Skip to main content

Mummy Time

In the chaos of home schooling and life, it's easy for days (if not weeks) to go by without really connecting with them on an individual level. This is also complicated by the fact that the four boys all share one room- which means that one-on-one conversations can't really happen.

So, in an effort to put more structure into my days- I've re-instituted 'mummy time'. I originally got the idea from a book called Large Family Logistics by Kim Brenneman (a book I highly recommend!). Kim is a home schooling mom of 9, so she knows what she's talking about!

From Monday through Friday, each child gets their day- like a special helper. One aspect of it is that I try to give them at least 1/2 hour during the day for only me and them to do something of their choosing. Then, at night (if they want), they can sleep by themselves in the tv/guest room where we can have a private chat about whatever they want.

Today was 'mummy time' for my oldest, Elijah. He's a pretty amazing (almost) young man- a little kid at heart in a nearly man-size body (he's almost thirteen, you know- like in 10 more months!). He's my guinea pig in this parenting gig. Tonight he asked if there was a parenting manual. When I told him 'no' (at least not anything other than the bible), he said that he'd better get working on learning how to do it then!

At bit about Elijah: he absolutely LOVES Lego and is constantly trying to create stop-motion animation films with Lego. He is a voracious reader, great at making duct-tape weapons, loves listening to music and is currently learning how to play the violin.

We have some of the most interesting conversations. The depth at which he ponders things never ceases to amaze me and I constantly find myself asking God to give me the right words to say to him to encourage him on in his life and faith journeys instead of nit-picking at all the bad habits he's picked up from me. He REALLY has an amazing heart for others and a genuine desire to love and follow God.

I know that God has great plans for all of my kids and each day I pray that His love will cover over the multitude of my sins and keep them on the straight and narrow path that leads to life, but there's something special about your first born that none of the rest can compete with. They're the one that started you on this parenthood journey and forever ruined you for the ordinary (and I really mean that in a good way!).

Tonight I delight in and cherish the blessing that is my son, Elijah.

copyright- wradmemories
The only one of my kids to have curly hair!

Keeping it real, by the grace of God...
Tammy

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Great Expectations....

Expectations. I have come to realize that I have a love-hate relationship with 'Expectations'. Before something happens you have this dream of what it's going to look like. And, the longer you have to wait the bigger the expectations become (at least for me it's seemed that way). Expectations: being given a picture and told to replicate it in cake form. I have grand ideas of what all my cake attempts should look like (think professional perfection)- but the reality of my experience doesn't always translate the same way. Thankfully this one turned out really well! Then you hit reality. You finally get what you've been waiting/wanting/dreaming for all that time. But, it's different than what you were expecting it to be/look like. Not that it's bad or anything (although sometimes it can be). It's just different than what you dreamt it would be. My life seems to be just that- hoping and praying for things to happen only to have reality ...

Filling the Wrong Bucket

I didn't cave. I also should have just stayed off of Facebook, but I didn't cave. Last summer I chose NOT send my kids to summer camp- even though, seemingly, ALL their friends were going. The same week. All of them. Well, not really, of course. But honestly, with Facebook status updates coming in fast and furiously- it really did seem like it. And I wondered, 'Am I a bad mom because I didn't send my kids to summer camp with their friends?' At one point, I seriously thought about calling up the camp (after the week had started) and seeing if I couldn't somehow manage to get them in anyway. I let the thought pass- and didn't cave. But I still feel a tinge of guilt about it and I'm dreading the decision about this summer already. Fast forward a few more months- to February 7, 2014 to be exact. Pretty much anyone with even the slightest interest in Lego will know what that date means. The release of their first full-length feature movie....

When Things are Broken...

One of the main reasons that I haven't been writing over the past year (other than being really busy with cadets and my grandmother's ongoing history project....) is that things have been pretty crappy around here. I haven't really been feeling like I'm getting anywhere with anything- so how could I put a great spin on something that just seems to suck? In the past when I'd tried blogging (or journaling), it always seemed like I was just whining and complaining about the same things over and over again. And nobody really wants to hear about that, so then I just don't write. People have enough garbage going on in their own lives that they don't need to listen to someone else whine about theirs. But is that really where we're at? I know that there has been some backlash against this with the 'Bad Mommy' type memoirs and blogs, however, that's not really what I'm talking about. I think it's sometimes about being real and vulner...