Love

What Love means to a 4-8 year old .
Slow down for three minutes to read this. It is so worth it. Touching words from the mouth of babes.
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?'
The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined See what you think:
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'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.' Rebecca- age 8
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'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.' Billy - age 4
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'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.' Karl - age 5
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'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.' Chrissy - age 6
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'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.' Terri - age 4
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'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.' Danny - age 7
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'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss.' Emily - age 8
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'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.' Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)
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'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,' Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)
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'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.' Noelle - age 7
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'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.' Tommy - age 6
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'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.' Cindy - age 8
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'My mommy loves me more than anybody You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.' Clare - age 6
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'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.' Elaine-age 5
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'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.' Chris - age 7
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'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.' Mary Ann - age 4
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'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.' Lauren - age 4
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'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image) Karen - age 7
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'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.' Mark - age 6 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.' Jessica - age 8
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And the final one The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry'
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When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need. Take 60 seconds and give this a shot! All you do is simply say the following small prayer for the person who sent you this. Heavenly Father, please bless all my friends in whatever it is that You know they may be needing this day! And may their life be full of Your peace, prosperity and power as he/she seeks to have a closer relationship with You. Amen.

Bail Out

I'm sick to my stomach over this bail out crap. I try really hard to avoid political statements especially on this blog. But I gotta say, from what I can tell about all of this, a lot of Americans borrowed money against their houses, couldn't afford it and now they're going to get help from the government to keep from losing their homes. The banks are partially at fault for this for loaning the money in the first place. But where does this leave the rest of us? There have been times in my life where I put things on credit, couldn't afford them then suffered the consequences. Where are these consequences now? What happens to those of us who carry very little (if any) credit card debt, deny ourselves certain 'extras' in order to pay our bills on time and in full-and generally don't purchase things we think we may have trouble paying for? What happens to us? I'll tell you. Right now, the interest rates on home loans are extremely low. One would think this would be a prime time to purchase a home. Yet, the banks won't loan any money out because they're too busy refinancing people who owe more on their homes than what they're worth. That's what happens. I can't purchase a home, but my tax dollars will help rectify someone else's poor damn choices. What happens if I can no longer afford my car payment? I lose the car-that's what happens. It sucks, but it's life. What happened to the financial discipline of the old days? Remember when no one bought anything they couldn't afford? "You give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime". I know people in my family who have NO discipline when it comes to money. Give them $100.00 and they a) won't have $100.00 by the end of the week and b) damn sure won't have $100.00 worth of anything to show for it. That didn't used to be my problem. Now apparently everybody's problems are mine. I'm not sure I want this responsibility. Hell, I've got a bunch of kids for whom I'm responsible. Am I supposed to raise yours too? I have to balance my own checkbook, am I supposed to reconcile your statement too? I don't think so, but then again, I could have missed something along the way.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

I'll be 34 on Friday, March 6th. As I reflect back on my life, I wonder if I've learned anything. I think maybe I have, but there's a lot more left to be known.

1. No matter how good of a parent you think you are, your kids will always prove you wrong.

2. I'm not always right.

3. I'm not a victim of anything except my own poor choices. Eleanor Roosevelt said, "No one can take advantage of you without your permission". I no longer grant that permission.

4. Louder isn't always better.

5. Less is more, more or less.

6. Washable markers WILL leave a stain.

7. God knows exactly what He's doing whether I like it or not.

8. My parents don't know everything, but they do have a 20 year head start.

9. I don't know who said this, but I like it: "I don't know why it's called common sense when it's not common at all".

10. I am much more critical of myself than other people are.

11. There is something to be learned from everyone I encounter. Regardless of how big of an asshole they may be.

12. When in doubt, read the instructions.

13. A sure cure for my toddler's constipation was to let her wear her 'big girl' panties to church.

14. Checks travel at twice the speed of deposits.

15. No matter how good they tell me I am at work, everyone's expendable.

16. Listening is more impressive than talking. And less incriminating.

17. There are some situations in life where sarcasm isn't the best.

18. I don't like to cook. And it's taken me this long to admit it. I actually hate it.

19. I can't control what anyone else does, just how I react to it. And I usually don't react appropriately.

20. I try to never walk away from a situation wishing I'd said something.