The Bad News: The bad news is that we have plenty of opportunities to help those less fortunate than we are. From school bombings to tornadoes, from cancer to poverty, something occurring in the world right now tugs at our heartstrings and prompts us to leap to action. The Good News: The good news is that a lot of us really do take that leap. Maybe you send $10 to your favorite charity or you volunteer your time or talents at a homeless shelter or food pantry. Whatever it is you do, people ne...
Some teachers in my grammar school placed students in rows according to their grades. We quickly learned that the kid who sat in the last seat of the last row was the "stupidest" kid in the class. To me it seemed as if the teacher had placed a dunce cap on the poor kid – it certainly couldn't have been more humiliating. Today I would consider that type of placement to be child abuse. I hope nobody today is structuring the placement of their students in such a degrading way. If you are, I hope you fin...
SPOILER ALERT! Although the movie I'm about to mention is old, I do talk about the ending, so be prepared. Movies were not something I could afford when my kids were young, so going to the movies was a special occasion for us. Finding the right movie that would appeal to all of us was difficult, though, because we had to find something that appealed to both boys and girls. So when the preview for My Girl(1991) appeared, I asked my three youngest children, who were 7, 8.5, and 10, if they wanted t...
As Dr. Phil acknowledges on his television show and in his book, Life Code, times have changed so much that new rules have to be applied in order to get through life. With that information in mind and inspired by Donald Pennington's Article, High School Teacher Accused of Forcing Student to Give Lap-Dances in Class, I offer the blog you are about to read: For decades, we have been teaching our children to respect their parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, teachers, religious leaders, and police offi...
When it comes to raising children, we can all use a little (and in some cases a lot of) help. Parents play only a small part today in influencing their children, because today's children rely on the media, their peers, other family members, and even various organizations to inform them about the world and their place in it. Images of violence and voices of disrespect garner lots of media attention with glorified coverage of such things as grisly murders, violent drug busts, and frightening abductions....
Anyone who has ever been married and divorced knows how easy it is to get married and how difficult it is to get divorced. Spouses run through their divorce papers with fine-tooth combs, sometimes over and over again to refine it while quibbling about major issues, such as who will be getting the kids, to more mundane items, like who will be taking the toothbrush holders. My feeling is that if the courts and the churches made getting married as difficult as getting divorced, we might have fewer marri...
As a child who suffered from asthma, I wasn't aware of my physical limitations – I relied on my mother to tell me not to run, to sit still, and to take my meds. But even as a young child, I understood the power of this disease when I saw the panic in my parents' eyes every time I had an attack. Asthma IS scary – for adults, for children, and for people watching loved ones in the throes of an attack. My first asthma attack occurred when I was 5 years old. Coincidentally, it occurred on the first ...
The discussion on a local radio station last month prompted me to write this blog. A mother was bribing her children by promising them extra Christmas presents if they performed chores around the house. The caller didn't mention the ages of the children, but what ensued as a result of the bribe was that the children were stepping up their chores by finding more and more tasks to complete in order to fill the space beneath the tree. In my experience, "If … Then …," works only in the computer world. Ch...
Normal.dotm 0 0 1 881 5027 Writing Creatively 41 10 6173 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false Guest Post from Donald Pennington Divorce is one of the major stressful events in most people's lives. It's been likened to dealing with the death of a close friend or family member – including the usual stages of grief. It might just be my own opinion (but it is an opinion based upon my observations) that we men are actually at a disadvantage during a divorce because,...
by Lyn Lomasi Homeschooling is a challenging educational choice. When I became a single parent and decided to go back to homeschooling two of my four kids at the same time, many wondered if it was the right choice. Sure, schooling the kids at home can be challenging -- especially for single parents. But I knew it was the right choice for my kids, so I made it work. Relax. This is crucial to remember. If you are calm, things go much smoother. When you stress, so do the kids -- and that isn’t a con...
