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Walter said something pretty profound at dinner tonight.
Carrie was talking about wanting a baby in our family.
"I'll just tell God to give us a baby," she said.
I know what she meant, she meant she'd ask.
But Walter jumped right on that one. "We can't tell God what to do....he's GOD."
And Walter goes on to explain that God certainly doesn't need us to tell Him what to do, that if we say "do this" instead of ASKING, it's trying to boss God around.
And, it hit me...how many times do we try to tell God that some other way, something else is better? How many times do we try to convince God of something when we should really take the time and energy into listening to what God would have for us?
There is NOTHING in this world that goes on without His authority. He could stop it from happening. We will never understand the mind of God. How we forget that He is everywhere, knows everything and controls everything.
And so instead of, "God, wouldn't it be better if..."
we say, "God, I don't understand, but Your will be done."
If could accept His authority for our lives, if we truly trusted Him, we would be completely different. Our lives would be completely different.
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Watch your thoughts, they become words
Watch your words, they become actions
Watch your actions, they become habits
Watch your habits, they become character
Watch your character because it becomes your destiny
These are words I am going to embrace...and taking control of my actions means to slow down and let God help me think first.
I'll be a better wife, I'll be a better mom, I'll be a better daughter, I'll be a better follower and servant to My King if I can breathe in the Holy Spirit and breathe out my stress and frustrations. |
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We are at an interesting point in our lives as a family. Walter is in second grade and he is beginning to be picked on more and more. And so our parenting takes an interesting turn. What to do? How much should he endure, when to step in?
A boy after God's own heart at such a young and tender age, he is already a powerful warrior for the kingdom of heaven. He has such a grasp on the spiritual realm and asks many questions with a desire to know more...should it surprise us that he is already under attack? Satan is throwing his arrows already...trying to make Walter feel that he is ugly, not smart, not good at things...when indeed he is a beautiful kid with incredible intelligence and it's not just "mom" that sees it. The teachers and staff at his school sing his praises, what a great kid he is, how smart, how much fun he is, etc.
I understand that we need to go through trials in order to deepen our faith and our depence on God. I know that I can't come to his rescue all the time and that he needs to be strengthened by his life's experiences. But when is enough...enough?
That is what we will have to pray about and seek the Lord's wisdom for.
Does he finally have enough and defend himself with a push back? Do we homeschool him? How much rescuing should a parent do?
It left me searching my heart for what I know is true. Even God had to watch his Son go through trial after trial. He SENT Jesus here to go through trials and be tortured, laughed at, ridiculed....for US!
How great the Father's love for us!
When I hear reports from Walter on how some of the kids are treating him, it makes me want to go kick some kid's butt. A part of me is so angry, like a mother lioness about to pounch.
Then I think of God. How God watched as men laughed at, bullied, killed the King of Kings! They ridiculed the One who left his place in heaven to come down for THEM! How God watched that and didn't scoop up his Son, embrace Jesus with loving arms and then pour out his wrath on the wicked earth with a huge flood again. How amazing!
And so God knows my pain. He knows it very well. He knows it PERFECTLY.
And I believe He, as He did with his own Son Jesus, is sad to see it happen to Walter, to anyone.
We are strangers to this earth- this is not our home. And we will have lives filled with difficulty, with pain. But, right around the corner...is the finish line to our hard race.
Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, at our finish line, He was bullied, He's been through it all and then some. And He is waiting for us to come home...excited to say "Welcome Home" ...where we truly belong.
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Do you remember the story of Mary and Martha in the Bible? (Luke 10:38-42)
I have what I call "Martha Moments." I had one just the other day.
It's where I forget the important things and get distracted.
On this particular day I was distracted by household duties, although it doesn't always have to be the case.
Here's the play by play:
We were all in the basement. I look around and see toys scattered...everywhere.
The kids and Jeff were playing foosball and having a great time. I cleaned, they played. I cleaned, they played. No one asked to help - they ignored me as I was bending over and laboriously picking up the pieces after what seemed a post tornado setting.
Then they asked me to join and play.
It irritated me to the point where I had had it.
"You know, none of you have offered to help, I'm doing all the cleaning, and that's pretty rude."
Now, I can guarantee you that if I did stop and drop everything to play, the cleaning would not have been done. We, as a family, tend to be slobs. We move on to the next fun thing and rarely stop to clean, and it is so frustrating for me.
However, my frustration got the best of me, which it did Martha. I should have made a deal- discuss with them that I was frustrated, agree to play with my family asking that they help me clean after 5-10 minutes of play.
Instead, I scolded them. All of them.
Did the room get clean? Yep.
Did my family then help? Yep.
Did I ever play foosball with them? Nope.
There's the Mary part I missed.
Does that mean drop your priorities to having a clean house? Forget cleaning and have fun fun fun?
Absolutely not. I don't think the Lord wants us to be slobs, I really don't.
I think He would like us to be responsible and pick up after ourselves, and I believe He wants me to teach this to my children. However, in those moments, those valuable moments that need to be embraced, the house, the car, the work, the ...whatever can wait a minute while we choose the better part.
And then we can get back to the house, the car, the work, the...whatever later.
There is time for quality fun and there is time for cleaning. We glorify God in our cleaning as well, let's not underestimate the value of that as well. We absolutely should take care of the things He gives us.
We need to be responsible with our time given so that we can have a healthy balance.
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:38-42). |
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Our 7 year old son, Walter lied to me today. We were listening to music and it was hip hop bouncy music and he got a little out of control with a soft squishy bat and banged it against the side of the couch. I happened to be sitting at the moment on the couch so I knew it hit pretty hard. When I asked him about it, he lied. I showed him the mark on the couch and I was able to talk him into confessing that not only did he do it, but he lied about doing it as well.
