They’ll also need encouragement to get them through another year of homeschooling. When I was still homeschooling, I wrote three eBooks for homeschooling parents. I called them the Stages of Homeschooling series: one eBook for prospective and beginning homeschooling parents, one eBook for those in the thick of homeschooling, and one eBook for parents of homeschooled teens.

These three eBooks will be available for FREE on Amazon.com next month:

Stages of Homeschooling Book 1: Beginnings will be free from August 5-9, 2019

Stages of Homeschooling Book 2: Enjoying the Journey will be free from August 12-16, 2019

Stages of Homeschooling Book 3: Letting Go will be free from August 19-23, 2019.

So mark your calendar and tell your friends. Get your free eBooks while you can!

Mom responds by removing the YouTube app from the child’s phone and tablet.

OK, so Mom has solved the immediate problem. But why does this young child have a phone? Or a tablet? I understand that these tiny portable babysitters are extremely convenient for busy parents who want to keep kids out of their hair, but this whole technology thing is getting out of control.

Parents have been parking their kids in front of the television for about 70 years now, but children’s television shows were vetted and usually safe for children’s consumption. (Not that I’m saying it’s good to use the television as a babysitter, but I’m being realistic here.) Now people are giving free rein to kids to watch anything posted by anyone.

This is going to sound really old-fashioned, but my question is, why don’t today’s parents say:

“Go read a book.”

“Go play with your toys.”

“Go play in the yard.”

instead of giving them phones and tablets? Books and toys are certainly safer, and far more educational.

Then you read about an enterprising young man who heard that Seattle was struggling after being hit with a foot of snow, drove there with his truck and plow, and worked almost around the clock for four days, earning $35,000 in the process. He’ll be tithing 20% of his earnings, and plans to spend the rest on his business and a future house of his own.

So there is hope for at least some of this generation.

Our son with Down syndrome was born 26 years ago, and he has brought our family at least as much joy as you just saw in this video. He can also be a challenge sometimes. So he’s not all that different from his older siblings

I’m sorry to say that 90% of infants with Down syndrome do not make it to the predicted day of their birth because their mothers abort them. This is a great tragedy; if there’s one thing we need more of in this world, it’s joy.

A dear friend gave me a Cuddle Quilt kit a while back. Cuddle fabric is very soft and fuzzy. I used an even-feed foot to sew this quilt and it went together easily. Soon after I finished it, we were hit with temperatures as low as -25 degrees, so it was the perfect time to have a nice, new, warm quilt.

So I understand why today’s children (including some of my grandchildren) are spending time on smartphones. But we’re seeing more and more evidence that smartphones are a very bad idea for children. They keep them from playing, which is how they learn. They keep them from using their imaginations, which is not a good thing. And now a recent study shows that children who use smartphones spend twice as long using them as talking to their parents.

This is logical, and alarming. The parent-child relationship must supersede all else in a young child’s life. This is how they learn the most important things they need to know: from their parents. Anything that interrupts that relationship needs to go.

It will be hard. I totally understand. Even though I haven’t raised a young child in decades, I remember what it’s like. But it’s time to admit that children should not be allowed to do anything with smartphones. These devices are too addicting, and they take children away from far more important things, like conversing with their parents.

My youngest granddaughter discovered the movie “Frozen” and fell in love with it. So when I stumbled onto this scrap of fabric with characters from the movie in my stash, I knew just what to do. When combined with some other coordinating fabrics, it almost made itself. Now she can fill it with toys and drag it around the house, as she likes to do with bags of all kinds.