Deep Thoughts for your Sunday....

"I have arrived - I am home - My destination is each step" - Thich Nhat Hanh

Five Remembrances

• I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.


• I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape ill health.


• I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.


• All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.


• My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to
present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail
18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

Quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend. If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? Is it an
odd, or an end?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man
and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

This is for you, T!

The difference between can and cannot are only three letters. Three letters that determine your life's direction.


Being positive or negative are habits of thoughts that have a very strong influence on life.


Positive and negative are directions. Which direction do you choose?


Positive thinking is expecting, talking and visualizing with certainty what you want to achieve, as an accomplished fact.


Riches, mediocrity and poverty begin in the mind.


Reality is the mirror of your thoughts. Choose well what you put in front of the mirror.


A positive attitude brings strength, energy and initiative.


To think negatively is like taking a weakening drug.


Positive thoughts are not enough. There have to be positive feelings and positive actions.


When you say, "I can't" and expect the worst, you become weak and unhappy.


When you say "I can", and expect success, you fill yourself with confidence and happiness.


You can close the windows and darken your room, and you can open the windows and let light in. It is a matter of choice. Your mind is your room. Do you darken it or do you fill it with light?


Positive thinking and negative thinking are attitudes. They are points of view, and show the way people handle their affairs.


Suppose you stand at a crossroads, one way leads to a desert and the other one to lush meadows, which way do you choose?


Clear thoughts produce produce clear results.


Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative and more happiness.


Train your mind to think in terms of 'possible' and 'can be done'.


When you have control over your thoughts, you have control over your life.


Happy thoughts attract happy people into your life.


Happy thoughts fill your life with happiness.


When you change your habitual thoughts, it is like changing the direction of a train.


Affirm the positive, visualize the positive and expect the positive, and your life will change accordingly.


When there are difficulties and you feel down, this is the time to visualize, think and expect the positive.


Do not let circumstances influence your thoughts and moods. By rising over them mentally, you will eventually rise over them materially.


Fill your mind with light, happiness, hope, feelings of security and strength, and soon your life will reflect these qualities.

Wow!

You Don't Need It!

These stickers help you detourn advertisements for things you don't need, and they're free as a sticker (via SASE), stencil, or EPS in English or Spanish from the Anti-Advertising Agency.



How anti-consumerist! LOL

Day of Silence

Are you going to participate?

And people ACTUALLY ask me...

why I don't want my children going to school?

Sleep, or lack there of!!!

Here is a quote from an article on WedMD.

Infants aged 3 to 11 months are on average getting 12.7 hours of sleep per day, though experts recommend four to 15 hours, according to the poll. School-aged kids between thefirst andfifth grade get an average of 9.5 hours per night, which averages out at least 3.5 hours less sleep than they should get each week, it found.

Sleep is closely linked to learning and memory ability, which can both affect school performance. Foul moods and even depression are also tied to chronic sleep deprivation in both children and adults, says Carl E. Hunt, MD, director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

"Even missing an hour a night, we do pay a price," Hunt, who is a pediatrician, tells WebMD.

So according to this article, an elementary student should be getting 13 hours of sleep!!!! In researching this online I found that most places say between 10 and 13 hours for elementary students.

Taking that into consideration, lets look at the day we would have if the boys were in public school (using the average of 11.5 hours).

6:15 - wake up

7:15 - on the bus

8:00 - school starts

2:00 - school ends

2:30 - bus drops off

3:30 - homework finished (if we were lucky)

4:00 - more realistic estimate of when homework was finished

5:00 - free time is over

5:15 - dinner (who eats dinner that early anymore!)

5:45 - dinner over, chores, etc.

6:15 - get ready for bed

6:45 - should be asleep (LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL Their father isn't even home from work at this time. Heck many times of the year it isn't even dark until 9pm!)

What about those all important sports and afterschool clubs, boy scouts, girls scouts??? Where do those fit in? When do children actually get to SEE their parents?

The things I found that sleep affected were:

behavior (see rocketing ADD and ADHD statistics in American PS)
IQ score (see struggling academics in American PS)
weight (see out of control obesity epidemic in America)

And things don't get better for middle school students. The middle school bus picks up just before 8 and doesn't drop off until 4:30. INSANE!!!!!!

Children Learn What They Live

I found this on another blog and thought it was great!

Children Learn What They Live

If a child lives with criticism, they learn to condemn.

If a child lives with hostility, they learn to fight.

If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive,

If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves,

If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.

But do not despair ...

If a child lives with tolerance, they learn to be patient.

If a child lives with encouragement, they learn confidence.

If a child lives with praise, they learn to appreciate.

If a child lives with fairness, they live with justice.

If a child lives with security, they live to have faith.

If a child lives with approval, they learn to like himself.

If a child lives with acceptance and friendship.

they learn to find love in the world.

— Dorothy Law Nolte

Labels

Behavior Labeling

If an adult is reinforced for behaving, we call it recognition.
If a child is reinforced for behaving, we call it bribery.

If an adult laughs, we call it socializing.
If a child laughs, we call it misbehaving.

If an adult writes in a book, we call it doodling.
If a child writes in a book, we call it destroying property.

If an adult sticks to something, we call it perseverance.
If a child sticks to something, we call it stubbornness.

If an adult seeks help, we call it consultation.
If a child seeks help, we call it whining.

If an adult is not paying attention, we call it preoccupation.
If a child is not paying attention, we call it being distracted.

If an adult tells his side of the story, we call it clarification.
If a child tells his side of the story, we call it talking back.

Something to think about!