Friday, December 30, 2005
Word of the Day...
Hey gals! Just curious, but I wanted to ask y'all a question. How many of you had an extensively prolific vocabulary before motherhood? *I will not use the abbreviation BM for obvious reasons* I know I did- had an impressive vocabulary, that is. Do you find yourself well-versed on the topics of sippy cups, baby food, Boppies, breast pumps, etc. now? Following is a perfect illustration of my point.
Not too long ago, Rob and I, along with some other friends, had occasion to eat lunch with a couple of lawyers. Nice folks, these lawyers were, and seemed happy to accomodate our uninformed legal assumptions, questions, and the like. While in the middle of an explanation as to why probate judges, magistrate judges and some superior court judges (in a Good Old Boy society) could "sit the bench" (see, I picked up a thing or two) anyway, could "sit" said bench without a law degree--- I know, I know, excuse me, WHAT???? something inside me snapped. I mean, I was actually struggling to make sense of certain words that ordinarily would have registered around a 10th grade level. What had happened to my brain? Gone was the witty repartee of my pre-mother days. Vanished were the $4, $5 and $10 words that frequently peppered my everyday conversation. Do any of you see the light up "humility" sign in the road here? So I leaned over the table and said to one of the very nice lawyer people- let's call her "Melanie" as that is, actually, her name- "Melanie, I am sorry that I cannot follow this conversation very well. But I promise you, just ask me a question about Huggies v. Pampers, Rice v. Oatmeal, or manual v. mechanical breast pumps and I will truly show myself brilliant."
Needless to say, much laughter followed. After reflection, I realized yet another of God's good gifts to us- our intellect. How kind of Him to make us in such a way that we can, in fact, be knowledgeable about topics important to caring for our children. Please don't hear what I am not saying (thanks to Paul, our pastor, for that favorite caveat). I am not saying we shouldn't pursue excellence in every area of our lives. We should strive to improve our communication skills; after all, we should be communicating with our husbands and not in a baby-like fashion!!
So here's what I propose: let's work on one new word per day- or per post, I should say. They won't be necessarily stellar words, per se, just new words (to some) we can incorporate into our vocabulary. Oh, and, teach them to your children as well.
abrogate: (verb from the Latin ab- away + rogare- to ask) To cancel or repeal by authority
That's all for today gals. Happy New Year! in case I don't post until "next year." Ha! Ha!
Not too long ago, Rob and I, along with some other friends, had occasion to eat lunch with a couple of lawyers. Nice folks, these lawyers were, and seemed happy to accomodate our uninformed legal assumptions, questions, and the like. While in the middle of an explanation as to why probate judges, magistrate judges and some superior court judges (in a Good Old Boy society) could "sit the bench" (see, I picked up a thing or two) anyway, could "sit" said bench without a law degree--- I know, I know, excuse me, WHAT???? something inside me snapped. I mean, I was actually struggling to make sense of certain words that ordinarily would have registered around a 10th grade level. What had happened to my brain? Gone was the witty repartee of my pre-mother days. Vanished were the $4, $5 and $10 words that frequently peppered my everyday conversation. Do any of you see the light up "humility" sign in the road here? So I leaned over the table and said to one of the very nice lawyer people- let's call her "Melanie" as that is, actually, her name- "Melanie, I am sorry that I cannot follow this conversation very well. But I promise you, just ask me a question about Huggies v. Pampers, Rice v. Oatmeal, or manual v. mechanical breast pumps and I will truly show myself brilliant."
Needless to say, much laughter followed. After reflection, I realized yet another of God's good gifts to us- our intellect. How kind of Him to make us in such a way that we can, in fact, be knowledgeable about topics important to caring for our children. Please don't hear what I am not saying (thanks to Paul, our pastor, for that favorite caveat). I am not saying we shouldn't pursue excellence in every area of our lives. We should strive to improve our communication skills; after all, we should be communicating with our husbands and not in a baby-like fashion!!
So here's what I propose: let's work on one new word per day- or per post, I should say. They won't be necessarily stellar words, per se, just new words (to some) we can incorporate into our vocabulary. Oh, and, teach them to your children as well.
abrogate: (verb from the Latin ab- away + rogare- to ask) To cancel or repeal by authority
That's all for today gals. Happy New Year! in case I don't post until "next year." Ha! Ha!
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Communicating with my children...
Well, ladies (I am assuming a female readership here) I am going to bring to y'all something the Lord has laid on my heart concerning my communication with my children. God often uses the funniest things to get my attention.
So, last night I was reading The Well Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer and came upon a section regarding language development in preschoolers. Mrs. Wise explained that a language-rich household is key for strong reading skills. In other words, talk to your children. Well there's a big no brainer!! But do we do this? The "Wise women" (ha! I'm sure they've never heard that before!) gave various examples like explaining how you cook breakfast, how you send a fax, how you measure dry ingredients, etc. Explaining the "why" is important as well. Basically, this type of conversation/teaching brings our little ones out of a strictly preschool communication mode. (Note: Please understand I am paraphrasing here)
I was sharing this information with my husband, Rob, and he made such an excellent observation that I felt I had received an epiphany! He asked, "How much do we really talk/communicate with our children outside of correction?" INSTANT CONVICTION!! Thank you Lord, once again, for the gift of my Rob. Sometimes I get so caught up in the busy-ness of my day, my chores, my lesson plans, my supper preparations that I don't take time to actually talk with my children.
