Marketing internship report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing internship report - Essay Example my internship at Plush Karaoke, I had a special focus on acquiring knowledge on the different strategies employed for marketing and promotion of services in the organization. To ensure this was effectively understood, I had to partake in the numerous marketing and promotion activities of the organization, among which were advertising, sales promotion, selling, and the public relation (Steinke 145). In Plush Karaoke, promotion was used for the purpose of expanding the market, as well as retaining its current position in the market. Similarly, this organization employed promotional strategy for the purposes of presenting a corporate viewpoint in regard to the public issues (Steinke 142). The organization also found promotional strategies as being key to reaching the target markets for its products. Among the organizational goals herein were the identification of particular promotional objectives and goals for the purposes of providing information on the services. On the other hand, there was the need to differentiate the services, stabilize sales, increase the sales, as well as accentuating the service value. Among the promotional practices offered by the organization, which I took part in their marketing and promotion were; happy Thursday, expansion of craft beer, adding a second TV in each room, barber cut machine, new song selections, sports programming at bar area, music video at bar area and refreshed food menu. The sales promotion practice included many forms such as personal selling, advertising and public relation for the purposes of increasing the sales via the one-time efforts of selling. In addition, the organization considered the sales promotion practice as an important part in the promotional mix (Steinke 143). I got engaged in Point-of-Purchase Advertising (POP), which involved demonstrations and displays for promoting the services through video advertisements on the shopping charts of supermarkets. Another important practice was the specialty

Tiny toes ltd.How to start quality child care business Essay Example for Free

Tiny toes ltd.How to start quality child care business Essay Tiny toes ltd Introduction Importance of having accurate financial information in decision-making                   In the Tiny toes ltd, Sandra has no accuracy on the financial information. This makes the planning of the new projects of the new nursery and running of the business she has more difficult. Sandra needs to come up with accurate financial information on the finances of the business. It will help her have valuable data on the financial position of her company. It will also enable her determine its weaknesses and strength that intern assist her in evaluating the amount of capital needed to plan or start a new business (Way, 2014, n. p.). Apart from that, accurate financial information will help to maintain accuracy of taxes and ensure that additional duties imposed on the Tiny toes ltd are paid.                   Accurate financial information provides clear statement to investors in evaluating the business financial performance. By this communication will be available to the interested parties who want to contribute to the new projects of Sandra’s business. It will give them an easy way to determine accurate amount needed to finance the project completely. The investors and the contributors of the business rely on the accurate financial information for the safety and profitability of their investments (Way, 2014, n.p.). In the plan of starting a new business, she has to lay down the statements of finances for the budget needed like indentifying all income and expenses for the entire organization. She has to establish the time and period the budget will last and the capital required. By coming up with all this accurate financial information of Tiny toes ltd, she will able to access information on the past performance and the capital they have in hand. This will help to switch to another alternative incase a problem emerges in planning a new project.                   Consequently accurate financial information will help the banks and lenders to know if her business will be able to pay for the loan borrowed to avoid misfortunes in future (Way, 2014, n.p.). Apart from that, it will prevent the banks and lenders from stopping their support on her business through loans. Balance sheet is also part of financial information. Sandra needs to generate a balance sheet that will assess her business annually. The balance sheet will help determine the financial health of Tiny toes ltd. It will also help her have information on the productivity of the business and amount of capital that is retained. However, it will provide information on the flow of the business in terms of how fast or slow the assets are and how to convert them into capital. Tiny toes will be able to determine financial state they are in a specific time. With all the details of the financial information Sandra’s business will have a clear understanding o n how to come up with other new projects and how they will flourish.                   