Creative Parenting: By Mom

Today we have a guest post from Mom. Oh how I love creative parenting =). Enjoy...

Yesterday was a very interesting day for my youngest son. The events of the day actually started last week on Wednesday when “Roonie” (a nickname since toddler hood) got up and got ready for school. Just before it was time to leave to go to school, he tells me he’d like to take a personal day, ie. stay home when he’s not sick.

I have been known to allow this from time to time once or twice a year if one of my kids is overstressed or something. In Roonie’s case though he had already had his day this year and he failed to make up his work. I made a mental note to myself that he wasn’t getting another personal day till summer break. I told him no.

His response to this unacceptable answer was to become more insistent and argue with me, at which point I warned him that this approach was not going to get him anywhere he wanted to be. My son then, as he has been known to do on rare occasions, seemed to become hyper-focused on getting his way…allowing himself to slip into “risk all” mode of attack. (Interjection from big sis "Pure ME"- she isn't stretching the truth here folks, if nothing else she is being nice and keeping how much of a stinker he can be from you. We love him anyway.) Foul words were spoken. “Who do you think you’re messing with? You boy- in-man-sized-clothes!” I think to myself, but what I say is…

”Congratulations! You are now grounded for one week. And no video games either!”
I thought that would be the end of it. But my ever determined child held back a gasp, lifted his chin, ever so slightly, and came back with…

“So what?” Waiting to see my reaction.

“Get in the car. You are going to school. This conversation is over!”

Then, my precious baby, my mostly easygoing son, well behaved and usually reasonable, (Hysterical laughs from this end of the computer...maybe even a snort or two, but who's keeping track...) gambled the biggest long-shot in all his fourteen years…

“Why should I? You stay home every day and do nothing but sit around!” As soon as the words escaped his mouth, I saw the most infinitesimal grimace, just a tiny little change around his eyes that let me know of his awareness that he’d crossed a line. He’d bet it all and come up short. He waited for a terrible reaction from me…

I picked up my keys. I opened the door. I stared hard into his eyes, challenging him to resist. He grabbed his backpack and hurried to the car, never uttering another word. I silently dropped him off at school. Plotting my revenge…

Fast forward 6 days. I inform Roonie Tuesday night that he will be taking a personal day tomorrow. “Set your alarm for 5:45 am You will be doing everything I do on a typical Wednesday. You’ll get to see just how much sitting around I do. You will start by making Dad coffee and a lunch in time for him to take it to work at 6:15." After mild protest and the explanation that his grounding only ended when all my tasks for tomorrow were finished (by him) he accepted his fate and went to bed with his alarm set for 5:45.

Roonie’s “personal day” went as follows:

5:45 meet Mom in kitchen to make coffee, a peanut butter banana sandwich, and leftover fajitas for Dad’s lunch. Then he had free time for about 1 hour. He went back to sleep.

7:30 We drive his sister to school to simulate the trip we take driving him to school every day. His sister’s school is just a few blocks away and she usually walks, but today she is treated to the ride that Roonie gets every day with few exceptions.

7:45 Roonie now eats his breakfast and unloads the dishwasher, loads the dirty breakfast dishes into the dishwasher, then cleans off the kitchen counters and wipes them with a clean cloth. Then he makes Mom and Dad’s bed, grabs the dirty laundry and starts a load. He gets the clean towels out of the dryer and folds them and puts them away. He has the bathroom rugs to wash and he gets them out of both bathrooms and sets them aside to wash when the first load is done. He then cleans the bathrooms (we do this daily) and picks up the hamper and wastebaskets and sets them on the toilet so they will be off the floor. He sweeps all the bare floors, about 800 square feet of them. (I have a professional dust mop for this, it‘s a daily chore because of our golden retriever ) Then he mops them all, (A job I do once a week on Wed..) and replaces the wastebaskets and hamper. Then he vacuumed.

10:15 Roonie comes up for air. I let him take his shower and have a little free time.

