A car-less family encourages me to blog

It’s been a long time since my last post. Time goes by so swiftly, now that I’m older. But I still find myself waiting. I wait for my husband to come home from work to know when to start supper. I wait for my adult children to call to find out about their lives. I wait for an actual handwritten letter from someone I know to be in my mailbox. I wait for my numbers to win on Powerball. This week it is at $214 million. Ahhhh, my husband could retire and I could stop waiting for more of my books to sell (singleparentwisdom.com; e-books at smashwords.com). I could buy a resort on a lake in a warm climate and hire someone to run it. Then I could live the resort-life forever. Someday, maybe.

This blog began as advice for young parents to complement my book series, Single Parent Wisdom: If only I knew then, what I know now. With that goal, I did not add to it unless I specifically had advice or wisdom to share. That philosophy changes today from a television show I just watched. I listened to Corbyn Hightower and her family on The Jeff Probst Show. The television was on as usual while I was on my laptop checking out my email accounts, etc. Mondays are my accomplish-little days. Mrs. Hightower related how she had lost her 6-figure income and sold the family car. Now they were living in a lower-rent house and riding bicycles everywhere. Plus, growing their own food in a small garden. The Probst show discovered her through her blog about the recession and the changes her family has made. Hmmmmm.

Mrs. Hightower writes well, more poetically than I. She blogs about her life on her iPhone that she has not given up. That sounds like a good idea to get me blogging more often. The more I write, the better I feel, as it empties my brain of random thoughts, and the organized ones, too. I have been stymied by my son’s advice that I need a vibrant, possibly shocking, title for each blog submission in order to draw in searchers looking for a good story. That task has often stopped me from blogging all-together. Plus, I thought blogs should be short and to the point, but after reading Hightower’s blog, I guess not.

A 6-figure income I have never had, even when I actually worked full-time and included my husband’s income, whichever husband it may have been at any time. Five figures was the most our income tax returns ever showed, and that was truly all our income. No unreported cash payments for work lurking in the shadows so the accountant could not see the glowing dollar signs.

Now I have a new goal that will make me feel better by writing my thoughts and hope you will enjoy reading as you learn more about my life and my philosophies. You were probably expecting the singular word, philosophy. I have found one philosophy only covers one area, for example, the philosophy showing your preference of how you teach others. We all teach, whether our paycheck states it or not. How we share the information we possess or learn from a book  is indicated by our teaching philosophy. Perhaps I’ll write more about that later.

So many topics. So little time. I look forward to talking to you soon. We will learn from each other.

Fight bullies with your own sense of dignity

Bullies, especially cyber bullies, continue to make the national news. I still remember the hurt I felt when an elementary school classmate yelled, "Your mama wears Army boots." I had no idea what it even meant but it caused me to run home crying. At home, my mother was sitting on the couch with her girlfriend. I told them what the boy had said. Their comment: The Army was a noble profession but I wasn't in the Army." Their lack of reaction taught me to ignore such silly statements in the future. I also avoided that boy. Here is my advice and wisdom for parents today:

REACT to the existence of bullies in your child's life.

Remind your child that he is sincerely loved by you. He is important in your life.

Encourage and help your child find a friend. Just one good friend can be enough to ward off evil affects of bullies.

Arm your child by role-playing simple comments to stop or respond to bullies. Comments ,"Why would you say (or do) something so mean?" "That's rude of you." "Why would you ask such a question?" "That's a nasty thing to say." "Spreading vicious lies is cause for a lawsuit in the courts." And the ultimate physical reaction, "Pffff!" and walk away. You may hear laughter, but remember the low self esteem of the bully's followers. You don't want these people as your friends and shouldn't care what they think.

Cope with the disappointments in your own life and show your child how to cope with his. Give him the power to resolve bad stress, make positive decisions, and choose a path that benefits him and his future. Life gets better after the school years.

Teach your child to establish his sense of dignity. Bullies lack their own self worth and are willed powerless by someone who possesses such strength.

There will always be bullies, even in the adult workplace. How we react to them can show our own personal strength and the bully's lack of it.