The benefits of Tiny toes having accurate cash flow in beginning a new nursery in GuildfordBusiness plans and cash flow also plays a big role on the progress of a business. This is what need to be initiated in Sandra’s a business to help the executives in the internal planning. The business plan will help in the application of loans and even borrow money from other lenders (Wasserman, 2010, p. 1) to support the projects. Lack of business plan in her business may lead to the downfall of Tiny toes ltd. By the business plan ahead, she will be able to identify the goals and objectives needed for the company to achieve its dream. However it will also help her determine the services needed to deliver in her project in Guildford. Provision of business plan for Tiny toes ltd will help to display the performance of her business and the goals ahead to start a new nursery and childcare centre.                   Another big role that the business plan plays is it reorganizes the business by making operational changes like reduction of expenses (Wasserman, 2010 n.p.). Nevertheless, it helps in the equity financing whereby banks and lenders are able to evaluate her business ability to take more loans if in need. As to cash flow, Sandra needs it to track and know the exchange of cash between Tiny toes and outside the business. The cash flow need to be done according to weekly and monthly basis to help monitor the flow of expenses and revenue. The cash flow is also important since it provides information on certain activities to notify Sandra so that she can know the impending danger in the business. In order to come up with accurate cash flow she should include aspects like cash receipts.                   The cash receipts include loans, private sources, fundraising and parents’ fees. However disbursement need to be included in the cash flow to provide information such as payroll expenses, supplies, maintenance, accounting and rent. All this details in the cash flow will help in calculating how much the company is making and if the profit incurred will help fund her new projects. Cash flow also helps in determining the changes in income and the balance sheet. The cash flow that Sandra needs, should be in different categories that is; operating activities, investigating, supplementary and financial activities (The globe mail, 2013, n.p). The investment cash flow will help determine changes on the long-term investment on the new nursery and childcare centre. It will also enable determine the rent needed in Guilford. Financial cash flow brings changes on stock needed and the payments needed for the interests of the shareholder.                   The operating cash on the other hand will enable Sandra view the records on the budget needed for starting a new business. All this shows how cash flow is very important in a business. It acts as a warning by identifying shortfalls in cash balances. It also helps in preparing budgets and helps sport payments problems by parents in the tiny toes business. If it is initiated in Tiny toes, Sandra will be able to know how her business generates profits and spends capital. It will also help her determine the technology improvements required in the new project of nursery and childcare centre. The business plan will help in good management her business. It will also help Sandra decide in her business whether to rent a new space in Guilford or not and initiates discussion of the objectives with the employees, partners and investors of her business. Problems and financial information that Sandra has to prepare and additional information needed to make a right decision                   The financial information of Sandra regarding Tiny toes and new projects of a new nursery and childcare centre is incomplete. In her information she only states the insurance, rent, rates, recruitment training, loans, wages, fixed prices and monthly charged price. She has left out the budget which is a very important thing in starting a new project. She has to come up with organizational and program budgets. Organizational budgets should indicate the income and expenses in Tiny toes ltd for a certain period of time (Child care center, 2009, p. 14). It should also show the anticipated expenses and income of the company since she wants to develop a childcare center.                   Sandra should give details of her budget in the way that it shows the expenses needed to start a new project of childcare center. It should also analyze expenses of each child according to time and the first class services offered to children from wealthy families. This will help in tracking the costs since everything is evaluated separately. In her information, she should state the time and period the budget will cover to determine amount required for it. Another thing that is not included in her financial statement is the report of the planner who will be in charge of monitoring the new business she wants to start. However, she has also skipped the aspect of licensing. Licensing may have many expenses that need high rate of funding (Mississippi, 2011, p. 11). It may include aspects such as safety codes and health care expenses because Medical examining is required for both the staff employed and children when dealing with a childcare center.                   