Giving

At one time, everything I owned fit into my Buick.

In 1994, I spent 10 days in Europe with just carry-on luggage.

Life is simple if you don't have so many things to worry about. Let it go. It's just stuff. Why are you keeping it? Broaden your focus and see that there are far more important things in the world than owning stuff. One of my favorite verses in the King James Bible is Genesis 45:20. "Regard not your stuff."

If your hand isn't open to let go of the thing you have, then your hand isn't open to receive the thing that God wants to give you.

The thing that is most valuable is not always tangible.

What are you going to give away today?

War: What is it Good For?

1964. Lyndon Johnson. War on Poverty. We still have poverty.
1971. Richard Nixon. War on Drugs. We still have drugs.
1971. Richard Nixon. War on Cancer. We still have cancer.
2001. George Bush. War on Terror. We still have terror.

The President's War Powers enable him to enact administrative laws under the Executive Branch departments without Congress ever having declared "war."

I guess it means he gets to spend a bunch of money on say, social programs or imperialism, without waiting around for a Congressional vote.

How convenient.

Nice gig, if you can get it.

Do The Right Thing

I worked at a school today where I have waaaay more volunteer hours than paid hours, and those paid hours are a laughable pittance, so I consider that a "labor of love" as well.

Some of the other teachers were very unkind to me. "They're under a lot of stress," said the principal.

I still manage to be kind, even under stress. I still manage to smile and say "Hi," even when I have a lot on my plate. I still manage to thank the people who make my life easier and better.

My children will still see me doing the right thing. My children will still see me volunteer, be kind, smile, say hi, and say thanks. They just may see me do it at a different school, however. Maybe it's time to stop casting my pearls before swine.

Whose life will you make better today?

Something for Nothing

I read in the paper where the Mobile County Public School System mandates that teachers give students at least a 50%. No student can get a zero. They get numerous opportunities to take and retake tests. The catch phrase is "No Student is a Failure."

Depends what the meaning of "is" is.

The administration has confused their "who" with their "do." If I do not work, I do not get paid. It does not mean I'm a failure as a person and have no right to oxygen. It means that I have done nothing and my reward equals my effort. This is how the real world works. Should we not be teaching this in school, or has common sense and logical consequences taken a back seat along with fine arts, Family & Consumer Science, and other necessary (elective) classes so that more time can be spent raising standardized test scores?

Kids learn that showing up earns them a passing grade for no or next to no work. You show up, you pass. You're "entitled" to a diploma.

Next thing you know, they'll be handing out Nobel Peace Prizes just for showing up.

Oh, wait. Never mind.

What will your children earn by working today?

Six-Day Mail Delivery

Here are some (excerpted) stats from usps.com

1775 - Benjamin Franklin appointed first Postmaster General by the Continental Congress
1847 - U.S. postage stamps issued
1855 - Prepayment of postage required
1860 - Pony Express began
1863 - Free city delivery began
1873 - U.S. postal cards issued
1874 - First commemorative stamps issued
1896 - Rural free delivery began
1913 - Parcel Post began
1918 - Scheduled airmail service began
1950 - Residential deliveries reduced to one a day
1963 - ZIP Code inaugurated
1970 - Express Mail began experimentally
1974 - Adhesive stamps tested
1982 - Last year Postal Service accepted public service subsidy
1983 - ZIP+4 Code began
1992 - Self-adhesive stamps introduced nationwide
2007 - Forever stamp issued

It seems to me that if the USPS were to stay viable into the next couple of hundred years, a few things need to change. If the last public subsidy was 1982, why weren't the federal mandates ended at that time, too? They tell USPS what they must do, and what they can charge, but won't subsidize the mandates? And people get mad when stamps go up two cents?

Congress mandates universal delivery (even to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, which has to be done by pack mule.) If delivery were privatized, only people in cities would get delivery at all. Those in remote areas would have to come to town to get their mail.

Congress mandates 6-day delivery. I still can't figure that one out. 200 years ago, US Mail was the only means by which people communicated with loved ones far away. Today we have options about which Benjamin Franklin didn't even dream! My daughter texts me from a mile away. One friend phones me from 3 miles away. I get emails from another friend a thousand miles away. I'm on Facebook with a friend across the Atlantic Ocean. My daughter Skypes with her friend in Japan.

Do we really need six day mail delivery? Congress, it seems, is still in the 18th century by refusing to repeal this archaic regulation. (Speaking of archaic, we won't even get into the fact - right now - that the USPS still uses carbon paper.)

I love stamps. They're like little works of art. I love finding a handwritten note in my mailbox. I want the USPS to succeed. I want Congress to back off and let them do so profitably. I think I'll write my Congresscritters a handwritten note and ask for their cooperation in this matter. I'll mail it via USPS.

To whom will you write a note today?

The Walmartization of America

Walmart hires inexperienced part timers. Pay is low. No insurance. No retirement. No unions. The goal = maximize profits.

Charter schools hire inexperienced teachers. Pay is low. No insurance. No retirement. No unions. The goal = maximize profits.

USPS has a hiring freeze on "career" positions. Only hiring part timers. Pay is low. No insurance. No retirement. No unions. The goal = maximize profits.

Anyone else seeing a pattern here?

Teacher Bashing

Did you watch Oprah on 9/20/10?

"Microsoft founder Bill Gates, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and acclaimed director Davis Guggenheim joined daytime host Oprah Winfrey in her Chicago studio Monday for the first in a two-part series on fixing our nation's failing public schools. "

The way to "fix" schools, according to these so-called experts, is to get rid of tenured teachers. The teachers are ineffective, they say. Let's get rid of the ones who can't bring up test scores. Let's get rid of tenure because it's impossible to get rid of ineffective teachers.

H'mmm. The problem with their "cure" is two-fold. They're defining effectiveness by test scores, which have little or nothing to do with actual learning. Second, tenure protects teachers from the whims of administrators like Rhee, who haven't been in some of the classrooms most of the "ineffective" teachers work, and it protects teachers from students who lie. Which is just about all of them.

The only people who got rich on NCLB are the consultants and testmakers. The only people hurting under NCLB are the kids and teachers. Now they want to get rid of teachers? And replace them with what? Inexperienced, untenured teachers who will last a year or two before they quit in despair? Oh, that'll raise your test scores. Not.

The way I see it, the whole media parade of teacher-bashers is aiming for one goal: union busting. They want to decimate the unions & tenure, so they can pay teachers less. Corporate schools hire nonunion, inexperienced (cheap) teachers, make big corporate profits for the shareholders of the corporate school.

