For many years, Art Linkletter had a television program titled "Kids Say the Darndest Things." He once asked a 4-year-old which came first, the chicken or the egg. The child instantly responded, "The chicken." Art asked her how she knew. She smiled and said, "Because God doesn't lay eggs." The answer was cute and theologically sound.

All parents can tell 101 stories about funny, shocking, profound and exciting things their kids have said. When our son was 3 years old, his mother made the mistake of buying him a little wagon that was not assembled. I say "mistake" because my reputation for mechanical ineptness is well-deserved (I had a mechanical bypass when I was young). When we buy something that needs to be assembled, the manufacturers know that I'm going to be the one trying to put it together, so they leave out vital parts and clear instructions. Nevertheless, it was birthday time, and I had no choice but to tackle the job.

I was sweating away and making very little progress when I discovered that I'd reversed the way a couple of the thingamajigs should have been attached. My patience was wearing thin, and when I discovered the mistake, I must have muttered under my breath and frowned because my little boy looked at me and quietly said, "I sure do love you, Daddy."

"Out of the mouths of babes" certainly was appropriate here. Needless to say, I finished the job. The gratitude of that little boy was worth more than all the frustration I had endured.

The message is not about cute kids; it's directed to adults who I am hopeful will be reminded that words of love, hope and belief in another person can encourage others to make one more effort to complete a difficult task.

Take that approach to life, and I'll see you at the top!

Indian Wisdom

Most of us are familiar with American Indian expressions such as "burying the hatchet" and "smoking the peace pipe." Here is another one that is far more significant.

If two Seneca boys got into a serious squabble, the mother would say to them, "Go and set up your sticks." The boys knew exactly what this meant. They were to go some distance from the lodge and set up three sticks in tripod form.

Then the quarrel would be left with the sticks for one moon (one month). At the end of that time, the position of the sticks would determine who was right, but they had to be sure to leave the quarrel with the sticks.

The boys would go back to their play, leaving the sticks to settle the trouble. They would have to agree that if the sticks leaned toward the rising sun, Running Deer was right; if they leaned toward the setting sun, Flying Squirrel was right. If the sticks had fallen down, neither of the boys was right. Because of the wind and rain, the sticks almost always fell down.

At the end of the moon, the mother would send them to see what the sticks had said, and more times than not, they could not even remember what they had set the sticks up for — thus the quarrel was settled easily.

Thank you, Mabel Powers, for your article sharing an intriguing example of a sensible solution to most of our everyday squabbles. Shakespeare would have said that in most cases, it is "much ado about nothing." If we walked away and agreed to discuss the issue even the next day, our tempers would cool, logic and reason would take over, and the problems would be resolved amicably. My grandmother took a similar approach. When heated discussions took place, she would say firmly, "Let it sit."

Take this approach to settling those squabbles, and I'll see you at the top!

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