Thomas is going through a “girls have cooties” phase.

Thomas and Tabitha were upstairs drawing pictures. Thomas drew robotic animals. Tabitha’s drawing was of Dora the Explorer, decked out like a princess.

The following conversation erupted as it came down the steps:

Thomas: “Because I HATE girls!”
Tabitha: “How can you hate girls when THEY ARE THE ONES THAT MAKE YOU BREAKFAST?”

(Hate isn’t an edifying word. We need to work on this! But, I needed to get the giggles out of my system (!) before we address “hate” during prayer time tonight )

“circle, circle
dot, dot
now you’ve got
the cootie shot”

Yesterday, just 30 minutes after Tabitha fell 6 feet from a tree onto her belly, Aiden came ran into the house and was screaming, “A squirrel bit me!”

He said, “I was staring at the squirrel, and he was staring at me.”

Apparently, squirrels don’t like to be stared down.

Moments after hanging up with the pediatrician, concluding that Tabitha would be okay without medical intervention, I called them right back to say we’d be bringing in Aiden!

The squirrel walked over and brushed its tail against Aiden’s leg, he said. Aiden picked up his foot to back away. The squirrel “was very strong” and bit the bottom of Aiden’s bare foot. Aiden apparently punched the squirrel in the face, and the squirrel scampered back to the tree. (I didn’t find out this detail until I was putting Aiden into bed later that night, and he said, “Did you find the squirrel mom? I punched it so hard that I think I killed it!”)

There was a little bit of blood on the bottom of Aiden’s foot, and a small puncture, a tad smaller than a pencil eraser. I poured rubbing alcohol over it, and then scrubbed it with a alcohol-doused paper towel.

Tom called in from the airport - he was coming home from being overseas - just as we were leaving to go to the pediatrician.

Grandma Becky met us at the pediatrician’s to sit with the other kids in the lobby while I took Aiden to the exam room.

Dr. John evaluated the wound and then looked up information about animal bites and rabies. The “Red Book” said to contact the local health department to assess the risk for the biting animal to see if there were cases of rabies being reported for that species. However, the Chester County Health Department was closed for the evening, and without enough information to make a decision as for what to do next, yet still within the 24 hours needed to immunize Aiden if necessary, we were sent home.

That evening, I called our pastor and asked him to please pray that Tom and I would have wisdom as we made decisions regarding Aiden’s health.

Pastor Strawbridge recommended that we call a fellow member of the congregation, Dr. Knepley who is the State Veterinarian for Pennsylvania, to help us have a broader perspective of the situation in order to make a more informed decision.

Knepley handles over 400 cases of animal rabies each year. When I described the behavior of the squirrel, he said that it was actually “normal behavior” for a squirrel who felt threatened - a warning bite. A rabid squirrel, however, would have to be pried off it’s victim as it would have continued the fight, quite viciously.

Squirrels rarely are rabid. Their treetop habitat is somewhat isolated from other animals and they are on a different sleep schedule than nocturnal animals that typically carry rabies, such as raccoons and skunks.

While Chester County notoriously led the nation for the number of confirmed rabies cases in 1988 and continues to have a significantly elevated number of rabies cases in comparison to other parts of the world, there has only been one known case of a squirrel having rabies in all of Pennsylvania - seven years ago. According to Knepley, a man was attacked while raking his yard. The squirrel was so relentless in its attack that neighbors had to pull the squirrel off of the poor guy. This is the characteristic behavior of a rabid squirrel - not one who backs down at the punch of a four year old.

Knepley also said that rabies was a “fragile virus” and that soap and water would likely kill it - but I practically “pickled” any germs on Aiden’s foot, even ones from seven days ago, by putting cleaning it with rubbing alcohol.

The Chester County Health Department returned our pediatrician’s call the next day. They that they had no cases of rabid squirrels to report. Dr. John said it seemed unlikely that the squirrel had rabies and she left the decision up to us saying if we chose the rabies vaccinations, that would be okay with her, too.

There have only been a few cases of people surviving rabies, said Knepley. All but one resulted in the person being reduced to a vegetative state. The least effected survivor, a little girl, had loss of some motor skills, but miraculously was otherwise was unscathed. She had been administered the vaccine just before the onset of the rabies symptoms. It was not soon enough to prevent the virus. At the first signs of rabies, she was put into a medically induced coma to prevent convulsions - and with rabies, I’ve read that people can die from the convulsions alone.

