The Best Flex-Frame Glasses for Your Kids

You've dreamed of a bespectacled tot ever since you saw Jerry Maguire — but you know that replacing shoddy frames means showing the money (again and again).

So if the doc says glasses, get in the game with new flexible safety frames from Miraflex.

Made from soft plastic material (not a single metal component), the frames reduce the risk of facial trauma while kids are at play, and an elastic adjustable band keeps them snug and centered on small faces.

Available in six shapes, fourteen sizes, and 31 colors, they can handle any prescription strength and are practically indestructible.

They had us at hello.

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8 Reasons Why Adopting a Dog Can Heal a Broken Heart

By Megan Sullivan, BounceBack.comEditorial Staff

Heartbreak is an unfortunate (yet unavoidable) by-product of the human search for companionship. Unless you are one of the few who manages to find love that very first day on the kindergarten playground, the breakup blues may be an all too familiar tune that you would prefer to just stop playing.

This time around, instead of looking to that gallon of ice cream or that leather-clad hottie at the dive bar, consider another option in your search for consolation and a truly fulfilling relationship: adopt a dog in need.

Maybe not what you expected to hear, but animals, particularly dogs, are not only loyal companions that love you unconditionally, but they also have the ability to fulfill the lives of their keepers in a way that is unique in comparison to any other Earthly relationship. The following is a personal account detailing how one single and very heartbroken woman was transformed by an unbreakable bond with a most unlikely and inspiring best friend:

"It was the Summer after graduation and I decided to pack my things and move across the country to a place where young artists go to find themselves - Los Angeles. While I had always wanted to leave the small town I grew up in, the final words of my then boyfriend of two years being 'I'm not in love with you' definitely became the solid catalyst for change that I needed. So, I went, devastated, unemployed and hopeless toward a future involving any amount of love. After months of waitressing, odd jobs and a complete dating drought I impulsively decided that I'd had enough of the solemn farmer's market excursions, trendy couples with matching hipster hats and tattoos: I was getting a dog. I searched through www.petfinder.com and within a few minutes my eyes were pinned onto the sight of the most adorable animal I had ever seen - his name was 'Scruffy.' Over the next few years, Scruffy, despite his severities in post traumatic temperament, changed me and my life in ways I never imagined possible. As cliché as my story may sound, a small, tragically neglected dog did in fact bring me back in touch with the person who looked to love with optimisim, in other words: A dog had healed my broken heart.The following exemplifies exactly how rescuing a dog from a local shelter or rescue organization can do the exact same thing for you."

In case that story didn't give you enough reason to bring your own "Scruffy" home, here are 8 more reasons why adopting a dog can help you heal from heartbreak: 

1. A Newfound Routine

When you lose someone you care about, the routine you once had is now replaced with a foreign resemblance of what you did before you were together. Having a dog in your life gives you opportunity for a new routine in which you will always be welcomed home gleefully and always have plans for the weekend whether it's going to the park, hiking or just watching a movie with your best friend.

Related: 10 Ways to Bring Instant Happiness Back Into Your Life

2. Healthy Distraction from Heartbreak

Often, newly single individuals will fill their loneliness with another human being as a replacement. This is not only a recipe for disaster (also known as a rebound) but only a temporary cure for loss that can only dissipate with time. Adopting a dog is a healthy way to channel all of your energy into another who will reciprocate that affection and appreciation tenfold. Before you know it, you will have moved on and not even noticed.

3. Good Times

The memories you share with your four-legged friend are unlike any other plagued by arguments and other human conditions. With your canine companion you get to experience nothing but sheer joy, including playing like you're a kid again and maintaining countless photos as a reminder of that perfect relationship you two possess.

Related: Feeling Like You've Had Enough? 8 Tips to Find Your Balance

4. Exercise

We are all aware of the benefits of exercise, and with a dog you will get a lot more than you thought possible. Simply by taking your buddy for walks you get to relieve the stress of the day and experience the outdoors far more often than you probably did before.

