Everything I Need to Know

How My Little Son's Anger Disappears

Brian Haw   , a father of seven, has camped outside Parliament since leaving Redditch in 2001. In a letter to Cindy Sheehan, who launched a vigil of her own in the United States following the death of her soldier son in the bloody Iraq war, he wrote,

You may visit http://www.parliament-square.org.uk for the full version of this letter and how you can email online to offer your support. Alternatively, send him a postcard of support c/o Parliament Square, London SW1A

Spiritual Whispers   

The man whispered, "God, speak to me."
and a meadow lark sang.

But, the man did not hear.

So the man yelled, "GOD, SPEAK TO ME!"
and the thunder rolled across the sky.

But, the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said, "God, let me see you."
And, a star shined brightly.
But, the man did not see.

And, the man shouted, "GOD, SHOW ME A MIRACLE!"
And a life was born.

But, the man did not notice.

So, the man cried out in despair,
"Touch me God, and let me know you are here."
Whereupon, God reached down and touched the man.
But, the man brushed the butterfly away ...
and walked on.

Oh the little and simple things
that we take for granted everyday ...

The man cried, "God, I need your help!"
And an e-mail arrived reaching out
with good news and encouragement.

But, the man deleted it
and continued crying...

Don't miss out on a blessing
because it isn't packaged the way that you expect.

This letter was written for the special people who wish to be blessed.

The Proud Parents   

---- Original Message -----
From: Dave Robbins
Sent: Saturday, October 21, 2000
Subject: If Every Day Was Halloween

Hey, I thought some of you might enjoy reading a story my daughter wrote last October in her 2nd grade class. I didn't see it until mid-November when her teacher showed it to me during our parent-teacher conference. She also gave me the entire folder of what other classmates wrote (all titled the same ), and if you'll excuse my over-abundance of pride, there was only one other child that wrote anything resembling a plot! Be sure to read it all -- she displays quite a bit of maturity in how she resolves what occurs in the story. While they all had to do this on the Mac, I think the teacher corrected the punctuation.

Now, a year later, she wants to be a scriptwriter and is trying to write a play!

As you might have guessed, the following If Every Day was Halloween is one of my life's treasures.

Dave Robbins
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2000 22:35:55 EDT
From: Reg
Subject: Re: If Every Day Was Halloween

Started saving my daughter's writing when she was about this age. Now she is a budding poet.

It's a great story, and I hope she keeps writing and keeps dreaming.

Reg

Real Letters from Children to God   

Dear God I didn't think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset you made on Tuesday. That was cool! Eugene

Dear God Did you mean for the giraffe to look like that or was it an accident? Norma

Dear God Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don't you just keep the ones you have now? Jane

Dear God Who draws the lines around the countries? Nan

Dear God I went to this wedding and they kissed right in church. Is that okay? Neil

Dear God Thank you for my baby brother, but what I prayed for was a puppy. Joyce

Dear God It rained for our whole vacation and is my father mad! He said some things about you that we are not supposed to say, but I hope you will not hurt him anyway. Your friend, (but I am not going to tell you who I am)

Dear God Please send me a pony. I never asked for anything before, you can look it up. Bruce

Dear God I want to be just like daddy when I get big, but not with so much hair all over. Sam

Dear God I think about you sometimes, even when I'm not praying. Elliott

Dear God I bet it is very hard for you to love all the people in the world. There are only four people in our family and I can never do it. Dan

Dear God Of all the people who worked for you, I like Noah and David the best. Rob

Dear God My brothers told me about being born, but it doesn't sound right. They are just kidding, aren't they? Marsha

Dear God If you watch me in church Sunday, I'll show you my new shoes. Mickey

Dear God We read Thomas Edison made light. But in Sunday school, we learned that you did it. So I bet he stole your idea. Sincerely, Donna

Dear God I do not think anybody could be a better God. And, I'm not just saying this because you are God already. Charles

Dear God Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my brother. Larry TOP

How My Little Son's Anger Disappears   

Hunker on, Jim - Bro... Just take a deep breath and count to 3 before you do anything...

