Amazing Moments

There is no day like a snow day!  You are never too old to be excited for snow days!   When you are happy, people around you feel happier.   Nothing is more comforting than to hear your mom’s voice , especially when you're s ick. Look forward to something.   You can't be grateful and grumpy at the same time.  Be GRATEFUL! People are put in your path for a reason. Relationships are as important as air.  Soak up the people you are with when you are with them.  If you wait until people are sick, old, and tired you miss the memories. Give someone a 10 second hug every day! Money is not worth worrying about.  You can focus on it, stress out about it, or just let go! You get good at what you spend time with.  Think about how you spend your minutes. Family time must be protected like gold. Fret not! It is what it is.  Just roll with it. A homemade card says it all. Sunrise and sunsets are amazing.  Take time to enjoy them...

I sit.  I look at things. I don’t really engage in any reading.  I wait.  One minute, two minutes, then I hear “Mom, can you take a look at my math?” And so it begins, the school night homework. Three backpacks today held a novel with several chapters to read, lots of math, vocabulary worksheets, a science project, and a new song to learn on the recorder.   “We better get that math started,” I said.  “We will get this done in no time.” WE Being an educator and a mom, I get to see both sides of the homework issue. In the teacher’s lounge, I hear daily about kids not completing homework.  Teachers are baffled. Why don’t kids do their work? Why don’t they get this homework done.  Why don't’ they care if they get a detention.   So what happens when students get stumped? For many kids, an Algebra class can feel like AP Calculus and be as confusing as trying to read Arabic.  If no one is readily available to help, it is easy t...

“Mike, how did you learn to solve the Rubic’s cube?”, I asked my 7th grade son.  “I YouTubed it,” he said. YouTube is a verb. YouTube it. Anytime and anywhere there is a connection to the Internet, learning can take place. Never has a time existed where there is such open access to information. YouTube, Ted.Edu, and access to SMARTphones are changing the culture of the how and where learning takes place. How fantastic is it to be able to pause, play, rewind, and play a video again?  Now it is truly possible to learn a topic at your own pace without feeling silly about asking questions. With the advent of the i0S devices, the ease of using YouTube, and network speed contribute to creating a culture that is transforming how, when, and where we learn.  Accessing and streaming videos is as simple as changing a channel on a TV. I decided to give YouTube learning a try and master a new song on the piano. I started at YouTube.com and did a search for “Apologiz...

Shoulders sagging she averts her face As she imparts on her son one last embrace The fate of the family is in his hands As he boards the ship for a foreign land She mournfully watches his ship disappear And steels herself to heartache and fear Three sons she lost to the hideous war She now mourns the loss of even one more The young German man sails weeks to the dock Where Lady Liberty welcomes him to the flock A stoic man meets him and they journey by train Across the vast land and the wide open plain Laboring on a farm in the hot Kansas sun He toils by day stacking bales one by one Ornery farm boys toss the bales out the doors But he rises above and continues his chores Day after day the mother scans the sea Hoping that God hears her soulful plea But as fate would have it the winter months came The man sleeps in the barn and warms his hands in the grain The years turned to decades, money remains tight As the Great Depression adds to his plight. His meager...

A mother is our first teacher.  They teach us all kinds of things from walking and talking to how to share and be kind.  Out of all the lessons my mom has taught me over the years, one of the best is “being a presence.” “Being a presence” is simply that, being present. Sounds simple, but it is a skill to learn and develop, just like any other. I got my first chance to learn and practice this skill when my dad was hospitalized for a week following colon surgery.  I opened his hospital room door with his favorite movies and cribbage board in hand, only to find him hooked up to lots of machines, IV’s, and sound asleep.  It was shocking and a bit intimidating to see all the equipment.  He was in no shape to watch TV, let alone visit with anyone.  I found my mom in rumpled clothes  and bleary eyes from a sleepless night in the chair next to his bed, like a sentinel keeping watch.  My mom was eager to have me take a shift with him so she could run ...

Ever want to learn something new?  Ever had the chance to teach something you love to someone else?  When do you shift from the learner to the teacher, the follower to the leader, the player to the coach? Today it happened for my youngest son.  It was SO fun to watch him run into open gym with his older brother this afternoon.  He confidently entered the gym and for the first time, was able to teach his big brother all kinds of things he knew how to do that his big brother had never experienced. First, they sprinted to the rings that are hung so high, you must climb stairs to reach them.  He skillfully grabbed the rings and did his swings, then fell into the fluffy ball pit, as his brother soaked up the moves.   As his brother took his turn, he coached him from the mat. Both of them were beaming when he was able to swing correctly!  Success! Next up, the trampoline.  This is a monster trampoline. It is as long as the length of the building. I...

Don't drink and drive.  That was it. The main worry of parents when I started driving in the 80's.  Now the dangers on the road are much worse with all the distracted, inexperienced folks driving about.  It is all over the radio to not text and drive and how 1 in 6 fatalities are now blamed on texting. Two close friends have actually been in small accidents texting and driving.  One hit a mailbox on her way to work and the other rear ended someone at a stop sign while she checked a text on her way home.  They were expensive messages, but thankfully not deadly. Both of their experiences raised my awareness of the dangers of texting and driving, but I admit, that didn't stop me from being tempted to text and drive. The event that changed my behavior involved my daughter. She was recently given a ride home. "How was the ride." "Ok, but the mom was on her phone most of the ride.  She was really into her conversation and it was kind of ...