Um, like the Walton family, the Gates Foundation, maybe? Surprised? I didn't think so.

What teachers helped YOU with actual learning, and which of them will you thank today?

Toda

תודה Toda = Hebrew for Thank You.

Woke up in a warm bed, with a loving husband, in a climate-controlled house. I have children & pets who think I'm great, most of the time. ;-)

I have a car that runs, food in the fridge, a job, decent health, enough money to pay the bills.

Clean water arrives at the turn of the faucet. My house is as clean as I decide it should be. My life is not in imminent danger by human enemies or natural means. I'm humbled by the opportunities I have been given, not shared by the rest of the world.

Toda = Thank you.

I am grateful to God for my many blessings.

For what are you grateful toda-y?

Would You Reapply For Your Own Job?

Peggy Castellano wrote an article about Freemont HS in South Central L.A. where the "suits" are so desperate for a sound byte that explains the students' low test scores, that they're firing all the teachers and making them reapply for their own job. This will supposedly weed out the ineffective teachers. Oh really?

I tutor math. I can work with a child in junior high for less than an hour to be able to tell you in which grade the ball was dropped. Math troubles start well before high school. Math builds on what you learned the year before. For example, if you failed to learn times tables in 3rd grade, you won't understand division in 4th. If you don't recognize multiplication factors, you won't grasp GCF, Greatest Common Factor, in 5th. If you don't learn multiples (again, the times tables) you won't recognize LCM, Least Common Multiple, in 6th.

If high schoolers are failing math, don't blame the high school teacher. He has to teach the state-mandated curriculum. He does not have the hours in a day to start at times tables, where the ball may have been dropped, and work up to Algebra I. That all should have been done in lower grades. Students in Algebra should be READY for Algebra.

LAUSD is wrong to think that firings will solve the problem. Unless the only problem they're really trying to solve is how to save the suits' jobs.

With whom will you practice times tables today?

Keeping Secrets

I've told my children from the time they were toddlers/preschoolers, "We don't keep secrets. If anyone ever says 'Don't tell your mom; it's a secret,' the first thing you do is tell Mom, because we don't keep secrets."

We do, however, keep surprises: a birthday surprise, a Christmas surprise, a surprise party.

Kids know what a surprise is. Giving them two different words helps them make the mental distinction on when they should tell, and when they should not.

What safety lessons are you teaching your child today?

What They Do With It

So you give your child a cell phone, and what does she do with it? She talks to people of whom you don't approve. So you give the beggar a dollar, and what does he do with it? He spends it on alcohol and drugs. So you leave the waitress a generous tip, and what does she do with it? She buys cigarettes and a lottery ticket. So you give the government your hard-earned tax dollars and what do they do with it? They fund programs with which you vehemently disagree. So what do you do? You do the right thing. You can't control how people use what they're given. If you know that giving was the right thing to do, then let it go. What happens to it after that is not your concern. Keep doing the right thing. And then let it go. You did your part. 

Loyalty

Loyalty: a sense of obligation to stay together, to work together, to work it out.

I have heard a lot of complaints lately from employers, that they're not seeing the kind of employee loyalty they used to, back in the day. The ones doing the complaining are usually the 50-and-up crowd, who remember a time when companies took care of their people, and the people stayed with the company for their entire career.

When did that change? In my household, it changed 11 years ago.

My husband is a faithful man. He is faithful to me, and to his employer. He worked for a corporation for almost 22 years. He gave them 100%, every day, day after day. He did everything with excellence. He went above and beyond. He worked overtime. He answered calls while on "vacation." He was as loyal to them as anyone you've ever known.

Then, there were rumors of pending layoffs. His bosses told him he wouldn't be laid off. They needed him. He was going to be transferred to another city. He didn't look for or apply to internal job postings because he didn't know he was supposed to. He was told he was going to be transferred. He believed his bosses. I researched and corresponded with school districts in that city, mentally preparing to uproot my household and move to where I knew no one.

Then he was laid off. He got one day's notice. On his last day, they didn't even buy him a sandwich from the deli. And it was too late to apply internally. If he wanted to apply for any other company position, he'd have to knock on the front door like any other outsider. Even after having given them 22 years (more than half) of his life.

His loyalty counted for nothing.

And companies wonder why employees aren't loyal any more? Multiply this man times many thousands. Then tell me whether you have EARNED the loyalty you seek.

The street runs both ways.

You gotta give it to get it.

Who has been there for you and deserves your loyalty today?

Toxic Mothers

When I was growing up, I thought all mothers were like mine. I don't know why I thought this, other than that I had no reason to believe otherwise. My friends' mothers were pretty much like mine. They wanted to know where we were going, with whom, and they did not ask us what time we'd be home; they TOLD us what time to be home. They made us eat our vegetables and would not let us see R-rated movies. That's what moms are supposed to do, right?

When I was in my late 20s, I worked with girls who were nothing like me, and I found out that there were mothers who were not like mine.

One girl had to call the Men in White Coats to come and get her mother, because the woman was certifiable, a threat to herself and others. My coworker was lamenting that the company insurance would not let her add her mother as a dependent, because she was supporting her mother.

Another coworker got a bill for hundreds of dollars charged to "her" account at a local department store. This girl did not have a charge account at this store. It turns out her mother had used her information and opened the account, followed by a shopping spree. This girl now had to pay the bill, because in order to dispute the debt, she'd have to press charges against her mother and she couldn't do that. So she resigned herself to working more hours to pay off her mother's spree.

I wrote a letter to my mother, telling her how very much I appreciate all she did for me.

More recently, a friend shared horror stories about her mother. The woman, trying to frighten her daughter into getting "saved," would hide, leaving the frightened girl to believe that Mother had been raptured and my friend was left behind. How sick and pathetic is that?

Today in Dear Abby, I read about another toxic mother.

WOMAN WITH CANCER SHOULDN'T WASTE TIME ON HATEFUL MOM

DEAR ABBY: My 89-year-old mother has always been difficult. She not only never loved me, she treated me as if she didn't like me, either. She told me she didn't send me a birthday card on my birthday last month because "What was it supposed to say -- what a 'wonderful' person you are?" My children visibly winced when they heard her say it and worked extra-hard to make sure my day was special.Abby, I have cancer. My prognosis is questionable. I was supposed to have been dead seven years ago -- but I'm managing. My problem is, I recently was told that my mother has been keeping in touch with a single friend of mine from years ago, and they are making plans for her to marry my husband when I die! A few other so-called "friends" are in on this. This last betrayal is incredibly hurtful. Where do I go from here? -- J.C. IN CALIFORNIA

DEAR J.C.: Where do you go from here? As far away from your toxic mother as possible -- and on to a long, and hopefully complete, remission!

