"Job Training" follow-up

I really did not know if I would do a follow-up to my last post, but I have been thinking about it all week. I do wish I had gotten the proper "job training" for this current position I now hold as a wife, mother, homeschooler, and Christian. I wish that there was a majority group of men and women that understood their roles Biblically... myself included. I wish that the world viewed homeschooling as just another one of the options that they do not question the value of. In fact, I wish the world could see homeschooling as the best option. As I pondered these thoughts and the thoughts in my last post I just had this thought come into my mind:

"We are taking it back."

Little by little we are taking it back. As time passes and more of us come into homeschooling we are slowly, but very certainly, taking it back to the way God intended it to be. As more and more of those people like myself decide that homeschooling is NOT as ridiculous of an idea as it may seem and more and more people realize that they are capable of teaching their children we are taking it back. I think the two biggest issues for parents that hear about homeschooling are: socialization and feeling capable.

I can say this about the socialization (and that was a huge concern to me)... Do I really want my kid to have and increased chance of early sexual activity? Do I really think that my kids are not going to be tempted to do the other things that their peers are doing if that is what they see all around them everyday and it is seen as normal? Do I really want to let someone I do not know be their teachers and not even know what that persons beliefs are?... and that teacher WILL be a great influence in their lives! Do I really want to leave that to chance? Do you want to let your kids dodge bullies all day? Do you want one of their peers telling them about the "birds and the bees"? Do you want your child to hear the harsh words and foul language from others and think that it must be acceptable if MY PARENTS are sending me here for the majority of my time? Do you really think that your child having a whole new set of teachers and friends each year is going to teach them how to form lasting relationships? Or could it be that we are training our children to NOT know how to form relationships and therefore, not know how to socialize? What about training them to talk to people that are not their age? How is your eight year old going to have a chance to get to know her newborn sister, if she misses out on spending most of the day with her?

And I can say this about feeling capable: It really is true that "God does not call the qualified. He qualifies the called." I remember thinking that there is no way I have the ability to teach my children what they need to know, but I have found that I do know how to teach them when I just TRY. I know how to form letters and spell phonetically.... I can do addition and subtraction, mulitiplication and division, tell time, and much more advanced math, too. I am capable of learning what I do not know. God gave me a mind that is capable of learning teaching techniques. Much of it I know already, but have just never used it or even realized that I could use it. It is there... it is just being left unused. And one of the biggest things I have come to realize is that once you teach your child to read you have given them the ability to learn anything they want to learn (or you want them to learn). They can learn most things with you simply being alongside to guide them. When we stop allowing ourselves to believe what the world is telling us and that we really can do this job (and do it better) we will find our own self-confidence growing. I know that I am deeply lacking in the area of self-confidence lately, but I can see that I am going to be confident in myself one day... because God is confident in me. He alone has made me capable of this job that He designed me for. We do need to take it back to His design... not the world's design.

Blog-cations... and Job Training

I am sorry to say I seem to be on a Blog-cation. I am trying hard to stay away from the distractions in my life. Do you find yourself there? It seems that most of the blogs I follow seem to be on bit of Blog-cation, too. It seems there is less posting (and I suspect, as it is here, more "doing"). For me it seems to be a busy time at our house, but more than anything it is really about trying to figure out all the this homeschooling stuff. I wish it was just easy to "get it". I look back and I do "get it" more each day, but it would be great if we were just raised this way and trained to do this job this way. I wonder how many centuries ago was it that women lost sight of their roles in teaching their children. And not just teaching them, but teaching them to teach the future generations. I know this is Biblical.... I did not know this a year ago and it is a shame there are so many women out there like that.

And worse than that... the spiritual leaders of our homes... the fathers, the grandfathers do not "get it", either. This weekend I spent some time with relatives. There was some talk of our homeschooling decision, but I think the thing that stands out is that at some point in the day yesterday as a group of us where standing around I heard my father-in-law speaking and I think he was really thinking it and the words just spilled out of his mouth as he said, "Just what IS this homeschooling thing anyway?!" I might note that without realizing it I totally ignored it and stayed busy at the task at hand for the moment. You get a bit "immune" to the comments on some days... the ugliness, the questions, the crazy looks, the change in the way you are treated and in the way your children get treated.... When was it that the spiritual leaders of the home decided that they just would not pass this knowledge on... or search it out in their Bibles. My father-in-law used to be a deacon in his church... I have seen him read his Bible many times, yet he seems to not "get" the idea of homeschooling. My father-in-law seems to be concerned about the level of education our children will get as opposed to what a big school could provide. This is coming from a man who sent his children to a school so small that there were only 50 or so in each graduating class. 8l

