My husband and I are on a tea kick right now because, well we have several boxes of tea in the cabinet, it only takes water to make and since we have a well, water is free! Anyhow, Celestial Seasonings’ tea boxes are covered with quotes and when making myself a cup of tea, I read one on the box I hadn’t seen before and … Continue reading Reading the Tea Leaves
I am the oldest of 9 children; 7 girls and 2 boys (poor boys!). We’re all almost grown up now and it’s kind of amazing to see how wildly different we all are in many ways. We have liberals and conservatives and people who don’t know which is which, there are introverts and extroverts, scholars and airheads, city folks and country lovers, Christians and new age-y types, and on and on. Yet there are a couple of things which we all pretty much have in common. We tend not to be particularly materialistic or impressed by names, titles or celebrity.
The other thing I think we all have in common is that we are profoundly tolerant of people. None of us really finds it that hard to say, “I disagree with you, but if that works for you, then have at it.” We all know how to deal with difficult people without going nuts. If you ever need someone to talk to who won’t judge you, even as they offer advise, call one of us. You can be diametrically opposed to everything we think is right, know that we do not agree with what you’re doing and still be friends with us. We’re not perfect, but we do know how to get along with people as a general rule.
One of my sisters and I were talking and laughing about our youngest brother who as a kid had a notoriously bad temper. She was telling me about the time one of the sisters called his Tae Kwon Do instructor to tattle on him for throwing hissy fits around the house. LOL Can you imagine having to take that call? Continue reading “Sibling Socialization – The Best Kind”
Today I finished a magazine article called “The Fight of Your Life”. It was an inspirational piece on fighting to build an excellent life. The take-away points were: 1. An excellent life is based on God’s ways, not man’s. 2. Take the time to think about what an excellent life means to you and plan how you will achieve it. 3. Don’t let the barriers … Continue reading Timing is Everything
Normally I trend a little towards the crunchy end of life. I make bread from scratch. I garden. I breast fed all four of my children, including my youngest who is still nursing. I wore them in slings around town. I homeschool. But there are just some places I won’t go. I don’t own a pair of sweats and only wear comfortable shoes when I’m … Continue reading Ricki Lake did something I won’t do . . .
Many moons back, we had our oldest son, and for one year, our younger son enrolled in Montessori schools. When I began homeschooling, the first books I bought were the Teaching Montessori at Home books by Elizabeth Hainstock and Lee Davis. (There is one for preschool and another for grade school. I think I lent my preschool one to someone, but I have no idea who. If I lent it to you, could you let me know? Thanks 🙂 )
Anyhow, as I went through the preschool edition, I was struck by some of the activities. In particular, the ones involving pouring activities hit me as very odd. Continue reading “Spilled Kool-aid and Montessori Education”
And now for something completely different. . . I’m going to share my family’s secret recipe for Yankee French Bread. Actually, I found this recipe in GQ, of all places years ago and have used it ever since. It’s super easy and gives you a wonderful, dense, slightly sour loaf that keeps well in a grocery store plastic bag. Mmmmmmm. . . 7 Cups Flour … Continue reading Yankee French Bread
One of the joys of having my two daughters is being able to watch Little Bear on Noggin with them. Somehow, I completely missed Little Bear with my sons, which is a shame. It is such a wonderful show – like the classical music of the cartoon world. It’s literature for the preschool set. This was one of the stories I watched with my girls … Continue reading I love Little Bear
A few days ago I wrote about re-thinking our assumptions regarding young adults living with mom and dad. Today I came across a column Miss Manners wrote about the attitudes of parents and children facing a return home upon completing college. Her take is that the assumption that as our kids grow, they will come to have disdain for us is damaging to the parent … Continue reading Miss Manners’ take on “boomerang kids”
A few days ago I wrote about re-thinking our assumptions regarding young adults living with mom and dad. Today I came across a column Miss Manners wrote about the attitudes of parents and children facing a return home upon completing college. Her take is that the assumption that as our kids grow, they will come to have disdain for us is damaging to the parent … Continue reading Miss Manners’ take on "boomerang kids"
Over on Slate.com today there’s a column about my favorite new show “Little People Big World” (Sat. 8/7c on TLC). I watch very little television, but I’ve actually been making an effort to try and catch this one simply because I think the family involved is so wonderful. The show is about a family where mom and dad are little people. They have 4 kids … Continue reading “Little People Big World”
The Upside Down World 