I'm a mom on a mission to get my kids through the jungle of puberty while keeping my sanity along the journey.
Welcome
Join me in my daily walk through the joys and struggles of parenthood. Share a word of encouragement or be encouraged. Cry a little, laugh a lot, but know it is all in divine order.
Have you
ever had to turn the tables on your child? When my son went to visit Granny, a
squatter took over his bedroom. That squatter was me. According to Wikipedia, a
squatter is “an informal name for a trespasser; a person who lives upon
premises owned by another person, without the owner’s permission.” When my son
Joshua found out I spent time in his room, he felt like his space had been invaded.
When my
older son spent a week on a college tour, Joshua took over his bedroom. Joshua
slept in his brother’s room every night, played video games and even ate snacks
where he was not supposed to. This invasion of space was not the first incident
for Joshua. On occasion I’ve discovered signs that he had relaxed in my space-
a sock, a crumpled shirt or an empty soda can.
I took
advantage of a teachable moment and turned the tables on my son. I took over
his bedroom. It was scary at first, I didn’t know what I would find in there. I
found exactly what I thought I would - clean clothes that needed to be put
away, books that needed to be shelved and empty candy wrappers. My son needed
to learn about respecting other people’s space as well as taking care of his
own.
In this time
of high technology, I had my older son take a photo of us in Joshua’s room and
I texted it to him. Shortly after sending the text I received a phone call
saying, “Why are you in my room?” My explanation of respect began.
Below are
helpful tips I found on teaching kids to respect their space and the space of
others:
1.I can make my bed and tidy my room
each morning.
2.I can make sure my dirty laundry
makes it into the appropriate place.
3.I can make sure I throw away food
garbage and clean up dishes in my room before I go to bed.
4.I will not walk into the rooms of
others without regard for the reason and effect.
5.I will respond respectfully if others
ask me for space.
6.I will remember that someone else’s
need for space does not mean they do not want to be around me.
These tips
were taken from the Busy Buzzing Mom blog. Click here for a complete list of
tips.
What tips do
you have for teaching your child about respecting another person’s space or
their own?
It wasn’t
funny during our wedding ceremony, when my husband started holding a
conversation with me. Soft music was playing as we lit our unity candles, then
my husband started asking me questions. I don’t remember exactly what he was
saying. However, I do remember responding to him through clenched teeth telling
him to, “Stop talking.”
Flash
forward sixteen years and I experienced another episode while standing at the
front of a church sanctuary. You know the saying, “The apple doesn’t fall far
from the tree?” Well, this time it was my son who was talking to me while all
eyes were on us. On this
particular day, Sunday school teachers and youth were asked to lead the
devotion period. We were to recite the weekly scripture and sing a couple of
songs. A few of the kids stared into space and my son carried out his version
of lip syncing. Although I
was holding the hymn book, my son continued to lip sync AND find time to hold a
conversation with me.
“Look at ‘John’
he’s not even trying to sing,” my son whispered.
Between
belting out words, I whispered back to him “Stop talking and sing.”
We made it
through two songs, then it was time to recite the scripture.
“Sis Verges,
could you come over and lead the scripture?” one of the teachers asked.
I froze for
a few seconds, then made my way over to the microphone in slow motion. I didn’t
know the whole scripture. I started strong, “But they that wait upon the Lord…mumble, mumble, mumble.” I went
into lip sync mode, just like my son and moved my lips with minimal sound
coming out. It was over and we all returned to our seats.
These two
situations occurred more than a decade apart, but they both taught me the same
lesson. I learned to laugh at myself.
What
situation have you encountered where you had to laugh after a challenging
situation?
What are
your fondest memories about your dad or father figure in your life? My
grandfather played a key role in my life. I remember the way he used to leave
coins on a chair or table for my brother and me. He did the same for my kids
when they were younger. It was his way of giving us spending change.
Every year
during my elementary and middle school days, we took an overnight trip to
Niagara Falls, Canada. I remember buying souvenirs at the gift shop near the
falls, visiting the museums, and watching the falls change colors at night. During
Easter breaks we would visit relatives in Indiana or Kentucky. Needless to say,
my grandparents loved to travel.
My
grandfather was there when I learned to ride a bike, drive a car (his car) and
to drive me to college for move in day. Although my grandfather passed last
year, I still say thanks for all the memories.
What
memories do you cherish?
Below is a
video performance of American Idol contestant Jessica Sanchez singing Dance with My Father click here.
Happy Father’s
Day to all of the dads, brother’s uncles and father figures who help to make
life special.
Southern Red Velvet cake with crushed pecans (only on half of cake because the kids didn't want nuts)
Today isn’t
totally wordless, but it’s less words than usual.
Confession
number 101 (I think)…I don’t bake much. I stepped out of the box, out of my comfort
zone and anywhere else I could step out of, to bake this cake. And this was my
first attempt at baking a cake from scratch. This Southern
Red Velvet cake was a recipe I found at the foodnetwork. It was an easy to
follow recipe. If I can do it, anyone can. Photos are below, but check out the
website for ingredients and direction.
