I'm ready for the weekend! Oops, it's Sunday night…

Thanks to my friend Suzanne (who showed me this), I have most of this week's lunches made already. Such a relief! Tomorrow morning I will be dropping off some of my children for their first ever daycamp experience. Then I will take the others to the children's museum, and then grocery shopping. After that I will fix all of the suppers for the rest of this week. (Thanks again!) For the rest of the week I will be busy with seasonal cleaning, school for becoming a "real live" web designer, and making jewelry and vinyl decals for my store. Not to mention the all-important work of snuggles, hugs, kisses, giggles, and story reading. Oh yes, there's also quite a bit of paperwork shuffling going to be going on, as three of the children have leveled up to another grade in school. 

My dog needs a bath, my garage needs sorting, and my store needs all of the new items I have dreamed up to be added & clickable!

And I'd like to read a bit, and draw a few pictures, and maybe even paint some.

Is it the weekend yet?
I'm tired.

;)

( for the record, I am NOT complaining. I am delighted with my lovely, busy life. It just strikes me funny sometimes, & I wanted to share that with you.)

Yep, it's cold! (Inside and Out!)

Winter is here!

Yes, it's **cold**. But it's a real, brisk, invigorating cold! Like I learned to love when I moved to northern Michigan. Here in the south, the cold bothers me more. It may be because I assume the south shouldn't be cold, but I think it's because it's a different kind of cold. Wetter, bone-chilling, depressing. 

When I popped on to FB this morning (just for a few minutes!!), people were posting "It's so cold here..." comments and stories. Everywhere. It's just cold everywhere. I saw pictures of frosty windows, sheets of ice inside windowpanes, bedside glasses of water frozen solid, and snowed-over cars that had to be pointed out.

I don't have any dramatic pictures like that, but I do have a "first", that never even happened to me when I lived on a bare, windswept hill in northern Michigan in a house that was built of square timbers in the 1800's and had almost no insulation. In that house, when the wind blew, the curtains fluttered, and when we put shrink plastic over the windows, the wind swelled it out till it split! BUT, the laundry never froze to the inside of the washer like it did this morning! I'm sure that's got more to do with the fact that our washer is in our unheated pantry than it does with actual temperatures, but it sure made me feel COLD! 

Today, to "celebrate" the cold, a lot of our school is on the couch, cuddling under fleece blankets, courtesy of the many science and history videos available on Netflix streaming and Amazon Prime Instant Video. And there will be no laundry to fold and put away, because the water pipes to the washer are frozen. Which is a vacation for now, but I'll have to hustle to catch up once they thaw, because laundry for 10 people isn't something you want to get behind on. And, we're doing diaper changes in the common area ("look away, kids!"), because the thermostat on the space heater beside the changing table bottomed out at 45*, and I'm not going to strip anyone bare and scrub them with a cold wet wipe in that! Call me a softie ;0)

So, that's our "it's so cold..." story. Nothing dramatic, nothing exciting. Just how I like it :0)

Are you keeping warm?

Fake It Til You Make It Has Its Place and Purpose

I'm finding out that "Fake It Til You Make It" has it's valid applications.

I could totally derail myself right there and start thinking of all the times it's not the way to do things, and all the implications of all of those, and how it's dishonest, and how self-deception is damaging and...

Well.

I'm trying to not derail.

Anyway.

Today, I was

SO.

EXHAUSTED.

Like dozing off mid-sentence tired.

So I got everyone settled in with an activity, popped the toddler in his bed, & took the preschoolers to my bed for a quick "power nap" (that's what they call a short nap these days, right?).

My alarm went off 20 minutes later, and although I'd slept hard, I did not feel energized or "powered up".

All I felt was "3 more hours please?"

But that wasn't happening.

Enter "Fake It Til You Make It".

Basically, you pretend you are a actress/actor and you take on a role, and play it well.

My role was that of the energized, chipper, well-accomplished, farm-wife mom.

