Cinema Sundays: My Picks of Great Flicks: PLAYING THE GAME

Posted on March 20, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Image via Wikipedia

Last night, my husband and I watched “PLAYING THE GAME”, a 2009 romantic comedy starring Andy Griffith as an 80+ year-old grandpa who has recently lost his beloved wife and is now living in an assisted-living facility. Paul Campbell plays his concerned grandson, a player of women who wants his grandfather to start enjoying life again. When Paul meets Maria Sokoloff, his player days are numbered and when Andy meets Doris Roberts (of Everybody Loves Raymond fame), a resident of his senior home and grandmother of Maria, he finds a new reason to live again.

Some people may be offended by the sexual scenes (you never really “see” anything) and by the blatant sexual desires of some of the “older” folks (and some may be sad to see Andy Griffith, icon of morality in the Mayberry RFD series, taking Viagra and enjoying the sexual favors of one of the older women at the home for seniors)…but I think it was a realistic depiction of how life is for some elderly people…defined in their youth by sexuality, they feel if they can’t “perform”, then life is not worth living.

Andy Griffith does provide some wonderful advice to his grandson…advice we might all benefit from:

Defining a “real” companion, he says, “You’ll know when you meet her and you’ll know when you lose her.”
Asking his grandson about his relationship with his love interest, he says, “Are you a player or were you just playing.”
Telling his grandson to stop his step-by-step procedure that gets women to fall for him, he says, “To win the game of love, you have to stop playing games with women.”

If you are looking for a light-hearted romantic comedy and won’t be turned off by seeing some elderly people looking forward to sexual pursuits, PLAYING THE GAME is for you.

The movie also highlighted how we need to pursue our dreams and goals and not get sidetracked by just “working for the money”. The grandson had put aside his dream of working in the health-care field and was earning a LOT of money, selling cars in his father’s dealership…but he was very unhappy and hated what he was doing. When he becomes involved with Maria, he realizes that he needs to quit his job and go back to helping people. How many of us put our dreams aside because of money…either because we don’t think we have enough for our needs or we just think we need more?

This past Thursday, I met with two 4^th grade students who wanted to “job shadow” an author…the advice I gave them was to follow their dream and never give up on what they believed in…hard work and persistence do translate into success! During my years as a teacher, daycare provider and mom, I accumulated lots of ideas and experience…and I was able to use those when I finally wrote my book last year for parents and teachers of preschoolers. If you are interested in picking up a copy of this unique resource of picture book suggestions and easy fun-filled educational activities, please visit my website at www.positiveparentalparticipation.com where you can take advantage of the half-price sale and enter to win a GREAT PRIZE for your preschooler.

I hope you’ll stop by tomorrow for Make-A-Meal Monday. Based on today’s movie pick, our theme for the week is Companionship.

BALANCE: How Do I Find It?

Posted on January 22, 2011 by viviankirkfield

A precision balance scale for weighing silver ...

Image via Wikipedia

“Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.” – Robert Fulghum

We all need balance in our lives. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy – this old saying definitely holds true today.

But what is balance?

The dictionary defines balance as harmony, a state in which nothing is out of proportion or unduly emphasized at the expense of the rest.

There is no standard “one size fits all” spreadsheet for balance because we are all unique individuals with different needs and different situations. However, to optimize the quality of our lives, we can take a look at how we spend our days (and nights). Are you working too many hours? Do you tend to let certain activities slide due to lack of time? How much TV is watched in your home? Please don’t get me wrong…I enjoy watching TV…but I also realize that if we don’t put the TV on in the evening, I get so much done. And when I look at my watch, it is only 9PM. But I do have to admit that my time spent on the computer these days often occupies an unbalanced proportion of my day…so much so that it becomes the wee hours of the morning when I finally feel I am done. SO NOT GOOD! This weekend I plan to sit down to evaluate how I am utilizing that time and hopefully I can produce a more BALANCED schedule that will be better for me AND my family.