Walter has hard time with disappointment. He doesn't like to disappoint people and is very hard on himself when he does "stupid things."
I told him tonight it wasn't the soft bat against the couch that made me so angry. It was that he didn't love me enough to trust me with the truth. He didn't love me enough to tell me the truth and it hurt.
He didn't fool me when he lied. I felt that smack. God sees when we do stupid things, THINK stupid things...and He wants us to love Him enough to be honest with Him.
Isn't He worth our trust and worth our honesty? |
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I am learning that "I'm doing the best for my son" has too much me in it.
Let me explain:
Tonight we were reflecting on the situation at school with my son. The school expanded from 600 to 700 students and they added portable classrooms and new teachers. I don't feel they went about it the right way, they sent a letter home last Friday explaining what was happening, not naming which students would be moved. I didn't say anything to Walter b/c I didn't want him to worry about anything. Besides, we didn't know if it would even affect him then.
They separated and moved Walter yesterday and THEN he brought a letter home last night stating he was being moved to another added class. I am irritated by this, I felt the letter should have come home a day earlier, giving the parents a chance to discuss this situation with their children, reassuring them it would be okay.
I have a neighbor who has their daughter in a school that is part time classroom, part time homeschool. This, to me, is the best of both worlds. I feel Walter can move so much further if I could do one on one instruction, but I also know the importance of a classroom setting and the dynamics it brings.
And "I want the best for my son" came to my mind when thinking about school and Walter. Two things occurred to me:
1. Too much of "me" is is that statement. "I" and "my" and only one "son" - and ultimately, we want the best for our children, but do we want it too much? If he doesn't get the best, will he not be good enough for ...who...me?
2. what is best for him? As a believer in our redeemer, Christ, shouldn't I believe that the very best for Walter is what the Lord has in store? Aren't His plans the best? Shouldn't they trump mine? Yes, and even when it means stepping back and it may possibly mean Walter may get in trouble.
Walter may need to learn this year, perhaps more than any other year...that the choices you make in friends will affect you good or bad. He already mentioned a situation this morning where our neighor friend tried to get Walter to go "the wrong way" and (Walter did not) but the other kid- "he didn't get in trouble, but he got caught."
As much as I dislike hearing this, it was a great opportunity to explain that even if he never got caught, the fact that he did it knowing it was wrong was bad, it was sinful and God always knows, always sees..... perhaps that was a good lesson.
And so maybe I need to take a step down, back away from what I think is best...and let Walter learn what it means to choose wisely in friends, how to follow someone who is trustworthy... |
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My son is a bright child. He is not always motivated to do math drills or practice reading. He loves games.
So, I created a math game with playing cards.
I took out all cards except 2-10.
Then I created a box of squares with numbers 4-20 on each square.
Each player starts with one card. For every turn, they draw 2 cards.
They then select two cards to add together (leaving the third card in their hand) and find the sum on the chart.
They then discard those two cards they use to find the particular sum. The player then marks off that number on the chart.
For example, if Walter starts with a 2, and draws a 7 and a 3...he can select two of the three cards to use. He may choose to use 2 and 7 to make the sum of 9. He then marks off the 9 on the chart and discards the 2 and 7.
The player who marks off every number on their chart wins. (A number, (sum) can only be used once.)
If a player draws two cards and is unable to play (every combination of two cards has a sum that has already been used) they lose a turn and continues to draw two cards on their next turn.
There is strategy, you may want to hold the 2's, because there is only one way to count to 4 with these cards (2 + 2 ) but there are many ways to count to 10.
It is a great game for Walter, our 6 year old, because he can practice his adding skills.
It is a great game for Carrie because she can practice recognizing written numbers as well as counting.
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I am going through Carrie's bag of artwork that we got to take home after her preschool Family Night. There are beautiful brightly colored butterflies that I can't help but to want to tape on some of my windows. There are pictures where she can clearly explain who is who and what they are doing. What do I do with them? How can I tuck them away in a drawer?
I look around my kitchen and dining room and see the wonderful display from her creative hand and wonder what my house would look like if I wanted what we call a "Museum House."
There was a time when my house was clean and orderly. There was a time when everything was neatly put in its place. I laugh to myself because that was a time when my husband wasn't even home. He was on the road as a consultant. I saw him on the weekends. We lived on the weekends, so it wasn't exactly the cleanest house. And by Monday evening everything was put back in its place. A clean, orderly house. A quiet house. A lonely house. It was close to the "Museum House," although we were newlyweds so we had not yet had the chance to purchase "Museum House" furniture.
At this very moment, there is a dollhouse -still waiting for final decoration- in front of the fireplace. There is at least one load of laundry on my couch waiting to be folded. There are puzzles on the bottom shelf of the endtable in the living room. A dog bed beside the window by the front door...because I know how much Sampson loves to be on the lookout.
My dining room table now has papers spilling over that the kids have worked on...pouring their creativity into "gifts" for their parents...and water spills where the watercolor paint got a bit messy. Where do blankets go...you know...the ones you cuddle up with when you're watching a movie? I don't have a "place" for them...the closet is already taken with the basket of shoes and basket of musical instruments.
And so my house is not a "Museum House." Far from it. But this is a house where laughter is heard, where smiles are abundant, where memories are made. My house is far from clean 90% of the time when we have people over...for whatever the reason. We have board meetings here, we have parties here...we have spontaneous-no reason- get togethers here. And no one seems to mind that there's a dollhouse in front of the fireplace. No one seems to mind my butterflies on the window.