My 3.5 yr old son showed some tailings of the terrible twos the other day when he, perhaps was just a bit over-tired from playing much of the day, but nevertheless, refused to wash his hands at my requests before eating a sandwich for supper. So I said, either wash your hands or just go to your room and come back when you're ready to wash up before eating... well... he stomped off to his room and even slammed the door! He has a 13.5 yr old half brother at his mom's home, so I figured that was his role model for the moment. I went over to the door of his room and placed his wastebasket to prop open the door a bit... yeah, I'm a nosey dad... just wanted to know what he was doing in there... hahaha... about 3 seconds later, he tossed the wastebasket out into the hall/adjoining room, a basket with about a 1/2 inch of left over guinea pig feed pellets in it..... WhoooooF... kid's got a great arm LOL... pellets and dust went everywhere... I felt myself becoming as mad as a hornet, ready to jump in there and go for a sting... but ya know... something just came over me at the last moment...

I opened his door, got down to his level, on my knee and opened my arms to give him a hug. His crying/screaming stopped almost immediately... I felt suprised... but as I held him, I said... that was the wrong thing to do, we have to clean up this mess now, buddy. Next thing I knew, he was searching out the Hoover upright and ready to go to work. And clean it all up we did. We even had some fun with it... then, he went to the bathroom, washed his hands and ate his sandwich, etc in the next 10 minutes.
=============================================
From: Fred Woo-O'Brien
Our 5 y.o. son occasionally behaves in a similar angry-at-the-world manner. Congrats on your excellent handling of the situation! I am always amazed and delighted and proud when 20 minutes after the outburst he will sincerely say he is sorry for getting angry.

Have you heard of the "amaygdala rush syndrome"? It is when a part of our brain secretes "anger hormones" and we are basically under its control for about 10 minutes. I have learned it is best not to attempt anything until the anger subsides. Once the person is a bit more rational then try to gently and respectfully handle the incident. TOP

Marriage and Romance   

No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with. - Kirsten, age 10

WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?
Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then. - Camille, age 10

HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?
You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids. - Derrick, age 8

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?
Both don't want any more kids. - Lori, age 8

WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?
Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough. - Lynnette, age 8

On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date. - Martin, age 10

WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR?
I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns. - Craig, age 9

WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?
When they're rich. - Pam, age 7

The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that. - Curt, age 6

The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do. - Howard, age 8

IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?
It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them. - Anita, age 9

HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?
There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there? - Kelvin, age 9

HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?
Tell your wife that she looks pretty even if she looks like a truck. TOP

Appreciation   

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following: There would be: 57 Asians - 21 Europeans - 14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south - 8 Africans 52 would be female - 48 would be male - 70 would be non-white - 30 would be white - 70 would be non-Christian - 30 would be Christian - 89 would be heterosexual - 11 would be homosexual - 6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the United States. 80 would live in substandard housing - 70 would be unable to read - 50 would suffer from malnutrition - 1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth - 1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education - 1 would own a computer. When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent. The following is also something to ponder...

If you wake up this morning with more health than illness... you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation... you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death... you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep... you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish some place ... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still alive and still married ... you are very rare, even in the United States and Canada.

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Someone once said: What goes around comes around.

It's National Friendship Week.

Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND. Pass this on, and brighten someone's day. Nothing will happen if you do not decide to pass it along. The only thing that will happen, if you DO pass it on, is that someone might smile because of you.
Happy Friendship Week!

TOP

Boxes from God   

I have in my hands two boxes,
Which God gave me to hold.
He said, "Put all your sorrows in the black box,
And all your joys in the gold."

I heeded His words, and in the two boxes,
Both my joys and sorrows I stored,
But though the gold became heavier each day,
The black was as light as before.

With curiosity, I opened the black,
I wanted to find out why,
And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole,
Which my sorrows had fallen out by.

I showed the hole to God, and mused,
"I wonder where my sorrows could be!"
He smiled a gentle smile and said,
"My child, they're all here with me."

I asked God, why He gave me the boxes,
Why the gold and the black with the hole?
"My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings,
The black is for you to let go."