And you know what? After I trotted blithely out to the back of the meadow to retrieve our "rough work" broom, checked on the corn in the garden with one of my little guys, swept a smooth spot in the driveway and settled down to a 15 minute game of marbles with 5 of my monkeys, I was "feeling it" a bit. Toss in some squealing over close shots and honestly trying to manage flipping a marble straight, and I think I'll make it till bedtime.

Self-Talk is really powerful.

Both Ways.

Tell yourself you're tired, exhausted, beat, worn out, can't make it til the end of the day, just don't have the "oomph" for that task, etc., and it's true.

But take on that role, and really try...

Oh yes you can! I know you do it when you're in the middle of scolding your child for not telling you about the jug of milk lying open on its side propping the fridge door open for hours and the phone or doorbell rings- you turn into June Cleaver! (yes, I'm that old)

So do it again. Convince that invisible audience, convince your child, convince yourself that you do in fact have the energy to pull this off well. With a smile, even.

Because if you had to, you could. And it feels so much better than just slogging through thinking about how hard it is.

And, most likely, you'll get some momentum going and actually feel more energetic and maybe even accomplish more that you were aiming for!

I did.

Can Your Child Tell if Someone is Impersonating an Officer? Mine Can (Now).

We had a scary thing happen a few weeks ago.

The children were attending VBS (something I fought against for a while, but eventually did, and am glad we did). The church where they were going is so close, that in the winter, when there are no leaves, I can see it from our property. My 10 year old son wanted to walk there ahead of me and arrive independently. My initial reaction was to say "NO!" and keep him "safely" with me,

BUT...

He's 10. (whimper!)

and I (largely) subscribe to a lot of the ideas behind "Free Range Parenting", one basic idea of which is that we need to equip and educate our children and give them freedom and independence. So I let him. We followed about 5 minutes behind in our van. He was so happy to be there before me, to come out a greet me and open my door like he'd been there for hours without me. :0)

When we were talking over the evening, he mentioned talking with a police officer. I asked questions and we talked more, and this is what I learned.

As he was waiting to cross the road, a man pulled over and asked him if he was ok and where he was headed. He backed away a bit and hesitated to answer, whereupon the man said "Your parents told you not to talk to strangers, huh? That's good, but you can talk to me, I'm a police officer."
Then my son told him where he lives and that he's walking to VBS "right there" (pointing) and that I'm right behind. The man said that he was just making sure everything was ok and drove away.

So far, ok.

BUT.

After more questions, I learned that:
The man was in a construction truck.
That his "police light" was an orange bubble on top of his truck, and red and white LEDs around the windshield.
That he had no badge.
That he had a "long, scruffy goatee" (in our area, police officers are allowed NO beards whatsoever).

Now.
If he had simply pulled over to check that my son was ok, that would be fine and dandy. I don't teach my children to never talk to strangers. We'd never make friends that way! I do teach them not to give out personal information or go anywhere with strangers. And often (not always, obviously, but often), "stranger" adults are being friendly and helpful, and you can make some great friends.
(Even Jaycee Duggard says we shouldn't be overprotective!)
But.
Once he lied and said he was a police officer in order to gain my son's trust?
Official "Creep" status has been bestowed.

Thankfully my son is just fine. I wanted to sleep in his bed with him that night just to hold him.
We have been talking a LOT now about what a real police officer looks like, does, says, has with him, etc..
I'm guessing none of my children will be fooled that way again!
We even had a very kind deputy come by, and show them what a real badge looks like, and talk about how around here a police man will never have a beard, and he will always have blue lights. He told them what an officer would likely say to them, how he will identify himself as Officer So-and-So, and (for the ones who can read) his ID will say the same last name. He reassured them that no officer will be offended at being asked to show his badge and ID, and that if they're still no feeling sure, they can call 911 and ask if there is an officer talking to a child wherever they are at the moment. (I didn't know that part!)
I had told them all of that (besides the 911 part), but it was definitely more impressive and memorable coming from a real live policeman! And they got to see a real badge, which any nutcase can get off of the internet, but if they know all of the other, maybe a Creep won't push his case with just a badge. Especially the 911 part!
My point, (besides shouting from the housetop that my son is HERE, safe and sound!!) is taht maybe you should have a (non-terrifying) talk with your children, telling them that while not all strangers are bad, there are some bad strangers; that some of those bad strangers may pretend to be a police officer so that they can get away with doing bad things; and that there are ways to tell if it's a real police officer.