Rabies doesn’t always show up right away, either. Here’s a story of a man from the 1908 NY Times who was barely scratched by the tooth of a rabid puppy, and didn’t show signs of having rabies until nine months later, just before he died of the virus.

The decision isn’t one we took lightly. I begged God for wisdom, as this situation certainly is out of my league. Three experts - the Health Department, The official State Veterinarian of Pennsylvania and our Pediatrician - gave the same, clear answer: “We are leaving the decision up to you, but if it were my child, I would not immunize them with this scenario.” (The pain and side effects from the shot are apparently not something one would wish on another human being - although I have heard that an entire family in our church had to be vaccinated because a rabid bat was found in their home, and I have not asked how they tolerated the vaccine.)

And so, I am praying that the decision to not immunize Aiden - because alcohol was applied to the wound immediately, because it is extremely rare that squirrels carry rabies, and because the behavior of the squirrel was “normal” for a squirrel who felt threatened - was the right one.

We are praying that if there is a rabid squirrel in our neighborhood, that it would show up - as sick animals are quite noticeable to discerning humans - and that we would know in time to immunize Aiden if necessary.

While I’m mostly hopeful, I am admittedly still a little frightened. Death from rabies is unspeakably horrific.

As bizarre as this story may seem, I wasn’t surprised that it happened to my curious son. He is quite daring, with no sense of danger whatsoever. When he was little, we nicknamed him “Danger Mouse”. I love him very much.

My father once told me that people are like pendulums. If they are even-keeled, they will swing a little to the left and a little to the right. They more passionate and exuberant they “swing”, the pendulum swings back equally as angry/depressed.

My daughter is a perfect example of the latter. She is way hyper-cheerful OR dramatically crying into her pillow or making death threats towards her brothers.

This afternoon, out of the blue, Tab was a WRECK. She was crying because she no longer liked the black-lace overlay on her bright pink “princess” (fancy Easter dress way on sale, couldn’t pass it up for dress up!) dress. In the middle of talking about that, she said she was hungry. She was ANGRY (stomping, yelling) because I ate the last piece of spaghetti pie (in all fairness, we split it for lunch and she ate the larger of the portions). So, I prepared a glass of chocolate milk for her. Still mad that I had eaten what was my lunch, she pouted, cried and refused to say “thank you”. I gently talked to her about having anger and discontentment in her heart. (She does understand these things… little twerp constantly points out these characteristics when she sees them in others… and then we talk about grace, mercy and overlooking!) She agreed but would not confess them to God.

I sent her to her room for a nap and prayed that the Holy Spirit would work in her heart.

She did not sleep, but she went from sobbing (and not getting attention for it) to contemplating.

Thirty minutes later, she came down a new little girl and said she was ready to talk to God. We prayed and she readily sought the Lord’s forgiveness. She asked for the milk, and said thank you. A free Highlights Hidden Picture puzzle with stickers came in the mail today. I let her do that for fun.

To avoid exasperating her, and creating a situation where she is overwhelmed and tempted to sin, I do try to keep her fed (she is strong, and sturdily built), hydrated and rested the best I can. I try to avoid exasperating her with school work, as she is five years old and does 2nd grade work - very bright! This is not to say that I walk on eggshells with her, it’s just that she tends to be more sensitive to physical discomfort than some of my other children.

I do think I handled it okay today (goal of seeking forgiveness and changed attitude was achieved), but I’m wondering if there are specific things I can do to more head off such mood attacks before they get out of hand?

Any particular soothing or thought provoking phrases that would diffuse a tense situation?

Any encouragement for me from moms who have been through this? Particularly, how to keep the trust/confidence/friendship as a little girl with this personality hits adolescence?

And yes, I do believe in using the rod as outlined in Shepherding a Child’s Heart.

Thank you for taking the time to respond!!

If I can ever be of encouragement to you, please let me know!

Much love,
SJA

This is from The Homeschool Lounge:

Some of you may have some experience with this, and (while that hurts me to think you’ve lived with it) I need a little help from those who have had some real success!

For those who have had a child who could fire up and respond in anger quickly, I’d love to know more about some of the Godly responses and tools that helped you through it.

Please consider this is a boy about the age of 7. He can become easily frustrated, and it builds rapidly. Sometimes we don’t see it coming, and even when we do, I often say or do the wrong thing.

Help?

Thanks in advance!

