With all the preparation and planning to host the 2016 Olympics, Chicagoans focused on how. Any three year old will tell you the better question is why.
Amazing what we can learn from kids if we’re listening and learning.
Archive for the ‘Communication’ Category
If only Chicago listened to three-year-olds
Sunday, October 4th, 2009What Do You Do?
Sunday, April 20th, 2008
Thursday, April 24th marks the 16th annual Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work® Day.
It is so much more than a career day. It demonstrates to our children why education matters, but more importantly, our children can be inspired to learn what it is they might love to do. You can only be really great at something with passion and persistence and that begins by doing what you love.
Now for the bad news. If you’re negative about your current job then I recommend you don’t pull your children out of school for the day since you’ll be doing more harm than good. Instead use this as an opportunity to think about the advice that you would give to your grade school age child so that she is not in the same position.
Here are some ideas:
Do what you love. As a young child, spend the time finding what it is that you love
Test the waters. You can’t know if it’s right until you try it. And then if you think you like something, try it again.
Talk to people (as many as you can) in the field you think is for you. Even be courageous enough to talk to people who have left the profession so you could understand why.
Think about the kind of a life you want to live. Do you want a family? Would you love (or hate) to travel? What if you had to constantly relocate? Do you want to be home for dinner every evening (if this is important to you, don’t even think about politics).
Where your pleasure is, there is your treasure;
Where your treasure, there is your heart;
Where your heart, there your happiness.
-Augustine
The Kids Are Always Watching
Monday, October 29th, 2007
The families of two 5th-graders involved in a pushing incident are called in for a counseling session after words between families were exchanged. After the counseling session ended, an argument and altercation outside the school followed. When it was over, the father of one of the boys was dead.
How do our children learn? What do our children learn? They learn from us, their first and most important teachers. They learn how to behave, how to resolve arguments without violence, and they learn that sometimes they are wrong.
Scenario
Two best friends try out for the high school varsity cheering squad. Tracy makes it; Allie doesn’t. They walk home together in silence. Allie walks in her house, tosses down her book bag, and tells her mom, “I can’t believe she didn’t say a word to me. I can’t believe she didn’t say, ‘I’m sorry you didn’t make it!’” At the same time, Tracy arrives home in tears. “I can’t believe she didn’t congratulate me,” she tells her mother.
A parent has a tremendous opportunity to help her child, and at the risk of hyperbole, even get us closer to world peace, by pointing out to her child the other person’s point of view. What if the same scenario played a little differently?
What if Allie’s mom replied, “Honey, maybe Tracy was struggling with feeling good about making the squad and feeling guilty that you didn’t. It’s very possible that she simply didn’t know what to say.”
Tracy’s mom could have replied, “Tracy, put yourself in her shoes for a moment. Allie was really disappointed that she didn’t make it. Give her a day to deal with that.”
The world looks very different when you hear the same scenario from the other person’s perspective.
What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.
-Mother Teresa
What Target® can teach us about being good parents
Saturday, October 20th, 2007
You see their striking television commercials and slick print ads. You know where their stores are located, and what they sell. So why does Target® need to continue advertising?
Simple, because they want to constantly remind you they are there. Advertising is repeating the message; sometimes in a varying number of ways. The more you hear it, the more likely you are to believe.
That is the lesson we need to learn as parents. It isn’t enough that you told them once to clean up their room, or their toys, or eat their vegetables, or be respectful, or to stay away from drugs, cigarettes and alcohol. Much like an advertising message, your children have to hear it repeatedly.
Why else would household names, like Coke®, Pepsi®, and Disney® spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year on advertising? Surely their brand position is solid. They want to be kept top of mind.
Don’t we want the same thing? We’re battling popular culture for our children’s attention, and let’s face it – the interests of popular culture don’t exactly match our interests as parents.
Make sure you repeat the message you want your children to hear. Visit Parental Wisdom Free Reports to find ways to communication with children and teens.
No one has made this point better (or funnier) than [youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=sXT6Hs113ZA]
The Color of Friendship
Sunday, August 5th, 2007
Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel. All claimed that they were the best. The most important. The most useful. The favorite.
Green said:
“Clearly I am the most important. I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for grass, trees and leaves. Without me, all animals would die. Look over the countryside and you will see that I am in the majority.”
Blue interrupted:
“You only think about the earth, but consider the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea. The sky gives space and peace and serenity. Without my peace, you would all be nothing.”
Yellow chuckled:
“You are all so serious. I bring laughter, gaiety, and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is yellow, the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to smile. Without me there would be no fun.”
Orange started next to blow her trumpet:
“I am the color of health and strength. I may be scarce, but I am precious for I serve the needs of human life. I carry the most important vitamins. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges, mangoes, and papayas. I don’t hang around all the time, but when I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought to any of you.”
Red could stand it no longer he shouted out:
“I am the ruler of all of you. I am blood – life’s blood! I am the color of danger and of bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause. I bring fire into the blood. Without me, the earth would be as empty as the moon. I am the color of passion and of love, the red rose, the poinsettia and the poppy.”
Purple rose up to his full height:
He was very tall and spoke with great pomp: “I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs, and bishops have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom. People do not question me! They listen and obey.”
Finally Indigo spoke, much more quietly than all the others, but with just as much determination:
“Think of me. I am the color of silence. You hardly notice me, but without me you all become superficial. I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need me for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace.”
And so the colors went on boasting, each convinced of his or her own superiority. Their quarreling became louder and louder. Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightening thunder rolled and boomed. Rain started to pour down relentlessly. The colors crouched down in fear, drawing close to one another for comfort.
In the midst of the clamor, rain began to speak:
“You foolish colors, fighting amongst yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest. Don’t you know that you were each made for a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me.”
Doing as they were told, the colors united and joined hands.
The rain continued:
“From now on, when it rains, each of you will stretch across the sky in a great bow of color as a reminder that you can all live in peace. The Rainbow is a sign of hope for tomorrow.”
And so, whenever a good rain washes the world, and a Rainbow appears in the sky, let us remember to appreciate one another.
— Author Unknown
Child of the Day
Friday, June 1st, 2007
Kathy couldn’t handle her two young children’s bickering; each one was vying for her attention. More importantly, she didn’t like playing the role of an umpire. To turn it around, she started “child of the day” at her house. Each day, Mary or Kenny would be child of the day, and his name would appear on the family calendar that hung on the fridge.
“Child of the day” was a combination of responsibilities and rewards. For example, the child of the day gets to choose which book is read first, who takes a bath first, etc. Although each child is responsible for his or her own chores and cleaning up after himself, the child of the day is responsible for the little things that come up, like getting a spare roll of paper towels.
It worked so well that the petty arguments virtually disappeared. Years later Kathy asked each child to tell her who her favorite was. They each replied, “Me!” That’s when she realized “child of the day” worked. Both children were right; each child is her favorite.
How else could you explain how parents find enough love in their hearts for each child that comes along?
