The King of Green

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Snowy Corkscrew

The snow last week coated the trees, shrubs and lawns. The snow on this corkscrew hazel presented a gold medal photo.

Friday, January 29, 2010

[1] Never both be angry at once.

[2] Never yell at each other unless the house is on fire.

[3] Yield to the wishes of the other as an exercise in self-discipline, if you can’t think of a better reason.

[4] If you have a choice between making yourself or your mate look good, choose your mate.

[5] If you feel you must criticize, do so lovingly.

[6] Never bring up a mistake of the past.

[7] Neglect the whole world rather than each other.

[8] Never let the day end without saying at least one kind or complimentary thing to your life's partner.

[9] Never meet without an affectionate welcome.

[10]Never let the sun go down on an argument unresolved.

[11] When you do wrong, make sure you have talked it out and asked for forgiveness.

[12] Remember, it takes two to make a quarrel. The one with the least sense is the one who will be doing the most talking.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Spoon Collecting

On our way to our Peru Mission trip, our route took us through Charlotte, North Carolina.
I saw this ice cream store. Their bowl came with a small spoon.

Some people travel the world collecting souvenir spoons to display in racks and on the wall.

I'm thinking of collecting spoons too. Except I going to collect ice cream spoons.

And if it means having to eat a bit of ice cream, well, I can probably manage to suffer through the emptying of a bowl of ice cream. That's the breaks, that's life.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A Child's Curiosity

Why? Grandpa, Why?

Children are insatiable curious. A poor little caterpillar crossing the road, or the tiny

insects like ladybugs landing on the parsley plants are incredibly fascinating.

Even though we may tire of answering the "Why" question, it still gets asked. Ever wonder why?

Do you smile at the question? Can you answer to the satisfaction of the child?

Some quotes on curiosity:

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers” Voltaire
“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death” Albert Einstein
“Sometimes questions are more important than answers.” Nancy Willard
“Curiosity is the very basis of education and if you tell me that curiosity killed the cat, I say only the cat died nobly.” Arnold Edinboroug
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.” Albert Einstein

Dr Greene has a good explanation and a good way to answer back. (see complete article here)

He says . . .

When children begin to learn real words, the words usually don't correspond exactly to the way adults use them. Often a specific word is used to indicate an entire category or visa versa. "Dog" might mean any animal, while "meow" might mean "cat" -- but only one cat. These early discrepancies are cute and obvious -- and should be caught on videotape if at all possible. But by the time children are able to speak in sentences, it sounds deceptively like they mean the same thing we do. This happens at about the same time their curiosity, imagination, and creativity skyrocket.

They begin to ask, "Why?" "Why?!?!" "WHY, Mommy, WHYYYYY?"

I've found that, when I try to answer children at this stage of development with the reason for something, they are left cold. After conversing with thousands of children, I've decided that what they really mean is, "That's interesting to me. Let's talk about that together. Tell me more, please?" When I've connected with children and begun to spin a tale to answer this question, they've sat enthralled. There was no need to mention because, or therefore, or cause, or effect. They don't need to know why, all they need is animated attention and me saying whatever came to mind about that subject. After a brief interchange, we were both happy. Let me give you an example.

I remember when one of my own sons asked me why the sky was blue. I told him that on sunny days the sky was blue and that on cloudy days it was gray and that at night it was very, very dark. Sometimes in-between day and night, it's a pretty pink or orange. And there are cool things in the sky. The sun gives us heat and light. It's like the stars, only closer. There are planets that go around the sun, and we live on one of them, called Earth.

Notice that I didn't at all answer why the sky is blue, but I did connect with him and answer his real question. He was delighted with our interchange and I got an enthusiastic "cool," not another automatic "why?" We both won.

Do Children Carrot All?

Children love to garden. Especially when they can be big helpers. Teaching children the joy of gardening is so easy, especially when they are young.
What an opportunity to get out of the house, and into some fresh air and sunshine. Add a little exercise, some co-operation, some helpfulness. End up with a the pride of being helpful, the joy of family togetherness, a sense of accomplishment, and a basket full of carrots.
(and a fun way to get some dirt on your hands.)

Digging was easy, the weather co-operative. The little one picked the carrots and put them into the tricycle basket.

"OK, drive the carrots over the lawn to the patio."

"Thank you so much for being a big helper!"