Ever had one of those days? Yeah, I know you have. I was too until one of my children said something that made me forget it all!

Sometime ago, I was having a bad day – things not going right; work in the toilet and so was everything at home.

My kids were sick and I need to get them to the doctor – I got an appointment for that afternoon. Since I am a at-home Dad and freelancer, I get to do everything from home…well usually.

Having sick children, getting sick myself and having issues on the work front was drawing on me.

I was ready to lose it! Then it happened….

I was walking past my 5-year-old and she said this to me:

“Daddy, you stink! You need a shower before we go to the doctor!”

I laughed so hard, I thought I was going to bust a gut. All the bad things that happened that day had disappeared with that comment.

A few things that came out of this:

1. Kids say the darndest things and they always bring a smile to your face. No matter what is happening, they can make your day all smiles.

2. Yes, I did need a shower and I got one before we went to the doctor.

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1. Taking some time out with the kids

“It’s too hard; I can’t do it, I quit!”

These were the words from my 5-year-old daughter. We were playing Wii Sports Resort and she was playing the sword duel module. She was in a duel to knock the computer player off of the platform with a fake sword – she kept losing.

I said, “Quit? Why don’t you try again?”

She said, “It’s too hard. I won’t be able to do it, ever!”

I said, “If you quit, you will never win. Keep trying and you will make it.”

She had enough; she sat on the floor and asked me to play instead. I picked up the controller and picked another module to play – Ping Pong. I played it before; I liked it and I won last time – well not this time.

I tried again and said, “See. Daddy didn’t win and he isn’t giving up.”

No response from my daughter.

After another 3 defeats, I tried again. (Usually, I am pretty good at this, but this time I must have had something in my eye – yeah, that was it!)

Now my daughter was cheering for me to win. Another 2 defeats; guess what I did then? I tried again.

I won.

I said to my daughter, “See, I didn’t give up. I didn’t quit, I kept trying.”

She replied with, “I want to try now.”

She took the controller and proceeded to pick her fake sword game and try again.

She lost.

She tried again. She lost again. After 3 more times, she won.

She said, “I did it! I kept trying and I did it!”

My response, “Yes, see what happens when you keep trying? You will do it.”

So what is this all about?

I have been through many things in my life, some good and a lot not so good, but I don’t like to quit; I actually hate it. There were times I had to quit, but for good reasons – not because I didn’t want to do something.

I don’t want my children to come up against difficult things in their lives and just quit. I want them to keep trying and make things happen for themselves.

Now, I am not taking about winning at all costs, I am taking about just giving up and not even giving something a try. (I will touch on the winning at all costs discussion in another post.)

We all have things to overcome in our lives, some worse than others; I want to instill in my children that when things get hard, you keep trying – don’t quit, don’t give in to your fears or frustration.

Do you keep trying?

How do you encourage your children to keep trying?

Photo credit: Zanastardust

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The holidays are a time for giving and giving thanks. Too many focus on getting gifts and not enough on the reason for the season. This holiday season, we should think of those less fortunate; some families don’t have a roof over their head now.

I give thanks I have a roof over my family’s head, food on the table, and my loved ones are around for this holiday season. In my personal opinion, I don’t think many give thanks for what they have; they only focus on what they don’t have.

I recently wrote an article at Parenting Special Needs Magazine on giving thanks and how my Special Needs child helps me see things in a new light. Please give it a read here:

What Are You Thankful For?

During this holiday season, let’s focus on what we do have, helping those less fortunate and spending more time with our loved ones. You never know what could happen tomorrow.

Photo credit: Graham Lewis (Grinner)

Related posts:

1. Happy New Year
2. Happy Holidays to All!

I grew up playing with toys like G.I. Joe, He-Man and Star Wars; I actually have a few of them in my closet. In those days, you were lucky to get the kung-fu grip on your action figures. Today, we have toys that can make a pre-school aged child into a fully functional bringer of hell itself. I don’t remember toys like those when I was growing up!

Now I have two girls, so I don’t get to go down the toy isles that prepare children for the end of the world; however, from time to time my oldest will want something that is far beyond anything I could imagine at 5 years old. At 5 years and 4 years, I would think toys for their age group would be somewhat conservative. Yes, there are some of those but I have seen toys for girls that, to me anyways, are preparing them to go out for a night out at the club. Baby dolls I can handle; black lipstick and accessories are a bit too much for this Dad!

Just like the days of TV and movies, I remember the days of toys that could help you take over the world.  I also remember getting into a toy package was not like trying to get into Fort Knox. As a Dad, I sometimes wonder what the toy makers are doing when they think up ideas for new toys.

Do they really need a college degree or even a high school diploma to get their job?

I don’t know why but I sometimes think of some toy makers are like Pinky and the Brain.

Pinky – “What are we going to do tomorrow night Brain?”

Brain – “The same thing we do every night Pinky; try to take over the world!”

What do you think? Have toys nowadays gone too far?

I would love to hear your opinion as well.

Related posts:

1. When Did Toy Packaging Turn into Fort Knox?
2. Time for School

I was surfing the web and came across this cute photo gallery. For those parents looking at birthday cakes, this is a cool gallery with some cool cakes.

You can find the article here:

31 Awesome Birthday Cake Designs

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1. Wee Web Helps With Saving For College

Going through the web I caught this story. Sounds pretty cool to have a parenting site to hook up with a site to save for college.

Go check it out:

Blogging Site For Babies Wee Web Now Helps Tots Save For College

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