Moms are Mighty

As a mother, I often get bogged down in the day-to-day stuff.  Most days I feel very alone – wondering how can I wash the same clothes over and over, how can I clean up the same messes that I’ve told my children not to make, how will I survive the day when it’s only ten o’clock in the morning and my patience is already worn thin, when will I have time to do anything else.

Oh, and try to do everything without scarring my children for life.  So often I question myself.  Am I talking too much, not enough?  Should I explain myself or just say “no.”  Do I try and plan an activity for my children or let them amuse themselves?  Am I feeding them right?  Am I being frugal?  Am I making them feel loved even though I feel like I’m YELLING all the time?  Will they grow confident in their abilities?  Will they learn enough since I’m homeschooling?  Tell me again why I’m homeschooling!?  Will they become good people?  Will other people like them?  Will I ever get any sleep?  Can I stand wiping another runny nose today?  Am I worrying too much?!

The list goes on and on…

Just today I was telling Phil that there are times – like when you’re looking out at the vast ocean, seeing a beautiful sunset, even witnessing something tragic like the Boston bombings – when you’re able to put everything into perspective.  Sometimes it really hits me – my life is just a little blip on a timeline and I want it to count; in the grand scheme of things these little every day challenges aren’t a big deal.  Even more so, I should be grateful for them!  But when you’re in the midst of them – when you’re trying to sleep at two o’clock in the morning and your 3-month old is awake all you care about is getting sleep!  - it’s hard to keep your head in the game.  When your kids have been playing tag team all day, taking turns fighting and complaining, it certainly doesn’t feel like a good place to be.

I saw this video on New Nostalgia, one of the blogs I frequent.  It reminded me that being a mom is one of the best jobs there is; it may not be the easiest, but it’s the most rewarding.

Lisa-Jo Baker also has some free printable bookmarks to go along with this video.

And being a mom has made me appreciate my own mom – and mothers everywhere – so much more.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas out there!

Happy Birthday Josiah!

I can’t believe it’s been two years. 

Josiah was born three weeks early, two days after his big sister’s second birthday.  Both of my children were born the week of Thanksgiving; they are truly my Thanksgiving babies and I’m so thankful God placed them into my arms.  I get a little emotional around this time of year! 

Where did my babies go?  As time has passed, as I’ve been counting down the days to Josiah’s second birthday, I’ve been amazed that he’s continued to nurse this long.  Gwen self-weaned sometime after one year - sixteen, perhaps eighteen months?  I don’t remember offhand; I’d have to get out her calendar where I wrote everything down {insert self-deprecating smile}.  Converting his crib into a big-boy bed, taking away the paci, listening as his vocabulary has taken off, they’re all reminders that he’s growing up.  But nursing is one of the last vestiges of his babyhood. 

I was reacquanting myself with some of the benefits of toddler nursing and came upon this quote by Former Surgeon General, Dr. Antonia Novello: “It’s the lucky baby, I feel, who continues to nurse until he’s two.”  I smiled.  I have a lucky baby.

And I’m lucky to have him. 

I will admit, I don’t always feel lucky that I’ve been “blessed with quotes” (“blessed”) - as my husband and I often joke – when my children aren’t the little angels they should be.  And today, Josiah peed in his pants twice, had a huge hissy fit and refused to nap then pooped in his pants and got it on the bathroom rug (need I go on?)… but I try to keep it all in perspective.  Key word: try. 

I’m behind in posting about last week’s preschool so we’ll see if I get around to their birthdays, but I did take advantage of some of the tips I found on Pinterest.  I put balloons on their bedroom floor during the night and taped crepe paper streamers across their doorways; I thought for sure they’d bust through it but instead they crawled underneath!  Each of them got a birthday banner on his or her chair with a present on the table (and Gwen got wings on her chair, too) with another little gift at night. 

Take a gander at my pinterest board for other party ideas; I’m cooking up some ideas for their family birthday party the day after Thanksgiving.  When will I have time to make the cake?

Okay… just one more look…

 

Happy Birthday Gwendolyn!

Four years ago I became a Mommy when our precious little Gwendolyn came into the world.  She has blessed us immensely, bringing love and laughter (and lots of tears and frustration) into our lives. 

Thanking God for the blessing of children - especially our big little girl – on this wonderful day.

Chore Chart for Kiddos

For a while now I’ve been wanting to make some sort of chore chart for Gwen.  I figure having the visual helps reinforce the things I ask of or expect from her on a daily basis, as well as motivate her to complete tasks. 

While searching for homeschool resources, I did come upon various printable charts – but most of them were pretty basic graphs with simple word descriptions, not very impressive for a kiddo who doesn’t yet know how to read. 

Earlier today, when going through my binder of craft ideas for the kiddos, I came upon an article I had ripped out of a Parents magazine for cute chore charts with corresponding pictures – just like this one.  To my frustration, the one pictured in the article was not on the website – but there are some other blank charts.  Then I thought, why not make my own?

Earlier today I was delighted to find this Funny Font Book, which helps younger children differentiate between letters when there are so many typefaces and versions of the same letter.  I immediately downloaded it, re-sized the pages so I got four per printout on photo paper, cut out the pages, punched holes, and secured them with a metal ring.  Hm, metal rings… maybe I could make a similar flipbook for chores.   

I googled “flip chore charts with pictures”, and though it’s not what I originally had in mind, one of the results landed me at Proverbial Girl Duck and her post about positive rewards and chore charts.  I love the system she implemented, and was even further delighted when I realized she downloaded it from Homeschool Creations – already a favorite of mine!   