Will people remember the incredibly clean house? Nope. But they will remember the Johnson house as being one of the most fun places to be at. Where life is lived and lived well.
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Well, I blogged a month or so ago that Carrie tried riding her bike without training wheels. She did a pretty good job, but was still scared and wobbled a bit when she realized what she was doing.
I'm happy, delighted and excited to say that Carrie, on Easter Sunday, decided to be brave. It was all her idea. Off went the training wheels at my parents' house and she was off and riding! On Tuesday, I went to the park to run and the girl did 2 miles on her bike!
I guess it just takes being ready. Practicing is good, but she had to know when she was ready.
Way to go, Carrie!
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Today was a great day.
It was a day to remember.
Walter and I had a good breakfast. He ate while I read through the story of Palm Sunday. He has many questions and I love how God is at work in his little heart already!
Carrie and I went to her preschool post-evaluation conference. She was a good girl and let Mom talk...for the most part. It was encouraging and just confirms over and over that she is in the best preschool program in Nashville (Crievewood Baptist Church.) (If you have followed my blogs, we had a bad experience with another program in the fall and are just so blessed to have found this one!)
Carrie and I then went to Wal-Mart where we had to do some shopping. She was on her best behavior and we spent time looking at things and talking about toys, flowers and she picked out a toy and an outfit. Then we went to a Japanese restaurant. And she was pretty close to perfect. Quite the little lady. She picked up her chopsticks and even tried a crunchy shrimp sushi roll. She fed me my chicken using the chopsticks and we laughed and had fun. We came back to the house and she helped me plant and water the new flowers until Walter came home off the bus.
When Walter came home, he opened his backpack and pulled out his report card. For the boy who has had to work on staying focused, writing slowly and neatly and double checking his work, he had an excellent report card. I was very pleased. And no papers came home that needed to be corrected and returned. And his teacher even commented to me that he was working hard. Go Walter!
So the kids and I cleaned the dining room together. The dining room is more like our classroom right now, and that's okay. And they did it without complaining.
Good golly Miss Molly....Who are these kids and how long are they staying?!?! I ask myself
Dinner? Wonderful.
After dinner Jeff played the Playstation with Walter- a well deserved reward after working so hard and earning such a great report
Carrie and I played dolls and had a sweet time together.
And so today ends and I will remember this day...try to hold this memory on days that are not this great...so I can remember that perhaps another great memorable day is just around the corner... |
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We always do stories before bed. I've been reading the Easter story.
What I told him I later then had to go back to correct.
I told him Jesus died, went to hell, and then came back on the third day.
Walter then asked me if Jesus took some souls from hell to heaven with him.
I know there is much debate on this so I decided to do some Biblical research. I searched the scriptures and found nowhere that says Jesus actually descended into hell.
And we do know out of the very mouth of Christ himself, He said, "Today you will be with me in paradise" to the criminal on the other cross. So we do know that Christ ascended into heaven after He died, otherwise He may have said, "Today you will be in paradise...I'll meet you there later"
After much reading, researching I asked my father who then took the question to one of his pastors, and I completely trust his wisdom on the matter:
Some versions of the Apostles’ Creed do not have the phrase “descended into hell.” Jesus descended into the grave, to death. He was not cast into hell. He took hell for us, which is the full wrath of God being separated from God on the cross as he took our sin upon himself. That is the idea behind the phrase he descended into hell.
And so there you have it.
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Carrie tried Walter's old bike today without training wheels.
She has gone the length of the garage with me holding her backside in the fall, but this was different.
This was the real deal.
We went to the park and I pulled out the old bike. Now, it is missing a pedal, so pedaling with a bar instead of a pedal is trickier.
I walked/jogged beside her with my hand on the back of her seat, ready to hold her when she started to fall.
She has the ability, she did well when she didn't focus on the fear of falling. When she remembered she could fall, she started to panic.
She did a few runs about 15-20 feet without my hand...I was right beside her so when she started to panic and wobble, I put my arms on her handlebars to help her balance the bike.
If she could just believe in herself, and trust the one who knows she is ready to start practicing, she'd be fine.
How difficult it is to try something new, try something with the fear of failing, of falling, of getting hurt.
Getting hurt. That's a big one.
And the good Lord is never far with His arms. Sometimes falling and even getting hurt is necessary for our own personal story.
But if we never get on the bike without the training wheels, we'll never be able to experience the great feeling in accomplishment, we'll never be able to feel the thrill of the true ride.
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I was reading Genesis 2 and 3 today at breakfast with Walter and Carrie. Now, let me set the scene here...snow day allows for a nice slow breakfast. Walter, 6, and Carrie, 4, are listening to me read word by word the scriptures and stopping every once in a while to further explain and check for understanding.
Trying to explain sin entering the Garden of Paradise was difficult. Explaining how sin and holiness do not mix. So I look out the window and see the blanket of snow still remaining on the ground and get an idea. We talked about how white snow is, and what happens when a dog pees in the snow. Makes the spot yellow, no longer white. Can it go back to white?
Nope. It's gross now.
Yep, so is sin. That's why we need Jesus, because miraculously, he can take the stain, like the dog pee, and remove it. Something we cannot do on our own, just like we can't remove the dog pee from the snow.
Thank you, Holy Spirit, thank you for working in the hearts of my children this morning. Thank you for prompting me to take advantage of our time together to teach about your ways.
