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RSSBack Issue: November, 2008Simple Woman: November 24Posted November 24th, 2008 by Jen in family life, parenting, the ranch5 Comments »
For Today...Monday, November 24, 2008 Outside my window…the dark of early morning, but day will break within the hour. I see the bold outline of Juniper trees against the rising sky which now displays several horizontal streaks of the palest pink clouds, changing every second, it seems. I am thinking…why can’t I get more done? I really, really need to prioritize my time and focus. From the learning rooms…Big L wants to be a candle-maker. Ever since Friday, when the kids made candles at school, he goes around in the evening turning off lights and walking around with his small lit candle. I am thankful for…very naturally, my children and husband and home and land. A new friend, good coffee, a surprise thank-you letter and chocolate from my students at school. From the kitchen…my husband making coffee and getting breakfast for the kids. I am wearing…a long sleeved white shirt, brown vest, jeans, socks. I am reading…The book of Mark. The Call of the Wild and The Egypt Game with my students. I am hoping…for a safe and pleasant trip on Thanksgiving as we visit family. I am creating…(trying my best to create) a peaceful and happy home full of the joy of the Lord. I am hearing…JoJo singing to herself/talking to herself as she sits at my feet in her fuzzy robe, flipping through a coloring book. Around the house…the one room full of boxes from our move–I must tackle this!! I need to return a movie to a friend and can’t find it! It’s in there somewhere. One of my favorite things…Sunday mornings talking about the Lord with my family. Teaching our children. Walking about our property searching for any interesting thing–bones, feathers, rocks, nests. A few plans for the rest of the week…getting caught up with our business and ordering the product we need for Christmas sales. Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you…(me at the ranch…my daughter took the picture, she’s still learning…)
Hosted by the Simple Woman. Technorati Tags: family life  Text Messaging: Concerns for the AdolescentPosted November 22nd, 2008 by Jen in education, family life, parenting16 Comments »
A parent of one of my students was recently telling me about her 12 year old son receiving “interesting” text messages from a female classmate; another friend related how her 7th grader regularly receives dozens of texts a day up to 11 p.m. from classmates and friends of both sexes. Is texting just akin to the talking on the phone that we parents engaged in as young adolescents? Some things to consider: Texting gives your child a privacy in conversation that he or she may not be ready for, and may be inappropriate. Texting allows for an immediacy in written conversation that opens the door to impulsive, potentially hurtful words. Texting removes the inhibitions of face-to-face or even over the phone conversations, and may result in inappropriate messages. Text messaging is a simple idea, but despite its extreme brevity is really a complex form of communication, simply for the lack of context (i.e., emotion, expression, descriptive words) it provides for any texting conversation. Some suggestions for adolescents regarding text-messaging: 1. Consider the worst possible interpretation your words could have, or the worst possible situation that could result from them. Know that text messages, especially abbreviations, can be unclear or ambiguous, and not read how you intended. Parents, consider putting strict time/place/person limitations on your child’s text-messaging, such as “no texting after 7 p.m,” “no texting in your bedroom,” or “no texting with members of the opposite sex.” Or simply, “no texting.” Dear reader, what do you think of text-messaging among young adolescents? Are you a parent with experience in this area? Do you feel helpless at the hands of modern social media? What rules have you instituted in your household? Technorati Tags: cell phone, youth culture, cyber bullying, social media, text messaging When Trials ComePosted November 19th, 2008 by Jen in music, religion8 Comments » When Trials Come, sung by Margaret Becker (a long time favorite artist of mine), words and music by Keith Getty. You’ll love this Celtic-style song and the images of Ireland on this video. The album it’s from is full of Irish hymns and it’s on my wish list! Stand fast in the trials, dear ones. Sleepover with an 84 year old friendPosted November 15th, 2008 by Jen in family life, parenting, the ranch15 Comments » “Jane is spending the night,” I announced to my kids yesterday. From the wild whoops of joy that followed and the “happy dance” of my five year old, no one would guess that Jane was not a favorite classmate, but an octogenarian. Part I of the story of Jane is here, and now I’ll give you a bit of Part II.
