I had my first doctor's appointment for this pregnancy today and they did the usual "anatomy" sonogram. We got to see baby number 7 and little boy number 5!!! Yep, a boy!
While most of the boys were rooting for another girl ("Why would we want another boy?! We have 4 boys but we only have two girls!" was the comment one made), I have to say that I was REALLY wanting another boy. You see, after you start your mothering years with boy after boy after boy...a feast of baby boys really, and then you have a few girls and your little boys are getting tall and gangly and they aren't small and chubby anymore, you start getting nostalgic. My days of baby boys are a faint, sweet memory that I wish you could relive. I miss the little chuncky guys who pick up the tiniest bugs in the back yard, the little guys who dip their foreheads in mudpuddles, the little guys who don't care about "pretty" but just do the things little boys do. While I love little girls, I MISS my baby boys!!! And I'm SOOOO excited that we've got another little guy coming to join us!! Yea!! And the boys have decided they're glad they're going to have another baby brother!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
About "Inadequate" Mothers
I recently heard one lady (with 3 children, expecting their 4th and last child according to her) report that another woman with a larger family (by 3 or 4 children) had said she wasn’t able to spend time with each of her children each day. The mother with fewer children said that “You are a bad mother if you can say that.” She went on to say it was weird that the lady wanted more children and she said “Why would you want more when you don’t have the time to spend with the ones you’ve created already?” Let me just briefly point out the fallacy implied in her comment “You’ve created”. The Bible says that GOD is the creator of life. We cannot create, nor can we accidentally allow a life that God didn’t PURPOSEFULLY create. But that issue is not what I want to address in this post.
It sounds, from the comment of the mother of three, as if any woman who would voice feelings of inadequacy is a bad mother (afterall, she's admitting to being inadequate!) and worse if she feels inadequate AND would desire more children! I’ve been feeling incredibly overwhelmed and inadequate (patience wise) lately. I can’t say that I feel like I’m a horrible mother, though. Not as good as I would like and not as good as I could and not as good as I ought to be. But still, a good mother who loves and takes care of and raises her children the way the Lord leads as well as I can, given my flawed human nature. Lord, save me from sharing any of my feelings of inadequacy with such an uncompassionate, judgmental woman!!
Of course, it leads you to wonder, can you avoid being a bad mother?! Doesn't ANY mother find herself in the position of seeing things she should have done differently? Things she did wrong!? Or are there really mothers who know they have always done the best thing for their child in every situation? Something to think about, anyway.
But is this woman right? Is that mother a bad mother on the basis of not spending time with each child on a daily basis?
I have 9 siblings (one born after I got married so he almost doesn’t count in my part of what I’m about to say). Did mom spend personal, one-on-one time with each one of us every single day of our life at home? No. The majority of our personal time we did get was for school work (which, I imagine, added up to far more than the average amount the kids from public school with a working mom and 1 sibling gets). I’m sure there were times when we were in the kitchen helping to do things or, doing laundry or gardening with her or…who knows what else when no one was in there for a few moments, but there was very little “time with each child every day” in the one on one, specific way the lady’s statement implies.
I ask, IS personal time with Mom every day or even most days something we needed to have?! If so, why? Is there a Biblical reason that we needed special one on one time? Let’s not go into psycho ideas that counselors have conjured up out of nowhere with no real background to them, but give me a real, honest to goodness, known for thousands of years kind of reason that time with a parent and siblings just doesn’t count as time with your parent.