I was thinking about the diversity of this country that we all live in an it occurred to me that if anyone really thought about it much, then homeschooling wouldn't seem so questionable really. Compare with me for a moment the obvious educational diversity that one might receive in each of these scenarios:

1. A small country school; population 500; graduating class size 35; My husband actually taught at one of these schools and they even broke the "public school rule" of no prayer. They prayed during school freely, at lunch time, before staff meetings, etc.. ; being a small school funding was more limited, so there would be less available in many worldly ways; most of these kids are less subjected to drug related issues, fashion issues, and spend a lot more time at home in general because it is so far to go anywhere; they are educated in nature and country living without it being a "subject". Would you question their education... or their social skills?...
2. A medium somewhat country/city school; population 3,000; graduating class size 250; I went to school in one of these and my husband currently teaches in that same district; They don't break the "public school rule" of no prayer. They observe a moment of silence and have the "appropriate" clubs for that sort of thing. ;( ; funding is adequate and there is a fair amount of money, so they have all they need but not all the technology available that a larger school of worldly means might have. There are more drug related issues, teen and pre-teen pregnancy, fashion issues are more of a headache. They are probably split 50/50 on being "townies" and "country kids" and experience many of the same issues as the school listed in #1, but also have more upper class society influence. This is the town that I would refer to as the average "small town America". Would you question their education... or their social skills?...
3. A large school in the heart of Houston (or other majot city); population = too many ;) ; graduating class 500+ ; They are probably more similar to school #2, but they have all the technology and worldly advantages that America's school have to offer; There are more of EVERY issue in most of these schools, but ... Would you question their education... or their social skills?...
4. Use a similar size scenario as #3, but let's say it is located in New York City, NY; I can't give an accurate scenario because I have never even been there, but I would think it would be much the same as #3 with a heavy influence in the arts and theater, very busy and fast-paced; many "advantages" from an artistic perspective. Would you question their education... or their social skills?...
5. Consider the child that lives in a village so remote that it would require driving 40 miles to the nearest school to be among a small class of peers; consider that child spends 2-3 hours commuting per day to "take advantage" of a public school setting.; I met a family like this on vacation a few years back and I remember the mother telling me how crazy it would be to do that commute for her son. She chose to homeschool instead. But, once again, consider the child that is not homeschooled and lives out this scenario. Would you question their education... or their social skills?...
6. What about a family in the mountains that lives in a tiny little tourist town. The scenario might look a lot like school #1. Actually, it might be much smaller and have much less of the worldly "advantages". I met a family that was faced with this scenario. They lived off of their tourism business providing snow sledding tours through the woods via horse and buggy sleds. They chose to homeschool, but consider their neighbors in that community. Would you question their education... or their social skills?...

Do you get my point? This country is so diverse and people are recieving so many different levels of education dependent upon the size of the school district, the city population, the cultural and geographic locations, and many other factors. It just seems that homeschooling wouldn't seem so "questionable" really if people really would consider it one more option in this diverse countries options.

Maybe there's more to this post... I'm thinking on this one, so you might see a follow-up post to this one. I would love to hear some thoughts on this, so share some with me in the comments.

A Special One Year Anniversary

I just wanted to let you all out there know that I am still on this planet, but I have been busier than busy. I have been digging deep on sorting out how our homeschool life really is going to work for us. I change my mind daily about it all. One thing is consistent though... I know that I want God to be at the center of it all. Amazingly, a year ago I would have told you that I thought it was just fine to keep God and school seperate. What an amazing journey this year has been for me and my family. In this very moment I am just realizing how strange it is that I am making that statement as a type.. you see today marks our One Year Anniversary of homeschooling!! Wow! I can't believe it.... This day one year ago was Savannah and Sierra's last day to attend public school. October 31, 2008 I sent Savannah to school telling her that it might be the last time she would be attending public school and her daddy told her in the car that morning that it would be (I wanted to not tell her and make it easy for her... He thought she needed to tell her friends goodbye... I didn't want teacher drama, etc... It was okay either way, I guess.)

