Mom Central turned me on to this great website. Mamapedia.com  I decided to give it a whirl and typed in things I dealt with or continue to deal with as a parent. I assumd it would be a site that gave me scientific answers to my questions. I was wrong, but that doesn’t discount this site. I first typed in CROUP and found a list of questions from moms and answers. Now if I was in a life and death croup situation, scrolling the answers might not be the best thing, but I did find the Answer Highlight column to be helpful.

Next I searched brown recluse spider bites, because well, we have spiders and I thought I’d see what it suggested. For that search I got a lot of random results for bug bites, but nothing specific to my problem. Though I did want to respond to some of the questions but realized they had already resolved their issues.

Next, sibling fighting. More specific questions with losts of moms chiming in. So my conclusion. Mamapedia is a great site for seeking the advice from other moms on all different subjects, but I don’t think it should replace consulting professionals on serious issues.

Some other features I liked was the Kids Age by Age section. It seems the random questions are highlighted and it’s a great way to get lots of different opinions but it you’re looking for a strictly Christian perspective, this is not the place.

I think if you’re looking for a specific answer to a question you have, then your best bet is to ask that question instead of searching. Though if you wanted to try searching first, I’d be as specific as possible, though sometimes being too specific brought up lots of random questions.

Thought this site was not what I was expecting, over all it’s a great resource for mom advice!

Before you good, God fearing Christians turn away or worse scroll down to the comments to tell me how poker is the devil’s game, listen to what I have to say. I’m thanking God for poker because it’s brought my two extremely different sons, 14 and 12, together! That’s right, they’re actually getting along and playing nice when they play poker.

Now, they’re not gambling, or playing for money, just chips, but the game they learned at school has engaged them both that it’s the first thing they want to do when they get home from school. You have to know my boys to know that it truly is a miracle that my oldest even wants to sit at the same table with my younger son. So I’m thanking God for poker!

From the day my second son could walk and play, I could tell he was different from my oldest. While my oldest loved playing with “figures” and pretending, my second never picked up a “little person,” instead he built things like giant marble towers, Brio train tracks and later on K’Nex roller coasters. From early on, it was easy to see how completely different my two sons were. Though they loved each other when they were little, they didn’t play together much unless it was outside. As they grew up, they drifted apart. They just didn’t like to play the same things.

Fast forward ten years and the only times they seem to get along is when they’re playing a strategy game. They’ve played chess, but since my oldest is in logic my younger son doesn’t like to play him because he gets creamed. But with poker, they seem to be on the same level. And I’m glad! In fact, today when I heard my oldest son call my younger to come and play, my heart melted! My prayers had finally come true. My boys were finally getting along, at least for the length of the game.

Fourteen years ago when I was first pregnant, all we had were “What to Expect While You’re Expecting” books and some other random parenting prep books. There were Lamaze classes and Bradley classes, and MOPS groups, but that’s it. No internet to search and connect with other pregnant moms. No forums and websites that could answer my questions at click of a mouse!

By the time I was on my third and fourth child, I did use the internet for baby names. But that’s about it. If there were support groups out there, I didn’t know about them. If I did, I would have logged on to sites like Parent Connect and all of my pre-parenting questions would have been answered like:

How much weight should I really gain?
What kinds of foods should I avoid?
What should I expect my body to be going through each month?
When should I start thinking about getting pregnant again?
And after two boys, is there a way to guarantee a girl? (Side note. Mom did buy me a book on this, but it took us two pregnancies to finally get that girl! And she was worth the wait.)

Even though I didn’t have the support this site offers fourteen years ago, the neat thing about Parent Connect, is that it’s not just for pregnant moms. They have forums and groups for moms of toddlers to teens! If I had known about this site fourteen years ago, you could bet I’d have spent those sleepless pregnancy nights there! But knowing that Parent Connect can help me with my teen might help me sleep through the next fourteen years!

Do you ever look at your kids and wondering if you’re doing a good job? If your challenging preteen and obnoxious teen will ever turn out normal? Do you blame yourself or question your parenting when they don’t seem to “get it?”

If you answer NO, then you’re just not normal. Okay, maybe you’re better than normal, and there’s no use comparing myself with you.

