15 Delightful Family Quotes to Cherish

1. When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. -Joyce Brothers

2. Having a place to go — is a home. Having someone to love — is a family. Having both — is a blessing. -Donna Hedges

3. The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works is the family. -Lee Iacocca

4. You can kiss your family and friends goodbye and put miles between you, but at the same time, you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.– Frederick Buechner

5. Family is the most important thing in the world.– Princess Diana

6. A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.– George Moore

7. I think togetherness is a very important ingredient to family life.– Barbara Bush

8. What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.– Mother Teresa

9. When trouble comes, it’s your family that supports you.– Guy Lafleur

10. Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!– Albert Einstein

11. Family is not an important thing. It's everything.- Michael J. Fox

12. This is part of what a family is about, not just love. It's knowing that your family will be there watching out for you. Nothing else will give you that. Not money. Not fame. Not work.- Mitch Albom

13. The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family. - Thomas Jefferson

14. I don’t care how poor a man is; if he has family, he’s rich. – Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford

15. Perhaps the greatest social service that can be rendered by anybody to this country and to mankind is to bring up a family. – Bernard Shaw

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9 Productive Ways to Enjoy Sunday

Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week.  ~Joseph Addison

On a Sunday you do things which you do not normally do on weekdays. This is the time to unwind, relax, take it easy and be as free as possible to spend time together with family members joyfully. Here are the things you can do productively on a bright Sunday:

  

 Morning

1.       Wake up early as usual: Don’t wake up at high noon and waste precious time. There are many ways to spend the morning meaningfully. When you wake up, the best thing you can do is to move your body. Be fit, be healthy and be alive.

2.       Have breakfast together at a hawker centre: How often do you have breakfast together? Do it on a Sunday at an eatery and enjoy a leisurely meal amidst lively conversation and laughter.  

3.       Go to church or the mall and shop leisurely: Sunday morning is also the time for Christians to go to church. For others, it is a good time to visit the mall, do some shopping, and browse the books at a book store.   

Afternoon

4.       On the beach: The best way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon is to be on the beach to enjoy the fresh air, the sun, the blue sky,  the sea, and the sand. 

5.       A short nap: A nap in the afternoon is another marvelous way to renew your energy and get back your balance in life. 

6.       Visiting friends and relatives: It is also the best time of the day to contact those people you care in your life to find out how they are getting on.

Evening

7.       Read with children:  Avoid watching TV to dull your mind and zap your energy in the evening. Instead, do reading together with your children quietly. Be enlightened by the new knowledge you have gained.

8.       Reflect and plan ahead for the following week: In the evening refresh your memory and find out what you have achieved and the challenges you have encountered for the week.  At the same time plan ahead for the following week especially getting organized for Monday.  

9.       Appreciation: Before you knock off for the day, think and be thankful for all the good things you have enjoyed in life. Feel good about your life and go to bed with contentment and peace of mind.

How do you spend your Sunday? Is your Sunday productive?

13 Tips to Bring Up a Happy Child

One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child.
Maria Montessori

As parents, you can do a lot to bring up a happy child:

1.      Be active outdoor:  There are many advantages to spend time outdoors with your child.  Apart from fresh air and sunshine, your child gets to build up his or her body and reduces stress and negative emotions. It is also a chance for them to have fun and find satisfaction in what they do physically.

2.      Hug often:  To hug is to show affection and it is an effective way to convey your love for your child. For the baby, your tender touch will be able to promote health and alertness.  For the parents, hugging can reduce stress and calm your mind.

3.      A lot of free time: Avoid filling the time of your child with a lot of activities and classes. Let the child have more free time to do what he or she likes and stimulate their imagination. Allow your child to do less and encourage relaxation that leads to creativity.

Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world.
Maria Montessori

4.      Eat healthily: The key to good health is to eat fresh food, consume less fat and sugar and follow a balanced diet. Drink plenty of water and not sugary drinks every day. A healthy body is essential for the healthy and happy growth of your child.

5.      Listen to your child: When your child is talking to you, put down whatever that you are doing and listen to him or her attentively. Be patient and don’t interrupt. It is the way to show your concern for your child. In this way, you encourage your child to communicate with you freely and willingly. Your child just needs to talk to someone.

6.      Teach your child to care for others: Encourage him or her to help others by taking part in community services. This is an effective way to show your child that giving is a wonderful way to be happy too. 

