Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Excuse me as I discipline my Child

Picture this.. a three year-old girl with short, blonde hair. Lopsided piggy-tails, green eyes and a crooked smile that might make any mum nervous.

To make matters worse? Hands on hips while riding a stationary horse at the park.

Worse? Play time was over and a crowd gathers to watch as I challenge said three-year-old.

Bless their hearts I am sure they acted as though they never experienced discipline. Whether it was putting their own children in line or watching someone else.

Picture THIS.

Me:"Three-year-old, ok, time to get off and get into the car. We talked about this. You know play time is over."

There were no words from my three-year-old. I sure wish that was the case. Instant tantrum seizing ensued. First this blondie fell the ground in an all-out body flailing, screaming, eyes angrily rolling to make sure I paid close attention to her disorderly attitude.

The crowd that gathered before suddenly went from three or four to six adults and one teen. Yay.

I pick up the three-year-old and look her in the eye and remind her of the warning I made. She resisted. Refused to comply. Dropped to the ground a second time while flailing her ridiculously sharp feet at my ankles. My ankles fell victim to her tyrany.

Still. I pick the three-year-old up and stand her to talk to her eye-to-eye as if to say "this is your last chance."

She flails to the ground again.

The crowd now, in suit, put their hands on their hips as if to say "don't you even think about disciplining that child!"

My thoughts?

Leave me alone. I am tired. Do you even KNOW how many tantrums this (cute albeit feisty) three-year-old has thrown..not just today but in the last HOUR??

Did you know that I took her to go swimming and she refused to listen to me? Did you know she ran on the cement by the pool, almost fell down, pushed her brother into deeper water as if he is able to swim that deep? Did you know I am exhausted?

Did you know it is none of your business how I discipline my child?

I believe it is important to love our children. We need to praise them. We need to smile, laugh, joke and enjoy life with these little people we are blessed to have. I know. I get it.

But there will be a day when little people are not so little. They will have to tie their own shoe laces, feed their own mouths, get their own jobs, drive their own cars, take care of other people and pay for their own things.

Do you think our little people will learn to take care of themselves by being taught everything is perfect? Of course not!

Responsible, loving, kind, giving, thoughtful members of society start their lives with parents who take a genuine interest in raising them to be such people. In order to raise someone to be self-sufficient sometimes spankings are required. Stern words are required. Time-out is required.

So what did I say to the crowd watching me discipline my daughter?

Nothing. I smiled, calming walking away with my three-year-old. Why did I not yell at the crowd in my frustration?

Because my mom taught me when I was a little person that yelling at people was not nice.

Boom. There ya go. One parent to another.


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Little People and being a mom

Hi there! Remember me? It has been a very long time since I have written in here!

Seeing as the last time I wrote I was still pregnant with Jack I should say that he is now 14 months old and is as calm as I had hoped for! He is a pretty sturdy kid though..I suppose he would have to be with Loralie being his older and quite opinionated big sister.

As most of you know husband and I, along with our two little people, moved to Krakow, Poland early December 2012. We are settling in nicely and starting to learn the language along with the culture. To say it has been easy would be lying..but to say it has been terribly difficult would not be the truth either.

Anyhow I would like to tell you about what being a mom to two little people in a different country is like.

First off..you wake up. Then you play. You go downstairs to the coffeshop you volunteer at. You meet new people. You talk. Then you take your kids around in your rusting and once valiant stroller to anywhere you like; last week we explored the castle just a couple miles away! The walk was tough pushing the giant stroller around in the slushy snow and ice..but I saw it as a great workout!

After you are done exploring and volunteering and bathing the kids and reading them their good night books and you give them their goodnight milk you brew a cup of tea and think over the day. You think about how truly tired you are. Then you realize how thankful you are for such a full life..and in the middle of your prayer you fall asleep.

Sunday comes around and your new friends (who are all great with your kids) take your kids off your hands and let you focus on the message at church. You help lead worship. You get to hear your little people learn their first Bible verses and your heart feels so proud it could burst.