My mom was with the whole lot of us all the time. We were with her ALL day, she was with us ALL day. Anytime we wanted to go talk to mom, she was there and it wasn’t as if we had to submit a request in writing, squeeze our talk in between appointments or wait until she got home from work or we got home from school. But, at the same time, she didn’t have time set aside for each person every day. If we wanted/needed to talk, we found her and did so. But our bonus was/is, we have siblings we could talk to as well. We had our CHOICE of siblings to talk to!! I know that these days I might call my mother but then again, I might call and talk to one of my sisters (children #5, 6, 8 and 9). A number of my siblings have best friends in other siblings and they’re the ones to whom they tell all those things that you might not really say much to Mom or Dad about. While Mom and Dad are certainly nice to talk to, my siblings are definitely indispensable! Thank goodness my parents didn’t cut our family off at 2 or 3 or 4 children so they could personally give us all a specific amount of time or have money to give us certain lessons of some sort! Good grief! What robbery that would have been! If there were only 4 kids in my family, NONE of my sisters would have been born and OH, what I would be missing in my life right now!! Ugh!! What a horrid thought! I love and value my first three siblings, but we would all be lacking greatly if we didn’t have the other 6!! It happens that all but maybe my oldest brother wants to have a large family of their own. I can see in my friends what you get with smaller families and I have to say that I wouldn’t trade what I got…changing diapers, babysitting for no money, doing chores that friends seldom did and all that…wouldn’t trade it for what they got. In my opinion, my friends in smaller families didn’t get a single thing better…they just got less. They may not know they’re missing anything, but if I try and imagine life in a family of four, all I can imagine is the things I would have missed. We all feel incredibly blessed and we really value growing up in a crowd, so to speak. Enough to want to bless our children in the same way. I know many children in small families who grow up kinda lonely. It’s harder to find that in larger families.
I think the blessing of many siblings for the REST OF OUR LIVES, far out weighs any benefit of special time with mom on a daily basis while we’re growing up. But again, I still don’t see the need or even the benefit of having special time alone as opposed to time with mom AND siblings. Time with parents is important…yes, but all by yourself, not so important. Did Jesus spend special time with each of His disciples every day? No?! You mean, He didn’t set aside a 20 minute block to pour himself into each individual every day? No? Well why not? Maybe because it’s not needed or necessary in order to pass on the things God wants us to pass on. It’s not necessary in order for a person to feel significant, needed, valued, loved. Indeed, I have to say I feel like the world needs me more because my many siblings are in it. I feel like I have greater opportunities to be a good (or bad) influence because I have 8 younger siblings. I feel blessed because when I have a baby, my MOM doesn’t have to come stay with my kids but my sisters (far more energy and less aches and pains) CAN! Oh, I cannot tell you the THOUSANDS of blessings that come from a large family!! Yes, one so large that Mom might often feel like she just can’t handle it. But it’s not all about Mom really, is it?
I think often a MOM (including me at this point in my life) is a lot harder on herself than her kids are. I think non-understanding neighbors and friends can also be a lot more critical “for the sake of the children”, than the children are. I know that, certainly right now, I go to bed at least 4 of 7 nights, thinking about my short comings and how I did NOT do what I feel I should have that day. I imagine the mom quoted was feeling pretty bad, feeling like she wasn’t doing all she should and while she loves her children and would delight in another wonderful blessing, she feels that she cannot do enough. I believe this is deception initiated by Satan with the very purpose of discouraging Christians from doing something effective. The fewer children born in to Christian families the better and what better way than to actually make the parents think they’re doing the best by NOT having more. It’s so easy, in this culture where 1 or 2 children families are the model “family” and expectations of parents are based on this model. But this is NOT God’s model and the expectations that spring from this lack of fruitfulness are not God’s expectations.
When moms think they don’t have enough time for their large family or feel like they just aren’t doing enough, we need to remember that GOD knows what He’s doing when He gives you the children He gives. We forget, our children and what we do are not ALL ABOUT US and being just perfect. And if we're not perfect in our parenting, it's very arrogant of us to think that it would be better if our children weren't here. We make ourselves out to be far too important when we start thinking like that. We and our children are a part of some bigger picture God is working on and God still works through the weaknesses of His children. Yes, it’s true…God uses OUR weaknesses in the lives of our children and in everything else we touch. We just need to be open to Him. Ahhh. That's a refreshing thought to an overwhelmed, inadequate mommy.
