Leave it to Little Brother

>> Tuesday, November 29, 2011

I have been telling this story for weeks and I have decided to tell you as well.

I was putting the boys to bed and was sitting on my youngest son's bed talking to the oldest when he said something that was not nice. I started to correct him to say that is not how you speak to your mother. All of a sudden in the middle of my reprimanding, he looked me in the eye and pushed out gas. Yes, I said push.

My mouth fell open and I was going to give him a scolding when his little brother sat up and gently touched my shoulder with this look on his face that seemed to say, "Don't worry mommy, I will take care of this". My little gentle protector then turned to his older brother and said these exact words:

"That was very disrespectful. You disrespected mommy, you disrespected me, and you disrespected yourself. Now apologies." (With his finger pointing to each person).

I looked at his big brother and he was stunned by his meek little brother's response. All he could say was a sheepish, "Sorry". Little brother then laid down for a good night sleep and big brother did the same.

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10 Words Not to Place on Resume

>> Friday, November 11, 2011

Look what I found on Yahoo today. Thought it would be helpful as I recently had to refine my resume and many cover letters before I received my current job. I am guilty of a few of them.

Top Ten Words and Terms That Ruin a Resume
(Yahoo, Monster)

1. “Salary negotiable”


Yes, they know. If you’re wasting a precious line of your resume on this term, it looks as though you’re padding -- that you’ve run out of things to talk about. If your salary is not negotiable, that would be somewhat unusual. (Still, don’t put that on your resume either.)

2. “References available by request”

See the preceding comment about unnecessary terms.

3. “Responsible for ______”

Reading this term, the recruiter can almost picture the C-average, uninspired employee mechanically fulfilling his job requirements -- no more, no less. Having been responsible for something isn’t something you did -- it’s something that happened to you. Turn phrases like “responsible for” into “managed,” “led” or other decisive, strong verbs.

4. “Experience working in ______”

Again, experience is something that happens to you -- not something you achieve. Describe your background in terms of achievements.

5. “Problem-solving skills”

You know who else has problem-solving skills? Monkeys. Dogs. On your resume, stick to skills that require a human.

6. “Detail-oriented”

So, you pay attention to details. Well, so does everyone else. Don’t you have something unique to tell the hiring manager? Plus, putting this on your resume will make that accidental typo in your cover letter or resume all the more comical.

7. “Hardworking”

Have you ever heard the term “show -- don’t tell”? This is where that might apply. Anyone can call himself a hard worker. It’s a lot more convincing if you describe situations in concrete detail in which your hard work benefited an employer.

8. “Team player”

See the preceding comment about showing instead of telling. There are very few jobs that don’t involve working with someone else. If you have relevant success stories about collaboration, put them on your resume. Talk about the kinds of teams you worked on, and how you succeeded.

9. “Proactive”

This is a completely deflated buzzword. Again, show rather than tell.

10. “Objective”

This term isn’t always verboten, but you should use it carefully. If your objective is to get the job you’ve applied for, there’s no need to spell that out on your resume with its own heading. A resume objective is usually better replaced by a career summary describing your background, achievements and what you have to offer an employer. An exception might be if you haven’t applied for a specific job and don’t have a lot of experience that speaks to the position you’d like to achieve.

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It's illegal to...

>> Tuesday, November 08, 2011

My son's were eating and having a conversation when they started talking about what they wanted for Christmas. The little brother, knowing his older brother is a December baby, said, "You get nothing for your birthday if you get a Christmas present, right mommy?"

My oldest said, "Mommy I'm getting a birthday present right? Cause you know it's illegal to not give children presents?!"

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