But right now I want to brag on my kids, not my parenting, because God in heaven knows that if they turn out good (which I know they will) it won’t be because of me. It’ll be because of HIM.

Anyway, the other weekend we all attended a rockin’ Christian concert with Hawk Nelson, Brandon Heath and Toby Mac! Did I mention it was ROCKIN’! Thank goodness I’m not too old to enjoy this music, but my teen was too old to sit with a mom who would guarantee to embarrass him. So I sat with my 11 and 8 year old and a 10 year old friend.

In the middle of this concert they stopped the music for some “preaching” but it was entertaining and all good and the kids didn’t seem to mind. Then the took up an offering. We’d just started giving our kids allowance and my oldest has been saving up his pennies, even selling his Mp3 player to his younger brother so he could earn enough money for an iPod Shuffle. He wants it really bad… So I didn’t think he’d give anything. I wasn’t sure about my 11 year old, but he surprised me by pulling out $8. Almost 2 weeks allowance! (Yeah, I know. Not much allowance for these kids, but we’re in an economic crisis and even allowance suffers!)

Later on my oldest told me he gave two weeks allowance. I was surprised and thrilled. He said he was only going to put in five until the guy started talking. Then he threw in another five. That’s when my parent pride swelled, and I knew they’d be just fine. They still have a lot of growing to do (so do I,) but they’re good kids, who love Jesus and are hearing the voice of God in their own way! What more could I ask for?

I’m so excited about Norton Family Online. It’s what I’ve been wanting for a long time. A way to monitor my kids’ online activities, set a daily computer time limit and see exactly where they are browsing and hanging out online. With four kids, our biggest problem is limiting the time each child spends on the computer. We usually use a timer, but someone is always going over their time. With Norton Family Online, I set the daily time limit and problem solved…I hope. But that’s only one benefit of this service. Now I can feel comfortable with my children surfing the internet because I’ll be able to monitor exactly where they are going and ban certain sites. No more “I was just on facebook for a minute!” because I’ll be able to tell how long they stayed at a particular site.

Setting up my account was easy. I added each child and then logged onto their windows profile and hopefully set the thing up right. I just went on and tried to check where my oldest had been online, but there seemed to be no activity. Not sure if he went online or was just downloading music to his new iPod Touch. I’ll have to check it out tomorrow. But read on for more of what Norton Family does!

Check out the free trial here!

Key Norton Online Family features include:

Simple, One-Time Set Up: Create an account online and customize each family member’s profile based on age and maturity level. (Pretty easy set up)

Easy to Use and Access: Check a child’s activity or modify a child’s profile, preferences, or time allotment anytime and anywhere using any Internet-connected device. (Tried to do this, not sure if I set it up correctly, but the directions and help section iseasy enough to follow!)

Clear Reporting:  All activities are reported in chronological order and only show the Web sites a child intended to visit – eliminating all the extra URLs, like ads, from Web sites.

Secured Personal Information: Track, report and prevent personal information that a child may purposely or accidentally try to send via e-mail, IM or social networking site. (I can restrict who they instant message and I’m emailed when they try to give out personal information.)

Access to Social Network Information: Monitor activity on social networks like Facebook and MySpace with the ability to see how kids represent themselves, when they login and how often. (Not sure how this links up to Facebook, but I’ll be figuring that out soon!)

Real-time Messaging: Built-in messaging allows parents to have real-time discussions with children about activities and better understand their intentions when visiting a Web site.

Custom Alerts: Parents can customize e-mail alerts to address urgent events so they know immediately when a child has reached a time limit or visited a blocked site, etc. (Excited about this!)

Useful Time Management: An easy-to-use time management feature that – if parents find it necessary – gives each child a “curfew” that will limit computer usage.

Think you could use a free trial? Well, what are you waiting for?

Now the only thing missing is how to put a monitor on the iPhone! Hopefully, someone will come up with that one soon!

I’ve heard about it for years, but ignored the temptation to try this not-so-new behavioral technique. I actually thought it to be quite expensive, extreme, and potentially damaging to my children. Though the idea intrigued me. But year after year, I resisted and my husband was in agreement with me. That is, until this weekend when he announced we were getting cable.