It sounds, from the comment of the mother of three, as if any woman who would voice feelings of inadequacy is a bad mother (afterall, she's admitting to being inadequate!) and worse if she feels inadequate AND would desire more children! I’ve been feeling incredibly overwhelmed and inadequate (patience wise) lately. I can’t say that I feel like I’m a horrible mother, though. Not as good as I would like and not as good as I could and not as good as I ought to be. But still, a good mother who loves and takes care of and raises her children the way the Lord leads as well as I can, given my flawed human nature. Lord, save me from sharing any of my feelings of inadequacy with such an uncompassionate, judgmental woman!!
Of course, it leads you to wonder, can you avoid being a bad mother?! Doesn't ANY mother find herself in the position of seeing things she should have done differently? Things she did wrong!? Or are there really mothers who know they have always done the best thing for their child in every situation? Something to think about, anyway.
But is this woman right? Is that mother a bad mother on the basis of not spending time with each child on a daily basis?
I have 9 siblings (one born after I got married so he almost doesn’t count in my part of what I’m about to say). Did mom spend personal, one-on-one time with each one of us every single day of our life at home? No. The majority of our personal time we did get was for school work (which, I imagine, added up to far more than the average amount the kids from public school with a working mom and 1 sibling gets). I’m sure there were times when we were in the kitchen helping to do things or, doing laundry or gardening with her or…who knows what else when no one was in there for a few moments, but there was very little “time with each child every day” in the one on one, specific way the lady’s statement implies.
I ask, IS personal time with Mom every day or even most days something we needed to have?! If so, why? Is there a Biblical reason that we needed special one on one time? Let’s not go into psycho ideas that counselors have conjured up out of nowhere with no real background to them, but give me a real, honest to goodness, known for thousands of years kind of reason that time with a parent and siblings just doesn’t count as time with your parent.
My mom was with the whole lot of us all the time. We were with her ALL day, she was with us ALL day. Anytime we wanted to go talk to mom, she was there and it wasn’t as if we had to submit a request in writing, squeeze our talk in between appointments or wait until she got home from work or we got home from school. But, at the same time, she didn’t have time set aside for each person every day. If we wanted/needed to talk, we found her and did so. But our bonus was/is, we have siblings we could talk to as well. We had our CHOICE of siblings to talk to!! I know that these days I might call my mother but then again, I might call and talk to one of my sisters (children #5, 6, 8 and 9). A number of my siblings have best friends in other siblings and they’re the ones to whom they tell all those things that you might not really say much to Mom or Dad about. While Mom and Dad are certainly nice to talk to, my siblings are definitely indispensable! Thank goodness my parents didn’t cut our family off at 2 or 3 or 4 children so they could personally give us all a specific amount of time or have money to give us certain lessons of some sort! Good grief! What robbery that would have been! If there were only 4 kids in my family, NONE of my sisters would have been born and OH, what I would be missing in my life right now!! Ugh!! What a horrid thought! I love and value my first three siblings, but we would all be lacking greatly if we didn’t have the other 6!! It happens that all but maybe my oldest brother wants to have a large family of their own. I can see in my friends what you get with smaller families and I have to say that I wouldn’t trade what I got…changing diapers, babysitting for no money, doing chores that friends seldom did and all that…wouldn’t trade it for what they got. In my opinion, my friends in smaller families didn’t get a single thing better…they just got less. They may not know they’re missing anything, but if I try and imagine life in a family of four, all I can imagine is the things I would have missed. We all feel incredibly blessed and we really value growing up in a crowd, so to speak. Enough to want to bless our children in the same way. I know many children in small families who grow up kinda lonely. It’s harder to find that in larger families.
