tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43765357749657349562026-05-27T02:00:18.923-07:00I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-25855269903220840802011-12-01T10:07:00.001-08:002011-12-01T10:09:33.317-08:00

Once I ask my children to do something I may (or may not) give one free reminder, but after that I charge management fees for my reminder services.  Management fees are payable in small acts of service (fetch things for me, make my bed, etc.), nothing too dire, but enough to make them wish they had just done whatever it was in the first place. If nothing else, it gets my bed made on most

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-13803132135250221772011-02-09T12:25:00.000-08:002011-02-11T10:12:25.591-08:00

My bff is visiting us later today. She is famous for giving marathon scoldings, full of detail and rational reasoning and quite endless. She'll pretty much bore a child into compliance. I am getting so much mileage out of this: Child starts to misbehave. I say, "Hmmm, shall I ask [bff] to have a little chat with you about this?" Child straightens out immediately. I've tried her techniques,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-43199854268641751972010-08-02T11:52:00.000-07:002010-08-02T12:46:01.123-07:00

I haven't been blogging, as I am torn between these two: sharing what is happening and maybe getting some help and support versus protecting my children's privacy.  So, I have made a new blog.  If you would like to read it, please post a comment here or send me an email, and I'll send the address to you. I'll be moving all the old TMI posts over to the new blog, so don't be surprised

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-22981830641923497402010-05-17T15:43:00.000-07:002010-05-17T19:40:45.349-07:00

So, I am reading this really good book on teaching -- Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College by Doug Lemov -- and hoping to share its wonders with you, though I know full well that I will lose track of what I wanted to say by the time I finish the book, as I get to read it in 30 second intervals between words on the spelling test or between innings or

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-6335355803671131492010-02-02T13:46:00.000-08:002010-02-02T17:58:58.642-08:00

Chickadee has been assigned lines: I will not barge in when Mom is typing. x10 Chickadee: WHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAA Mom: That noise is hassling my ears. Would you like to quiet down? or would you like to take it upstairs? (She takes it upstairs and has a right good screaming fit. Comes back down and sits and glares at her lines. All 10 of them.) Chickadee: Mom? Mom: Do you have a question about

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-1895106078584762572009-12-14T11:30:00.001-08:002009-12-14T17:15:17.430-08:00

Do your kids drive you crazy with The Stall Question? Of course not, for you are a paragon of patience and loving-kindness. Me? Not so much. They drive me nuts with the lame-o unnecessary already-know-the-answer-and-we-all-know-that-you-know-the-answer questions that they ask to put off the inevitable for one more second, or that they ask for the sheer joy of watching Mom's head explode. I

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-23641590081628861752009-07-21T09:45:00.000-07:002009-07-21T09:45:00.266-07:00

Yup. That is what Dandy's day camp counselor told us at the end of the week. That our son, the one that is usually the Difficult One in other contexts, did not make the naughty list at day camp. We are so pleased. I can't possibly share with you how many hours of coaching and parenting and intervening and fretting this accomplishment cost us, nor how pleased we are to -- at least not on this

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-37955389548733065822009-05-19T10:54:00.000-07:002009-05-19T10:54:22.704-07:00

I've been writing love notes on the children's napkins each day. This morning they made their own sandwiches and finished packing their lunches, including the napkins. As they were finishing up I came in to do the love note part. Too late. They had already written the love notes, from one to the other, and apparently in secret, as they wouldn't tell me what they had written.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-55679930808945492232009-03-06T00:44:00.000-08:002009-03-11T19:46:59.912-07:00

Have you ever lived with a dog from an dominance-oriented breed? One that -- though it loves you -- is always angling for the take-over? Our beloved Akita is like this and every 4-5 years I have to take her on and reestablish that she is not in line for the position of beta dog. (My husband is -- in doggie eyes -- alpha and I am beta).With a dog, I know how to do this. If they are sleeping in

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-63629203419053089282009-02-10T14:57:00.000-08:002009-02-10T15:08:00.637-08:00

I am so ANGRY. I shouldn't blog while angry, but GRRRRRRMy darling daughter just revealed to me she does not argue and sass and backtalk her science teacher at our co-op, nor her gymnastics teacher, nor her art teacher. Why not? Cause she doesn't like to get in trouble in front of other kids, she reports.So, she recognizes what is unacceptable and controls it for these other people, but dishes

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-84242834167116553812009-01-25T18:34:00.000-08:002009-01-25T21:17:58.048-08:00

Okay, help me understand our daughter.On the one hand, she appears to have very little self-confidence in that if she doesn't know how to do something, she will just freeze until someone bigger than she comes and tells her. Her 'try' muscles are virtually non-existent. (This is particularly hard for me as I don't understand and generally dislike a 'quitting' attitude.) She displays -- in most

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-80216239802360173272009-01-16T00:01:00.000-08:002009-01-15T23:33:47.899-08:00