 

Cable? At first, I had mixed feelings about the service that I knew would not only suck away precious dollars, but time and productivity as well. Over the years we avoided the cable monster, kept our money in our pockets, and lived quite well without it. Oh, sure we heard about wonderful channels and shows on the Discovery or History channel, and the kids loved visiting our neighbors to watch Sponge Bob (which I managed to keep my three older kids from viewing.) But we were happy with PBS and going to a hotel to watch cable or visiting grandparents was a treat, not an every day occurrence.

 

Did my kids feel deprived? Maybe, but we rarely had time to watch tv anyway.

 

That all changed this weekend when they probably sat glued to the television for twelve hours at a time and I have to admit, I didn’t dare pull them away. Everyone was occupied. No one was fighting. And the house was soooo quiet. There were no conflicts to mediate or parenting for that matter. I thought, WOW! This has got to be the BEST child behavior techinque EVER!

 

Then I woke up or should I say, looked up and became glued to the HGTV. All the fears I once had about cable hit me in the face. The shows just such you in and before you know it you’ve wasted hours. Hours! Plus, the commercials and shows are very inappropriate for little eyes. If we keep cable, I will have to learn the child friendly channels and avoid flipping the channels while little, vulnerable eyes are watching. Thirdly, cable is like a drug. While the kids are watching the shows life is good. They’re riding high, feeling fine, and life is breezy. But take the drug, er…cable away and tell them it’s bedtime, they’re like a junkie coming down from a high, looking for their next fix. And a part of me is so desperate to keep the peace that I’ve caved and let them have one more hit, er show.

 

Now I know this is a holiday weekend and they deserve hours of mindless tv viewing for working so hard to get into our new home, BUT what I’m afraid of is will they realize come Monday things will return to normal despite the fact we now have cable? Will they realize that just because Josh and Drake and The Suite Life is on ALL THE TIME, that doesn’t mean they get to watch EVERY episode? And will they realize that bed time will be back to normal? I hope so!

 

So tell me, do you have cable/DISH/DirectTV? Why or why not? Honestly, I don’t think the pros out weight the cons and it’s only been 24 hours since we got ours hooked up!

And don’t get me started on how I feel about the televisions in cars! I’ll save that rant for another day!

 

 

 

 

I’m the kind of mom that keeps her kids in car seats or booster until they reach the appropriate weight not age. And with my kids being smaller than the average kid their age that means their in car seats and boosters way past their peers. But I’d rather be safe than sorry. Truthfully, my kids only ride in boosters in my mom’s car or husband’s. In my van, they’re strapped into those big seats with the shoulder belt or the built in five point harness seat. I’ve never been real comfortable with the use of booster and the video at www.seatsnug.com shows why! The kids slide and jostle around in their booster when the van turns a corner! Now how safe is that. Thankfully, seat snug has made booster and car seats even safer.

For more information on this device go here.

What they say:

SeatSnug® is a first-of-its-kind product that enhances both the safety and comfort of children riding in booster seats. It allows the lap belt to be lightly tightened around a child’s hips while riding in a vehicle, preventing seatbelt slack or looseness from developing.

By gently securing a child while riding in a booster seat, SeatSnug® substantially eliminates bouncing, rocking, tipping, falling over, submarining, and ejection, thus reducing the potential for injuries and death in vehicular accidents. www.seatsnug.com.

I’m always looking for new ways to organize my life. With homeschool, school, sports, music, dance, plays, church, a home to sell and with four kids in all different activities at different times, there’s a lot to manage!

So when I heard about Qlubb.com, a web-based service that helps organize your real-life groups online, providing all the functions needed to easily and actively participate within a group, I was interested in learning more.

What’s really neat about Qlubb is that you can log on and see samples of how it works for sports teams, play groups, church groups, homeroom moms and more.

In just one click you get:

• Secure, Private Site
• Public Webpage
• Group Event Calendar with Reminders
• Shared To-Do Lists with Reminders
• Group Invites/RSVP’s
• No user registrations required
• And Much more!

Qlubb also has helpful blog pages where you can get tips on what’s working for others.
I can see Qlubb really being an asset to coaches and homeroom moms. I’ve been a homeroom mom before and my husband coached, and if there was a main page the team or class could go to find out if games were canceled or if events were happening, then we could have avoided all the emails back and forth and used Qlubb instead.