The lesson? The conviction in my heart came because I realized I am not wholly following the command in Titus 2:4 to "...love their (my) children..." The love here in the Greek is phileo which means- among other things- "a tender, affectionate love." How am I being "tender and affectionate" if I mostly communicate to my precious ones through correction? But praise be to God! In Romans 8 we are told, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus..." Why is this, ladies? It is because of the cross! Because of Jesus' work on the cross we are no longer slaves to sin. We have the power- in the Spirit- to obey His commands!
So, organize your household chores; keep a binder- as some do; make your weekly lesson plans; be diligent to prepare meals for your family. But please, women, include your children in these things. Explain to them that because of all Christ has lavishly poured out to us in blessing we want to return thanks by being good stewards of those blessings. To you out there who have failed in this area, as I, take this encouragement. And to those of you who already practice this, excel still more!!!
So, last night I was reading The Well Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer and came upon a section regarding language development in preschoolers. Mrs. Wise explained that a language-rich household is key for strong reading skills. In other words, talk to your children. Well there's a big no brainer!! But do we do this? The "Wise women" (ha! I'm sure they've never heard that before!) gave various examples like explaining how you cook breakfast, how you send a fax, how you measure dry ingredients, etc. Explaining the "why" is important as well. Basically, this type of conversation/teaching brings our little ones out of a strictly preschool communication mode. (Note: Please understand I am paraphrasing here)I was sharing this information with my husband, Rob, and he made such an excellent observation that I felt I had received an epiphany! He asked, "How much do we really talk/communicate with our children outside of correction?" INSTANT CONVICTION!! Thank you Lord, once again, for the gift of my Rob. Sometimes I get so caught up in the busy-ness of my day, my chores, my lesson plans, my supper preparations that I don't take time to actually talk with my children.
The lesson? The conviction in my heart came because I realized I am not wholly following the command in Titus 2:4 to "...love their (my) children..." The love here in the Greek is phileo which means- among other things- "a tender, affectionate love." How am I being "tender and affectionate" if I mostly communicate to my precious ones through correction? But praise be to God! In Romans 8 we are told, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus..." Why is this, ladies? It is because of the cross! Because of Jesus' work on the cross we are no longer slaves to sin. We have the power- in the Spirit- to obey His commands!
So, organize your household chores; keep a binder- as some do; make your weekly lesson plans; be diligent to prepare meals for your family. But please, women, include your children in these things. Explain to them that because of all Christ has lavishly poured out to us in blessing we want to return thanks by being good stewards of those blessings. To you out there who have failed in this area, as I, take this encouragement. And to those of you who already practice this, excel still more!!!
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Begin at the beginning...
Well, hello there fellow bloggers. I am unapologetically challenged in the technical realm. Having said that, I have a husband who is fantastically talented in this particular area and you can see for yourself at Miscellanies on the Gospel. Wow! This little program here automatically linked you to it! Very cool.
So, a little about me -other than my profile reading. I am a homeschooling mom- new to this endeavor, I might add- and am immensely interested in classical education. I couldn't begin to tell you if my two school-aged children are remotely classic in what they are learning. Probably not. But they are learning in spite of my feeble attempts and this is by God's grace. I have two "non-school aged" children who just sit and soak what the big guys learn- this is hilarious to me. I mean, here I am, a university-trained teacher who gets easily frustrated trying to communicate the difference between a 3-paragraph essay and a 5-paragraph essay and my toddlers are in the background chanting, "This little noun, floating around, names a person, place or thing..."
I will be honest from the outset: I probably will not post daily. I thank my husband for pointing out the dangers of being an all-day blogger. Namely- an unkempt home, unkempt children, hungry children, ignorant children, etc. While I am writing disclaimers, I should also warn that some of my posts will be stream of consciousness format. In other words, if I think of something not necessarily connected to my current train of thought, I will probably say it. After all, the whole blog-thing is like a personal journal, right? Now here is an example: check out my friend Faith's blog at Homemaker Journal. See? Not remotely connected to a thing in this paragraph!!
Seriously, though, I would like to interact with any readers that stumble upon my site. Truthfully, I want to become more Christ-like, love my husband more selflessly, love my children more tenderly, and serve others with a holy zeal.
I hope to post something edifying and coherent shortly. Signing off for now...
So, a little about me -other than my profile reading. I am a homeschooling mom- new to this endeavor, I might add- and am immensely interested in classical education. I couldn't begin to tell you if my two school-aged children are remotely classic in what they are learning. Probably not. But they are learning in spite of my feeble attempts and this is by God's grace. I have two "non-school aged" children who just sit and soak what the big guys learn- this is hilarious to me. I mean, here I am, a university-trained teacher who gets easily frustrated trying to communicate the difference between a 3-paragraph essay and a 5-paragraph essay and my toddlers are in the background chanting, "This little noun, floating around, names a person, place or thing..."
I will be honest from the outset: I probably will not post daily. I thank my husband for pointing out the dangers of being an all-day blogger. Namely- an unkempt home, unkempt children, hungry children, ignorant children, etc. While I am writing disclaimers, I should also warn that some of my posts will be stream of consciousness format. In other words, if I think of something not necessarily connected to my current train of thought, I will probably say it. After all, the whole blog-thing is like a personal journal, right? Now here is an example: check out my friend Faith's blog at Homemaker Journal. See? Not remotely connected to a thing in this paragraph!!
Seriously, though, I would like to interact with any readers that stumble upon my site. Truthfully, I want to become more Christ-like, love my husband more selflessly, love my children more tenderly, and serve others with a holy zeal.
I hope to post something edifying and coherent shortly. Signing off for now...
