Most of the schools in the area are canceled due to the ice...just another day off for many Wisconsin students (their teachers called in "sick" last week so they could assemble in Madison and protest Governor Walker's efforts to balance our state budget).
But my brave and hard-working son got into his little Honda and headed down the highway for his college classes this morning. The only time the universities cancel school seems to be when the Governor intervenes. Pray for travel mercies!
In Autumn, it is not unusual to find the windows covered with a morning dew, but I don't normally find this sketched into my back door at dawn when I head out to feed the cats. LOL!
Sunrise
There are days when I would like to go back
Go back to childhood simplicity
Back to when I was not responsible
Not always in charge
``
Summer days were lazy days
Vacation meant curling up with good books
Winter included lots of time on the ice rink
snowmen and angels
``
My home always calls to me
The work is never done
Voices let me know
No one emptied the dishwasher
The jeans have not been washed
The cats have not been fed
The stove is getting cold
Dinner needs to be made
The house is cluttered
The van is dirty
The children need to be somewhere
The lights have been left on
``
I am responsible to do it
Or oversee the one who does
``
Perhaps in my old age
I will have fewer voices calling to me
But will I like that?
Or will I feel lonely,
Unnecessary?
``
Perhaps it is time
To embrace where I am
There is no perfect time
There is only today
"Be content with such things as you have..."
How can he sleep that way? Must be a cat.
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On Tuesday I will begin teaching my 15th year of homeschooling.
Sometimes I feel very weary, and I can only look in awe on the mothers of large families who continue the homeschooling journey for so many years.
Weary or not, I would not willingly give up the years in the past or in the future of my time with my children.
The other day someone asked, "If you were to be stranded on a deserted island for the rest of your life, who would you want to be there with you?"
I did not have to think about it for more than a second.
My family.
We laugh together, and we quibble and spat; we read the same books, and we hold the same values.
We worship the same God.
Life has been good.
Leave a child alone in a room while you answer the phone, and you may find all sorts of creative activity when you return.
Note: the sun spot, Earth's moon, the storms on Jupiter, the rings of Saturn.
Apparently, we could do a bit more studying of the last planet (this was made before Pluto's demize)--especially Pluto's size ratio!
What would we do without children to make us smile?
Driving home
Below is a post I wrote for my old blog several months ago. I'm going to post it here on my Typepad blog for anyone who might benefit from it. All who are in the process of raising children need encouragement from time to time--I hope this can help someone today.
Blessings,
Jean
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Tomato Staking
~~Raising children is a journey. We walk a long winding path that leads us through cheerful meadows, but that path is bound to descend into dark and difficult stretches. A couple of my children were very strong-willed when they were small. I recall attending a homeschool meeting one evening when my five-year-old had decided he did not want to be there. Before we bundled him out of their home, he had played “bat the pull chain” with the ceiling fan and had jumped from couch to chair to chair to couch around their living room. Nothing like asking for attention and making mom and dad desperately embarrassed! This child could not be left in a room with other children without making someone break down in tears. This was a time where the path narrowed and became very steep; the night was rainy and the new moon gave no light to help us.
~~I prayed. I cried. And then I decided that I needed to tomato stake. At the time I did not know anything about tomato staking—this was a new term to me. Yet it is a good way to describe what I did. When I grow tomatoes in the garden, I can let them trail all over the ground, or I can carefully place a stake next to them and gently tie them up as they grow. When the plant produces fruit, the staked plant’s tomatoes stay clean and have room to grow. The plant that sprawls on the ground has fruit that is squashed between the vines and is dirty, and the slugs and dampness of the earth can leave them less than perfect. A child that is staked, like the tomato, is trained to do what is good by gently tying him to you—so that his fruit will also be good.
~~I began by telling my son that he would need to stay where I could see and hear him. I also called him over to work with me whenever he could help in the task. We hoed in the garden and washed dishes together. He scrubbed the sink while I cleaned the shower. When he played with his brother and sister, he did so in a place that I could see what was happening, and as soon as my instincts told me that he was headed for trouble, I called to him to do something different—some days I got the play-dough out and set him at the kitchen table; other times he joined me by helping me work. I can honestly tell you that this was not easy for either of us! Some days we had quite frankly had enough of each other, and I chose, in desperation, to set the “dear” child in front of a video. Sometimes I did this because I needed a respite; other times he was simply too tired and cranky to be capable of obeying me. For a whole year we lived this way—slowly allowing the apron strings to get a little longer. As he showed me he could be trusted, I allowed him more freedom. If the freedom was abused, we drew the circle between us a little smaller. It was exhausting.
~~A child who is angry and troublesome is not cooperative! It was not fun to pull weeds with a child who was mad at me! As we worked side by side, I found that it help if we talked. I told him that I loved him. I talked about what I wanted for him as he grew up—to be an honorable person whom others could trust and rely upon. I told him stories about people who did not learn to abide by the rules (the news is full of these). When he was mean to other children, we discussed what it meant to be a friend, how we needed to act in order to have friends, and what we could learn from God’s love that showed us how we should treat others. I also shared my struggles with this child. I spoke about areas in my life that I was trying to improve—I told him that I prayed and meditated so that I could remain calm with my children. I talked about the times I lost my temper or raised my voice at him and discussed how I was working hard on changing my behavior so that I could be a better mother. I tried to be a real person to this child so that he could see that all of us struggle to do what is good—it is part of being human.