Qlubb allows you to connect, plan meetings, assign responsibilities and share pictures with all of the members of your group at once. Features include an event calendar, sign-up sheets, member rosters, a task reminder service, and bulletin boards, which every member of your community can access and update from their home computers.

Using the site is easy, even for the techno challenged! Qlubb‘s secure sign-in protects group information, so only members of your group have access. However, participants don’t have to individually register and can simply sign in using the group password. Now that’s handy!

I’m definitely telling my kids school, and church and sports teams about this one! I love it when someone comes up with something to make my life easier!

New Years Resolutions from 2004. Let’s see how we did/ are doing!

Jan 4 2004 New Years Resolutions

Our family has alot of goals for this up coming year. We probably won’t accomplish them all. Yet, even if we are consistent with a few I know God will bless our efforts:

1. Have a family meeting once a week to discuss the upcoming week, personal and family goals and to talk about anything that may be bothering anyone.

2. To have a ten minute family devotion before bed every night and a more in depth Bible study once a week.

3. To be an encouraging family that lifts each other up with our words.

4. To be a family that doesn’t raise our voices or yell at one another.

5. To be obedient to our parents and to God.

6. To have family fun nights once a week

7. To do some kind of ministry together a couple of times this year.

8. To fast or to give up things more often for God.

Believe it or not many of these goals came straight from the kids. We simply asked them what kind of family they wanted ours to be and what things they wanted to do together as a family this year. I’m keeping a notebook of our meetings (our first one is tonight), I’ll let you know how it goes!

Seems like these could have been our goals for 2005-2008! I’m beginning to realize change is a hard thing. Please, Lord Jesus, change us, mold us into the family that you want to be. A family that glorifies you!

I’m always on the look out for great, educational games. I used to be a Discovery Toys consultant, just so I could get the toys and I use them often for fun and homeschooling. Then I found Simply Fun, another great game company, more fun then education. But I’d never heard of Noodleboro until I was asked to try out one of their games.

Fun. Educational. How could I refuse!

And when I got one of the three games they were offering, I couldn’t believe how on target the game was for my family right now.

The Pizza Palace game was perfect for my six and eight year old. Not only was it fun and silly building pizzas, but it taught cooperation, team work, and listening skills! What mom wouldn’t want her kids to learn that from a game!

In fact, Mom Central surveyed 950 Moms across the name and learned that 98% of us Moms consider “social skills very important to our children’s development while 85% of us experience frustration and tension when teaching these vital skills.” The survey also revealed that 99% of us want more innovative and fun ways to teach our children social skills.

Do I hear an Amen?!

Hasbro heard our cry. After two years of research, the makers of family classics like Candy Land, Battleship, Scrabble and Clue can add the Noodleboro line to the list. Hasbro’s goal was to provide playful and effective learning games to help moms raise kids who listen well, cooperate with others, share with friends, get along in groups, and act respectfully to teachers and adults. Just released, the three Noodleboro board games each come with an accompanying CD for car rides or playtime and books for story time to enhance the valuable lessons:

• We struggle to get our kids to listen and pay attention, and in the Pizza Palace Game, they must do both while taking our pizza orders. Although they might normally tune us out (when we only want mushrooms on one slice), listening becomes a fun challenge.

It was interesting to see how well my kids could listen when it came to this game and how easy they can tune out chore instructions. Though I’m hoping as we continue to play, to take the time to sneak in some listening skills training that will benefit me even when we’re not playing.

• The Fun Park Game mirrors every family outing you have ever taken – your child must cooperate and work with you to make decisions about what to do next. Sharing and teamwork becomes creative and exciting as well as applicable to your family’s every day life.

Our family definitely needs to learn team work. Me and hubs are trying to paint our home and pack for a move (tba in another post) and the kids are less than helpful! Their definitely NOT with the program, yet!

• The Picnic Basket Game reinforces manners, which prove effective to chase away ants and make the picnic run smoothly. From passing the lemonade to sharing the sandwiches, there’s no room for acting crabby and grabby.

