- Staying Home @ The Parent Vortex
- On not going to church and making soup instead @ Elizabeth Esther
- The suffragettes and a woman’s right to choose @ thatmom
- The sex talk @ Mama's Minutia
Saturday, 22 January 2011
Weekend Reading
Friday, 21 January 2011
Making memories
The boys (and I include my husband here) have been making quite the forts this week. No blanket has been forgotten, no chair left neglected. As soon as a new fort is constructed, they all pile inside, giggling away. The baby especially finds the whole thing quite hysterical, which further sets off the boy, which then sets off the daddy, resulting in an endless loop of gleeful giggles.
So when dinnertime rolled around yesterday, it was no surprise to find a distinct lack of chairs at the kitchen table. Tray of baked nachos and cheese in one hand and bowl of guacamole in the other, I caught my husband's eye and we had one of those quick silent conversations that married couples so often have.
I tossed down a couple towels to protect the carpet. He transferred the nachos to a plate.
"Supper time!"
Oh, the squeals, laughter, and delighted exclamations! Supper in the fort? All of us?? Their joy is contagious; I do believe that was the most fun we've had eating supper in a long time.
These are gifts, such as they are, that I offer my children and pray they carry with them as they grow: moments that strengthen family relationships and memories of unexpected delight.
So when dinnertime rolled around yesterday, it was no surprise to find a distinct lack of chairs at the kitchen table. Tray of baked nachos and cheese in one hand and bowl of guacamole in the other, I caught my husband's eye and we had one of those quick silent conversations that married couples so often have.
I tossed down a couple towels to protect the carpet. He transferred the nachos to a plate.
"Supper time!"
Oh, the squeals, laughter, and delighted exclamations! Supper in the fort? All of us?? Their joy is contagious; I do believe that was the most fun we've had eating supper in a long time.
These are gifts, such as they are, that I offer my children and pray they carry with them as they grow: moments that strengthen family relationships and memories of unexpected delight.
Thursday, 20 January 2011
A quiet life
"Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others."
1 Thessalonians 4: 11-12
Words leap off the page. I read again: Aim for a quiet life. Mind your own business. Work with your hands.
Why had I never noticed them before?
The words are balm to my soul, healing wounds, releasing expectations, bringing reassurance. Live a quiet life.
My quiet life can bring glory.
More than that, my quiet life can be my offering, my worship. Hours spent washing dishes, sweeping floors, scrubbing the bathtub, these everyday acts of service offer themselves up as worship.
My life may not be grand, my service may not seem to be much, but this simple quiet life is enough. It is enough. I'm not caring for sick children overseas, but I spent last night caring for my sick three year old. I'm not building houses, but I am building a home right here. I'm not spreading the Good News to the ends of earth, but I am whispering it into the hearts of my precious little boys. I'm not doing great things...but these unexpected words tell me that maybe I am.
For what does God require of me? Simply that I act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with my God, that I love God with everything and my neighbour as myself.
I feel the weight of expectations begin to lift. The pressure to do "big things for God!", the call to live radically, the encouragement to do more, be more, take on more. But this Christian life does not have to be complex. I need not make it bigger than it is. A quiet life, a simple life, one of love and service - this is a good offering, a pleasing offering.
Perhaps it is, in its own way, radical. To simply love, simply serve.
The more I come to know Jesus, the more I find it true that His yoke is indeed easy; His burden is indeed light. Only Jesus - a quiet journey of coming to know Him, free from all the man-made trappings of religion and Christian culture in all of its various manifestations. Daily I fall deeper in love with Him, learning to die to self and take up the cross instead.
Today, soothed by the unexpected and joyous Word, I will take joy in this quiet life.
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Probably a hint
After the boy and I had been browsing the flea market for a while this weekend, he informed me he was done and asked if we could go home now. Not quite finished myself, I assured him I'd be ready to leave soon. A few minutes later, he started to quietly sing to himself:
"Be patient (be patient) with everyone.
Be patient (be patient) with everyone.
Be patient with everyone,
First Thessalonians,
five, verse fourteen."
Hint taken, mister!
(By the way, can I just take this opportunity to once again recommend Songs for Saplings? Two years later and it's still one of our favourites!)
"Be patient (be patient) with everyone.
