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.