Mom’s Musings

I would like to wish those of you who fit into this category a very happy Mother’s Day!

Today I have been the recipient of much pre-Mother’s Day activity.

Right after his morning coffee, my husband vacuumed the main floor of the house and then proceeded to clean the tile and the laminate with the Swiffer Wet Jet. Woohoo! The way to my heart is through my floor, evidently.

Further flooring activity followed as Rick finished installing the glueless laminate in the upstairs hall, and got the laundry chute in working order again. My, we have missed that chute. Guess we’re just spoiled.

After that, Rick’s attention turned to my oven. My oven door broke last week. The springs that allow the heavy door to open gently gave out with a horrible, exploding sound. After purchasing some springs at the hardware store, Rick repaired my oven door today. We were all excited about that, until we realized that the oven will not heat up. Guess I’ll have to call the repairman in after all to have a look at my faithful old oven (18 year old Dacor convection oven). I sure hope we don’t need to purchase another oven; too expensive, and I like this one.

Here you see a picture of Rick and me. I’m holding my Mother’s Day gift from Debra, the lovely bouquet she assembled in Floral Design class, and Rick is holding his gift to me. How do you like it?

Here is the lovely ceramic rose candle holder that Lydia made for me:

And here is Laura’s card. I especially enjoyed the sentiment, “Thanks for being the kind of mom who likes to chat . . .” because Laura and I chat online just about every day:

Just in today (5/11/2008): a lovely little azalea plant from daughter Sarah, plus a funny paper bookcover from Daiso Japan, our Japanese dollar store. Sometimes the sentiments written in English don’t make any sense, but these are pretty good: “HEY!”, “just for you”, “you’re special”, “hello”, “I appreciate you”, and “thanks so much” all on one little bookcover. Pretty cute.

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.

While you care for us,

Have fun with us, too, Mommy;

Blink, and we’ll be grown.

For more Haiku, visit Jennifer over at Playgroups are No Place for Children and Christina at A Mommy Story.

This is the prompt provided by Yano for this week’s Ten on Tuesday. I haven’t thought this through, so you will receive these in the order in which they occur to me.

• It takes me a while to feel comfortable with a new machine. This is why I REALLY do not like driving someone else’s car, especially in the dark. When we first moved to our home here many years ago, my husband asked me to drive his big, clunky, manual transmission work truck. The child who rode with me could sense my nervousness and asked me if we were going to be OK.
  
• Dental work makes me so nervous that I either need to clutch a soft pillow to keep my hands still, or better yet, ask the dentist for nitrous oxide in order to relax and be a good patient.
  
• I like things in my home to be clean and orderly, but also to stay in the same place. My husband likes to rearrange things. So, rearranging happens when I am out, and I gradually get used to the new layout.
  
• I would rather stay in our general locale for a special outing than travel far away. Once we are on the road for our annual vacation to see Dad and Mom Taron, I am game for fun, but other than that I am most comfortable at home.
  
• The biggest celebrations for us as a family are birthdays. Often, especially when the children were younger, the birthday would even have a theme, such as Winnie the Pooh, Pirates of the Caribbean, or Pokemon.
  
• I prefer that other family members take the pictures. I have taken some of the pictures for my blog, but not many.
  
• I enjoy skimming through the dictionary to learn new words, and subscribe to My Word a Day online. As a family we will take turns trying to stump one another with new words, or competing to see who knows how to pronounce an unusual word.
  
• If I see half a cookie, I am almost irresistibly drawn to finish it. Please! Eat the whole cookie and leave me in peace!
  
• The best gift my husband can give me is doing work around the house, especially outside. One year I requested (and received) a dump truck load of gravel for the driveway for my birthday present.
  
• It is dangerous to let me begin a sewing project (which is probably why I haven’t done one in a few years) because all else (including eating and doing any other work) must fall by the wayside until it’s done. I enjoy the process, and I like to see the finished product. What can I say? Maybe a little obsessive compulsive?
  

There is a pretty simple way

To tell the story of my day

With eight syllables in each line.

Also, each couplet has to rhyme.

Yesterday I complained to you

Of too much rain. Today was blue

Skies overhead for quite a while.

Just looking around made me smile.

Hyacinths, tulips, daffodils,

Grass growing in good earnest fills

My mind with plans to work outside

But more than weather is my guide.

