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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL Children will test parents' nerves on family vacations QUESTION: Why is it that children are often the most obnoxious and irritating on vacations and at other times when parents specifically try to please them? On those special days, you’d think the kids would say to themselves, “Wow! Mom and dad are doing something real ly nice for us, taking us on this great vacation. We’re going to give them a break and be real ly good kids today.’’ Isn’t that reasonable? DOBSON: Sure it’s reasonable, but children just don’t think that way. In fact, many boys and girls misbehave even more at these times. Why is this? One reason, I think, is because children often feel compelled to reexamine the boundaries whenever they think Christmas 'O7 - the memories that matter Christmas never comes to me without a childhood memory that, in turn, throws its arms around another memory and brings it tagging along. Neither is about anything I ever received - not the red bike, the Barbie doll house, my first little sewing machine nor even the little Kodak Instamatic camera that was a joyous gift one year. In fact, those pre- SR i Ronda Rich Dixie Divas cious memories are not even about receiving. They’re all about giving. Daddy never made a lot of money Bush? Any relation to Hugh Hefner? There was a guy I used to work with who would do the most odd thing when he met people. H e would ask: “What’s your name?” (Not the odd part) For this example, we’ll say the person answered, L A. "'i: Len Robbins Columnist airpub@planttel.net “Donald Anderson.” “Anderson, huh?,” my col league would respond. “Any relation to Loni Anderson?” The person would look perplexed, then say “no.” “Well, I bet you wish you were,” this guy would say with a creepy, incestual wink. Didn’t matter who he was % jjfjflli 'ML s 'Ul'imi |pfe\ WP™ | You deserve the best tools to help you keep up with your business demands. 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QUESTION: how can par- ents preserve their own peace of mind and maintain harmo ny during car trips and family holidays? DOBSON: Sometimes it helps to redefine the boundaries at the beginning of your time together. Let the children know exactly what you’re doing and what’s expected of them. If they still misbehave, respond with good, loving disci- but he believed firmly in giving even when it meant his own wants had to suffer. “You can either give it or God’ll take it,” he often said. “One way or the other, it’s goin’.” Property taxes always came due at Christmas, a tough reminder to ren der unto Caesar that which is his. For months, Daddy had worked, scraped and saved for the money that was due in the tax office in two days. He heaved a sigh of relief, padded the wad of bills in the pocket of his work pants and silently thanked God for - again - providing. He added a few sticks of wood to the woodstove, stepped up on the platform that looked out over the rest of the shop and poured a cup cof fee from the ever present pot. Taking meeting, he would find a last name of someone famous - and often obscurely famous - to ask if they were related to. “So, your last name is Smith? Any relation to Rex Smith, the star of ‘Street Hawk?”’ “Your last name is Stallone? Any relation to the singer Frank Stallone?” “Hmm, your last name is Hatchett? Any relation to HYBRID SEALED BID/UVE AUCTION 2 COLD STORAGE FACILITIES Sealed Bids Due Thursday, Dec. 6th By 2;00 PM Facility #1 Located at 333 Industrial Circle, Sycamore, GA Facility #2 Located at 1104 Amour Road, Tifton, GA Call For Free Brochure 1-800-342-2666 For Details Visit www.jduniamauctions.com }. Durham & Associates.. Inc GAL #3120 FREE Business Advantage Checking • ••••••• Get the competitive edge on business success. Mi m|v>' Jp ( Dr. James Dobson Focus on the Family Molly per chance?” It drove me bonkers. Most folks have someone in their genealogy that is famous, or infamous. And if we don’t have anyone of note in our lineage, we make it up. For the record, my famous relatives are former Vice President John C. Calhoun and former Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Robbins Curtis. You can tell I’m not AUCTION OPINION pline right from the start. No parent wants to be an ogre on vacation, but it helps to show a lit tle firmness at the outset that can make the rest of the time together fun for the entire family. QUESTION: I am a grand mother who is blessed to have 14 grandchildren. I often take care of them and love just having them over. However, I would like to do more for them than just baby-sit. What can I do to really make an impact on their lives? DOBSON: Grandparents have been given powerful influence on their grandchildren if they will take the time to invest in their lives. There is so much to be accomplished while they are young. Another of the great con tributions you can make is to pre a sip, he settled down in his little, black chair to join the conversation among the endless stream of men who stopped by his garage throughout the day to smoke cigarettes, drink coffee and shoot the bull. The door of the shop opened and the men looked up to see a stranger, a bearded young man with blonde hair that tumbled way past his shoulders. A hippie, the conservatives all thought to themselves. Shyly, he approached the staring group and, voice shaking, asked for my daddy. “That’s me.” Daddy eyed him suspi ciously. “Someone told me you’d help me.” The young man explained that See RICH, page 10C fibbing because you prob ably haven’t heard of them. I have claimed to be related to former President Lyndon Baines Johnson, coun try singer Marty Robbins, and actor Carl Weathers, although I have no proof of kin to any of the three. Why do I mention See ROBBINS, page ioC Downtown Perry - Carroll Street • CB&T Bank Don't Miss Out ow. lN 5674 b serve the heritage of your family by describing its history to chil dren and acquainting them with their ancestors. The lyrics of an African folk song say that when an old person dies, it’s as if a library has burned down. It is true. There’s a richness of history in your memory of ear lier days that will be lost if it isn’t passed on to the next generation. To preserve this heritage, you should tell them true stories of days gone by. Share about your faith, about your early family expe riences, about the obstacles you overcame or the failures you suf fered. Those recollections bring a family together and give it a sense of identity. There was a wonderful lady in our family, my great-grandmoth er (Nanny), who helped raise me DAVID OVERTON JEWELERS ‘Jewelry Repair & Cleaning / \ ‘Watch Repair * En g ravin g Mon. -Fri. Ms / ‘Appraisals 9:3oam-s:3opm 'v'ir/ ‘Estate Jewelry Sat> \ / 7 9:3oam-2pm ‘Class Rings We Buy Gold Scrap!! Bring It In And Let Us Weigh It. PAY SANTA WITH SCRAP GOLD! 905 Downtown Carroll St. • Perry 478-987-1392 Bonanza Way - Plane Living Skypark 4BR, 3.58 A, brick home on 1 acre lot. This home, has 2680 sq.ft, heated, with office, 24’x24’ carport, walk-in closets, gas logs, hardwood & ceramic tile floors, solid surface tops, beautiful oak mantle & bookcases, jetted X-large tub, sprinkler system - too many extras to mention. House has access to runway. Located 4.5 miles west off 1-75, Exit 142, Buckeye Rd. Call (478) 808-6704 or (478) 956-4550 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2007 ♦ from babyhood. She was already old when I was bom and lived to be nearly one-hundred years of age. I loved for her to tell me tales about her early life on the frontier. A favorite story involved mountain lions that would prowl around her log cabin at night and attack the livestock. She could hear them growling and moving past her win dow as she lay in bed. Nanny’s father would try to shoot the cats or chase them away before they killed a pig or a goat. I sat fasci nated as this sweet lady described a world that had long vanished by the time I came on the scene. Her accounts of plains life helped open me to a love of history, a subject which fascinates me to this day. The stories of yout past, of your childhood, of your courtship See DOBSON, page 10C 7A L£s7^ 56438 56830