Heartwarmers

Hi Everyone,
I have no KDd's for you all right now. I am not in a creative frame of
mind lately and have been quite busy with work. We are almost sold out
and the rain we have had the last couple days has effected us at work,
causing all kinds of problems. ( mostly water damage) However, we are
getting things under control and getting prepared for the Golf Tournament
and the big game. this coming weekend.
Meanwhile, I have passed on this heartwarmers message.
This message will hopefully remind us all to stop and make time for our
families and friends. This society is way too fast pace and so many of us
spend too much time on the computer,on the cell phone or watching T.v. I
remember the days, when we all sat down at dinner together as a
family,played board games and spent a lot of time outdoors, riding bikes,
climbing trees, playing kick the can, catching lightening bugs and much
more.
I agree with the author of this story. we are spending too much time
connecting with others online and doing such things as " blogging" and
driving kids to games or having the kids sit in front of the TV,using it,
as a babysitter. We all should stop and " smell the roses" once in awhile
and appreciate everything we have. We all need to have an attitude of
gratitude. Hope you enjoy reading the below message as much as I did and
check my blog later in the week for one of my ,Karen's Daily Doses. take
care.
WHAT HAPPENED?
by Frank P. Cotter

The other day I saw a father, mother and two sons on the line in
front of me at Dunkin Donuts. It was obvious that they had just come
from a soccer game. The two young boys were dressed in thin shorts
and tee shirts, while their parents were dressed warmly in jeans and
thick jackets. The two boys never stopped shivering the entire five
minutes we were in line together.
What is going on in society when we are making our kids play
sports, in every kind of foul weather, including rain, snow and icy
winds just for the pleasure of watching our them participate in some
kind of sport? It seems that we are living vicariously through our
kids no matter what the cost is to them or us. Whatever happened to
calling off a game because it is too cold or too wet?
When did we start playing sports on Mother's Day? I always
remember being home with my mother and our family on mom's special
day. We would all be huddled around my mother, making sure that she
enjoyed her "well deserved" day of rest.
When did we start having our children play sports on
Thanksgiving? This warm, wonderful day of giving and thanks used to
be a special day to share with family and friends. We would spend
the entire day eating, relaxing and enjoying the ones we loved. We
would never have wasted a precious minute worrying about dragging our
kids away from their warm houses to play a game (in the cold) three
towns away.
It seems that we are now so preoccupied with driving our kids
from one place to another, that we have lost sight of what is really
important.
When did the family start playing second fiddle to sports? I
can still remember spending the entire summer playing with my
friends, and maybe if I was lucky, going to the shore with my parents
for a day.
These days, kids are already playing school sports in July.
Summer (when I was a kid) was always a time for kids to be kids and
for parents to enjoy them as such. School was from September to May
and summer was for kids and families to relax and get to know each
other again.
Parents and kids today are spending every free hour away from
school and work running from one sports practice to another. What
every happened to families spending dinner-time together? I have
seen frozen,tired, kids playing sports, sometimes in the dark, with
sprained wrists, cuts and bruises, while parents cheer them on from
the warmth of a bleacher blanket and a cup of hot chocolate.
Whatever happened to hugging your kids and telling them that
it's alright just to be a kid and that they don't have to prove their
worth on a sports field? Sports are great, but they can't rule our
lives and influence our decisions.
Families need to spend more quality time together at home and
less time competing with the neighbors. If our neighbor's kids play
three sports, our kids need to play four? If our neighbor takes an
expensive vacation why do we have to do them one better? Competition
and stress are slowly draining the magic out of our families.
We need to hold our kids more. We need to turn off the TV and
take out the board games. We need to interact with our kids on a
more personal level. We need to talk to them more and even
occasionally read to them. Let's start spending more time with our
families and less time driving to malls and endless game practices.
When did iPods replace a good book? Let's start to de-electrify
and simplify ours lives. Lets put down the cell phones and start
talking to our families and friends face-to-face.
Less can be better and a lot more fun.

-- Frank UP. Cotter <fcotter at andromeda.rutgers.edu>