I suppose there is more to this but right now I am so tired from waking early and playing all day.

I do promise mums do not spend their days eating bon bons and watch television...we make train sets and give horseback rides and teach our little people how make animal noises and what numbers are what and how to spell. We change diapers and spank bottoms. We tickle until everyones faces hurt from laughing so hard. We color with our little people are teach them how to draw balloons. We teach right from wrong and follow through with the directions we give. We help others in need. We love.

(As far as format, spelling mistakes and placement of words.. look past it to see the beauty of the story!)

Sunday, September 11, 2011

I might be working on projects.

They might be for Christmas.

Pinterest may have (somewhat) solidified my idea.

Also, I am so excited to finally be making my hanging lamps! My house is full of mason jars and tea lights-why did I not think to put the two together?? Today my friends.

Tonight my backyard will be lit a little brighter as I sit by my chimineo and drink my vanilla rooibos tea.

I love recycling and reusing things that I already have! What neat repurposing crafts are making this fine Sunday?

Have a wonderful weekend! A much deeper post is to come...today or tomorrow. :-)


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Friday, September 9, 2011

Making a difference.

My goal in the days I have been given.

Playing with my daughter.
Enjoying this pregnancy with Jackson.
Hugging husband a little more.
Letting Sister know how much she means to me even though our sister dates are not always possible.

Some new ones for me include...

Recycling-treating the earth we were entrusted with a little r-e-s-p-e-c-t.

Meal planning. Things are cheaper when you plan ahead!

Crafting (or attempting to in short moments of free time) items for others.

I have learned recently that if I take life too seriously then I will never enjoy the little things. I have also learned that if I do not act on things that I believe in then I will regret it later on.

Any deep thoughts on your end? I seem to have nothing but deep thoughts! Must be the pregnancy ;-)

I'm off to listen to Adele and sing to my hearts content with Loralie. We are just awesome like that.


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Monday, September 5, 2011

Recently

Loralie has a lovely routine of waking at 10:15pm each evening. She cries. Sometimes I am too impatient to let her cry it out and I comfort her. Those are the easy nights.

Nights like tonight make me want to cry out of frustration. I am letting her cry it out as I usually do. My patience is wearing thin as I attempt to rest.

Do you have those days in which you accomplished so much and at the end of the day something happens that makes your entire back tense-up and your mind is set abuzz? This is called parenthood.

I aspire to be honest on here. Believe me when I say I enjoy being a mum. I love nurturing and encouraging my daughter. She teaches me new lessons each day. I enjoy her curiosity, intelligence and hearing her little voice become stronger and full of many questions.

You see, motherhood is amazing. I concentrate on the upside; there are just moments I need to write out my frustrations. Now would be one of those moments.

Thoughts-

Am I truly going to be a mom of TWO? How blessed I am! How scared I am! So many things swirling through my pea-sized pregnant brain!

Lastly, pray for me? I have been so terribly busy that my time with God, date nights and time with friends has dwindled. I am a bit disappointed with myself and, to be honest, discouraged as well.

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful night. I hope you went to Starbucks and bought yourself a Pumpkin Spice Latte. I hope you wore your favorite scarf. I hope you breathed in that sweet smell of cool air and let the wind that brushed your face inspire you. Now begins the season of terribly exciting recipes, soups, stews, homemade bread, warm drinks and all types of spices surrounding your home.

What are you thankful for? How has God blessed you?

God has strengthened Husband's and my relationship. I am so thankful for help in time of need. We are no perfect couple. We squabble about silly things, but at the end of the day we realize how truly blessed we are to have each other and are further blessed to recount the many times God has intervened, encouraged and abruptly blessed us in ways we were not aware if.

So there you have it! Have a wonderful week friends!


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Location:Recents

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Conflicted Conviction

Hi, I'm Michelle. I grew up loving sweets. I grew up having parents who were smart and didn't incorporate much of anything processed/sweet. My mom made almost everything by hand while I was young. I only knew what Oreos and ice cream were because of my grandma; who I am pretty sure was convinced that sugar did not make kids hyper. Which, we were hyper. After having junk.

