Flags Of The Nations

 

 

 

 

Flags of the world nations are colorful reminders of the enormous diversity of language and people throughout the world.

United Nations: Unique Platform for Various Causes

The United Nations is often accused of being an ineffective bloated bureaucracy bent on preaching much and acting little, but strangely enough its health and charitable arms do make a difference in a world still too much at war.

From a stamp lover's perspective the United Nations is a singularly unique entity that produces stamps on an international basis that often tout a cause that needs attention: polio, sleeping sickness, poverty, abuse, drug addition, etc. For a less than perfect institution the United Nations has done a great deal to support stamps and postage throughout the world.

The first stamp convention I attended was held at the United Nations in New York in 1973 and I saved the items my father and I purchased and never forgot the educational and entertaining experience.

Here's to the UN, keep up the good work and please strive to improve like in spending your money wiser and actual peacekeeping to stop a war.

Stamp Stories: The Marshall Plan

I like the idea of sharing personal stamp stories with the world-at-large. In 1970, I was 5 years old and my father formally started me with my first stamp book and the very first stamp that caught my attention was the 20ct George C Marshall stamp. (I put up a block image for effect!)

My son has been helping me with stamps for a few years now and he is fasting approaching 5 years old in a few short months. I already have an album and thousands of stamps from around the world. But the U.S. Commemoratives starter stamps are best for this special occasion.

Once I saw that stamp that was it for me. I wanted to collect more, understand more, go to stamp shows and find out what was going on out there in the stamp world. Fortunately I lived in New Jersey at the time so going to New York stamp locations and even the United Nations was an easy car trip but still an exciting adventure.

KNS continue to provide free stamp info attachments and continues to mail out free starter-kits to help parents help kids collect stamps. Make a request. We will be there for you. Don't let the television or a video game babysit your child. Be there for him/her. Be with him/her using stamps as a grand tool to learn about themselves, about you and the great world around all of us.

Building Great Memories: Parent and Child

You probably heard the old adage, "be a parent to your child; not their friend. Otherwise it becomes very confusing when time for discipline." I know firsthand this statement is very true but like anything in one's life you cannot take it to the extreme. Too much parenting causes the child to shut off communication and turns your presence into a giant rule maker and not someone who listens or cares about their concerns--real or imagined. That's where stamp collecting comes into play.

As discussed previous in "fellowship" article, the parent/child relationship is strengthened in the area of trust when dealing with stamps. The child is allowed to learn from stamps by making their own decisions about what, how and where to collect. Each stamp session or lesson is another building block of fruitful memory the child carries the rest of their lives. Some of my finest memories of my father, may God rest his soul, revolve around stamp collecting. Our trips to New York stamp shows, the United Nations, pulling out the albums on unscheduled rainy days and just pouring hours into figuring out this and that about stamps and about each other. We were building great memories. My father was still my father but I felt deep down inside he figured out a way to be my friend for a few hours and that lightened the load for both of us considering our respective roles and responsibilities.

I think I got to be the grown-up by making decisions and my father got to be the kid again and sat back and enjoyed not having to direct every facet of every thing in the universe. I' m remembering what I learned then and applying it to my sons in the present day. I will never stop being a father since that role today is more critical than ever before but I will find ways to be his friend whenever possible and whenever it doesn't compromise my primary role. Stamp collecting is going to be another highly useful vehicle to communicate for all parties involved.

Another excellent stamp approach is to take the stamp collecting from the indoors of your home and bring it on the road. We went to museums (Navajo heritage), planetariums (space stamps), zoos (exotic animal stamps), stamp shows (United Nations), conventions (NYC), etc, etc. that spot-lighted the educational angle of stamps. These trips also built great memories that made stamp collecting an exciting adventure. It brought my father and I closer and suddenly made me realize how fortunate I was when other neighborhood kids complained how little they saw of their parents. Some of those kids went on to school problems, behavior problems and eventually legal problems. Neglect, in my opinion, is a form of abuse. Stay active, stay involved and your children will probably stay out of trouble. Stamps might just do the trick.