Have a child that wants to run away? This worked for me...

My son and I had this discussion today.  He was upset with me because he didn't get his way.  He had just received a consequence for disobedience and he was mad.  Instead of responding to his anger and just telling him no, he wasn't going to run away, I used this opportunity to teach a life lesson in critical thinking and planning.  I mean, he may still want to run away but at least now he'll be prepared when/if he does, right?  ;-)

"Mommy, I'm going to run away to South America and live in the rainforest." (arms crossed, brows furrowed, pursed lips, mad face)

Me- "You are?  What will you do for food?"

 "I'm going to eat fruit off the trees there."

Me- "Oh, ok.  Well, what about on the way there?  What will you eat then...and how will you get there?  Walk?  That will take a long time to walk the whole way.  Where will you sleep?"

Zebra Soap Recipe According to Sadie

Josiah- "Mo-om, Sadie's making zebra soap.  She's using glue and black crayons and sugar and she's making a mess."
Me- "What?  Where?"

I follow him to the kitchen table where I find her concoction.  What I wouldn't give to know where my camera is right now!!  A picture is totally worth a thousand words here.

Me, in my calmest voice- "Sadie, what did you put in there?"
Sadie, proudly- "Eggs, sugar, salt, syrup, toothpaste, glue, some bits of paper, aaaand...water.  Oh, and crayons too!"

She looks surprised and disappointed that I'm not giddy with excitement over her creation.
Sadie- "Mo-om, I was making an experiment for you."

Never a dull moment around here, folks.  Oh!  And did I mention she was stirring it with her toothbrush? *face palm*

Broken Toys, Broken Hearts, and Better Parenting

You try and try to teach them, tell them, remind them, encourage them over and over again, hoping that it will eventually, inevitably sink in..."control your temper" and "respect your things".  But sometimes kids just insist on learning the hard way.

Not only is there now a new broken toy in the house, but a broken heart as well, as a result of both the toy and the new rule in this house as of now.  Mommy and Daddy are not buying any more toys...and we will not be encouraging others to buy any more toys either unless and until there is sufficient evidence to suggest that the children have learned their lesson and the importance of controlling one's temper and respecting their things.

Photo credit:  http://www.butterfunk.com

Poor Mike Wazowski. 

What's New for this Year...And How I Fared Last Year

Naturally, at the top of most people's new year resolutions list is weight loss.  It was on mine last year and it is there rearing its ugly head again this year.  The good news is that I'm 21 lbs lighter than I was at this time last year!  Booyah!!  The not-so-good news is that I didn't reach my goal and actually gained a few pounds back near the end of the year. (Stinkin' irresistible Christmas goodies! ;))  BUT I am not discouraged!  I will tread on!  After all, I'm going for lifestyle changes here, not a temporary quick fix.

I really don't like making New Year's Resolutions.  Actually, back up.  More accurately, I don't like calling them New Year's Resolutions.  I prefer goals...and I make them every year.  I just can't help myself.  (I'm sure many of you can relate!)  Sometimes I keep them but more often I break them...and make them...and break them.  It's a very consistent cycle of inconsistency.  Every year I tell myself I'm not going to give up and every year I fall short of reaching all my goals but again, I am NOT discouraged!  Why? 

You Can Stay at Home, too!!

My favorite paragraph from Matt Walsh's blog post "You're a stay-at-home mom?  What do you DO all day?":

"Of course not all women can be at home full time. It’s one thing to acknowledge that; it’s quite another to paint it as the ideal. To call it the ideal, is to claim that children IDEALLY would spend LESS time around their mothers. This is madness. Pure madness. It isn’t ideal, and it isn’t neutral. The more time a mother can spend raising her kids, the better. The better for them, the better for their souls, the better for the community, the better for humanity. Period."

I wouldn't trade being a stay-at-home mom for all the tea in China!  It's the "job" I always wanted before I even knew I wanted it.  But make no mistake, SAHM's don't live on a pedestal but rather a shoestring (budget, that is) and often with little thanks or even acknowledgment of the sacrifices they make.  We still live in a country where it IS possible to stay home with your child(ren) almost regardless of your income.  There was a time when our income was only $20,000 a year with 3 children, the oldest only in kindergarten at the time...and I stayed home.  We weren't on WIC and my husband worked while also taking grad classes.  Classes that (once he found a job, no matter how menial) we paid for upfront without taking out further student loans.  We've yet to buy our first house but if that is the price we pay for having me home with our children, I'm happy to make that sacrifice!  It is worth every penny even on our worst days.  I'd love a break.  I welcome a break!  But as a general rule, I love spending time with my kids.  They are such a treasure!  Children were never meant to be a burden, but a blessing...probably the best retirement plan you could have!  :)

I don't say this to make those of you ladies (and gents) who work outside the home feel guilty for not being home with your kids.  I think for most of us (or at least those of you who follow my blog ;)) that's where we want to be!  I only wish to encourage you that if staying home is what you really want to do, it can be done!  It is possible!  It will take sacrifices financially- maybe that even means selling your house, but for most of us it would only take reigning in other expenses like not eating out very often, growing as much food as you can yourself, buying used everything and less of it, downgrading your phone (gasp!) and finding other ways to cut corners (couponing 101).  You can even homeschool for free!