Related: 7 Tips to Reinvent Yourself After Heartbreak

5. Your Dog is Loyal to You and Only You

Many couples who go through a breakup or divorce have pets together. This situation can become as emotionally difficult as a child custody battle. However, when you adopt a dog and he comes to know you as his "master", your partnership with your dog is iron clad and non-disposable. With your dog there will only be more happiness with each passing day/

6. People LOVE Dogs!

When you're ready to get back out there, and even if you're not, dogs will draw others to you in interest. When you have a dog it shows that you are an emotionally available individual who is most likely family oriented and ready to share a bond with another. With your dog by your side you could make many new friends and maybe even meet someone new who shares similar interests.

7. Unconditional love

As rare as love is, that of the unconditional sort is far less prevalent. Once a dog puts their trust in you, particularly a rescue, you are theirs forever as much as they are solely yours. Regardless of the amount of time that passes, your dog will act as though you have left for years and finally returned. They do this out of the pure joy they are overwhelmed by when simply being in your presence. A rare find indeed.

8. Knowing That You've Rescued an Animal

If you've never saved a life before, try it! There is nothing like it! You don't have to get a puppy, either – some of the best dogs are the good ol' boys who still have energy but are trained and chilled out.

While there are tens of millions of homeless dogs present in the United States, the ASPCA estimates that "approximately 5 million to 7 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year, and approximately 3 million to 4 million are euthanized." Welcoming a dog into your home is one of the most rewarding ways you can contribute to an outstanding cause for animal welfare while simultaneously doing more good for your own life than you ever imagined attainable. When you adopt a dog in need, like Scruffy and so many others in need of good homes, know that they are not serving as a replacement for what you believe your life to be lacking, but rather an example of what life is truly all about.

To learn more about adopting one of the millions of wonderful dogs who need homes, please visit the ASPCA online at www.aspca.org.

Megan V. Sullivan is a freelance writer, comedian and animal rights activist residing in the Los Angeles area.

BounceBack helps people find happiness after heartbreak. Click here to get advice from our members.

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More Articles from BounceBack:

Feeling Down About Being Yourself? 7 Things You Should Never Apologize For 

Will I Ever Find Love Again? 5 Reasons Why You Will

10 Reasons NOT to Live in the Past

Want to Get Your Ex Back? What NOT to Do

5 Communication Mistakes You Don't Want to Make 

Don't Lose Yourself in Loving Him: 3 Must-Dos 

4 Signs You're Carrying Emotional Baggage 

How Men Cope With Heartbreak: Decoding The Stereotypes 

Why You Should Keep Your Mouth SHUT After a Breakup 

Should You Dump The Mutual Friends of Your Ex? 

The 10 Worst Ways to Break Up With Someone

Breakup Etiquette: Things Your Ex Should Not Ask of You

Obsessing Over a Breakup? Stop! Here's How...

Change Your Relationship Patterns for the Better

Love Yourself Before Loving Another

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How NOT to Potty Train Your Child

"WHEN YOU CLAP FOR MY BOWEL MOVEMENTS IT CHEAPENS BOTH OF US."

Toilet learning:

a.k.a. you are no longer fun at dinner parties because all you talk about are your child's bowel movements.

Congratulations! You have tried all traditional methods of toilet training, and have now "decided" (been coerced) into becoming "child led" in this department. How very enlightened of you. I mean, why force the issue? We've all heard of children who weren't potty trained until they could change their own diapers, but we've never actually seen one, right?

Right?

Related: Ellen Seidman shares 1000 perplexing things about parenthood on Babble Voices

Don't worry, I'm sure he/she will get it just as soon as you ease back on saying things like, "Why do you hate me?" and praying "Dear God, please just make my child go poo where I ask." Try to relax, and let them take the lead for a little while. Just don't be surprised if your child "leads" you there later than any child you have ever heard of. Ever.

How (Not) To Potty Train Your Child from the Experts (who sucked at it)

Let's begin.

1. Do not toilet train in areas where there is no toilet. This may sound like a given…but to those of us who didn't think things through properly–it is a revelation.

Related: Catch up with writer and single dad Doug French on Babble Voices

2. Do not potty train your child on a boat. Specifically do not put your child in the V-berth (sleeping quarters) for nap time without a diaper and expect the walls not to be smeared with feces afterward. They will be. Oh, they will.