I spent a great deal of time over the coming months feeling awful for Sierra because she loved her school and all it had to offer her. Sadly, it was a break away for her and a chance for her to shine. What I have witnessed in our home is something that was not immediate and still is a work in progress, but it is that we are learning to let her shine.... HERE. I struggle with feeling like I am not good enough to deal with her... see, she is very independent. She does not need others like some kids do, but in many ways she needs me more. She needs to feel important and special. Sometimes in a larger than average family a child like that gets kind of looked over. That is how I feel about her. She is confident and a hard working... focused and driven to succeed. She is willing to jump in and do her part, but as wonderful as that all seems it is easy to forget to focus on her needs. She is the child that always wanted to sleep in her OWN bed and left us heartbroken that she did not want to sleep with us. ;) We disturbed her from resting. ;( She was so happy to move out of our room and the baby bed and move on to her big girl bed alongside her older sister. I could lay her down for a nap and put on the Pooh Heffalump movie and she would always drift off to peaceful sleep when Kanga would sing Roo to sleep in the movie. I might note that I rocked Savannah to sleep for naps until she was four years old... or longer. Sierra was quite content with all this, but it left me with mommy guilt anyway. :) Due to birth order I never read to Sierra as much... or did anything as much as I did for Savannah. All of those things are normal, but I always felt I should be doing more for her. I also, had a fall and pregnancy loss when she was 1 1/2 which caused me to have some anxiety issues... always trying to be careful, etc.. I am sure I sat around way to much when I should have been up and busy with her. Just life's happenings really, but it all left me feeling like she always got the leftovers of me. So, taking her away from something she loved was a hard thing and caused me much guilt... once again! Guess what I know now?! I am not shortchanging her!! I am learning HOW TO focus on her. I will say that it has not felt that way, but sitting her now I can tell you that many of my schedule changes have been because I know that she is not getting her time that she needs for her learning and her Kindergarten experience. And in the last few weeks I have been scrapping all my plans to make sure we are "getting it right"... and I don't mean academics (gasp!) ... I mean the way we do our schooling... the time we spend together... the way we spend that time... the way we interact with one another... my attitude... their attitudes... I can finally see that this is all going to work. I can let it go and let it "happen". Sierra is shining, too.

Reflecting Back.... Some things that we have accomplished are: I taught Sierra her ABC's and am teaching her how to begin reading... her numbers... many other things.... NOT some other person, but ME taught her!!! Wow! And I must say that I really do not know what I am doing, but I work hard at it and we are learning together how to teach her. It is truly amazing! I have taught Savannah so many new concepts... many of which I can't imagine that she would learn so easily (if she were not fighting me all the way... [insert sarcastic grin])... basic addition & subtraction, complex addition & subtraction, 100, 000 place and beyond, Roman Numerals, fractions, telling time, punctuation, abbreviations, LOVING TO read vs. hating to read, cursive handwriting, multiplication (1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 10s, 11s, some 12s), beginning division, LOVING music vs. disliking music... the list goes on.

I think we have started to enjoy our schooling more... What a great way to celebrate our special anniversary!!! Anyway, I will catch you all up on my life a bit later... we are here... we are working hard... and I am evaluating carefully how I spend my time and unfortunately I have been taking a bit of a bloggy break. I need to update the MFW blogroll posts some and I want to show you some of things we have been up to... The Texas Renaissance Festival was great... our costumes were so fun.... we enjoyed some fall festivals.... we, I mean, the older girls each won 1st place in a costume contest tonight at a nearby fall festival! I was super thrilled since I made them!! They were super thrilled because their Momma made them and they got a bucket of fun and candy for a prize! OOoooohhh ... sorry... no pics right now... I will share later... but now I must go to bed.

Just Wanted To Say This....

Have YOU Hugged Your Kids Today?

And I am talking to myself here, too! I used to hug my kids all the time, but I have realized that there are days that I find myself wondering if I did hug each of them. Do you ever feel that way? My two littles are always in my arms, but sometimes I am finding that I am not hugging the older ones as much. We have to find that time... make that time...

I used to be able to say that I always hugged and kissed them at night, but now my husband puts the older ones in bed while I rock the babysometimes and I miss out on that goodnight hug and kiss. It is a source of frustration to me because I know that I need it and they need it.

Go HUG your kids!

Going Somewhere...