Expenses for things like fire regulators also need to be included since they are the first priorities in her business to enhance safety. In her information she has only left out little details that seem to be not costly. When all of these little costs are put together they form a large expense that requires more help from the capital sector. By including all the details and coming up with an accurate financial information she will come up with her projects in a more efficient way. There will be no extra expense that will, destruct her planning. It will also help lenders and investors have clear information on the amount needed to fund the new projects. Problems experienced by Tiny toes in trying to generate internal finance in form of retained business                   Tiny toes have problems in generating internal finance due to the emerging competition which is increasing. The competitors that have nurseries provide the same services that Sandra’s company does. Their fees is less costly and due to that it poses a high risk to the progress of Tiny toes ltd. They are able to generate more capital than tiny toes and expand their services as compared to Sandra as a result of less cost. Due to this parents tend to take children to the competitors nursery than in Tiny toes ltd. Apart from that, Tiny toes will be forced to cut some costs that will drive away the staff and also students due lack of quality services.                   Lack of accurate financial information makes it difficult for her business to come up with a budget. However, a lot of capital is lost in things that are not necessary. Sandra’s business lacks plan and this is what destroys its capability to generate internal finance. Business plan is very important since investors are not able to invest in a business due to lack of clear information inform of cash-flow contained in it. This is the main things that that help in planning. Through business planning the Tiny toes will be able to understand how much profits the business will make and children needed in order to achieve more profits. This are the things that Sandra need to keep in mind in order to generate expand her business. Problems that Toes will encounter in the development of new projects                   Tiny toes will encounter problems in financial sector in the new project. This is due to high rent in Guildford and also adding more services only to capture the wealthy business may will bring loss to the business. In her projects she expands her business only to capture children who come from wealthy families. This shows they are not able to generate more internal profit. Tiny toes ltd does not expand its market share to capture children who come from at least less wealthy families. Relying on only one market share lowers the performance of the business especially in the financial aspect leading to low profit. Apart from that, tiny toes do not have accurate financial information. This shows that Sandra does not have information on the position of the business financially.                   In order for the Sandra’s business to prosper and generate more profit. She needs to expand her business by reflecting on both markets. She should focus on both wealthy and poor people. She needs also to keep in mind of the accurate financial information, business plan and cash flows in running the nursery and child care centers. She should also be aware of the competitors by coming up with more efficient plans that will make her secure her business and acquire a more large market share. Regarding the new projects she needs to take it slow by focusing on one project at a time. Focusing on both projects will lead to the downfall of her business since it will require a large amount of capital. Putting all this into consideration she will be able to plan other projects. Concentrating on one project at a time may save a company from bankruptcy. References Child care center (2009) financial planning and facilities development manual. Retrieved on 4th December 2014. http://www.buildingchildcare.net/uploads/pdfs/CCCManualFINAL07.pdf Mississippi (2011). How to start quality child care business. Retrieved on 4th December 2014. http://www.mdhs.state.ms.us/media/16085/pub_mp29.pdf The globe and mail.(2013). The importance of operating cash flow for small business. Retrieved on 4th December 2014. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-money/cash-flow/the-importance-of-operating-cash-flow-for-small-businesses/article15134561/ Wasserman ,E.(2010). How to write the financial section of a business plan. Retrieved on 4th December 2014.http://www.inc.com/guides/business-plan-financial-section.html Way,J. (2014). What is the importance of financial statements. Retrieved on 4th December 2014.http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-companys-financial-statements-21332.html Source document

Utilization And Case Management At A Hospital

Utilization And Case Management At A Hospital Sierra View District Hospitals (SVDH) utilization review (UR) process originates in the Case Management (CM) department. They are responsible for the case review and obtaining social services for those patients in need of services. This paper will describe how this process works and how SVDH compares to another facilitys UR structure. There will also be a discussion about the weaknesses of the SVDH program. Utilization Management at SVDH The CM department is responsible for the UR process at SVDH. This department, which has 13 employees, is staffed as follows: four Case Managers; two licensed clinical social workers; four social services worker; a Department Analyst; and a Wound Care Specialist. An Administrative Director oversees the department. The CM department follows a Utilization Review Plan (Appendix A) which establishes how the CM department will review cases and address potential discrepancies from established best practice guidelines like McKessons InterQual Criteria (McKesson, 2010). The four Case Managers are to conduct concurrent reviews on