3. "Let's say" you have a child who "for the purposes of this article" screams like a wild banshee when you try to sit her on the toilet. Know that it's not your fault. You've been very open about bodily functions thus far. Well, there was that time you said something along the lines of, "What is wrong with you? Are you afraid a snake is going to come out of the toilet and bite you or something?" Oh.

4. Do not have M&M's customized with the words "pee" and "poo" on them to entice your child to sit on the potty like all the other children have been doing for a year and a half. This will indicate to your savvy child that you are getting eager/desperate for her to try the potty, and that now would be a super good time to f--- with your mind.

5. Do not enroll your child in "diaper free" preschool when they are not potty trained. You are a liar. When the teachers look at you, from now until the time your child graduates from that school, they will be thinking "Liar". Your lies smell like poo, Liar.

Related: Amy Corbett Storch blogs about her life as a parent with cancer on Babble Voices

6. Tell her that other people go to the potty, and poo on the potty, but DON'T tell her that all the doormen in her building go poo on the potty too. Unless you want to launch into a loud conversation, every time you walk through the lobby, about how often Jerry and Al poo, and where, and for how long.

7. Furthermore, refrain from saying things like "Pooing is the best thing ever!" and "Pooing rocks!" After a while you'll start to feel sad because that's what you used to say about your social life.

8. If she happens to ask you how astronauts go potty in space, change the subject immediately or distract her with shiny keys. Nothing should give the impression that there are other acceptable options for going to the bathroom.

9. No rewards for farting. Not even half an M&M. It's natural and everything, but it doesn't justify a reward. Way to go; look at that Pandora's Box you opened that one time when you laughed at your partner's fart.

Related: Follow the misadventures Jack Murnighan, a straight, single guy who helped his lesbian friends have two kids.

10. Also, maybe don't have another baby right around the time that your first baby (who is no longer a baby)starts changing her own diapers. That's right, I said it. Changing her own diapers. Deal with it.

10.5 And don't EVER go on parenting support message boards to discuss the problems you are having. People will send messages of hate across the internet to you that will melt the eyeballs out of your face. (You may begin drafting comments…now)

And finally, don't feel bad if you ended up eating that sack of M&M's emblazoned with the words "pee" and "poo" all by yourself, even if it was big enough to feed an entire Boy Scout troop. You're still a good Mom. We love you anyway. We really do.

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Daughters Sue Funeral Home for Losing Mom’s Dead Body

The grief is unbearable when you lose a loved one. The grief is even more unbearable when the funeral home loses your loved one. Three sisters from Alabama are suing the funeral home they used to bury their mother because it lost the body. Even after several graves were dug up, the body still hasn't been found. No one knows where it is, and the daughters are understandably devastated. They're seeking $3 million compensatory and punitive damages, and I think they deserve every penny. Especially since Forest Hill Memorial Park has a history of misplacing the dead.

That's what the daughters' lawsuit claims, anyway.

It all started back in 2010 when Dakota Scott, daughter of the deceased Jimmie Lee Scott, went to visit her mother's grave and noticed that the tombstone wasn't where it should be -- it was far away from where she remembered laying her mother to rest during the burial service. The funeral home claimed that Jimmie Lee is underground where she always had been, but the sisters weren't convinced.

A few months later, the funeral home contacted the sisters and told them they'd have to move their mother because it turns out she was buried on someone else's plot. But when they went to dig up the casket for the move, they found nothing but dirt underneath Jimmie Lee Scott's tombstone.

In a reckless effort to find the body, they dug up several nearby graves but their search was fruitless: They didn't find Jimmie's body.

I cannot imagine what these sisters are going through. To have to relive the pain of losing their mother, only to discover that the funeral home lost her body has to be traumatic. Graves are sometimes the last tangible connection we have with our dead loved ones, and I would be out of my mind with rage if I couldn't find my mother's true burial spot. I don't know if I'd be able to put a price on losing my dead mother's body, but $3 million sounds about right. I mean I'd go for $3 billion, but hopefully I'll never be put in this horrible horrible mess.

What do you think?

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Gourmet BLT With Basil Mayo

Maybe it seems ridiculous to use a recipe to make a BLT ... then again, this isn't justany BLT. It's a gourmet BLT using the best ingredients available -- thick slicedpancetta (Italian bacon), ripe tomatoes(preferably straight from the garden), andfresh baby arugula. But that's not all: Bright and tangy basil mayo spread on thick bread takes this creation completely over the top.

