DaddyDear

MummyDear and I attended a short workshop at Ashley’s school last Friday evening. I felt that it’s more like a mini sales talk by an external consultant selling their product. The consultant was encouraging the parents to persuade the school to adopt the program. Despite the sub-standard sales talk, I did pick up a new tool that may come in handy when coaching kids or even adults on emotion management.

This tool is the “Emotion Thermometer”. It was introduced by Dr Michelle Garnett as a technique for scaling emotional intensity by drawing pictures against a scale similar to a thermometer, hence allowing a person to describe and process their emotional experience in a concrete and specific manner.

Here’s an example I found in an article at smelena.com:

I find it especially useful when applied on young kids who are not equipped with sufficient vocabulary to describe their emotions, as it’ll help them to visualize the level of their emotional state with reference to a scale using pictures or simple words. The process of creating the “thermometer” activates both the left and right brain, and will be more appealing to the “visual” and “kinesthetic” people.

Read a short parable written by Jeffrey Davis today that made quite an impression …

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it’s the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it’s the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the kitchen with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it.

I turned the volume up on my radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap with a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business himself.

He was talking about “a thousand marbles” to someone named “Tom.” I was intrigued and sat down to listen to what he had to say.

“Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you’re busy with your job. I’m sure they pay you well but it’s a shame you have to be away from home and your Family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter’s dance recital.”

He continued, “Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities.”

And that’s when he began to explain his theory of “a thousand marbles”

“You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.”

“Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I’m getting to the important part.”

“It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail,” he went on, “and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy.”

“So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to roundup 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in my workshop next to the radio. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and have thrown it away”

“I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.”

“Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast.

This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then God has blessed me with a little extra time to be with my loved ones.

“It was nice to talk to you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your loved ones, and I hope to meet you again someday. Have a good morning!”

You could have heard a pin drop when he finished. Even the show’s moderator didn’t have anything to say for a few moments.

I guess he gave us all a lot to think about.

I had planned to do some work that morning, and then go to the gym. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. “C’mon honey, I’m taking you and the kids to breakfast.”

“What brought this on?” she asked with a smile. “Oh, nothing special,” I said. “It has just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we’re out? I need to buy some marbles.”

Brought Ashley to swimming class this afternoon and saw a booth setup near the pool with some scuba diving gears on display. It’s the “Discover Scuba” event held in conjunction with the WaterFest Singapore 08.

Ashley’s swimming coach said he had also signed up last week and loved the experience, and he encouraged us to sign up too. I’ve already noticed this event last year, but didn’t have the chance to sign up. So, with almost little hesitation, I signed up for both Ashley and myself.

The instructor started by selecting a pair of fins and a pair of goggles for me, and led me to the pool. He then introduced the various gears and explained how to use them. He also taught me some hand signs that will be used to communicate under water.

One trick I’ve learned today is to “de-fog” my goggles using my own saliva: Step 1 – Spit onto the inner surface of your goggles. Step 2 – rub the surface with your fingers. Step 3 – Rinse off the saliva. It’s amazing how such simple steps could really work. My goggles remained clear throughout the entire session.

I’ve also found out that there are two respirators attached to the air tank. One is for personal use, and the other is meant for our diving buddy during emergency. The air tank is filled with compressed air. I thought it was oxygen before I attended this lesson.

The air tank is attached to the vest, which could be inflated or deflated by pressing some buttons. This is meant to help the diver to control buoyancy. I’m also asked to put on a belt with some weights attached. He said the weights are used to counter my body fats. No wonder he added another piece of weight before he handed me the belt.

I was taught how to breathe using the respirator, how to take off and put on respirator in water, how to clear away water in the respirator, and finally how to clear away water in the goggles. As usual, I was able to grasp the technique immediately.

Finally, it was time to swim. It was rather easy, except for flipping of the fins. I tend to get off balance when I started flipping. The muscle group used was a bit different from normal swimming. I started to develop cramps at the bottom of my right foot after only the first lap, but managed to get rid of it by wriggling my toes.

There was nothing much to see in the swimming pool until I started to noticed some “living things” around me. It was some worm-like creatures about 4-5mm long that wriggle it’s body like a caterpillar. Not sure what it was, but I know I would never swim in the swimming pool ever again without my goggles on. Well … no fish “worm” also good. I swam a total of four laps (200m).

The overall experience was exhilarating. Too bad there was no fish and corals in the swimming pool. I would definitely recommend you to sign up for this short intro course that cost only $20. Details can be found here. The event is still available for the next three weekends at Buona Vista and Ang Mo Kio Swimming Complex. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait till next year.