Wonderful creed to live by and that is why I am sharing this.

Promise yourself to be strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but great deeds.

To live in faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

Christian D. Larson 1912 – The Optimist Creed

Choose to be an optimist; to be happy and spread joy!

Please share this with others.

I want to share the 90/10 principle with you because discovering the 90/10 principle will change how you react to situations and it will positively change your life. The example provided is perfect for parenting.

This principle is written by Stephen Covey.

What is this principle?

10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react. What does this mean?

We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane will be late arriving, which throws our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic. We have no control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine the other 90%.

How? By your reaction. You cannot control a red light. However, you can control your reaction; you can control how you react.

Let us use an example: You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just happened. What happens next will be determined by how you react. You curse. You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over.

She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus. Your spouse must leave immediately for work.

You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit zone. After a 15-minute delay and throwing away $60 on a traffic fine, you arrive at school. Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye.

After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase. Your day has started terribly. As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse. You look forward to coming home. When you arrive home, you find a small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter.
Why? Because of how you reacted in the morning. Why did you have a bad day?

A. Did the coffee cause it?
B. Did your daughter cause it?
C. Did the policeman cause it?
D. Did you cause it?

The answer is “D”.

You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day. Here is what could have and should have happened.

Coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say, “Its ok honey, you just need to be more careful next time.” Grabbing a towel, you rush upstairs. After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns and waves. You arrive 5 minutes early to work and cheerfully greet the staff.

Notice the difference? Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended differently.

Why? Because of how you REACTED. You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% is determined by your reaction.

90/10 Principle by Steven Covey

Understanding and applying the 90/10 principle WILL change your life!

If you like this article, please share it with someone you love.

Isn’t it amazing how our perspective of life can differ so greatly from our children’s perspective?  I was fortunate enough to have this piece sent to me and I want to share it.

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family..

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son , “How was the trip?”

“It was great , Dad.”

“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.

“Oh yeah, ” said the son.

“So, tell me , what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered:

“I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

The boy’s father was speechless.

Then his son added, “Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.”

I am not sure who wrote this so I can’t give anyone the credit but I think it shows the we should be more thankful for the things we do have in life and if we don’t like what we have, maybe we should ask for a child’s perspective!  That would open a whole new world for us.

Does your child need a boost in being positive?  Here are 10 examples of very simple affirmations your child can read and then repeat daily.  If getting your child to read affirmations isn’t realistic, here are some other ideas you can implement. 

1. Print affirmations out individually and tape them to a mirror that your child uses every morning.  Make them look fun, pretty, or tough; whatever will interest your child.
2. Tape the printed affirmations to a piece of paper and put them in a waterproof, ziplock baggie and hang them in the shower at shoulder level. 
3. You can say them in a different tense to your child such as “It is so much fun to get good grades” or “You are such a good friend to____” or “You are so much fun to be around.”   

Examples of simple affirmations for children:

• I enjoy school.
• I am fun to be around.
• I am a great friend.
• I have fun and work hard during school time.
• I do my best on my homework.
• I like doing extra credit.
• I strive to good grades.
• It is fun to get good grades.
• I am kind.
• I help others whenever I can.

Create your own that is specific to your child’s area of need.  The power of affirmations is incredible.  Find a way to put them in your child’s life.

Keep up the great parenting!  It is so much fun to see your children grow!

Links on positive articles in this site:  20 POSITIVE WORDS FOR KIDS AND POSITIVE WORDS FOR SCHOOL

For an excellent way to stay connected with your children and teens visit www.conversationjar.com This is a family friendly game where you get to ask thought provoking questions to each other.    Using the conversation jar makes staying connected with children, family and friends fun and easy.

In conjunction with the Kids Summer Planner, I have put together a list free things to do in the summer with your kids.  You can fill your summer with fun activities without breaking the bank.

Here are the free things to do with your kids in the summer:

Local library activities

Free park concerts

City events, check the local city website for their calendar of events

Visit a pet store

Some local museums and zoos have a free day

Tour your local city buildings (fire, police, and capitol)

Tour a local college campus

Help your kids start a collection of rocks, seashells, uniquely shaped twigs or sticks, or leaves and flowers that can be pressed

Go rock hounding

Go on a hike

Go on a bike ride

Go fishing

Go to the lake or beach to swim

Have a picnic

Camp in your back yard

Stargaze (look for constellations and satellites)

Start a book club for neighborhood friends to meet weekly

Exchange movies with neighbors and have movies nights or matinees

Allow late nighters with friends

Please let me know if there are any free fun activities that I have left off this list so I can share them with other readers. 

Thanks for visiting emomsblog!

Given with pride and love

Here is a picture of some Spring wild flowers my daughter surprised me with this morning just before leaving for the bus. She took the time to peel the label from this water bottle to give me the flowers in a vase.

I sure do love gifts from my children. They are from the heart and they put a smile on my face every time. My children teach me valuable lessons every day.

Please share some of the gifts you have received from your children by commenting.

Electronic Book

The Kindle 2 is an amazing handheld device that downloads books (over 260,000 titles available), newspapers and blogs via 3G wireless.  It is just over 1/3 inch thick, about as thick as a magazine.  You may choose to read what you download but you also have the option of having it read to you.  There are no monthly or service fees and many new releases and best sellers are only $9.99.  That’s a bargain.   Kindle 2: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation)

The statistics say that heart disease is the number one killer of women in the U.S.   I just checked out WWW.GOREDFORWOMEN.ORG.  There is something there for everyone, whether you want to support the cause, know someone with heart disease, or you want to improve your lifestyle to help avoid heart disease.

I love life and I want to be here a long time, both for myself and for my family.   I will visit this site often.

Reading is something that the average American learns to do as a child. What a privilege it is to be able to read!

I realized how privileged I was in a waiting room and a gentleman sitting next to me mentioned he couldn’t read. He couldn’t read any of the signs hanging in that room! I guess I was a bit naïve until that day about how fortunate we are to be able to read and how hard life would be if we couldn’t.

Reading is rewarding and my children love books. Because we buy a lot of books and dvds, we like to look for a lower price then retail. We found a place where you can buy new and used books at a discounted rate. We have never had a bad experience and always received what we expected. If you are in a hurry, you must upgrade from media mails since your purchase can take up to two weeks to arrive. Click here to search for discounted books

Here’s to great deals!