We could really use this game as well! Though I’m not sure I could get my preteen and teen to sit down to a game about picnic ants!

So if you’d like to give your kids a life lesson while having fun, check out Hasbro Noodleboro .

In keeping with the spirit of fun, Mom Central is raffling 200 Noodleboro games off to Moms who sign up through the link below.

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB2285CWRZFAU

I wonder if I’m eligible to signup for another Noodleboro game? Lord knows my family needs ‘em!

One of our sons is incredibly mean and horrible to the other. We’ve tried everything, but this son picks at and says awful things to the other one. His attitude and hatred in his heart at times is wrenching to me and those who here this verbal abuse.

We’ve tried it all. No Ps2, no friends, etc. Sometimes it works…for a while, then he goes back. The root of the problem is selfishness and we’ve even had him memorize scripture. It’s encouraging when I see his heart soften, but it can harden up so quickly.

Well, we’ve committed to getting tougher with him. In fact, while on line at Universal for the Pteradon Flyer ride ( a 60 minute wait) his attitude became unbearable. After several warnings and nearing the end of the line (which was more like a 30 minute wait) I said he was NOT going on the ride. At first he was shocked and I looked to my husband for support. I felt myself waver, but my husband agreed! My son flared his nostril and gave the evil eye to me and his brother, but we all boarded the ride without him.

His attitude seemed to settle down for a while, but days later he’s back to picking at people (not just his brother, but sister also.) It’s so difficult to know what to do. Most of it is selfishness and it’s NOT just the age. He’s been like this for a looong time. If anyone has any suggestions I’m open to it. Something really needs to happen in his heart (and I’ve seen it soften so I know it’s not hopeless,) but I’m at a loss what to do!

Grace has been asking for the Barbie Mariposa video ever since it started being advertising on television. In fact, she’s been asking for EVERTHING she’s seem advertised on TV. I usually say. Maybe for your birthday, and that usually quits her down. But there’s something about his Mariposa video that keeps her asking. I think it has to do with the fact her friends at school play “Mariposa” on the play ground.

The other day at Sam’s I saw the video and it was decently priced at a little over $12, so I picked it up and thought it’d surprise her with it for Easter. When I brought it inside, I hid it between some books and a my photos, then continued to bring in the rest of the groceries with help from Grace (5) and Timmy (7.) I should have hid it away in the cabinet right above where I left it, but I thought it was safe. Seconds later she runs to me with a huge smile on her face. “You got Mariposa!”

I got upset and raised my voice to her saying something like “Why’d you go and look at it?” Not my finest parenting moment (or my worst) and instantly her little sweet disposition melted into tears and a face that crushes a mother’s heart. She said it was right there starring at her and she didn’t look for it. Which was true! I should have gotten down on eye level and I would have seen it was positioned perfectly for five year old eyes to see. I quickly apologized and reaffirmed it wasn’t her fault, but told her she would have to wait.

Later, my mom (whose moved her from NY and has been living with us for 2 months now) informs me Grace has been climbing all over the place looking every where for that Mariposa video. This morning, in her sweetest, most sincere voice she says:

“Mom, you’re a really good hider of Mariposa. When I grow up and become a mom will you show where your hiding spot is so I can hide things from my kids?”

I smiled, took her in my arms, plastering kisses all over her face! “Sure, I will!”

Chris made an interesting observation while he was on a weekend field trip with his junior high. “I’m really nice when I’m away from home.”

At home Chris is characterized by being bossy, nit-picky, and sometimes just plain nasty with his siblings, especially the two that rub him the wrong way.

I can relate to Chris’ words because I feel and act the same way. Within the walls of my home I tend to be bossy (ask my hubby), nit-picky, and sometimes just plain nasty. Though I don’t want to be this way, and know it is wrong, more times than I care to admit my flesh takes over. It’s like what the apostle Paul said, the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Growing up in a divorced, dysfunctional home, I learned to take care of myself and protect myself emotionally. When I sensed criticism or an attack coming my way, I immediately put on my armor, drew my sword and started swinging. My choleric/melancholy (oftentimes sarcastic) personality didn’t help things either. When I gave my life to Christ at fifteen, I did change some. I eased up on the sarcasm, and didn’t hang out with my partying friends, but in my home I still battled a critical mother and a sister who I knew was sent straight from the pit of hell to torture me.

