I love the funny things my kids say. The little laughs they bring me certainly brighten my day and make every messy face, poopy butt, pee puddles, sassy mouths, and drama queen issues all worth it.
A couple days ago Bren looks at me and pays me an unusual compliment,
"I like your boobs Mama!"
"Gee thanks Bren?"
I put Bren down one night and as I'm walking out the door she says, "You're welcome!"
I told Bren good job tonight when she peed a whole bunch in the potty chair right before she went down for the night. Her reply, "Gank you!"
Bren informed me today "I pay (play) with my pivate (private) parts."........Awesome!
I had each of the girls say a prayer of their own before bed tonight. Brennan's prayer was short and sweet and I had to give her the idea of what to pray for and have her repeat after me.
Bren's prayer, "Dear Jesus. Help me to not be a minosaur (someone who steals toys and says, mine, mine, mine). Amen!"
Kadyn's prayer went on and on and on and on while Bren was doing the cutest little hiccups which had me silently cracking up. Then Kadyn asks God to help her get over her cold. She pauses, then asks me if she still, in fact, even has a cold. I respond with, "No." She looks up and says to God, "Forget about that." As Kadyn's trotting off to bed she says she did an extra long prayer to bless God because he loves her so much. I affirmed that he did, in fact, love her a whole lot. She said something about him loving her more than she did. I replied,
"Yes, he loves you more than you even love yourself."
She pauses with a confused look on her face and declares.
"I don't love myself!" (I think she thought of "loving yourself" like when you love a boy or something. She was a little confused).
These are the moments. Aw! Gotta love em!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
BIG Progress
Yesterday was such a good day. Brennan had no pee accidents. Poop is another story, but still that's progress! Little man X had NO tantrums or fits. He did have several time outs, BUT he didn't loose control. Let's count them...that's a big fat Z-E-R-O fits or tantrums! This is a first at my house. I feel like a won the lottery or something. Yesterday actually felt like a normal day rather than a war zone! Praise Jesus! In fact, little man X hasn't even mentioned missing his mother.
Little gal greeted me with a big hug. Sigh! I love huggies! And she hasn't bitten anyone since she came back from spring break. Of course, I don't expect every day to be perfect, but I feel like I can finally breath and the worst is behind me.
Now if only I could get my voice back so I can sing again. My voice and I, we're close ya know. You don't realize how much you use your voice until it's gone.
Anyhoo...I love having good reports. Hoping the rest of this week goes just as smoothly!
Little gal greeted me with a big hug. Sigh! I love huggies! And she hasn't bitten anyone since she came back from spring break. Of course, I don't expect every day to be perfect, but I feel like I can finally breath and the worst is behind me.
Now if only I could get my voice back so I can sing again. My voice and I, we're close ya know. You don't realize how much you use your voice until it's gone.
Anyhoo...I love having good reports. Hoping the rest of this week goes just as smoothly!
Friday, March 25, 2011
The Mighty Temper Tantrum
My apologies for always blogging about daycare recently, but currently it has been my biggest trial and it feels good to put it in writing. Helps me process. As I'm sure you've gathered from my previous posts I have been having to deal with behaviors I have NEVER had to deal with until now, namely the mighty temper tantrum.
My girls have had their fits, and sometimes they have full blown almost put me over the edge fits, but I have never seen them throw themselves to the floor in a fit of rage and scream at the top of their lungs so loudly I thought I was going to blow an ear drum. I have never seen them loose control to the point where I had absolutely no element of control. I have also been able to put them in their rooms and let them calm down.
My newest little guy, who I will call call X to protect privacy, has the biggest temper tantrums I have ever seen. The first day after drop off I literally had to hold him down for 30 minutes because he was so out of control when I let go of him he would run to the door and try to escape. X actually did take off and run down the street when Mom was trying to get him through the front door that morning. Later at nap time he ended up screaming out of control for an hour and a half before I gave up and called mom to come pick him up. Turned out he had a horrendous ear infection. I think that contributed to a large part of his behavior that day.
Since then, he still has his temper tantrums, but they are more like 10, 15, or 20 minutes long. They are becoming less in number and slowly we are starting to get a handle on them. I feel like I am walking on eggshells all day knowing that when I enforce my no's or house rules, it may set him off. However, I am committed to standing firm so that he knows he can't walk all over me. It is so very, very hard.
