Mom’s Musings

This has been an extra busy week in my real world, AND I have been trying to do the responsible thing and get more sleep. These are my excuses for posting a bit less than usual. If you are interested in my unsubstantiated opinions, I forthwith present you with this week’s THURSDAY THIRTEEN,

Thirteen ways to foster creativity in your children:

• First of all, make sure that your children’s basic needs for body and soul are consistently well-met. This lays a foundation of security and health. This will require a lot of love, self-discipline and self-sacrifice on your part.
  
• Expose your children to real life people, places and things. Go to the park, to the zoo, to the concerts, to church, to stores, to the library, and to as many other places as you can think of. Prepare your children ahead of time for what they will see and what behavior will be expected of them.
  
• Involve your children in the real work of the home, so that they may learn real skills and discover what valuable, competent people they are. Children (at an appropriate age, with instruction) can do animal chores, bake bread, clean bathrooms, mow lawns, wash vehicles, paint rooms, organize seasonal clothing, etc. DON’T DO FOR YOUR CHILDREN WHAT THEY CAN DO FOR THEMSELVES! Do you want them to learn that they are helpless and needy, or that they are strong and competent?
  
• READ, READ, READ to your children! And, let them see you enjoying reading, too. Read a variety of literary genres to them, and non-fiction, too. Other times and places will come alive to them. Wise and good men and women from ages past (and the present) can become your children’s friends through good books.
  
• Pay attention to your children, and particularly try to notice their aptitudes, talents and special interests. Nurture these talents, with appropriate lessons, supplies, field trips, mentors, etc. In schooling language, this is called Interest Based Education. This is the type of homeschooling that I tried to do. What’s good for one child’s development may not be the right fit for another child, as you most likely realize.
  
• Provide a rich learning environment in your home. This would include: books, art supplies, Legos or similar 3-D building toys, clothing for dress-up, a safe outdoor play area with sand box, a dirt heap, trees to climb, places to bike and skate, room to run and dance.
  
• Make sure your children have unstructured time every day to play and dream. How can they be creative if you are deciding what they will do every minute of every day?
  
• Provide opportunities for your children to interact lovingly with people of as many ages and ethnicities as possible. Emphasize the duty we have to love and serve others. Let them know that they are no better and no worse than anyone else because of being black, white, brown, or any other shade or nationality. Let them think of ways to love and serve.
  
• Limit TV viewing time. I would like to say, do without TV altogether, but there are valuable programs you can enjoy together, I know. I have read that the type of stimulation provided by TV does not foster neurological development in young children, nor does it develop their creativity. You can research this yourself, if you so desire. Jane M. Healy, Ph.D. has quite a bit to say on this subject in her book Your Child’s Growing Mind. This would include computer time as well.
  
• Just because you are a busy momma, don’t stop altogether doing the creative things for which you have a passion. Please, continue dancing, playing musical instruments, writing, and painting, or working to further a cause for which you are passionate.
  
• Make sure your children have strong basic skills in reading and math. Can a child be creative with math when he doesn’t know the language or rules of mathematics? Can a child appreciate the worlds hidden within books when he cannot read with ease?
  
• Converse with your children about everyday events, newspaper articles, and books you are reading, and truly try to listen to them when they converse with you.
  
• Play games with your children. Following the rules, planning one’s strategy, interacting with one another during the game, and keeping score foster emotional and mental growth and creativity.
  

There you have my list, compiled by an opinionated momma who homeschooled for many years. I am very pleased with my kind, creative, competent children. I didn’t say PERFECT, mind you. But, I enjoyed all the time spent with my children. Those were some of the best years of my life, and I am passionate about helping children to develop their particular talents.

For Ten on Tuesday
this week, the prompt is Ten Favorite Movie Comedies. I am modifying that just a bit to include comic strips, TV shows, books, and blogs. So, in the order in which they came to mind, please give a nice round of applause to . . . TEN FAVORITE COMEDIES! (clapping and canned laughter):

• What About Bob?, the 1991 movie starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss.
  
• The Man Who Knew Too Little, the 1997 movie also starring Bill Murray.
  
