you read on my blog is funny, but I hope you take the second helping which will offer something a bit more nourishing — some universal truth that will make you want to cook up your own thoughts and memories."

A Second Helping began in October, 2014, and I’m going to let Sandy tell you in her own words, what prompted her to being this blog, because I think a lot of you will relate to her words: 

“I had been writing for twenty years and calling myself a writer, but the only people who read my writing were those few in my writing circles and classes. Although I had published several pieces, I didn't receive any feedback, and it felt like my writing was just disappearing into a big black hole. I had always said I'd never write a blog – didn't want to give my writing away – but my thinking evolved after talking to bloggers at the 2014 Erma Bombeck Writers Conference. 

(forgive me – I must insert here that I am insanely jealous, because I wanted to attend that conference, but I’m happy for Sandy {and several others I know who attended the same conference} – back to Sandy’s comment)

I'm getting to an age that I have to think, if not now, when?  Within an hour of posting my first piece on ‘A Second Helping,’ a hundred people had read it, and I was hooked. I finally felt like a real writer! I've had several posts that got more than a thousand views, and I think more people read my writing than if I had published it in print journals. I have especially enjoyed the comments I've received from people I don't know who have connected with my writing. Writing is my art, and it's been gratifying sharing it.”

Sandy writes about a variety of topics – aging, health, travel, marriage, children, and money, and she writes her blogs in a humorous, yet reflective way.

Sandy feels that her writing appeals to mature women “of a certain age,” but she has many young readers, too, so don’t let that stop you from whetting your appetite with A Second Helping!

Whole Hearted Parenting

When Maggie Macaulay, MS Ed, discovered that her formerly cooperative 18-month old found power in expressing the word NO, her immediate reaction was to force her child into obedience.

But forced parenting was not an option for Maggie or her husband. They wanted to raise their child in a way that fostered and encouraged cooperation. So Maggie and her husband enrolled in the Redirecting Children’s Behavior™ (RCB) course.

The RCB course helped them become “a much more peaceful family,” and because Maggie’s experience with RCB was so rewarding, Maggie decided to share the relationship skills she learned with other parents.

One of Maggie’s favorite quotes from the RCB course is, “All the love we come to know in life begins with the love we knew as children...” Maggie adds, “What we know about cooperation, assertiveness, and negotiation, we learn as children.” So it is important to create a tranquil and nurturing environment not only for your child but also for yourself.

As a Director with the International Network for Children and Families, Maggie trains Redirecting Children’s Behavior™ instructors and leads a team of certified parent educators.  She is also a certified instructor of the Loving Yourself and Others course.

Since 2000, Maggie has taught parents how to create peaceful, cooperative homes using the methods she learned. Through Whole Hearted Parenting, Maggie teaches RCB, presents more than 30 workshops on hot-button issues for parents, and provides classroom management training for teachers in both public and independent schools.  As a Certified Coach, Maggie also offers individual coaching sessions for parents.

You might expect Maggie, a parenting expert on ParentalWisdom.com and NewBaby.com, to be the perfect parent. In all her years of teaching parenting skills, though, one stubborn goat defied redirection techniques – Gabriel, an actual goat, “is now living his dream as a stud on a goat farm in Ocala, an example of logical consequences and the Law of Attraction in action!”

Maggie lives in south Florida with her husband and daughter. She offers far more services than I am able to write about in a blog. Please check out her WEB SITE and her BLOG for information on workshops, e-books, e-zines, teleseminars and more.

(Maggie is the recipient of the 2008 American Business Women’s Association Spirit of Excellence Parent Educator of the Year Award.)

Noodling or Noodle-ing

As promised, here is a little blurb about one of the linked blogs to your left.

The writer of this blog is a mommy with two beautiful and talented little girls. She writes about them frequently and even posts photos of them from time to time. She has adorable nick names for them (you'll have to read the blog to find out what they are), and writes about her children, music, love, music, babies, laughter, music, her children, music.

Did I mention music? She attends concerts and writes about them. She listens to music and writes about it. She gives presents of music to her friends. AND soon she will be writing about one of the biggest music events EVER. Stay tuned and get Noodling.