Did you hear
what I heard? June is National Candy Month. What will you with this new
discovery? Have a little fun with it.
Here are five
ways to celebrate the sweetest month of the year:
·Play
the Candy Land game with the kids
·Read
a book that relates to candy in some way – it’s a good time to read again the
fairytale Hansel and Gretel. What happened when they nibbled on the old woman’s
house made of candy?
·Watch
the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
·Make
your own candy
·Indulge
in your favorite candy at least once this month
What is your favorite old school
candy? If I had to narrow it down to a few favorites I would say, Slo Poke,
Lemon Heads and Jolly Ranchers. If you are a fan of hard candy, allrecipes has
a recipe you might want to try.
Ingredients
·3
¾ cups white sugar
·1
½ cups light corn syrup
·1
cup water
·1
Tbsp. Orange or other flavor extract
·½
tsp. food coloring (optional)
·¼
cup confectioner’s sugar (for dusting)
Directions
In a medium saucepan, stir together the white sugar,
corn syrup, and water. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until sugar
dissolves, then bring to a boil. Without stirring, heat to 300 to 310
degrees F (149 to 154 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped
into cold water forms hard, brittle threads.
Remove from heat and stir in flavored extract and food
coloring, if desired. Pour onto a greased cookie sheet, and dust the top
with confectioners' sugar. Let cool, and break into pieces. Store in an
airtight container.
Do you have
a favorite cereal? For several years I lived in a city that was called the cereal capital of the world, Battle
Creek, MI. During the time I was there, it was the headquarters of Kellogg’s.
I’d have to say I’m partial to many of the Kellogg brand cereals with Froot
Loops topping my list of favorites, but Chex and MultiGrain Cheerios are on my
list too.
Some
mornings on my way to work I could smell the cereal cooking, baking,
being prepared. Often it was a fruity smell and I’d try to guess which cereal
it was. Did you know that cereal was invented in Battle Creek by Dr. John
Harvey Kellogg and his brother William Keith Kellogg? They founded the Kellogg
Company in 1906.
Do you
remember the days when you used to sit and eat a bowl of cereal and read the
back of the box while eating? Yeah, I still do that sometimes. This led to the
idea of posting fun facts about cereal. Test your knowledge with the
information below. Did you know…
·Cereal
was first invented when colonial housewives started serving popcorn with sugar
and cream for breakfast.
·The
word cereal comes from Cerealia, the name of ancient Roman ceremonies that
honored Ceres, the goddess of grain.
·The
average American eats 160 bowls of cereal each year.
·One
bushel of wheat will make 53 boxes of cereal.
·Breakfast
cereal is the third most popular item sold in grocery stores after carbonated
beverages and milk.
Can you
identify the cereals below by their tag lines?
1.“They’re G-R-E-A-T”
2.“Coo Coo for…”
3.“They’re magically delicious”
4.“Just follow your nose, wherever it
goes, the flavor of fruit…”
5.“The cereal of champions”
6.“Snap, Crackle, Pop”
7.“Silly rabbit….are for kids”
If you still
enjoy eating cereal as an adult, know that you are not alone. Check out this
cereal commercial of adults who confess to indulging in cereal as a treat.
Are you
ready for the answers to the tag lines?
1.Frosted Flakes
2.CoCo Puffs
3.Lucky Charms
4.Froot Loops (the old commercials with
Toucan Sam)
Emmanuel bouncing on a trampoline for a slam dunk - Skyzone Indoor Trampoline Park (Canton, MI)
When was the
last time a parenting experience took you through unchartered territory? It
just happened to me. Only this time it wasn’t my kids who had me living on the
edge, it was the group of kids I chaperoned on a field trip. The adventure took
place at an indoor trampoline park.
After
forcing their feet into special rubber soled shoes the kids were ready to jump.
There was music playing, dodge ball games going and both kids and adults
jumping all around us. I was overstimulated and we hadn’t been in the place
longer than fifteen minutes.
During our
field trip I learned some new things about supervising other people’s children.
Here is a list of five things I learned:
1.Only believe half of what the kids
tell you – eg. “Yes, my mom said I could spend all of my money, on anything I
want.” What I saw was a child with a large blue slush drink, a hot dog and
candy.
2.Bring an extra tote bag – the kids
didn’t realize that they couldn’t have anything in their pockets while jumping,
so I held onto all of their trinkets (pocket hand sanitizers, key rings, small
toys, etc.).
3.Have patience – there may be many
situations that call for patience. On this trip it was when each child wanted
to go to the bathroom or the concession stand, one at a time, multiple times. I
know what you’re thinking, just take them all at once; things didn’t work out
that way this time.
4.Make sure you are well rested – kids never
seem to run out of energy and they don’t want you to watch them do something,
they want you to engage with them.
5.Be firm, but have fun
What have
you experienced while caring for someone else’s child?