• Miss Congeniality. Sandra Bullock starred in this movie released in 2000.
  
• Bill Cosby’s early comedy records which he made in the 1960s, mainly based on quirky and funny childhood memories.
  
• The comic strip Mutts by Patrick McDonnell. Can you say, “Yesh!!!”?
  
• Danny Kaye’s “Pellet With the Poison” routine in the 1956 movie The Court Jester.
  
• The 1960s television show, Smile, You’re On Candid Camera! Narrated by Allen Funt.
  
• Kids Say the Darndest Things by Art Linkletter.
  
• A Fine and Pleasant Misery by Patrick F. McManus (We enjoy ALL of Patrick McManus’ books!)
  
• SusieJ’s blog. I first realized how hilarious she is after reading her post on “Funny Google Searches.”
  

Well, I read the book through to the end, but I only did it out of a feeling of obligation that I have to almost any book that I begin reading. I didn’t really enjoy it, nor do I plan to read its sequel, Inkspell.

I thought that I would enjoy this book, since I have loved fairy tales and fantasies from my youth, and this book falls within those genres, as well as being an adventure story, I suppose. Here is the main thing I disliked. The book seemed to be one dismal, scary situation followed by another. I was told in graphic language about the cruel things the bad guys enjoyed doing to innocent people and animals. At the very end, there was an abrupt change for the better, but all the cruelty and dismal-ness of the bulk of the story still clung to me, because the things described are the things that bad guys in our world often inflict on those who have no defense.

Sorry, kids, I DID NOT LIKE THIS BOOK.

Goodnight. I shall strive to be more positive and cheering tomorrow.

The old back is much better today, but since I still need to rest it every so often (and I can’t bend over) I missed work today. I’m REALLY hoping to make it in to school tomorrow, and am thinking that’s going to be doable.

Whenever I’m ill, or don’t get my usual work done, I feel like such a FAKER. I can’t bend over today, to unload or load the dishwasher, the washer, or the dryer. I’ll just have to be patient until the girls arrive home from school. They will neaten things up then, but I much prefer to have everything neat and organized before they arrive home.

In between my rests, I have gotten some paperwork done, as well as some telephone business, and some email business. That’s good. I hope to bake bread today (maybe), and make Cheddar Chowder (nice version of potato soup) for dinner tonight.

Well, time to go lie down again. I’ll read a bit more of Inkheart. Maybe I’m just being grumpy, but after reading The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson in which every character, no matter how minor, is believably developed, I’m finding myself bored by some of the characters in Inkheart. However, I usually feel that I owe it to a book to read through to the end of the story, so here I go, in my grumpiness, to continue slogging my way through the story. Or, as my daughter Debra (who likes to make up words) would say, I will sadgle (or maybe it’s spelled sadjle?) on until this story is done.

Today I wasn’t feeling well, so, since it was a Snow Day, I indulged in a rare treat: I retreated to bed with a good book after the morning chores were done. I spent much of the day reading The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson.

The book is set in Austria and in England, in the years just prior to WWII, is historical fiction/drama/romance, and is loosely autobiographical. I won’t tell you the story, but will tell you:

• The book reminded me, in many ways of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Like Austen, Ibbotson doesn’t spell out everything for the reader. Rather, she paints a detailed picture of each character, and then allows the reader to form an opinion of them.
• The author’s vocabulary, sentence structure, attention to detail, and historical detail are amazing. I used to fancy that I have a good vocabulary, but I am humbled.
• I am sad the book is over. Having peeked into the many lives Ibbotson described, I long to know more about these people.

Because I enjoyed The Morning Gift so much, I then read an interview of the author posted at BookSense.com.

To those of you bloggers who aspire to write a book, another interesting fact is that Eva Ibbotson was forty years old before she began her prolific, award-winning career as an author.

This morning I was awakened by my husband bringing me a cup of coffee. Umm! Very sweet, I say.

We are the only ones up, since this is a day off from school in our district, and the young folk are sleeping in a bit. So . . . I’m allowing myself the leisure to read some new blogs. I’m a regular reader of Challies.com by Tim Challies. Today he recommended a post in Radical Womanhood, a blog authored by Carolyn McCulley, which I read and appreciated so much that I added the blog to my Google Reader feed.