11:15 We discuss what Roonie is going to cook for dinner and he decides spaghetti is something he can tackle. He goes through the cabinets to see what we need from the store and makes a list of the things we need not only for dinner, but to replace whatever we are out of. He only whines a little about going to the grocery store. (He hates to go there) He only whines a little about folding the second load of laundry. (I whine about this sometimes too, Ugh!) He puts the rugs into the washer. And we leave for the store.

12:00 We have a list so our trip is pretty quick. I let Roonie find the aisles and the products he needs. He does everything but drive the car, and pay.

12: 45 We arrive at my oldest daughter’s home to exchange a few items. (That's ME!) Roonie waits patiently while I play with my grandchildren and visit with his sister. He likes to go to her house and enjoys observing the children not watching the children. I read Curly a story and tuck her in for naptime and we head for home.

2:00 He puts the rugs in the dryer. He puts the groceries away and gets some free time till we pick up his sister, who stayed after school to work on a project. She could have walked home if it wasn’t pouring down buckets of rain. I’m often on call like this.

5:00 Roonie starts dinner and sets the table. He stays in the kitchen so he can keep a eye on the food while it cooks.

6:00 Dad gets home just in time for dinner and Roonie has prepared spaghetti with meat sauce, green salad and crusty bread. Yum! Good job Roonie! Then he cleans up and puts away the leftovers and loads the dishwasher, washes the counters off again. Dad asks if he enjoyed his day and he said “school is easier.” followed by “Can I be ungrounded now?” He is usually just this wordy. (Actually, it's usually less. He doesn't talk much...)

I hope he has learned something from walking in my shoes. I actually enjoyed spending time with him and he had a pretty good attitude about the whole thing. Maybe because he knew he had it coming! If he ever really did think I sit around all day, I hope I have changed his mind.

Apparently I have a complex and can't actually let someone have full control of my blog for the day. Control freak? We judge by progress, not by the current state.

Just Smile and Nod...or Skip This Post Alltogether

Is it disgusting that I LOVE the smell baby barf? I find it so intoxicating that I may from time to time be caught with my face buried in anything coated in it's blissful scent.


They should make a candle that's called "baby barf".

I would totally buy it....seriously...I'd probably buy a box of them.

It's Been a While

My life has been busy the past few days, which has been good for me in the way of not thinking too much about hard things. The other reason that I haven't been able to blog is because I found that the only things that I've been writing about have been melancholy because that is all that's been on my mind. So, for at least a week, I promise to only say things that are fun, light hearted, or nice. That is for myself as well as you.

So, tonight I want to go simple for myself and just make a recommendation to you. If you have children, or if you just need to be reminded of the simple message of the gospel- the overall, big picture of the Bible....well, I recommend this book.Goodness gracious, me oh my! It's wonderful. Why you ask? Well, let me tell you! First of all, my favorite part is that it starts off very clearly explaining that some people think the bible is a book of rules, and it's not. Some people think that it is a book of heros, it's not. There are some of those things in it, but the Bible is really a love story. Every chapter (which are the classic stories) ends by foreshadowing that God was going to save the world and relates the message of each story to Jesus coming.

Let me give you an example. When we read about Joseph (the one with the coat who had brothers that sold him into slavery and wanted him dead, and later went on to save those same brothers from famine...etc...) when we read about him here is what the last paragraph said:

"One day, God would send another Prince, a young Prince whose heart would break. Like Joseph, he would leave his home and his Father. His brothers would hate him and want him dead. He would be sold for pieces of silver. He would be punished even though he had done nothing wrong. But God would use everything that happened to this young Prince - even the bad things - to do something good: to forgive the sins of the whole world."

Now, I may be simple minded and you all may have thought about all of those similarities before. In fact, I am sure that quite a few of you have. I just never pieced all of those things together. I like that this book does that for me, a person who sometimes needs to remember the simplicity of God's plan. Yes, there are complications, but the part we need to keep in the front of our minds is simple.