Some day I plan to write a book entitled "I Survived a Single-wide".  To be honest (and I never imagined I'd say this), out of the seven homes we've lived in over the course of our married life, that single-wide nears the top of the list of faves for a variety of reasons.  Naturally, it helps that it was located close to my extended family but #2- it met our needs and #3- we could afford it.  Less financial stress breeds a happier home, I say. :) 

Through the generosity of a family member who procured free lodging for us (thank you!!) and by ringing out our grocery budget until it cried for mercy, we were even able to take a vacation to Disney World that year!  Praise the Lord, God is good.  So, my point is that we make time and money for what is important to us and that we have a tendency to all too often confuse want with need.  We wanted to go to Disney World (at least me and the kids did.  Justin had never gone so he didn't really know what he was missing.  Even now, and I don't understand this, I don't think he fell in love with it like we did. ;)).  Had we not been given the precious gift of lodging, we would have kept saving until we had enough to provide our own and I can guarantee it wouldn't have been as nice.  Super 8?  If it meant the difference between experiencing the magic of Disney or staying home, you betcha that it's good enough for me!

So, pay off those credit cards and tear them up.  Get yourself out of bondage and enslaved to your debt and start living large on a shoestring budget, loving and cuddling those precious babies!  Anyone can find a job, however "important" or "mundane" it is, but only YOU can be your babies' momma! ;)

Parents Launch Executive Order to Stop Common Core and Student Data-Mining!

I'm sure President Obama would urge you to "reject these voices" but I sure hope you don't!  Believe it or not, tyranny IS lurking around the corner and has been since our country's conception.  That's why our founding fathers created our government with a set of checks and balances of power and gave that power to the People.  The power to protect our freedoms.  You.  Yes, you!  If you are eligible to vote in America, I'm talking to you!  Our founding fathers gave YOU the power and responsibility to defend your God-given freedoms.  Our government works best when we keep that balance in check by calling out abuses when and where we see them and then DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THEM (aka. stay informed and vote.  Get involved!  If you don't understand something, ask questions.  I was politically ignorant not that long ago myself.  Not dumb.  Just ignorant.  There is hope for us all. ;o)).

So many times I've heard people say things like, "Well, I just don't have time for that" or "Politics is not my thing so I just let those who are smarter than me handle that kind of thing."  Newsflash:  #1-I don't have time for it either but it has become too dangerous to ignore, #2- Politics is certainly not my "thing" either AND you most likely ARE at least as smart as they are but if not, that also means #3- they are smart enough to abuse their power which means you would do well to get educated so they can't take advantage of you and #4- if you choose not to get involved, you'll only have yourself to blame when the poop hits the fan (Heck, they're already flinging it right now.  I'm just waiting for them to throw it high enough that it finally does hit that fan and splatters everywhere!).  They cannot continue to abuse their power if we don't let them.  This particular issue (see the link below) threatens not just OUR safety and privacy, but more importantly, our children's.  It's one thing to mess with me, but I think most of us would agree (and certainly for me), we become quite a force to be reckoned with when our kids are in the line of fire.  I urge you to please get involved and informed.  Time is running out.  These parents understand the urgency.  Do you?  If we all band together and take a stand, we CAN stop this thing!

whatiscommoncore.wordpress.com/2013/10/10/parents-launch-executive-order-to-stop-common-core-and-to-stop-student-data-mining/

Media Madness: The Kid Connection

Our kids lost their media privileges for a whole week.  We're two days into this consequence now and Thursday seems like an eternity away.  I suppose it helps that our laptop is functioning like a crippled turtle right now...lessening the desire to use it in the first place.  In the meantime, our young ones have taken to reenacting their favorite shows and singing their favorite show tunes...

Josiah:  Mom, what's your favorite song from The Lion King?

Me:  Hmm, I don't know.  I like a lot of songs from that movie.  Maybe..."Can You Feel the Love Tonight"?

Josiah:  Oh, yes!  I remember that one and I remember that time a LOOOOONG time ago but I when I was still this same age and I had media, I saw that song on youtube and thought, "Mom should share this on facebook!"

It is apparent to me that our kids' childhoods hardly resemble our own.  We'd be asking questions like, "what is facebook?  what is The Lion King?  what is youtube?"  They've never known a life without these things.  I now see it as my duty to make sure our kids know the answers to our childhood questions, questions that they don't even know to ask.  We commence tomorrow morning!  Lesson #1- What is a rotary phone?  Followed by #2- What is a cassette tape and what's the pencil for?