I love this short post entitled “Why I Stay Home“- go check it out!
Perspective
August 28, 2009 — threelittlejewellsThis post is just fabulous. Please take the time to read it. PERSPECTIVE
“Has our perspective in America become so skewed that we think piano lessons, soccer games, and college funds are more important than saving a life? I know that some people think our kids are ‘missing out’ on some of the things that ‘normal’ families do. It’s true that our kids are not involved in three sports or music lessons and that we stay home a lot. But they have a FAMILY who loves them. If they didn’t live here with us, they would be in an orphanage. They would belong to NO ONE. Even if they had some opportunities in their home countries for education, who would they come home to at holidays?”
In the post above, she links to another post. I’m posting it below because I wouldn’t want you to miss it either. Also fabulous.
Wanna Know What Breaks My Heart Just As Much As This?
I cannot tell you how often I have had people say to me “I don’t know how you can handle SEVEN kids- I can’t even stand the two I’ve
Our children are our greatest treasures- I promise you God didn’t give them to you and I so that ‘we wouldn’t be able to stand being around them”… got!” And that is what breaks my heart.
We are tricked into thinking that we are good parents when we give them everything-because by giving them things we are proving their worth. (and we forget that worth is not found in things).
We look at our beautiful little cherubs and want to give them the world- and we believe we can.
We think by lavishing them with gifts, signing them up for every lesson from violin to soccer-we are proving how talented they (so in essence WE) are.
We teach them that they are better than everyone else and that they need to look out for #1.
But really- by doing those things, we are stealing from them.
Three Great Links
July 11, 2009 — threelittlejewellsOne of my all-time favorite posts EVER-
When Sullen Teen Meets Frumpy Mom
Whether you are a Mom of Many, a Mom of Some, a Mom of One or a Mom of None, read this oh-so-fabulous post….
Who Will Lead the Children? The comments on this post are *really* good- don’t miss them!
Mom, Can I….???
June 26, 2009 — threelittlejewellsLove, love, love the post below!
Requiring Your Child To Ask For Permission
Think about the things your child does that nag at you a bit. If that little voice of intuition is speaking to you, it means something.
Here are some signs you need to have your child ask for permission:
- It’s very quiet in the other room and you discover your child elbow-deep in playdough…on the carpet!
- Your child goes out back (or front!) by himself.
- Your child pulls out bubbles and other messy crafts at will.
- You’re playing outside and he pulls out his bike, scooter, soccer ball and tennis racket. By the time he’s done, the entire neighborhood is scattered with your belongings.
- Whenever the mood strikes, your child rummages through the pantry or refrigerator for a snack.
- Your child acts like the house is his playground. He is allowed free access to any room.
Sermon
June 15, 2009 — threelittlejewellsI’m bumping this up to the top- It’s so excellent that it deserves it’s own post. I think I’ve listened to this sermon 6 or 7 times now.
Speaking of sermons, I just listened to THIS SERMON (scroll down and choose “March Voddie Baucham”) and like Amy said, “I can’t believe he got away with it!”
(hat tip to Generation Cedar)
“We despise children in the Southern Baptist Convention.”
-Voddie Baucham
Can I say, “AMEN!” to this?!!! In my opinion, EVERY WORD of what he said is TRUE and I admire his courage to say so.
Difficult
May 29, 2009 — threelittlejewells“That Difficult Age”
Man-oh-man, Sweet Savvy is at that difficult age! I always say that 12 months – 24 months is SUCH a difficult age and boy is she reminding me of that lately.
Of course, Kip and I aren’t helping things. We’ve been so besotted with this baby that we’re like two blathering fools. She’s over in the corner having a fit and the two of us are sitting there like idiots going “oh, the baby is so beautiful even when she’s mad” and “oh, it’s just so precious”. I looked at Kip the other day and said “What in the world are we doing??? We KNOW better!”
Savannah, 21 months old, Thursday, 5/28/09 (I often wear my sunglasses pushed up on my head like this- I love that she found these kid sunglasses and is copying me. Such a cute baby.)
It’s time to crack down on the fit throwing, etc. One thing that I’ve never totally successfully trained for at this young age is sitting- I KNOW she can do it, but somehow I’ve failed in this area.
Anyhow, Kip and I??? We’ve got work to do.
Here’s a couple posts that have been encouraging to me lately.