all Medicare admissions. They evaluate the patient chart and documentation to ensure the correct medical care status of Inpatient or Observation Services is assigned to the patient. If the patient is assigned the correct status then the Case Manager will flag the case for review in three to four days to ensure the status of the patient has not changed to such a degree that either a higher or lower service level is required. If that is the case, the manager will contact the primary care physician and seek an order changing the service level. If the physician does not agree, and the documentation in the case ceases to support the current level of care, the case manager will forw ard the case to the physician advisor for review. If the physician advisor agrees that a new level of care is called for then he/she will contact the physician to seek further clarification as to why the patient needs continued services at the current level. Depending on this conversation, there are four possible outcomes for the patient status. One, the patient status will remain at the current level of care because the initial physician has informed the physician advisor of extenuating circumstances regarding the case. Two, the physician will agree to the conversion of the patient status to either a higher or lower level of care. Three, the physician will not agree with the physician advisor, and the advisor will refer the case for the UR committee for a panel decision, which can overrule the original physician; or Four, the patient can be discharged from the hospital. While Case Managers are working the UR of a patient, the Social Workers are concerned about any after-care the patient may require. The Case Managers and Social Workers work together to come up with a discharge plan beginning on the first day of admission. The Social Workers make sure the patients have all the contact information they may need once discharged, and the Case Managers work to ensure placement of the patient in an extended recovery care facility if needed. SVDHs UR Program Compared to Other Hospitals SVDHs UR program is comparable to that of Jewish Hospital (St. Louis). Prior to 1985, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reimbursed hospitals for services rendered. Due to increasing costs to the Medicare Trust Fund, the Diagnostic Related Group (DRG) system was developed to reimburse hospitals based on what the average cost of a particular surgery. UR programs at both hospitals began to change to meet the new challenges instituted by CMS. Utilization Review became Case Management at SVDH, while Jewish Hospital named their program Case Coordination. The staff members at both facilities became more involved in complete patient care, from admission to post-discharge. SVDH experienced the same growing pains that Jewish Hospital did when Observation Services became a new cost savings service line instituted by CMS. The next challenge arose in 1990, when quality initiatives arose. These initiatives have only increased since that time, with the establishment of Quality Initiative Organizations (QIO). The QIOs review hospital data and report results back to CMS. The goal of these organizations is to locate services that do not meet their (CMS) standards. When found the QIO will deny payment for the services. While Jewish Hospital attempts to complete a 100% review for quality indicators on all cases, either concurrent or retrospective, SVDH chose to focus 100% on Core Measure cases only. While Jewish Hospital might be ensuring that all cases have a minimum standard of quality, SVDH complies with Joint Commission standards by only reviewing the Core Measure cases. Weakness of the Program There is a major weakness in the SVDH Case Management program, and it has been a weakness for some time. SVDH CM is not a 24/7/365 program. The Case Managers work Monday through Friday from eight to five. One Case Manager works from eight until noon on Saturday in the emergency room, but there is no coverage on Sunday. This means that the one Case Manager only reviews the cases that were admitted from Friday at 5:00 PM until 8:00 AM Saturday morning. If she has time she will also pick up any additional cases she can prior to leaving at noon, but there is no guarantee of that happening. The entire CM staff will review any cases not previously reviewed on Monday, if the patient is still in-house, or the case will undergo a retrospective review. This can cause continuing care problems for patients. An example of one of these problems recently occurred when a patient was not reviewed due to no CM personnel on staff on Friday evenings. The patient presented to the Emergency Room on Friday, and was subsequently placed in Observation Services at the hospital, This case was not reviewed by the weekend case manager. On Monday morning, the CM personnel started reviewing the Medicare admissions and saw this patient on the CM list. In reviewing the chart, the patient plainly met Inpatient criteria. The attending physician could not be contacted so the case was referred to the physician advisor, who agreed the patient should have been classified as Inpatient. The status was changed as of Monday morning. CMS guidelines state that a status can only be changed upon the presentation of an order, and at no point can an Observation Services case be converted to an Inpatient status retroactively. The patient needed additional therapeutic services that would be provided in a long term care facil ity, but CMS guidelines