Hugs to you, Jennifer!

After experiencing similar anger/tattling/conflict/fighting problems, I decided to incorporate The Young Peacemaker into our day by doing a page or two each morning for our devotional segment of school.

Studying the topic of peacemaking preemptively, instead of only talking about it when there is an anger outburst, has made a huge difference in the atmosphere of our home by reducing the number of kid-conflicts. Reducing, not erasing! We still have at few each day! But, because the foundation has been laid, they are easier to work through than before.

My seven, five, four, and three year old are doing a fantastic job of memorizing the verses for each chapter (we do about a chapter a week).

If you put good things in your heart, good things will come out of your heart. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45)

There is even a resource page dedicated to using The Young Peacemaker as part of homeschooling.

I hope this helps. I certainly have learned a lot from doing The Young Peacemaker with my kids - and I’m a moderator at PeaceGals.com! It certainly gave me a new perspective when training my children vs. talking to adults about the same topic!

Much love,
SJA

The Young Peacemaker is a powerful system that parents and teachers can use to teach children how to prevent and resolve conflict in a constructive and biblically faithful manner.

The system emphasizes principles of confession, forgiveness, communication, and character development, and uses realistic stories, practical applications, role plays, and stimulating activities.

Although the material is designed for 3rd through 7th grades, it has been successfully used with preschool and high school students.

The lessons in The Young Peacemaker may be summarized in Twelve Key Principles for Young Peacemakers:

1. Conflict is a slippery slope.
2. Conflict starts in the heart.
3. Choices have consequences.
4. Wise-way choices are better than my-way choices.
5. The blame game makes conflict worse.
6. Conflict is an opportunity.
7. The Five A’s can resolve conflict.
8. Forgiveness is a choice.
9. It is never too late to start doing what’s right.
10. Think before you speak.
11. Respectful communication is more likely to be heard.
12. A respectful appeal can prevent conflict.

The Slippery Slope

The Young Peacemaker uses a simplified version of the Slippery Slope to help children understand the various responses to conflict.

The slope is divided into three zones:

The Five A’s of Confession

Children, like adults, can learn to confess their wrongs in a way that demonstrates that they are taking full responsibility for their contribution to a conflict.

Four Promises of Forgiveness

Children can learn to forgive one another in a way that models the forgiveness they have received from God through the gospel of Jesus Christ:

These promises may be summarized in a poem that is so easy a four-year old can memorize it:

After failing to sleep during their scheduled nap time, Aiden, Micah and Leah fell asleep in the car, moments before we arrived at the Lionville Natural Pharmacy.

Thomas and Tabitha were reading library books, Parts and More Parts, both by Tedd Arnold, to be exact. They said they’d be “bored” in the pharmacy and asked if they could stay in the car to read.

Not wanting to wake up the other children, I agreed. After all, it was a breezy 49 degrees outside and the tiny parking lot was pretty empty - not many other customers - and I knew I wouldn’t take very long.

“Keep the closed,” I instructed. “I will only be a few minutes.”

(Ah, my famous last words.)

While I stood at the pick-up counter, I asked if the pharmacist could recommend a substitute for one of my supplements that was no longer being carried by my grocery store. I handed him the empty bottle. He flipped it over to evaluate the nutritional information.

The pharmacist opened his mouth to speak, and, at that very instant, a woman’s voice started yelling for help.

It was odd. The sound seemed to be coming from him, yet he was so masculine looking. It took me a confused second, but I realized that the sound was, in fact, coming from a woman, arms flailing, who was running up behind him. We both turned to look at her at the same time.

“HELP!” she yelled again. “There are children outside who are screaming and trying to get out of a green S.U.V.! Who would do such a thing to children?!!”

She had said “SUV” in a most punctuated fashion, as if it’s carbon footprint was making the situation even worse. As if the words “green” and SUV couldn’t possibly be in the same sentence together.

I smiled at the pharmacist.

In the sweetest voice I could muster, I said, “I’m sorry - will you please excuse me for a moment?”

I didn’t wait for him to answer. I bolted. I left him standing there with my grocery store supplement bottle in his hand.

When I opened the door to the pharmacy, their once muffled screams combined with the sound of the honking car alarm blasted into the pharmacy. Thomas was in the front seat, blocking the open drivers side door, arms and legs spread out, crying, screaming “STAY IN THE CAR, AIDEN!”

