Hiring Family!

It seemed so simple really.  For our son we did things the same way they were done to for us--you go to college, you get a job.

As I always say when I speak--our son could have been raised by wolves and would have done well on the SATs.  He's a born student.

Our daughter, on the other hand, was born for life after school.  If you give her a problem, she can come up with 3 solutions--all good.  If you give her a test, or even say the words test, midterm or final; her brain falls out and she'll pick it up on her way out of the room.  I have Facebook friends who have taught her in college who can verify this.  She couldn't handle the hours that would be required of a job AND maintain her 4.0.  She spends a good amount of time on her classes and never misses an extra credit assignment.  She's good like that!

So, I thought it would be brilliant to expect her to help around the house more.  I had a LIST of chores that I wanted help with.  I hate to paint and repair things, she excels at it.

Over time though, I noticed she had time for her downtime, but kept forgetting my list.  It just wasn't important to her.  Since our deal was now defunct, I told her it was time for her to get a job.

Remember what I told you about her problem solving skills?  She put them to good use that day!  We negotiated a deal where she now pays for all of her school materials, and I pay her minimum wage for doing my chore list (remember that we were paying for her books anyway).  She figured out how many hours she needed to work each week to pay for her fall books (8).  If she works over that, she's ahead for next semester.

So far the bathroom walls have been repaired and are half painted.  The shower head has been replaced.  The kitchen cabinets have been checked for expired foods.  The lawn is mowed, edged and halfway weeded (rain affected that chore).  And the list continues....

Now the only trick will be to figure out how to make her wedding vows be to "love, honor and cherish...sickness and health...yada, yada...and always live next door to her parents".

Feeling blessed, how about you?

Brother can you save a life?

She was cowering in the corner of her cage.  We didn’t know it at the time, but she had just been put out on the adoption floor.  She had been in the intake area for 2 days because they weren’t sure she was “adoptable”.  In animal shelter lingo, that would mean the end of the road.  That morning she had been to an obedience class.  It was a test.  She passed, which was a miracle, because she is dog-aggressive.

It’s really not her fault.  For a herd dog to be sent to a shelter is the ultimate failure.  You not only lost the herd, you lost the farm.  In addition, she had been abused in a previous home and was very hand shy.  She still can’t handle loud voices.

We are either her 3^rd or 4^th home.  We are her forever home.  She needs to be an only dog. We accept that.  She needs to be needed (herd dogs do).  We let her lead us, even though she has no idea where we’re going till we get there.  She needs to have things happen in the same order every day.  She checks the front yard first, has breakfast and then checks the back yard.  That’s her job.  We accept that.

 

She has been with us for 12 years now.  She was supposedly 3 when we got her.  She doesn’t see as well  any more.  If you hand feed her, make your hand a plate. No big deal. She is very hard of hearing.  You have to be in front of her, so that you can get her attention.  No big deal.  As she ages, she becomes more expensive medically.  Nothing works as well as it did when she was younger.  We’re dealing with senility, gastric issues and joint pain.  It requires a lot of medication, but she is happy; so it’s no big deal. We accepted this expense when we brought her home.

Everyday I see posts for sweet little dogs who need a forever home…or a foster family.  I can’t be that person right now.  It wouldn’t be fair to the beautiful girl that we made a part of our family in 2001.  We were in the right place at the right time for her (and the 2 before her).  Imagine  if she’d had to go through one more obedience class and hadn’t done as well.  Or if she had been adopted by a man who wasn’t willing to spend 3 years building her trust.  And what we would have missed without her in our lives—she is sweet and empathetic and always there to boost your spirits after a tough day.  We are her herd and we need her!

So pay attention to those sweet little dogs and cats and even horses.  Do not miss out on the opportunity to save a life.  Foster if you can.  Being in a home is much better than a cage. Adoption is even better.  Do not miss out on the opportunity to save a life.  You will be paid back many times over.

Having Fun Teaching STEM subjects

I can hardly wait for the FPEA STEM conference on August 22nd & 23rd at the Tradewinds on St. Pete Beach!  I know when we were homeschooling, science and math were two subjects that really scared me.  How do you teach a subject that is a weak link for you?

