Irony Of This Qoute

Sahara is just a tiny little thing is this pic from a couple of years ago. 
 

"America's future will be determined by the home and the school. The child becomes largely what he is taught; hence we must watch what we teach, and how we live." - Jane Addams

I recieved this via email from a school supply source. The email newsletter is mostly geared toward public schools, so the irony of this comment is a bit comical to this homeschooling momma. ;)  It is a great qoute and one that can not be overlooked.

"America's future will be determined by the home and the school. ..." This does apply to us doesn't it?! I am sure this was probably a qoute about public schools, but it is so true about homeschooling isn't it?! It is a GREAT responsibility to bear. It is also a WONDERFUL thing to know we can shape "America's future" in a Biblical way.

"... The child becomes largely what he is taught; ..." They do.... that says it all.

"... hence we must watch what we teach, and how we live." Hmmmm... back to that GREAT responsibility part I mentioned above.

Just a little something to think about....

Biblical Courtship As Opposed To "Dating"

"Dating" is a dangerous game.  I know, because I did it.  It was what we were taught to do by society and being that I was not being raised in a Christian home it is what I was allowed to do.  And I just want to say that even Christian homes today are allowing "dating".  It is seen as "normal" and anything outside of "normal" would just be "weird" according to society.  Well, guess what?  We are called to be different and set apart from the world.  I started "dating" at the age of fifteen.  And mostly, I started because of the pressure to.  I really had no real interest.  And actually I had my first boyfriend at the age of thirteen because I thought I was "supposed to".   I had absolutely no concern for a boyfriend and when he tried to hold my hand at school that was the end of that relationship.  It is a pretty funny story to share sometimes, but what it really says is that I was too young to be thinking of such things. 

The problem with dating is that it is not even legal to marry for a whole three years after that at the age of eighteen.  And, of course, most parents do not want their child to marry straight out of highschool at the age of eighteen or such.  So, what does that mean?  Do you seriously think that your child is going to meet someone at fifteen that they will marry and spend the rest of their life with?  And if they don't marry that person don't you have to know that there are going to be problems from this arrangement.  They are going to give away little parts of their heart to someone that will later be a stranger to them.  Oh but the beauty of it if they were to just save all those little parts of their heart for the one that God has prepared for them. 

I tell my own children now that they are too young to think about "dating" until they are ready to start thinking about marriage. Yes, that is what I said... MARRIAGE. Isn't that the point of "dating" to begin with. Everyone wants to find that ONE TRUE LOVE and LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER. You are not going to have a ONE true love if you have dated TWENTY people! Without even realizing it you are going to have given away little parts of your heart to those twenty. That's twenty little parts!!! 

A few days ago the following was posted on the Biblical Courtship facebook page and I just wanted to share this.  Men and women alike should heed this advice:

SINGLE MEN WHO DESIRE TO BE MARRIED, HAVE THE DIVINE ASSIGNMENT OF FINDING A WIFE.
... Proverbs 18:22, “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.”

God called you to be spiritual leaders, to be protectors, to be an example of Christ's love for the church.

(1) Maximize your time with God. Read and study the word of God. Serve in your church or ministry.

(2) Do not court women with whom you are unequally yoked:
      (A) NON-BELIEVERS
      (B) BELIEVERS WHO HAVE DIFFERENT THEOLOGICAL BELIEFS THAN YOURS.
Only court one woman at a time. Do not ignore women who God puts in front of you- women you meet at your church, ministry team etc..

(3) Examine a woman's character- charm is deceitful, beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears God is to be praised. Does she love the Lord, her God with all her heart, soul and mind? Is she wise? Is she unselfish? Is she kind? Would you feel proud to introduce her to others? Do you feel honored to be with her? Are you becoming a better man by knowing her? Are you growing in your relationship with God, because of her example?

(4) Do not allow yourself to be rushed into turning the relationship into romance. Build a strong friendship with her first. Guard your heart, and then wait to hear from the Lord and ALLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT TO GUIDE YOU ABOUT IF, HOW AND WHEN to proceed further.

(4) Never place a woman in a position of dishonor. Respect a woman's body as a temple for the holy spirit. Recognize that when you are with her, whether in person, on the phone, on the internet or via text--Jesus is there with you the two of you, and you should not do or say anything that would be inappropriate in his eyes.

(5) Do not allow others to speak negatively about her, in front of you.

(6) If a woman spends more time with you, than she spends on her relationship with God, she is idolizing you, so encourage her to focus more on her relationship with the Lord.