I think the blessing of many siblings for the REST OF OUR LIVES, far out weighs any benefit of special time with mom on a daily basis while we’re growing up. But again, I still don’t see the need or even the benefit of having special time alone as opposed to time with mom AND siblings. Time with parents is important…yes, but all by yourself, not so important. Did Jesus spend special time with each of His disciples every day? No?! You mean, He didn’t set aside a 20 minute block to pour himself into each individual every day? No? Well why not? Maybe because it’s not needed or necessary in order to pass on the things God wants us to pass on. It’s not necessary in order for a person to feel significant, needed, valued, loved. Indeed, I have to say I feel like the world needs me more because my many siblings are in it. I feel like I have greater opportunities to be a good (or bad) influence because I have 8 younger siblings. I feel blessed because when I have a baby, my MOM doesn’t have to come stay with my kids but my sisters (far more energy and less aches and pains) CAN! Oh, I cannot tell you the THOUSANDS of blessings that come from a large family!! Yes, one so large that Mom might often feel like she just can’t handle it. But it’s not all about Mom really, is it?
I think often a MOM (including me at this point in my life) is a lot harder on herself than her kids are. I think non-understanding neighbors and friends can also be a lot more critical “for the sake of the children”, than the children are. I know that, certainly right now, I go to bed at least 4 of 7 nights, thinking about my short comings and how I did NOT do what I feel I should have that day. I imagine the mom quoted was feeling pretty bad, feeling like she wasn’t doing all she should and while she loves her children and would delight in another wonderful blessing, she feels that she cannot do enough. I believe this is deception initiated by Satan with the very purpose of discouraging Christians from doing something effective. The fewer children born in to Christian families the better and what better way than to actually make the parents think they’re doing the best by NOT having more. It’s so easy, in this culture where 1 or 2 children families are the model “family” and expectations of parents are based on this model. But this is NOT God’s model and the expectations that spring from this lack of fruitfulness are not God’s expectations.
When moms think they don’t have enough time for their large family or feel like they just aren’t doing enough, we need to remember that GOD knows what He’s doing when He gives you the children He gives. We forget, our children and what we do are not ALL ABOUT US and being just perfect. And if we're not perfect in our parenting, it's very arrogant of us to think that it would be better if our children weren't here. We make ourselves out to be far too important when we start thinking like that. We and our children are a part of some bigger picture God is working on and God still works through the weaknesses of His children. Yes, it’s true…God uses OUR weaknesses in the lives of our children and in everything else we touch. We just need to be open to Him. Ahhh. That's a refreshing thought to an overwhelmed, inadequate mommy.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Trouble
I have this little short person in my house who really likes to get into things.
This is where all interesting things collect. The top shelf there is everything that this particular little person should NOT have. It's where all those things she gets and should not have gotten get placed because I'm in the middle of teaching/cooking/doing something or other on the computer or whatever. This is also where school books and lesson plans collect sometimes, where recipes and notes about next years curriculum turn into snow drift-like piles of paper, where homeless CD's collect, where soda bottles are seldom found but were there today because some little person (hmmm, who could that be) was carrying it around the living room while I was looking at Sonlight curriculum.
So, this place is, of course, the one spot that attracts her. Afterall, most of these things were things that she found interesting elsewhere and have been deposited here. It's like a treasure desk! A marker and notebook in her hand, she's giving the rest of it a once over to see what she might want to make off with. I think she's planning on making a list so she's prepared next time she gets this opportunity.
This is where all interesting things collect. The top shelf there is everything that this particular little person should NOT have. It's where all those things she gets and should not have gotten get placed because I'm in the middle of teaching/cooking/doing something or other on the computer or whatever. This is also where school books and lesson plans collect sometimes, where recipes and notes about next years curriculum turn into snow drift-like piles of paper, where homeless CD's collect, where soda bottles are seldom found but were there today because some little person (hmmm, who could that be) was carrying it around the living room while I was looking at Sonlight curriculum.