In fairness to me, I was put in the classes with the weak teachers when I was in school.  I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now.  How is a student who is weak in a subject supposed to rise above a weak teacher?  But that was then, and this is now.  No whining people!  I finally decided that I needed to buy a really good curriculum that made sense to me; and then study like my kids' lives depended on it.  Not far from the truth, really!

But we want to do more than survive homeschooling.  And while still I don't LOVE math, I did manage to get both kids into college. That may be more of a tribute to God's grace and good genes; but as long as it happened, right?

So, how did I end up speaking at a conference on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math?  As homeschoolers, we still have to "Teach What Scares Us"!  I won't tell you what I'm going to be saying...you'll just have to come join us.  BUT, it is a family conference, so bring the kids.  If you join me as we discuss "Teaching What Scares Us" we're going to have fun doing a little science and maybe (gasp) a little math and laugh a whole lot!

Oh, you hadn't heard about the conference?  It's at the Tradewinds on St. Pete Beach and we are going to have a blast learning how to share STEM subjects with our kids.  Follow this link for more information.  And be sure to stop by and say hi...I'd love to meet you!

Feeling blessed, how about you?

Fill it Up!

Tonight I filled the salt shaker! Momentous occasion, right? 

Actually it was.  Because...I had salt.  I was also able to refill the dish detergent.  I had to get out the "back up" salt to fill the salt shaker though.  That means I had to put salt on the shopping list on the fridge.  Right then.  Do not pass go, do not collect $200.  Because if I didn't...the next time I needed to fill the salt shaker, we'd be sad out of luck.

So the next time I go to the grocery store I'll buy one more canister of salt.  Just one.  It will be my new back up canister, until it's needed.

Do you have any idea how much this simple concept can reduce the stress in your life?  Seriously!

I can cook, bake bread, clean things...all because I'm not out of salt.  I'm not tense, because I have what I need.  My children are seeing me model "planning ahead".  Perhaps you've never had to say to your kids "How could you NOT see that that would happen?  You should have thought ahead!"  Head bonk!  I should think ahead too!

If you don't already have one, start creating a system of backups.  Start with the things you use most.  Toilet paper is a REALLY good place to start, cuz you definitely don't want to run out.  Buy one extra pack (maybe a couple if it's on sale).  The minute you touch that pack, you need another...remember that!  Keep adding backups as your budget allows.  Start with the things that would bother you most to run out of. 

Important safety tip...put your backup in a logical place.  Keep a list if you have to.  Extra TP doesn't work as well if you can't find it!

I just heard today that reducing the stress in my life now (and increasing my contentment) can reduce my chance of getting Alzheimers.  Not sure if it will work...but it's worth a shot!  I think I'll plan ahead for that too!

Feeling blessed, how about you?

Your Family Should Sock Mop!

This system was actually born out of desperation!  I would take my Girl Scout troop camping.  We had to clean the cabin floor.  Have you ever seen a 6 year old try to wring out a string mop? 

The worst problem was after the other jobs had been done.  Twenty two little girls, twentyone of whom have nothing to do...no way that can go wrong!

And then inspiration hit.  Twenty two little pairs of feet encased in tube socks (turned inside out) bottles of spray cleaner like windex.  Put on some upbeat music and lets the girls scrub the floor with their feet.  We had prizes for most dirt collected, best attitude, best boogie.  I didn't usually do most area covered, because that was usually a girl who going for quantity, not quality.

You can also use socks to clean counters or dust (remember if you dust to only sock cover 1 hand because you don't want to drop Aunt Martha's precious whatchamacallit!)

When you're done, collect the socks, throw em in the washer and you're ready to go again.

 

Feeling blessed, how about you? 

It Ain't Easy Being Old!

I remember my mother saying that old age had nothing to recommend it.  Please understand, that she wasn't saying that she was done with life, just that nothing was as she expected it to be.

Sure, the kids are older, but so are you.  Sometimes those things you wanted to do are a lot more challenging then you remember them being.  Case in point, I wanted to demonstrate sock-mopping at the FPEA convention...except I couldn't talk after I demonstrated.  And since talking was what I was there to do, well, chalk up another humbling experience.

