As4Me

Work is a good thing. My son did a hard job repotting a large plant for me today, and he came in happy that he had accomplished the job on his own. I pointed out that God made us to work, and to be happy when we are working hard. I need to remember this [...]

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I’ve been thinking about the last few months and realized that I’ve not had many serious breakfast conversations with my children. Some of the lack is that Lee was home a good bit during the holidays, and some is just that I’ve not remembered to talk then. I realized recently that one reason I’ve not [...]

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Have you ever heard a large group of  kindergarteners eating? Seems that this age is just getting to where they’re enjoying words, so they start making up their own. Each child trys to top the previous made-up word in silliness, and pretty soon, the whole table is laughing and talking nonsense.
I’m at a loss to [...]

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I grew up with feedback on my cooking. Some might be startled to hear a father gravely tell his eleven year old that her chocolate cake was too dry and the frosting excellent, but that’s exactly the kind of feedback I got from my dad. His evaluation was trustworthy. When he said my banana cake [...]

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I’ve been thinking about how simple routines with babies establish authority and lay a foundation for teaching obedience later on. What’s fun is that there’s a lot of freedom in how we teach authority and obedience. Mealtime is one situation where we generally manipulate the environment to avoid battles, but we still manage to stay [...]

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I keep forgetting how often what I think is misbehavior in Laurel (13 months) is really trying to do what her older siblings are doing. Sometimes she truly cannot do what they are doing (like cut and paste paper nighthawks). Other times she is stretching herself to do something well within her ability to learn [...]

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How you choose to feed your baby is not a spiritual issue, but because a number of folks try to make it so, a good reminder is helpful now and then. Nancy Wilson gives a great response on her blog. Wisdom is the principal thing. Get wisdom!
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Popularity: 13% [?]

A few months ago I was debating my priorities  for my morning schedule. I have come to the conclusion that getting ready for the day should happen before breakfast. (All the Type A readers hold your applause; it embarrasses me.) Here is what I discovered:

I found that having the children get dressed and clean their rooms [...]

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I thought of yesterday’s crying post when we ate lunch (and dinner) today. When Laurel (nearly nine months old) sits down in her high chair, she wants food now. Waiting for everyone to get in place, and for prayer isn’t easy. I’m tempted to give her a little bit of food to hold her over [...]

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Today will be a busy day. I have a number of errands to run before we fly out tomorrow, and I still need to finish cleaning my house.
I’ve noticed during these fairly high stress times that my own kids can mirror my own tension. I need to remember that sometimes instead of pushing them off [...]

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