Yesterday I saw a parent smacked her kid who was throwing a tantrum. Later the same day, I heard a child screaming her (his? can't tell, the voice was too shrill too differentiate) head off! I wonder if we are bringing up our kids right these days. Some children are given so much choice that they become spoilt and demand more. Today, my brother-in-law sent me this story of 'non-violence in parenting' and I thought I'd share it with you...


Dr. Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and founder of the M.K.Gandhi Institute for Non-violence, in his June 9 lecture at the University of Puerto Rico, shared the following story as an example of ‘non-violence in parenting’:

"I was 16 years old and living with my parents at the institute my grandfather had founded 18 miles outside of Durban, South Africa, in the middle of the sugar plantations. We were deep in the country and had no neighbors, so my two sisters and I would always look forward to going to town to visit friends or go to the movies. One day, my father asked me to drive him to town for an all-day conference, and I jumped at the chance. Since I was going to town, my mother gave me a list of groceries she needed and, since I had all day in town, my father asked me to take care of several pending chores such as getting the car serviced. When I dropped my father off that morning, he said, 'I will meet you here at 5:00 p.m., and we will go home together.'

After hurriedly completing my chores, I went straight to the nearest movie theatre. I got so engrossed in a John Wayne double-feature that I forgot the time. It was 5:30pm before I remembered. By the time I ran to the garage and got the car and hurried to where my father was waiting for me, it was almost 6:00pm. He anxiously asked me, 'Why were you late?' I was so ashamed of telling him I was watching a John Wayne western movie that I said, 'The car wasn't ready, so I had to wait,' not realizing that he had already called the garage.

When he caught me in the lie, he said 'There's something wrong in the way I brought you up that didn't give you the confidence to tell me the truth. In order to figure out where I went wrong with you, I'm going to walk home 18 miles and think about it.' So, dressed in his suit and dress shoes, he began to walk home in the dark on mostly unpaved, unlit roads. I couldn't leave him, so for five-and-a-half hours I drove behind him, watching my father go through this agony for a stupid lie that I uttered. I decided then and there that I was never going to lie again. I often think about that episode and wonder, if he had punished me the way we punish our children, whether I would have learned a lesson at all.

I don't think so. I would have suffered the punishment and gone on doing the same thing. But this single non-violent action was so powerful that it is still as if it happened yesterday. That is the power of non-violence.".

I just hope that I'll be a good parent and pray that God will give me guidance, strength and patience when I need them most.

My exams are over.. at last but only for this semester. I have 3 more semesters to go and then it will finally be over!! I cannot wait. It seems like a dream, 3 more semesters.

I'm going to be the fist one in my family to have a degree and I'm feeling pretty good about it :) I've been studying part time for very long, almost for as long as I can remember. Started with my certificate course, then my diploma and the advanced diploma and finally, this degree course. Yes, I have come a long way and it has taken a very long time for me. I would have completed it sooner, but it does cost a lot to study part time and not having enough funds does put a dampener on one's plans. Enough said, what's important is that I'm finally on my way to completion. Yahoo.......

Another joke for today.
For those who are working, you'll find that this sounds pretty familiar......

A man in a hot air balloon realised he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The woman below replied, "You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west
longitude."

"You must be an engineer" said the balloonist. "I am," replied the woman, "how did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help so far."

The woman below responded, "You must be in management." "I am" replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the woman, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect people below you to resolve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault.

I'm supposed to be studying now... got an exam paper tomorrow and the day after.... but I just can't do it anymore!!!! Can't seem to sit myself down and absorb anymore... for now I hope. Maybe I'll try again after this or... after lunch.

Well, here's another joke I received, hope it cheers someone up... anyone.


A Chinese man walks into a bar in America late one night and he sees Steven
Spielberg. As he was a great fan of his movies, he rushes over to him, and
asks for his autograph. Instead, Spielberg gives him a slap and says, "You
Chinese people bombed our Pearl Habour, get outta here." The astonished
Chinese man replied, "It was not the Chinese who bombed your Pearl Harbour,
it was the Japanese".

"Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, you're all the same," replied Spielberg.

In return, the Chinese man gives Spielberg a slap and says, "You sank the
Titanic, my forefathers were on that ship." Shocked, Spielberg replies,
"It was the iceberg that sank the ship,not me."

The Chinese man, replies, "Iceberg, Spielberg, Carlsberg, you're all the
same."

Got this really funny joke today, thought I'd share it. Enjoy:


I was happy. My girlfriend and I had been dating for over a year,and
so we decided to get married. My parents helped us in every way, my
friends encouraged me, and my girlfriend? She was a dream!

There was only one thing bothering me, very much indeed, and that one
thing was her younger sister. My prospective sister-in-law was twenty
years of age, wore tight mini skirts and low cut blouses. She would
regularly bend down when quite near me and I got many a pleasant view
of her underwear. It had to be deliberate. She never did it when she
was near anyone else.

One day little sister called and asked me to come over to check the
wedding invitations. She was alone when I arrived. She whispered to
me that soon I was to be married, and she had feelings and desires
for me that she couldn't overcome and didn't really want to overcome.
She told me that she wanted to make love to me just once before I got
married and committed my life to her sister. I was in total shock and
couldn't say a word. She said, "I'm going upstairs to my bedroom and
if you want to go ahead with it just come up and get me." I was
stunned. I was frozen in shock as I watched her go up the stairs.
When she reached the top she pulled down her panties and threw them
down the stairs at me. I stood there for a moment, then turned and
went straight to the front door.

I opened the door and stepped out of the house. I walked straight
towards my car. My future father-in-law was standing outside. With
tears in his eyes he hugged me and said, "We are very happy that you
have passed our little test. We couldn't ask for a better man for our
daughter. Welcome to the family."

The moral of this story is: always keep your condoms in your car.

It's been hectic, these past few months... Study, baby and household chores. My life seems to be focused on everything else but me....

It's Samuel's first birthday today, it was supposed to be a happy day but it turned out pretty tiring for me. He decided that today would be tantrum day and drove me up the wall pretty much the whole day. I was on the verge of smacking him for most part of the night, it was a scary thought but I guessed it was a normal thought too, you would have thought the same if you were in my shoes. I managed to control myself, kept on reminding myself that he's still a baby....

Well, at least the nightmare's over, he looks like an angel now asleep in his cot. Tomorrow's a new day...