I have to second Abby's motion. Sometimes the only cure for contact with toxic people is to avoid contact. Even if she's your mother.

What will you say about your mother today?

Fun Math Game

Today we played War. Yeah, the card game.

Preschooler played "normal" war. Each player flips a card. Whose is bigger?

Grade schooler played addition war. Flip two cards. Add them. Now add my two. Whose sum is bigger? (This also works for subtraction & multiplication.)

Middle schooler played "Integer War." Flip two cards up. Black are positive, red are negative. Add them. Now add my two. Whose sum is bigger?

Another variation for 5th or 6th grade would be to increasing the flip number to three or more, and work on order of operations (red are multiply, black are add), squaring, or using the smaller of two as an exponent for the larger.

If you want to throw some physical exercise into the mix, lie down, keep the cards in your hands & do a sit up before you can play your card(s).

Who says you can't have fun learning, especially in the summer, when you get to make up your own rules?

What fun rules will you make up today?

New = Better?

The tech crowd goes wild every time Steve Jobs burps. The NEW iPhone4 must be better because it's NEW. Ooops, sorry about that antenna thing...

Politicians love to run on the concept of NEW. Throw the incumbents out! Elect me instead! We need NEW ideas, NEW leadership! If it's been there a while, like last year's handbag, it's just not as good as this year's model, right?

Look at the incumbents themselves. They often brag about the NEW laws they passed, the NEW roads and bridges they built. Why? Because nobody gets excited about maintaining the infrastructure or enforcing existing laws. There's nothing "whee!" about quietly doing with excellence the job you are called to do.

People want "whee!" Politicians know this.

Some very good incumbents were voted out in this week's Baldwin County primary runoff election. Incumbents, quietly doing their job with excellence, raised the creditworthiness of our county in an economic climate where almost nobody could accomplish that feat. Even when the "old" was excellent, the financially illiterate people threw the baby out with the bathwater, because all they saw was the football coach's endorsement, and the word NEW. The accomplishments of the incumbents were not enough for "whee!" the people.

The law of reaping and sowing still applies. People get the government they deserve.

I'm still carrying last year's handbag. It's not "whee!" but it quietly, excellently does the job it was created to do. I'm ok with that.

What old, reliable things will you hang on to today?

Math is Everywhere

Math is Everywhere.

Do not depend on a calculator to do your thinking for you. If you have basic (8th grade or better) math in your head, you have a treasure that no one can take away from you, and you're much less likely to be cheated by those who want your money. Here's a hint: everyone wants your money.

Math is something you can use, every day. It's everywhere in your home, your car, your work, your play.

How do you halve or double a recipe without knowing math?

How do you figure the square yardage to buy carpet for your room without knowing math?

How do you calculate if the smaller or larger jar of peanut butter is a better deal without knowing math?

How do you balance (and not overdraw) your checkbook without knowing math?

How do you figure out how many miles per gallon your car gets without knowing math?

How do you figure out a baseball player's batting average without knowing math?

In what ways are you using your treasure today?

Manners

"Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use." - Emily Post There are children who somehow grow up, never having learned that they are not the center of the universe. This always astounds me, as I can't see any parent deliberately crippling their child's social growth. When parents cater to Beauregard's every whim, without teaching the niceties of "please" and "thank you," they are raising, perhaps without realizing it, a little tyrant. What child wants to play with a kid who always has to be first, have his way, get what he wants, when he wants? What child wants a playmate who never takes turns, shares what he has, or seems to appreciate anything given him? I blame the parents. Where does a child learn manners? At home, mostly. What about the other influences, like tv? When my older boys were growing up in the 90s, The Simpsons was a popular tv show. We didn't watch it, because the tv children were rude. What ever you grow up with, you think is normal. I didn't want my kids thinking Bart's behavior is normal or ok. If Bart Simpson were a guest in my home, I'd show him the door and tell him don't come back. Why on earth would I allow him "in" my home via airwaves? I don't want that example set for my children. That's my right & responsibility as a parent. If you are not modeling the behavior you wish to teach, you are teaching something else. I ask my son to vacuum the living room. I say please and thank you. Yes, I could as easily bark an order for him to do it. But if doing it the "nice" way works, why be angry? Will he respect me more if I'm angry all the time? He might act like it, but deep down, I don't think so. Ten or twenty years from now, he'll thank me for teaching him manners. And he'll chew and swallow before he does so. 

What Every 3rd/4th Grader Needs to Know

I tutor Math. Kids struggle in upper grades, often for no other reason than someone dropped the ball in the lower grades. Math is cumulative. It builds on what you learned the year before. Therefore, every child I meet hears me talk about times tables and how to learn them easily. Here's my speech: How many of you have a tv? Good - most of you. Ok, how many of you have a tv with a remote control? Ok. On your remote control is a button called mute M-U-T-E. At my house we call it the "shut up button." (Those commercials are loud!) Here's what I want you to do. Put your flashcards on the table, next to the remote. You're sitting there watching iCarly, and a commercial comes on. Pick up the remote, mute the sound, and flip through your flash cards during the commercial, about 2 or 3 minutes. Oh look, the show's back on. Set your cards down, turn the sound back up, watch iCarly. Next commercial, do it again. If you will go through your flash cards every time there is a commercial on, I promise that you will know them all within 2 weeks. (end of speech) I used flashcards to memorize various formulae for a test. I flipped through them when I was at a red light, at a basketball game (when my son was on the bench) or in line at the post office. We're not talking higher level thinking, just memorizing. Times tables flashcards are about $2 at Walmart in the book & magazine section, but I saw some in the $1 section of Target last week. I may go buy up every pack they have so I can hand them out.

Glitz vs Natural

There are two categories of children's beauty pageants: glitz and natural. The glitz pageants don't pretend to be normal, uh, I mean natural. Makeup, big hair, fake lashes, fake teeth, rhinestones, and all the rest really take "playing dress up" to an extreme. Natural pageants are more toned down. They only wear enough makeup to look good without looking made up. What? Yeah, the natural contestants wear makeup. Maybe skip the flipper, but don't kid yourself. I wouldn't compete with a just-washed face. They'd laugh me out the door with my "last place" ribbon. The only question then, is, how much can I get away with? Afterall, I don't take out the trash without wearing my eyeliner, so a "just-washed face" is downright indecent to me. My gray hairs don't bother me (I've earned every one of them!), but some things (like my eyes and lips) just need a little help. And I'm not too proud to admit it. 