May the Lord, our God, continue to work in the hearts of my children, and in the hearts of everyone who comes across this blog today. Take them to a new place of understanding of you, Lord.
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Carrie is stumping me.
I'm not sure what she is doing. She's not shy, she loves attention.
Perhaps it's just an act for attention....
But for the last year, she will hesitate to walk into Sunday School, or preschool, where she'll either peak in or not at all, and almost hide against the wall near the door.
It's so annoying, because I know she has fun in there.
I helped get her started in preschool, especially since she changed schools (Thank the Lord!)
by walking her in, helping her by asking her what she needed to do next.
But we're a month into school now, and enough is enough.
This past Thursday, I kind of took her arm and scooted her inside where the teacher was and left. Maybe that will reinforce her having to go in and get her day started?
I don't know. I just want to know I'm doing the right thing!
And it's so hard on my heart sometimes!
So what is it she is doing and why?
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Mondays are going to be my harder running days.
Wednesday and Thursdays are easier b/c I can drop my daughter, Carrie off at preschool and drive to a nearby park where I can put in my 2 or 3 miles.
Poor Carrie. She has training wheels and it is slowing her down. I run about 10 steps and then give her a push in the back. I don't want to rush her into riding without training wheels...but it would be so much faster.
I did notice her tires were extremely low, and that makes a huge difference. So before our next outing to the park for my run, I'll be sure to put air in all the bike tires.
What I am wondering is if there is any way I can make a handlebar off the back of her bike and with the training wheels still on, I can give her a push so she isn't so slow.
That would make it so much easier.
She is too young to ride without her training wheels, and she is too old to sit in the jogging stroller.
And it doesn't bother me too much b/c I know it's a season.
And unless God gives us an unexpected surprise, we'll soon enough be able to do the many things we can do once we graduate from training wheels.
But in the meantime, I'll just keep giving her pushes.
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I'm trying to teach Walter how to read and spell words...GOOD GRIEF!
I am so frustrated with all the ridiculous words that don't follow our own rules...
You know the ones...
- Silent E changes the short vowel to a long vowel sound
- When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking (like hear, aim, moan)
etc. etc.
Okay, so why do we have to make it so hard on our kids by making them learn words that don't make sense in the world of phonics. I understand, sometimes it helps to learn it's origin.
Okay, really? Does origin take priority over learning basic skills and moving on to bigger things?
Why can't we just change it? We change the s and apostrophe rule back and forth, why not just do a full sweep and change words like
said- can't we make it "sed?"
Or how about
was- how about "wuz?"
that's the way they sound!
why do we have a "ph" or "gh" that sounds like an "F" sound? Just use the stinking F!
laugh- into laf
why do we have a "ck" sound that sounds like a "k" and "c" that sometimes sounds like an "S?"
Just use an S
It just doesn't make sense to me that we keep it that way b/c it's always been that way. Does it serve any purpose other than confusing the heck out of kids trying to master so many concepts? They have to stumble over so many rules, and then stumble over words that don't follow rules.
Our language stinks!
We ask why American kids have lower test scores and not as smart in this and that...we have the power to change all that.
We do.
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I was so impressed with Walter. We have been studying out of his little person Bible- and we've been in Genesis and talking about creation.
Last week we talked about how awesome it was that God spoke light into existence on day one and sky on day two. Revisiting that again today, Walter observed that God, on day two, separated the waters and called it sky. Walter said, "But God didn't make the earth yet." It wasn't a comment of doubt, it was a comment of trying to piece it together and a comment filled with awe. We talked about how the sun wasn't made yet (not until day 4) and God created light first thing. That God didn't need the sun to have light.
And separating the waters, we talked about the water in the sky, but also how there is a layer of protection above us that protects us from the sun.
So, perhaps, God created that layer of protection before he even created the sun.
So again, I am so thankful that God is doing His thing with Walter, b/c it's impossible for me to make him see how awesome and powerful and majestic our God truly is.
I'll do my part, but you can see God at work in Walter's heart and in his mind.
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Carrie will be 4 on September 27th. I think the last 6 months and especially the last couple months I have witnessed significant growth.
I am trying to remember Walter and his growth.
It hasn't been that long since Walter turned 4, two years, actually.
I can't remember as much as I probably should- the changes that happened with him during that growth period. Perhaps it was just as noticeable and significant.
Carrie has improved her speech. We have been working on using her mouth and articulating so that her speech is clear. She picked up on it and has run with it. She is communicating better and better. She has learned how to sound out letters and form simple words. Her motor skills are improving to where she cuts and colors fairly well.
Three seemed like a "big girl" but holy cow, this turning 4 thing is amazing! When did my little girl grow up?
Granted, I still pick up after her probably more than I should, she is still a fast mover and can sometimes be a wrecking ball or a bull in a china shop, leaving a trail of where she has been. But that part will be refined I think with the next couple years as she matures even more.
But again, this approaching birthday seems like a big one to me. Where did my little girl go?
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Sounds weird, doesn't it?
Fly Swatter Word Game
What the heck is that?!
Well, Carrie is 4 on Sept 27th. The girl is scaring me with her spongy brain. She knows her letters, sounds and knows how to sound out words and even spell a couple.
Carrie is also a very wiggly, active child. She can do 4 puzzles in a row for 30 minutes, sitting quite still. After that? She's on the move!
So I made up a game.
I used an excel spreadsheet and on one column I wrote the following words in their own "box" or cell:
hat, mat, cat, rat, bed, net, pot, pup, cup
then I found clip art that matched the words
I enlarged it and printed it
I had Carrie practice her cutting skills and cut out the words and picture in each "box"
She accidentally cut a few, but nothing a glue stick can't fix.