Meanwhile, Tabitha, Micah and Aiden were clawing at the windows (Aiden at the windshield, of course) desperately trying to get out. They looked like children trapped in a glass cage along with an invisible swarm of bees chasing after them.

Leah, who has a grotesque bloody, fat lip from losing a fight to the pantry door earlier today, and whose lower sad-lip couldn’t possible stick out any more if she wanted it to, was squirming to get out of her car seat. A giant tear was stuck right in the middle of each cheek.

I hit the “UNLOCK” button on my key chain and the extra-loud honking stopped - but the screams did not.

When they realized I was standing there, they all started blaming each other at once.

Calmly I asked for each of the children to tell me their version of what happened.

The shocked and appalled woman came out of the store, put her pointer finger up as if preparing to lecture me. Instead she just yelled “UUUUUUUGGGGGGGH!!!!” and stomped to her car.

Apparently, Aiden woke up from his momentary nap and freaked out. His demands to get out of the car woke up the other kids. When they realized that the child locks were engaged, panic set in. Aiden unbuckled himself and climbed from the way back seat, stepping on and hurting the middle seat kids, and managed to get to the front of the car to open the driver’s side door. He succeeded. Because the car was locked from the outside, even though the front doors are still able to open from the inside, it set off the car alarm.

They all quietly climbed out of the car. I kissed and hugged each one of them. I asked them to forgive me for leaving them in a situation that was too big for them to handle.

“I was so scared!” Tabitha sobbed.

What a horrible parent. Me - the one who could be a very rich insurance saleswoman because of my ability to foresee the worst case scenario in every situation - who, for once, chose to chalk it up to merely paranoia and pessimism that Aiden could possibly wake up from his nap and panic.

Silently, obediently, and still sniffling, they walked in a straight line behind me, all the way through to the back of the store by the pharmacy counter.

“I’m sorry about that,” I said to the pharmacist. “The three younger children had just fallen asleep as we got here, and the older two asked if they could stay in the car with them to finish reading some library books,” I explained, not sure how he would react.

The pharmacist said, in a quite serious tone that was fitting for masculine his face, “When I first started working here, many years ago, I used to bring my kids with me. I had a little play area set up for them over there.”

(Keep in mind, this sort of place isn’t like your average, antiseptic commercialized pharmacy. This is a “health food shop”, complete with herb bottles and apothecary jars behind the counter.)

“When my customers used to tell me how cute they were,” he continued, “do you know what I would say to them?”

My children were staring intently at this white-haired bearded man, hanging on his words as if he had great authority. The shook their little heads, eyes very wide.

“I’d tell them, ‘If you think they’re so cute, then take ‘em with you! Bring ‘em back when they’re 21 and I’m no longer responsible for them!’”

Tabitha gasped and firmly clenched the back of my bell-bottomed jeans.

The pharmacist chuckled, his eyes twinkling.

Here’s a snip from a discussion I started on a public message board (over 1,300 members now!). In my post, I had asked for advice on hiring a mother’s helper - how much to pay, what responsibilities should be include, etc.

This was one reply to my question:

I have never used a mothers helper. I would never allow another female into my home around my dh and dc. Unless it was a family member. And there are some family members that I would not trust. I have seen too many movies and heard about too many real life situations about how these things turn out. I try to handle all things related to the dc myself. That is my job since dh works outside the home.

It may be a little hard to get everything done sometimes, but it is better than worrying about if someone else is treating my dc right. I have seen situations where the dc end up liking the mothers helper better than their own mother. No, I could not do it. I would not even trust a teen girl because there is so much going on nowadays and adults being accused of things.

I think my household would go much smoother without letting someone else interfere.

Below is my response. I hope that it will encourage others to think about taking risks vs. potentially isolating themselves from ministry opportunities because of a possible outcome.

(Please feel free to leave a comment as to how you have either grown in the area of reaching beyond your comfort zone or how the Lord has helped you overcome a temptation!)

Dear ——–,

Respectfully, statistically 40% of children who are sexually abused are abused by family members. The only family members who are available to watch my children during the day are teenage boys. As much as I love them, and am in no way implying that they are perverted, I don’t feel comfortable with them caring for my baby girls because I know that some of them are at an age where they are very curious about the female body and it could be a temptation to peek. I love them so much I would not want to tempt them in this way.*

Honestly, It was hard for me to read your post. I thought it was kinda hurtful. “I would never” is an absolute statement and could imply that your way is the only way and that those who do otherwise are inferior. Your post also seemed to imply that it was shameful for a wife to seek help in order to keep up with her role-specific job.