War is Hell (So is Moving)

If you're thinking about moving, here is some friendly advice:

If you want your friends to help you, have cold drinks. Especially if it's over 100 degrees outside.

Take your cat somewhere. Board it. Get a friend to keep it for a day or two. Something.

Every box can say "Misc" if you want, but one. Label the box that contains the fire extinguisher.

Trust me on that last one.

Calendars & Date Books

I live & die by my calendar. The children know that if an item is not on the calendar, it doesn't happen. If you have a meeting to which you need Mom's Taxi, it had better be scheduled.

Not that we don't have room for spontaneity, but when you have so many people going so many different directions, why take chances?

I keep appointments both on my paper calendar and on my cell phone. I can pull up a day on my phone, and see at a glance what I've got scheduled that day. I can even set an alarm so I don't forget any of these appointments.

My phone died a few days ago. The touch screen went out. No calls. No texts. No calendar. The phone was under warranty (for a couple more weeks) and AT&T was nice enough to swap it out for new.

One problem. The new phone didn't have my photos, my ringtones, or (gasp!) my calendar.

Always keep a paper back up. Electronics are fragile. Phones get dropped, lost, or stolen. Don't depend entirely on your electronic organizers. IT Gurus talk about "redundant backups" of data. That means that files on a computer, if they are important, are backed up several times, so that if one of the backups is unavailable, for any reason, the files are still recoverable.

My calendar items are recoverable. Disaster averted. Thanks to paper.

What old fashioned communication will you bless today?

Summertime, and the Livin' is...

Summertime
by George Gershwin

Summertime and the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is HIGH
Oh your Daddy's rich and your ma is good lookin'
So hush little baby, don't you cry

One of these mornings
You're goin' to rise up singing
YES, you'll spread your wings
And you'll take the sky
But till that morning
There's a nothin' can harm you
With daddy and mammy standin' by

------------

My summer doesn't look like this. Ok, we can sleep in a little. If the fish are jumping, it's to get out of the BP oil spill. The cotton isn't high until about October. Daddy sure ain't rich. Mama, well, beauty moves from the face to the heart as we age.

Music is about dreams. It can inspire us to want something better. I want something better. There will come a day...

What better thing are you counting on today?

Computer Viri & "Protection" Money

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I have long believed that the people who sell virus protection software write the virus programs from which they protect you. How else would they know what anti-virus programs to sell you?

I was proven right yesterday when I learned that one of my computers was infected with something called bankerfox.a. It's a popup that tells you you're infected, then asks you to download their protection software - for a price.

Hey, buddy, give us your money, and we'll make sure ya don't get hoit - heh heh.

Cosa Nostra much?

I read about this virus on a number of sites but was just unable to fix it myself. I sent the computer to my guru who can clean it up for me.

It saddens me that those who are so technologically gifted use those gifts for "the dark side." And if I'm going to have to pay someone to clean up the computer, I trust my guru a whole lot more than I do the guy who gave me the virus in the first place.

Lots of people claim to want to "help" you. Who gets your money today?

Classroom Crowding

I hate to get on my soapbox about the olden days, but as teacher positions continue to be cut, classroom sizes continue to increase. I am reminded of my first grade classroom at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School.

There were 20 girls, 20 boys, and Sister Lois Ann.

You didn't mess with Sister Lois Ann.

It was a different world then. Children obeyed their teachers, because they knew they'd get in trouble at home if they did not. Today, parents have been known to cuss out teachers who dare to expect a standard of behavior or academic achievement. As a teacher, I hope I wouldn't take it personally. It's not wrong to raise the bar high.

I've taught classrooms of 38 students. I've had visitors admire my classroom control.

I learned a lot from Sister Lois Ann. Even if I didn't know it at the time.

What, in retrospect, did you learn from your early teachers?

Makeup Rules for Small Town Girls

1. Bright red lipstick is just not appropriate unless you're over 40.
2. Put on eyeliner first, then drink coffee.
3. Don't skip the makeup thinking, "It's only Walmart." You WILL run into someone you know.
4. If it's after church on Sunday, be especially mindful of #3.
5. If you go to "Glamor Shots" or a similar photography place on the day of your Senior Prom, thinking you can get your hair & makeup professionally done, be aware that they don't style the back of your head.

I'm Invisible to Teens

Teenagers don't see me.

It's true. I stood in front of a classroom door, watching hundreds of kids pass by. I was invisible.

They do not see me, they do not make eye contact, they do not smile, and they do not speak to me. They speak to each other, so I know it's not a physical perception problem. The problem is me. I'm an adult. They don't need me, therefore, they don't see me.

I've instructed my children to be the "Tenth Leper" so to speak. Be the one who is a little different, a little better, than their peers. Be the one who writes a thank you note to the teacher at the end of the term, letting him/her know that you appreciate what you learned. Be the one who makes eye contact in the hallway, perhaps a smile or a nod as you walk by. It costs nothing, but it does something important.

It makes you memorable.

A few years from now, when you want a job reference or a letter of recommendation for a scholarship, who are you going to ask to write one? Your teachers. Don't wait until the last semester of your Senior year to make all nicey-nice and suck up right before you need them. Teachers can smell fake a mile away.

If you have built a reputation for being excellent by starting years ahead of time, the adults in your life will remember that you were the one who was excellent in the sea of mediocrity that fills the school hallways.

You don't build a reputation over night. You build it day, by day, by day, little by little. By doing the little things. Like acknowledging people in your life.

Who are you going to acknowledge today?

Undercover Edu-Boss

Yeah, I'm on Twitter. It's a good way to stay on top of breaking news and trending topics. I also have a personal learning network of incredible people who are gracious enough to share amazing resources with me. We often get some good discussions going. Sometimes I get on a roll and cannot confine all my thoughts to a single 140-character tweet.

Having watched the show "Undercover Boss" (and loving it!!!) I got into a series of tweets with another educator about having the Undercover Boss pretend to be an entry level employee in an education setting. He/she wouldn't last a week. My tweets:

I want the undercover edu-boss to teach 2nd grade math with no workbooks.
I want the undercover edu-boss to serve 500 meals in the cafeteria & clean up after, minus one worker and no supply budget.
I want the undercover edu-boss to teach HS Eng in an inclusion class where no one is able to be quiet for more than 10 seconds.

I want the undercover edu-boss to sit at the receptionist's desk and call 42 subs before he/she can find one to take this class.

I'm just tired of them cutting at the bottom instead of the top. They have no clue.

Baldwin County is getting a new Superintendent. God bless him with wisdom. I hope he starts his new job by spending time at the bottom. He'll learn a lot more there than in the ivory tower.

