The Important Things

My grandparents had a canvas poem hanging from a nail in our house for years and years.

There were two little Precious Moments looking kids painted on the canvas next to the words.

From the time I learned to read, I read and reread this canvas until I could recite it myself.

Then my brain got filled up with unrequited love, philosophy papers, IEPs, and grocery lists.  The poem I once knew by heart was leaving me behind to scramble after it like a lovelorn twenty-something at the door of a Greyhound bus.

It was almost gone forever.

But Google found it.

After three or four nights of typing half incorrect stanzas into the search engine, the real deal finally popped up.

I'm never letting it go again. 

It will be forever immortalized on a new canvas (or wood depending on what I can find at Micheal's.). 

The important words will again be memorized by my own children who will sound out the words at first and their resolve second.

As adults they will search their version of Google to help them remember the imporant things.

And come to realize not much in that department has changed from when they were little.

Children Learn What They Live

If children live with criticism,
They learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility,
They learn to fight.
If children live with fear,
They learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with ridicule,
They learn to be shy.
If children live with shame,
They learn to feel guilty.
If children live with tolerance,
They learn to be patient.
If children live with encouragement,
They learn confidence.
If children live with praise,
They learn to appreciate.
If children live with approval,
They learn to like themselves.
If children live with acceptance,
They learn to find love in the world.