7.      Discourage perfection: You can encourage your child to do his or her best but do not measure their performance according to your standards or expectations. It is applying stress and pressure on your child. Allow your child to learn and grow happily. 

8.      Stimulate the artistic talents in your child: Introduce music, art, dance, and other artistic activities to unearth the inner world of your child. To dance, draw or play music is a way to express his or her emotions and feel satisfied.

9.      Teach your child to solve problems: Help your child to identify a problem and ask how he or she is going to solve it.  Guide your child to take the correct steps to solve a problem. Assist your child to come up with a solution to a problem.  

Too often we give our children answers to remember rather than problems to solve. ~Roger Lewin

10.  Compliment your child constructively: Spot what he or she has done right and compliment accordingly. This is the best way to inspire and motivate your child. He or she will be very happy and excited to do more and better.

11.  Read stories to your child: It is the best way to cultivate a reading habit in your child and to provoke his or her imagination.

12.  Teach your child about a positive mental attitude: Promote confidence in your child. Let your child know that whatever happens to him or her is not important, the most important thing is to react to things positively. This is to encourage optimism, hope, and positive expectations in the mind of your child.

13.  Be happy yourself: Your child follows what you do and not what you say. Be cheerful, upbeat, and smile often. Spread happiness around the house and influence your child to live with joy and happiness.

Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them. ~James Baldwin

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. ~Theodore Hesburgh

Effective ways to bring up your children

Good, honest, hardheaded character is a function of the home.  If the proper seed is sown there and properly nourished for a few years, it will not be easy for that plant to be uprooted.  ~George A. Dorsey

As parents, we love our children unconditionally. We support them, we guide and protect them and we set good examples to motivate them.

However, the most effective way is to mold your children to live life as what a person should be right from home. Here are some questions to find out how far your children are living the correct way:

1.      Are your children able to wake up all by themselves or you have to wake them up?

2.      Do your children make up the beds every morning?

3.      Do your children choosy about food or they just eat what you have prepared for them?

4.      Do they help in household chores every day such as doing the washing up?

5.      Do you insist that they must go to school except when they are not well?

6.      Whenever possible do you allow your children to go to school all by themselves?

7.      Do they go to school on time?

8.      Are they taking the initiative and help you carry things around?

9.      Do they notify you in advance where they are going and with whom and for what purpose. Do they return home at a time that they have promised?

10.  Are they polite to all, rich and poor?

The more yes answers to the above questions mean they are being brought up the right way.

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.  ~Frederick Douglass

These are what we want our children to be:

·         Independent

·         Self-disciplined

·         Hardworking

·         Be responsible

·         Follow rules

·         To know life is not a bed of roses

·         Be strong

·         Treat people  alike

If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders.  ~Abigail Van Buren

Money Matters to Avoid for Baby Boomers

You can be young without money but you can't be old without it. ~ Tennessee Williams

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
~ Abraham Lincoln

The most important thing for baby boomers is to preserve their wealth and the key is to last what you have as long as possible.  It is very likely that you will live much longer because of better healthcare. Here are the things to avoid and protect your hard-earned money:

1. Gullible: Don’t get cheated by unreliable sources of investment schemes. Do not believe fully in what you have heard. Take a cautious approach.

2. Greed: Do not be tempted by high and fast returns. In most cases, they are too good to be true.  The safety of your capital is of the utmost importance.

3. Follow others: Do not follow the crowd and do what they do. Do your homework to determine whether the investment channel is suitable for you. 

4. Be a guarantor: Avoid being a guarantor. When someone is required to get a guarantor to obtain a loan, it means the person is not qualified for the loan that he has applied for. Most likely you will end up servicing the loan yourself.

5. High profit: Investment with high profit means high risk. It is better to go for a solid investment that is low risk with a steady return. 

6. Sell your own house and live with your child: Your son may be kind enough to ask you to live with their family, but it is a risky decision to sell your own house and live with them. How sure are you that they will be able to take care of you until your last days? Nothing is certain in this world and the best assurance is a house of your own to live in.

7. Unhealthy lifestyle: Medical expenses are escalating like nobody’s business. The only prudent thing to do is to take care of your health and live a healthy lifestyle to avoid incurring huge medical expenses and reduce your savings.    