When my husband is overseas for weeks on end and I do not have a break, I admittedly fall behind sometimes. In this situation, it seems like I can address the urgent chores and not the deep cleaning stuff. Yet, because of his travel, if I waited until he was home, I would perpetually never get the “deep cleaning” done.

During these time, I do need fellow Christians to encourage me in the Lord and walk along side of me. In the past, I have appreciated when friends have allowed me to borrow their dear Christian daughters to lend a hand with children so I can clean out the linen closet or give an extra effort to scrubbing the grout in the tub without worrying if my children are getting into trouble while I work. I don’t live in a one-roomed house - I can’t physically see them all the time! My 5 children are each about 14 months apart, and are not quite old enough to be self-governed if I need to concentrate on something for an extended period of time. Please consider that having extra help for children keeps them from being tempted to sin just because mommy isn’t looking.

I’m really am happy for you that you are able to manage to take care of “all things related to the dc and myself.” Praise God that he has given you this ability!

Please also consider that there are Christian sisters out there who may be suffering with migraines or physical problems, such as myself, or maybe are under a particular amount of stress - like not seeing their husband for over 40 days! - who could really benefit from your housekeeping and responsibility balancing expertise. I do hope that if you have that opportunity that you will do it with a servants heart, humble, loving and for God’s glory.

May I also suggest that scripture tells us that fellowship with other Christians is a necessary part of our Christian walk. Having a young woman in the home provides fellowship and an opportunity to mentor her, encourage her in the Lord, showing her first hand what a joy it is to be a mommy (how many GOOD examples do teenage girls have these days about motherhood? They are told, “don’t get married or have kids - you’ll never achieve YOUR CAREER!”). We must be careful not to become prideful in our faith and think that we don’t need to allow other Christians to use their gifts and talents on our turf.

It is hard to overcome fears of people interfering or fears of the things “going on nowadays and adults being accused of things.” However, our trust is in the Lord and we must realize that, to effectively minister to people, we are going to have to take risks. Think of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. Joseph was falsely accused, but we know that IT WAS PART OF GOD’S PLAN for Joseph to minister to Pharaoh. If it hadn’t been for being falsely accused, Joseph would have never been in the position to help his family avoid starvation.

All throughout scripture, we see people stepping outside of their comfort zone and taking risks. Think of the ultimate example we have in Christ. Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners, after all. That was pretty risky! When the Pharisees talked down to Jesus and chastised him for this appearance of evil, Jesus said, “it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick!” What should this tell us about interacting with others? When I read this passage, it gives me courage.

Much love,
SJA

*I would say that we do have to be careful not to purposefully place ourselves or others in a tempting situation.

It probably wouldn’t be smart to leave a teenage girl home alone with a man as a “father’s helper”. And, we must think realistically here, if a woman struggled with lusting after teenage girls it probably wouldn’t be wise for her to hire a young girl as a helper, either. In these exceptions, dropping the children off at a trusted as-needed-daycare provider may be a better solution.

On the other hand, I have hired young men for lawn care when my husband was traveling and I was pregnant and physically unable to do the work. Sometimes there is no avoiding situations like this. Or, more recently, I had to hire someone to fix my boiler. Guess what? Heating and air condition repairs are jobs normally done by men. It’s not like I could say, “I’m sorry, I only let women into my house”. It was 18 degrees out and I needed my boiler fixed!

Wise women know how to deal with other people and treat them in a respectful and platonic way. I did NOT answer the door in a towel, nor did I speak of obscene activities. Duh.

I also made sure that my husband knew the repair company I called and the time the repairman would be at the house. I called my husband as soon as he left - not just to relay the cost of the bill, but to let him know that all went well and that he didn’t have to be concerned about me.

Who knows, maybe a woman reading this is sexually tempted by the repairman. Perhaps she could ask a trusted friend to visit for coffee during that time and keep her accountable so that she wouldn’t be alone.

God never places us in a tempting situation where we are FORCED to sin. He promises we will not be tempted beyond what we can bear. Part of this process is seeking wisdom from God, and thinking of God-honoring solutions to get us through.

Deuteronomy 8:2 “You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”

I Corinthians 6:18-19; I Corinthians 6:23-24 “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” vs. 23-24 “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”

I Corinthians 10:12-13 “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

…or he’ll getcha!