What are you learning at the bottom today?

Tell Me Something Good

There is a young man I see from time to time. Each time I greet him, I ask him to "Tell me something good." He often says he doesn't know anything good. Maybe he thinks I want to hear about good grades, or something like that. Maybe he's not sure what I want to hear, so he claims not to know anything.

What I want to hear is something good.

After many encounters with no satisfactory report, I finally asked him, "Can you not see that the sky is blue? The sun is out? Do you not hear the birds singing? Do you not smell the gardenias wafting on every breeze? Is the earth not still spinning on its axis? There's plenty of good. Open your eyes!"

I'll be curious to learn what good thing he has to report at our next meeting. And how I might respond if he, once again, denies knowing of anything good. Especially now that he knows there is no wrong answer.

There is no wrong answer.

What good things can you talk about today?

I Care More Than You!

"I love mankind; it's people I can't stand." - Linus VanPelt Thinking requires less work than doing. "Loving mankind" reflects intentions or altruistic feelings. Feelings are fickle, fleeting, and frankly aren't worth a hill of beans. True love involves work. You DO things for the people you love. And sometimes for the ugly people, the mean people, the ones who do nothing and never will do anything for you. That's love. It's easier to care about the Rainforest than to clean your room. Caring doesn't involve work. It's easier to wear a pink ribbon, and feel self-righteous about it, than to empty the puke pail of a breast cancer patient on chemo. But nobody sees the puke pail. People SEE the ribbon. It shows how much you CARE. If you need an audience, then reexamine your motives.

The Whiner's Club

When I was young, I thought it would be cool to be a psychiatrist, because of their phenomenal hourly rate of pay. As I acquired wisdom, I realized that I had no interest whatsover in listening to people complain, no matter what the pay. Maybe they don't really listen. I don't know, but it's not something I could do. After a while I'd lose patience like Jesus at the Pool of Bethesda (John 15:1-8) and ask, "Do you really want to get well???"

There can be some therapeutic value to having others share your tale of woe. It's nice, I suppose, to know you're not the only one suffering a particular fate. A program called "Rainbows for All God's Children" exists in schools purportedly to help children deal with loss. ("Boo hoo, my parents are divorced." "Boo hoo, mine are too.")

Whatever. Let's get on with our lives instead of celebrating our victimhood, shall we?

Shel Silverstein wrote a poem called "Complainin' Jack" that sums up my feelings pretty well:

This morning my old jack-in-the-box
Popped out - and wouldn't get back in the box.
He cried, "Hey, there's a tack in the box,
And it's cutting me through and through.

"There also is a crack in the box,
And I never find a snack in the box,
And sometimes I hear a quack in the box,
'Cause a duck lives in here too."

Complain, complain is all he did -
I finally had to close the lid."

My kids are pretty good at complaining. Sometimes I just have to close the lid because I can't listen to it any more. When they have kids, they'll probably say idiotic things like "When I was your age..." because as you grow wisdom, you see what others are doing wrong.

Except they see it as you, complaining.
And they shut the lid.

What good things do you have to say today?

Practical Babies

Every time I pass by the baby section at the store, I wistfully long for a baby for whom to buy all this cute, cute stuff. Then I push my buggy on to the aisles of laundry detergent and canned goods. It is no mystery that if I actually had someone for whom to buy the frilly dresses, I wouldn't. I'd buy diapers.

When my oldest daughter was born, I had all the fru-fru outfits there were, gifts from friends and relatives, but she had no socks that fit. Her feet were so tiny, all the socks fell off her feet. A Norwegian girl named Bente went out and bought my baby tiny little socks. I still have those socks, and I still call them "Bente socks."

The practical, meeting-needs kind of gifts are the ones we remember. When my third child was 4, her sister was born. The best gift was not a fru-fru outfit for the baby, it was my mother in law taking the older girl out to lunch so I could nap with the baby. It was my sister coming over & feeding the others so I could sit on my butt and feed the baby.

I don't remember the fru frus. I remember the ones who met a desperate need.

I tend to be practical, anyway. When my 5th child was born, I changed the outgoing message on the answering machine to announce, "If you want to see the new baby, the price of admission is a gallon of milk. Don't show up empty handed."

It usually takes a baby or two to learn what your baby needs and what is just junk. Babies need a lot less than you think.

My sister calls those dresses "Grandma bait." It will be interesting to see if I fall for it when I'm a grandma. Perhaps, if the child already has diapers, socks that fit, and mama has sufficient rest and a casserole.

And if the dress is machine washable.

Some personality traits don't change. What practical needs will you meet today?

Merit Pay for Teachers?

Teachers, contrary to critics' reports, are not "afraid" of merit pay. The issue is not fear - it's fairness. Teachers know what goes on in a classroom.

Did the critics spend time trying to contact a student's mother whose phone is disconnected? Did they write notes home that mom never saw, or perhaps was unable to read? Did the critics sling green beans in the cafeteria and wipe down tables because the budget cuts have left all the front lines shorthanded? Did the critics spend a day supervising OCS with a girl whose attire, behavior, and language screams "Notice me!" Did the critics break up a line of boys standing in front of the girls' restroom, where they could have favors for a quarter, and wonder what kind of family does a girl go home to, that she values herself so little?

All I'm saying is, there are some things that go on in school that have nothing to do with tested outcomes. There are plenty of cultural factors that affect learning that the teacher can't control.

Every kid doesn't come from a nice, middle class suburban neighborhood with parents who feed him a good breakfast, dress him properly, drive him to school, volunteer on Field Day, and help him with his homework. If you did or yours does, congratulations. Count yourself blessed.

And let the rest of the children whose family does not value education have a teacher who is there by Divine calling, and who deserves not merit pay based on things outside of her control, but combat pay for showing up and doing her best.

And then doing it again the next day.

And the next.

Peep Jousting - an Easter Tradition

Family traditions are important, because they give us something to look forward to each year. Something fun and predictable will happen at the same time each year, like birthday cakes and Christmas trees.

Some families dye eggs on the day before Easter. Not us. Not that we don't like coloring eggs, but it seemed that we just don't like to eat boiled eggs. So we ditched the egg coloring. Now we joust Peeps. It's fun, whimsical, delicious, and gives the kids bragging rights. It goes like this:

1. Face off two peeps on a glass plate. Each has a toothpick under his wing.
2. Microwave for a minute or less. Everyone crowd around and watch.
3. The Peeps will expand from the heat. The one that gets popped by the other's sword, loses.
4. The Peeps taste like roasted marshmallows. Enjoy!

Scattered or Focused?

