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I want to teach my children the words of Jesus. I want to help them knit the Gospel into the fabric of their lives, written on their hearts. I do not want the Bible to be a dead book for them. How?
I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven . . .
Matthew 5:44-45
If a child picks on your child at school, and says, “Nate, you’re so dumb, you can hardly read!” And then Nate comes home and tells you about it, would you share this scripture with him? Is it a good idea or a bad idea to label the day’s tormentors as enemies? Why?
Taking stock of my day—
I have three children.
1. Child #3 (Kate)’s speech therapist came for a home visit. I explained that I was pleased that she is saying a few more words and phrases, but frustrated that I have gotten nowhere with “articulation practice,” where I am supposed to help a 2 year old practice the sounds that are difficult for her to make. (Do you see a problem with this plan?) I may be a bad person, but I actually felt pleased when said 2 year old first covered her mouth, then turned around and put her bottom in the air after the speech therapist pushed her to make the “k” sound a few too many times. [It isn't just me!] Ultimately #3 hid and refused to say goodbye. Oh yes, speech therapy is going well.
2. I asked child #2 (Duncan) to empty the dishwasher. He said he was hungry. I said, “Great! Because I have a special treat for you right after you get that dishwasher finished!” It was more than three hours before he got any food because it was more than three hours before he was ready to empty the dishwasher. I suspect he might have eaten some of the trail mix that was supposed to be the special treat while I wasn’t looking though.
3. I didn’t take child #1 (Amelia) to Shakespeare for Kids although she desperately wanted to go, because she spent the entire day doing her chores and homework. Shakespeare is supposed to be a reward for doing her chores and homework well and quickly. We are not there yet.
One huge success today was that we found some large grid paper at Office Depot. [Amelia explained to me during a review of her homework that the reason I cannot read her numbers is because I am not trying hard enough, but I don't know, I think it might be something else!] The smaller quad ruled squares were too small for Amelia to fit her numbers in. I think the large grid paper might represent a significant boon to her future in math. It is important for your math answers to be readable in settings other than standardized tests! Unfortunately, Amelia hates the paper. She is no fan of anything that would make her look different from the other kids. I hold out a weak hope that once she sees it’s useful . . .
The good news: If I lock my keys inside the minivan, it takes only a few seconds for a locksmith to pop the door open.
The bad news: my vehicle is easier to steal than I ever would have imagined! It’s a good thing big boxy people carriers aren’t in high demand.
The other day Amelia (9 years old) and I were talking and she mentioned that she would like to be a mother as soon as possible. My first reaction (after seeing way too many famous teens with babies in the news lately) was WAIT A MINUTE, think that over!
I’m not going to argue that competition is always a good thing or that it is always better than cooperation. But I will argue that competition has a vital role: 1) It is highly motivating, 2) it teaches us important lessons about life and 3) it serves to uncover true excellence.
I just went to a church function and discovered that I was the only woman there not wearing a skirt or dress. Oops.
I am a little obsessed with statistics about my blog. That’s part of the fun of blogging right? There are two ways in which I check statistics about my blog: through Feedburner and Google Analytics. Feedburner tells me how many subscribers I have. Instead of keeping a static list of people who have subscribed, Feedburner reports the number of subscribers I have each day. This changes because although some feedreaders request feeds from Feedburner regardless of whether the user is using her computer or reading her feeds, other feedreaders pull feeds only when the computer is turned on or the feedreader activated. This means that my subscriber numbers can go both up and down. For example, on the weekends when fewer people are using their computers, I have fewer subscribers. On weekdays, the number is fairly consistent.
So, here’s what I want to know: who are you Thursday-only Feedreader people? My Thursday Feedreader stats are consistently higher. Are there a couple of you out there who only turn your computer on on Thursdays? You are a mystery to me.
Yesterday, at My Imaginary Blog, Zina mentioned what she termed some “some less-than-shining parenting moments.” Honestly, her post disturbed me, because the “moments” she described seemed perfectly normal to me and I was hard-pressed to think of what a better parent would have done in her situation. Please share your ideas for how to handle these common Mommy Shopping situations.
To simplify, I will recap here: Mom does desperation visit to Target with two small children in tow. Special circumstances: Mom is sick, kids are sick. Mom is also pregnant and therefore mobility impaired.
1. RESTROOM VISIT: Mom needs to use the restroom. She takes the small children inside the stall with her and instructs them not to open the door until she’s ready. They open the door (before she’s ready, of course) and she says, “DON’T OPEN THE DOOR.” The other child opens the door: “DON’T OPEN THE DOOR.” The first child then opens the door again. ”DON’T OPEN THE DOOR.”
Advice? What could a Mom do better in this situation? Obviously, it’s optimal to avoid using the restroom while bearing solitary responsibility for two small children. But often this is not possible. Then what?
Pumpkin Cheesecake bars are a good alternative to pumpkin cheesecake when you need a simpler recipe (these require no water bath and cool much faster) and have a larger crowd to feed. I’ve written this for an 8×8″ pan but it doubles well in a 9×13 pan. This recipe is based on the more traditional pumpkin cheesecake recipe in Baking Illustrated (by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated) with the shortcake crust from a cheesecake bar recipe that I found elsewhere. I also included Cook’s graham cracker crust recipe, modified to fit this pan size.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bar