What so different now?

First, here are some links for you to check out....Go ahead... I'll wait...

Toy Gun Buy Back
Violence and Toy Guns

Now, here is a little background info about me and my younger siblings.

My sister and I were never really big into playing with toy weapons but my brother had a few toy guns and what not. It was widely accepted in our community that little boys played with toy guns (cops and robbers, pretend hunting, etc). The only rule about playing with toy guns in our home was that we were never supposed to point a gun, real or toy, at another person. To this day, it makes me uneasy if my child points his toy gun at his siblings or even the dog.

Now. Let's look at today's recent events.
School shootings everywhere.
Violence on the rise.
Kidnappings, Murders, etc.

So what is different today than it was when we were younger?

Is it video games? Maybe...
Is it toy guns? I doubt it.
Is it TV shows glorifying murder? Maybe.

I think ultimately it comes down to family. There seems to be more families these days in which both parents work. I'm not saying this a bad thing in no way. I, myself, work full time and if my husband wasn't disabled, he would be working as well. It's the only way to make ends meet in today's financial environment.

However, would families benefit more from having one parent at home and available to be involved in the children's lives 100%? Of course! It's just not realistic these days though.

I think a huge thing is communication between parents and their children. Encourage your children. Support them. Praise them. Brag on them.

When I first got married, I read a lot of books and sought a lot of advice from other people whose marriages seemed fulfilling and long lasting. One of the most consistent things I was told was to never speak badly of your spouse in front of others. What if we applied this to our children as well? What if we only speak positively about our children in front of others. If we have an issue with our child, we discuss it with them on a level they understand.

I'm not saying I do this.

I am, in no means, the perfect parent. This is something I have only thought about today. But it is something that I am going to try my best to put into practice. It is hard sometimes, especially for those of us who have little patience.

So back to the subject at hand. What is so different now?

Have we gotten to busy to be parents? I am always working, planning outings with my husband or friends, etc... When do I actually set aside time to spend with each child separately or collectively? The sad truth is not very often.

This is my plan for my family to try to help and reduce the amount of violence in the world...

Monitor the video games
      Make sure the video games that my children are playing are age appropriate and discuss them with my child.

Monitor the music
     I love music. But at some level, you are what you listen to. When I drive to work, I make a point to listen to upbeat, confident music to help me be at my best throughout the day. Therefore, I will also monitor the music my children listen to and discuss it with them to see what their thoughts are on certain songs.

Encourage and lift up my child
     I am going to try from here on out to try only to speak positively about my child. If I have an issue with him/her, I will do my best to discuss it with that child.

Spend time with each child separately
    I plan on trying to spend time with each child individually. This is difficult because my children often go to their grandparents, etc on the weekends but this also makes for a valuable opportunity to keep one of the children home to spend time with just him/her.

So here is my plan... What's yours?

Update on 26 Acts of Kindness...

Eventually, my husband joined me in my 26 Acts of Kindness.

We came to a point where we felt like posting about our acts was not appropriate. If our acts are done out of kindness, we felt it should be completely anonymous. So I decided not to post each act here or elsewhere.

It was quite an experience.

Seeing the smiles on people's faces was incredible.

We should all do at least one random act of kindness each day.

Blessings to you.

JOSEPHINE GAY - AGE 7

Josephine Gay, Age 6

Josephine Gay had just turned 7, three days before the shooting.
She liked to ride her bike on her family's quiet cul-de-sac, and over the summer she set up a lemonade stand, according to CNN.
Josephine loved the color purple. On Monday, there were purple balloons attached to her family's mailbox, and on the mailboxes of all the neighbors. The yellow house she lived in had a jungle gym out back.
A person who answered the phone at Mother of God Catholic Church in Covington, Ky., said Josephine was the great-niece of the pastor, Father Raymond Hartman.
Polly Larsen in Sunnyvale, Calif., said she was close friends with the cousin of Josephine's mother.
"`Joey' is a beautiful little girl, may she never be forgotten and live forever in our hearts," Larsen wrote on Facebook.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/17/officials-release-names-victims-in-connecticut-elementary-school-shooting/#ixzz2FpHxxWHU


Random Act of Kindness #2 In Memory of little "Joey" Gay - Gave card with $5.00 in it to cashier at Wendy's. it was an incredibly busy day for her and she looked like she could really use a pick me up.

Charlotte Bacon - Age 6

CHARLOTTE BACON, 6

They were supposed to be for the holidays, but finally on Friday, after hearing much begging, Charlotte Bacon's mother relented and let her wear the new pink dress and boots to school.

It was the last outfit the outgoing redhead would ever pick out. Charlotte's older brother, Guy, was also in the school but was not shot.

Her parents, JoAnn and Joel, had lived in Newtown for four or five years, JoAnn's brother John Hagen, of Nisswa, Minn., told Newsday.

"She was going to go some places in this world," Hagen told the newspaper. "This little girl could light up the room for anyone."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/17/officials-release-names-victims-in-connecticut-elementary-school-shooting/#ixzz2Fe2cSJYw

RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS #1 - IN HONOR OF CHARLOTTE BACON, AGE 6...

Sent cards to 2 teachers and 1 bus driver letting them know how much we appreciate them.

#26Acts of Kindness.....

#26Acts of kindness you can do right now

So i've been reading a lot about these 26 acts of kindness in memory of the 26 people who lost their lives in the Connecticut shooting. I started trying to do my random acts the past few days.... As I do one, I will post it on my blog - not to brag but to honor a specific victim each day.... I've already done a few so I will make a new post for each one....

Veterans Day 2012

I want to honor all our veterans past and present so if you or a family member are a veteran, please comment the name, branch, and rank for us all to see so we can say 

Thank You....

All Gave Some and Some Gave All....

As I see all the posts and watch all the videos in honor of Veterans' Day, I can't help but to think of our veterans and their families and all the sacrifices they have made in the name of freedom. I think we take our freedom for granted entirely too much.

Everyone wants to complain about the government, the election, etc but I think we all need to take a moment and think how BLESSED we are to have the FREEDOM to complain!!!

There are wives sitting at dinner tables with their children and an empty chair where "Daddy" should be sitting. There are mothers who cry themselves to sleep at night missing their sons and daughters. There are husbands tucking their children into bed at night and helping them to say a prayer for "Mommy" who is so far away. There are fathers who choke back tears as they listen to the patriotic songs play as they think about their child who is fighting for our country.

There is the husband, daughter, son, wife who is fighting for our country in a foreign land far away from their children, spouse, parents. Everyday they fight. Their's is a 24/7 job with no escape. Not really. Not even when they finally come home. The things they have seen, the experiences they have been through - will forever be with them. It influences every fiber of their being. Every moment of every day.

The LEAST we as a country can do is take a moment and tell our veterans how much we appreciate them.

I personally wish there was more I could do to show my appreciation. To show them how thankful I am for them fighting so I don't have to. To show them while I will never truly understand how much they have sacrificed, I do recognize it and appreciate it.

So to them I say...

Thank You.