Well, it's going to be a short trip, but we ARE going somewhere. Tomorrow we will be heading out to the Texas Renaissance Festival for their School Days. I meant to post this a couple days ago, but I have been sooooooo busy. I was going to see if anyone out there is going to be attending, but by the time you tell me I will be on the road now. ;) Ooops!! Maybe I will see some of you there. Leave me a comment if you attend... just because I would love to know it even after the fact.

So, I am Missing In Action... and I do mean action... it has been crazy here! By the time I post my My Father's World updates I am going to have 3 weeks to post at once. Whew! I don't know how everyone else gets it done!! Seriously, I have been trying to put my computer aside and focus on schooling. If I let myself get on the computer I kind of "check out of reality". My focus has been on trying NOT to do that and I have been tackling some projects.... reorganizing closets, going through all the kids clothing, celebrating a third birthday for Caden, having a yard sale, tackling a filing nightmare, changing our schedule (AGAIN)... not really changing it, but rather juggling it because life gets messy and that schedule thing justs gets all scrambled around. Maybe that will be the way for a while. Some days I like to let the kids wake up when they want and play with each other... you know they are learning to enjoy one another and that is something that is not in our books completely... I just don't want to look back at a rigid schedule and wonder if I could have been more relaxed about it all. On Wednesday it was Caden's birthday and I just let all the kids play together until lunch time. It was so great to see them just buzzing through the house having fun as siblings. I thought of all those children sitting in desks staring at their papers and missing out on this... this is why I started homeschooling... togetherness and loving being together... not just schooling on a rigid schedule.

Anyway.... I am actually going somewhere outside the walls of this house!! Ah--ha--ha--ha!

Little Momma

Sierra has always been such a little Momma to Caden, but since Sahara has been born she has switched gears a bit. She has been more concerned with protecting Sahara from Caden and a little bit less of a little Momma to Caden. I guess that just kind of happens with us Momma's sometimes, doesn't it?! ;) Caden will be three on Wednesday and we have been talking about it for weeks now. While he was having his nap today we were looking at the calendar for the upcoming week and a half because it is going to be a bit hectic. I told them I HAD to talk with them about it all because I need full cooperation. Of course, Sierra can't read, so she saw that I had something written on the calendar of Wednesday and thought it was church. When Savannah and I told her it said, "Caden's b-day!" she burst into tears!!! We had no idea what was wrong with her. I asked her and in quite a bit of distress and tears she said, "Caden is going to be three!!" She was horrified. Savannah was trying to sound excited although she was confused, so she was saying, "Yay! Caden is going to be three!" Sierra said, "He's growing up!!"... and he's almost a MAN!!" Awwwww... my little Momma knows how I feel!! Actually, I thing she may be more distraught by it than ME!! :)