We had to do the ouchy eye drops at yesterday's eye doc visit. I basically have to sit on her and wrap her arms in a straight-jacket style while the nurse drops the nasty stuff in. She opens her mouth to get a lungful for the scream, and Dandy pops into it a chewy caramel chocolate. Dandy and I get chocolate too, for enduring the trauma of seeing her so distressed.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-61263892444291231562009-01-09T21:23:00.000-08:002009-01-09T21:54:03.432-08:00

I am teaching World Literature this quarter for Washington State Community Colleges. I've not taught this before and am having a lovely time reading the anthology and selecting the readings for the quarter. Here is one of my recent finds, which appeals to me both as teacher and mother. Where Children LiveHomes where children live exude a pleasant rumpledness,like a bed made by a child, or a

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-73938165477244885252009-01-05T22:04:00.000-08:002010-07-30T18:49:44.973-07:00

upstairs: Chickadee: G'night, I love you. Dandy: I love you too.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-2063360983481437362008-12-05T12:55:00.000-08:002008-12-08T12:00:47.213-08:00

I am so excited about one of Dandy's Christmas gifts. One of the tools we use with him is the idea of THINK wherein each letter is linked some criteria which ought to be considered before one starts to speak. He has some issues with blurting out really weird, hurtful, or meddlesome thoughts.My blog-friend Kim, over at Bookworms Bookmarks, has made our THINK into a beautiful piece of wall art

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-32135058618991475322008-10-22T11:18:00.000-07:002008-10-22T11:33:33.902-07:00

With Halloween coming up, and with two sugar-sensitive kids, and with me already tired of debating with eye-rolling strangers as we try to decline the sugar they are foisting off on us, it is time to start talking up the Candy Fairy!You know, the one that visits in the early morning of November 1 and swaps your bag or jar of candy for a new game. Yes, that one. The more candy you leave for her,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-16587288028700404192008-10-22T01:40:00.000-07:002008-10-22T11:14:38.034-07:00

Chickadee is working on her AWANA verse:John 3:16For God so loved the world he gave his one and only Son whoever believes in him will not paralyze but have eternal life.So, I wonder if she thinks her Grandpa was lacking in the belief department.:: one year ago today: school updates

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-41056705404005441802008-10-16T16:32:00.000-07:002008-10-16T16:34:01.980-07:00

Feeling like challenging some preconceptions? Go read about Why I Can't Be a Foster Parent . . .

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-55254423957111362112008-10-14T07:06:00.000-07:002008-10-14T07:06:00.483-07:00

The kids are doing Iguana club on Wednesday evenings this year. You know, the club where they learn Bible verses and get badges -- like Scouts for religious people? Do I have to correct their pronunciation?

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-65147161655661203402008-09-27T07:43:00.000-07:002008-09-27T07:43:00.265-07:00

We've all heard people talk about what their kids won't eat or what the kids complain about, or read posts or comments or even whole blogs devoted to the theme of picky eaters . Usually I bite my tongue, as no-one wants to hear me at the moment, but what I want to say is burbling around and I have to vocalize it."What do you mean?" I want to ask. "This does not happen at my house." If my kids

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-83006360290281826872008-09-19T01:38:00.000-07:002008-09-19T11:04:51.858-07:00

Chickadee woke me up this morning, saying:Mom, wake up, you have lots of responsubiwities, you have to paint my toenails and cook yummy food and go to your boring meeting and take us to Grandma and Grandpas.Hard to argue with that! parenting

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-68433112006060285222008-09-07T09:39:00.000-07:002008-09-12T12:25:09.912-07:00

Yuck. Once again Dandy has completely grossed me out by showing up with gum in his mouth. Found Gum. Used Gum. Off the sidewalk Gum.Am I the only mom that has to deal with this? What would you do? parenting, older+child+adoption

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-65495507741646776722008-09-02T16:59:00.000-07:002008-09-19T21:17:58.023-07:00

Twice I have sent Dandy across the lawn to the convenience store (we are vacationing with Mom in Canada) to pick up this or that. I made it over to the store today and the clerk pulled me over to say that on each of Andy's visits the other customers had been vigoursly commenting on what a nice polite well-behaved little boy he was. She wanted to make sure I knew that it was working even when I

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-28260796884344739562008-08-20T10:46:00.000-07:002008-09-15T01:01:08.139-07:00

Okay, so, here is the situation.1. Dandy wakes up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and Chickadee and I, well, we are very fond of lazy restful mornings.2. Dandy wakes up starving.3. Dandy loves to cook.From an attachment point of view, I'm supposed to be the great food-dispenser, the goddess of all things yummy. From a practical point of view, he is the obvious choice for breakfast cook.Am I doing

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376535774965734956.post-80562482851058267072008-08-05T07:15:00.000-07:002008-08-05T11:18:13.371-07:00

NO! You may NOT pour buckets of water in the upstairs hallway and use the hallway as a slip and slide.And if you do, and you get your sister involved, and you don't get caught, you may want to coach that sister to NOT coming running to mom & dad to tell mom & dad how fun it was, because right at that very moment that she speaks, the fun is over. OVER.GRRRRRrrrrrr.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6