So, this place is, of course, the one spot that attracts her. Afterall, most of these things were things that she found interesting elsewhere and have been deposited here. It's like a treasure desk! A marker and notebook in her hand, she's giving the rest of it a once over to see what she might want to make off with. I think she's planning on making a list so she's prepared next time she gets this opportunity.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Fabulous Food!
I have a couple recipes to share with you guys today. Two we tried out this week and both were a big hit.
Garlic Lovers Chicken (actually, it didn’t have that much garlic- you could certainly add more)
½ c dry bread crumbs (I made these by cutting 2 slices of bread into strips and broiling them on both sides and then crumbling)
1/3 c. parm cheese
2 table spoons minced fresh parsley (I used dried…maybe a tsp or so)
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Put all these in a bag or Tupperware dish to toss your chicken in
¼ cup milk
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
¼ cup of butter or margarine, melted
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
paprika (I forgot this…oops!)
Dip chicken in milk, shake in crumb mixture. Place in greased baking dish.
Combine butter, garlic and lemon juice; drizzle over chicken. Sprinkle with paprika. I also sprinkled a little extra garlic powder on the ckn.
Baked uncovered at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until juices run clear. Mmmmm, mmmm! All the adults and kids loved it.
Next it ranch dressing similar to Outback Steakhouse' ranch. Not exactly but close and YUMMY!!
Outback-like (but not precisely) ranch dressing
1 table spoon Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (the little package of powder, and it’s the dressing NOT the dip)
1 C. mayo
½ cup milk
¼ tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp garlic powder
Let chill for one hour (you MUST do at least this for the flavor to take effect)
And everyone loved this, too.
Garlic Lovers Chicken (actually, it didn’t have that much garlic- you could certainly add more)
½ c dry bread crumbs (I made these by cutting 2 slices of bread into strips and broiling them on both sides and then crumbling)
1/3 c. parm cheese
2 table spoons minced fresh parsley (I used dried…maybe a tsp or so)
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Put all these in a bag or Tupperware dish to toss your chicken in
¼ cup milk
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
¼ cup of butter or margarine, melted
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
paprika (I forgot this…oops!)
Dip chicken in milk, shake in crumb mixture. Place in greased baking dish.
Combine butter, garlic and lemon juice; drizzle over chicken. Sprinkle with paprika. I also sprinkled a little extra garlic powder on the ckn.
Baked uncovered at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until juices run clear. Mmmmm, mmmm! All the adults and kids loved it.
Next it ranch dressing similar to Outback Steakhouse' ranch. Not exactly but close and YUMMY!!
Outback-like (but not precisely) ranch dressing
1 table spoon Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (the little package of powder, and it’s the dressing NOT the dip)
1 C. mayo
½ cup milk
¼ tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp garlic powder
Let chill for one hour (you MUST do at least this for the flavor to take effect)
And everyone loved this, too.
Potty Training Adventures
This little lady who is in the process of training is one interesting little person. She's stubborn and cute and hard headed and sweet, independent and helpful, resistant to commands...
Well, without going into great detail, I will say that this morning she had an accident in her undies, DIDN'T tell me about it and went on to "clean up" everything on her own. Her attempts to take care of everything on her own was a situation that was a first, after potty training 4 others. Usually they have NO desire to take care of it (and really, does ANYONE want to?!). Of course, clean up carried out by the inept is... Well, I'm sure any mother reading this knows how that sort of thing goes. It was one of those things where it takes a little while to solve the whole mystery as to what exactly happened but as the clues unfolded I didn't know if I should laugh or cry, praise her or admonish her! What can you do but a little of both followed by a sigh and a shake of the head?!
I just want to know...is EVERYTHING with girls going to be more work?
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Potty training - one of the ironies of life
There are so many of these with children. You're so excited that they're talking and then you get so tired of them constantly asking "Why?" when you have no clue why or "When?" when you haven't even planned on a when and just pretty much talking nonstop.