I guess we can go back to the dictionary definition of balance: a state in which nothing is out of proportion or unduly emphasized at the expense of the rest. So, if your family enjoys watching a show on TV, that is great…but perhaps when the show is over, you can participate in other activities…maybe a read-aloud story-time. If there are older children, perhaps they can take turns with the adults reading to the younger children, although studies show that older children really enjoy being read to. Or maybe have a family board game night?

According to Catherine Pulsifer in “We Never Seem to Have Enough Time”,

“We need to maintain a proper balance in our life by allocating the time we have.”

So here are a few simple ways to keep track of how you are allocating your time.

1. Use a notebook to list your long-term and short-term goals.

2. Make a to-do list each night for the next day…you will sleep better each night and you won’t realize late in the next day that you’ve forgotten to do something important. For me, writing down what I need to do gives me peace of mind.

3. Set up a daily routine or schedule, especially if you have children. Life can get really chaotic if you don’t have a plan in place.

Do you have a daily routine or schedule in place? Stop by tomorrow for a look at the successful routine I used with my daycare group and my own family when my children were small.

The Calendar Doesn’t Lie

Posted on January 18, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Image via Wikipedia

I glanced at the calendar this morning and almost went into shock. January 18, 2011. The month of January is already half over and it feels like I just put away the Christmas decorations. Well, actually, I did just put away the Christmas decorations. Please tell me yours are still up so I will feel better.

So we are halfway through the first month of the new year and I think it’s time to check and see how I am doing with my goals…or New Year’s Resolutions for those of you who like that title better. Here is my list…I’ve graded myself so I can see where I need to improve or what goals I might need to modify…I’m allowed to do that, right?

BLOG EVERY DAY…A. However, I’m not sure this is something I can continue throughout the rest of the year…at least not on a daily basis. It’s not that I don’t LOVE writing…because I do. The problem is TIME or the lack of it.
EXERCISE EVERY DAY…C+. I planned on doing my 25 minute low-impact Kathy Smith aerobic sequence 4 days a week and walking a mile the other 3 days. I’ve done the 4 days a week…but have found it difficult to get out and walk the other three days. Is it the weather? It has been pretty cold and I am not a cold-weather lover…however I just got my routine blood labs back (everything normal!!!), but my doctor wants me to take a vitamin D supplement because my D is on the low end of normal…if I could just get out in the sunshine several days a week, that would probably take care of it.
DRINK 8 GLASSES OF WATER EVERY DAY…C. I need to work harder on this! Does everyone have a problem with this?
GREET EVERY DAY WITH A SMILE…A. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and stateswoman in her own right, said something that is so very true, “Today is a gift; that’s why they call it the present.” For me it is not too difficult because I am by nature a very positive person…but I know for some, this is not an easy task.
DO 5 THINGS EVERY DAY TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT MY NEW BOOK…B. It seems that no matter how much I accomplish, there is always something more I need to do. And not being too savvy about social networking often makes it take two and three times as long to post something or connect with someone. I truly welcome all feedback and insights into how I can do it better!

Giving a score of 90 for an A, 80 for a B, 75 for the C+ and 70 for the C, it looks like my report card average is an 80. Not GREAT, but not too bad. J Hopefully, with a little tweaking of the fluid intake and a little more effort on my part to get out and walk, I can improve my “grades”…but more importantly, I’ll be improving my overall health and that’s really my goal for 2011.

Do you review your goals at different times during the year to see if you are on track? And if you’re not, do you beat yourself up over it and give up for the year or do you find a way to re-motivate yourself?

Stop by tomorrow (especially if you are a parent or teacher of a preschooler) for a peek at the reading and crafting program I’m offering to local Pre-K and kindergarten classes. It’s based on the stories and crafts that appear in my new book…educational fun-filled ideas that build self-esteem, develop pre-literacy skills and create a life-long parent-child bond!