If the thought of winter brings literal shivers up your spine and a strong desire to hibernate, all inducing a general grumpiness, brace yourself because the worst time of year is practically upon us.

Sure, it's OK right now. Christmas decorations are going up everywhere and you're excited to wear the coats and sweaters that have been hanging in the back of the closest for the last three seasons. But just wait a few weeks when you haven't seen the sun in days and the sidewalks are permanent sheet of ice - the doldrums of winter will return.

Perhaps this year there's a way to embrace the icicles and enjoy winter rather than just enduring it.

Hygge (pronounced HOO-ga) is a Danish word that can mean being cozy, taking time for meaningful moments, creating intimacy, slowing down, not taking yourself or life to seriously, relaxing, connecting with others and having experiences that bring you joy.

Sounds lovely, doesn't it?

Here's how you can incorporate a bit of hygge in your life and make the coldest, darkest months of winter more bearable - and even enjoyable.

Get outside and appreciate the beauty of winter

This year, put on your warmest layers then get outside as often as you can to appreciate the stark beauty of the winter months. Being outdoors and appreciating nature, and getting some exercise along the way, will lift your spirits.

Read a good book

Give yourself permission to get lost in a good story.

Make and eat your favorite comfort food

"...from bowls. Preferably in bed under the duvet. With the electric blanket on." Amen.

Take up a craft or hobby

Learn something new or return to a creative project you've been putting off for a while.

Drink warm beverages

The joy of winter is seeing how many cups of hot chocolate you can drink.

Get cozy and all wrapped up in blankets

Being warm and comfortable is what hygge is all about.

Take time for meditation and reflection

Pause and breathe deeply to clear your mind and open your heart.

Surround yourself with beauty

It doesn't have to be anything fancy or expensive, but just making one corner of your surroundings a little prettier will lift your spirits.

Invite friends over for good food and connection

To really experience hygge, share the warmth with those who are closest to you.

The post This one thing will help you make it through the winter appeared first on FamilyToday.

After you've made an appearance at all the holiday parties and you've picked up all the last-minute gifts, treat yourself with a new line-up of shows coming to Netflix in December.

Additions include While You Were Sleeping, Hitch, season two of The Crown, all three The Santa Clause movies, many holiday-themed flicks, and nine New Year's Eve countdown shows.

Happy watching.

