Funny & Sweet Quotes for All..

Look what I found..few great quotes for you, some funny, some sweet, but all so true! Enjoy!

Hubby and Wife

* Love is the thing that enables a woman to sing while she mops up the floor after her husband has walked across it in his barn boots.~ Hoosier Farmer

* My husband and I have figured out a really good system about the housework: neither one of us does it.~ Dottie Archibald

* An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets the more interested he is in her.~ Agatha Christie

* To catch a husband is an art; to hold him is a job.~ Simone De Beauvoir

* My husband says I feed him like he's a god: every meal is a burnt offering.~ Rhonda Hansome

Parents and Children

* If your parents never had children, chances are you won't either. ~ Dick Cavett

* My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance.~ Tim Allen

* As long as a woman can look ten years younger than her own daughter, she is perfectly satisfied.~ Oscar Wilde

* There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.~ Chinese Proverbs

* I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford. Then I want to move in with them.~ Phyllis Diller

* You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back.~ William D. Tammeus.

* All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his.~ Oscar Wilde

Brothers and Sisters

* A sister is a little bit of childhood that is never lost.~ Marion Garretty

* A brother is a friend given by Nature.~ Legouve

* The Rule of Sibs: If your sibling gets something you want, you (1) try to take it; (2) break it; or (3) say it's no good~ Patricia Fleming

Friends

* A true friend stabs you in the front.~ Oscar Wilde

* Money can't buy friends, but you can get a better class of enemy. ~ Spike Milligan

* A friend who is near and dear may in time become as useless as a relative. ~ George Ade

* A good friend can tell you what is the matter with you in a minute. He may not seem such a good friend after telling. ~ Arthur Brisbane

* A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.~ Bernard Meltzer

* There are three faithful friends, an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.~ Benjamin Franklin

* Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.~ C.S. Lewis

Bringing up children: what’s the right way?

We all bring up our children in the way we think best. But who is to say which is the right way and which isn’t. This topic requires so much insight and experience that I thought it best to put forth few thoughts based on the teachings of one of the greatest spiritual Gurus.

Bringing children into the world and bringing them up is not only one of nature’s most wonderful gifts to us, but it is also one of our biggest responsibilities. And to make sure that we, as parents, do this right, here are a few insights which may help all of us in becoming better parents.

1. Share responsibility of children and train them at home

Both mother and father should share responsibility in bringing up the child. Even though the child may possibly be spending more time with his mother, the father should play his role of being a good parent as well.

The proper training of children begins at home, not at school. Raising children is truly difficult these days. But it is our duty to protect, guide and care for the children we bring into this world. If we plant a small tree in our garden, and we want it to grow healthily, we must be there to support it and protect it in all types of weather. It’s the same for children. To fully blossom, they need nurturing through love, guidance and understanding that only parents can give them.

2. Discipline your children

Children need discipline. This does not mean beating them, which should never be done! We should guide our children with firmness, but also love and patience. As once said, “These little ones cannot express discrimination and understanding, even though these qualities are innate in the soul”.

Children should be taught the right attitude and the right behavior which will stay with them as a support system for the rest of their lives.

3. Build the right relationship

We should build the right relationship with our children. In an effort to come closer to them, some parents try to become one of them. This may work to some extent, but not completely. Children should learn to love and respect us as parents. This doesn’t mean we cannot have fun with our kids; this just means we should be responsible parents.

4. Communicate openly

We need to be approachable to our children. They should feel that they can talk to us, confide in us and be truthful. If we give a child a hard time because he had the courage to come and tell us something we didn’t like, this could turn him away forever. He might look for another confidant or worse, turn to something ‘else’ for comfort which is definitely not what we want. Good rapport with children should begin in the early years.

Parents should spend time to talk with their children in a language that they can understand. Instead of just saying “Don’t do it”, explain why. We need to reason out with them instead of simply asking them to obey orders.

5. Make your children responsible; don’t pamper them too much

Parents should guide children such that it helps them to develop skills and responsibility. Else, they may grow up to be careless and unreliable, who would not know how to teach their own children. Bad habits are passed from generation to generation.

Children should learn at an early age that nothing comes without effort. One has to earn what he receives in this world. Parents should teach the child that he should contribute his part to the family, to his friends and to his community.