Then after she cut them out, I took cardstock and cut it into pieces a little larger- and we pasted the word on a piece of cardstock, and then pasted the picture on another.
(So there is a matching "card" - word with picture)
Okay, so I took it to Office Max where I had them laminate it. $4 for the laminating and they are super laminated. Holy cow, I had no idea it would be thick and hard! Nothing can destroy these things!
So then we bought 3 fly swatters.
I put tape on the smacking side of the fly swatter.
I laid the clip art cards on the floor side up.
I put the word cards face down in a pile.
For each turn, we drew a card and each person got a turn to find their matching picture card and smack it with the fly swatter, causing the card to "stick" to the fly swatter.
After a while, we didn't take turns, we would race each other. (Mommy lets Carrie win most of the cards.)
This game is two days old, and just tonight, we played it in reverse.
We had the word cards spread on the floor and drew the picture cards.
I watched as Carrie would move her swatter over to "bat" and then hesitate and sound out the word, and then find the correct word, "bed."
A wonderful game.
If she needed help learning letters I could use that to.
You could use any matching cards- math, letters, Q and A for a test, whatever!
And it is much fun!
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I have a theory- that God places children with special needs in the laps of the parents that He appoints - because He has given them special heavenly tools to raise them.
Patience, tenderness, kindness, flexibility, and many more. You name it, they've got it.
Within my family, we have children with special needs. Not in my immediate family of four, but within my extended family. It only takes a few minutes with them to see how special these parents are.
Now, I have seen children with special needs with parents that do not do a good job. I don't think it's b/c they don't have what it takes...I think it's b/c they don't use what is given them.
They choose to parent by their own standards, and not laying down who they are and picking up the cross of Jesus and following Him by selflessly serving Him.
The best manual for parenting is the Bible. Period. That's the best manual for LIFE.
And if you don't think so, perhaps you should dig a little further into scripture.
It's there, I promise.
To be a good parent, you must step back and selflessly see and meet the needs of your child before yourself. To be a great parent, you do these things in the guidance of our Heavenly Father. You seek His plans for your children. Not your own.
Which is difficult, especially when your plans are so different than His.
How disappointing it can be when you are holding your baby- thinking, dreaming of their wedding day, what will their profession be, will they make their mark on history?....only to realize later that these dreams of yours may not be in the plans of our Father.
That perhaps this little one may never understand relationships such as marriage.
And you "lower your expectations." But I think when lowering your expectations, you are not really "lowering" anything but your own will and kneeling, bowing and backing away as you realize it's not about you at all. It's about God.
And somehow in the midst of it all, there is glory given to God. There may not be anyone else that sees it, but the glory is given.
Sure, perhaps it's easier for me to write this b/c I don't have a child with special needs of my own. But I see amazing things happening when my family members take on the task of parenting these children with such amazing patience and finesse. And I can't help but to think that God granted them extra patience and extra understanding and extra everything to do what they do, b/c they do it so well.
And so perhaps they will be given a set of wings when they reach heaven, and the rest of us will join as the Throne room bursts in applause.
Well done, good and faithful servant, well done.
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"Take the Wheel" is a great phrase for "you drive."
But what happens if you have never heard that before.
I love it when kids are so literal. Here's what happened.
I took Carrie to the Nashville Adventure Science Center.
Great place, lots of fun for all ages.
There is this donated ambulance there that the kids can play on. Carrie loves buttons and steering wheels, so it's perfect for her. There was a kid already at the steering wheel pretending to drive so Carrie politely waited her turn at the passenger seat and played along.
The boy turned to Carrie and in their pretend play they have to help someone, so he told Carrie, "Hurry, take the wheel" and he was going to move to the back to help whoever was "hurt."
Carrie, never hearing that phrase before, and ever so happy that someone is playing pretend with her, says, "Ok," and gets out of the ambulance. She then quickly scurries over to the side of the ambulance and starts to grab the actual wheel of the ambulance. It wouldn't budge, so she figures it is still pretend play, so she yells back, "got it!"
I had to help her- so I went over and explained what he meant so that she could take her turn in the driver's seat and the pretend play could continue.
But how funny!
Which reminds me of another time when we were driving somewhere, and the kids were so loud Jeff and I could not hear each other.
So Jeff slows down and scolds them, "Hey! You guys are screaming at the top of your lungs back there and Mommy and I can't hear each other, now quiet down!"
It gets quiet for a second. Two seconds.
Then we hear, "Daddy? What are lungs?"
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It's 9 am. It has been a long morning already.
My kids were up before 7. Not such a big deal, but we had a good storm last night and it took Carrie a while to get to sleep.
And I'm just not used to getting up this early in the summer time.
So in my morning I have dealt with the pains of my child not getting to eat cereal out of the Spiderman bowl. Luckily we have 2 and I could find the other one.
And Walter gave up his Spiderman bowl long before I found the second one just to please Carrie. What a great kid!
We finished one of our Lego Speedracercars- which can be its own fun in itself with kids fighting over the small pieces that are vital to the car- the ones that can get lost in a New York minute.
The kids fought over the Speedracer car, so Mommy is asked to build the other car so they can each have one. (sigh)
Not enough coffee yet. Those kits can take me an hour!
So I dig into the instructions.
Then I hear the sounds that curse the morning. The sounds of my dog, Sampson, or his stomach, rather, as he then proceeds to barf on the nice carpet in the living room. Why not the hardwood or even the linoleum kitchen floor?
Not enough coffee in my system for this yet.