* indicates a Netflix original

December 1

• 8 Mile

• Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

• Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

• All Hail King Julien: Season 5*

• A StoryBots Christmas*

• August Rush

• Chef & My Fridge: 2017

• Dark: Season 1*

• Diana: In Her Own Words

• Dreamcatcher

• DreamWorks Home: For the Holidays*

• Easy: Season 2*

• Exporting Raymond

• Forbidden Games: The Justin Fashanu Story

• Full Metal Jacket

• Hitch

• My Happy Family*

• Nacho Libre

• Sahara

• The Farthest - Voyager in Space

• The Little Rascals

• The Wackness

• The Young Victoria

• Tyson

• V for Vendetta

• TURN: Washington's Spies: Season 4

• Voyeur*

• While You Were Sleeping

December 4

• When Calls the Heart: Season 4

December 5

• Craig Ferguson: Tickle Fight*

• Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

December 6

• Trolls Holiday Special

December 8

• El Camino Christmas*

• The Crown: Season 2*

December 11

• Catwoman

• The Magicians: Season 2

December 12

• Disney's The Santa Clause

• Disney's The Santa Clause 2

• Disney's The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

• Judd Apatow: The Return*

December 14

• 41 Dogs in My Home

• A&E: When Patients Attack

• Ainsley Eats the Streets: Season 1

• Halt and Catch Fire: Season 4

December 15

• A Five Star Life

• Christmas Inheritance*

• Discovering Bigfoot

• El Señor de los Cielos: Season 5

• Erased: Season 1*

• Freeway: Crack In The System

• Neverlake

• Pottersville

• Reggie Yates Outside Man: Volume 2

• The Haunting of Helena

• The Mafia Kills Only in Summer

• The Ranch: Part 4*

• Trollhunters: Part 2*

• Ultimate Beastmaster*

• Wormwood*

December 18

• Hello, My Twenties!: Season 2*

December 19

• Miss Me This Christmas

• Russell Howard: Recalibrate*

• The Indian Detective: Season 1*

• You Can't Fight Christmas

December 20

• La Casa de Papel: Season 1*

December 21

• Peaky Blinders: Season 4*

December 22

• 72 Dangerous Animals: Latin America: Season 1*

• Bright*

• Dope: Season 1*

• Fuller House: Season 3, New Episodes*

• Rosario Tijeras: Season 1

• The Toys That Made Us: Season 1*

December 23

• Creep 2

• Myths & Monsters: Season 1

December 25

• Cable Girls: Season 2*

• Planet Earth II

December 26

• Todd Barry: Spicy Honey*

• Travelers: Season 2*

• All Hail King Julien: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018

• Beat Bugs: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018

• Larva: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018

• Pororo: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018

• Puffin Rock: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018

• Skylanders Academy: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018

• Trollhunters: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018

• True and The Rainbow Kingdom: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018

• Word Party: New Year's Eve Countdown 2018

December 27

• Pusher

December 29

• Bill Nye Saves the World: Season 2: Part 1*

• Killer Legends

• La Mante: Season 1*

• Shelter

• The Climb*

December 31

• Dave Chappelle: Equanimity*

• Fun Mom Dinner

The post What’s coming to Netflix in December appeared first on FamilyToday.

The New Kids on the Block singer loved it so much he left a $2,000 tip on a bill for $82.60.

In a post on his Facebook page, Wallberg paid tribute to his hard-working parents who raised him to recognize those who treat him well and the great service he got at the iconic diner restaurant.

While waiting for his meal, Wallberg narrated his visit in an 11-minute Facebook Live video. He chatted with the staff, talked about the New Kids on the Block concerts and his work on the CBS show "Blue Bloods." And, of course, biscuits and gravy.

In addition to the $2,000 tip, Wallberg gave the Waffle House employees tickets and backstage passes for Thursday's New Kids on the Block concert.

In case you needed to know, he ordered the grits, steak and eggs.

The post New Kids’ Donnie Wallberg leaves $2,000 tip for waffles, pays tribute to his parents appeared first on FamilyToday.

The latest The New York Times Magazine included an article with the headline: "Why Rashida Jones Changed Her Mind About Porn."

Let's get caught up on why this interview and her change of heart is even newsworthy. A few years ago, Jones very publicly called out the entertainment industry for its "pornification of everything" that's ultimately harming our girls.

Since then, she's been exploring the porn industry by producing a Sundance documentary and a follow-up, a recently released Netflix series offering a peek into the lives of amateur porn stars.

However, now, in her Sunday Times interview, Jones she says she watches porn because "it's nice that you can separate the idea of personal pleasure from the pressure of a relationship."

Like most any conversation about sex, things can get complicated really quickly. But, Rashida, why the change of mind? How is porn all of a sudden really not that bad?

"Pornification of Everything"

In a December 2013 article in Glamour, Jones questioned why pop stars and others always seemed to be getting naked and the "pornification of everything."

"Every star interprets 'sexy' the same way: lots of skin, lots of licking of teeth, lots of bending over," Jones wrote. "I find this oddly...boring. Can't I just like a song without having to take an ultrasound tour of some pop star's privates?"

Jones pointed out how an abundance of sexy visuals in popular culture make it harder for us to raise strong, confident daughters.

"What else ties these pop stars together besides, perhaps, their entangled G-strings?" she wrote. "Their millions of teen-girl fans. Even if adult Miley and Nicki have ownership of their bodies, do the girls imitating them have the same agency? Where do we draw the line between teaching them freedom of sexual expression and pride in who they are on the inside?"

Amen.

Regardless of your sensitivities and definition of what porn is, there's no question that porn is prevalent and easy to find. Is that ease of pleasure really harming us? Or, is it like Jones said in an interview with Vox last week, "There doesn't have to be an inherent problem with [the porn industry]."

