Thought for today:
"Every child brings a bit of heaven into the world in which they live. When we are children, we cannot wait to grow up one moment longer than is absolutely necessary and to taste the fruit of adulthood. If only then we could possess the wisdom that stark reality brings to dawn; only then would we choose to stay forever young and innocent and not allow our apple to rot before its time and our expectations sour in bitter disappointment.
Every time I see an innocent child happily at play, it makes me want to start my life all over again. Each time I gaze upon a child I see God's miracle in the making; the purpose of every parent's existence. I have always found that children possess an inherent wisdom which leads them to learn more from what we adults are than from what we tell them. Children are our most inner being, born anew. They enter this life through us and not for us. Adults often try to programme the child to learn the way they teach, but if for whatever reason the child has different learning needs (such as autism or dyslexia), and they don't learn this way, then the onus is upon the adult to teach the way they do learn.
Very few children become bored before they start to grow beyond the age of five. From 0-5 years, they are forever busy and are happy for no particular reason other than they feel so. My greatest pleasure of being a dad was to read to my children as often as possible, especially at bedtime. I knew that when I was reading them a book or telling them a story that I was in the process of awakening their imagination and stirring their curiosity to be read to the night after.
Indeed, my oldest child James was the very reason why I became a children's author. When he and his younger brother Adam were young, I read to them nightly without fail. James turned out to be too clever for his boots and always guessed the story's ending. So I abandoned their nightly read and instead, told them a bedtime story which I had made up earlier that evening. Smarty pants James still guessed the ending; only this time when he did so, I snookered him; I changed it! Those first made up stories were about a very clever fox called 'Sleezy' who needed a second chance and an angry dragon called 'Douglas' searching for revenge, but finding love instead. These characters were to be responsible for my earliest success in children's books as an author and over 100,000 copies of these two books were sold to Yorkshire schools between 1990 and 2000.
Anyone wanting to listen to the eight stories of 'Sleezy the Fox' and 'Douglas the Dragon' free of charge can hear professional recordings that were produced for radio transmission by accessing the link on my website. They are suitable for the 5-11 year old child to listen to and read. The stories are also available in e-book format from www. smashwords.com or in paperback copy from www.lulu.com and amazon. The late Princess Diana used to read these two story books to Princes William and Harry at their bedtimes when they were aged 7 and 9years. All profits from book sales goes to charity.
http://www.fordefables.co.uk/douglas-the-dragon.html
http://www.fordefables.co.uk/sleezy-the-fox.html
Nothing is capable of softening the hardest of hearts more than the unqualified love of a child, nothing is more capable of smashing the hardest of stone than their innocent smile that says nothing yet asks for everything. Strive to be like a child by all means, but never try to make them like you. Never encourage them to grow up before their time. Let them first explore their world, dream their dreams and find that crock of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Every now and then in life, I see some adult who forever acts the child and when I do, I know that he is still searching for that crock of gold that he was never allowed to find as a child." William Forde: May 12th, 2016.
https://youtu.be/OROFfLYQ0b0
"Every child brings a bit of heaven into the world in which they live. When we are children, we cannot wait to grow up one moment longer than is absolutely necessary and to taste the fruit of adulthood. If only then we could possess the wisdom that stark reality brings to dawn; only then would we choose to stay forever young and innocent and not allow our apple to rot before its time and our expectations sour in bitter disappointment.
Every time I see an innocent child happily at play, it makes me want to start my life all over again. Each time I gaze upon a child I see God's miracle in the making; the purpose of every parent's existence. I have always found that children possess an inherent wisdom which leads them to learn more from what we adults are than from what we tell them. Children are our most inner being, born anew. They enter this life through us and not for us. Adults often try to programme the child to learn the way they teach, but if for whatever reason the child has different learning needs (such as autism or dyslexia), and they don't learn this way, then the onus is upon the adult to teach the way they do learn.
Very few children become bored before they start to grow beyond the age of five. From 0-5 years, they are forever busy and are happy for no particular reason other than they feel so. My greatest pleasure of being a dad was to read to my children as often as possible, especially at bedtime. I knew that when I was reading them a book or telling them a story that I was in the process of awakening their imagination and stirring their curiosity to be read to the night after.
Indeed, my oldest child James was the very reason why I became a children's author. When he and his younger brother Adam were young, I read to them nightly without fail. James turned out to be too clever for his boots and always guessed the story's ending. So I abandoned their nightly read and instead, told them a bedtime story which I had made up earlier that evening. Smarty pants James still guessed the ending; only this time when he did so, I snookered him; I changed it! Those first made up stories were about a very clever fox called 'Sleezy' who needed a second chance and an angry dragon called 'Douglas' searching for revenge, but finding love instead. These characters were to be responsible for my earliest success in children's books as an author and over 100,000 copies of these two books were sold to Yorkshire schools between 1990 and 2000.
Anyone wanting to listen to the eight stories of 'Sleezy the Fox' and 'Douglas the Dragon' free of charge can hear professional recordings that were produced for radio transmission by accessing the link on my website. They are suitable for the 5-11 year old child to listen to and read. The stories are also available in e-book format from www. smashwords.com or in paperback copy from www.lulu.com and amazon. The late Princess Diana used to read these two story books to Princes William and Harry at their bedtimes when they were aged 7 and 9years. All profits from book sales goes to charity.
http://www.fordefables.co.uk/douglas-the-dragon.html
http://www.fordefables.co.uk/sleezy-the-fox.html
Nothing is capable of softening the hardest of hearts more than the unqualified love of a child, nothing is more capable of smashing the hardest of stone than their innocent smile that says nothing yet asks for everything. Strive to be like a child by all means, but never try to make them like you. Never encourage them to grow up before their time. Let them first explore their world, dream their dreams and find that crock of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Every now and then in life, I see some adult who forever acts the child and when I do, I know that he is still searching for that crock of gold that he was never allowed to find as a child." William Forde: May 12th, 2016.
https://youtu.be/OROFfLYQ0b0