Laundry Zone Dilemnas

If you could only see how this house has changed inside since we moved in eight years ago! Whoa! It's no wonder I can't keep it clean, because I am always coming up with another project! A year and a half ago I would have told you that we were done with all the changes with a small exception. The tiny hallway area near the kitchen and the stairway area both needed a coat of paint. That little project has yet to be done, because I just can't settle on a paint color for hallways... I mean, it is just a hallway, but I DO NOT want white and color just seems bold... Anyway, I just keep changing things!!! I actually have a cool idea for that little hallway area that, if I get motivated I might just do soon and I will let you see. Anywhooooo ... this is about my Laundry Zone!! This house is over a 100 years old, so much of the layout does not make much sense sometimes. We removed a square water heater from the back left corner of this area that was the SIZE OF THE DRYER! Crazy! So, the house had this very old electric hot water heater and this other BLUE MONSTER gas hot water heater in the right corner... Uh... yeah, TWO hot water heaters... Why would you need two hot water heaters running through the same pipes?! Really!! When we replaced the floors in this area we decided one of them just needed to go. So imagine that there was a square hot water heater where you see my dryer.... What could that mean? That meant that the dryer and the washer were sitting beside each other along the wall on the right and also, alongside my upright freezer. So, I moved the dryer to the wall under the window and had my washer sitting beside the blue monster on the right side wall. I liked this setup better, but this area has always been a challenge. At one point I even bought double bi-fold doors to section this area off from my kitchen, but it just didn't feel right when I started putting the doors up. So, I thought that maybe a divider screen would work... No, I worried too much about the possiblity of it falling on my precious children's heads. Either way it would have closed this space off in a very awkward way and there would have not been much room to move around. All-in-all I decided to just live with it like it was and decorate it as part of my kitchen. And yes, I have those crazy bold colors in my kitchen, too. ;) My kitchen is in the center of this house with all the other rooms around it, which means there are NO windows. Even though it was painted light colors it was very depressing and had no life in it.... Gloomy with a capital "G". So, my latest change is to bring in modular chest of drawers set and move my washer and freezer further down just a bit. Oh yeah, I did have a couple of small shelf racks there, but you could see everything and it added to the clutter. I got this fabulous chest of drawers for about $2 (along with 13 others and three desks for... all under $43 total). Yes, once again you are reminded of how "frugal"I am. ;) I can't say I am in love with the color, but for closets and a laundry area I just don't get too concerned with color as long as it is not repulsive. So, I guess the reason I am showing this and sharing this information is to show that by making this simple change I now have a laundry folding and sorting are (other than just the top of the dryer). Amazingly, this small change makes a huge difference and the drawers are great storage for laundry supplies and food (this area also serves as my food pantry). And I will just say that I wanted to put everyones socks and underwear in these drawers, but my husband thought it was crazy... for now we won't do that, but I have a feeling I will make that change soon and I bet you he will like it!! So, the next thing I plan to do in this area is to GO UP! I was thinking a cabinet or a shelf that would hold laundry baskets. My husband suggested a wire shelf which I was saying no to, but I have been thinking that I could hand clothes up as we pull them out of the dryer and he might just be on to something. Laundry baskets could be stored on the shelf... all that jazz. And this is where the "dilemna" part comes in... GOING UP! What do ALL OF YOU SUGGEST... ANY TIPS FOR ME.... BRING IT ON!!! Remember I love frugal ideas, but I am not to cheap to spend money for a good cause. ;)

Meek and Quiet...

Ahhhhhh... to be meek and quiet... must be nice! I wanted share this for any of you out there who struggle in this area. I am reading this book right now:

Homeschooling With A Meek And Quiet Spirit

by Teri Maxwell

available on the http://www.titus2.com/ website.

(and I am not getting paid to advertise for them... just paid by the blessings it is to read their books!!)

I have to be totally honest here... I have never desired to have a meek and quiet spirit. Well, maybe a little, but for the most part I think we are raised thinking we are supposed to be bold and brassy and get it all "OUR WAY" all the time. I think we are so programmed to think that the world is all about US and what we can get out of it... We are generation of tantrum throwers and fit pitchers and we are much like infants falling on the floor hammering our fists away in a big ole ridiculous fit!! It is all about me, me, me and "what I need to get out of this" in every situation we encounter. This summer I attended a workshop and one of the presenters made a comment that when you begin your homeschooling journey God will start to work on your "issues". She confirmed for me what I had already been experiencing, but you think you must be the only one on the planet with "issues".

A few years ago I started watching the occasional episodes about this mega family on TLC, The Duggar Family. I think I have seen EVERY episode ... seriously, from when they only had thirteen children. I DVR it and watch it like it is my "How do I do it all?" session. My thoughts are that if they can do it with all those kiddos, then I can surely learn from them... and I have! I have learned so much and they even played a huge role in my decision to home school. But the thing that strikes me as interesting the most probably is their spirit about doing it all. How does one maintain that calm? And how did they ever get that way to begin with? How is it that they are so soft spoken and gentle, yet respected and obeyed? Was it all their parents doing? Or is it more than that? Is it simply a choice they have made... whether deliberately or not? Over the last year I have been tested and ~wow!~ have I ever failed hard! Homeschooling has brought out all my "issues"... I have had to search myself deeply. I desire that meek and quiet spirit that I see in the Duggar home, but I think I had resolved to the fact that it was just not "my personality" and that was something that I could not fully change; HOWEVER, I made another discovery this summer that would change AND CHALLENGE that thinking. I was so blessed to obtain some of the Maxwell books for a huge bargain (you know me.. gotta get it on the cheap... most of the time). I read the book "Manager's of Their Home School" (review coming one day) and I was quite to read that Teri Maxwell spent many years battling depression an anger issues. Wow! I had built her up in my mind to be one of "those" perfect homeschool moms! She clearly admits that is just not so and I have been so blessed by her sharing such personal details of her life to help others. I decided that I needed to read more about what she had to share and I went to the Titus2 website and ordered this book along with the study guide (for only a couple dollars more)... and a collection of family novels written by their daughter, which I can't hardly wait to read. "Homeschooling With A Meek And Quiet Spirit" is a thin book which it makes it very attainable to reach the goal of completing reading it. I am loving it.. and not because it is just enjoyable to read, but because I know it can help me change my spirit. I highly recommend it even if you have only small "issues". This is my plan for reading the book:

• I am going to read through it all the way one time, while answering the "Application Project pages" only in my mind for now.
• I am going to re-read the book along with the study guide and journal my thoughts for the "Application Project pages" and the questions that are included in the Study Guide.
• Then, I am going to do it, again.
• Then, again...and again... until who knows when.... that is my goal.

We should all desire a meek and quiet spirit... and we should all know that it is possible!!

MFW Adventures and K: Week 2

I am going to leave out the major details and just hit the highlights or what I most think others would want to see ... or what I think I will want to have captured in a few years. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. Also, if I "add" to a project and you want the file just leave a comment and I will be happy to email you the file.

MFW Kindergarten: Week 2

We did the Creation Numbers a bit different because I wanted to be able to add it to their notebooks rather than have a poster on the wall. I will insert this in a pocket (page protector) in their notebooks. It is four sheets of paper folded in half and taped together. When it folds up it closes like a book; however, this left a blank page at the end and a blank green cover. We just can't have that, so I created a cover page for the kids to color. Also, I added a final page that says, "God Made Me!" and an empty square for the to draw a picture of themselves.

We also stapled our Creation Art Pages to make another book which I titled, "Creation: The First Seven Days, My Artistic Creation by: ______".

This is a sampling of our art for day 1 and day 2... I started to post them all, but you get the point.

MFW Adventures: Week 2

Ooooppss!! I added this photo sideways! I just wanted to show that it is easier for the little ones to form their boat over some sort of mold..... ahem, translation = old bowl, etc.. Some kids may find it frustrating to form a boat without a mold and I suspected that with my oldest (the perfectionist) and ran to find a "mold". It worked so well. We just turned it upside down and pushed the aluminum foil down to take the form. When you remove the bowl you can press the edges inside.

This is Savannah holding an empty bottle under the water to demonstrate that the bottle is not empty as it might appear. It is full of AIR! This experiment is in the Science With Air book.

The Santa Maria, The Nina, and The Pinta successfully sailed the Atlantic Ocean (bathtub) and we continued our Science With Air experiment by blowing our ships around the bathtub to make the AIR move them. I also demonstrated that fanning a sheet of paper with a book will make the paper race across the floor (mentioned in the book). The girls designed the sails all by themselves. I was just about to do that while they formed their aluminum foil boats when I decided that it would be best if I let them have a chance to "design" their sails... and I almost drew the shape of a sail for them, too... but then, I decided that it would be best if I let them have a chance to "design" their sails.... Guess what!! They did a great job with a ALL the details on their own and with me sitting back and saying to just do it how THEY wanted to. Sierra designed the one for the The Santa Maria and Savannah designed the ones for The Nina and The Pinta.

Sahara had a great time watching the ships sail across our ocean!! She got so excited. Poor Caden slept through it all,.... but awoke, found it in the bathtub and played "destroy the ships". He disassembled the sails and stuck them to the floor and continued floating the boats. ???

I had my girls do this part TOGETHER... on the one paper. I think it is great to get them to work together to create even a simple coloring page sometimes. They have to learn to take turns and wait on the other one or move over, etc.. They also learn to share in the design process rather than it all being "their way" only. I highly encourage having siblings do a "Togetherness Project" whether it is big or small.

In my post for the week 1 I mentioned my Posty Note Cheat Sheets that have been so helpful to me. Like I said... nothing fancy... and not totally necessary, but it is extremely helpful too me. Also, I make a copy of the current week's plan page and mark off the things we have accomplished. I am thinking that I will eventually start to make a copy of the current week's plan page and make my notes on that in colored ink or pencil and then, marked that off as we do it. Both systems would work .... anyway, that is my tip of the week. Make it work for you. You have to find those tricks that make things work for you. When I was a secretary (many moons ago) I would place outgoing mail on the floor by my seat. When I would get up to do something I would grab my pile of outgoing mail and take it to the mail room. Those type of things really help me remember to do things. I love to put posty notes on my steering wheel when I am doing errands... Those are the little things that help me survive the chaos! :)