(7) Pray with her and pray for her. Invite her to visit your church, and also visit her church. Teach her the word and help her to grow spiritually.

(8) If you plan to take her out, invite another godly couple to go with you.

(9) Avoid spending time alone with her, especially at your place or at her place.

(10) Consider this-Are you two really compatible? Does she expect that when she gets married, her husband will buy her a 12 bedroom house?-While you just want to live in a small country house on a farm? If you have been called to pastor a church, will she be supportive of that?

(11) Consider this- If you had daughters, would you want them to be like her? If you had sons, would them to marry a woman like her?

(12) Do you balance each other out? Are your weaknesses her strengths? Are her weaknesses your strengths?

Learning To Be A Giver (... and Reciever)

One thing that I can truly say I have learned since Sienna's birth eight months ago is that giving and recieving are important to learn.  I am not talking about a giving or recieving a normal baby gift.  I am talking about giving of ourselves... our service to one another and ultimately to God... sharing our abilities and talents to help another in need (or in want... sometimes a person just wants to feel the love!).

Growing up I can say that I learned a lot from my mother about giving.  She gave her everything to her kids.  And sometimes I forget that.... I get caught up in what she did not give me.  I have to remind myself that she gave all she knew how to give and she has loved my wholeheartedly.  She always gave to me and my brother and she always wanted more for us than she ever dreamed of having.  She taught me the importance of being a stay at home mother and that it was never a "lowly" job to choose to be with your children.  Okay... but that is not what I am writing this post about, although I do want to brag on her some before it appears that I bash her a bit.  Just so we are clear I am not writing this to bash her.  I simply want to say that I did not learn from her how to be a giver outside the home.  And I would guess that it was because she probably was never taught that either.  I want to do that different. 

In the last couple of years I have been introduced to the concepts presented in Titus 2.  I have witnessed this idea of "teaching the younger women how they are to behave" much more among the homeschool community (simply because a vast majority or devout Christians) and in the church we switched to almost three years ago.  We made this change in churches and this switch to homeschooling in the same year.  I began to notice the outpouring of service specifically among my ladies Sunday School class.  And I felt very imtimidated.  Strange, right?!  Well, it is because I have no idea how to begin giving to others like that.  It seems simple, but for me it is just not part of my norm.  Anything outside our norm is often hard to change.  But I want to do that.  I have sat back and observed.  Curious that this is such a hard concept for me.. odd... I know... weird, right?!  I have watched in awe of it from the sidelines.  But recently that has changed.  Before Sienna's birth I had a couple of meals brought to my home.  Then, afterwards I had offers to have meals brought.  Sadly, I did not accept them all because I just felt weird doing so.  I had people offer to set it up so that someone would provide meals everyday for the first couple of weeks, but I just felt so unworthy of all that.  I did accept some meals from individual ladies who offered.  Wow!  That was very humbling to see ladies go out of their way to cook for my family.  To GIVE to me... me!  I never feel worthy of such things.  And the amazing thing that it truly did was light a fire in me to want to do the same for them or someone else... and to teach my children to do it, also. 

BUT I feel so insecure.  And people who know me well would never guess that this would be a problem for me, but I am so unsure of myself.  I feel so inadequate.  Many times I feel I have nothing to give or that what I do give will not be good enough for others.  I worry that they will not like my cooking or that their kids will be hungry after I leave because my food is not up to par with what they are accustomed to.  So, tonight I took meal to a friend.  I worried about it, but I took it.  I mean, I worried like in an abnormal way.  I guess that will get better in time.  Maybe one day I will learn to relax.... but this lesson is not about learning to relax... Ha!  This is one is about learning to give.

So, I thought I would share what I took.  Not to show off what I did or anything like that, but before I made the meal I googled "what meal to bring to a new mother"... as if I would no know that, since I am a new mother to an eight month old... duh!  I came up with little on the internet to help me out.  Also, I had to keep in mind that this meal was a for a large family just a bit larger than mine.  Dead end on the internet.  So, I thought about it.  What was a meal I recieved that we enjoyed?  Also, I wanted it to be mostly healthy and nutrient packed.  I also know that this family eats meals cooked from scratch and bring over a box of Hamburger Helper would not likely suit their tastes.  One recent meal we recieved was baked chicken breasts.  The family I was cooking for eats mostly dark meat, so I would consider that also.  So, this is what I brought and I think it went over well.