The thing that has helped diffuse them the quickest is literally removing ourselves from the room so he is alone to throw the tantrums (super nanny tactic). He will not stay where I put him so putting him in a room never works; sitting him a time out spot never works because he just rolls away and starts kicking his feet. He does follow us and screams on the other side of the door and lays down and kicks the door. It is so hard to remain calm when he acts that way and sometimes I wonder if he will literally beat my door down. I literally start shaking. I sing praise songs, I quote scripture and try to distract the other children. Eventually, he calms and I then I make him sit in time out for his behavior. I know I have to follow through on a consequence for his tantrums. He is not allowed out of time out unless he is calm and sitting up against the wall. We later talk about his behavior, I tell him that we must leave the room because it hurts our ears, I tell him my expectations, I tell him God's expectations, and discuss more appropriate ways to deal with his emotions. I always hug them compliment him for being calm and in control during his time out. We always pray for God to help us with specific behavioral challenges at each snack and meal time when we pray for blessings on the food. The next time I see him on the verge of a tantrum I gently remind him about what we talked about. Sometimes it has helped him regain his control before it turns into a tantrum, other times it has made no difference.
This seems to be working....slowly Instead of temper tantrums daily, we are averaging one or two every other day or so with at least one small fit every day. He is now arriving at my house calm and in control. It has been a very trying, learning experience for me. I have had to cling to my faith to sustain me and it has strengthened me as a mother and person in ways I didn't know possible. I have tapped into patience I didn't know I even had and I have learned how to control my own anger as when he gets that way it is easy to let his anger lure you into a little anger of your own. I have pretty much been sick ever since the boys have started which has made this process all the harder. The boys came to me with runny noses; my illness started two days later. Today I am loosing my voice. Not good when I need to constantly talk to all six kids about behvavior, sharing, and being kind to each other.
However, I do see light at the end of the tunnel. Day by day they are starting to obey my rules and expectations. I have to be on my toes CONSTANTLY! They have both told me they love me several times. No daycare kid has ever said that to me. That makes the challenge of it all a little easier. What's weird is that instead of just wanting to throw my hands in the air and say, "I give up" I just feel even more determined each day to make an impact on these boys. In the end, I hope to see nicely behaved children and know that I had a hand in molding them to be that way, probably due in large part by listening to God's voice. We've been talking a lot these days.
My girls have had their fits, and sometimes they have full blown almost put me over the edge fits, but I have never seen them throw themselves to the floor in a fit of rage and scream at the top of their lungs so loudly I thought I was going to blow an ear drum. I have never seen them loose control to the point where I had absolutely no element of control. I have also been able to put them in their rooms and let them calm down.
My newest little guy, who I will call call X to protect privacy, has the biggest temper tantrums I have ever seen. The first day after drop off I literally had to hold him down for 30 minutes because he was so out of control when I let go of him he would run to the door and try to escape. X actually did take off and run down the street when Mom was trying to get him through the front door that morning. Later at nap time he ended up screaming out of control for an hour and a half before I gave up and called mom to come pick him up. Turned out he had a horrendous ear infection. I think that contributed to a large part of his behavior that day.
Since then, he still has his temper tantrums, but they are more like 10, 15, or 20 minutes long. They are becoming less in number and slowly we are starting to get a handle on them. I feel like I am walking on eggshells all day knowing that when I enforce my no's or house rules, it may set him off. However, I am committed to standing firm so that he knows he can't walk all over me. It is so very, very hard.
The thing that has helped diffuse them the quickest is literally removing ourselves from the room so he is alone to throw the tantrums (super nanny tactic). He will not stay where I put him so putting him in a room never works; sitting him a time out spot never works because he just rolls away and starts kicking his feet. He does follow us and screams on the other side of the door and lays down and kicks the door. It is so hard to remain calm when he acts that way and sometimes I wonder if he will literally beat my door down. I literally start shaking. I sing praise songs, I quote scripture and try to distract the other children. Eventually, he calms and I then I make him sit in time out for his behavior. I know I have to follow through on a consequence for his tantrums. He is not allowed out of time out unless he is calm and sitting up against the wall. We later talk about his behavior, I tell him that we must leave the room because it hurts our ears, I tell him my expectations, I tell him God's expectations, and discuss more appropriate ways to deal with his emotions. I always hug them compliment him for being calm and in control during his time out. We always pray for God to help us with specific behavioral challenges at each snack and meal time when we pray for blessings on the food. The next time I see him on the verge of a tantrum I gently remind him about what we talked about. Sometimes it has helped him regain his control before it turns into a tantrum, other times it has made no difference.
This seems to be working....slowly Instead of temper tantrums daily, we are averaging one or two every other day or so with at least one small fit every day. He is now arriving at my house calm and in control. It has been a very trying, learning experience for me. I have had to cling to my faith to sustain me and it has strengthened me as a mother and person in ways I didn't know possible. I have tapped into patience I didn't know I even had and I have learned how to control my own anger as when he gets that way it is easy to let his anger lure you into a little anger of your own. I have pretty much been sick ever since the boys have started which has made this process all the harder. The boys came to me with runny noses; my illness started two days later. Today I am loosing my voice. Not good when I need to constantly talk to all six kids about behvavior, sharing, and being kind to each other.