Second, (and some of you may take issue with this) but I like that they take a few liberties here and there to make the story interesting to kids. I find that none of it is going to mess up the way a kid thinks, but they use more descriptive vocabulary and illustrate with their words so beautifully. It never changes the story, but it also puts a little detail in that sometimes you wouldn't get in a children's Bible. Awesome stuff here guys. I love it for me- I am not ashamed of it!

Third, I am not sure what it is, but somehow it helps piece things together for a kid. Curly is really understanding the concepts here because it ties it all together and repeats things for her often enough that she remembers and understands it. I will ask her questions as we go along to see if she is understanding and often be surprised by what she answers with. This also helps in knowing what to explain more thoroughly. Like I said, I am not sure what does that exactly.

So, to remind you of my ever illusive point...ahem (oh, wait...I guess you probably got it huh?). Well, to reiterate then, you should look into getting this Bible, no matter who you are. I l-o-v-e it! Also, to give credit where it is due- this find is of course the work of none other than our Vicky. Gotta love her. What would our family be without her? She is a part of us in so many ways and we are blessed to have her. Thanks for the wonderful loan that became a gift...he he he (Ernie snicker alert).

Get Your Purse, We're Going Shopping!

That's right ladies, today was the day! Handsome and I got up this morning and took a trip to a very special place. Can you guess where that was? That's right! We got to go shopping in the brand new Target located in South Hill/Graham. I think I'm in love, no joke. My wonderful husband thinks that I am off my rocker and refused to take a picture of me outside of the store, so all you get is a picture of the building. Just to clear things up, today was the silent opening, the grand opening is still on the 12, this Sunday. I would suggest taking a stroll before then to check it out. There was hardly anyone in the store and Curly got to drive the cart and walk way farther ahead of us than she will ever be allowed in the future.

I warned you ahead of time, in my very first post to be specific, that I shamelessly promote Target. How could I not. It's a store that I feel passionate about, and that is not a joking matter. I love how well they treat their employees, that they are an amazing community supporter with much of their profits donated regularly, and they have affordable merchandise. There is that other store...we won't name it...that also has low prices, lower than Target, but they do so at the cost of treating people with dignity and respect. I want to have low prices, but will spend a couple pennies more for quality and peace of mind knowing that my budget saver doesn't cost anyone else something.

As we pulled up in the parking lot I was like a little girl, full of childish excitement. I have waited for this day for a long time! I will not have to make the tough decision to either drive all the way to the South Hill mall, or go to WalMart for something that I need in a rush. I can just go to my store of choice in a nearby location. It may seem silly, but it's the little things that brighten my day. Yes, I had once wished that my Handsome would get to work at that store so that his commute would shrink from an audio book filled drive of an hour and a half to a short 10 or 15 minutes. He is quickly going to run out of books in his favorite genre at the library and have to move onto something that he would otherwise never listen to. But, I have become more comfortable with the realization that God probably has other plans for us. It's something that I have been getting more and more peace about and I am no longer fighting His choice there. I will be happy with the location God has in store and I know that He has a purpose for me there.

I swear, this is one tricked out Target. I felt like Dorthy walking into the Emerald City. They have so much stuff in that store, including a rather larger grocery section, sorry guys- no produce. They have a fancy food avenue with Pizza Hut, as well as a cozy little Starbucks. The carts are new plastic ones without the metal. They look awesome, and they ride so smoothly. I understand that some of that is the newness, but let me have my moment. I even checked out the baby changing station. By the way, the bathrooms are beautiful. (With a two year old and a baby one can never forget to check out this destination. I am sure to visit frequently, it will remember my face and sigh...). Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I loved it, every moment. We took a long time and glanced at all the things they have to offer, had a little lunch and left for home.

So, I am letting you in on the little secret that I know because of my handsome red and khaki man. Get your purses ladies, because you only have four more days until our little secret is overrun with guests! (Guys are welcome too.)