What you think does matter

Girls and what they do? Ok, so maybe it was wrong to read the diary entry my daughter left lying around the house. But How can you blame me, it was a single sheet of paper sitting in a pile of other paper work on my desk in my bedroom. Not hers, mine. So, I read it. And let me tell you I was confused and upset. I’m a Dad and one who is protective of his children. So reading this gave me only two scary thoughts - one: my daughter is growing up two: Never again Let me tell you what the diary entry was about in summary: My wife convinced me to let my daughter to go with her friends to the movies at the mall and that they would be with supervision - her friends dad. So I reluctantly said yes. So in her loose page entry she writes how nice it was to go to the movies, that she bought pop corn and how her friends dad allowed them to go into the movies alone as he waited [ 2 hours ] in the food court. [* not what I wanted - ] That after the movie this same dad allowed them to wander the mall

Oh, I must be stupid.... I thought that the easiest thing to do with two children who fought over the Ds game was - to simply buy my son his own game. After all - then they would each have thier own game and the fighting would stop. No, not so. Now they fight about the DS consoles and the games. First my duaghter wanted to see [ see means use his blue boyish game] which my son didn't want to do becuase blue is for boys only [ considering he has been playing her pink girlish game for months. Now they spend thier time fighting over the games - dinner dash, indiana jones, sims kingdom and how my son [ who granted is not proficient in setting games up ] keeps erasing his sisters memory [ it may be on purpose who knows....] All this fighting and they each have thier own DS game - wow, that $130 dollars on my sons own DS that was suppose to make life easier - only made it worse. Maybe I could make my money back - is anyone interesting in buying two slightly used children. Thier great ki

Show and tell One of the favorite things my son likes to do in school is - participate in "show and tell". Sometimes I think he spends the whole week thinking about what he will bring to school on friday for show and tell. One night he was searching around and under the couch [ don't ask cuase I don't know ] and he told me he found the perfect show and tell item.... what you ask? Well, a green slimy frog. That's right a frog. Some how a frog sneaked into my house and under my couch and my curiouse son found him [ bad for the frog ]. The funny thing about it was what I did not get to catch on video - it was halariouse watching him trying to pick the frog up and hold it while the slimmy little thing kept jumping up into the air. I don't know why, but first it was a mouse running around my house, I have this small dog visiting and now, I have a frog.... is this some kind of Biblical plegue????

Enjoy today, remember it - don’t take it for granted A while back I wrote a post on how " I hate the Hypocrisy of fathers day " - because of all the hypocrisy there is involved in these special days. So I thought I would expand on that thought today. You know, sometime we go thru a lot to make someone happy, feel special or just make their day comfortable. But what often happens is expectations are too high and most people either ignore, overlook or simply take for granted what they have and are given. Take for instance yesterday. I’m no big cook, but I decided I was going to make the best dinner I could [ ofcourse I was making ribs my favorite so I wanted the best... mmmmm ]. I went all out - I cooked, I cleaned, I did laundry... why laundry? I did everything I could to make sure my babe came home and had nothing to worry about [ no complaints ] ..... The kids bathed, the cloth washed, the beds made, the food ready and dishes cleaned. So what happened.... Well, first she ca

Tip - how to keep home quiet As a Parent - a quiet home is a luxury - one that doesn’t come along very often. So I would like to take a second and offer up a small but effective way to do this. No medication, no games or distractions….. Just make sure they don't wake up ! Take a look at photo …..

Children are crazy - or at least maybe only mine. With all the possible places they can sit - sofa, couch, love chair, stools - they have to bring into the house a fold up lawn / beach chair to sit on. But it’s not enough that they have to bring it in - they start arguing and fighting over who will sit in it. Give me a break - you have the entire sofa to sit on but they both want to sit on this one fold up chair. Here I am just trying to enjoy some down time, and all "hell" breaks out in my living room. Over what - a stupid fold up chair. Come on, when I was a kid 90 percent of the time we sat on the floor. First it began because we couldn’t afford a sofa, then it was just habit to sit on the floor. But not my children, they want to fight over one fold up chair. Sometimes I think they do just to drive me mad. But what they forget - that just like the HULK ..... "They don’t want to see me Angry....."