~~I also learned to listen. This child loved to tell me about a video he had seen—over and over and over again. He chattered about what was important to him, and I listened to all his let’s pretend stories, Lego building experiences, and silly humor. I asked him questions and I paid attention to him. As he worked beside me, I began to look deeply into his soul, and I learned to love him all over again. When a child takes a turn towards rebellion, it is easy to forget how much we love him, but this is the very time in his life when he needs to feel that love more than ever. This is not easy. When they make us hurt. We like to retaliate, so we are left struggling with our own emotions and frustrations. We are stretched and forced to grow and mature. Children do this to us whether we like it or not. It is a painful experience that teaches us about ourselves, about our own shortcomings.
~~Today I have a teenaged son. One day he had invited me to go over to the woods with him, and as he drove up on the gator to give me a ride, I saw him dust the seat off next to him for me. He has a deeper voice now, and I have to look up when I speak to him. He has a wonderful sense of humor. Although his antics around the house can drive us a little crazy, I have a responsible child whom I can trust. He obeys me, and I do not sense any of that old rebellion inside him—I am so glad we took the time to win the battle when he was a five year old! This same child now works with the children in an AWANA program; he listens to verses and leads games. The adults who work with him tell me how much they appreciate him and that he is a good role model for the children.
~~Tomato staking was a long, arduous task. I spent a lot of days feeling like a failure. I felt helpless and many times I felt like tossing my apron over my head for a good cry. I am glad, however, that I did not give up. The effort was more than worthwhile. I sense that I would not have such a peaceful teenager if I had not addressed the problems of my 5 year old. I suggest to anyone whose young child needs tomato staking that you do, indeed, take the time and effort to do so. The rewards are immeasurable.
Prayer in a Silent Home
Hubby is working out of town tonight. Bethany is
meeting her friend who will drive the two of them to the next town for
a movie. JM and Jacob are heading out to AWANA to help with the little
kids' program...
My house is silent. Every time the family leave
I pray that they return safely. I stand at the door and pray as they
pull out of the garage, and then I look out the front window to see
them drive slowly down the lane.
It is so nice to have children
who are getting older, and I do not have to do everything for them
anymore; I am getting too old for that.
But, oh my! It is hard to let them go, trusting that nothing can happen which is outside of God's loving arms.
Today...
We started doing some school again, but we did not do a full schedule.
I made a new venison recipe: Steak N Gravy. The children told me it was yummy!
I found a package of marshmallows left in the front porch, frozen solid. So I had to find something to do with them--
There is still an air of festivity around the house--lots of
chatter between the children. They seem to have enjoyed the quiet
Christmas holiday. I do think the boys are ready to get back to their
books, however, because they've done what they've wanted to do during
Christmas break and have no new projects they are ready to start.
Bethany is just glad to be home with no college work to do. Hopefully
hubby will be home tomorrow night and we will be a family together
again.
Just 3 more days before Epiphany...Blessings!
Jean
Wordless Wednesday
I really think we need to get my boys a dog.
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I believe that I am in the middle of the busiest time of my life! Last Sunday was homeschool graduation. Since the moms of seniors help put the program together, I have been busy buying decorations and getting people lined up to help. Bethany graduated with 8 others. She handed us a rose, and we handed her a diploma (signed as of June 15th since her classes are not done :-). Tuesday night I hosted the homeschool "Mom's Night Out", and last night we had 40 kids visiting our astronomy club--and my telescope was having problems (not good when it tells you to "check the mount" and dies). Tonight is our astronomy group's board meeting, and the week just keeps on chugging. Bethany is scampering to finish the last of her school work. John will be doing Latin, Science, and Math throughout the summer. Jacob is almost done.
And me? Between studying Latin, trying to clean the house and getting the yard together before my daughter's graduation party open house, teaching school, doing my exercises, registering the food I eat on Sparkpeople, taking care of the chickens, planning for a week at camp, and balancing who gets the van when we are going more than one direction--well, you might say I feel like the juggler out there trying to keep everything from crashing!
When the children were small, we stayed home most of the time. Our world was organized by me, and I simply said, "No," to most of the activities that little ones could do. Today my world is different. I want the transition from homeschool to college and adulthood to be as smooth as possible, and that requires that the children be involved in things outside the home. They attend political meetings, help at AWANA, participate in homeschool activities, work on the farm, compete in national competitions, and travel. I would love to have the simple life, but it just is not what I am called to do today. And anyway...would I really change it if I could?
I'll try to keep posting a little more often--I've been taking pictures for you, but they are not downloaded into my computer yet. And Dy--those are mayapples in my picture below. I have read that the ripe fruit of the mayapple can be eaten, but since all of the rest of the plant is quite poisonous, I'd be sure to keep the kids away from them!
I'm off!
Jean
Turn left at the 6th power pole. Drive until you come to a set of mail boxes, and on the right, in a grove of pine trees, you will find my house. The trees on the right in this photo are on our land. We were out early feeding the cattle before the storm.
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Thoughts From My Big Green Chair
One of the arts of homemaking includes sitting, standing still, listening, and quietly being.
I spend hours curled up on a couch or soft chair listening to the conversation of my teens. I stand in the doorway each time someone is leaving to wave out the door and remind him to drive safely. I curl up in my bed while someone reads me something humorous out of the newspaper. I drop my task to "come see" what the cats, cattle, computer or brother is doing. I read out loud while the family is doing dishes.
If I were to insist that I do something productive instead, I would have a cleaner house, better meals, more organized world. I could keep my house tidy and organized so that it was always ready for company.
If you come to visit, I will sit, stand still, listen, and quietly be while you are here, but you may have to overlook the pile of papers on the cupboard, the wood mess around the wood stove, and clean laundry piled in baskets along the living room wall.
Some things in life are more important than others.
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Have you forgotten to find beauty in your surroundings? Go in search...
Jean