I printed out the chore chart (in purple) along with the chore cards on photo paper, picked out a few of the cards that might go in each category (morning chores, afternoon chores, or those for reward), and cut small pieces of velcro to attach to the front and back of each card. 

On the backs of the cards I put a star sticker, so when the chore is completed it can be turned around and – voila! – you see a star. 

I also pasted the main chore chart onto a piece of purple construction paper, just for fun.  I was going to put her name somewhere, but I’m not sure if I want to use marker, stickers, whatever – maybe I’ll leave that up to Gwen.

Tomorrow I’ll introduce her chore chart, along with Proverbial Girl Duck‘s idea for “warm fuzzies” – pom poms earned for doing reward chores or good behavior during the day, which when the jar is full can be turned in for a movie night or other surprise.  

I’m not sure where it would best be displayed – figured it would get messed with on the fridge, and she would probably end up playing with it if left in her room.  Can’t wait to see what she thinks of it – getting “warm fuzzies” just thinking about it!

Preschool Prep

I hope [that I have the sanity and patience and general wherewithal] to homeschool the kiddos when the time comes, but apart from jotting down ideas and bookmarking websites I’ve kinda been dragging my feet.  This is in part due to the fact that unschooling appeals the most to me more than any curriculum-based homeschool method, so I hope not to rely heavily upon a host of materials that may go to waste if we don’t end up using or benefiting from them.  Many of the materials – especially for younger children – are relatively simple, but the idea of getting them all, putting them together comprehensively, gives me a headache. 

Whenever I see an idea that appeals to me in a magazine – craft, recipe, gift idea, inspiration - I cut it out and put it in the appropriate folder or binder.  I’ve since collected a host of such ideas, and every so often will go through these clippings and actually get around to using them.  Many of them are arts and crafts or otherwise educational things to do with the kiddos, but oftentimes I can’t seem to get organized enough in this area to make them come to fruition.

I’ve found that whenever I come up with an ambitious project for Gwendolyn or get out one of the many workbooks Grandma (who homeschooled me for a few years) has given her, she doesn’t have much patience to finish it and I end up losing mine trying to make it fun and teach her something in the process. *sigh* Some days, the idea of sending her off to school just seems so nice and easy.

Tonight while making dinner, I sat the kiddos at the table and got out some forgotten puzzles and activities.  They became adorably absorbed in their play, and after dinner they reassumed the activities.  I decided to make it extra-educational and work on letters and numbers with Gwen.  Long story short, I don’t have much patience for teaching concepts that should be so simple to comprehend!  I mean, Gwen can count past ten, but when we’re counting “1-2-3-4-5-6….” and I ask what comes next and she queries two? it just frustrates me.       

Well, the whole thing got me thinking about homeschooling again.  After losing all of my internet bookmarks when our computer crashed, I’ve had to scour for some of my old favorites.  I discovered some new places as well, and was delighted to find a Biblical-based preschool curriculum called ABC Jesus Loves Me. 

Maybe if I introduced something  a tad more formal, something with a bit of a theme and direction, she’ll take to it and progress in some of the areas where she could use some help (namely, remembering shapes and learning to write).  And let’s face it, since I’m not consistent with devotions, it would be nice to work some Bible in there.

My plan is to start ABC Jesus Love Me’s 3-Year-Curriculum, starting the last week in August.  There’s a lot of information on there to get prepared as a parent/teacher, though, so I’m hoping I can get it all down before then.  I’m sure I can find many of the resources at the library, and much of the craft ideas are printables.  I love this Tot School idea for implenting the weekly lesson on a poster board with clothespins to display the elements.

You know how the internet just sucks you in?  Well, I’m proud to say I didn’t get off on any tangents, but I did end up compiling a list of things I’d like to accomplish to coincide with this preschool endeavor. 

For a while now I’ve had this wooden perpetual calendar bookmarked as a project for Phil to help me with, I even got the chalkboard paint for it.  Not only would this make a cute, practical decoration for the home, but it would help the kiddos learn about the calendar. 

credit: make-baby-stuff.com

I also like the idea of a flannel/felt board for any number of displays – nature, letters, numbers, Bible stories, etc.  I love handmade stuff, but I’m also thinking the ready-made boards would be sweet (albeit expensive).

At my first baby shower, Becky gave me a book by Barbara Curtis called The Mommy Survival Guide.  Just skimming through it again, I’m blown away with how relevant it is to my situation as a mother, especially now that I have two kiddos.  I ended up borrowing her Teach Me! books, also by Barbara Curtis, which give some excellent ideas for keeping kids busy and engaged.  One of the ideas that has stayed with me is using Montessori trays to practice different skills, be creative with different materials, and above all – have fun!  I really like this version of Tot Trays – the colorful trays themselves, the variety of activities, and the fact that they are just reserved for “school time.” 

Maybe I can use one of the trays for another idea I’ve had saved up for a while – weather watching jars.  I love the colorful pom-poms, and it would make a great weekly activity which wouldn’t take up too much time, and it could coincide with learning about the seasons.  And one of these days I will get around to making homemade play dough!  Honestly, I never thought of using it to create letters, and that would be way more fun than trying to write them!  I have such a hard time helping Gwen hold a pencil; it doesn’t help that’s she’s a leftie!   

I’ve got a bunch of ideas up my sleeve, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself.  Any advice or suggestions for a preschooling newbie?

While browsing around, here are some other links I found interesting:
Brightly Beaming Resources – Letter of the Week Preschool Program
Free and Frugal Homeschool Preschool Blog
Homeschool Curriculum for Life – Gentle Preschool Activities
Lapbooks – instructions & templates
Nature Detectives – love their seasonal downloads
Raising Arrows – Toddler Box