And I think Sampson tried to tell me last night. We gave him the leftover bone from Jeff's Father's Day T-bone steak. Sampson didn't eat it at first. He looked at it and it almost looked like he was saying, "no, thanks."
I guess he knew. And I told him it was okay- b/c it looked like he was asking for permission last night.
He tried to tell me.
Good dog.
But can we barf on the kitchen floor instead? Or how about outside?
Yep, I'm having that kind of morning.
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So I'm reading in Genesis this morning- reading with my son, Walter.
We read about God taking Adam's rib and creating woman.
What didn't occur to me before this morning, is that Adam doesn't call her "Eve" until after they had disobeyed God and eaten from the forbidden fruit.
She is called "woman," and "wife," but it's not until after God tells her she will have pains in childbirth that Adam names her, "Eve."
"Eve" comes from the word, "living."
However, if we want a wise crack out of it, perhaps he nicknamed her "Eve," short for "Evil."
But why does he wait so long to name her? Does he wait b/c he wants to be careful how to name her? Not rush this beautiful "flesh of my flesh?"
He named the animals, gave them their specific name according to what they were. But to only Eve did he name what she is "woman" and WHO she is "Eve."
Interesting. Names are so important. So naming a child should not be taken lightly. Walter's middle name is "David."
Walter- powerful ruler
David- beloved
wow- that's pretty cool. A leader who is loved.
Carrie Evelyn
Carrie-"lively, pleasant"
Evelyn- from "Eve"- "living"
She is definitely "alive" and can be loads of fun
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I guess we learn from an early age how to fight over the dumbest things.
Why should it surprise us later in life when we still fight over dumb things?
Be it political, be it marital, be it over whatever, it's still sometimes equivalent to fighting over a piece of lint.
"I had it first!" my son, Walter (almost 6) would scream at my daughter, Carrie (3 1/2)
And so the screaming match begins quickly progressing to arms joining in.
Over something so silly. If they could just learn to wait 5 minutes and the one is tired of it and it's all theirs.
It could be ball, a pen, a rubber band, a piece of LINT for crying out loud. But b/c the one has it, the other MUST have it as well.
Or how about pushing in line. I always had to remind students that they will all get to where they need to go and there is no need to "cut the line" or even push. Didn't matter if they were 5 or 15. Crazy.
So why should we be surprised when later in life - while driving, someone cuts you off at a merge?! I see it all the time a half a mile near our house. If you drive Nolensville Road southbound from Old Hickory, it takes only about 15 yards to enter this spot.
It's right after the stoplight at Ace and Walmart.
That's the dividing line - the piece of lint...that causes drivers to be so angry at another car- that almost caused an accident.
Because they "must be first"
Really? One car ahead? We are going to be so childish over something so stupid.
The piece of road that divides. Same piece of lint.
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(please read part on first to understand what I'm trying to tackle here)
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It's interesting, he'll be 6 in two weeks. He just finished his first year of kindergarten. We haven't seen name calling this year at all from him.
I think the only time he called anyone a name was he time where he called Carrie (our 3 year old) an idiot...she called Sampson, our dog, girl. This was fall 08, shortly after kdg started.
"He's a boy, you idiot!" and he knew right away what he did. He went to his room for some
time alone, and that was the last we had to deal with that with him.
And that's saying a lot considering he's going to a metro Nashville public school where all kinds of cultures and languages and lack of "mouth filters" are introduced.
Perhaps it's just an age thing at preschool?
I say this b/c my daughter has been at preschool this year and we are in this territory again.
"Sillyhead"
Not a bad name...but she started calling everyone "sillyhead" trying to be funny and fun.
And it got old. Fast.
What Jeff (her dad) did is tell her she can call him "Papa Bear" since we call her "Care Bear."
And explained that was different from name calling.
For a while I thought, Carrie can be permitted to call only me, her mother, "sillyhead." Maybe that would allow her to have some fun and get it out of her system. That was a few months ago. Since then we have only heard "sillyhead" a few times. It seems to have died away.
With two bachelors with a little mouth on them living near us, I figured they'd pick up some words. Haven't heard anything worse than "stupid" or something near to that. And oddly enough, the word "stupid" was something Walter learned when a kid said it at church!
I told Carrie some time this spring when I heard her say "stupid" - not to use that "not nice word." She is a rebel and wanted to see what would happen. I warned her I'd wash her mouth out with soap.
So she said it again.
I put a teeny tiny dab of liquid hand soap on her tongue and it took her a while to wash that taste out. Walter was yelling and crying in the hallway b/c he thought I was hurting her b/c soap was bad to eat. I explained later what little drop I put on her tongue.
But, since that event, we haven't heard any "not nice" words since from either kid.
But what I have also done, is pause a movie when watching at home (we never go to the theater) - (and I will add that just because it's a "G" rated kids movie doesn't mean it's educational and "nice")...
but I'll pause the movie and point out that the character was not being nice.
But whatever we've done or not done...the name calling has slowed down to almost ceasing.
As far as the name calling, maybe she'll pick it back up again when near her classmates when school starts up again in the fall.
Who knows. We'll tackle that when we get to it.
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So I thought my story of catching a fish without a worm or any sort of bait would be one of a kind. I did so when I was 8. Honest, my cousins are witnesses and can testify to it.
It's not one of a kind anymore. Yesterday Walter caught a fish with just a hook. Call it luck, call it the dumbest fish, call it skill at making a hook look like bait, ...call it what you will...but the legacy has been continued.