Thanks to Jones, we get another chance to talk about this intimate subject. Here are four reasons that should get us thinking - and talking - about what's really going on when we're stimulated by what's on the screen.

Porn offers an unrealistic expectation of sex

Drs. John and Julie Gottman, a renowned researcher and a highly respected clinical psychologist, respectively, have been studying marriage, relationships and surrounding issues for four decades. Recently, they countered the prevailing theory that casual porn isn't that bad.

"When watching pornography the user is in total control of the sexual experience, in contrast to normal sex in which people are sharing control with the partner," they wrote. "Thus a porn user may form the unrealistic expectation that sex will be under only one person's control."

Even in causal use, pornography acclimates the viewer to a distorted sense of reality: that this is how sex should be, at any time, with any one. Those faulty expectations make it easy to lose sight of the real reasons for sex, like deep connection with another person.

Porn isn't real life. And watching it makes real life seem less real

The people and situations depicted in porn aren't real. Lighting, Photoshop and exaggerated expressions that make porn enticing can make real life - and the challenge of real life relationships - rather dull. Which was the point of Jones' documentary and Netflix series, Hot Girls Wanted, to show how unrealistic the porn industry is and how it is a constructed fake reality.

In research, porn users are reporting less love and trust in relationships. They are prone to separation and divorce, and often see marriage as a 'constraint.' People who use porn tend to be less committed partners, less satisfied in relationships and more cynical about them. (See studies here. And here. And here.)

Watching porn can change your brain. And not in good ways

Columbia University researcher Dr. Norman Doidge explained, "porn creates the perfect conditions and triggers the release of the right chemicals to make lasting changes in your brain."

Basically that means your brain is constantly rewiring itself and creating new pathways, but when porn use gets involved and becomes compulsive, those connections are so strong that it starts impacting the pleasure you get out of other activities, such as sex with a real partner.

Porn isn't good for kids

OK, most everyone agrees X-rated films and, heavens, pornography featuring children, is not good for kids. But what about mainstream porn and the general ease of access to industry material?

In an article in The Huffington Post, Jane Randel (co-founder of NO MORE, an organization dedicated to finding solutions to domestic violence) and Amy Sánchez (CEO of Break the Cycle, which empowers youth to end domestic violence) wrote:

"With the average age of first exposure to pornography around 11 years old, kids are simply unprepared to distinguish the messages they encounter in porn. Without the knowledge or understanding of what a respectful, mutually agreeable, intimate relationship is, pornography then becomes a major source for youth to learn about sex."

It's hard enough to stop your snuggly newborn from growing out of footed PJs, but there's no way to install enough internet security measures to prevent a 9-year-old from stumbling across sexually suggestive images online.

Porn that's created for adults is still seen by children. Being OK with that means allowing the world - and researching fourth grade science projects - a little less safe for kids.

An article in TIME magazine last year reported on the trend of young men who were exposed to porn as kids are now finding it hard to get excited about sex as 20-something adults. Here's an excerpt:

"A growing number of young men are convinced that their sexual responses have been sabotaged because their brains were virtually marinated in porn when they were adolescents. Their generation has consumed explicit content in quantities and varieties never before possible, on devices designed to deliver content swiftly and privately, all at an age when their brains were more plastic—more prone to permanent change—than in later life. These young men feel like unwitting guinea pigs in a largely unmonitored decade-long experiment in sexual conditioning. The results of the experiment, they claim, are literally a downer."

Let's Keep Talking

One thing Jones did get right in her interview: communication and dialogue is important. We should be talking about sex in an open, less shaming way and about the realities of how porn hurts individuals.

Couples should be talking about realistic expectations of intimacy and ways to build real connections.

Parents should be looking for age-appropriate (and non-awkward) ways to talk with their kids about sex. Sites like EducateEmpowerKids.org provide great resources and conversation starters for parents.

The post Hey Rashida Jones, don’t change your mind about porn. It’s still harmful. appeared first on FamilyToday.