Like Mother, Like Daughter has a really excellent post up entitled “Dear Aristotle, he’s so clever” about obedience.
Here’s the goal (it’s two-fold): To enjoy a bit of peace at home, and to be able to tell God that you took seriously the obligation to train your child to be virtuous — which, as dear Aristotle reminds us, is the ability to do the right thing for its own sake.
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Foolish parents constantly react to (or ignore) their children’s misbehavior, instead of taking the time to instill good behavior.
They constantly seek affirmation from their children, and so are either afraid of administering the punishment necessary, or retreat after doing so out of surprise that their children show them attitude.
Attitude is what I define as a reaction that you can safely ignore or call out (“Young lady, stop that whining!”), but never take seriously — never let affect your own will.
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Generation Cedar has a good blog post up entitled “Early Child Training“. Here’s an excerpt…
My youngest daughter (18 months old) has entered “the moment of truth”. It is crucial, IMO, that child training starts very early–even as babies we begin using certain words to get them familiar with our expectations, but between the ages of about 1-3, training is intense…they are
testing the waters
checking the boundaries
making sure the perimeters are in place–’cause it’s going to be a scary world if they’re not.
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Childwise Chat has been doing an excellent series on obedience in children. Well worth the time to read and very encouraging.
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Books and Bairns has a post up that I regard as simply PERFECT- Take a few moments and read this:
I AM NOT THE MOTHER I WANTED TO BE
Wow
May 2, 2009 — threelittlejewellsWow- THIS was so fabulous that I think I’ve read it about 3 times tonight. I dread that moment for Mary, knowing that at 5 1/2 it is quickly approaching.
(Post entitled “#512. Thinking You’re Naked” from the blog “Stuff Christians Like”)
Sibling Relationships
April 11, 2009 — threelittlejewells“Friends inside the home or no friends outside the home”.
Kelly at Generation Cedar
Generation Cedar has an excellent post up today entitled ” Sibling Relationships- How To Make Them Friends”.
“Sibling and family relationships are foundational to all other relationships in life. If those of us from the same home, same rules, same genes, same habits cannot learn selflessness and yielding, how can we expect to get along with a spouse from a different set of circumstances altogether?”
Proverbs 17:1
April 3, 2009 — threelittlejewellsThis post by Pursuing Titus 2 is so, so awesome: Proverbs 17:1 for Mothers
Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife. –Proverbs 17:1
I’ve been using a new Memory Verse System and this is definitely going to be one of my new memory verses! For me and the children!
A few excellent quotes from her article…
This is not a call to mediocrity–far from it. It’s a call to excellence in the things that truly matter, things like that meek and quiet spirit that’s of such great price in God’s eyes (1 Peter 3:4), or just giving my children memories of a happy mother who was delighted to have their help and companionship, who enjoyed working with them.
As is so often the case in the Christian life, attitude trumps accomplishment. We should aspire to do wonderful things with our lives and our homes, but we have to remember to start with hearts and relationships and continually put quietness before lavish sacrifice.
A Few Links…
March 26, 2009 — threelittlejewellsDon’t miss these good links- all of them are short but worthwhile.
Weakness “I have a friend who often reminds me that we as a church body should be encouraging each other’s strengths and protecting one another’s weaknesses. I told my children that. I have been seeing far too much teasing of weaknesses, or annoyance at each other’s annoying traits, rather than gentle forbearance and patient protection of hearts….We are family. We should be joyfully encouraging the strengths and boldly protecting the weaknesses. I don’t mean excusing the weaknesses. I mean that we should be patiently, lovingly, gently understanding that something is a weakness in another person rather than allowing that trait to get under our skin.”
Funniest Engagement Stories from Posie Gets Cozy- So cute! There are 10 short and funny stories.
Family Bonding from The Common Room “The more experiences, words, anecdotes, jokes the family have in common, the closer they are bound together…. Humor is one of those spiritual values which will help tide us over the years when the children are young. But that is stopping short of the truth, for humor and gaity and merriment are a never-failing benediction.” From Mrs. Moffett Benton’s At the Pace of a Hen.
Streets With No Kids “Adults don’t even know how to feel about children anymore, because we spend so much time away from them. We view them as burdens, messing up our personal goals and desires. We look forward to the time we can lock them back up in their age-rooms. The separation makes it easy to overlook their bad behavior and their bad behavior makes the separation easier.”
