The Red Balloon of HappinessWritten by David Leonhardt
Just when you think you know it all, some 17-month old child comes along and teaches you another valuable life lesson.Little Lady lost her favorite ball. There are few things that bring this 17-month-old more joy than playing with her favorite ball. And, of course, we want our daughter to have all happiness she can get. So we headed out to store to replace missing ball. Little Lady enjoyed outing, since there were so many exciting things to pull off shelves. And when we reached ball aisle, she nearly jumped for joy. (OK, more like raced to bin and started covering floor with her joy, one bounce at a time.) As we left aisle, Little Lady was happy and smiling. She held her replacement ball in her hands as we walked up to cash. While waiting to pay, Little Lady caught sight of a red balloon that had obviously been used for some promotion, but was now wandering aimlessly around floor like a lost puppy. If you think a ball can bring happiness, wait 'til you see sparkle in eye of a toddler who has just found her very own red balloon. Pure joy! Of course, she adopted balloon immediately and clung to it all way back to car. Did she want to hold ball? No way. She had a balloon! I couldn't help but marvel at how she valued free, fragile balloon more than sturdy ball I for which had just paid good money. Is there a lesson we can learn for self-actualization? Here are possible lessons that immediately occurred to me: 1. Why bother having a thick skin, if your daughter prefers thin skins? 2. If you drift aimlessly long enough, you might get adopted. 3. Money can't buy most important things in life (happiness, joy, smiles, balloons, etc.) 4. Your child can see value where you cannot, so listen to what she says.
| | Holiday Baking - The Easy Way Written by Arleen M. Kaptur
Baking to many of us is fun and form of therapy. Many frustrations have been worked out kneading and pushing that dough around. But to others, it may be difficult, or they are not sure of themselves around cookies, cakes, breads, rolls, etc. One quick-word of advice - just dive right in - its fun, and more you bake, better you become at it. With Christmas and get-togethers coming in bloom, sharing baking can be a fun event. Early in Seaon, family, friends, neighbors, and offices and factories everywhere should have a Cookie Exchange - its not a lot of work - in fact, you only have to bake one kind of cookie - if there are ten guests, you will have an assortment of ten delicious treats to use for Holidays. The more guests, more of an assortment. There will be a lot of laughter, and no one will be counting calories. Ask each guest to bake one type of Christmas cookie - a family favorite, or one that they found while surfing net, or reading their favorite magazine. They can be drop cookies, filled cookies, or special ethnic treasures. Your invitations should be small index-size bookets, with several blank cards inside, tied together with a festive ribbon. This way if your guests write out their recipes on - say six to eight cards, depending on how many guests you are inviting, everyone can get a recipe and keep it in their booklet not only to check back when they want to bake, but as a wonderful memento of a fun time.
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