See for yourself ...

Gourmet BLT With Basil Mayo adapted from AllRecipes

Ingredients

• Thickly sliced pancetta
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
• Texas toast or good sliced French bread
• Ripe beefsteak tomatoes, thickly sliced
• Baby arugula

Instructions

1. Fry pancetta until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Reserve some of the bacon drippings.

2. To make mayo, whisk together the reserved bacon drippings, mayonnaise, vinegar, and basil and let dressing stand, covered, at room temperature.

3. Toast bread using toaster or grill pan.

4. Assemble sandwiches: Spread 1 slice of toasted bread with mayo, then top with bacon, tomatoes, arugula, and second slice of bread.

 

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Cake Balls!

Cake. The combination of creamy sweet frosting and rich, fluffy cake is one of the most ingenious culinary inventions of all time. So what could possibly be even better? Cake balls!

These adorable little balls of fun are delicious and a cute variation for cake-deserving occasions like bake sales, birthday parties, and bridal showers. There are plenty of twists you can take with them, but here's a basic recipe that couldn't be easier. You can impart all sorts of personal creativity in decorating them, coming up with creative flavor combinations, and even sticking sticks in them and making cake pops.

Cake Balls 

• 1 (18.25-ounce) package cake mix 
  
• 1 (16-ounce) container prepared cake frosting
• 32 ounces of chocolate candy coating (any flavor)
  

Prepare the cake mix per the instructions, then cool completely.

Crumble the cake and mix it with the entire can of frosting. Refrigerate the mixture for several hours or overnight.

With a melon baller or your hands, form into small balls and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Freeze for an hour.

Melt the chocolate coating in a glass bowl in the microwave, then dip the balls into it with a toothpick one at a time. Place back on waxed paper.

Decorate as desired and allow to set before serving.

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Why All Women Should Be Allowed to Work From Home

Commuting in some of the most nightmarish conditions should be on my resume. In the past, I drove a three-mile commute in L.A. that took up to 45 minutes most days and a 13-mile commute in New Jersey that took up to TWO HOURS (thanks, bridge traffic!). I also drove in white-out snowstorms, and once, black ice caused a seven-car pile-up, which I was seconds away from becoming a part of. Then, there was the hour-long train commute from the 'burbs into Chicago and NYC. I still do that once a week. But my easiest commute by far? The one from my bed to my desk in my own apartment! Working from home has been nothing short of a miracle for my mental andphysical health.

For so long, I've thought I was a weakling for not being able to handle the rat race. Everyone else (in NYC especially) makes it look effortless. But now researchers say that commuting to work IS more stressful for women. Whew -- so I'm NOT alone!

Although the study, out of the University of Sheffield, found that women have shorter trips to work than men on average, they're definitely hit harder psychologically by their commutes. I found that particularly interesting, because it's totally true for my boyfriend and me. He drives over bridges and through tunnels almost every day from north NJ to Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, sometimes even far out on Long Island. It can take him more than two hours, depending on traffic. What he does is something I just don't think I could bring myself to do. Sure, it takes a toll on him, but he seems to handle it MUCH better than I did my significantly shorter commutes.

Researchers attribute women's heightened "sensitivity to time spent commuting" to our "greater responsibility for day to day household tasks (including childcare and housework)." I could definitely see that being the case for some women, and yeah, I worry about cooking dinner (because I like to and am a bit more adept at cooking than my BF) or cleaning up around our place. But I also feel like I don't have the healthiest stress response to cope with the commute. Could have to do with some personal hormonal issues, but I wouldn't be surprised if other women are in the same boat. After all, chronically heightened cortisol (the fight-or-flight hormone that probably goes all sorts of wonky when dealing with jerk fellow drivers or masses of fellow commuters at your train station) can be a problem for anyone!

The upshot, though? The researchers say women might not have to worry so much about their commute stress as men start taking on more of an equal role with household tasks. A-ha! No matter the reason behind any woman's commute stress, that's certainly a fix I'm sure most of us wouldn't mind!

What do you think of this study? Are you stressed by your commute?

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