By Debra Karplus Hamilton County Indiana touts eight great towns, one destination.  Noblesville, the county seat, and Carmel and Fishers are the largest of the towns.  But you’ll also find

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  By Debra L. Karplus Your new grandchild has arrived.  Your daughter or daughter-in-law is excited to share with you that she will be nourishing the new baby with mother’s

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By  Debra Karplus, MS, OTR/L When you and your husband were dating, umpteen years ago, and the relationship started to become serious, it became time to meet his parents.  You expected

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A Poem for My New Grandson By Debra Karplus Welcome to the world, little boy. You’ve brought our family so much love and joy. Sleep peacefully, baby, your world is

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By Debra Karplus I’m organizing some drawers and stumble upon a shoebox containing five years of my diaries from the 1960s. They are covered with some green-ish moldy-looking stuff, but

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Is Grandma’s House Dangerous for Grandkids? Here’s how to kid proof your grandparents house in time for their visit.   By Debra Karplus What a treat to have the little

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By Debra Karplus You’re embarrassed to admit that when you were in school, you were one of the students who frequently played mean-spirited pranks on any substitute teacher who dare set foot

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By  Debra Karplus, MS Want to feel grand about your life?  Try volunteering.  Whether you’re retired or perhaps you’re still working, a little bit of your time donated to a

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By Debra Karplus, MS If you want to keep in touch with your grandchildren, you certainly need to be well-versed on using e-mail with its protocols and quirks, and better

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By Debra L. Karplus, MS, OTR/L Growing up on the North Side of Chicago, specifically West Rogers Park, was perhaps like coming of age in any other large metropolis. We

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By Debra Karplus Children are very skilled copycats.  They instinctively know that actions speak louder than words.  They learn behaviors by being astute observers of the people around them who they admire

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  By Debra L. Karplus, MS, OTR/L Little Jamie just turned fifteen months and is not walking yet.  Taylor is two years old and not starting to talk.  Three year

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By Debra L. Karplus, MS, OTR/L Perhaps your grandchildren have started asking questions about the family tree.  How far back you can trace your family roots?  Do you know where

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  By Debra L. Karplus, MS, OTR/L Your grandchild’s parents have returned from parent-teacher conferences and report to you that little Taylor will begin receiving special education services. This news

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By Debra L. Karplus, MS, OTR/L Your grandchildren are coming to visit for a while.  Lucky you!  But when their mom sends an e-mail reminding you that they don’t eat

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By Debra Karplus Yes, there are many activities you can do with your grandchildren in a huge city like Chicago.  But while vacationing in Illinois, plan to take a roadtrip

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By Debra Karplus Libraries have changed greatly over the past few decades.  No longer are they sterile places that only have books to borrow and where one must sit in

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By Debra L. Karplus, MS, OTR/L Girls just wanna to have fun, bellowed 1980s pop music icon Cyndi Lauper.  Eternally young, this baby boomer was actually born in the early

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By Debra L. Karplus, MS, OTR/L Once upon a time, long before Mozilla Firefox, there was Foxfire. Whether or not you considered were “counterculture”, you, may fondly remember the Foxfire

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By Debra L. Karplus, MS, OTR/L Searching for some new ideas of activities to try with your grandchildren?  Kids of all ages love to tell, write, and illustrate short and

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