Celebrating the greatest gift

Every year we celebrate the miracle of birth. The greatest gift that we got is life. Being fine, being healthy is something we shouldn’t take for granted. Money can’t buy what is most important. So every year we think of our birth and celebrate life.

Parents do not only celebrate their own birthday, but also the ones of their kids. For them, their kids are like parts of themselves. They gave them life. A mother will never forget the day she gave birth to her child. The first time she heard her screaming, the first time she held her baby in her arms and saw her smiling are very special moments for every mother.

me with the Milton Mickey key chain I sent Jim

The love of a parent lasts forever. It’s a bond that never breaks. Family is what matters the most, what keeps us alive, what makes us stronger and encourage us to continue when life gets tough. Family is love, love is home and home is family. So wherever you find love, someone who really cares about you, keep this person in your heart. Family isn’t only blood related, it’s who truly loves you and who gives you this feeling to be home.

Today is Jim Parsons’ birthday and this year I was thinking of a present that might be his biggest wish - in some way. When I saw him as Sheldon in Big Bang Theory season 6 Christmas episode, when he talked to Santa that he wanted his Grandpa back, I saw Jim talking about his Dad. Last year he mentioned his Dad’s name, who died in a car accident, on “Who do you think you are?”. As a sign that his Dad is still with him, I bought a Mickey key chain and sewed a shirt. So this Milton Mickey should show him, though his eyes can’t see him anymore, his heart still can and his father is still always with him.

Well, sewing is not my strength, actually it’s the first time I ever did this, so I also wrote a poem. I thought of what Jim’s Dad might say to him if he had the chance to.

"Remember Me", the poem I wrote for Jim - click on the pic to enlarge it

 

Birthday is not only our day of birth we celebrate. It’s that we are all together with our families and forever will be. Birthday is the time to share with family, to forget the everyday stress and just enjoy the time and celebrate life.

Happy Birthday, Jim Parsons.

Do all kids love TV?

Kids. They laugh, they run around, they scream, they play. They are anything but quiet, except they are sitting in front of a TV. Sounds familiar?

The TV is for most kids the best friend somehow. They love to spend their time only looking at the screen. Mostly because many parents just need a little break, so they switch on the TV, let it 'take care' of their kids. For many people it's actually the first thing to do in the morning, before they prepare breakfast. Living without it? No way.

So I was thinking how important is TV in our everyday life? How much does it affect and influence us? How would our life be like without TV? And is it possible to have some happy days when we don't have the chance to watch anything on the screen?

I already told you about Aly, my friend's 4-year old daughter. In many ways she lets me think twice about stuff and gives me another point of view. So I decided to talk to my fave little girl. Aly always smiles when she sees me. Last time I visited her she took my hand and guided me into her room. "Come, I wanna show you something", Aly said. Her Mom bought her a puppet theater and she handed me two of her puppets. "You play the prince and his speaking horse and I am the beautiful princess." "So only I have to play a role?", I asked and Aly grinned.

The moments mother and daughter spend together are priceless.
pic by Rolands Lakis

We played a while and then she told me she loves the theater. "It's always different, not like on TV." Many people look at a screen, they all see exactly the same. But when you watch a play, every performance is different. I haven't actually thought about it that way before, so I thank Aly for that. She doesn't really like watching TV much, maybe because her Mom doesn't like it either.

do you prefer to see a play or a TV show?
pic by Diego Torres Silvestre

They prefer to do their own shows - these were the words Aly used. Being only one of 1,000 people isn't that difficult - she clearly doesn't know how many people actually watch a TV show, but that's nothing that matters to get her point - being one of two is something really special. "Only me and my Mom know what we do and I love that", she said.

"People only think in large numbers. But why? Why should that be better?" I couldn't give her a real answer. Why is it better being one of a million than one of two? Sounds more rare, special? But is it really special to know something that everybody knows? When you watch TV it's always the same, that's not close to real life. You can watch the same show twice and nothing changes. But when you watch the same play several times, it's always a bit different.

Night of lights

The nights get darker and colder. Soon Christmas will come again. Can you imagine that? Already Christmas? Don’t get me wrong, it’s my fave time of the year. Not only because of the presents that I get, okay they are not bad, but I mostly enjoy the time with my family. This year my cousin from Crete will come again with her son and hubby. I don’t see them very often, so I am even more happy to see them. Christmas shows me that everyone of my family is healthy and we are all together, and what can be more important?

As a kid I loved the presents the most, but the older I became, the more I realized that there are things much more important that what someone bought me. The most precious things in life can’t be bought and can’t be replaced, can’t be fixed. Life is unique. And so is your health. And time. So when you sit together with your family, the ones you love, you can forget all your stress you had at work and everything bad that happened in the last year. You simply have time, time to spend with those who you appreciate the most. That moment is unique, that moment can’t be replaced.