state that Medicare will only pay for those services if the patient has had a qualifying Inpatient stay in a hospital for a minimum of three calendar days (Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services, 2009). Since this patients status converted to Inpatient on Monday morning, the time spent in the hospital from Friday until conversion on Monday did not count towards the qualifying stay. The quandary then is to either discharge the patient to the care facility without a qualifying stay, thereby making the patient responsible for the entire cost of the care, or keeping the patient in the hospital for an additional two days in order to meet the qualifying stay requirements. The obvious answer is to keep the patient in order for them to obtain the necessary time to earn the qualifying stay. This, however, places a bed out of circulation that could have been used by another patient, and might incur costs that do not meet reimbursement criteria for the hospital. Had a CM staff member been on duty Friday night, the case could have been caught earlier, and the qualifying stay could have begun on Friday instead of Monday. The major obstacle to hiring more Case Managers is, frankly, the cost of salaries. Any additional overhead costs are scrutinized closely in these times of shrinking reimbursements. Prior to bringing on new staff, in any area, the return on the investment is reviewed for a profitability margin. If a profit margin cannot be realized then the likelihood of incurring that additional expense is small. Other projects that bring a greater profitability margin have taken priority over additional staff in the CM department. Conclusion The CM Department administers SVDHs UR program. The CM Department encompasses several different services, all dedicated to providing total care to the patient while in the hospital and post-discharge. SVDHs program mirrors common practices within the industry. Like Jewish Hospital (St. Louis), CM at SVDH has evolved and changed over the years to meet the new demands placed on it by regulatory agencies. The CM Department constantly works with physicians to ensure patients receive the appropriate level of care based on physician documentation and InterQual guidelines. The major weakness in the CM program at SVDH is that it is not a 24/7/365 department. This flaw sometimes places the continuum of care for the patient at odds with the regulatory guidelines, and SVDH has to forego reimbursement for services in exchange for better overall patient care and patient financial security.

Veronica decides to die :: essays research papers

Veronika Decides to Die – Paul Coelho Plot Summary In his brilliant novel about the aftermath of a young woman ’s suicide attempt,Paulo Coelho explores three perennial themes:conformity, madness,and death.Twenty-four-year-old Veronika li es in Slovenia,one of the republics created by the dissolution of Yugoslavia.She works as a librarian by day,and by night carries on like many single women --dating men,occasionally sleeping with them,and returning to a single room she rents at a convent.It is a life,but not a very compelling one.So one day,Veronika decides to end it.Her failed attempt,and her inexplicable reasons for wanting to die,land her in a mental hospital,Vilette. Veronika ’s disappointment at having sur i ed suicide is palpable.She imagines the rest of her life filled with disillusionment and monotony,and vows not to leave Vilette alive. Much to her surprise,however,she learns that a fate she desires awaits her anyway: She is destined to die within a week ’s time,of a heart damage caused by her suicide attempt.Gradually,this knowledge changes Veronika ’s perception of death and life. In the meantime,Vilette ’s head psychiatrist attempts a fascinating but provocative experiment.Can you "shock"someone into wanting to live by convincing her that death is imminent?Like a doctor applying defibrillator paddles to a heart attack victim,Dr. Igor ’s "prognosis"jump-starts Veronika ’s new appreciation of the world around her. From within Vilette ’s controlled environment,she finally allows herself to express the emotions she has never allowed herself to feel:hate and love,anger and joy,disgust and pleasure.Veronika also finds herself being drawn into the li es of other patients who lead constrained but oddly satisfying li es.Eduard,Zedka,and Mari have been sent to Vilette because there doesn ’t seem to be any other place for them.Their families don ’t understand them,and they can ’t adjust to the social structure that doesn ’t tolerate their individuality.Each of these patients reflects on Veronika ’s situation in his or her own flash of epiphany,exposing new desire and fresh vision for life that lies outside the asylum ’s walls. Vilette is an asylum in the purest sense of the word:a place of protection,where one is shielded from danger.In this case the danger is society.Those who refuse to accept

Lawrence Krauss: Religious Education Is Child Abuse Essay

