Mothering

"I looked on child rearing not only as a work of love and duty but as a profession that was fully as interesting and challenging as any honorable profession in the world and one that demanded the best I could bring to it."

- Rose Kennedy

Found this great quote on this blog:

If you observe a really happy man you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his son, growing double dahlias in his garden, or looking for dinosaur eggs in the Gobi desert. He will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that has rolled under the radiator. — W. Beran Wolfe

I find this to be true for my husband and for our boys...

"You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime."
Dale Carnegie

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.


-- Bumper sticker

Thoughts on children and parenting...

“…We must let our children meet their own difficulties, find their own solutions to knotty problems and gain experience for themselves. It may seem hard but what a sense of satisfaction there is when one feels sure of the ability in oneself to meet a difficulty…” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

“Leadership is not just about delegating power, it’s growing human capabilities. This is exactly what we do when we raise children.” ~Shaunna Sowell Senior Vice President, Texas Instruments

Quote

It`s the spirit with which we respond to life`s difficulties, not the difficulties per se that affect well-being.


-- Dr. Judith Sills

Thought this is a great quote especially in our current economic troubles...

R. Pausch Quotes

I have seen "The Last Lecture" presented by Randy Pausch on PBS [OPB] which I truly enjoyed and then my book club picked it as January's book of the month. I recommend this book or tv program to anyone... His theme of the "lecture" [he was a Professor at Carnegie Mellon] was "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"

I read two quotes in particular that I wanted to share with you [but there are many more to be discovered... and I should let you know that the chapters are short and the book is an easy read]:

Chapter 16: Romancing the Brick Wall

"Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something."

Chapter 39: Be the First Penguin

"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted."

I really wish that I had taken the time to write out my childhood dreams so that I could make them happen or have fun trying. I will be encouraging this in my children.

MLK Day

Happy MLK Day!
From his "I have a Dream" speech:

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

Happy New Year!

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see. ~John Burroughs

Cheers and best wishes to you for your resolutions and a wonderful year doing what you would like to do...

That it will never come again
Is what makes life so sweet.
~Emily Dickinson

Farewell 2008...

One Word for 2009

Over on capture.create [or more specifically the post here about it] there is a challenge to come up with a word for the new year to give focus to one's resolutions and path of journey for the year... I was inspired by many of the comments and wanted to join in...

My word is:



seize   /siz/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [seez] Show IPA Pronunciation
verb, seized, seiz⋅ing.
–verb (used with object)
1. to take hold of suddenly or forcibly; grasp: to seize a weapon.
2. to grasp mentally; understand clearly and completely: to seize an idea.
3. to take possession of by force or at will: to seize enemy ships.
4. to capture; take into custody.
5. to take advantage of promptly: to seize an opportunity.

The following also comes to mind:

Carpe Diem "Seize the Day"

[and a mental review of the movie: Dead Poets Society...]

And being a Newsies' fan, I'll share with you the lyrics of a song that ties in well with my theme for 2009:

Open the gates and seize the day
Don't be afraid and don't delay
Nothing can break us
No one can make us
Give our rights away
Arise and seize the day!

Now is the time to seize the day
(Now is the time to seize the day)
Send out the call and join the fray
(Send out the call and join the fray)

Wrongs will be righted
if we're united
Let us seize the day!

Friends of the friendless seize the day
(Friends of the friendless seize the day)
Raise up the torch and light the way
(Raise up the torch and light the way)

Proud and defiant
We'll slay the giant
Let us seize the day
Neighbor to neighbor
Father to son
One for all and all for one!

Open the gates and seize the day
(Open the gates and seize the day)
Don't be afraid and don't delay
(don't be afraid and don't delay)

Nothing can break us
No one can make us
Give our rights away
Neighbor to neighbor
Father to son!
One for all and all for one!

and one more quote from the band, Avenged Sevenfold:

Seize the day, or die regretting the time you lost
It's empty, and cold without you here, too many people to Ache over

I see my vision burn, I feel my memories fade with time
But I'm too young to worry
These streets we travel on will undergo our same lost past

I'll like to sieze each day- capturing moments with my family, myself, creating, learning, and purposely doing each day instead of just going with the flow...

Christmas Eve

He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!

-Narrator from Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Have yourself a very merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas!

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain.

- Maya Angelou

When two kids are home bound due to snowy. cold weather- some complainin' happens and well I am looking for changes or an attitude adjuster machine to replace my parenting-hard-work of asking then removing said complainin' kid until attitude is changed- for a little while anyways...

Other negative attributes of the snow while I have this opportunity to do some of my own complainin'
1. Cabin Fever
2. Pushed our closing date on our house further away [from January 6th to January 30th] but we could still close earlier than the 30th.
3. I turned up the thermostat from 55* to 60* [I have wimpy husband and kids when it comes to the cold]
4. It has been harder to get my Christmas shopping done especially when the city stopped clearing the roads
5. I didn't buy snow boots and I really should have [I will every year from now on] so the kids can actually play in the snow for more than 10-15 minutes.
6. We only have one sled and well both boys are at that age "I want my own." "I can do it by myself" so I'll be looking for a deal on another sled.
7. "You're supposed to bake cookies" by my husband and then dealing with kids high on sugar but maybe I am supposed to feed them more sugar in hopes of sugar-induced-comas...

Honestly, I love the snow and would gladly move where it snowed every year consistently. Too bad we love living in Portland...

Pondering

“Follow your dreams and transform your life“
~ Paulo Coelho

Quote

Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots.


-- Frank A. Clark

Veteran's Day

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night
to visit violence on those who would do us harm." ~ Orwell

Veterans Day
by Roger W Hancock


We honor you, who fought for us,
for country’s sake of freedom’s plight.
You kept the greatest country great,
by sacrifice of you who served.


Honor to military, soldiers served.
There seems no risk in peace to serve.
When war breaks the silent peace,
no peace when security cease.


Sacrifice of civilian life,
careers succumb to enlist, or draft.
Families wait in fear, in prayer,
for loved ones return alive, not dead.


Returned Heroes and those deceased,
we honor, thank, though insufficient.
Parades, programs, our pride convey,
we honor you on Veterans Day.

© 12-28-2001 Roger W Hancock www.PoetPatriot.com

Respect Owed
by Roger W Hancock

This liberty that I enjoy,
granted not be taken.
The liberty that I enjoy,
I owe to those who paid.

The privilege that I enjoy,
its cost was paid by blood,
Those who fought for free,
now lost, will never see.

Their loss is my gain,
respect is surely owed.
Liberty of rights,
are sealed within their death.

I will not burn the flag,
the veteran I will not spat.
I owe to those who paid the cost,
and respect the waving flag.

I am not a veteran,
I have never served.
I owe to those who gave their lives,
that I be free this day.

(c) copyright April 28, 2005 Roger W Hancock www.PoetPatriot.com

Thank you.

Love must be learned again and again... Hate needs no instruction, but waits only to be provoked.


-- Katherine Anne Porter

Quote

Stay, stay at home, my heart and rest; homekeeping hearts are happiest, for those that wander they know not where are full of worry and full of care; to stay at home is best.


--Longfellow

As you can see in my "About Me" tidbit that I am not much for staying home. The weather finally took a nosedive and is no longer sunny and blue; just getting colder and gray. So maybe I should try this stay at home mom stuff, but then I would have to face my chores and maybe clean up but who wants to do that?!!!

So here is my motto:

Quote

Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts.


-- Nikki Giovanni

Thankfulness

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.


-- Epictetus

Quote

When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.


-- U.S. Grant