Can You Make a Difference?

As promised, on the Fouth of July, my new e-book became available. Unfortunately, I had also promised a few more patriotic blogs leading up to the 4th and the book launch. No one told the nasty cold bug that knocked me flat on my buttocks last week that I had all this "stuff" to do. With the immense help of my daughter in law, Susan, I managed to get the book ready and not much else.

My big plan was to have a wonderfully clever and remarkably intelligent blog on Independence Day to celebrate. Instead I laid in bed, barely conscious that it was a holiday. Oh, the best laid plans of mice and men....!

Since my brain is still functioning on a low level, I thought I would share a sample of the book with you:

Teach children that one person can make a difference in someone
else’s life and in the world. I recently read a transcript of Oprah
interviewing Will and Jada Pinckett Smith. Some wise words came from
Will Smith when asked how they keep their kids grounded. "I tell them all
the time: 'Mommy and Daddy are rich. You all are broke,'" he says. "We
don't allow them to just sit around. We talk about the concept of the group
and the necessity of you adding to the family. Then you have to add to
your neighborhood, and then, you have to add to humanity.”

This exactly what I am talking about. It starts with the family. Sometimes
all it takes is a smile to brighten someone’s day. Or a quick phone call to
a sick friend keeps them from feeing alone. Compassion, courtesy, and
sincere caring for others should be made to be part of the family
“brainwash.”

In our country’s history, family has always taken care of family and
neighbors have always taken care of neighbors. It is why we collect
money for earthquake survivors, for cancer patients, and for the elderly
lady down the street who cannot pay the rent because she had to spend
extra this month for medicine.

This is not the role of government, schools, or employers. It really gets my
goat that now many employers use the amount of volunteerism a person
does as a criterion for how much of a raise they are entitled to for the year.

Volunteer work, while worthwhile, has nothing to do with the average
person’s job performance. In fact, that does not sound like volunteerism;
more like indentured servitude, to me. It is the job of the parent to instill
this value into their kids. Or not…their choice.

Another example to share with children is that in 2009, there was a local
election in a small town in Florida. The victor won by one vote because
only one person showed up to vote. Talk about one person making a
difference!

The e-book can be ordered free for a limited time from my website http://www.parentsrulewithpat.com