Lawrence Krauss has repeatedly stated that teaching religion in science is â€Å"child abuse†. The term, â€Å"child abuse† when used in this context is extreme. Krauss (2013) explains the purpose of education is to teach children the truth providing empirical evidence based on facts, and knowledge of science and religion do not coexist. However, Krauss wants to exclude religion from science because he observes that there are ethical boundaries in science such as telling the truth, but the methodology is to exclude religion from education in general because religion is fiction with no empirical evidence to support it but only have ethics. Krauss justifies how science based, not on ideology or testimonies science supports the methods with empirical facts that can provide us a better understanding to overcome ignorance. While â€Å"child abuse† perhaps antagonizing word to express Krauss’s ideas, on the other hand, creationism with science should not be taught in class because they based on different knowledge that also contradicts the other. Religion does not have a place in science but does have a role as a subject as long it is not mixed with science. Teaching creationism with science is a disservice to students because creationism has no empirical evidence to support the doctrines in the bible. The beliefs of a creationist view its doctrine that an omnipotent creator creates all things, but it is a disservice to students since there is no evidence. Krauss expresses how science can offer a better world by telling the truth on the age of the earth evidently shown on evolution (a change inherited characteristics of biological population over successive generation). Krauss stated (2013a) if parents or teachers â€Å"withhold knowledge or do anything to children to put competitive disadvantage as adults is mild child abuse†. This context explains the disservice of creationism with science; due to religious education it withholds the knowledge of expressing the facts. Krauss (2013a) stated that the purpose of education â€Å"is not to validate ignorance but to overcome it† and this suggestion is to teach children evolution the source of modern biology to overcome ignorance. Creationism is a disservice to students because there is no evidence to tell us but only the values of the biblical stories. However, Krauss (2013b) clarifies that evolution had happened, and that is science evidence of biology, â€Å"science is falsifiable and testable, and god is not testable† therefore; creationism is a disservice because there is no proof of the existence. Science has ethical boundaries based on truth provided by data evidence that does not base on ideologies. Scientists have theories that are testable to try and prove it wrong to work and challenge beliefs also hypothesis. Krauss declared (2013c) the progress of science in modern technology keeps changing â€Å"to view reality†¦ if people do not challenge their beliefs they are not learning†, and this is how to overcome ignorance with evidence in reality for progress to education. However, Krauss and Dawkins (2007) discuss the notion of science and religion do not coexist because â€Å"religion is a bad science or ancillary to science† that there is no evidence to be tested. This contrast expresses that religion, should be viewed as a subject but not taught with science. Dawkins mentioned that evolution is â€Å"easily misunderstood† (Krauss, L. , & Dawkins, R. 2007) and those who misunderstand science issues are ignorant. Although the term â€Å"child abuse† is dogmatic, because it is too violent in which Krauss uses that terminology to make awareness so that children can gain knowledge by understanding the truth and critically asking themselves questions to the purpose of life. This methodology contradicts creationism because an omnipotent creator has no evidence to existence and creationism relies on faith and fear that undergo disservice to students. However, religion should be excluded from science because there is no empirical evidence in reality. Creationism does play a role in western civilization due to moral ethnicity on Ten Commandments and legal jurisdiction; this functionalism can structure a better society for a future hope. Krauss explains (2012b) that there are no ethics on religion upon science â€Å"religion never enters on to science† because there will be a conflict theory. Krauss suggested (Krauss, L. , & Dawkins, R. 007) that children should not be forced on what to believe and how parents could educate their children on how the world functions by the modern biology of evolution. Though religion should not be excluded from education because, it purposes the students to have moral behavior. The education curriculum should not teach science and creationism side by side. Students can question their belief to be educated and to learn. Science and religion should be taught two different subject and not together, where children could make that choice to learn and not forced upon or deviated. In conclusion, religion should not be excluded in education but taught separately from science because there is no empirical evidence on the creation of this world, which is a disservice to the students. Krauss has justified how science and religion cannot mix because students will not understand the fact about the world and how we originated by evolution. Krauss also discusses the ethnicity of empirical truth in which will make a better world. However, to exclude religion in general will disrupt the social norm. Religion plays a role to moral ethnicity (performance on behavior) in civilizations and will educate students’ behavior. Students need to have discipline and morals created to their worldview and awareness to their stratification in society. The essay examines the comparison of how creationism should be excluded from science and should be applied as another subject in education curriculum. Religion has ethical boundaries, which is rational and science concludes on empirical facts supported by natural selection.