Bless my mom. She kept her cool.

Anyhow, nowadays I am a mum. One of my privileges is creating meals for my family. As soon as Lolo was born I felt this deep conviction that I needed to feed my family wholesome, healthy meals that provided everyone proper nourishment. From time to time I've slipped into routines that mask themselves as easy but are in no way healthy.

Dairy

For starters, husband and I are both lactose intolerant. We love dairy. Seriously guys. We used to live eat and breathe cheese, milk, creamy soups, enchiladas and anything else dairy-related.

But dairy/boxed foods bothered our stomachs. The positive side was what we were eating was easy on our pocket book and even easier to cook.

I began to feel this conviction, if you will, about what I was allowing myself to eat and what I was feeding my family.

So naturally I researched. And read. And took notes. And agreed with lots of ideas. Disagreed here and there.

Here I am still putting everything into perspective. Conflicted. Do I buy what is cheap? Therefore saving money and being financially responsible? Or do I buy responsibly by buying fresh, "clean", foods that truly do provide optimum nourishment and promote great health? Therefore being more expensive and causing our pockets to be lighter and less prepared for savings?

I've come to the conclusion that if I want my family to be focused on our faith in Christ and being obedient to the research that I have done on the types of packaged/prepared/fake food that I must not be ignorant of my knowledge. I must stand firm and provide my family with healthful, fresh foods.

Just a thought. What are you putting in your body? How are you promoting your health-and ultimately your faith by taking care of your body as God's temple?

I have had this post in my head for a few days. I figured it was insignificant for anyone else to care about. It is food after all. And food is not everything. Is it?

I feel a personal conviction to eat real. Fresh. Delicious. Food.

What are your thoughts on this subject? I'm very curious.

Happy end-of-the-weekend!


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Friday, August 19, 2011

Many things-a jumbled post

I'm going to start with my top five favorite things right now.

1. My daughter helps me bake/cook in the kitchen. Well, I cook and she stands on a chair and asks me what I am doing. Love this about her curious heart!

2. Pregnancy has been wonderful. Tough at times but I decide to focus on the good. I have kept myself active and workout several times a week. Jack is getting so strong. I love when Lolo comes up to my stomach and whispers "hi Dack Dack. Lo youuuuu."

3. My husband. He is so patient. He cooks. He cleans. He loves on me in ways I feel loved. ie giving me time to rest, listening to me talk about my fears and challenges. His heart is pure gold. Love him.

4. My sister. Sara has completed many hours of baking delicious desserts, cooking delectable meals, cleaned the house so many times I hardly have a thing to scrub. Not to mention the fact that she occupies lolo when I need a moment to myself.

5. Challenging myself to eat more "clean." google it. It is interesting. I have yet to go all organic and completely cut out dairy and meats but I am not a meat person anyhow and I am lactose intolerant which prevents me from having a desire for anything dairy-related. Except for tonight. Sometimes a girl needs her fro yo. Mmm.

Recipes

If you are looking for something filling, healthy and relatively cheap keep listening...

Cut up (finely) five red/yellow potatoes.

Place in a clear glass pan.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Dollop two small spoonfulls of Smart Balance or pour 1.5 Tablespoons of EVOO over your potatoes.
Squeeze one whole fresh lemon. Squeeze one whole fresh lime. Sprinkle sea salt (just a pinch should do it) a dash of black pepper.

Place in oven for 35-40 minutes.

The potatoes come out tasting like delicious candy.

If you want to pair your potatoes with a side of protein (which is recommended because your body breaks everything down better with the help of the protein) cut up an avocado or some boiled and seasoned chicken breast.

I put potatoes in a pita with said avocado, cucumber, tomato and a dab of feta cheese. So delicious!! I could eat this all day.

Happy cooking/baking/crafting friends!!


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