College was where I felt a reprieve. To date it’s the happiest time of my life. I had confidence, and oozed joy soaking up the love and acceptance from new friends and Godly teachers. Though I did go through emotional stresses and pain, in college I was the best me I could be. Then I got married and all the ugliness of my childhood surfaced again.

Sixteen years and four kids later, and I feel I’m probably at my worst. Selfishness rears it’s ugly little head every day in subtle ways and not just in me. I’m sure part of Chris’ problem has been modeled by me and the other part is that he is sooo much like me.

I think sometime over the years our family got lazy and started thinking that a family/marriage is all about what you can get out of it, not what you can give. I know in my heart a family should be giving more than taking, but when it’s caught in the whirlwind of chaos, it’s so hard to switch directions. All our good intentions get blindsided or distracted. And even though I know I can’t do this family thing right without Jesus, he’s usually consulted on matters after the fact.

Last night I had a talk with hubby about how I think our parenting has turned into damage control and not really disciplining. I have all these plans to change that, to change my family, to change me…but I need the Lord’s help!

I can so relate to Chris’ revelation. It’s easier to be nice when you’re away from family. I don’t like that reality and I want it to change. I want my whole family to change the way they treat each other and I know that it starts with me. Or rather it starts with Jesus. For the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak!

What things does your family do to keep the nasties away?

I think I got this entry in just in time! Check out the link for other great giveaways!

Motherhood is like trying to wrangle a runaway hose! As a mom, it seems like most of my time is spent trying to tame my children into submission, or make them behave, or teach them which way to go. But oh, there are those wonderful quiet times, when the fight isn’t there. When they readily hear and come and nestle up beside me. It is then I drink in the cool joy of motherhood. It is then all the wrestling of motherhood is forgotten. It is then I understand what God meant when he said children are a blessing!

Do Hard Things

A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations

by Alex and Brett Harris

What they say:

Teenagers Alex and Brett Harris are challenging their generation to rebel against the low expectations of our culture. Teens can use this time in their lives for growth toward a purpose.

Written when they were 18 years old, Do Hard Things is the Harris twins’ revolutionary message in its purest and most compelling form, giving readers a tangible glimpse of what is possible for teens who actively resist cultural lies that limit their potential. Combating the idea of adolescence as a vacation from responsibility, the authors weave together biblical insights, history, and modern examples to redefine the teen years as the launching pad of life and map a clear trajectory for long-term fulfillment and eternal impact.

Written by teens for teens, Do Hard Things is packed with humorous personal anecdotes, practical examples, and stories of real-life rebelutionaries in action. This rallying cry from the heart of revolution already in progress challenges the next generation to lay claim to a brighter future, starting today.

With over 10 million hits to their website TheRebelution.com, Alex and Brett Harris are leading the charge in a growing movement of Christian young people who are rebelling against the low expectations of their culture by choosing to “do hard things” for the glory of God.

What I say:

It’s very encouraging to read how these brothers began their Rebelution through blogging. You can definitely see God’s hand in where they are today. In a world where teenagers look to the media and society to tell them how to act and dress and feel, Brett and Alex are a breath of fresh air. What’s even more encouraging is that they’re not alone in wanting to do HARD things and reach their potential in Christ. At 19 yrs. they’ve obtained far greater things and a level of maturity than most 30 years old and their message is that teens want to make a difference in this world. There are many young adults out there wanting to do hard things!

I’m only on the fifth chapter and while I LOVE the message, I’m wondering how this will catch on with those teens who have less drive and ambition and do wallow in low expectations. Thinking about my own kid here who’s 13 and at this point in his life would never pick up this book. He doesn’t so much have low expectations, but he’s not into doing hard things. I’m hoping this book will give me, a mom, some insight into how to get my son to rebel! I don’t see this book doing that. I see it as a tool for kids who already feel that there’s something more, something they might be missing. But if I’m wrong please tell me!

I definitely see this as a great youth group study guide. Maybe I’ll have to give a copy to my church! If you want a copy, then leave a message. One lucky person will win! And if you’re a teen who comments, I’ll enter your name in TWICE! Just let me know!