He who has good health is young. ~ H.G. Bohn

“It’s a very funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.” ~ William Somerset Maugham

Time is like money, the less we have of it to spare the further we make it go. ~ Josh Billings

Effective Ways to a Happy Family

“When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses.” -Joyce Brothers

Success is not just measured by the position you occupy in a company or the wealth you have accumulated over the years. If you have a broken family, you are not successful. 

Success is a balanced life and family comes first. How do you promote a happy and united family?  Here are some useful tips:  

1. Togetherness: As parents, you are busy people and you should spend as much time as possible like having dinner together. Whatever you do, think more of the family and do not bring your work home. When you are at home it is family time.

2. Communication: Instead of watching TV and discouraging communication flow, Talk, share, and listen more often to know the needs of family members.  

3. Learning: Visit other parents; learn from books and articles to be more effective in child-rearing and relationship building. Find out what’s hot among teenagers so that you can interact more meaningfully with your children 

4. For the children: As parents, your presence at home is more important than anything else. It is a source of comfort and support for your children. By just listening attentively to them you provide affection, connection, and warmth. Show your love by expressing words of encouragement. Find out their interests to discover and develop their potential.

5. Teach morals and values: You do not preach but set examples for the children to follow. To instill politeness, say please and thank them so that they will do the same to you and others.

6. A balanced life: A happy family is about a balanced life. Paying attention to your job is just as important as looking after the family. When you do well and are happy at work you bring home happiness too.

7. Manage finance: An important part of a solid and cheerful family is the management of finance. All financial problems can be avoided if you think more of the family than what you want in life. Set aside an amount for emergency and save as much as possible for your children’s education and for retirement. Mismanagement of money and debt is a source of family problems and unhappiness.

8. Share housework: Sharing is caring. Involve everyone at home to do household chores. Working together is a source of happiness at home.

9. Avoid argument: Nobody wins in an argument. When someone starts one, the best thing is to remind silent.  You may be right but at what cost?

10. Have fun together: Shared joy is shared happiness. Go to the mall together or take the whole family for a trip out of town. Having fun together to relax and unwind is an effective way to release the stress and pressure of life.

No matter what you've done for yourself or for humanity if you can't look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished?

Lee Iacocca

Effective ways to develop your children

Your children are very knowledgeable about the advancements of technology, but do they know about basic living skills? Here are some tips to get them to lead a “normal” life:

1. Limit time for TV and the like: Avoid surfing the Net, using the computer, playing computer games, or watching TV for more than two hours in a day. Don’t allow technologies to be their master. They must learn to manage time.

2. Close to nature: Explore nature with your children. Start by walking around the park. Do camping or jungle trekking and get to know more about living things in the wild.

3. Doing house chores together: Get your children to be involved and do cleaning up and tidying the place. They can also observe and understand how maintenance work, such as electrical and mechanical items, is carried out by adults at home. 

4. Reading: Encourage and develop your children in the habit of reading at home. This is the most beneficial habit which lasts a lifetime.

5. Charity: Involve your children in charity work so that they will know and learn about personal finance and giving back to society.

6. Be happy with your children: Spend time to talk and listen to your children. Talk to them about school and be their friend. The closer you are to them the easier it is for them to open up to you

7. Avoid overdoing things for your children: Do not be overprotective. Allow your children to experience what life is all about. Overly concern weakens the fighting spirits of your children.

8. Set example: Show a good example to your children and not preach. To cultivate the reading habit you have to read at home instead of watching TV. Be polite and respectful to your children when you want them to do the same to you.

9. Life is more than just academic success: Life is also about happiness and creative development. Avoid applying too much pressure and stress like attending tuition classes. Let your children grow naturally and enjoy their childhood.

10. Do not be materialistic: Stop buying spree for your children. Happiness is not getting more and more things. Teach them to earn their own way to get what they want so that they know nothing comes easy.

11. Avoid too many negative words: Negative words like you are stupid and you are no good to dampen their spirits and damage their self-esteem and self-confidence. They will behave as though the negative characteristics are what they are.

12. Build confidence: Avoid comparing your children with others. Praise when they have made progress and done well. Your children need your support and encouragement.  Motivate and guide them with positive feedback and  empowering them to be creative

The most important thing about child-rearing is to discover and unleash their creative power.