Birthday Presents

"Motivation"*

*A father noticed that his son was spending way
too much time playing computer games.

In an effort to motivate the boy into focusing
more attention on his schoolwork, the father said
to his son, "When Abe Lincoln was your age, he was
studying books by the light of the fireplace."

The son replied, "When Lincoln was your age, he
was The President of The United States."

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"Birthday Presents"*

*Although we had recently moved into a new
neighborhood, our young son had already made
many new friends, ten of whom were invited to
his birthday party. When the happy day arrived and
he opened his presents, I was amazed to see that
eight guests had presented him with sweaters.

Later I visited the mother of one of the boys to explain
about the multiplicity of sweaters in the hope that an
exchange might be arranged.

She said coolly, "Well, after all, you were the one who
wrote on the invitation what you wanted me to buy."

For a few minutes I was stunned into silence; then I
realized what had happened. Since the party was
being held in our basement, which is always cool,
I had written on each invitation: "Please have your child bring a sweater."
Received on Wed Sep 1 00:03:26 2010