Baked Chicken Thighs/Drumsticks in a thin gravy
White Rice
Green Beans and New Potatoes (seasoned with salt, pepper, bacon drippings)
Salad (Leaf Lettuce, Iceberg Lettuce, Tomatoes, Carrots, Brocolli, Celery)
Sock-It-To-Me Cake

The chicken:  I placed about a dozen pieces of chicken in a roasting pan and drizzeled it with EVOO, sprinkled it with salt, peper, garlic powder, oregano, and parsley flakes.  I added a package of Onion Soup Mix and a cup of water.  I covered it with foil and baked at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes, then turned it once.  Once it looked done I turned it top side up and removed the foil and turned the heat up to 475 for about 5-10 minutes to finish it off. 

Normally, I would drop off this meal like is customary, but I decided to stay and serve them each their plates.  Keep in mind this lady has several children, so I know that it is nice to have an extra set of hands.  ;)  I told her I would serve as her "waitress".  I did not linger and watch them eat.  I moved about doing other things and when the meal was done I cleared (with some help) the table, helped put away the leftovers, and washed up the dishes (mostly pots and pans as I did bring paper plates).  By the way, one of the best gifts a new mom can get is paper plates!  Ha!

So, I am learning to be a giver in this way.  So, tell me what is it that you think is the perfect meal to bring over after a new baby has arrived in the home? 

First Day of School 2010 & Our Focus

Today is our first day of school. Sort of.... we are getting back in to our routine gradually. I realized mid-week that My Father's World recommends starting 1st Grade on a Thursday and after looking closer at the lesson plans I agree that is the best way to use this curriculum. Also, this is going to allow us to make a smoother more gradual transition into our year. Today and tomorrow we will only do 1st Grade with Savannah (4th) sitting in. There is nothing for Savannah to really do with us these first few days so we are focusing on character training with her. Our focus this week for her will be to not be a distraction. Savannah will do calendar time and those basic math activities and then, she can sit and read, etc. for this hour that I work with Sierra. Savannah tends to try to talk to us about what she is reading or show us everything which is a major distraction. I love that she wants to talk to us, but it makes what we are doing take twice as long. I think these two days will be a great chance for her to practice not being a distraction. As well, I want Sierra to learn to focus on her work and not allow the distraction to suck her in. During these days our focus with the two little ones is strictly character training. It seems some little boy thinks that every thing is to be throw wildly through the air like a grenade. So, Caden will be learning NOT to throw things and Sahara will be learning not to follow his lead in doing so. Caden will also be learning to clean up his messes, which is a big deal for him. He is still a baby in many ways and does not think clean up is "really" his job. Time to change that line of thinking. ;)


And because we do things just a bit different than everyone else this is all of the kids on our first "practice" day of school one day last week. Daddy was home still and let's just say that that week did not go as planned. The plan was to "practice" our school routine all week. It worked on the one day that Daddy was gone, but even on that day it was obvious I had to figure out really what I want this year to be like. I still don't fully know, but we will do this gradually instead of jump in trying to do school all day and burn them our before we get going good. I am thinking that next week we will step it up a notch with 1st grade and ease into some of Savannah's 4th grade. As the weeks progress we will add a little more to our day. I tend to try to take on the world from the beginning and end up in total frustration. This year I want them to love it... and it become their way of life... an enjoyable way of life. I will try to post more on that later and our curriculum choices, as well as, our extras (ya know.... what they call "electives" in public school"). We are going to have a lot of extras.

Our focus this year: Character and being helpers to one another while getting in some real learning.

1st grade today:
Calendar time and 100 day chart with calendar coloring time
Place Value cups
Days of the week song (I almost forgot the words ;) )
Letter Practice for A, B, C -- writing and sounds
Discussion of SCROLLS and the way they were used in Bible times
More Letter Practice for our scroll pages -- A, B, C
There was not a specific suggestion for books for today only that we do about fifteen minutes of reading, so we read:

• Zink The Zebra by Kelly Weil (about a zebra that is different.... the moral of the story is that is okay to be different)
• Smudge by Clare Newberry (about mischievious kittens... great charcoal drawings)
• Not THIS Bear! (about a little boy that is mistaken for a bear in his fur coat & hat on his way to visit his aunt)

And I guess I have resigned to the fact that we will be adopting a similar school year schedule as my husband's public school. I want to school year round, but it is not working well when he is home. I have wanted the flexibility of year round schooling, but it is just not working for us. Maybe someday. This does not mean we will be on their exact schedule. Public schools actually schedule in more days than required and so we will still take off most or all of December. Also, I am due to have a new baby the week AFTER his Spring Break, so we may have an extended Spring Break... who knows, but I am learning not to plan it all out too much and just roll with what life hands us.

SETHSA 2010 & Baptism Decisions & VBS

I have been wanting to blog about my recent trip to the SETHSA Conference in Houston, TX, but time is a fleeting commodity around here. I left on June 3rd before the sun was up with a group of six ladies total to attend and be volunteers for the conference. We were in charge of helping direct attendees around the new venue, the Houston Baptist University Campus. It was a beautiful location. My team of ladies was the most delightful group of ladies that could possibly exist. Our team was so self-sacrificing. It seemed that everyone in our group was more concerned with others in the group being happy than their own happiness! It was refreshing and relaxing to be with such a wonderful group. We were provided rooms in the dorms and there were no complaints from our little team of ladies. We did have some issues with upper bunk beds, but our ladies quickly solved the problem by setting their matresses on the floor. Voila! No upper bunk beds to have to climb into. We had to divide our time up to be able to cover our work duties and still get to attend some of the workshop we wanted to experience and it went so well. I am in awe of these ladies and how quick they were to sacrifice what they wanted to be "fair" to one another! Truly they were the biggest blessing for me from attending this conference!

What made me laugh and cry at the same time? Todd Wilson of www.familymanministries.com !!! I could so totally relate to the the stories he told of life with children and homeschooling and I was moved to tears, while laughing hysterically, listening to hime talk about a true family man. I have a true family man in my house.... and he was back at home happy to take care of my four kiddos, so that I could attend this conference. I was missing them all terribly, too. I was quite excited to get to buy my hubby a T-Shirt from this family of ten for a mere $10 that says "Family Man" on it.

Also, Todd Wilson was the opening Keynote Speaker for the conference and he talked about the Dream Killers.... those people that are always killing your dreams. There is great power in words... they can be dream killing or dream reviving. He finished with reminding us not to be the dream killers for our children! It was very powerful.

Another thing that impacted me were the workshops about focusing on making a "heart change" in your children rather than focusing on discipline punishments. The speaker was Debbie Bryan from The National Center for Biblical Parenting. In the future I might try to blog about this in more depth, but I would just say that is worth researching on your own and I will leave you with this from my workshop notes: It is not about the suffering... It is about the heart change! So, we want to work on character training and not making our kids "pay" for how they have done wrong.

I also got to hear Debbie Strayer speak about using a unified approach to tying teaching together. It was great stuff! A brief example would be to have the child do some writing, then use that writing to develop that child's spelling list, as well as, focus on the grammatical errors that child is making. She is a friend to Ruth Beechick and her Editor. She is co-author of the Learning Language Arts Through Literature Series and she the co-author to a new curriculum that looks fabulous called Trail Guide to Learning by Geography Matters. Now, I am not running out to switch from My Father's World, but it looks good... just saying. I am sticking right where I am at, but it might be something I look at one day... just never know.

Well, that is my brief run down in these stolen moments. I came back Saturday just in time to snuggle with my kiddos before bedtime and tuck them in. Sunday we went to church and my SIX YEAR OLD, SIERRA, WALKED DOWN TO MAKE HER PUBLIC PROFESSION OF FAITH AND SHE IS EAGER TO BE BAPTIZED!!! Yippee!!! She truly is ready! And now we are on Day Four of our VBS week and it is amazing, also! Life is grand!!

PANIC !!!!

Caden had a 104.0 temp at 3:00 PM and I am working it down. I just checked him (3:30 PM) and it is down to 103.7, so I am happy to see the numbers going down.

Do you panic when the kids are sick and the temps run high? I don't. And strangely I think that somehow that is when it all comes into perspective to me. It's the seriousness that calms in a strange way. It's in that moment that everything stops and I focus only on what is important. I'm talking about temps here, but I am also talking about the various trials in our lives. It is in the toughest of times that we define ourselves. Your either going to panic and make a huge mess of it or your going to come to that calm place where you can draw strength and get through it.

Sometimes we find that calm easily. Other times we have to work hard at it.

Be intentional... Be purposeful.... work hard to find the calm.

Does it sound like I am experienced in this? Is that intimidating to you? Do NOT be intimidated because this is a huge struggle for me and therefore, very easy to write about! ;) I could write a book on homeschool panic, but I am learning to calm myself down, step back, focus on the big picture, the important things. I have to work on this from moment to breathing moment... seriously! If I can do it, you can to! Let's do it.

