This precious parenting message pretty much says it all in a one-minute video; I hope everyone who sees it will pass it along to friends and family who care about family togetherness and the role of a father in the lives of his children:
Category Archives: Motherhood
Get Imaginative with Your Kids!
This darling parenting tip is priceless! I’d love to write more about it, but I’m signing off to go and spend some quality time with my children, as modeled by the father in this video:
How to Win the Custody Battle
Got an insane ex who is trying to turn your child against you? Then check out this book–it is the TRUE STORY of a family who defeated the efforts of a psychotic ex-wife/mother whose Munchhausen’s by Proxy had her dragging a child in and out of hospitals in order to spite her ex-husband. This child’s story made me weep.
But the the strategies employed by the boy’s father and grandparents were spot-on, resulting in some breathtaking results in a court system that tends to favor mothers! Not only that, but the tale of their journey is so gripping that you won’t be able to put it down! To learn more about this book, click here.
*Side note: my mother is a personal friend of the author’s; believe it or not, this book doesn’t even cover half of this woman’s bizzare attempts to use her child as a weapon against her ex. If you read this book, PLEASE comment here, and tell me if you were not as shocked as I was by what the author *did* reveal!
The DISH on Fatty School Lunches
Wow–I only recently learned about the politics behind our childrens’ school lunches when I read a book called The Culprit and the Cure. Here’s what I learned:
- The nation’s school lunch programs are funded separately from the education programs. They are governed by the USDA
- The USDA’s mission is to promote the American cattle and dairy industries
- This means that their job is to help sell more beef and milk
- The USDA, therefore, published the “Food Pyramid” taught in schools all over America
- You can view this pyramid here; notice how milk/cheese products have as big a slot as veggies?
Some Harvard scholars, concerned about child nutrition decisions made by a government office, compiled actual knowledge about science and nutrition to build their own version of the food pyramid. I trust their version a lot more than the USDA’s version, because the USDA courts all sorts of lobbyists and special interest groups and has a mission to promote meat and dairy. Harvard just wants to help kids get healthy!
You can view the Harvard pyramid here. (Notice how the milk and cheese products are up at the top with the junk foods??)
For all you parents out there who are concerned about so much bad food in the schools, there are two organizations which I heartily endorse–please visit their web sites:
http://parentsagainstjunkfood.org/index.html
http://www.healthyschoollunches.org/
Successful Breastfeeding
Where have these been all my life? I wish they had been around about four children ago! That’s okay; now that I am expecting baby #5, I plan to invest in several of these darling nursing capes!
I especially love the hoop at the neck; this allows mom to peek down at baby without opening up the cover!
I also like how the hoop sort of keeps the fabric from smothering baby’s face.
Best of all, the hoop is soft; it wraps into a darling little package that will fit into any purse or diaper tote. Perfect!
To order one for yourself, go to the Baby Hide Away Blog–I especially like that these purchases are helping to support a young mother in her work-from-home enterprise; a double bonus! 
P.S. For all you pregnant women in need of a chuckle, read today’s Pregnancy Confessions posting at the Ice Cream Diary blog–it is HYSTERICAL!
The Stay At Home Mom’s Paycheck
Thank you, Salary.com for calculating (at least partially) what the work of a stay-at-home mom is worth! And this salary doesn’t include the benefits; benefits that include the feel of a little one in my arms, the little “I love mommy” pictures they draw for me, or the sticky little kisses that keep me going from day to day.
To read the article, click here!
The Perfect Books for Summer Reading!
What a wonderful series of books I have discovered! After a gruelling semester of full-time grad school and teaching children in my home school, my mother referred me to the enchanting Mitford
I wish I could put into words the inspiring, even therapeutic, effect that this book has had on my soul in recent days, but it is impossible to describe. My advice: go out and read this book yourself! You won’t be disapointed!
It says on the cover that At Home in Mitford (The Mitford Years, Book 1)
What are you waiting for? Get down to your local library and get a copy! This book is not to be missed!
Mother-Daughter Time
Thank you, Joy, for giving me this great idea for mother-daughter time:
Every day, my daughters and I read a chapter from the Little House on the Prairie books together (while Dad reads toddler-level books to the little ones). Then, if the girls get all of their chores and schoolwork done in a timely (and non-complaining) manner, they get to watch an episode from the Little House on the Prairie DVD’s that I bought expressly for this purpose. In other words, these DVDs are a privilege that can be revoked if chores are neglected or children misbehave.
I love this new activity because I needed a way to spend time with my older girls, away from the babies who always steal so much of my time. I also needed some form of entertainment besides books, lest my children end up like so many non-t.v. families’ children who become media-obsessed worshipers of pop culture when they get to college because it is such a new and exciting discovery. No, even though we took away t.v., I want my children to learn to understand and navigate the world of electronic media. I am hoping that by watching quality programs like Little House they will develop a sense of taste that will help them discern quality programming from some of the tripe that is passed off as entertainment these days!
What other shows are good enough to watch as a family? My mom has the Cosby Show on DVD and that is fun to watch, too. What shows do you consider family-friendly??
“Let Children Be Children”
I am so inspired by these wise words from a mother of five who raised her children in the 1940′s-1950′s:
Our children grew up in a semi-rural area. We had a fairly large piece of property with lawns and gardens and orchards and plenty of work to keep the boys out of mischief. A wooded ravine ran through the property; we called it “the hollow.”
One day our oldest boy turned up missing. There were lawns to be mowed, irrigation ditches to be cleaned. The hours ticked away. All afternoon I practiced a speech I would give him when he showed up. And show up he did, at mealtime, which I knew he would. “Where have you been?” I asked.
“Down in the hollow.”
“And what have you been doing down in the hollow?”
His reply, “Nothing.”
Some years later I had reasons to be glad that I had not given him the speech. He was home from his mission and a senior at the university. It was test week. He was under a lot of pressure to do well in order to get into the graduate school of his choice. Things were not going too well with his girlfriend. The pressures of adult life were beginning to be felt. I watched him as he drove home from school one afternoon. He got out of the car, kicked a clod of dirt, went over to examine the swelling buds on the lilac tree, came in the kitchen, straddled a chair backwards, and said, “Mom, I had a wonderful childhood, didn’t I?”
“Well, I hope so. You did your share of complaining about all the work that had to be done.”
“Oh, it was wonderful,” he said. “Those long summer days, when you could lie on your back in the hollow and listen to the birds sing and watch the ants build their castles.”
The memory of the peace of a summer day–”God’s in his heaven, and all’s right in the world”–sustained him when the pressures of adult life began to crowd in.
Things are different now. Children hear so many voices from so many directions. There are so few empty summer days. There are pressures to excel. It has become a challenge to let children be children.
It has never been so important that children have a home that is a place of refuge, a place of peace, a place of unconditional love–even when the report card may not be what you hoped for.
I took this excerpt from a book called Glimpses into the Life and Heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley
Daily Charts For Children
I hung these charts in my daughters’ rooms and they have been SO helpful! The girls know that these charts have to be done before they can come downstairs and eat breakfast, so I don’t have to stand over them and say “make your bed, brush your teeth!” etc:
Then when it is time to start schoolwork after breakfast, these charts have to be checked off before play time starts:
