Attitude

Anne started out having a very rough day today. Who knows why. I never seem to know what triggers a rough day with my children. I'm guessing it was due to a very busy past 3 days. She does need time to play by herself and time spent with Mom that is unhurried.

I sort of knew she was "off", but was positive of this when I told her it was time to start her math. She was, ummm, unhappy. That's a nice way of putting it. A huge pout came over her face. And, man, this one can POUT! Lips out, cheeks puffed out. A sour face! I decided the wisest thing to do was just sit with her and have her do her math orally. This worked for the most part. She did the math, but still with a sour face. Then we got to the 2nd to the last problem. She decided she could not figure out how many 10's were in 40. I knew she knew the answer. She's very very smart. And equally as stubborn. I told her to skip count by 10's. She said, "10, 20, 30, 40 ... (long pause) ... 50?" Whatever child. I actually used the "s" word with her. Now, all you mom's are laughing and everyone else is confused. I said (shhh) "stupid". "You are NOT stupid. You are smart. Do not act stupid with me. I know you KNOW this. Stop pretending to be stupid. You are NOT stupid." Can you see I had lost my patience by this point?

Little side note - how many times, if you are a homeschool mom or you have more kids than someone else, have you been told "I just couldn't do what you do, I don't have enough patience." Let me tell you something. Neither do I!!!!! Patience is something that has been slow in coming to this woman here. I struggle with it daily. I lose my temper. Bite my tongue. Grit my teeth. Groan. Lose it. Yell (not so often as I used to). Trust me. No one has the patience to do these things. If God didn't work in my life every second of the day, oh my, I hate to think where we would be today!

Back to the story. I finally remembered to pray. "God, give me wisdom, patience, mercy, grace because I have NONE of these right now. Forgive me. Help!" We finally finished math. Spent a lot of time cuddling. I asked her to forgive me for losing my patience. Sigh. Things seemed better for a while.

Then I told her she had to write something. If she chose not to, she couldn't do the sewing class with Grandma. So she wrote. Horrible penmanship and many misspelled words (she can spell very well). Sigh again. I sat down and talked to her about it. Yep, she did it on purpose. WHY? Again, who knows! This time I just asked her if she wanted to pray about her bad attitude with me because Grandma would not want her doing the sewing class if she was that grumpy. We prayed.

Sewing class. Who is THIS child? Laughing, smiling, hugging me over and over again. Bright shining eyes, happy happy happy! Next time we just start praying TOGETHER before we do anything else. :-)

***During the math struggle, I told her she had to change her attitude or she would get a doll taken away. I took one doll. She hit a brother. I took another doll for that. She hit the other brother. I took a third doll! I need to remember that being stubborn also means she has perseverance. Right?

Snow

Yep, it is snowing here. What day is it again? Still September, right? WOW. Snow. The high temp for today is supposed to be 41. Currently 36 with high winds. A tad bit chilly out. Good thing the kids have a track meet tonight. I think I will be freezing my backside off later! :-)

***I am actually LOVING this weather. Fire is going. Hot chocolate for the kids. Coffee for me. Cookies fresh out of the oven. Potato soup planned for supper. YEAH!

Quote

I pulled a book of the shelf today, opened it up and here is the underlined quote that I read:

"These children are dear to Me. Be a mother to them, and more than a mother. Watch over them tenderly, be just and kind. If thy heart is not large enough to embrace them, I will enlarge it after a pattern of My own. If these young children are docile and obedient, bless Me for it; if they are froward, call upon Me for help; if they weary thee, I will be thy consolation; if thou sink under thy burden, I will be thy Reward."

This was written on a card and pasted in the front of Amy Carmichael's Bible. Just thought I would share with you today. :-) (The book is A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliot.)

Busy Busy Busy

I keep thinking of things to post here, but I've been a bit busy the past couple weeks. Someone called me a "type A personality" today. I think she may have been a bit too correct.

I just have a little rant and then I need to get to bed. I was watching one of these house buying shows tonight and it made me MAD! This couple, just TWO people, were buying a house in Oregon. A SECOND house. They currently live in New Mexico - in a home with 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, etc. They want a vacation home in Oregon, so they can live by the beach sometimes. Why do I care? Only because they went on and on and on about how "environmental" they were. WHAT? Seriously? Just because you buy "green" appliances does NOT make you environmental. People rip on big families because we're so hard on the environment, but these people recycle, so they're ok? Whatever. Two homes - two fairly LARGE homes (one they looked at was 1700 square feet - for TWO people). And how are they going to get back and forth from New Mexico to Oregon? I'm sure it requires fuel of some sort. Oh, wait, maybe they BUY carbon offsets so that makes it all ok. GRRRR.

OK, done ranting. I don't know why this ticked me off, but I just had to say something. :-) Thanks for checking in here and listening to my rant! :-)

Poetry

My girls decided to write a few poems today. No, we are not teaching poetry this year. They just decided to do this during quiet time! :-) The first three are written by Anne. The second are written by Dawn. They really are best if you could hear them read them. Anne puts such great inflection in her voice! Love it! :-)


The Yes Poem

The word that's best
It beats the rest
And maybe you know
That it makes the children squeal
When they want to watch a video

When you say no or maybe
It isn't even right!
When you say it wrong it just starts a fight!
When your child asks you a question
Like, "Can I have a popsicle?"
The answer should be "YES!
YES YES YES!!!"


The No Poem

But Dad!
Why not Mom?

Oh, it's an awful word!
The word that everyone hates!
It has two letters
That even go hand in hand in the alphabet!

And the word it makes is - NO!
Oh why did it have to be no?


The Maybe Poem

I want a yes or maybe a no
Not a maybe so!
It's almost as bad as no
At least it's better than no!
But I would rather have a yes!
Maybe doesn't do anything
Besides make you wonder
Is it yes or a no?
If you say maybe you just waste time
Wondering if it's a yes or a no
thank it is a no
Because you wasted time!
Maybe could be worse than no
Maybe maybe maybe all day

Who invented that word anyway?


Yes

Ah yes
That wonderful
Happy
Joyful Word
That perfectly right word!

It makes the children from 15 and under
Squeal with joy!
But it makes me wonder
How could a little word like YES
Mean so much?


No

That awful word
That horrible word
That makes the babies and children cry.

That painful word
That means you can't or shouldn't have!

Although you probably already know
What the word is,
Just to be sure
The word is simply "No"


Maybe

Ugh, that strange word!
When y ou simply need a yes or no!
But somehow, instead of yes or no
It's maybe!

The word that leaves the children in suspense
When they really really want a yes!

The word that leaves them wondering
"What will she say next?"


Horse

The strong muscles
The ear splitting whinny
The horses wild and free!

The paint
The palomino
The piercing black stallion who takes you through the fields!

But out of all of them
It was the rearing black and white paint
That was mine.


A Storm

A violent thing
A beautiful thing
A grey dot in the middle of blue.

The roaring thunder
The flashing lightning
The rain that pours down on us!

But in our house it is a cozy sight
To watch the storm from afar.