Letting the FUN Happen

Sometimes it is so hard to just let life be lived. Sometimes we just have to let the fun happen. Some of the most burden relieving advice I get it is when a homeschool mother says not to worry about teaching your kids a thing for now. I am fortunate enough to have a wonderful neighbor who has five children (four of them or grown and gone on) and she tells me all the time that you really do not have to teach your kids until around nine or older. Just let them play and read to them and play games with them and enjoy them. Her four older grown and gone children are successful. I am not sure all of what they do, but one just got his law degree a year ago. So, they are not lacking in their education.

Another friend has advised me to "do the opposite of what you think you should do".

Today I was visiting with a friend that has five children with her oldest being fourteen and she said that you really do not need to teach them grammar until they are older. We discussed that earlier in the year my husband (the public school English teacher) comment on my 3rd graders Grammar work being the same as what he uses for his 7th grade students. So, they spend four years repeating the same thing. Now, I do realize repetition drills it in the heads, but I have a feeling that they teach it for four plus years is more about the fact they are not given one on one teaching. My 3rd grader gets it and it is not that she is a genius. Anyway, today my friend was saying that really she thinks it is not necessary to teach Grammar/English until probably 7th grade.

And I hear that there is a book called "Better Late Than Early", although I have never read it. I hear that it is wonderful. Maybe one day I will read it. Maybe you will have the time to do it sooner than I and you can learn from it.

I am so struck by how intelligent these children are! Do we really need to rush them.

The lady I was talking to today said that the best thing you can do is focus on character while they are young. Amazing to talk to her about this because that has been what has been on my heart this past week. All the academics in the world is going to be worthless if they have poor character. A very wise comment she made was that it is much harder to shape their character when they are older and it is just so important to do that part while they are young. Another thing that she was talking about was teaching your children to serve their daddy and to make him feel special when he is home.

We let the fun happen today..... after their playtime with friends I usually try to do their school with them before Daddy gets home... and some while he is there sometimes. Today I let them play while I rocked the baby and did a few things. When their daddy got home they played together. Wii have a Wii, you see ;) ... but my kids rarely get to play it. It was a gift from grandparents and they probably get to play it less than once per month. I know... no fun.... so, today they played the Wii with Daddy while I watched them from the kitchen doing my cooking and laundry. It was nice to just let them play today... and to see their daddy come home and just get to play with them without the stress of "what to do next".

I have a hard time with this... feeling like I am not giving them what they need... like I am not preparing them for life... yet, I know it is better to prepare them non-academically.... to mold their character and their spirituality.

Today the kids played with other homeschool buddies... went in their new secret wooded clubhouse... jumped on the trampoline.... climbed trees.... got stuck in trees ;) .... watched TV.... played with their siblings... played the Wii with Daddy.... made a new friend played with her.... drank hot chocolate even though it is not cold at all... We just let the fun happen!

And you know what? We are doing it again tomorrow! Crazy huh?! We are going to homeschool co-op, then to the park. We might run an important errand.... and I doubt we will do very little of our "school work" ... and that will put us behind.... again... but that's okay because we have friends coming over on Saturday and we are going to let some more fun happen. ;)

Just posting this to say.... RELAX and ENJOY your kids. What is life really about if we don't enjoy this. God gave them to us to enjoy them!

