Note-taking is one of those skills that rarely gets taught. Teachers and professors assume either that taking good notes comes naturally or that someone else must have already taught students how to take notes. Then we sit around and complain that our students don’t know how to take notes.

I figure it’s about time to do something about that. Whether you’re a high school junior or a college senior or a grad student or a mid-level professional or the Attorney General of the United States, the ability to take effective, meaningful notes is a crucial skill. Not only do good notes help us recall facts and ideas we may have forgotten, the act of writing things down helps many of us to remember them better in the first place.

Read full: Lifehack.org

This is something I hardly tell people. But since there’s a lesson for every parent to learn from my experience, I decided to “reveal” the secret.

It turned out to be a guest article I wrote for Dumb Little Man – a highly successful site that I admire very much.

In this article, I share with you 6 lessons that I learned to turn myself from an impatient dad to a patient one. Go read it now and it will keep you from insanity.

How I Turned Myself From An Impatient Dad To A Loving One

If you’re busy, you can still show your love to your wife on her birthday.

What matters most is you must remember her birthday. Otherwise, you land yourself in an unwanted situation in which no one could help.

My wife’s birthday had just passed. As usual, on that day, I woke up early, around 6am. Only then did I realize that I had not given a proper thought on how to celebrate my wife's birthday.

On a weekday, there’s not much you could do. Nevertheless, I had to come up with something.

As usual, before we slept that night, my wife and I were hanging out with the kids in the bedroom. We read and fooled around.

Right before I switched off the lights, I asked my 4 years old daughter about her favorite fruits.

She said, "Papayas, bananas, mangosteens, kiwi fruits, strawberries, and grapes."

(I notice her list keeps changing. In case you plan to buy some fruits for her, just remember to check with me her latest favorites.)

"What about you, daddy?" asked, J, as would other 4 years olds.

I answered obligingly, "Hmm, I like bananas and papayas."

Suddenly, I saw a smile on her face. And she came closer to me as if she wanted to attack me. I stepped back and was clueless what she was trying to do to me.

For some reason, women like to be cuddled when they sleep. It's not that we men don't like to do that. As much as men want to cuddle their partner in bed, we end up with a numb arm. Worse, we might be sleeping through the night with an arm trapped under her head.

This video comes to the rescue. If you think one solution is not enough, what about 5?

Yep, cuddling couple, in this video, you have 5 different ways how to make cuddling in bed less stressful, hmmm, at least for men.

Step 1: The Classic Spoon
Step 2: The Shoulder Roll
Step 3: The Superman
Step 4: The star gazer
Step 5: The pragmatic approach

Tip: I don’t think you want to try out #5. Watch the video and find out why.


VideoJug: How To Avoid Trapped Arm Whilst Cuddling In Bed

The back to school buzz is on. After a long summer vacation, everyone is getting ready to rush back to school. Here’s a list of tips and ideas that make your child’s transition easier. And hopefully fun.

• Back to school fashion trends for tweens
  

• 5 Back to School Sanity Savers
  

• Back to school backpacks - Care for a bulletproof backpack? No kidding.
  

• College Toolbox: 60+ Tools For Back To School - This list comprises everything from financial aid to local guides, social networking, web-based applications and much more for the student with no time to waste in getting the most out of their education.
  

• The Green Back To School Guide
  

• Healthy, Fun, Frugal…School Lunches
  

• Back To School Tip: Textbookflix Is NetFlix For Textbooks

I just read about this post on Parent Hacks. If you want to donate some toys to Iraqi children, here's what you can do -- as I quoted from the post:

Edmay Mayers is coming home after a long tour in Iraq with the US Army Corps of Engineers. But two of her comrades have agreed to take over her "duties" as volunteer distributors of toys to Iraqi children there. Michael is a geologist from Buffalo, NY and a 20 year veteran of the Corps. Natalie is an archaeologist from Montana, who also worked to help people in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I've heard from them both, and they are ready and excited to continue Edmay's work. So keep those gently-used toys coming, and keep spreading the word!

Edmay left their contact information in the comments of our original post, but here it is, right up front. You may now send toys to:

Michael Fellenz or Natalie Sudman
USACE-GRS
APO-AE
09331

I go to my mum-in-law’s place for meals often as her place is only 5 minutes walk away from my place. My nephew, Xavier, came over to my mum-in-law’s place on weekends to catch up with his grandma. He would also pop by my place once in a while during those visits.

On past visits, he knew that we have Lego sets in my home. It was given to us as a gift and our one-year-old son is still too young to understand how to play.

4-year-old Xavier came over to visit his grandma again last weekend. I met him during lunch and he requested to go to my place to play Lego sets. I offered to bring the sets over to him as I didn’t want him to mess up my place.

So I walked back to my place and back with the Lego sets after lunch. He was so happy when he saw them that he dived into the sets immediately.

After a while, he encountered problems putting together one of the models that he wished to complete. So he requested me to help him. I was kind of reluctant at the beginning as I was enjoying my afternoon laze on a couch watching TV. But I relented at the end after his repetitive requests.

So I helped him with his construction and completed what he wanted.

An hour later, we decided to go out for a walk. I asked Xavier to keep the Lego sets and many of his toys while I packed up things for my son before we made the move. Like many other kids, Xavier refused. He just wanted to go and leave all his toys behind. I said firmly that he should keep his toys first especially the ones that I just brought for him.

Guess what he said next?

“You also played the toys, why aren’t you keeping the toys too?”

His question infuriated me. I raised my voice at him, “That was rude. Who is the one who wanted to play first? Am I not the one who brought you the toys? On whose request that I played together with you?”

“Go and keep those toys!” I shouted.

He followed my instruction silently. I don’t know whether he understood what I said. Or he just did it out of fear.

I didn’t know how to better explain the situation to Xavier. I was angry because I felt manipulated. How can a four-year-old be so cunning? When I explained what happened to my wife, she didn’t think Xavier did it on purpose. He probably has a faint idea of what fairness is. He had applied it inappropriately. What do you guys think?

“But they’re not yours!”

My wife bought a set of pajamas for my son, K. But my elder daughter, J, wanted them instead.

Put it crudely, it’s kind of like forced possession. The pajamas were hijacked when J said, “I want to wear the pajamas!!!”

The triple exclamations mark the unfriendly tone.

She continued, “The pajamas are too big for K. Let me wear them first until he’s big enough for them.”

If this happened some time last year, I’d have used my authority to lecture J by telling her this was not the right thing to do.

If required, screaming and yelling would be applied to a certain extent.

But, guess what, I am a different person now. My resolution is not to instill unpleasant and hostile feelings in my children – towards me.

Instead, my wife and I did the following.

• I hugged her and acknowledged her feelings:
  

• My wife explained to her that why she didn’t buy for her.
  

• It's time to come up with an agreement.