Phoebe Nebechukwu

Family Traditions: The Importance of Christmas Clothes

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Christmas Clothes The Importance Of Family Traditions

The Christmas holiday is one family tradition I always look forward to. Apart from the fun and relaxation with friends and family, I always anticipate my Christmas clothes. My parents would always gift my siblings and I new clothes and shoes every Christmas holiday and it became a tradition. This is one age-old tradition has been passed from generation to generation and I will continually uphold and cherish. The cheesy feeling it brings and the love behind giving us those Christmas clothes makes it remarkable. Another family gathering I always look forward to is the cross overnight. Everyone in my family is always present as we share, pray, and plan for the new year. Yours might be different from mine. There are certain traditions your parents have instilled in you that have shaped you. I once had a friend who told me that every year, in honor of their mom’s birthday, they visit the orphanage to donate food items and clothing. In turn, this tradition made her regard the less privileged. Importance of Family Traditions Family traditions carry a special significance for all family members involved. As opposed to family routines which are often basic activities that are necessary to keep the family unit functioning. Family traditions help to make memories for families that last a lifetime. It provides children with a sense of security by providing continuity. It gives family members a strong sense of belonging. It helps pass on family values, including cultural and religious heritage. Conclusion Family traditions are always something to look forward to as they establish a foundation for family values and serve as special bonding experiences.

The New: Multiple Talents and Balance

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Multiple Talents and Balance

Talents are great to have but balancing multiple talents goes a long way. ‏“Multipotentialite” is a modern professional word to describe a person with many talents. When someone has many intellectual skills, you can call them a “polymath.” An idiomatic phrase for a multi-talented person is “jack of all trades. Dearest Creative, I understand your struggle in trying to harness all your potential at the same time. The torment of not impacting the world with your gifts before you die keeps you awake, burdened, and busy. On the flip side, you don’t see how much you have done and you get cranky, sad, and defeated in your mind that you are not useful. But, hey! What to do when talents abound? Invest more in your interests, not in what everyone wants or does. READ ALSO: The psychology behind delayed action Be it singing, writing, dancing, acting, cooking, speaking, capturing moments, fashion designing- these are all great skill sets. The fact is, you are a human being with a limitless imagination. Your imagination is constantly generating new and extraordinary ideas. However, your imagination can also be a limitation. Start with one talent and focus on developing it. As you progress, you can expand your focus to include other talents. Select the talent that interests you most and work around it; as you expand, navigating becomes easy and satisfying. Your mind will play tricks on you- to feel that the rest of your talents will be buried if not used at an instance, but that’s not true. The best response to the mind games is to develop each talent, hone it, and be good at it. Most of all, forget those romantic myths that creativity is all about being artsy and gifted and not about hard work. They discourage us because we’re waiting for that one full-blown moment of inspiration. And while we’re waiting, we may never start working on what we might someday create. Creative, there are others just like you so don’t feel stuck. To thrive, you need the support of credible people. It will get overwhelming as you grow in it, but those credible people will hold your hands and constantly remind you of your awesomeness. Resources will be at your disposal as you develop. Remember you need believers in your gift. Those believers will provide the resources for you. These resources range from time, money, support, and a person’s credibility. Ensure not to abuse these resources by making judicious use of them. Creative, you have got this! You are not unfortunate to have been given multiple talents. There are so many other people who do not have the privilege to possess such potential needed to benefit themselves and the world. Enjoy the process. Most importantly, communicate with the giver of all talents- God. Cheers!

Empathy: A Vital Ingredient In Parenting

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Empathy A Vital Ingredient In Parenting

To feel someone’s pain has far too often been considered empathy. However, a standard definition of empathy by emotion researchers is the ability to sense other people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling. Empathy is a choice and the product of a dynamic decision-making process based on motivation. Growing up, there were many occasions I wished my parents could see things from my point of view but they could not understand and instead superimposed their opinions on me and my siblings. These actions pushed me into the hands of peer influence, cold-hearted adolescents, bold enough to defy their parent’s instructions. My parents constantly reprimanded me, but I cared less at some point. Statistics show that empathetic parenting involves parents guiding children to become emotionally aware. Rather than disciplining a child for wrongdoing, providing explanations as to why discipline is needed will help the child recognise right from wrong. It has been suggested that parents’ empathy plays an important factor in the parent-child relationship, by moderating child behaviour. In academic research by the National Centre for Bio-Technology Information, school and home are the two main living environments of school-age children. Parents structure children’s home environment and implement family parenting. Their ability to handle their emotional problems and accept and cope with their children’s emotional problems can substantially affect children’s social competence and mental health. Research has shown that parental negative emotional expressions can trigger childhood destructive behaviour problems. Parents of children with a persistent tendency to disobey cannot accurately perceive their own emotions and have poorer emotional regulation and management skills. Parental empathy may be another factor that affects children’s social abilities. In addition, parents with strong empathy provide their children with a safe foundation from which children can explore their emotional experiences and seek comfort when experiencing emotional distress. A case study shows that children and adolescents with high levels of empathy are more accepted by their peers. Preschoolers aged between 3 and 6 years who are perceived by their teachers as defenders and mediators ( pro-social role) have better affective empathy, although cognitive empathy is not taken into account. ALSO READ: Parent-Child Communication: Vital Reasons to Build Bonds that Last In conclusion, empathy is beyond a value I believe in but a principle that is needed in life and parenting. We should all be empathetic, with empathy is healing. Start today to truly listen to the soul of a person more than their words and share their pain, joy and laughter. Live by being empathetic.

