What Neighbors Do

We had a few surprises this week. Although we awakened to clear roads, snowflakes  blanketed the streets late into the evening. Some neighbors received a second surprise when one of our kids, willing to chalk up volunteer hours for a club, shoveled sidewalks—for three hours. I’m guessing a whole block of folks peeked outside and cheered. There’s nothing like receiving a gift you need when you least expect it. Some of the best gifts look like this:

                                         https://youtu.be/235_c7pdHxQ

Good causes paid forward always create lasting lessons. Paying something forward doesn’t always cost money, sometimes taking a couple of extra seconds to lend a hand makes a world of difference. Given today’s cranky culture, now’s the perfect time to put a smile on someone’s face. How will you do it? Let us know and post below.  

Where Are You Now?

Relationships float through different stages. Last week, I overheard an interesting exchange between a parent and a couple of kids. The parent kept making funny faces and singing popular songs written long before the kids were born. Judging by the kids’ expressions, they wanted no part of the performance. Undeterred by their eye-rolls, the parent added to the torture by singing off-key.

After several minutes, one of the kids pulled a question from the childhood memory files. Questions always make good diversions. The kid said to the parent, “Do you want to play a game?” The second kid followed up with, “Yeah, let’s play the quiet game.” How many times had the kids had fallen for the “quiet game” tactic? Eventually kids will borrow their parents’ tricks and criticize parenting logic. Watch this:

                                         https://youtu.be/GadAQd1IAzk

As kids grow up, they’ll offer their parents advice on everything from fashions and hairstyles to insurance and investments. Through the usual ups and downs of life, parent-child relationships deepen and evolve. What’s your most important relationship and how has it developed?