One Secret to Success for a Working Mom, Expand Your Village (Jack and Jill of America)

Jack and Jill of America member and her daughter Recently, I have become keenly aware that good kids are created by accident. They become good because someone made a concerted effort to pour positive things into them--things like, honor, discipline and respect for others. These qualities are taught through lessons and by observation. For that reason, I have been actively considering how to give my children more examples of people who embody those qualities.  Indeed, raising my children to become good people is my most important job.

It’s a Beautiful Day in Neighborhood…

"It’s a beautiful day in neighborhood…"

Even when Fred Rogers sang that song he realized that some days would be full of disappointment and tears and some days would be full of anger and fights. He realized that dark days would come, but he also realized that words have power.

Each day has beauty. However, life is hard. You can easily miss the beauty of each day by getting too caught up in your own problems.

I am generally an optimistic person. However, sometimes even I would miss the day’s beauty if I didn’t make it a point to notice. On days when I am embroiled in a fight with someone, the beauty can be hard to detect. On days when I am sick, it can seem as if the day only exists to torture me. On days when I hear something disturbing on the news, I question whether beauty exists at all.

On those days, I decide to call the day beautiful, even though it is not apparent. Words have power. By declaring the day beautiful I am transformed. Amazingly, I begin to see the blue sky--even on an over cast day.

I can see the sunshine, peeking out from behind the clouds. And I notice the rainbow forming after the storm.

In so doing, I control my emotions.  By calling the day beautiful I realize what Mr. Rogers meant. Every day can be beautiful because I can make it so. It matters little what the day looks like.


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