"Success demands singleness of purpose." -Vince Lombardi

You'll never be good at something, if it's not important enough to you to devote the required time and effort. You'll never be excellent at something, if it's not your primary focus.

Working moms have the worst dilemma - worrying about the family while at work. The daycare calls; your child is sick. Come get him now, they say. Yeah, and just how do I leave and not lose my job?

How do you balance work and family and still do a half-way decent job at either?

Having it all is a myth. It was designed by the feminists to make stay-at-home moms feel guilty for not fulfilling themselves with a career (ie: not being selfish). The fact is, you have to choose which is more important. Is your focus job or family?

If your focus is job, don't apologize. Do your job with excellence. Get some help (nanny, relatives, neighbor) to help look after your children. Do the best you can with what you have.

If your focus is family, don't apologize. Do your job with excellence. Help look after other people's children for some extra money or volunteer your time at school. Do the best you can with what you have.

Choose this day whom you will serve. And then serve with excellence.

On what will you focus today?

For All the Sneezers

God bless you!

Time - A Precious Gift

If you could spend all the money in the world on your children, would you? If you could spend all the time in the world with them, would you? If you had to balance the two, what percentage would be time, and what would be money? Most parents are working hard to make more money. And that's ok, in balance. How much is enough to pay the bills, and how much is just to trade up for a better house, a better car, better clothes, better lifestyle? Kids, on the other hand, would rather have your time. The time with your kids only comes around once. When it's gone, it's gone. Once the kids are grown, you have lots of time to make money. You can always make more money. Where do you get more time? Lots of old folks are wishing they had to do it over again, wishing they could get that time back and build the relationship with their children that would last into their old age. You don't have to make all the mistakes yourself. You can learn from the mistakes of others. That's real wisdom. 

I Love Math

I love math.

There, I've said it. I set myself apart, as a small minority of geeky people who groove on numbers and statistics and calculations, when "normal" people should prefer American Idol and NASCAR races.

There is a certain prestige associated with teaching math. I have mastered concepts that others fear. We're not in the "awe" league that pop stars (and wannabes) have for Brittany Spears, or movie directors for Steven Spielberg, but there is a certain admiration for those colleagues who are a level above.

Math is absolute. There is no subjectivity when I grade a math test. The answer is either right or wrong. You don't get a better grade on a day when I'm in a good mood. I can't help you by giving partial credit for an almost-right answer.

There is no drama to math. In a school full of hormonal energy, where bffs are created and destroyed in a matter of hours, where jubilation is exchanged for misery on the hourly roller coaster of emotions, math is constant.

1+ 1 will always be 2. It doesn't matter how you feel about it. i = √-1 no matter what your friends think.

Math is something to count on, in more ways than one. What a breath of fresh air.

What is a constant in your life?

Perspective

For your consideration:

1.7 million people in the US have lost a limb.

1.3 million Americans are legally blind.

There are 2.9 million disabled vets in the U.S.

There are over one billion undernourished people in the world.

Almost two million died of hunger this year.

Twelve thousand people died of hunger today.

One and a half million people are homeless in Chile after their Feb 27th earthquake.

Hundreds of thousands in Haiti are living under a blue tarp on a dirt/mud floor after their January 12 earthquake.

4500 children will die today because of lack of access to clean water.

My cat drinks cleaner water than half the world's population.

I woke up in a warm bed, in a warm house, with all my body parts more or less working the way they should. The family members in this house love me to pieces. We all have education in varying amounts, plenty of clean clothes & shoes to wear. We have food and drinks in the fridge and in the cabinets.

We have clean water that arrives at the turn of a spigot. Today it was cold. Something's wrong with the water heater & we had no hot water.

All things considered, I have *nothing* to complain about.

What will you keep in perspective today?

Apples to Apples

I read an article today by Chad Aldeman called Kipp Works. It's about the studies done showing the success of charter schools managed by Kipp. I am intrigued by their customer-driven approach to education. If it works, more power to 'em.

One argument many like to make against charter schools is that they "skim" the best & brightest. I reject that argument with a counter argument: why don't the public schools end the "inclusion classes" and then compare apples to apples.

What I mean is this: put the public schools' best and brightest (and most motivated) against Kipp's best and brightest. When you really compare like groups, you'll find that both schools work. The public school children are getting a less-than-stellar education, not because the teachers aren't qualified or not giving everything they've got, but because their classes are populated with too many kids who shouldn't be there.

Some kids are academically advanced. Some are not. Split them up into different classes and let the fast learners race ahead, instead of goofing around waiting for the others to catch up.

As for the bright (or not) but unmotivated, if a kid puts his head down and sleeps in my class, it bothers me that he's wasting his education, but it doesn't perturb me as much as the bright (or not) attention junkie who not only doesn't want to be there, but wants to make sure no one else gets an education, either.

Constant disruptions make real learning impossible. No fun learning activities, because that privilege would be abused, so the whole class is "punished" with a mean teacher who spends all her time on behavior management. Lord, have mercy.

If I could remove between 3 and 6 students from every class in every school, move them to their own classroom where they can act up all they want, the rest of the students would get the stellar education for which their parents pay dearly every year at tax time.

Motivation is crucial to education. It starts at home at age zero, not in Kindergarten after 5 years of junk food and video games. If we compare the motivated kids with the motivated kids, you'd find that Kipp schools work, but so do public schools.

When the schools work, everyone wins.

How are you going to motivate your children to do their best today?

Children, Money, and the Family Budget part I

If I had a magic money tree in my back yard, life would be so different.

I don't know that it would make us happier, necessarily (except we could stop worrying about how much our homeowner's insurance went up this year, or what scholarships our child might receive) but it would change the nature of our discussions.

Child: Mom, I need a calculator for math.
Parent: Borrow your sister's calculator - she doesn't have a math class this term.
Child: Why do I have to go to bed so early?
Parent: So you stay healthy. And take a vitamin C - we can't afford a visit to the doctor if you get sick.
Child: Stop here for a minute so I can buy a Coke.
Parent: If you have money to buy Cokes, why don't you replace the school uniform shirt that you can't find?

This is nit-picky stuff about the family budget. Like all parents, we're doing the best we can. If we had that magic money tree, each child would have a calculator, doctor's visits would be proactive rather than reactive, and the girl could have more than two (now down to one) shirts. On the other hand, buying two calculators is rather wasteful, if only one is needed. Staying healthy really is a wiser course of action. Learning to be responsible for your uniform is a good lesson, too.

So, by not having all the money in the world, my children are learning to be responsible and make wise decisions with what we do have. They're learning to take charge of their health, live within their means, and that one needn't own everything to be happy.