I was still feeling relaxed, timewise, in our quiet, warm, sleepy home, so I decided to scroll down and read some of Carolyn McCulley’s earlier posts. I came across her book recommendation for A.W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God, The Pursuit of Man. She posted an excerpt entitled “The Rules for Self-Discovery”. Take a look at this list:

Rules for Self-Discovery

1. What we want most

2. What we think about most

3. How we use our money

4. What we do with our leisure time

5. The company we enjoy

6. Who and what we admire

7. What we laugh at

I’m reminded of Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” There’s A LOT to think about here; I like it. I really like it. I want to live life thoughtfully and wisely, not bump around ignorantly and lazily in the dark. It is so easy to SAY something complimentary about oneself (I am speaking for myself, here, not criticizing anyone.), but the things we ENJOY speak more accurately about us.

I’ll just let this simmer on the back burners of my heart and mind now, and hopefully something beneficial will percolate for later postings.

Thirteen Books I Would Like to Read

I’m always on the look-out for a good book. Here, in no particular order, are thirteen books that I would like to read:

• Wise Words – Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life –Peter Leithart
  
• The Morning Gift – Eva Ibbotson
  
• Discerning the Spirits – A Guide to Thinking About Christian Worship Today – Cornelius Plantiga
  
• Great Exchange- My Sin for His Righteousness – Robert Bevington and Jerry Bridges
  
• 1491 – New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus – Charles Mann
  
• Inkheart
  – Cornelia Funke
  
• A Secular Faith – Why Christianity Favors the Separation of Church and State
  – D.G. Hart
  
• The Truth About Forever – Sarah Dessen
  
• Amazing Grace – Megan Shull
  
• Peter and the Starcatchers – Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
  
• The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate
  - Gary Chapman
  
• Memories of Childhood: The Classic Stories – Michael Foreman
  
• Great Authors of Children’s Literature
  – Wendy Mass
  

Thirteen Books I Want to Read

I am so enjoying writing Haiku poems for the Haiku Fridays game. My inspiration this week is this lovely graphics button:

(Image from Snapshots of Joy)

I enjoy reading, and read many different types of books, but there is something about this sentiment that strikes a sour note with me. Read, if you so desire, the humble Haikus I present to you:

“Read the best books first.”
Only classics? Only great?
Is this the maxim?

Seasons for all things;
This includes what I’m reading.
Read the timely book.

Inappropriate,
Intimidating, too strict.
This advice constrains.

Books on my night stand
Tonight I want to pretend:
Children’s fantasy

So much I don’t know
Research worth reading about:
Brain plasticity

Modern teen fiction
Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie
Can be meaningful

Are “How To” books great?
Teaching With Love and Logic
Such timely advice.

‘Tis a worthy goal
Make a list; read the “best” books.
Just don’t be rigid.

If I don’t attain
I’m content with what I have.
Great reads? No. Just good.

I’ve entered my first online “give away.”

I’m hoping to win Classics of the Christian Faith, CD edition, which was produced by Fellowship for the Performing Arts. This is a 9 CD set of Christian classics such as Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Martin Luther’s “Here I Stand,” and John Bunyan’s “The Pilgrims Progress.”

The sponsor of this give-away is Tim Challies. His blog, one I enjoy reading daily, is listed under “Bible Study” on my blogroll as Challies.com. If you click on the banner below, you will be guided through the steps in entering the drawing yourself.

Another blog I have on Google Reader is entitled The Reformed Reader. The author of the blog, Shane Lems, posted a short quote from R.C. Sproul’s new book, The Truth of the Cross. I found the quote to be spot-on, so am posting it here as well:

“The prevailing doctrine of justification today is not justification by faith alone. It’s not even justification by good works or by a combination of faith and works. The prevailing notion of justification in Western culture today is justification by death. It’s assumed that all one has to do to be received into the everlasting arms of God is to die” (R.C. Sproul, The Truth of the Cross [Orlando: Reformation Trust, 2007], 10).