The External Conflict of the Story „My Oedipus Complex“ by Frank O’conner

The external conflict of the story „My Oedipus Complexâ€Å"by Frank O’Conner? The story „ My Oedipus Complex „written by the well-known Irish author Frank O’Connor is a sacred narration of the youth and growing-up problem. There are three characters in the story: Larry – protagonist, his mother and father. The story is told by a little child Larry, who is 5 years old and who grows up in his nonhazardous world with just himself and his â€Å"beloved† mother. He is not ready to share his mother’s attention with the father, who is returned from the war (WWI) and with new-born brother. Larry is strongly connected with his mother and wants her to belong only to him. The author depicts in the story with galore humour the boy’s â€Å"Oedipus Complex† referring to Freudian psychoanalysis. First of all, to understand the external conflict of the story we need to know who the main character is and what his view on life is. The protagonist, Larry, is an inventive, happy, imaginative and kind young boy, who thinks and cares a lot about her mother. The spectacular experience of Larry seems to be the representation of our childhood stories. Larry is only 5 years old, but sometimes he behaves like an adult person. â€Å"†¦ Having settled my plans for the day, I got up, put a chair under the attic window†¦ â€Å"- he is planning the day, the things he wants to do. While I was reading the story I realized that he enjoys every morning, he thanks God who gave him another splendid day. He was a lively boy, who wanted to brighten his home. Nevertheless, he was just a child, whose thoughts were too strict and sometimes too mirthful. It was difficult for him to understand why his father returned from war and why his mother now spends too much time with her husband and not with Larry. While Larry’s father was fighting in the World War and rarely visited home, boy was enjoying himself and all his mother attention was turned to him. At the beginning of the story he said —â€Å"†¦ the war was the most peaceful period of my life†¦ † Lately, the main point of the sentence was explained as: after his father came back at home his mother’s love was shared by Larry and a â€Å"†¦ stranger†¦ †. The main focus is the relationship between protagonist and his father. It is humorous and adroit how author depicts the oedipal phase. So, as I already mentioned, the main conflict between parent and the child arises when father comes back from the war. Larry is jealous of dividing mother’s attention on two people and is ready to fight for getting back her affections. In the story the relationship is viewed in terms of essential change in influence over normal male development from that of the mother in childhood to that of the father in adolescence. Another thing that struck me was the author’s view of God. Larry narrates when he and his mother prayed for his father, that he comes back home. But when their â€Å"prayers were heard† the child wants his father to go back to the war, because their life changed dramatically. Larry asks his mother: â€Å"†¦ Do you think if I prayed hard God would send daddy back to war? †¦ But, Mummy, couldn't God make another war, if he liked?†¦ † Somehow the protagonist was disappointed about he was prayed for. But why he didn’t thank God for bringing him closet to his father? The answer is very simple he didn’t know what he can do with him, how father can participate in his life. At the end of the story, Larry gets closer to his father when a new baby arrives and pushes both father and son out of the mother priorities. Such outcome create a kind of ironic situation (the thing what brought people closer). In Greek mythology, Oedipus was a prince who killed his father and wanted to marry his mother. In psychoanalytic theory, the term Oedipus complex denotes the emotions and ideas that the mind keeps in the unconscious, that concentrate upon a boy’s desire to sexually possess his mother, and kill his father. (wikipedia, oedipus complex). In the story Larry wanted to get rid form his father and become more closer with his mother. And the reason why he wanted that concluded in not being nearest to his father, he called him as a „strangerâ€Å". Nevertheless some circumstances brought them closer. So I think the title of the Frank O’Connor story is somehow ironical and humorous.