They're learning to do they best they can with what they have.

That's something we all should learn.

What is your financial condition teaching your children today?

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

Mardi Gras is big business in the South. New Orleans is famous, of course, for its Mardi Gras debauchery, but Mobile claims to have started the parading tradition.

Regardless, my favorite parades are on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, in Daphne and Fairhope. These parades are fun, family friendly, and the crowds are small enough that you are sure not only to make new friends, but to catch at least a couple of throws. A throw is a Moon Pie, some beads, or a trinket that maskers throw from the floats. Why the masks? Um, they belong to secret societies. You're not supposed to know who they are.

In Daphne, there are 2 women's krewes and a men's krewe that parade annually. I've made some observations about them.

The women's krewes, Apollo's Mystic Ladies and Mystic Order of Persephone, throw a lot of beads. Women are thrifty, generally, and they buy used beads and throw them again next year. Or they attend other parades, catch beads, and throw them in their own parades. This is completely understandable, of course, as these women are putting out their own money for everything they throw, and they are not wealthy by any means. What is noteworthy, though, besides the abundance of beads, is that they tend to throw at little children behind the barricades. If you are cute and maybe wearing doodly-floppers on your head, duck - beads are definitely coming your way.

The men's krewe, The Shadow Barons, throw more "consumables." This would include Moon Pies and other edibles. They like to throw at a target or challenge. If you are standing in the bed of a pickup truck with a laundry basket or bushel basket, with a poster saying "Can You Hit This?" the Shadow Barons will take this as a personal challenge. Be prepared for a haul.

I'm not saying one is preferable to the other - they're just different.

Male and female created He them. Viva la difference! (That's French for "Laissez les bons temps rouler.")

What differences will you celebrate today?

The Sky is Falling!

The sky is falling!

Snow is predicted for Mobile, AL. It hasn't snowed here since 1996. The schools are closed. The talking heads have warned "stay home!" How many schools get Hurricane Days and Snow Days in the same academic year?

Um, it's raining now. Maybe it'll snow later. Maybe not. We'll see.

"We'll see" doesn't generate media attention. They can't say that. Not & keep their jobs. So they hedge a little. They give probabilities and generalities. So did Iben Browning. He predicted an earthquake. It didn't happen. He was derided as having predicted "the greatest non-event since 'Geraldo and the Vault.'" Dr. Browning died 7 months later of a heart attack. Probably brought on by derision.

Geraldo goes on. He doesn't expect anyone to take him seriously. He'll probably live to 100.

Chicken Little is going to stress himself into an early grave.

Stay tuned for photos if, indeed, we get the white stuff.

What are you going to do with your snow day today?

Edit: photo added. Haha. (You can see the snow in the air, really, can't you?)

How to Tell if They're Telling the Truth

By their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:16)

If someone tells you who they are instead of being who they are, pay more attention to their actions than their words.

If someone says "somebody needs to do something about ..." they aren't referring to themselves.

If someone has made promises they didn't keep, don't believe their subsequent promises.

If they say they value [fill in the blank], look at their checkbook register to see where their money goes. That will give you the biggest clue what their values really are.

What will your actions reveal about you today?

So Fake

I pray that my children never enter politics. Children in elementary school are told, wrongly, that they can grow up to be President. That's not true, of course, because you have to be born into the right family with the right connections and enough money, but there are plenty of local politics to go around. Local politics are probably the worst. Homeowners' Association boards are notorious for being populated with little people trying to be important and make rules for everyone else. I think I went to Junior High with girls who now sit on these boards. Politicians make promises they can't or won't keep. Everyone knows that politicians lie. Then they vote for them anyway. Then they act surprised to find out that the tiger didn't change its stripes and voted for the bills that he has always supported even though he swore this time it would be different. Which only proves that people love a beautiful lie more than an ugly truth. And that politicians probably couldn't get elected if they told the truth. Which is why I don't want my children going there. I want my children to find their mission in life. I ask them this: Where is your passion? What do you love doing so much that you would do it for free? Whatever you are, be the best one at it. Except politics. Who wants to be the best liar? 

We Needed Girlfriends

I watched the 2010 Miss America pageant recently. Miss Washington DC made a comment about how much she loved her iphone. One of her favorite apps was a "fake call." If you need to get out of a situation, you press a button, your phone calls you, and you can fake an urgent situation that excuses you from the one at hand.

We needed girlfriends for that.

If I was out on a date, say at his apartment or mine, I would prearrange with my girlfriend to phone me at a precise time, so that if the date wasn't going well, I could say something suddenly came up and beg off early. If the date was going well, no harm no foul.

It's bothersome to think that an iphone app could replace girlfriends.

You could take a photo of yourself and look at it to see if you have spinach in your teeth. No need for a girlfriend.

You could post your woes on myriad chatrooms and ask for advice on Yahoo!Answers. No need for a girlfriend.

Iphones just don't have the heart connection that girlfriends can provide.
Does your iphone laugh with you over silly dumb junk?
Does your iphone go shopping with you and tell you when you try on something that looks awful on you? (Don't trust a clerk on commission to tell you the truth!!!)
Does your iphone curl your hair with a curling iron and help you with your makeup?
Does your iphone help you get a date to the dance?

Technology has its place. Replacing girlfriends is not its place. A phone and all its apps can be replaced. Girlfriends cannot.

With what girlfriends will you laugh today?

Tolerance

"One of the greatest disasters of our time is our universal acceptance of the word 'tolerance' as a great virtue." - Zig Ziglar The only way to be truly successful is to have a standard of behavior. Here is the line. If you cross it, this will happen. If you sass your mama, you go to time out. If you stay out past curfew, you lose the privilege of going out. Tolerance really means "anything goes." She tolerates the sass because she's too tired to enforce a consequence. She tolerates teens staying out all night, because she wants to be the cool mom. Tolerance is not love. Quite the opposite. Tolerance says, "I don't love you enough to expect excellence from you." I will "tolerate" people who like sugar on their popcorn instead of salt. That is a matter of different, not a matter of right & wrong. Different doesn't mean wrong. We tolerate differences. We don't tolerate wrong. Know the difference. Act on what you know. What you permit, you promote. 