The Instagram world woke up to a new reality Friday morning: Beyoncé and Jay-Z confirmed their twins were born and they've got names.

Beyoncé posted a picture of her holding her one-month-old twin babies on her Instagram account early Friday morning. The comment on the post said Sir Carter and Rumi and were born one month ago today.

The stunning picture features the singer holding both babies, while wearing a flowing, ruffled floral gown and a teal veil. She's standing in front of a floral archway flanked by green hedges and with lots of water in the background.

Of course, twins are born every day and a month after giving birth, not every mom looks like Beyoncé. But there is something about this photo that reminds us that babies and moms are stunning miracles.

Perhaps that's one reason why the internet is going mad over this picture. The post has more than 7.4 million likes and 255,000 comments in less than 12 hours.

The post Beyoncé posts a stunning photo of new newborn twins appeared first on FamilyToday.

The New Kids on the Block singer loved it so much he left a $2,000 tip on a bill for $82.60.

In a post on his Facebook page, Wallberg paid tribute to his hard-working parents who raised him to recognize those who treat him well and the great service he got at the iconic diner restaurant.

While waiting for his meal, Wallberg narrated his visit in an 11-minute Facebook Live video. He chatted with the staff, talked about the New Kids on the Block concerts and his work on the CBS show "Blue Bloods." And, of course, biscuits and gravy.

In addition to the $2,000 tip, Wallberg gave the Waffle House employees tickets and backstage passes for Thursday's New Kids on the Block concert.

In case you needed to know, he ordered the grits, steak and eggs.

The post New Kids’ Donnie Wallberg leaves $2,000 tip for waffles, pays tribute to his parents appeared first on FamilyToday.

First, Jon said, you need to know that "My first name is Carl, but I go by my middle name."

Secondly, "I'm not very good at being romantic," he said, "but if I only get this one chance I might as well do it right."

When Jon Cox decided he wanted to propose to his then-girlfriend Ellie, he wanted to show her how much she meant to him and how excited he was to spend his life with her.

And what could be more romantic than popping the question in front of a charming cottage with 1,000 colorful balloons floating overhead while giving her very own copy of "My Adventure Book" telling their story?

If all this sounds a lot like the Disney/Pixar movie, "Up," you'd be right. The movie centers around Carl, who after his wife Ellie dies, goes on the adventure they always planned but didn't go because life got in the way.

Back when they first started dating, Jon and Ellie made the connection of their names to the husband and wife characters in the movie "Up." They even dressed up on Halloween as Carl and Ellie.

The similarities between the couple don't end with the names, Jon said.

"Ellie encompasses the adventurous spirit. We both have the desire to explore, but she is definitely the driver."

When it came time to propose, Jon knew he wanted to make it memorable, but not cliche. He rented three helium tanks and got a few friends to help him spend all evening inflating 1,000 balloons.

"I don't like to do things halfway," he said.

The local bookstore created the perfect setting- with eaves and peaks that look a little like Carl and Ellie's home in "Up." Jon had a friend who worked at the shop and agreed to allow Jon to use it for his proposal. Plus, the bookstore was special to Jon and Ellie.

"The bookstore was just a couple of blocks from my house in a neighborhood we both lived when we first met," he said. "We'd even been on a date there."

The next morning Jon invited Ellie to breakfast and as they walked toward the restaurant he casually directed them toward the bookstore. As soon as she saw the balloons, she made the connection to the movie right away.

"Although she was a little upset because she wasn't wearing anything special," Jon said.

But she still said yes.

Now, five years later, Jon and Ellie's kids love to hear the story of how their dad proposed. They've got three daughters: a 9-year old and a 7-year old sisters they adopted from Uganda and a 3-year old.

"It's fun to tell and re-tell the story to our kids," Jon said. "They are old enough to understand the romantic gesture that brought about our family."

The post 1000 helium balloons and a perfect ‘Up’ inspired proposal with a real-life Carl and Ellie appeared first on FamilyToday.