And when I'm finally a grandmother, I'm gonna need a crane to get up after playing on the floor. I guess that's out too. The really sad part is that the parts that still work are no longer located in the same place they were 40 years ago. But as my mother would have said, "That's enough whining about that!" 

I should have been paying closer attention when I was younger.  At my grandmother's funeral, one of her friends was, shall we say, jet propelled.  At the time I didn't understand why she went out in public if she wasn't able to control the problem.  Tain't that easy, people!  And in any case, most of her contemporaries probably didn't hear well enough to recognize the "problem". 

Lest you think I've gone off the deep end, the reason I'm thinking about this again is because we have a geriatric dog.  This is only my third dog.  The first two lived 17 1/2 years each.  The first 14 years are pretty good.  Then the parts start to wear out.  They also become jet propelled.  The wallpaper peels off the walls in self defense.  They go out, forget they've been out and ask to go out again.  Then they come in and poop on the carpet.  This is with the doggy Aricept to help with senility (it will only take you so far).  They struggle to get up and groan when they lay down.  BUT (and this is very important) they check the beds to be sure that everyone is home, bark to greet the mailman, and lead you to their food bowl every night precisely at 6:30 pm.  The tail wags every time they see you, because they are happy with their lives, exactly as they are.

We can learn a lot from a dog.  Even if things don't perform as they used to, there is still value. There can still be contentment.  My mother also used to say that she was aware that we were watching as she took care of Dog #1, and since we were picking her nursing home, she wanted to be sure to set a good example!

So, as you go through your week, value the "seasoned ones" in your life.  And send them a card...they love that.  While you're at it, send cards to the young ones who are away from home.  They'll love it, and someday, when you are a "seasoned one" maybe they'll return the favor.  And you'll love that!  Let's be kind to each other. In fact, I think I'll go scratch some dog ears.

Feeling blessed, how about you?

It's Convention Time!

It's that time of year again! Convention time!!!! It's sort of like "Homeschool Christmas"  with "Homeschool New Year's Resolutions" soon to follow!

Every year I would crawl into convention in a primordial ooze fashion.  I was worn out, and usually a little depressed over the "subject less traveled"...you know, the textbook that you are nowhere close to finishing. I desperately needed a break.  My family sent me to convention as a combination birthday/Mother's Day gift.

Three days later I would skip out like a kindergartener on the first day of school.  I wanted to crack open those books RIGHT THEN.  I quickly learned NOT to succumb to the siren song of new books and ideas.

Moms, our kids need a break!  More importantly, WE need a break.  Spend at least a few weeks reconnecting with your kids...without a textbook between you.

Since those books are still calling you, use the time for planning.  Think over what you learned.  Remember the ideas that spoke to you.  Listen to the recorded sessions that you bought.  Plan the "ideal flow of your homechool day", subject to change of course.  Look back at what worked.  Close the book on what didn't.  Like Edison, you now know one way NOT to homeschool.  It's time to move on to the next "model" and see how it works for you.  No regrets, you're moving forward!

If you're at the FPEA convention this week, be sure to say hi! 
Feeling blessed, how about you?

Beautiful Family Culture

In four months I'll be speaking at our state homeschool convention on strong family culture.  I figured I'd use my blog to think through what I want to say.

I'll be the first to admit that it is easier to have a happy attitude when your baby is 19, at least most days.  I'm not tied to the house.  And now that I'm not "required" to stay home, I find I want to be here! Another advantage is that the kids don't cry and scream as much.  In fact, I probably have more temper tantrums than they do!

Having said that, those 2 kids WERE screaming toddlers at one point, and we still had a family culture...even back then!

So, in a nutshell, here's my first point--do you represent your family in the way that you want the world to think of them?  When you speak to your husband in public, do you speak well of him (and he of you)? Do you post the good things your kids do...or are you always "fussin' on Facebook"?

If you'll pardon me, I think I'll crawl into a corner now, and lick my "wounds of conviction"...

Feeling blessed, how about you?