Dear Diary: House Men

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Dear diary

Dear Diary, Today marks the 15th year of suffering with a man I thought I loved. I’ve seen you haven’t gotten wary of my complaints. That’s the reason I take solace in you. I have no happy memories to record now, and I don’t think I would ever have to record one in you. I have made you become a compendium of my tales of marital woes. I thought my husband would be loving like he was when we courted, but it turned out to be a deception. I have wondered why I couldn’t detect these obscene characters when we were in courtship, but it turned out that I had the blindfold of love on my eyes, and couldn’t see well. Would I say I didn’t notice? I did, but I thought my love for him would make him change. Well, who became a liar in the long run? Me. If not for the resounding words of Pastor Sam ” …till death do you part”, and for my piousness, Kunle would be wifeless by now. Ah, Kunle..what have you done to me? If not for the two children God has blessed me with, and for the new life in me, what would I be grateful for after 15 years of horrible marriage? Anyways, Diary, as usual, I have ranted, and my secrets remain with you. Be good till I come your way again with more woes. Hopefully, they’re not as many as I have imagined”. Adaku dropped her pen. It was obvious that the diary had absorbed a copious amount of her tears. It was wet with both serous and mucous secretions from her lacrimal and salivary glands. She closed the diary. It had a pink-coloured cover with a bold inscription of “To you, my only love”. Those inscriptions sent her travelling down memory lane. Who knows maybe she could find the person that wrote that, because this person lying beside her, and snoring like a knocked engine with reckless abandon doesn’t look like the person that inscribed those words. It was on the 15th of June (what a coincidence, she thought) when Kunle came to her apartment to pay her a surprise visit. He came along with some friends, according to the standards of the church.Pastor Timothy always ensured he emphasized group visitation during relationship seminars. He said he wouldn’t tolerate stories of “it was a mistake” any longer because his ears were filled. “I don’t want to know whether you are a strong brother, who is mighty in the scriptures and a firebrand, anytime you’re going to visit a Sister, you must go with your fellow brothers. Same applies to the ladies too.” She remembered his words vividly. He wore a red suit that day. It was a valentine service, and he stated he had come for war. It was obvious as he spoke with all the seriousness he could muster. There was graveyard silence in the church that day during his sermon, which was unlike his previous sermons. “Many of you have blindfolded yourself deliberately because of the so-called love you proclaimed to have. Do you even know what love is? ” That time, he had walked away from the pulpit. He walked on the narrow aisle that separated the two rows in the church and looked everyone in the eyes as he preached. The guilty ones evaded his gaze stylishly, the innocent ones( which happened to be a mixed multitude)held his gaze and even jotted every single word he said diligently. She didn’t forget the spot where she sat that day. It was close to the aisle, and the pastor looked at her like she was the only guilty person in the congregation. It took all the courage in her to maintain a calm disposition. Why would he look at her that way? Probably God was trying to pass a message of danger to her, but she waved it off. Her Spirit also troubled her within. However, she counted everything to be a coincidence. She was pretty after all, and that could be a reason for the gaze. How foolish she was to have thought that. Her eyes were blindfolded to see that Pastor Timothy’s face was very stern. It had all the wrinkled lines his frown could produce. He was damn serious with every word he spoke. Who would look at a pretty lady that way? Only if she knew the danger that lurked ahead in her ” smooth ride” affair with Kunle, she would have backed out. But, despite the warning the pastor passed to everyone (especially her, because why would he look at her the way he did?)She was blindfolded ( the pastor was right). Kunle was just the perfect guy she had dreamt of, and nothing, not even the pastor’s gaze nor the message of warning could dissuade her. She loved Kunle, and he loved her too (perhaps). After that soul-captivating sermon preached by Pastor Timothy, there was a change. Every brother, both strong and weak, would go in a group of 3 or 4 to visit any sister. Some very strong brothers would make their group number to be 5 or more. Unfortunately for her, Kunle was in this league. When he came with his friends, one would think they were going for a men’s hangout, if only they knew it was a Sister that they were going to visit. No one wants to commit any “mistake” and earn the terror and discipline of Pastor Timothy. It was that serious then. The last one that happened, Pastor Timothy made sure he called out the defaulters and solicited the church to pray for God to have mercy on them. The duo involved were so embarrassed that they left the church afterwards, and no one could tell their whereabouts. It was a few weeks later the pastor announced that the lady involved had been impregnated, but the guy had vanished into thin air. “Whatever I do and preach here is for your … Read more