If a child is given a task to do, parents should see to it that he fulfills it. This includes simple things like clearing up the mess in his/her room before sleeping at night. Insist that he do this, without spanking him/her. Once good habits have been formed, children will automatically continue to do so. Young ones will do what is asked if they feel they are contributing and helping out. Give them praise and encouragement, make them want to do it. But make sure that the responsibility given to the child is as per his capability. You can give rewards for good behavior or good work done in certain situations. This may not be the best thing to do, but works in most cases!

Parents often indulge in their children too much. We should give our child a chance to achieve on his own, to learn from his own success and failures and meet the challenges of life, but with our strong support. By giving in to all his whims, we cannot ensure that he or she will be happy always and may in the long run, hamper his progress.

6. Don’t impose yourself

Children should be allowed to develop their own personalities. We must be there to give them the right sense of direction and the right principles. But we should not overshadow their lives completely by forcing them to become us.

7. Teach your children to pray

It will be a good thing if from early on parents and children pray together before going to bed. A child who is taught to pray for self and others loves it and does it throughout life. It teaches the young one to have faith in God, be thankful for what he has been given in life and care for others.

***
Probably, the best thing we can do in raising our children successfully is to lead by example. If our children see the good results of following the standards we set in our life, they will respect us and listen to us. Amen to that!

First Day of School Checklist - The Top 10 Things to Do

Do you remember your first day of school? Well, I don't..But I am sure many of you remember your little one's first day of school (those who have kids of course), just like I will remember my little boy's, for a long time to come. He probably did not realise how special an event it was. But I was nervous and excited days before he had to go; it seemed like I had to prepare for so much, quite a lot of it on the emotional front I guess. More than readying him, I had to prepare myself for this journey he was about to begin, which would continue for many years to come and would play a big part in shaping up his personality. There probably is lots of information on the internet about what to do before your child's first day of school. I just thought I would add my bit and put it all in once place. I did some thinking earlier on and made a mental checklist of what I needed to do, and it did help me quite a bit. So here goes...

1. Mental Preparation:
First and foremost, you and your kid both need to be ready for this! First target yourself :) You need to be prepared for your child to be away from you, in the care of others, even if its for a few hours everyday; of course, more so, if you are a stay-at-home mom. You have to understand that he will be learning many more things now, will be meeting more kids now and may in fact become naughtier :) Its all a part of the game, sigh..thats what I had to tell myself. It was not easy, let me tell you. As far as your baby is concerned, its better to start preparing him/her earlier on so that he gets all excited about going to school. We took our little boy along with us when we started our survey of schools (step 2 below). This was a few months before he actually started going to school. We kept telling him how much fun it was going to be and how he would make many friends and play with them. The first day he was very happy and in fact, wasn't ready to come back home after school :)

2. Survey:
Look around, ask around; find out about the good schools in your area. Its great if the school is near your house, for many reasons, but that of course is not the only criteria. The school needs to have a good reputation, especially if its a preparatory school, pre-school if you will, like we have where we live. Such schools are stepping stones to the proper school that your child will be enrolled into when he is around 4-5 years of age. Of course, this concept varies from place to place. Visit the schools, talk to their principals and check out what kind of schooling philosophy is in place, i.e, their ideas about learning, teaching concepts, aids, facilities etc. At this age, your child should be made to feel comfortable in school, as its his first step outside home, without you, especially true for kids with stay-at-home moms. I have selected a good school in the vicinity where learning is done through various kinds of fun activities without putting undue pressure on them.

3. Shopping:
Next you make a small list of items you need to purchase and go shopping. Was one of my favorite parts of this whole exercise. Most likely, this would include a school bag, lunch box, water bottle/sipper, crayons and new clothes surely:) Make sure that you check with the teacher in charge about the things you need to put in his/her bag. They might have some tips for you such as sending napkins and a change of clothes/undergarments for smaller kids. Some schools may provide joining kits which include a school bag and some other stuff, so its better to check before you purchase. It may be a good idea to take your kid alongwith you for the shopping in case he/she has his own choice of colours for his bag/bottle etc. And perhaps you could buy him/her a toy as a 'first day of school' gift :)

4. Labels:
Make sure you label everything with your kid's name. Things are likely to get mixed up in school, so labeling is required. Sticky labels will do for bags, but for lunch boxes and water bottles, you need to write with permanent markers, as these things would be washed regularly. Though through personal experience, what works better than permanent markers is nailpolish! (i.e. if you dont mind writing with it!)

