Tag: siblings

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Encouragement K! Magazine Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine motivation

The Many Ways We Find Comfort

Cartoon of a little brother and big sister. The boy says, "Why shouldn't I suck my thumb? After all, it's gluten free!"
Published in "K! Kidzmatter Magazine"

The last week has been a deluge of Coronavirus craziness. It’s been enough to make a grown man want to suck his thumb. Not that I’ve tried it. At least I didn’t before I washed my hands thoroughly for twenty seconds humming the ABC song so that I properly lathered up and washed away all the nastiness of my extremities!

There are many ways we find comfort during trying times. Here are a few I noticed this week.

We will get through this and come out better for it. In the meantime, we may have several weeks that will test our emotions and resolve. I feel for the parents that have to scramble to find ways to deal with their kids being out of school. And I know what it’s like to be concerned for aging parents since that is the age group that seems most vulnerable.

Acknowledge your feelings and let’s find ways to comfort each other even if we need to do it from a distance. I won’t fault a child or adult if they resort to thumb sucking while we barrel through. After all, a thumb is gluten free.

Cartoon of a little brother and big sister. The boy says, "Why shouldn't I suck my thumb? After all, it's gluten free!"
Published in “K! Kidzmatter Magazine”
Categories
motivation

Emphasize the Good

When criticism is minimized and praise emphasized, the good things people do will be reinforced and the poorer things will atrophy for lack of attention.

Dale Carnegie in How to Win Friends and Influence People

Why is it so easy to see the speck in another person’s eye and ignore the log in our own? We like to pick apart those that are close to us and ignore the self-improvement we could make and have the control to do.

I am the oldest of four kids. Unfortunately, that meant I was really good at seeing the faults in my siblings since I had at least a two-year head start on them. I’d say none of them benefited from my years of “constructive criticism.” They are wonderful, healthy adults today in spite of my influence rather than because of it.

Criticism is too easy. It lets us off the hook of our own self-improvement and focuses on the improvement of others. Sure, employees need to be accountable to bosses and managers. But look for ways to do it that inspire good behavior rather than place an undue emphasis on the bad.

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webcomic

Voila! It’s a Duck

Cartoon of a boy in a magician's costume and a duck. The boy says, "I'm sorry, Sis! I didn't mean to change you into a duck. I meant to turn you into a dog!"

Cartoon of a boy in a magician’s costume and a duck. The boy says, “I’m sorry, Sis! I didn’t mean to change you into a duck. I meant to turn you into a dog!”

Siblings really do love each other. It’s just that there are so many possibilities when you have a magic wand and hat. It makes me wonder what I would do today if anything was possible. I want to make it clear to my siblings that I’d keep them just the way they are. They’ve turned into very nice adults, thank you. Besides, I don’t have a duck pond.

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accountability

Can’t Fool Me!


Cartoon of a boy with a halo. a girl says, “I’m your sister. You can’t fool me!”

The people that love us most are the ones that rarely let us get away with faking it. I tried several times as a kid to get away with a little infraction only to have my siblings blow a whistle on me.

Now that I look back on it, that was a good thing. Too many of us try to get away with things we know in our heart we should never attempt. It can be something moral or a goal you want to attempt, but just find it hard to get started.

If you’re having trouble getting started today, or quitting a bad habit, make an effort to find an accountability partner. Many times, the best accountability partners are the ones that love you the most. They know when you are telling the truth and when your halo is a little crooked.

At the start, you may find it annoying to be called on your little game, but that is just what we need. We all need someone to be honest enough with ourselves to point out the halo is not matching with your attitude.

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Adobe Illustrator cartoon children cartoons family gag cartoon Illustration Friday single panel cartoon webcomic

Dull Diary

Cartoon of a brother handing a diary to his sister

Cartoon of a boy handing a diary to his sister. The brother says, “I’m sorry I got into your diary. If I knew it would be that boring, I would have never bothered.”

Continue reading “Dull Diary”