Here’s more about the Harris twins!

Alex and Brett have been featured in the New York Times, World Net Daily, and World. Their Rebelution Tour is hitting cities across the country, challenging teens to not meet but exceed our culture’s now expectations for teens.”

To read endorsements from real teens, parents, and youth workers, visit TheRebelution.com

Need more info?
Book Description from Amazon

A growing movement of young people is rebelling against the low expectations of today’s culture by choosing to “do hard things” for the glory of God. And Alex and Brett Harris are leading the charge.

Do Hard Things is the Harris twins’ revolutionary message in its purest and most compelling form, giving readers a tangible glimpse of what is possible for teens who actively resist cultural lies that limit their potential.

Combating the idea of adolescence as a vacation from responsibility, the authors weave together biblical insights, history, and modern examples to redefine the teen years as the launching pad of life. Then they map out five powerful ways teens can respond for personal and social change.

Check it out and leave a message to get your teen or soon to be teen a copy!  Or click here to buy! Do Hard Things

This past weekend we took the kids and my mom to the local circus. It’s always a thrill to sit in the big arena and watch all the animal, dare devil and acrobatic acts. Though while my eyes flitted from ring to ring trying to soak it all in I noticed my little girl was more interested in finding the cotton candy man.

During some of the acts, especially they extremely long animal acts, I found my mind wandering to book plots and titles. I can up with two cozy mysteries. One taking place in a circus! I guess only time will tell if they will ever come into being

But it wasn’t until later, when I got home that I began to see my life was like a three ring circus, and I’m trying to perform in all three!

There’s the ring of parenting, writing and faith and throw in my renewed effort to really work on being the best wife I could be!

I’m certainly not the main attraction in any of these arenas. In fact, often times I feel more like the lion tamer fighting off parenting problems, writing interruption and faith distractions. But still I’m on stage, putzing along, doing my best and hoping that maybe just maybe one day I’ll get it right!

Okay, this analogy is really hurting and I guess it’s a testimony to how tired and scattered I am. But you get the meaning of this post. Maybe one day I’ll be able to write a really good post about my life as a three ring circus. Until then, I’ll keep jumping from ring to ring!

In my last whine, I mentioned that I got really mad at hubby. If I hadn’t have had a rough time with my teen earlier that day, I probably could have handled the situation better, but I didn’t. Though to my credit, I didn’t engage in my ritualistic hip reaction of anger. Instead, I internalized my feelings and let him “know” how I felt in a more biting than loving way.

It’s so petty, I’m almost embarrassed to share it, but it’s not the act that hurts as much as the lack of consideration. Before I share I really need to confess I do similar things. In fact, it seems our parenting resembles a WWF tag team than a partnership. While one parent is doing the parenting thing the other one is usually chillin’. I am soooo guilty of this and often let the bed time routine fall to my hubby so I can chill online, so I really shouldn’t even be complaining, but…

I did have a whole paragraph explaining what happened which revolved around our WWF tag team parenting style, but after I talked with hubby I realized it was more a lack of communication than a lack of consideration. So I’m choosing to let it go which is HUGE considering I’m the one who likes to beat issues to death.

God’s been nudging my heart in areas of my parenting and marriage, and it’s a painful and a lonely road to walk, but it’s a good road. A necessary road. I’m just hoping that finally, this is the break through I need in my family and that I won’t stray from the path. That the same message God is speaking to me through a Bible study, and two separate unrelated books, sticks!

I’m ready to cross over into the Promised Land. I’m ready to walk in freedom, and I’m ready to walk through the desert alone (with God) to get there!

family stuff is going pretty smoothly so I don’t have much to whine about!:)

Ha!

Today was a really rough day. Just when I thought I was enjoying my teen (with minor exceptions to normal moodiness,) he pushed me back over the edge! Unfortunately my moms says he’s a lot like me at his age. Except I wasn’t as disrespectful as he is. Maybe because deep down we do have a good talking relationship, and he feels he can “share.” Maybe it’s because he’s just thick headed and always thinks he’s right!