Suffice it to say, much got done

By all the fam. Now just for fun,

Since weather conditions are right,

The kids will sleep outside tonight.

Oops! It’s tomorrow already;

Time for me to go to beddy. (Anything for a rhyme)

Nothing too complicated about my inspiration for this week’s Haiku Friday:

• The weather
• The season
• Some cute photos of the three youngest children taken five years ago during similar weather

For more Haiku, visit Jennifer over at Playgroups are No Place for Children and Christina at A Mommy Story.

A HAPPY FAMILY by Giovanni Battista Torriglia

As I was looking at other blogs this morning, I came across this lovely image posted on someone else’s blog. I found it again at Painting Place, where one may purchase artwork.

Some things in the picture that speak forth happiness, I think, are:

1. The mother is smiling at the children, and the children are smiling at one another.
2. The mother is enjoying her children even while she is busy.
3. The mother is busy for the benefit of her family vs. self-centered or self-indulgent. Those varients see children as interruptions and burdens, an attitude not conducive to family happiness.
4. The house looks clean (See the shining floor?) but not insanely neat (which drives one insane to maintain). As the saying goes, it’s clean enough to be healthy, and messy enough to be comfortable.
5. The children are cheerfully helping Mommy by watching and entertaining the baby.
6. The son has just arrived home from school (See his school bag on the floor by his chair?). His first focus is not on himself, but on greeting and enjoying his family. Wow!
7. Subconsciously, the late afternoon lighting contributes to the feeling of coziness.
8. I always wanted the cottage look, with those deep-set windows in the thick walls. Is that a hidden desire of lots of folks, which is nurtured by this homey scene?

Yano at Ten on Tuesday
has asked her readers, “What are ten things you love about your life?”

There are many more than ten things that I could list. I have a wonderful life, a blessed life, and a busy life. But, since I have such a busy life, I’m thankful that Yano only wants us to list ten things. Here’s my list:

• I love being reconciled to God, through the active and passive obedience of Christ on my behalf. “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” – 1 Timothy 2:5,6.
  
• I love my husband, and am thankful for him. What a blessing to be married to a godly, unselfish, hard-working guy, who also is a teaser-mc-beazer.
  
• I love my children, each and every one of them. I am so thankful for all the great times we’ve enjoyed together as they’ve been growing up.
  
• I love my church. What a blessing to gather together with God’s people to hear the faithful preaching of God’s Word on Sundays! One special emphasis at our church is learning to love one another, which is a very good thing indeed.
  
• I love my work as a paraeducator. Each day is different and challenging, and the work has such a worthwhile end: furthering the educational development of young people.
  
• I love my in-laws. They are common-sense, hard-working, generous people who love their children and grandchildren. And, they’re fun to visit, too.
  
• I love having internet access, and a blog to write. What a great outlet this is!
  
• I love having enough of life’s necessities, some of life’s luxuries, but not so much money that I need to worry about it.
  
• I love having a healthy, strong body, still a faithful servant to me, so that I may work and be useful.
  
• I love my sanity and intelligence. Thinking about things is a genuine pleasure.
  

Here is a quick little post, right before bed. It has been such a busy day; I am tired beyond all reason, but had to pop on the internet quickly to visit a few friends’ blogs and do a wee post myself before retiring for the night.

I was thankful today to move my mom from the extended care facility where she has been for the past two weeks (after having the generator in her pacemaker replaced) back to the lovely assisted living apartment which she has called “home” for the past year. Once there, she demonstrated for me her proficiency doing various tasks while using her walker, which is a good thing.

We think we have a good plan to strengthen her. She will have physical therapy twice a week and I will constantly be asking her if she is doing any walking besides just walking to the elevator to go to the dining room for meals.

I am also thankful:

• to Rebecca for doing the laundry while I was out helping my mom,
  
• to Lydia for cleaning up the kitchen,
  
• to Debra for vacuuming the house, and
  
• to all of them for feeding themselves “catch-as-catch-can” fashion, so I didn’t have to hear the lament, “What’s for dinner?” at 9p.m.

(Image from Snapshots of Joy)

I’m not going to show you LOTS of photos of grandson Diederick, but in case you’re interested in seeing some more VERY cute photos, our daughter Laura has a blog, too, and she loves taking pictures. Here is one of my favorites: