My busy "life" and the victims of it!

It's been yet again another phase of "busy life" that I am going through at this moment. It's all about work and studies mainly that took so much of my time away that I can hardly spend time with my family or even walk with the Lord.

Currently, am still serving in the worship ministry as well as involve in cell. In one way or another, it's helping me to keep my feet standing on "holy ground" :p

Almost everyday I wake up early in the morning, sometimes earlier than usual so I could prepare myself better (for my work or studies)... but very rare that I would wake up earlier to spend time with God... I'm so sorry, Lord :( ...what more to get myself out of the bed earlier to blog!

Both hubby and lil Sarah are also victim of my "busy-ness"... For the past one week, Sarah has been "n-a-u-*-*-*-*"... No, it's not a cursed word or anything, but I told myself not to call her that too often as I really must proclaim good behaviour in her. (In Jesus' name - AMEN!) Anyway, she's been sleeping later than usual and she'll be jumping up and down the bed, walking here and there, singing songs, talking to herself, etc etc... just making it harder for me to sleep. All I did for 3 nights was to scold her and make her cry to sleep. You see... I was really too tired to think properly... or rather to educate properly. After the 3rd night, as she continues her "routine", I decided to turn to the Lord.... (why didnt I think of that earlier??!)... prayed for her... and hugged her like I always did... and told her nicely to sleep... Minutes later, she slept... and I slept...

Power of prayer, ya? But what I also realized was that she did all that to get my attention and thinking of that made me just want to slap my face! I have lacked in spending quality time with her and thus, her misbehaviour. I thank the Lord that I learn to run to Him and He gave me wisdom to handle situations. I also must thank my boss for reminding me of this "weapon" in handling difficult children. She said, "Pray... and you'll see results". I shared to her about the challenge I faced when I'm to handle the children in class and especially those that are really difficult and just wouldn't care to listen. Sometimes, the frustration I faced made me think twice of this path I've chosen... Anyways, God knows why I am in where I am and do what I am doing... I know I am learning a lot everyday and the experiences are somewhat far beyond money can buy... The experiences I have with the children, and most importantly, the experiences I have with my little princess.

So much things to share... really... but time aint on my side. I wrote this post a week ago, but only managed to post it today... cuz... I did not finish writing then... *duh!* :)

OK-lah.... back to studies.... it's past my working hours actually but I'm here to study a little bit before I head off for home. My little girl's waiting for me I know... I could now imagine her giving me her cheeky smile and calling for me to "pao-pao" her.

I'll still blog a little bit here and there just to release tension... Second semester is really no joke for me. The lecturers this time are more 'demanding' compared to the 1st. Assignments are not just a one-time thing which is to be submitted by end of semester but for certain subjects, submission of assignments is a weekly thing. I really need to draw strength from my Lord.

[Article] Two Simple Ways to Be a Happier Parent

Article taken from here!

When Christine Carter became a parent, she realized that her work as a sociologist who studies happiness gave her a head start on being a good and happy parent. Rather than trying to solve problems in her family, she wanted to prevent them. That got her wondering what makes for happy families and children. The result of that questioning is Raising Happiness (Ballantine Books).

The book is chock-full of words—gratitude, forgiveness, optimism, and inner peace—I associate more with meditation than parenting manuals. But it's not at all woo-woo. Carter grounds her path to happiness in solid science, including behavioral psychology, which explains why praise is much more powerful in getting children to behave than punishment or nagging. Many of the findings are surprisingly simple. For instance, would you like to know the one thing that will make children do better in school, help them have fewer emotional problems, and make them less likely to become obese or have drug or alcohol problems? Eat dinner together as a family.

Science and simplicity in the service of happier families: That sounds like a winner. So I called up Carter, executive director of the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California-Berkeley, and asked her how I could start making my own family happier.

She said to start off by asking two questions about your life as a parent:

1. When are you happiest with your kids?

2. What part of the normal day with your family routinely causes suffering?

Then make sure your day is structured so that you get routine, habitual happiness and so that you're eliminating habitual pain.

Carter says that when she asked herself the second question, she realized that she hated getting her two daughters out the door for school. "Every single morning I was yelling at my kids [at] approximately the same time and for the same reason," she says.

So she decided to restructure those mornings so they'd be a shared joy, or at least neutral. The science of changing habits says you have to start off supersmall and build over weeks to a bigger result. So she had the kids put their shoes by the door the night before. In the morning, "I ended up setting a timer," Carter says. "It goes off twice. The first time it goes off, it means clear your dishes and go brush your teeth. The second is walk out the door to the bus." By the next morning, she says, "we didn't have such a bad morning. We had taken the first step."

Just as she changed the family's daily routine to make that one stressful period less miserable, Carter also focused on amplifying the moment that gives her the most joy in parenting. "For me, the most joy always comes at the end of the day when I'm putting the kids to bed" and they're telling me about their three good things [that happened in the day]. That's my most luscious thing, the thing I enjoy the most." To make sure that she didn't miss out on that moment when she had to work in the evenings, "we just moved [that bedtime routine] to after school. They sit on the couch with me and cuddle, and we read a book and they tell me about their three good things."

Carter says that despite her deep knowledge of the science of happiness, she doesn't always do the right thing as a parent. "It's part of the journey, an incremental improvement process. But it's amazing to me how much this stuff works when you have the intention to have a happier morning," she says.

That's my challenge for the week: Make a happy moment with my child part of our routine, and engineer out one annoying bit of parenting. And I challenge you do to the same, too. What will be your happiness moment? What suffering will you avoid?