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children cartoons

Five reasons why kids need Saint Valentine’s Day

Cartoon of a boy holding a valentine and a jaded girl

Cartoon of a boy holding a poster with a heart on it and a jaded girl. The girl says, “Do you realize that heart isn’t anatomically correct?”

Saint Valentine’s Day can arouse some negative emotions, especially when people feel pressured to impress their loved one with extravagant gifts.

But if we treat Valentine’s Day right, it’s a great opportunity for kids to see love in action. Here are five reasons why kids need Valentine’s Day.

  1. Kids need to see love is far more than the physical attraction popular culture tries to make it out to be. Valentine’s Day may focus on the romantic side of love. But it can also be an opportunity to show selfless love (agapé), family/affection love (storge) or brotherly/friendship love (philia)
  2. Kids need to receive a note of encouragement. We all need to hear something positive about ourselves once in a while
  3. It’s an opportunity for kids to hear why love is so great (and challenging). Take the time to read 1 Corinthians 13 with your child.
  4. Kids need to see that love is more than a feeling but is  action.  We can love even the unlovely, the grumpy and those family members that get on our nerves!
  5. And kids need lots of candy hearts. Come on! Who doesn’t need candy hearts with corny sayings on them?

Valentine’s Day is a great reminder that love goes far beyond physical attraction and getting our selfish needs met. After all, when it comes down to it, we all need faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love.

 

 

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New Riders Internet Yellow Pages

Web site gods

Cartoon of the greek god of web sites
Copyright 1998 Kevin Spear & New Riders Publishing

Cartoon of a nerdy guy next to an old PC. The caption says, “Ernie was the Greek god of web pages.”

It feels romantic whenever you take something modern and bring some mythology to it. That’s why I have always loved comic books. It takes the mythology of old and brings it into the modern age. The most obvious example is Thor, the Norse god of thunder and lightning. Then there’s The Flash. That guy is Mercury,  the Roman god, in tights.

I have admired web coders and designer for quite some time. I drew this cartoon as part of a book entitled “The New Riders Yellow Pages.” At the time I drew this, The Internet had taken over the public. The web bubble had not burst yet. web designers and coders were almost looked at as gods, even if their name was Ernie!

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Creative Writing webcomic writing

The Secret Guardian of the Front Porch

Cartoon of a man in a porch swing

Cartoon of a middle-age man sitting in a porch swing. He says to a woman, “Care to join me? I’m part of a secret group known as, ‘The Guardians of the Front Porch.'”

Frank had a crush on Edna for a lo-o-o-o-ong time! His adoration for her went all the way to the fourth grade. She was always with her friends on the playground. He would try to get her attention by pretending he didn’t notice her. Unfortunately, that worked too well. Edna didn’t notice Frank until eighth grade.

By that time, Frank was quite sensitive about his acne. He had one pimple that refused to leave until senior high. When they were both juniors, Frank almost asked Edna to the prom. Unfortunately, Percy, “The Rock,” Marbel also had the same idea.

Edna and Percy dated until they both split for college. Frank stayed home after graduation and worked at the local cardboard box factory. The one time Edna returned from college, Frank decided this was the day to meet up with her. Unfortunately, he was boxed in a tragic taping accident and shipped to Des Moines.

Thirty years later, Frank was fully recovered from the unfortunate boxing match. As he sat on his mother’s front porch, he spotted Edna walking downy he street. His lip quivered as he thought what would be the wittiest thing to say. He had just seen a television special on secret societies. What could be wittier than that? He called for Edna. She turned and smiled. She walked up to the porch. Now was Frank’s big chance…

This was part of the Write practice writing prompt entitled, “What is your Character’s Secret?”

 

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Creative Writing

Writing Practice: A Young Prodigy publishes a novel

I am trying something different this morning, thanks to The Write Practice Blog.  Today’s prompt is “A young prodigy has just published his first novel. Write a scene describing how he is handling his new fame and fortune.” So here it goes:

He couldn’t believe it was over. Everything he worked for had now come to this. A fifteen, Ryan had just accomplished the one goal he had since he was old enough to pick up a pen.

“It’s real.” he whispered. “It’s real. Now what?” Ryan checked his stats on Amazon for the fifth time that day. Now he was up to number 3,257,427. Wow! it went up another notch! Now he was in the top 3.5 million!

He searched the room for his cell phone. No new messages. He checked the bars on the phone. At least it looked like there was a good signal. He wondered where were the groupies.

“Well, the only thing to do is to take matters into my own hands,” he said. He Googled the number for the nearest elementary school and called them.

“Hi, I’m Ryan and I am a famous, local teen who has just written a novel about a… okay. I’ll hold.” He waited for ten minutes. The administrative professional came back on the phone.

“Hi, I’m Ryan and I am a famous… okay. Who is the school librarian? Can I talk to her?” He was put on hold again.

“This is crazy,” he said to himself. “How can anybody become famous when they can’t even get a direct line to the school librarian?”

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Parenting Cartoons

Be careful! It’s contagious

Cartoon of a mom and a sick child in a doctor's office. The doctor, child and mother all have spots on their skin. The doctor says, "Well whateve he has, it's contagious."
Cartoon of a mom and a sick child in a doctor’s office. The doctor, child and mother all have spots on their skin. The doctor says, “Well whateve he has, it’s contagious.”

So many things are contagious. Whether it’s a viral video, our beliefs or attitudes, when something takes off, it can everything around you.

Kids are the most susceptible to catching whatever is contagious. I never knew how many times I could get sick in one winter until my kids began attending school and brought every virus known to man home to share with the rest of the family.

What beliefs, attitudes or actions do you share with your kids that they are picking up? You’d be surprised how much your kids act like you when they are away from you. What we say and do makes a difference. Be sure the messages and actions you communicate to your kids are ones you want them to catch and spread to others.

Be careful! It’s contagious!

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