However, I do see light at the end of the tunnel. Day by day they are starting to obey my rules and expectations. I have to be on my toes CONSTANTLY! They have both told me they love me several times. No daycare kid has ever said that to me. That makes the challenge of it all a little easier. What's weird is that instead of just wanting to throw my hands in the air and say, "I give up" I just feel even more determined each day to make an impact on these boys. In the end, I hope to see nicely behaved children and know that I had a hand in molding them to be that way, probably due in large part by listening to God's voice. We've been talking a lot these days.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Wrote a book
Yes....that's right folks. I wrote a book. My mother proposed the idea to me about a month or two ago. Now it's not a long one. It's about 50 pages on a word document. I'm guessing that may double if it were actually printed into a real book because word's pages are much larger than the pages of a book. With all my experience with children and the things I do with them daily, my mom thought I should share with others.
I have to admit when she first proposed the idea of writing it, I thought she was nuts. After all, I've only been a mother for 5 years. However, collectively starting from my first babysitting job at the age of 13 I have worked with children for 20 years of my life. I know there is still A LOT to learn. I even wonder if any one would take me seriously since my children are far from grown. So at first I just kind of wrote off the idea thinking maybe someday, but I'm not ready yet.
However, the idea kept sneaking back into my mind. I had a conversation with God about it and I was basically told to just sit down and start writing out the things that I could talk about. I had the feeling that I may be surprised what I came up with. All the sudden ideas just started popping into my mind at lightning speeds. I got out my pencil and started writing as quickly as my pencil could go all the while trying to fix supper as we had a guest coming soon. It really was bad timing, but I knew I had to write it down before the ideas were gone.
When I finished, I realized I had a lot more to say than I thought I did. I knew a lot more than I thought I did. Suddenly a real passion to get started took over. I spent night after night typing, typing, typing. It was addicting. The words just flowed out of me so naturally and perfectly. I later went and started adding passage after passage of scripture to drive some points home. They fit perfectly into what I was trying to say. I had the number in my head of 50 and when I finished I had exactly 50 pages. They fit perfectly into what I was trying to say.
Then I went back and read it. It kind of amazed me how well it all fit together. I don't take credit for any of it really. I do think God wanted me to do it. I do not know why. Perhaps, it will be published someday and be a blessing for its readers. Perhaps it will be a keepsake for my children to help them raise thier own children. Perhaps it's just a good reminder for me to know just how far I've come as a mother and person. I really don't know.
Right now I'm sitting on it. I have given it to my mother to read and critique. I will probably be seeing if one of my good friends can edit for me for mistakes as she is SOOO good at that. Then, I will just see where God leads my heart with it. It is called Being the Christian Mother God Made You to Be.
In case you're wondering what's in it. Here are the chapters:
I have to admit when she first proposed the idea of writing it, I thought she was nuts. After all, I've only been a mother for 5 years. However, collectively starting from my first babysitting job at the age of 13 I have worked with children for 20 years of my life. I know there is still A LOT to learn. I even wonder if any one would take me seriously since my children are far from grown. So at first I just kind of wrote off the idea thinking maybe someday, but I'm not ready yet.
However, the idea kept sneaking back into my mind. I had a conversation with God about it and I was basically told to just sit down and start writing out the things that I could talk about. I had the feeling that I may be surprised what I came up with. All the sudden ideas just started popping into my mind at lightning speeds. I got out my pencil and started writing as quickly as my pencil could go all the while trying to fix supper as we had a guest coming soon. It really was bad timing, but I knew I had to write it down before the ideas were gone.
When I finished, I realized I had a lot more to say than I thought I did. I knew a lot more than I thought I did. Suddenly a real passion to get started took over. I spent night after night typing, typing, typing. It was addicting. The words just flowed out of me so naturally and perfectly. I later went and started adding passage after passage of scripture to drive some points home. They fit perfectly into what I was trying to say. I had the number in my head of 50 and when I finished I had exactly 50 pages. They fit perfectly into what I was trying to say.
Then I went back and read it. It kind of amazed me how well it all fit together. I don't take credit for any of it really. I do think God wanted me to do it. I do not know why. Perhaps, it will be published someday and be a blessing for its readers. Perhaps it will be a keepsake for my children to help them raise thier own children. Perhaps it's just a good reminder for me to know just how far I've come as a mother and person. I really don't know.
Right now I'm sitting on it. I have given it to my mother to read and critique. I will probably be seeing if one of my good friends can edit for me for mistakes as she is SOOO good at that. Then, I will just see where God leads my heart with it. It is called Being the Christian Mother God Made You to Be.
