Lesson #s 13 + 14

#13- When a child is used to 24/7 attention he/ she can easily learn to misread emotions. That if your attention strays from him/her, he/she will think you are angry with him. Give children time to play by themselves. Allow them to learn to entertain themselves, spend time alone. Teach them to be sensitive, but not to be upset about every facial expression that is not a smile.

#14- Kids books are the best, don't let anyone tell you different!

Lesson #s 11 + 12

#11- What we often feel we are entitled to we are not in fact entitled to. For example, we may feel we are entitled to explain our actions to someone, however, at that point we may have emotionally hurt that person and have lost our right to explanation.

#12- Often we remember too late that dessert is the wrong choice.

Lessons #s 9 + 10

#9- It's important to do nice things for yourself every day. It doesn't have be a huge thing, it can be something slightly decadent like using lots of your favorite moisturizer. But if you don't, it's very easy to forget to do anything for yourself, and finding time to do a big nice thing for yourself it, well, hard.

#10- There is never anything on tv over the weekends, or in the middle of the day. If there is, it's a freak accident. Do not think it will happen every day.

Lesson #s 7 + 8

#7- When you get stung by a Jelly fish, or you swim in water with Jelly fishies and you feel little burny things on your legs spray those body parts with either vinegar or salt water, it takes the sting out of the, well, um, sting. Also, you can rub sand where it hurts.

#8- When you feel a headache coming on, drink lots of water and take Advil or Excedrin to prevent it. Trust me, this is way better than going through with the headache. Do not be a martyr to the headache!

Lesson #s 5 + 6

#5- Often during child care one finds one self talking in third person. It is always amusing when, as a human of female persuasion, one finds oneself saying things during the toilet training period saying things such as "We need to wash our hands because we touched our penis." Yup, always amusing.

#6- The impact our decisions make is huge. The hardest thing is gaining the experience to learn what your actions cause. We are catalyst to greater things. Even if you can't see what your actions will do, think twice before changing plans. And remember, give people time to adjust to plan changes. Children aren't the only ones who need lots of advanced warning.

Lesson #s 3+4

#3- Biking down really big hills make riding up them so worth it!

#4- Sometimes when you are frustrated with someone, it may seem as if they are frustrated with you. However, wait a day, it could be they have something else on their mind which is totally unconnected to your beef.

Life Lessons #s 1+2

#1- When entering into a business deal, especially with friends it is important to write some kind of contract, even if somewhat informally. That way, if anything changes you can refer to the contract without injuring the friendship.

#2- When toilet training your child insure that s/he has enough naked time before attempting underwear.