It started last night. He did something he thought was justified because it prevented his little sister from invading his privacy. When I asked him to apologize he said, “No, I didn’t do anything wrong.” I disagreed with him and asked him apologize again. He refused again and justified his “wrong” behavior. We went back a forth for about a minute, but instead of engaging in a tirade, I took away his game time with weekend and walked away…angry and disappointed. He had a typical outburst of something to the effect of “Great! No matter what I do you take away my PS2 time.”

Today the subject of his disobedience/defiance/rebellion came up again. He said he’s standing by what’s right, no matter what and it doesn’t matter if I take something away because I’m going to take it away anyway and there’s nothing more that really matters to him.

We talked some more about his disrespect, but he doesn’t see it. He thinks he’s right, and I tried to tell him, that was fine to think he was right, but his choices had consequences, and he had to be willing to live with them. He still doesn’t get it and thinks I’m out to ruin his life. (Doesn’t every teenager?) But what really gets me, what really hurts and brings me to tears is the disrespect and the fact I don’t know what to do about it.

We talked some more and both settled down. I shared my heart about some things, and we ended on a good note. But not a repentive one.

Later his attitude seemed to change, and he came down happy and silly and fun again. But still no apology to me or his sister. So I’m not sure what to do? Do I force him into submission? (Never worked for me as a child or adult.) Do I let it go? Or do I address the issue again?

You know, I think I already know the answer. I should pray. But it’s so hard to do ONLY that. I know I need to let the Holy Spirit do the work. He’s done his job in the past when I let him, but it’s so hard because it hurts so much not only for myself, but I hurt for my son.

To top off this lousy night, I got really made at hubby…but I’ll save that for another post!

I can’t believe it’s show time again. Well, not action show time, but audition for their school’s production of The Music Man is tomorrow. Their small Classical Christian school is non for is top notch performances which is great, but also means there’s a chance they might not get the big parts they are getting used to getting. But they don’t really mind. They just want to have fun with all their friends.

They went to a workshop last Saturday which was fun. Then I saw the rehearsal schedule. Not so fun! They will be practicing Tuesday and Thursdays from 3- 6pm which is better than the last show they were in which was from 7-9pm, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays they get out at 1:30pm. I really don’t want to run home for an hour and then run back, plus I have to pick up Grace at 2:45 at her school. So I’m not quite sure how that’s all going to work out yet. But the worse part of the practices is that they have them also on Saturday morning from 9-noon!

I guess this schedule isn’t any worse than Chris’ schedule last year playing baseball (which he missed tryouts because they were last month! Last month?) But he said he doesn’t even watch Saturday morning cartoons anymore. Which really just means he’s excited about this show.

The only big concern I have is that Chris’ grades might suffer. His grades went down several points in some subjects when he was doing Narnia, but he reminded me that at least he won’t be getting to bed late and he can do his homework after practice. As it is he spends all his time in his room doing homework when he gets home from school. I asked him today which he liked better homeschool with no homework or school with friends.

He said, “When I was homeschooled I had lots of time to play but no friends to play with. At school I have no time to play, but lots of friends.”

I was thinking how much I’ve been enjoying Chris (13) this year and how agreeable he’s been, hardly arguing about things I ask him to do. It’s night and day compared to when we homeschooled. In fact, so much in this family has change since I’ve put them in school. I have really changed. I have more peace. More patience and I’m able to handle stress better. I still spend too much time on the computer, but I’m working on it.

Still, I’ll thinking about bringing Timmy home next year for 3rd grade. I really don’t have a good reason why. His teacher adores him and he loves his friends (not the work.) He gets great grades, but I’d still like to have him home and homeschool him. I miss sitting down as a family reading about science and history which they don’t get enough of in a fun way at school. And I think it would be more fun to homeschool Grace with Timmy. Yes, I’m planning on homeschooler her (God help me! I really mean it!) But I think it’s the best thing for her. Not sure if it’s the best thing for me.

So that’s the update on the family. I really wish I was able to be that laid back, homeschooled, Charolette Mason, unschooler, but God didn’t design me that way. I’m not sure if I’ve totally given up that dream, yet, but the way I feel now compared to the way we all felt homeschooling is undescribable. I feel like Job after God restored all he had lost.

Hey, that sounds like the makings of a really good devotional. I’ll have to give it some thought!