That tickles me. So he thought he'd just continue sticking his hook in the water. Good thing I convinced him that only happens once, he could have been one disappointed fisherman waiting and waiting for another dumb fish!
But that was just one of the many highlights of a fantastic, memorable couple of days spent with my kids out on the boat and camper- hanging out with my father-in-law....but I call him Dad. I have 2 dads- one from birth, one from marriage. Both are wonderful, fun Godly men that I look up to and love to hang with.
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| So my latest Carrie "thing" is that tonight we have a sponge down the drain in the shower. As I was taking Carrie out of the shower, I realized she had taken the drain cover off and was playing with a sponge. Well, the sponge went down the drain. We tried a bent metal hanger and the sponge has gone down the curved part of the drain pipe. So stay tuned for the latest developments. I just hope it doesn't include an expensive plumber. |
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Should preschoolers be forced to nap?
How about lay still and quiet for an hour and a half?!
Well, Carrie turns 3 in two weeks.
She has not napped on a regular basis in well over a year.
She can at least play by herself for long periods of time, and that is helpful. She started going to Christ Church Mother's Day out/preschool (more like a pre-preschool) and this was her third day.
I am feeling like such a basket case today.
Should I force my daughter to lay still for an entire 90 minutes at rest time?
Last week it was dark and she had a hard time. I suggested giving her a book.
Today, she did have a book, and she still had such a hard time, my defiant little girl, that she cried and the director had to come in and calm her down and tell her lovingly and firmly to lay down, be still and go to sleep.
So okay, she cried herself to sleep. Therefore she took a nap.
Naps and my daughter don't work very well. An hour nap today -maybe- and she was up until 10 o'clock. And the only way to get her to sleep was to lay beside her.
AND, not to forget the possibility of restless legs. I have it, and she seems to need to move her legs a lot when trying to get to sleep.
Or is it just little kid squirms?
Am I feeling over anxious and being an overly concerned and over protecting mom when I don't want my daughter to be so miserable every day at preschool for so long?
And it's the last part of her day - the part that she'll remember.
I prayed that God would open the door for her and that she would get a slot if this is what He wills for her. And it's SO hard to know what to do! So let the kids who fall asleep after 30 minutes sleep, and then let the kids who don't watch a movie or something. That's my theory on it, but I don't have a degree in early childhood, but I am very experienced in my daughter. And I love her, and I don't want to force her to do things that seem unnecessary to me. She doesn't need a nap.
This girl has more stamina than a marathon runner. I know, I am one! So what to do? |
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| Well, I drew the line back a few weeks ago and told Carrie she could not wear her swimsuit to bed. Daddy is a soft one, for sure. Last night he got the kids ready for bed, and there is Carrie, nighttime diaper on and... yep. The swimsuit. Cute as a button, I didn't argue. I did tip toe in her room last night to cover her up. She had kicked off her covers. Leave it to my kids to correct me. Yes, Carrie, you can wear your swimsuit to bed :) |
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I told Walter and Carrie that they had to have a nap today.
We don't normally take naps, neither one of them go to bed very well at night, especially Carrie- if she sleeps.
I told Walter there may be something special later if he does. We may be taking the kids to Chuck E Cheese tonight with some friends.
They don't know this.
So I convinced him that something else was in store if he just laid down and had a rest. Carrie? She's still making noises almost 45 minutes later, and I have put her back in bed at least 5 times now.
In fact, I just came back from taking her shoes. We struck a deal, or so I thought...that she could wear her dress shoes to bed, as long as she stayed in bed. And of course, my "spirited" child decides her own agenda includes walking around with her shoes on instead of holding to our "agreement."
So I took them with me. Is it really necessary to fight this hard over a pair of shoes? Over laying down in bed and having a rest?
Can't she just trust me that perhaps on the other side of this is something worth sleeping/resting for? Worth listening and obeying and submitting to her mother for?
And how much I am like this with my Heavenly Father! How I can't see past my want/(what I think is my need) - for "shoes", my need for what I want right now, this moment, and not see ahead of me that perhaps God has something wonderful in store...so much better than a "pair of shoes"...or whatever else I have in mind. And if Carrie doesn't rest, she doesn't get to go to Chucky E Cheese, and here's where it really is going to stink...her brother doesn't get to go either. So how many times do we miss doing something for God and it would have blessed someone else? Hmmm.... |
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Whew I am tired today. I have dealt with one busy energetic two year old for quite some time with very little break.
The two year old seems to need less sleep than I do sometimes! And how does she do it? I love Carrie, but wow, does she keep me and everyone else around on their toes.
She seems to get her hand on everything around her.
I am now calling it the "Carrie Trails." She seems to leave a mess, something undone, something tipped over, something all over her...she snuck away for a minute. I promise! Only a minute! Or she'll do it right in front of me, before I can catch her. One day I'll sit back and laugh at how she kept me skinny, going from one trail to the next.
For now...(yawn)...I'm just trying not to get too far behind in picking up/cleaning up the trails. I don't remember Walter ever being this "into stuff!" Sure he could figure out the childproof locks, but the trails were few and far between compared to this chic. |
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Walter started doing harmless name calling the last week or so. Calling friends and even us, his parents, peanuthead...macaroni head.
I wondered if this harmless namecalling needed to stop. If it's all in fun, is it really a big deal?
Well, if the namecalling ever included an attitude of anger, or words that were harmful- then yes...it's really a big deal. So should we even allow him to tip toe through harmless namecalling? How do we explain the line between harmless and harmful name calling. I have come to the conclusion that it should stop all together. Why tiptoe through the beginnings of what could result in sin? Why entertain the practice of calling names- it will only get easier to do so when he gets older. And, I may add, it will eventually get easier and easier to get closer and closer to that line that separates harmful from harmless.