Happy Birthday - KIKI When my little girl was a bit younger - I tried to make her time exciting. She didn't have her brother back then and I sort of felt guilty that she had no one to play with. So I made sure I played with her and helped make play time fun. I would play McDonalds with her in her kitchen play set or create these elaborate treasure hunts for her to find a prize. I started doing it on her birthdays to make opening her present from me and mom more special, surprising and build up that excited expectation. After her brother was born, I sort of slowed down with the treasure hunt because - well, as she grew she acted [ let’s say ] less surprise. You know kids think their to grown up to do fun things they consider - kiddie like. But I try to teach her to stay a kid, enjoy it while it last because when you grow up - it gets harder to enjoy the simple things….. but this birthday I decided to surprise her with a mini-treasure hunt. first I tortured her - I gave her a birthd

The House of Mouse - NOT! I love Mickey Mouse, especially visiting the "House of Mouse" at Walt Disney World. It's been hard to take a trip to see Mickey Mouse because everything is so darn expensive. I feel bad because my son hasn't been to see Walt Disney world and he is already four - a perfect time to build memories. Ofcourse I bring this all up because we had a new visitor come to the house. yes, a furry little creature - a mouse, mice - what ever is the correct word to use. It scared the living daylight out of me. There I was sleeping in my bed when my daughter called saying there was a strange noise in her room [ probably thought it was a monster .. lol ] but it turned out to be the mouse. apparently my son had hidden some of "Generals" [ dog my wife was baby sitting for friend ] doggie treats around the house. For the next three nights i had to wake up to fears of my wife and children because the mouse was making noise crunching on doggie treats. Wh

You ever notice - you give your children all the things you never had as a child. You buy game consoles, swing sets, a backyard [ God I lived in a apartment complex - I didn't know people had back yards....]. you have all day cartoon chanels, DVD's coming out of the wazu and board games, radios, and things you can't even mention [ toys invented for this yougn generation ] - you have the internet, social sites dedicated to children. You buy them paint, chalh boards, dry erase boards, remote control cars you name it and what do they say.... dad, I'm bored. There's nothing to do ????????

I just spent $4 dollars a gallon for gas - what the hel, #$@^**&#@!! is going on. Man things are getting desperate - I have to choose between a bag of expensive [ mostly air ] chips or being able to drive home..........

Financial success is easier than you think How do we know? For nearly a decade, we attended self-help and personal development seminars AND read all kinds of self-help books, trying to dig ourselves out of a very deep and discouraging financial hole. We prayed for help and tried to do the things we felt God wanted us to do. In fact, we were so committed to figuring out how to change our thinking that we spent grocery money to attend seminars and even put ourselves into debt for it... However, I (Leslie) became so depressed and angry because all we wanted was for me to be able to stay home with the children, and to keep our financial promises on time... but even after all we invested in our learning, nothing really changed. Have you ever felt frustrated and desperate for relief?

I don't know about this? The Social site thing is getting used for everything now a days.... But I guess if it helps you save money - go for it. Personally I know a lot of other better ways to save money. The question is, "will people go for it"? If millions of americans join a social site that's all about how they can save money - I don't see the attraction...??? After all, when you think of social sites you don't think of a piggy bank Smarty Pig - you think myspace, facebook, and all the nudity and adult wanna be porn sites people visit.....lol.... Here's SmartyPig! We are extremely excited to introduce what we feel to be the most innovative, educational and rewarding way to save - ever. We call it “Simple, Smart, Savings.” We’re pretty sure you’ll feel the same way. See, SmartyPig is not only a snap to use and is as secure as any other bank, SmartyPig will help you get more for your savings dollar than you ever thought possible. In these scary economic

Usually when I get mad - I just let it out. Or I let it simmer, boil, fester inside until I explode on my unsuspecting annoying victim. but I am told there are better ways to handle anger - so lets see what they are? Let’s examine the alternatives for anger management: I. You can attend an anger management class. By employing various mental techniques, anger management classes attempt to help you see differently the situations that have caused you anger and to change your thinking processes. This can be helpful; however, these mental techniques often only mask the true cause of your losing control of your anger. Most people are unable to maintain these temporary benefits in controlling their anger. II. You can see a counselor. Seeing a counselor definitely has its benefits. A counselor can sometimes help you see differently the situations that have caused you anger and help change your thinking processes that have to do with the supposed causes of your anger. But they can't always

Hallelujah, Hallelujah!!!! Why am I so happy, my little or not so little girl gave me a headache when she all of a sudden needed a cell phone. After all, her friends had cell phones. Even her cousin had a cell phone. She just had to have one. Well, I knew it was a waste to go pay hundreds of dollars and a 2 year contract on a cell phone that would probably be used for 2 weeks and then forgotten [ and it was - love that pre-paid phone ]. So when my daughter started talking about getting an allowance and possibly a credit card - my heart dropped. [ it’s still on the kitchen floor even as I speak ]. So being the tech savvy parent that I am I ran to Google for help [ 3 weeks later - head hurts - to much search…..]. I finally found something that may work and will not burn a whole in my budget and will give her the impression that she is grown up - when I know just like the cell phone - this fever to shall pass. It’s called pre paid visa If worst comes to worst she feels like a grown up and