The time before Christmas is also very important. Like St. Martin’s day. I don’t know if you know that story about a monk named Martin who cut his cloak in half to share it with a beggar to protect him from dying because of a snow storm and the incredibly coldness. In that night Martin dreamed about Jesus, who appeared to him as the beggar wearing the other half of his cloak and said to the angels:  "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptised; he has clothed me."

In Germany the kids celebrate that night of the 11th November every year. They walk through that cold night in groups, carrying their self-created paper lanterns, which they made at home or in school, to light up the night. In the lanterns are mostly real candles, not only to bring light but also warmth to the people who need it.

I remember walking with my lantern back when I was a kid. Though it was cold, I loved it. It is something really good and shows how important it is to share something that can’t be bought. It means so much more and it brings the spirit of Christmas. Giving. To see the ones who really need help, and help them, at least by thinking of them. I mean everyone of us could be such a person who needs help, right? By seeing and realizing that, you appreciate even more the time you are able to spend with your family, healthy and together. And it doesn’t have to be Christmas to do that.

Kids walking with their lanterns (pic taken from wikipedia)

Good behavior exclusive

So often that I heard, mostly older people, say that the young guys aren’t that kind and friendly anymore. I hear many of them say that we don’t say yes and please and thank you. That we aren’t polite, don't open doors or let the older sit on our seat on the train or bus.
But do we have changed so much? Were the ones who are now complaining about us so much differently? I can’t imagine that. Things were different back then. I think their parents said to them that they should give them more respect, that they have to know how to behave. Maybe some decades ago the parents were more focused on their children’s good behavior than they are now – not all of them, of course.

source: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I know some parents who place their kids in front of the TV, giving them some sweets and then leave the room or even the house. They don’t do anything, so they think that they can’t be blamed for their kids’ bad education in behavior because they haven’t done anything (wrong). My aunt has two foster children and the parents of them acted that way. I would never allege all parents are like that. But in my mind blaming the teachers and what’s on TV for the bad education on their kids isn’t the right way.

We also have some classes in college about how to behave. Some of you might know that I study Media Management, and as a future manager I should know some rules like how to eat correctly, how to greet someone in the correct way and stuff like that. Most of the things I already know and at the beginning I thought this would be senseless. My parents taught me a lot about how to speak to people who are older than me, that I should not talk when someone else does and that I always look into the eyes of the one I am talking to. But I also learned in that class in which order to use the cutlery on a multicourse dinner, what topics you should talk about during a dinner meeting and what to do in various situations like when you need to go to the restrooms.

It helped me a lot, and I know in the future classes I will learn more because we never know everything. And of course some things can be excused, but as you wanted to be treated politely, you want to do the same to others. You can’t know everything from the beginning – you have to learn it and you need someone who explains you how it works.

Do you think that the young guys nowadays are less polite than some years or decades ago? Do you think that only teachers can be blamed for that? I think it is important how to interact correctly with other people because I am like a mirror: I reflect what others show me. I guess everyone is a bit like that. Am I right?

Nothing’s more adorable than kids

Kids are really cute. They have such an imagination, simple incredible. When my aunt called me a few days ago and told me about her foster daughter Isa, I didn’t just had a lil smile on my face. My aunt told me that she was driving on the interstate with her hubby and the kids as the radio announcer talked something about a ghost driver. Isa heard that and asked: since when can ghosts drive cars? In that moment my aunt told me this, I felt like I needed to hug Isa for that. Have I also been so cute at that age?

Her brother Max is at least as cute as Isa. He is one of those 7-year old boys who can’t imagine playing with something non-technological. The last time he visited me, he asked me to use my smartphone, my computer, or my Nintendo DS. We had a conversation like this:

Me: You won’t like the games I have. 

Max: I don’t think so. I like them. 

Me: But you don’t know which games I have. 

Max: I don’t mind. I’ll like them anyway. 

Me: What makes you so sure about that? 

Max: I can play my games all the time, I wanna play something else.

I tried to convince him to play hide and seek or something like that with his sister, but he didn’t want to. Honestly I am not such a fan of giving such young guys already a computer or smartphone. A DS okay, but not all the time. When I remember back when I was a child, which is only about 15 years ago, I only had a simple Game boy, and that’s it. But I don’t wanna complain, because I really loved my dolls the most, and spent the most time with them and meeting my bestie.

But why I think that Max is at least as cute as his sister, is because of all these gadgets. This lets him think differently about things. We can’t think about them like that, because we know how life was like without it. When he once asked me a question, with which I finish this blog entry, I was totally confused. This shows how much the technology is already in the mind of kids. They take it for granted, it’s normal and they can’t imagine life without it. I couldn’t have thought about such a question. And even though it’s a bit sad, it’s also funny and creative.

When you had no computer, how have you used the internet?