Civility: Teaching Respect for the Elderly

I have been blessed with a wonderful husband that values family and has made living close to family a priority.  As a result, my children know and see all their grandparents on a regular basis.  So how is this a domestic skill you ask?  Just this - graciousness and civility are dying if not already lost traits in society.  Think about:

• the beauty of a sincere thank-you note 
• the pleasure at having someone offer to help clean-up after a meal 
• the quiet elegance of sitting and truly listening to someone
• the respect and love shown when someone seeks the advice of a parent or grandparent

In our noisy, self-centered, youth-worshiping society these gracious and noble traits are no longer widely cultivated.  I believe that exposing your children to interactions with individuals of varying ages is one of the most effective ways to cultivate respect and civility.  There is so much wisdom in the decades of experience within those aging grandparents, teachers or neighbors.  What a shame it is to let all that wisdom and history slip away without passing it on to subsequent generations.  So whether you live close to grandparents or not, you do live close to elderly members of your community.  Why not take advantage of the learning experience alongside your children and visit with some of them?
Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Contact a local assisted living center and ask about visiting with some of the residents.
• Grab your kids, a checker board or book and just sit down with an elderly neighbor or family member.
• Ask specific quesitons about what life was like when they grew up (what was their first car, what was the first president they remember, what they remember about historical events such as the Kennedy assassination, wars, the first moon landing etc.).
• If memory problems are present, talk about the game you brought or the book you brought.
• Pictures are often effective at evoking memories and conversation. 
• As a parent, be the example for your children.  They will watch how you take care of your parents and grandparents and most likely emulate your example in a few decades.  So if you want to be a loved and respected aging member of your family, it starts now with how you treat your aging family members.

Not only does this give some interesting perspective into history, but it also teaches your children social skills.  You may initially feel as though you are doing it as a favor to the elderly individual, but soon you'll realize that you are the true beneficiary.   In previous generations, respect, honor and good manners were the norm - let's not let that tradition pass when they do.  Set a time for your family to visit with the elderly. 

Beekeeping: If You Paint It, They Will Come

My husband and I have been getting ready to keep bees for almost a year now and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first 2 packets of bees.  My husband assembled the beehives and I painted them.  Once the hive boxes were assembled and sanded, I wiped them down with a tack cloth to remove all the dust, then "strung" them on a 2x4 and a 4x4 that were balanced on some work surfaces in my parent's shop.  (The handle of a rake or shovel steadied on a couple saw horses in a garage would work just as well.) I did wrap the 2x4 & 4x4 in newspaper so that my lumber didn't get painted as well.  With some plastic drop cloths spread out below, I was ready to roll.

Instead of using the predictable white paint, I decided to add some color to our beekeeping adventure.  I purchased 2 quarts of Behr Exterior Enamel Ultra Premium (contains a primer) and had the store tint one yellow and one light blue.  I found that using a small sponge roller made quick work of the painting.

I got so caught up with my yellow paint that I found I had painted all the boxes yellow instead of leaving some to be painted blue.  So I ended up painted a coat of blue over the yellow for one set of boxes.

This left the box handle yellow and I was convinced that they looked much more charming that way.

So I painted the yellow box handles blue to coordinate.

I gave each set of hive boxes 3 coats of paint, allowing each coat to dry before adding another coat.
I still had quite a bit of paint left and my husband had made a "nuke" and a swarm trap that needed to be painted.  So instead of buying another color and wasting the remaining paint, I decided to mix the two colors and paint the swarm trap and nuke green.

Once everything had three coats (making sure to paint only the exterior-exposed surfaces and keep the bee's living space paint free), all that was left to do was clean up.

Now we're set with our cheerful-colored hives and they will have over a month for the paint to "air out" so all the residual paint fumes can dissipate before we hive our bees.