FREE Curriculum Online for Future Christian Homemakers & Random

I was just blogging around and came across a great site with a FREE curriculum online for teaching girls to be Future Christian Homemakers! I love it! It is the same stuff you would do if you were teaching your girls, but they have it all ready to go with the handouts and some cute ideas for added delight already done for you. Just to see what a lesson looks like I clicked on the one for Yeast and Breadmaking and the handout (about 11 pages) has a pictures of them making a bread bear! So cute for kids to do! You can include your boys, but this is designed to be done with girls. As we all know when we are at home schooling our kids all day we just have to include them all. Caden is going to be so cute in the kitchen with us in his new apron we got him for Christmas.... he was wearing the girls pink ones, so when I saw a simple blue one at Target in the $1 bins we snatched it up as a gift from us girls. He LOVED IT!! This might be the very thing I need right now to ignite some excitement around here that has been lacking. We just need to spend some time doing the fun things we used to do all the time before homeschooling took over our world. And I know.... that was supposed to add to the fun, but it has added a whole new level of stress around here. Being the Teacher is a bit overwhelming and some days I just want to go back to being Momma... only now since it has become a conviction I know that I must search out that way that they are ONE AND THE SAME. It was only a hundred or so years ago that THIS WAY was the NORMAL WAY. So, I am working on it. And crazily I have been thinking that as much as I like some aspects of our curriculum (MFW) I have been considering a different way.... more like the way it would have been done a hundred years ago. I just feel so stifled sometimes following "someone else's plan". I really knew this before I started this curriculum, but being new to homeschooling I wanted to have some guideline to follow to help me know where to begin. My Father's World is great for that!! What is hard for me is that one week in K we are studying the Senses and alongside that we are studying the Seasons for Adv (Science portion). I feel like I am in a constant juggle and trying to just get each week done and go from one thing to the next. I would much rather have a Yearly lesson plan that has Topics we will study and us just go through them like we want to. Maybe we would want to do the Senses during the holiday season for a week (because Christmas time lends itself to studying the Senses naturally) and do the Seasons for a day or two at the change of each season. Doesn't that seem more natural?.... I think so. Right now we are studying George Washington, but I would rather do that during President's Day week. Of course, I guess that is a bit ridiculous because we need to study in chronologically and then, on President's Day it would be a great day to "review" it. {{{I am just thinking and typing here}}} I think I might always use MFW's LESSONS PLANS as a guideline, but I think I might choose my own read-alouds and move some parts around. I do love it, but sometimes I just want to go to the bookshelf and pick up a book and start studying whatever is in that book! Or maybe I just need to break MFW up into sections and do 3 weeks of it and then, 1 week of a Unit Study... Like I said... I am just thinkign here... Uhhhh.. does typing while my kids wander off to play Candyland count as school... Sahara is running around here with the Candyland instruction pamphlet singing herself a sweet little song... I just want their hearts!

Character Study

I just found this Character Study on the internet and I wanted to share it here. [Also, a little secret is that if I post it here I will be able to find it again myself. ;) ] LOL!

I have not used any of it, but I looked at the one for patience and it looks doable. I am looking for something that the whole family can go over one Character issue daily together in a short amount of time... maybe during dinner or shortly after. If you have one you do as a family feel free to recommend one. I am not looking for lots of hands on activities... just a sort of devotional type thing. I have had the recommendation to do a Proverbs a day reading, but there is some of that I do not find age appropriate for my children. I also, have the chart the Duggar family uses that I am considering..... really I was looking for something with less to start with, but I could just pick and choose a few that I want to focus on. One idea I have is to choose seven (for the days of the week) and just do those daily to really drill in the Character areas I think we should focus on. Ideally, I think 5-15 minutes a day would be what I want to spend discussing it and then, of course, back it up through little moments throughout the day.

ATTITUDE

My attitude is dangerous....

Not always that it is bad, but that I just want to "chill".

I want to let the kiddos play and do what kids do best and I want to sit back and watch and "chill" (sit back and do very little).

Confession time! I don't want to do school!

I know that I should want to... I know they have to learn something

... and their little brains need some stimulation, but...

I also love to watch them play.

But it is dangerous....

I know it sets them up to be lazy and unaccomplished.

I know that if I sit around being idle I send the wrong impression to them.

I become the bad example!

Yet, they are only young once...

and I want them to enjoy it, too.

It is such a hard balance to find, but...

we are working on it.

We are trying to get in a groove and I am taking a

"gentle approach"

to getting back into our schooling this week.

Because it is my attitude I am trying to control....

I know that I am not doing enough "schooly" stuff,

but I am not getting overwhelmed and freaking out, either.

If I am freaking out they are learning THAT is the way to handle

life's issues.

So, I am watching my attitude....

so, they will develop a better attitude.

Many times I hear people (even myself) complaining

about their kids bad attitude

and I think that they are what we teach them to be....

Raise your hand if you see your bad attitude in your kids..

MINE is raised! Guilty!! Ughhhh!! That stings!

I am their example of what their attitude should be like.

When I see them grit their teeth,

I know where they learned it.

(..and we will stop with that little detail... hehehehe!)

ALL of my bad attitutudes seem to reveal themselves through my children

They are the seeds I sow....

they are fed with the watering I bring

...and they are tended and cared for by ME!

It's not all pretty to admit, but it is important to admit!!!

Our attitudes will become their attitudes and later...

when we are fussing at them for their bad attitude...

it will be our own bad attitude in reality.

Confused? Ponder it awhile! Read it again.

Watch your children and see who YOU see.

Is it good or is it bad?