Well, I got my fill of another one of these this morning. First, let me just say that I'm a very laid back potty trainer. Usually I put training pants on a little tot one morning, tell them whats expected, put them on the toilet a few times and when they don't successfully make it several times that morning and I go back to diapers. A couple months later, I do the same thing. Sooner or later, it just works and they take it and run with it with very little effort on my part. And by golly, I like it that way. Because what I did this morning was ridiculous.
The little princess is getting pretty close to three and while I've done the training pants thing several times and I've put her on the toilet many times, she's NEVER used the toilet. Ever. This is unusual for us. I've not had one to NEVER use the toilet by this age. Course, I've not had one this stubborn either but that's another line of thought entirely. So, this morning I was thinking that, by golly, I'm at least going to get her using the toilet so she can get an idea, at least, of this potty training thing. So I made some lemonade (we only drink water around here so even watered down 50%, it's a big hit) and filled her up. Sippy cup full after sippy cup, she guzzled quite a few.
I figured we'd hang out in my bedroom this morning...I'd fold clothes, the boys could sit at the chest at the base of my bed and do school work and we'd be right there by the bathroom to do the potty training. And the first hour or so, that worked out okay except she wasn't going to the bathroom! I was starting to despair. I pulled the big bag of M & M's out of the cabinet to display the promised treat. It's probably 1/3 of a 5lb bag that a "friend" of mine had given me several months ago. I don't know how friendly that is to dump that much candy on a person with 6 kids but, I'm sure she meant the best. (Her time is coming.)
A few moments after seeing the very big bag of candy she decided she needed to go potty. And she DID!!! Oh, what excitement and celebrating there was! After the whole "now you pull your undies back on and you move the step stool (made by my father-in-law for potty training my first) over here and wash your hands and then you dry your hands...and get candy... and then you turn the bathroom light off", we called Dad to tell him so he could stop to celebrate with us (hee hee! It's kinda funny to think of interrupting someone for that). She was so pleased and so was I. Very nice. So, I went back to teaching the boys. And after I got two sentences out of my mouth, she came back and said "I need to go potty!" That really wasn't very long at all but at this point we want to keep the the excitement, don't we?! So I jumped up and said "Okay, let's go!!" So I got up and helped her through the whole sequence (minus calling daddy) and then went back to teaching. And not 2 minutes later.... And two minutes after that, and two minutes after that and then she walked out of the room and walked back in to use the bathroom AGAIN in far less than two minutes. It was INSANE!! For the next hour and 15 minutes the insanity of constantly (and I am NOT exaggerating that there was not a break of more than 3 minutes and often it was shorter) going to the bathroom and ACTUALLY using it went on while I struggled to accomplish anything else. And I greatly struggled to not just totally lose my patience and slap a diaper back on her!! Even my 9 year old, after about 15 minutes into the ordeal, laughed and said "You thought she was never going to use the potty but now I bet you're really tired of it." Ah, yes, a diaper was looking *real* good after 30 minutes of that.
I say, kudos to the people who do the concentrated "potty training in one day" thing, but based on my small, one and a half hour experience, I am absolutely not equipped with whatever personal traits needed to deal with that! Whew!
Well, I got my fill of another one of these this morning. First, let me just say that I'm a very laid back potty trainer. Usually I put training pants on a little tot one morning, tell them whats expected, put them on the toilet a few times and when they don't successfully make it several times that morning and I go back to diapers. A couple months later, I do the same thing. Sooner or later, it just works and they take it and run with it with very little effort on my part. And by golly, I like it that way. Because what I did this morning was ridiculous.
The little princess is getting pretty close to three and while I've done the training pants thing several times and I've put her on the toilet many times, she's NEVER used the toilet. Ever. This is unusual for us. I've not had one to NEVER use the toilet by this age. Course, I've not had one this stubborn either but that's another line of thought entirely. So, this morning I was thinking that, by golly, I'm at least going to get her using the toilet so she can get an idea, at least, of this potty training thing. So I made some lemonade (we only drink water around here so even watered down 50%, it's a big hit) and filled her up. Sippy cup full after sippy cup, she guzzled quite a few.