In case you're wondering what's in it. Here are the chapters:
I. Preface
II. Some Basics of Being a Christian Mother
III. Scripture
IV. Education
V. The Family Budget
VI. Discipline
VII. Your Marriage
VIII. Outside Influences
IX. Church
X. The Evil One
XI. Love
XII. Reaping the Rewards
XIII. Prayer of Salvation
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
A biblical journey
I've always known that the word of God is the Sword of the Spirit. I'm not sure I fully understood what that meant until recently. I have been trying to commit to memory verses that I need right now because something inside urged me too. For me, that means teaching them to the kids and putting it to the song. That is my little trick for remembering it quickly and easily.
Jeff even came home one afternoon to me busting a move to "Love is patient, love is kind...." That verse saved me from loosing it last week. It seemed to diffuse anxiety that came my way in the middle of the new boy's many temper tantrums. We simply would hibernate in another room and sing the verse together while he calmed down. It seemed to diffuse not only my anxiety over his trying behavior, but also his emotions as well.
If emotions were a concrete thing you could see, I can imagine that God's word was a nice shiny sword slicing through all that drama last week. It has encouraged me to continue seeking his face through his word, and striving to hide it in my heart. It truly kept me sane last week. Emotionally I wanted to fall apart, but deep inside there was something stronger holding me up. Praise Jesus! I get it now. Suit me up in your full armor. It is much easier being under your protection, that's for sure.
Jeff even came home one afternoon to me busting a move to "Love is patient, love is kind...." That verse saved me from loosing it last week. It seemed to diffuse anxiety that came my way in the middle of the new boy's many temper tantrums. We simply would hibernate in another room and sing the verse together while he calmed down. It seemed to diffuse not only my anxiety over his trying behavior, but also his emotions as well.
If emotions were a concrete thing you could see, I can imagine that God's word was a nice shiny sword slicing through all that drama last week. It has encouraged me to continue seeking his face through his word, and striving to hide it in my heart. It truly kept me sane last week. Emotionally I wanted to fall apart, but deep inside there was something stronger holding me up. Praise Jesus! I get it now. Suit me up in your full armor. It is much easier being under your protection, that's for sure.
Monday, March 21, 2011
It worked
I'm not sure I ever updated after one of my last posts regarding my little 'ehem' complexion problem. This will be short and sweet. I never did a fast by the way, but still would like to try it sometime. I did try the following which were supposed to help with complexion problems:
-Eliminating milk
-adding zinc supplements
-adding cod liver oil supplements
-drinking more green tea
-eliminating caffeine (this was short lived)
-drinking apple cider vinegar
Perhaps it was a combo of all of the above, but I really think what finally helped me was the apple cider vinegar as I only started noticing a notable difference when I took it. The day after I started taking it, I got no new blemishes. Within 3 days, things began to really clear up. I had two deep blemishes that took a couple weeks to clear up and are almost gone today. That's a win in my book, because I had one of these blemishes that had been on my face for MONTHS! My skin looks clear. This is such a relief to me as I was starting to get scarring from this problem. I am just ecstatic that I finally found something natural to help me; no doctors or antibiotics and drugs for me thankyou! It took a little while to get over the taste of the stuff, it's like drinking salad dressing in the morning, but hey it is worth it! I finally feel comfortable in my own skin again.
So if you ever have a little blemish problem of your own. Give it a try. I take one tablespoon of the stuff diluted in water twice a day and use a solution of 1/3 ACV and 2/3 water as a toner after I wash my face with baby soap. I'll never go back.
-Eliminating milk
-adding zinc supplements
-adding cod liver oil supplements
-drinking more green tea
-eliminating caffeine (this was short lived)
-drinking apple cider vinegar
Perhaps it was a combo of all of the above, but I really think what finally helped me was the apple cider vinegar as I only started noticing a notable difference when I took it. The day after I started taking it, I got no new blemishes. Within 3 days, things began to really clear up. I had two deep blemishes that took a couple weeks to clear up and are almost gone today. That's a win in my book, because I had one of these blemishes that had been on my face for MONTHS! My skin looks clear. This is such a relief to me as I was starting to get scarring from this problem. I am just ecstatic that I finally found something natural to help me; no doctors or antibiotics and drugs for me thankyou! It took a little while to get over the taste of the stuff, it's like drinking salad dressing in the morning, but hey it is worth it! I finally feel comfortable in my own skin again.
So if you ever have a little blemish problem of your own. Give it a try. I take one tablespoon of the stuff diluted in water twice a day and use a solution of 1/3 ACV and 2/3 water as a toner after I wash my face with baby soap. I'll never go back.
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