School's Out

Today is the start of half term, which means that Cean will have a school break of one week. What to do, what to do? For a starter, Cean will need to practice more often this week on his writing. That's his weakness in school at the moment. Reading-wise, he has just started reading orange banded books. These are books that are supposedly read by Year 2 and 3 pupils, I think. He brought one book with him last Friday to read. This is not enough but we still have a few green banded books at home that he needed to read. Maybe that will suffice.

Touching Story For Working Parents

(This is part of a forwarded email I received a few weeks back. This is for us working parents with children, especially the younger ones.)

This is worth the time to read.

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?" replied the man.
SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.

SON: "I just want to know... Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour."
SON: "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow $10.00 ?"

The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behaviour."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00 and he really didn't ask for money very often.

The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. "Are you asleep, son?" He asked. "No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy. "I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said the man. "It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $10.00 you asked for." The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled. "Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied. "Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.

Do remember to share that $20.00 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.

But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family.

How To Be Happy At Work

(I received this in a forwarded email from my former mentor. Be happy!)
Take two paper clips and rubber bands


Assemble them as shown on the picture

Apply as shown

Superstar

As I mentioned in the previous post, I am going to find out the reason for Cean's 'Star of the Week' certificate. Well, it was for showing a great effort in working on his numeracy skills! Well done, son.

Star Of The Week

Cean had a surprise waiting for us when he arrived from school last Friday afternoon. Inside his book bag was a small certificate awarded to him by his teacher. Cean was 'Star of the week' last week! Wow! My wife and I were really happy for this recognition. Curious, I asked Cean what made him the star. His reply? 'I don't know, Dad.' Typical. I must ask his teacher, then.

Holiday Souvenirs

London, UK: Model of Tower Bridge over the river Thames

My brother Jay and Mel, his wife, visited us last May for a week before going home to the Philippines for their scheduled holiday this year. I toured them in some of London's famous landmarks like Big Ben, House of Parliament, Tower of London and many others. As remembrance of their visit to these London landmarks they bought souvenirs such as fridge magnets. Aside from taking photographs, buying souvenirs from our holiday destinations is usually the next in our to-do list, is it not?

But buying holiday souvenirs is not enough for photographer Michael Hughes. He likes to photograph them in front of the real tourist hotspots. In fact, he has travelled the world doing just that. Now, that is cool, don't you think? I would like to do that in our future holidays. Actually, I don't have to wait for our next holiday. I will buy a souvenir of Peterborough's famous landmark, Peterborough Cathedral. Once I get a photograph I will publish it in this blog. Watch this space!

Maybe you would like to do it, too? When you have published it in your blog please let me know and I will have a look. If you don't have a blog but you want the world to know I can publish it in this blog if you like.

Picture credits - www.guardian.co.uk

Power Of The Rose

Last Tuesday, I came across an explanation why women likes it when given flowers. My wife had been "nagging" me lately about not giving her flowers. But she's allergic to pollens! She was given flowers before by her colleague but it did not last long in the vase. She started sneezing! So, her pleas for flowers have fallen on deaf ears, until last Tuesday.

Anyway, this 2005 research paper, An Environmental Approach to Positive Emotion: Flowers revealed that:

• flowers, upon presentation to women, always elicited the Duchenne or true smile. Women who received flowers reported more positive moods 3 days later.

• a flower given to men or women in an elevator elicited more positive social behavior than other stimuli.
  

• flowers presented to elderly participants (55+ age) elicited positive moo reports an improved episodic memory.

• Flowers have immediate and long-term effects on emotional reactions, mood, social behaviors and even memory for both males and females.
  

Now that I know the positive emotional effect of flowers on women (and men, too) I passed by the supermarket to buy two dozens of roses (peach and red coloured) on my way home from work. When I reached home I knocked on the door with the roses ready in my hands. When my wife opened the door, I gave her the roses before the customary kiss. I swore I saw the Duchenne or true smile when I looked at her face!

It has been three days since I gave the flowers and she is still smiling most of the time. Wow, such is the power of the rose!

If you want to read the research paper click here.

Roses For My Dear Wife