5. Toilet Training:
Oh now the scariest of them all :) I was really worried about this & am still worried to some extent. Though he has grasped everything pretty quickly, my son took a long time to get toilet-trained. We tried for long, but he got trained only about a month before he had to begin school and it was only at home that he did tell us. He wore diapers whenever we went out somewhere. Its better to keep reminding your child that when in school, he needs to inform his teacher when he wishes to go. Also, check when you are school hunting, what the school policy is about this point. Where we live, some schools do not allow diapers, and some do. Luckily, the school we chose was not rigid about it. I was advised to send him in diapers for the first week, and then without. They were ready to take care of wet accidents, and assured me that he would settle down in a few days. Its working out alright as of now, but I do have to send a change of clothes.

6. Lunch/Snack Box:
No junk food! Its convenient, sure, but is unhealthy and if you give it sometime, the kid would take it for granted that he would always get to eat such stuff during snack time. Then, when you give something healthy, he might not eat it. Nowadays, teachers stress on healthy snacks too, so that kind of helps.

7. School Work:
Make it a practice to check your child's bag when you take out his lunch box after school. More often than not, there will your child's school work that day (his drawings etc) in it and/or a teacher's note. This is more applicable to pre-school kids I think. It will be very encouraging for the child if you appreciate the work he has done at school and also a good idea to keep his all work carefully. The set will serve as good memories later :)

8. Talk after school:
After school, do spend time with your child and ask him/her what he/she did at school and listen to a whole list of things he will tell you. Its fun, isnt it, when they just babble on :) Some part of it you may not understand, depending on how old your child is, but its fun nevertheless plus it assures him that you are a part of his school life too.

9. Good word for the teachers:
Time and again, put in a good word for the class teacher while talking to your kid. Tell him or her she is very nice and will take care of him and he should listen to her carefully. It will help the teacher in class.

10. Routine:
Last but not the least, do not forget to set a routine for your kid. He/she should be sleeping early and getting up early. Try to set up the routine days before he starts going to school so that its easier for the child to adjust.

I hope this helps some moms out there. And if you have some more experiences to share, do add a post or a comment.

How to Deal With Argumentative Colleagues

Found this on eHow: How to Deal With Argumentative Colleagues eHow.com
Some people are just naturally argumentative. You say black and they say white. You say go and they say stop. Dealing with argumentative colleagues is frustrating and can affect your work. There are many effective ways to cope with argumentative colleagues without becoming argumentative yourself.

Step 1:
Stay calm. Don't get drawn into the argument by getting worked up. Staying calm will also help you think and speak clearly.
Step 2:
Listen intently. Tune out the argumentative words and focus on the point your colleague is trying to make.
Step 3:
Keep it professional. This is your work environment. Keep your statements and behavior professional, even if your colleague isn't.
Step 4:
Think carefully before you speak. This will help to prevent the argument from getting personal and help make certain that you state your point clearly.
Step 5:
Speak in a calm and composed manner. This ensures that you will not compound the argument by your tone of voice or body language. Argumentative people often feed off the person with which they are arguing. If you speak in a calm and composed manner, maybe she will as well.
Step 6:
Know when to walk away. If the discussion is getting nowhere, walk away and revisit the issue later.

Interesting Moral Story

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning, while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hang the wash outside. That laundry is not very clean, she said, she doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap. Her husband looked on, but remained silent. Every time her neighbour would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments. About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: "Look! She has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this." The husband said: "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows!"

And so it is with life: "What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look. Before we give any criticism, it might be a good idea to check our state of mind and ask ourselves if we are ready to see the good rather than to be looking for something in the person we are about to judge. "

Getting Along With Others

Found few inspiring insights from the writings of the great Guru Paramahansa Yogananda; thought it would be a great start to the blog. He wrote the following about getting along with others.

The greatest of all happiness, next to divine happiness, is to be at peace with one's immediate relations, those with whom one must live every day in the year. When people try to handle the extremely complicated machinery of human feelings without any training whatsoever, the consequent results are often disastrous. Very few persons realize that most of our happiness lies in the art of understanding the law of human behavior. That is why so many people are often "in hot water" with their friends, and, worse yet, at constant war with their own best beloved ones at home.

The basic law of right human behavior is self-reform....Whenever any trouble occurs with our friends or dear ones, we should inwardly lay the blame on ourselves for getting into an unpleasant situation and then try to get out of it as fast and as graciously as we can. It is fruitless to increase the trouble by loudly, unkindly, discourteously blaming others, even though we find that they are to blame. We can teach quick-tempered dear ones to mend their faults a hundred times better by setting a good example than we can by harsh or self-righteous words.

Something to dwell upon, isnt it?