Week 4-Day 4

Very little response from my Team Members. Had try to set up a time for all of us to have a draft done on our part of the paper. The time was May 20 at 7:30 p.m. Mine is there. Have had no posts from Team Member 1 and a hurried e-mail to personnel e-mail from Team Member 2 stating she was really busy and was working on it???? what ever that means. No results so far.

On another note some of the postings I have been making are surprising to me. I am going to include a few of the ones that I have made in the last few days.

Post-On Child Discipline
Being raised by parents who had been taught "Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child," I begin to emulate that thinking in the early raising of my children. I continued with this type of thinking for the first few years of my children's lives. Yet, always in the back of my mind and from my personal past experiences with the "rod", I always wondered if I was not teaching my children to hit. When my sons were aged four and six I became angry at my oldest son when he was in the bathtub. I reacted and slapped him. The hurt look on his face tore my heart apart. I begin to research and read everything I could get my hands on in the realm of disciplining children. The best that I found was the "One-Minute Mother" written by Dr. Spencer Johnson. (He also authored One-Minute Father and One-Minute Manager). In this series of books Dr. Johnson basically states that we should use one-minute goal setting, one-minute praising, and one-minute reprimands. The biggest suggestion that I believe should be the goal of all mothers’, fathers’, and managers’ is the concept of: Looking for what the child or subordinate is DOING RIGHT. History shows that almost everyone begins life by being disciplined on what we are doing wrong with little or no praise for what we are doing right. I also learned from other books that I read about “time-outs” and family discipline goal setting which included an agreed upon discipline from a stated action or non-action. That one moment in my life changed the way that I dealt with discipline of my children forever.

Post-Bias or "Peter Principle"
There does seem to be a bias in the “real world” in hiring and promotions. It seems that it is “who you know” and not “what you know” in many situations. You can be glad or sad about the study known as the “Peter Principle” completed by Dr. Laurence Johnston Peter on business organizations and management. This concept entails that everyone will eventually be promoted to their level of incompetency. There they will remain forever. It is seldom that someone reaching the higher echelons of management will be demoted. Therefore we have the highest management people who are struggling due to the fact that they are now in an area where they can not succeed. I have always wondered how true this concept is in many of the businesses of the “real world.”

Post-Prior to Marriage-12 Month Relationship and Questions to be Asked
The pros and cons list should always be used when contemplating marriage. This is bringing up a pet peeve that I have had for many years. Many people may feel that it is a hard-core or cold approach but with the large number of divorces I really do not feel that it is. People will spend many months or a year or two doing research, making lists (pro and con), and do heart searching when they decide to buy a house or an automobile. Rarely is this done when choosing a mate. I have angered many of my nieces, nephews, grand children, and friends when I begin to ask questions about the chosen mate they are so “In Love With and Going to Wed.” These questions are simple ones. What does the mate think about having children? How many children does the mate want? What type of employment does the mate plan on having? Is the mate compatible with your religious beliefs? Has the mate introduced other family members? Does your mate use alcoholic beverages to the extreme? Does your mate anger easily? Does your mate react physically when angered? If this is true love will it last over a twelve month relationship? I always caution that a relationship should be for at least a year. With the answer to these few questions I believe that many marriages would not have been completed so therefore the divorce percentages would be lower.

Oh and Happy Birthday to Me. Both my sons have called already. Thank you sons for remembering.