You are currently browsing the archives for May 2013.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 entries.

A mini con man

  • Posted on May 26, 2013 at 6:13 pm

How early do kids learn to con adults? I think he learns it in the crib. (I’m using boys as my example because that is what my great-grands are. Girls are equally conniving.)

If I cry, Mommy or Daddy will come and hold me. If Grandma is here, she’ll try to beat my parents to the crib. I love watching them all try to come through in the doorway at the same time. That’s so funny, but I keep crying until one of them picks me up.

Then the little darling turns two. He soon learns to sit on the potty chair without filling said chair until Mom, Dad or Grandma gets tired of reading stories. Then exactly one minute after the Pull-up is up, the tot fills it. The adult will get frustrated and turn red in the face, but won’t yell because the little angel tried. Then he gets more attention while getting his pull-up changed.

As he starts pre-school he learns even more skills from their classmates, such as, “I really, really, really want it,” while making this sad, little face. So the adult, especially Great-grandmas, give in and the little sweetie has a new toy. As he progresses through pre-school and kindergarten he learns to just stand and look at the toy with wide eyes while saying, “I don’t need a new toy. I just want to look at them.” Try to say no to that.

Then just as kindergarten is ending and the little sweetie can read simple words, he asks Great-grandma to take him to “the library that sells toys,” i.e., Barnes and Noble. He runs straight to the toy department carefully not noticing a single book, even those on special display. Finally Great-grandma steers him to the train play table with several of the “Thomas the Tank Engine” family just sitting there waiting to be joined together and driven around the tracks, over bridges and even into the round house.

After playing quietly and sharing the trains with other little boys for about an hour, the child notices, like he had just seen them, the train cars hanging from the display. He points out several new double car sets. Great-grandma explains that they cost too much. The boy continues to scan the display naming the train cars that he already had. Then he came to one named Patrick. “This one is Patrick. I don’t have him.”

“Maybe you’ll get one for Christmas.”

“But Patrick is my little brother and I love him.”

No need to describe how this story ended.

© by Sharon D. Dillon, May 26, 2013

Thoughts to Ponder

  • Posted on May 15, 2013 at 2:00 pm

May 15, 2013

 “Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile.

 Dwelling in the present moment I know this is a wonderful moment.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

 What a simple truth, yet so hard to live. Most of us can only live in the present for a few moments. Then, all too soon, thoughts start worming their way into our brains. Today I must accomplish these 10 tasks. I think I’ll make a stew for supper. Oh, relatives are visiting on Sunday; I must clean the guest room and get extra groceries. And so it goes; anxiety building with each thought.

How do we stay focused on the present moment, enjoying it, savoring it, living it? Each time we realize that we are focusing on the potential future and all the work we have to do before we get there; we can do exactly what Thich Nhat Hanh suggests. As the calm settles over us, we can thank Spirit for our feeling of peace. With practice we’ll experience more of these precious moments.

There is that dreaded word practice again. We have to practice playing the piano. We have to practice a new task. We have to practice breathing. We have to practice gratitude. We must practice to see, not how far we have to go to reach perfection, but how far we have progressed since we started.

Meditation

 Spirit, I thank you for this new day, this beautiful day, filled with new experiences. Some will be daunting. Some will be a pleasure. If I start feeling overwhelmed, please remind me to breathe deeply, smile and enjoy the moment. Knowing that this is so, I thank you for each lesson learned.

© by Sharon D. Dillon, May 15, 2013

If you know someone who would appreciate reading “Things to Ponder,” please suggest that he or she contact me at: energywriter@cox.net

Sharon D. Dillon, energywriter@cox.net, www.theenergywriter.com

Chesapeake Bay Writers, Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, Southern Humorists, National Society of Newspaper Columnists

Soon to be published in a book of Amazing Mom Stories.  Final title and date of publication to be determined.

Contents may be forwarded, but please be sure credit is given where credit is due and that all email addresses on original message are erased.