Be patient (be patient) with everyone.
Be patient with everyone,
First Thessalonians,
five, verse fourteen."
Hint taken, mister!
(By the way, can I just take this opportunity to once again recommend Songs for Saplings? Two years later and it's still one of our favourites!)
Monday, 17 January 2011
The magic of time
It just keeps happening, these moments when it strikes me that teaching does not have to be an active and deliberate thing. Learning just happens as we go about our daily lives. It is not forced, not contrived, not confined to "school time", but rather natural and spontaneous.
I know these things, and yet too often I fall into the trap of thinking I need to teach him these skills. I need to teach him his letters. I need to teach him how to use scissors. I need to teach him this, that, and the other.
I don't. He keeps proving this to me time and time again, and I keep forgetting just as often.
I've found it to be true with reading and writing. Every time I think I should start working with him on a new skill - counting, number recognition, letter recognition, writing, phonics, spelling - he preempts me by learning them all on his own. Sometimes he observes, sometimes he asks me questions, sometimes he practices on his own, and suddenly he just knows the very skill I was planning to introduce and teach to him.
I think I've finally got the message though. Sometime last fall, I bought him a cutting book so that he could "practice" his scissor skills. He was enthusiastic and eager, but many days ended up frustrated when he couldn't do what the page wanted him to do. He was far more interested in just cutting the pages into little bits. Finally, I put the book away, and the scissors sat mostly ignored for the next couple months.
Recently, he rediscovered the book in his small stack of generally neglected "I'm a homeschooling mom and I should get these materials so he can practice practice practice!" workbooks. He took a page out, grabbed his scissors, and effortlessly cut out the picture. Proud, he brought it over to show me. He'd done it. He hadn't needed to practice his scissor skills. He just needed to wait a couple extra months until he was physically ready to use them.
Foolish, foolish me. I say these things, I believe these things, and yet I keep on forgetting. If we provide a learning rich environment, our children will learn. They will learn in their own time and in their own way. Yes, there are certain things that require practice to master; yes, there will come a time when teaching is more active and deliberate. But for now and for most things, time and life will provide them with exactly the skills they need. Children have both the desire and the ability to learn - sometimes all they need is for us to step out of their way and let them.
I know these things, and yet too often I fall into the trap of thinking I need to teach him these skills. I need to teach him his letters. I need to teach him how to use scissors. I need to teach him this, that, and the other.
I don't. He keeps proving this to me time and time again, and I keep forgetting just as often.
I've found it to be true with reading and writing. Every time I think I should start working with him on a new skill - counting, number recognition, letter recognition, writing, phonics, spelling - he preempts me by learning them all on his own. Sometimes he observes, sometimes he asks me questions, sometimes he practices on his own, and suddenly he just knows the very skill I was planning to introduce and teach to him.
I think I've finally got the message though. Sometime last fall, I bought him a cutting book so that he could "practice" his scissor skills. He was enthusiastic and eager, but many days ended up frustrated when he couldn't do what the page wanted him to do. He was far more interested in just cutting the pages into little bits. Finally, I put the book away, and the scissors sat mostly ignored for the next couple months.
Recently, he rediscovered the book in his small stack of generally neglected "I'm a homeschooling mom and I should get these materials so he can practice practice practice!" workbooks. He took a page out, grabbed his scissors, and effortlessly cut out the picture. Proud, he brought it over to show me. He'd done it. He hadn't needed to practice his scissor skills. He just needed to wait a couple extra months until he was physically ready to use them.
Foolish, foolish me. I say these things, I believe these things, and yet I keep on forgetting. If we provide a learning rich environment, our children will learn. They will learn in their own time and in their own way. Yes, there are certain things that require practice to master; yes, there will come a time when teaching is more active and deliberate. But for now and for most things, time and life will provide them with exactly the skills they need. Children have both the desire and the ability to learn - sometimes all they need is for us to step out of their way and let them.
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Weekend Reading
- Everyday Ways to Foster Independence in Kids @ Simple Mom
- Drop-side Cribs, Penises, and Vaccines @ Baby Dust Diaries
- On Vaccinations and Moving Beyond Fear @ SortaCrunchy
- How the OB Stole Normal Birth @ Birth Sense
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)