I spoke with his teacher today and she said they don't approve of their name calling- and apparently many of the 4 year old boys are doing it. I told her I was glad to hear that they don't approve and we will support that at home. No need to tiptoe through the terrain with a thin line. |
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| We should be praying over our houses and our families daily for protection. Our angels are at war, and Satan's minions will try at anything. Do we get too comfortable? We have it good in our country. We feel so safe. And we fall for this piece of deceit. We are safe, but only by the blood of Christ. But it still doesn't mean we should sit back and forget that there is a war going on all around us. And we help fight that war by praying for protection and for being in the Word. Prayer has significantly huge power. We try to explain this to Walter, our four year old. I'm not sure how much of this he understands, but he will. The sooner he understands spiritual warfare, the sooner and better he is equip to help battle it. Battling it for our humans means to recognize it, pray over it, and give it to the Lord. |
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| Yesterday we had a talk with Walter. He seems to be pushing, patting my breasts here of late. He did it yesterday to get my attention and we immediately told him that that's an area on people you are not allowed to touch, pat, whatever. This morning, Walter decided to draw my portrait. When he was finished, he called me over for my approval. At first glance, there were 3 sets of eyes. I asked about the 3 pairs of circles and Walter explains that the top pair were my eyes, the middle pair were my nose (nostrils) and the bottom pair were "those things" as he points to my breasts. So I decided it was time for Walter to know the anatomical name. Breasts, I tell him, those are Mommy's breasts. And so Walter becomes a boob man at the age of 4. "And this," Walter continues, this big thing is your nose...this is your nose, Mommy." Thanks, Walter. |
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I love Psalm 8...there are so many good points in it. Verse 2 says \"From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger\" Okay, so basically God gives power through the praise of little ones!
Wow!
So when little Walter sings to Jesus, it pierces through the darkness and silences the enemy! We should pay more attention and teach our young ones praises and encourage them to say them and sing them loudly and boldly. If we could only see what happens in the spiritual realm when tender lips speak the name of our Father! Also, Jesus quoted this verse in Matthew 21:16 because the children in the temple area were shouting, \"Hosanna to the Son of David.\" This made the chief priests and teachers of the law mad and said, \"Do you hear what these children are saying?\" they asked him. \"Yes,\" replied Jesus, \"have you never read, 'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise?'\" |
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| My daughter loves to walk around with no pants on. Nothing covering that cute little two year old toddler bottom. As I sit working on my computer, there she stands, five feet away- shirt on, no pants and her feet are in pink play shoes with heels We call her "Princess No Pants" and she is truly a fashion statement. |
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My son asks me sometimes if it's a brand new day.
He will ask this when he wakes up the morning after a tough day.
This is great news for him, because it means everything he did before that new day was forgotten, slate wiped clean- and he gets to start fresh, start anew. And just like that he can forget about mistakes he made and go forth with a bright and hopeful look on the day. It's a brand new day. I won't feel bad for what I left in yesterday, for what I did or didn't do that I was supposed to do. I get to try again
How wonderful that we all, young and old, get to start each day anew, that it's a brand new day. We leave our sins at the foot of the cross, that it's washed away, never to exist again. That our Father looks at us, His Beautiful Creation with such love and desires that we do our best to follow Him and seek His face.
Walter starts the day ready for my attention, ready to spend time with me, playing, laughing, and learning. How I should take on this mentality with my heavenly Father. I should wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to spend the day with my Father. Most of the time my kids wake me up way before I feel ready to greet the day, and I am already in \"Mommy mode\" multitasking and always busy, never seeming to have a second to myself.
Oh Lord, come to my thoughts many times daily so that I may spend my day with you |
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| Ever have one of those days where you are struggling to stay awake and the kids are still running around in their pajamas? Yep. Another pajama day at the Johnson household. I just couldn't muster enough energy to battle the clothing. In fact, I caught myself dozing off while Carrie roamed the first floor playing by herself. (Way to go Carrie!) I was laying on the couch and she was playing with one thing, I opened my eyes and she was playing with another. Good thing she didn't whack me on the head with a hard toy. I don't even think I was "asleep" yet...just out of it enough to "wake up." Walter was at his computer playing Putt Putt. He is really getting into the adventure game where you have to find clues and apply them in a certain order. He has his moments of running around and wrestling, but it's nice to have him settle down into something as well. And Walter doesn't take a nap every day. Today he had a little encouragment, Mommy napped with him. |
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| I am very irritated about the content shown in the commercials showing previews of upcoming shows such as CSI. These commercials are on as early as noon on a Saturday or Sunday. My family watches football together and I should not have to have the remote in hand at all times to change the channel at commercials that will scare my three year old. This has gone too far. Skulls, bones, blood, etc is inappropriate, unnecessary, and unacceptable. These clips are too violent for young children and should be taken off the air in the afternoon. |
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| Everyone every once in a while needs a pajama morning. Mothers with small children need them even more often. When you wake up to a cold morning and those jammies are so nice and warm, who wants to change? And if you are like me, my weekend was jam packed, full of things to do and then Monday rolls around. Ahh, there's nothing like a pajama morning on a Monday. The television is not the usual babysitter in my house, but this morning we have been entertained by WonderPets, Backyardigans, and now Dora the Explorer. And then we'll play a bit, have lunch, and then maybe we'll decide to change into day clothes...but maybe not. Maybe we'll make it a pajama day! |
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