This lovely sun-drenched November morning found Jane and Little L in their jammies at the breakfast table. “Gram- I mean, Jane,” began Little L, in the usual way of my children, who, as many young children, mistake any dear older person in their life for a grandparent, “do you want to play a game?” It’s been over four years since we met Jane, and as I told you in Part I, she was the neighbor whom I sought out as a friend for my mom. It turns out that Jane is a friend to our whole family, and especially to me. I began writing Part I when Jane was beginning chemotherapy for her breast cancer. I had no sense of whether she’d make it or not, and wanted some kind of record of her place in our lives. Over the course of the year of her cancer, I drove Jane to countless doctor visits and treatment sessions. Thankfully, she had a cheerful-spirited oncologist who didn’t mind my four young children in tow, and a time or two he even proudly held my baby (Little L). It was a year of vacuuming her floor, bringing her groceries, and hopefully modeling for my children how (and why) to care for our elders. At many points, I was sure Jane would die, and dreaded having to call her only son in Canada. What would I say to him? The chemotherapy made her so sick she was unable to even walk. Jane is a feisty old lady, however, and quit her chemotherapy treatments halfway through, refused radiation, and took her chances. Her doctor was baffled and a bit angry with her – someone with cancer in her lymph nodes shouldn’t take chances. By the grace of the Almighty God, Jane survived, and as we enjoyed our coffee this morning, I pondered how she has developed a relationship with all the generations in my household – from my children, to my husband and me, to my mother. We moved to the country and don’t get to see her as much as we did when she was a few houses away, but I believe we’ve managed to cement a lifelong connection. Jane will be 84 in a few weeks, and we were having an early celebration. What an amazing, divine appointment for us to have met, to help her on this journey. And the blessing on my children I consider to be immense. How many four, five, or nine year-olds cherish an “old lady” the way they do? I know I didn’t when I was young. The kids suckered Jane into games of Sorry, Hi-Ho Cheerio, and Monopoly by the time she left. And Jane is still my mom’s only friend here. I tenderly watched them chatting on the couch last night. “When I was in Niagara Falls,” Jane began, relating a story from her childhood. “My dad was from Buffalo,” my mom interjected, “I don’t think that’s too far from there.” “Thirty-five miles,” Jane replied. It was a slumber party that didn’t include staying up late or pillow fights. Our twice-widowed guest needed help walking up the stairs and a gentle reminder of where the bathroom was. But I will tell you that a sleep-over with an 84 year old is a marvelous thing, a mix of fading memory and wisdom woven into meaningless details. Technorati Tags: Alzheimer’s, cancer, breast cancer, elder care Cheers! A random note.Posted November 14th, 2008 by Jen in family life4 Comments » Enjoy your Friday, friends! I’m grabbing my coffee and kids and rushing off to another day of school. The kids want to take the mice to school for show-n-tell, and I also need them in my classroom for my students’ science experiments (nothing harmful, I promise). Oh boy. My room seems to be the favorite hangout for all the kids – not because I’m so cool, but I have birds in my room, and now I’ll have mice. I’ll need to hide them! Oh, I just realized the kids aren’t even out of bed yet. See ya! Before You GoPosted November 11th, 2008 by Jen in features, holidays, politics/world news7 Comments » Before You Go, a Tribute to our aging veterans. For my Grandpa T., who served in WWI, and Uncle Doug who served in the Korean War. Do you have friends or family members who have served in wars to protect our country and our national and individual freedoms? If so, be sure to thank them today. Perhaps a phone call, a letter, a small gift to convey your gratitude. From our local Veteran’s Day Parade:
From my blog post from Veterans Day last year: I remembered an old poem my mom wrote, and rummaged around this morning and thankfully found it. Her father was a WWI veteran. He spent the last decade of his life confined to a wheelchair, the result of mustard gas from the war. My grandpa died before I had the chance to meet him. But, thanks, Grandpa. ODE TO VETERANS Have you survived the overflowing banks Then I salute you, veteran of earth’s day. Also, you may want to look at my post on the Veterans History Project; here is an excerpt:
America, please honor your veterans. Remember. Give thanks. Understand that the freedoms we hold dear were paid for, and the price was very high. Oops, sorry about the mess up there!Posted November 1st, 2008 by Jen in blog stuff, features20 Comments » Give me a few days and I’ll have the mess up there on my header fixed. I just need my tech guy (husband) to finish the hunting season and then we’ll clean it up. I’m looking forward to a Saturday of catching up around the house. It’s as bad as my header at the moment. Boxes from our move fill one room and are scattered throughout the house and garage as well. I took one van full of “stuff” to Goodwill yesterday, and I hope to gather another van load today. I’m setting aside nicer things for our school’s rummage sale, but other than that, I don’t like to take the time to put on a garage sale, so typically, the bulk of things I give away. My husband has been listening to Dave Ramsey lately, and keeps telling me, “rice and beans, beans and rice!” Basically, pare down, live simply and frugally, and within our means. Part of the issue in our family is time, which translates into an economic product if you really think about it. An enormous amount of time (and thus money) is wasted in organizing our “stuff,” finding it, putting it away neatly again. A move is a fabulous time to get rid of the non-essentials, as your possessions are being eyed in their entirety, perhaps for the first time in five or ten years. My sister visited last week, and I was able to finally begin to purge my linens of my endless collection of baby blankets. She has a young one, and just as the little girl happily took my pile of pint-sized blankets, I was lighthearted to be free of the emotional attachment. At one point, though, I did snatch back one of my first child’s blankets, saying, “Wait! This was Little L’s crib blanket, I can’t get rid of it!” However, the thought of perpetually carting this baggage through life for no good reason won out, and the girl took home the blanket. (Don’t worry, all you memory-lovers, I’m keeping one special hand-made baby blanket per child!) Will you leave me a comment and share with me what five non-essential items you can get rid of today? I’ll leave notes in my comment box for you, and tell you about some of my belongings that I clear out today… |
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I’ve been thinking about text messaging and whether parents are concerned about their child’s use of this social media. My own children are too young for this and don’t have cell phones; however, as a middle school teacher, I’ve been seeing how widespread texting has become, and I have concerns.