Missionaries

For a few years, I've been wanting to go on a mission trip. Food for the Poor has feeding stations in Jamaica and Haiti, where they meet the basic needs of the poorest of the poor. Haiti, as you know, had an earthquake recently. I doubt that any pilgrimages will be scheduled any time soon, but I am gratified to learn that other aid teams are moving in. Jamaica is still hungry. One of the Corporal Works of Mercy is "feed the hungry." I've got kids. Some days, that's all I do. Today I volunteered in the school cafeteria. Guess what I did all day? I fed the hungry. I didn't have to go to Jamaica to do it. W & Bill aren't ambassadors to the school cafeteria. No one is sending in money or help. Not the PTO. Not the parents. Certainly not "Billion Dollar Bob," or the school board - they've cut the help and now 3 people are doing the work of 4. The manager waits in line to drop the deposit off at the bank on her own time after work, because she can't possibly leave with so much to do. She buys supplies with her own money, because spray bottles and dish soap aren't on the approved bid list. She sometimes pays for a kid's lunch out of her own pocket, because he forgot his money, and he's hungry NOW. Today I stopped wanting to go on a mission trip. I am already on one, every day. 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I don't need to add anything to the man's words. He's said it all:

"There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage."

"I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess."

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

"If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

"Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education."

"Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that."

"All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence."

"Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve."

"Life's most urgent question is: what are you doing for others?"

Amen.

Fresh Eyes

Fresh eyes can see things that you cannot.

When you put your house on the market for sale, the first thing an agent does is walk through your house with a clipboard, making notes and pointing out things that need to be fixed. Dust the top of that doorjamb, change that light bulb, tack down that sticking up piece of rug... Did I even realize those things needed doing? No. I've lived with them so long that I don't see them any more.

I worked at a church, where fresh eyes were a definite advantage. They were trying to reach out to the community with their programs, using language that only an insider could decode. I advised them to explain more and assume less if they wanted to reach the unchurched.

Kindergarten is fun to teach, because 5 year olds have very fresh eyes. Everything you teach is wonderful and new to them. They make you assess everything you thought you knew, and explain it in the simplest form. I handed out the worksheet, and read the directions: "underline the word 'is'." One precious child asked "What does underline mean?" (Don't assume they know anything!) I said that it meant to draw a line under the word.

So this precious child drew a vertical line under the word "is."

Which of us, do you think, learned more in class that day?

What will you see with fresh eyes today?

Money in the Bank

My daughter wanted to know where to put her babysitting money until she's ready to use it for college expenses. She doesn't want to put it in her bank account, for several reasons.

1. Interest earnings on savings will be more than offset by inflation. If you don't believe me, you haven't bought a loaf of bread lately.

2. If the financial aid office knows she has a hundred dollars in her bank account, that's a hundred dollars less they'll award her in college aid. She needs that hundred to buy books. (I don't know about you, but I believe that $130 for an algebra book is beyond ridiculous. Can you say "Kickback?" Sure you can.)

While our grandmothers would have put the money in a mattress, we're a little more cautious here. I told her to buy precious metals, and put them in a safe deposit box. Gold is a hedge against inflation, and is poised for growth. Platinum, if you can get it, is 30 times more rare than gold. Good luck with that.

Silver is a good choice, if gold ($1190 for a one-ounce coin) is out of your budget. A one ounce American Eagle silver coin is about $22 right now.

The important thing is that she's hanging on to her earnings, investing it somewhere instead of spending it on clothes, music, and fast food. When she graduates from college with substantially less debt than her peers, she will have an easier row to hoe.

Wisdom is acting in such a way now, that you'll be happy with your choice later.

What wise choices will you make today?



Disclaimer: do not take my advice. Listen to your investment professional, not a blogger.

The Reality of Reality Shows

I'm Tabatha. And I'm taking over. Thus begins an adventure of a successful salon owner (Tabatha) who takes over a struggling salon to help them achieve the goals and profitability they need to stay open. The struggling salon owner is often horrified to learn what has been going on when he/she is absent. Reality shows have been panned as being brainless drivel, but I consider them my guilty pleasure. I do derive some perverse satisfaction knowing my house isn't as bad as the one I saw on "Wife Swap." My kids are not as unruly as the ones I saw on "World's Strictest Parents." While I don't own a salon, nor do I know anyone who does, I do enjoy watching "Tabatha's Salon Takeover." She gives sage business advice that business owners (and parents) would do well to follow, at least those who are interested in success. 1. Don't be their "friend." If you're the boss, be the boss. You can't be their buddy and still expect them to follow directions. 2. When the cat's away... Hey, you've got to have face time if you want to stay on top of things. They are not going to supervise each other. 3. Send in your own people to observe. Tabatha sends in customers to see how they are treated. The stylists don't know that their behavior is being reported back to the owner. Would they behave better if they knew? Probably. Accountability is a powerful motivator. There's more, but you get the point. Nothing is a waste if you can learn from it. 

College Is Not For Everyone

College is just not for everyone. There, I've said it.

The rising cost of higher education has far surpassed inflation, and with the economy being what it is, a degree is no longer a guarantee that you'll be employed once you graduate (with staggering student loans.) Unthinkable 30 years ago, now lots of college grads are moving home with Mom and Dad.

Yet there are industries begging for workers. Health care, for one. Someone has to monitor the machinery in the emergency room, as well as operate Xray and Ultrasound machines. Someone has to be the "first responder" in the ambulance. Wind energy is another up-and-coming field that is poised for growth. Look in the newspaper and see what jobs appear again and again: trades, such as welding & pipefitting. These jobs do not require a college degree. They require technical and/or on the job training.

I read today that the Chicago schools are bumping up their Career-Tech Education. Thank God. Someone has to build the roads. Someone must cook in restaurants, fix roofs, and lay drainage pipes. In fact, if this is what you are called to do, you will be absolutely miserable paying hundreds of dollars for the privilege of sitting in a Literature class in some college or university.

It's ok to learn a trade. It's ok to work with your hands. In fact 72% of people in the US do NOT graduate from college. A College degree doesn't guarantee you a comfortable living. It doesn't even guarantee you a job. It opens doors. Doors to doing the kind of professional work that you are called to do. If you're called to build ships, go where you will learn about shipbuilding: probably not Literature class.

How will you learn about what you are called to do today?

Starting Fresh

Sometimes, there is no fix left. Sometimes, you've done everything you know how to do, and nothing is getting better. Sometimes, all the perseverance you can muster isn't giving you any indication or peace that things will be better if you just hang on a little longer. Change is hard. You get comfortable with the predictable. You've been doing it one way for years, then you have to wake up one day and start doing a different thing. And somewhere from deep inside you, a little voice says, "Different might not be predictable, but it might be better." It's a new year. Changes begin now. A university teacher said it better than I can: "It was the worst decade. Ever. Of all the decisions I made during the damned thing, the best was to outlive it. So it couldn't say it got me too."