Jul 102013
 
Marching Band

Marching Band (Photo credit: TPapi)

One of my earliest memories is attending sales meetings with my 20-year-old father, then a distributor for Kirby vacuum cleaners.

They weren’t ordinary meetings — they began with singing.  When someone made a sale there were wild, noisy celebrations with the whole team parading around the block with cymbals, drums and noisemakers.  I was too young to have any idea what they were so happy about… but “the singing meetings” made a lasting impression and probably had something to do with the both the made-up holidays my family had to endure later in life and my comfort with direct sellers.

Lots of families celebrate big events like birthdays and graduations and weddings…  but how do you incorporate the spirit of gratitude and enthusiasm into your day-to-day life?

  • little stars on a chart
  • a special, colorful plate at the dinner table
  • the privilege of choosing a movie for the family to watch together
  • The Feast of the Corn Goddess
  • an official ‘most awesome kid’ plaque from the local trophy store
  • balloons or flowers for “no good reason”

There are lots of ways to mark even the smallest life events.  And we know that celebrating small “wins” can put us in a better frame of mind to go after the big ones!

 

Jul 022013
 

 

 

No Estacione, No Envidie, No Ensucie, No Enloq...

No Estacione, No Envidie, No Ensucie, No Enloquesca… (Photo credit: HttpCarlitox!)

Self-respect is the root of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say ‘no’ to oneself.”

 — Abraham Heschel

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Sometimes it’s not easy to remember:  saying “no” is often a matter of remembering what we really want.      There are lots of benign-looking little distractions and temptations in everyone’s day…  and  short-term sacrifices often set the stage for  the successes we really crave.

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 To Say “No”  July 2, 2013  Posted by at 2:36 pm Comments Off on To Say “No”
Apr 232013
 
Uniformed Letter Carrier with Child in Mailbag

Letter Carrier with Child in Mailbag (Photo credit: Smithsonian Institution)

 

Are you a good parent?

It’s the question on all of our minds… and we really want to say ‘yes.’  But has it ever occurred to you that the answer to that question depends, in large part, on who you ask.  Think about it…

The “smalls” often give an A+ grade to any parent who:

  • serves ice cream for breakfast,
  • doesn’t care about bedtime, and
  • provides continuous access to cartoons.

Elementary school kids might award highest honors to parents who:

  • believes them when they report they  “don’t have any homework”
  • run interference with any teacher who dares to disagree
  • and are certain the soccer coach plays “favorites”

By middle school the stakes are higher; the “three c’s” come to mind:

  • cell phones
  • credit cards and
  • curfews (the later the better, right?)

Silly?  Not really.  Far too many of us allow our definition of “good parenting” to come from the kids.

Unfortunately, they’re not yet equipped to make that judgement.

 

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