(1) Blue Lights. No one but police can have blue lights. There are very few unmarked cars with NO blue lights. An officer will turn them on to reassure a child. Amber, white, or red lights don't count.

(2) He will have his badge, no officer ever "leaves it at home / the office". He will show his badge.

(3) He will not (in our area, anyway) have a beard. Possibly a very trimmed mustache, but no beard.

(4) 911 will have a record of an officer talking to a child at that location, and the officer should have no problem with the child calling to ask.

Of course, all of this is assuming the child isn't just using all this to get out of trouble (think 15 yo trespassing, etc)!

Proud Mama!

I just have to brag.

 

She's decided not to take AP classes, because she's going to be doubling up and doing her Junior year and Senior year concurrently next year and graduating early. We all (her, parents, school officials) agree that she should do *either* AP *or* Early Graduation, but to combine them may be too much. Early Graduation is a better fit for her life goals, so there ya go!

A (big) Handful of What I've Been Reading Lately ::Monday Musings::

I love that my phone gives me the ability to read almost anywhere. 

In the van while I wait to pick up my daughter from band practice. 

In the van while my toddlers sleep through my bigger children's soccer practices.

In my rocker while I nurse my baby.

In my gold velour chair while my husband and I unwind from a busy day/week.

At the kitchen counter while I wait for supper to finish, or at the grill before I turn over the food...

Sometimes I find in interesting to "zoom out" and look at the overall landscape of what I'm reading. I know for sure that I am influenced by the "tone" of what I read, and I choose what I read with that in mind. Sometimes more mindfully and intentionally that others- sometimes I only read what I admire and aspire to, others I read simply because it's not destructive. That second category I don't recommend a steady diet of, neither do I consider it "wrong" as I used to. Sometimes I read things that others recommend, sometimes I read things that I disagree with, sometimes I read things that aren't "me" to broaden my perspective. 

A whim hit me to share all of the open tabs I have right now. There have been many times I've found an article, post, story, or source that I really like or need through browsing others' links, maybe someone will find just what they need or want in my little pile. It's just possible that I'll try to do this every Monday; if I do, I hope I don't fall into reading or not reading things just because I'll be sharing Monday. (Do you put an uppercase letter after a semi-colon?? Someone tell me!)

So, here's what's on my phone this morning, left over from my weekend's reading:

Perfect Mothers VS Balanced Mothers

If I Can Homeschool You Can Do It Too

Don't Be A Charity Slut This Year

Perception Is Reality

Two Open Letters About Christians and the LGBT Community

A What-If Marriage

Why "Christ Is All I Need" is Gnosticism in Disguise

Focus on Your Big Rocks First

Sometimes Lame is Better Than Best

So there you have it: my Monday Musings.

Links to Things I Like

"What I Wish I Had Known Before I Had Children"
Really. I wish I had known this. BEFORE.


"School & Self Esteem" 
This needs to be required reading for anyone who is going to parent, teach, coach, babysit... or just ever be around children at all!

"Unschooling Science Experiments"
I keep finding all these "unschooling" things that describe us! I guess we're unschoolers without knowing it??

New Student!

I have a (very happy) new student in my school!

Free online tools that make homeschooling easier (for us)

For me, actually.
These are record-keeping, lesson-planning, sanity-saving free downloads that I use every school day. I've used them for several years now, and they've served me well. I thought I'd share them for anyone that might be interested.