I figured we'd hang out in my bedroom this morning...I'd fold clothes, the boys could sit at the chest at the base of my bed and do school work and we'd be right there by the bathroom to do the potty training. And the first hour or so, that worked out okay except she wasn't going to the bathroom! I was starting to despair. I pulled the big bag of M & M's out of the cabinet to display the promised treat. It's probably 1/3 of a 5lb bag that a "friend" of mine had given me several months ago. I don't know how friendly that is to dump that much candy on a person with 6 kids but, I'm sure she meant the best. (Her time is coming.)
A few moments after seeing the very big bag of candy she decided she needed to go potty. And she DID!!! Oh, what excitement and celebrating there was! After the whole "now you pull your undies back on and you move the step stool (made by my father-in-law for potty training my first) over here and wash your hands and then you dry your hands...and get candy... and then you turn the bathroom light off", we called Dad to tell him so he could stop to celebrate with us (hee hee! It's kinda funny to think of interrupting someone for that). She was so pleased and so was I. Very nice. So, I went back to teaching the boys. And after I got two sentences out of my mouth, she came back and said "I need to go potty!" That really wasn't very long at all but at this point we want to keep the the excitement, don't we?! So I jumped up and said "Okay, let's go!!" So I got up and helped her through the whole sequence (minus calling daddy) and then went back to teaching. And not 2 minutes later.... And two minutes after that, and two minutes after that and then she walked out of the room and walked back in to use the bathroom AGAIN in far less than two minutes. It was INSANE!! For the next hour and 15 minutes the insanity of constantly (and I am NOT exaggerating that there was not a break of more than 3 minutes and often it was shorter) going to the bathroom and ACTUALLY using it went on while I struggled to accomplish anything else. And I greatly struggled to not just totally lose my patience and slap a diaper back on her!! Even my 9 year old, after about 15 minutes into the ordeal, laughed and said "You thought she was never going to use the potty but now I bet you're really tired of it." Ah, yes, a diaper was looking *real* good after 30 minutes of that.
I say, kudos to the people who do the concentrated "potty training in one day" thing, but based on my small, one and a half hour experience, I am absolutely not equipped with whatever personal traits needed to deal with that! Whew!
Reviving? And K'nex!
Could energy be coming back? Oh, I hope so. The first trimester of the last few pregnancies have been a bit tough when it comes to having the energy or the desire to do much of anything. I think I'm doing good to keep up with laundry, keep kids fed and do school work. I've not really felt up to even doing that much (though you do what you have to) so anything past that really hasn't happened. However, this morning I laid in bed for a little bit with great thoughts for what I would accomplish today. Not that I will accomplish all that I was thinking about, or even half, but the fact that I was thinking about it could be a sign that the sluggishness is about to leave! Oh, and is my house ready for that!
Well, today I was going to share something that I think is great for kids to play with. K'nex. While they come with instructions for building a number of different things, it's the things they think of on their own that I like to see. It's really cute to see what they come up with.
Well, today I was going to share something that I think is great for kids to play with. K'nex. While they come with instructions for building a number of different things, it's the things they think of on their own that I like to see. It's really cute to see what they come up with.
It seems to me that creativity needs to be encouraged in children or they become very dependent on other things (games, sports, organized actitivies) to keep them entertained, to keep their minds engaged, to keep themselves busy. Hmmm. I wonder if a childhood lacking in practicing creativity is why so many women struggle with how they "don't use their minds" when they stay at home. They never learned how to engage their minds without direction from someone or something else. Hmm. A thought.
ANYWAY!! The really neat thing about K'nex is that there are so many creative possibilities! Many more than with Legos. Now, we enjoy Legos around here too, but with K'nex, you have all sorts of different things that link together and can move and all sorts of good stuff. Hours of good creative fun in these things!
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