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K! Magazine Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine Parenting Cartoons

Does Anyone Remember Separation Anxiety?

Cartoon of a crying mom clinging to a boy. The caption says, "It's been hard for Chloe to serve since she began experiencing separation anxiety."
Published in "K! Kidzmatter Magazine"

When my wife took a sabbatical from ministry in 2014, she spent a lot of time at home. Our kids were in their teens and twenties, so it was basically her and the dog when I was at work and the kids were doing their own thing. The dog started to get used to having her owner at home. Separation anxiety was nowhere in sight.

But when she went back to the church, the poor dog had a nervous breakdown. When we came home, we would find her hiding and shaking. When we went to bed, she would bark until we took her upstairs and into our bedrooms. Before, she was quite content to be in a downstairs bathroom.

We took her to the vet to be sure she didn’t have a physical problem. The vet confirmed she was just fine, but experiencing separation anxiety. He suggested we could give her anti-anxiety medicine. I thanked him and said we would wait and see. Eventually, the dog got used to being the queen of her castle once again.

We live in Ohio today and are entering the third week of staying in place. I really feel for the parents who have had to figure out how to keep their kids busy when school was canceled. Many of us are working from home too. Separation anxiety may be the last thing on parents’ and pet owners’ minds these days.

But there will come a day when things get back to normal again. We will get to venture out to work and school one day. Let’s look forward to the day when separation anxiety may be the biggest concern on our minds.

How have you made the best of being at home? Let us know in the comments.

Cartoon of a crying mom clinging to a boy. The caption says, "It's been hard for Chloe to serve since she began experiencing separation anxiety."
Published in “K! Kidzmatter Magazine”
Categories
CHOG News church cartoons Newsletters

Watch those Parking Lots!

Cartoon of a driver stuck in a big hole. A man says, "So would you like to contribute to the church parking lot fund?"
Published in the March 2020 CHOGNews
Cartoon of a driver stuck in a big hole. A man says, "So would you like to contribute to the church parking lot fund?"
Published in the March 2020 CHOGNews

Boy, a lot has changed since I drew this cartoon earlier in the month! There aren’t too many churches or businesses concerned about the pothole in the parking lot. With the exception of grocery store parking lots, not many of them are getting used.

I am looking forward to a day when we can get back to normal and worry about such trivial things as potholes. In the meantime, if you are driving around, you may want to watch those parking lots. There will be a few potholes that won’t be fixed until at least the summer.

I drew this for the March 2020 CHOGNews.

Categories
K! Magazine Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine motivation

How Is Your Reality TV Show Going?

Cartoon of a student and a Sunday school volunteer. The student says, "You'll love serving in the fifth grad class. It's kind of like being in a reality TV show."
Published in "K! Kidzmatter Magazine"

There are some days when I think the last couple of weeks have been a twisted reality TV show. People have been sequestered in their homes with whatever they could scrounge at the grocery and instructed to live within the confines of their home with the kids while they attempt to work from home and homeschool their kids. Whew!

It has reminded me of a time or two when a class could get unruly and devolve into an out-of-control reality show atmosphere. Oh, how I long for those days! 

They will be coming soon. Sometime late spring or in the summer, Sunday school classes will be back in session. It may take some time for students and teachers to get their bearings again. In the meantime, hold on for today. If you are feeling you are in a bizarre reality show, see if you can ask the director for a raise or bonus. Just beware of that added twist that those shows like to add just to make things interesting.

Cartoon of a student and a Sunday school volunteer. The student says, "You'll love serving in the fifth grad class. It's kind of like being in a reality TV show."
Published in “K! Kidzmatter Magazine”
Categories
motivation

Watch Out For the Tiny Terrorists

Cartoon of two chickens

When I drew this cartoon, salmonella was in the news. It was the evil microbe of the day. It was a little, unseen bug that caused some big problems. But it was nothing compared to what the world is dealing with today.

Today, we have a menace that has closed schools, businesses, and entire countries. It’s the little things that can cause big disruptions. I am looking forward to a time in the near-future where we will be more concerned about little menaces such as salmonella and E. coli. Until then, let’s take today’s menace seriously and do what we can to prevent it from spreading further. At the same time, don’t be a chicken!

Cartoon of two chickens
Categories
Encouragement Religion Cartoons

Banishing the Boogeyman

Cartoon of a sleeping guy next to a monster. The guy says to the monster, "Sorry! Ever since I gave my anxieties to God, you just don't bother me anymore."

The last month has been one rife with fear and dreaded predictions. We don’t really know what the coming weeks will bring, but we do know that unprecedented measures have been taken, and will need to be taken to get this COVID-19 pandemic under control.

While I take this crisis we are in seriously, I also know that fear can make us do irrational things. We can make a problem worse by worrying about it and beginning to hoard things because we don’t trust those around us. We may be tempted to do things that would have shamed us in normal circumstances.

Since I am a person of faith, I choose to give my anxieties to someone who is much bigger than governments and much more powerful than a spiky-looking, viral boogeyman.

I urge you to limit your daily dose of bad news, banish the boogeyman and find some ways to be an encouragement and help to others. We can still do this while practicing social distancing. In the meantime, forget about the armless, two-fanged purple people eater. His bark is worse than his bite.

Cartoon of a sleeping guy next to a monster. The guy says to the monster, "Sorry! Ever since I gave my anxieties to God, you just don't bother me anymore."