Not one of my children, but definitely sounds like ‘em.

I wish we knew this little girl - my children would love playing Star Wars with her

Thomas : “Hey mom - do you want to hear a construction joke?”
Me: “Okay.”
Thomas: “I’m not ready yet - I’m still working on it.”

Baddum bum bum

This is my recent post on The Homeschool Lounge on the “Scheduling” forum:

I just wanted to say up front that I’m a reluctant scheduler.

Basically, when you have 5 kiddies and they’re all a year apart, and your youngest is a one year old, YOU’RE NOT SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT. (And no, I no longer nurse the baby - she has TEETH! My baby sleeps through the night! It’s the older kids who have nightmares, night terrors , who wake me up and say “MOM! I peed the bed again! I used the last extra sheet last night and forgot to tell you!”)

My husband travels for work (overseas, weeks at a time) and it got to the point where I was going absolutely bonkers. I wanted to be more of a free spirit but I was falling so far behind that it wasn’t, well, FREEING.

Ladies, I’m shouting it from the rooftops: There is NO POINT of scheduling and there is not point of being “anti-schedule” if it’s NOT WORKING FOR YOU.

If you find that you’re micromanaging everything and the kids are sneaking play out of necessity for THEIR sanity - you HAVE to let up a little bit! Too much scheduling stifles the imagination. If you are finding that you can’t get your responsibilities done and you are escaping, not to your bucket of Duplo blocks but perhaps to the Internet or telephone to avoid work, you might need to crack down a little and make some priorities.

Not only does the schedule help my husband to connect with what we were up to, I can plan ahead a little when my brain is somewhat awake and this helps me compensate for the times when I can’t see straight. I don’t have to think about, “what lesson are we doing in math today?” because I already have it written down. OR, if we have a diaper explosion in the middle of the day, I don’t have children staring at me saying, “Mommy, I’m done reading - now what do I do?” (My response being, “GET AWAY FROM ME, I’ve got your baby sister hanging over the bathtub at the moment!”)

Scheduling , instead of robbing me of my freedom, has actually given me freedom: less to think about, so more time to enjoy the day.

It’s not about being a control freak - I’m not!

It’s not about trying to be perfect - I’m definitely not!

It’s about finding little ways to keep you and the children motivated and moving throughout the day.

It’s about being efficient with your work - not encouraging staring off into space and “I can’t help with dinner - I’m only on problem #5!” conversation (which happens to my one sweet princess if she doesn’t have a time limit) - so that you can have the reward of playtime without worrying about the interruption of having to finish school work when your neighborhood friends get off the bus and want to play.

BTW, efficiency with housework and schoolwork gives mommies more playtime, too. Who wouldn’t’ want to snuggle up with hubby instead of staying up until midnight doing dishes by hand? I certainly don’t - hehe - but I do, more often than not.

IF you are in a perpetual state of frazzled - humble yourself and be honest here! -, be it from too much planning ahead or not enough planning ahead, it’s hard to focus on glorifying God. Our goal isn’t to fit into a niche on a forum, our goal is to life lives as women, mommies, wives and homeschool teachers who glorify God in all that we do.

No matter how you decide to keep your day - because I think we can all agree that keeping home is part of our responsibility - remember to be at peace with one another as you compare methods.<--- must read this article!!

Let this forum be a place of encouragement, no matter where we are in our day planner or checklist.

Much love,
Sarah Joy Albrecht

In our recent snow, I abandoned dinner responsibility (ok, I threw some chicken in the oven but didn’t create the all-out-delicious meal I had planned) and PLAYED IN THE SNOW.

We built seven snowmen, one for each member of our family

This occurred while the babies napped - it would have been difficult otherwise.

I just want to encourage all moms to take time to play with your kids.

They’re not going to remember if you had white wine sauce with five different herbs on their chicken vs. just butter and salt in five years, but they are going to remember the late afternoon when mommy put on her snow pants and they built seven snowmen together.

I think I had just as much fun as they did!

MY thought is this: No amount of microdermabrasion is going to keep your heart feeling young.

(Tabitha (left) age five, Thomas (at top) age 6, Aiden (right) age 4 and ME (center) - having a blast and eternally thankful for the gift of children after being told I’d never have any. Looking forward to when Micah and Leah can appreciate the snow!)