Chronicles of a “Mr. Mom”

Or bored…

Amazing video of various pictures…

Just something to inspire creativity in your kids and you…

Eighth grader Charlie Sobcov wants to stop birds from dying in collisions with windows, but he doesn’t want to ruin anybody’s view.

For his latest school science fair project he has invented painted, plastic decals that can be placed — discreetly — right in the middle of a window pane.

“This paint is a colour that birds can see but humans can’t,” he said Wednesday on CBC Radio’s All in a Day. “It’s like putting a big stop sign in the middle of the window.”

The colour is ultraviolet, beyond the range of colours visible to humans. That means the “stop sign” lets birds know the window is solid, but is nearly invisible to humans.

Full story: Ottawa boy’s invisible invention warns birds about deadly window

Seven-year-old Ava Childers will soon be responsible for making her own bed every day.

And she can thank the Obamas for that.

Ava’s mother, Danita, got the idea after hearing that the soon-to-be first daughters, Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, are required to make their own beds in the morning.

“I hadn’t given her any chores … and I just mentioned it to my husband,” says Danita Childers, recalling their recent parenting discussion. “Maybe she’s old enough to do something like that.”

Like others across the country who are looking to the Obamas as parental role models, the Childers family of Chicago’s South Side are eating up stories about the Obama family’s values — from the girls’ 8 p.m. bedtime to the president-elect’s “Harry Potter” reading nights to the task of selecting a pet dog.

Full Story: Obamas set parenting guidelines

During jiujitsu lessons Tuesday evening, instructor Matt Baker asked 9-year-old Drew Heredia what he would do if put in a certain position he was teaching.

“I’d get on my back and do a choke hold,” he said.

It’s the same thing Drew did last week when he saved a 12-year-old girl from being mauled by a pit bull. Using a tactic he learned in class, he put the attacking dog in a chokehold and held it for at least 20 minutes until help arrived.

Nine-year-old Drew Heredia rescued a girl from being mauled by placing a choke hold on a dog, a move he learned while training at Bakersfield Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Training Center. Drew attended a Tuesday evening class at the center and is learning a new move. His partner shown here is Derek Beltran.

Full story: Youngster rescues girl from dog

An incredibly heart-warming story of courage and perseverance and strength. A must-read.

My daughter was born 33 years ago. I did everything more traditional. I worked full-time. My daughter had before-school and after-school care. She was a latchkey kid in fourth grade. We lived in a small block where everyone looked out for her. She went to private school and now is a nurse. It was more traditional for her; I was paying for child care where needed.

….

With my second daughter, my oldest was in her first year of nursing school; she was 18. I just knew that I didn’t want to do things the same way. I would turn 40 when she was born. I couldn’t see going through the same thing. I would have had to work a job and a half to put her through school and do the different things that I’d done with my oldest child, and I didn’t have the support I had with the oldest child. A lot of things had changed. Not as many women were staying home. Families had ventured out. Two to three generations were no longer living in the same house.

Full story: Lessons From a Single Mom

Oh What A Beautiful Baby!

Make sure you keep a box of tissues handy. Because I cried when I watched this.

I kept thinking, “Oh God, please let this be a happy ending…”.

Before you whine one more time about your kids not listening to you, watch this video.

And then share the link to this page with your friends.

Got this incredible piece forwarded to me by email. Not sure who the author is, but the story just struck a chord somewhere deep inside. A must read…

When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things–your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions—and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else—the small stuff. “If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first—the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

So go on and pour out all the contents of your jar, re-fill it the right way this time around - and yeah, don’t forget to have a wonderful life!

- Ravi Jayagopal
What is Ventriloquism? Click here for some amazingly funny videos

Swami Vivekananda (January 12, 1863 - July 4, 1902) was one of the most famous and influential spiritual leaders of the philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga and a major figure in the history of Hinduism and India. He was the chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the founder of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission.

While he is widely credited with having uplifted his own nation, simultaneously he introduced Yoga and Vedanta to America and England with his popular lectures and private discourses on Vedanta philosophy. Vivekananda was the first known Hindu Swami to come to the West, where he introduced Eastern thought at the World’s Parliament of Religions, in connection with the World’s Fair in Chicago, in 1893. It was there that he was catapulted to fame by his by wide audiences in Chicago and then later elsewhere in America.

Here’s one such speech from the year 1893. This is the one with his now famous opening statement “Sisters and Brothers of America”. The audio is split into 4 parts. Click on the big “Play” symbol on each of the videos below. The video primarily shows the transcript.

Part I:

Part II:

Part III:

Part IV:

Introduction text source: Wikipedia

And you thought you had problems.

Every time you start feeling sorry for yourself about some stupid little thing, and wonder why God hadn’t done better for you, remember these wonderful, beautiful, happy girls, who have made delicious lemonade out of the lemons handed to them.

- Ravi Jayagopal / MyCuteCard.com