Parenting in Today’s World We don’t fit in as parents today. In general parents today let their kids float. Through life.Through school.Through everything.I stink at that.My kids don’t float. They work. Things We Fail at in Parenting.Letting boys be boys.I have five of them. Trust me, they do not need help being boys. They need help being future men.We are training up the future men of this world, and we take that seriously. Our boys are clean, clean cut, and hard working… Whether they like it or not.Letting boys sit around all day.My “Mommy Sense” (similar to Spider-Man’s ‘Spidey Sense’) kicks into overdrive when I see my boys sitting on the sofa during the day.I immediately start asking, did you do this, did you do that?Sorry. Boys should not sit unless they are on the toilet.Letting my boys have their own style of dress and hair.Future men worthy of serving God, loving their wives, running their businesses, etc should be others centered.If they wear their hair and clothes in a way that makes “grandma” to feel uncomfortable and cross the street to avoid contact with them. Not acceptable.While I’m all for freedom of expression, my boys express themselves in a boring way physically and that will give them an edge. Expecting teenage years to be Easy.We expect the teenage years to be hard because we will make them hard. Hard to disrespect us,. Hard to disobey the house rules Hard to live in our house and break our rules, hard to break things like curfews, Hard to be a glutton. Yep. Teenage Years will be hard. Moms and dads, if you have boys join us at stinking to raise them to be wimpy, lazy, self centered men. If you have little girls, stink at raising them to be focused on selfies, self, make-up, and sexuality. We need to stink at parenting “today” and excel at parenting for tomorrow. PRINT THIS FREE HOMESCHOOL MOM REMINDER. This post comes with a free printable reminder list to help keep your heart focused on the heart of homeschooling. I always have the hardest staying focused. This printable simplifies it! Here is a sneak preview… DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE PRINTABLE Download the checklist. You’ll get the printable, plus join 9,000+ homeschool moms who receive my weekly parenting tips and ideas!Print. Any paper will do the trick, but card stock would be ideal.Place it on your refrigerator as a helpful reminder.
Dragonfly Freebie for Your 3rd-5th Graders Free is good, right? Here’s a fun freebie for you! You will find this product in my store. Remember: The site is a FREE member site. It is easy to sign up. There are tons of amazing free and for purchase resources out here! Join our Summer Bucket Series on Facebook. Simply jump over. Like our page. Click “get notifications”
Friday Pool Games: Summer Bucket List for Kids Join us on Facebook for a Summer of Fun! Each day we will post a different activity, adventure, or link to share with your kids! All Summer Long Today’s Fun… Friday Pool Games: Classic- Marco Polo! Two or more players. To play, choose one player to be “it”. That person closes his or her eyes, or is blindfolded, and counts to a certain number. While the “it” person counts, the other players scatter around in the pool. When the count is over, the “it” player tries to tag the other players, using only the sound of their voices to find them. The “it” player calls out “Marco”, and the other players call out “Polo”. When the “it” player tags another, that player becomes the “it” person and the game starts over again. Each day has a theme: Monday Madness, Tickle Me Tuesday, Water Fun Wednesday, Thoughtful Friday, and Pool Game Friday. Please: Like, Follow, and Share! #abetterwaytohomeschool.com
Zentangles: Art for Kids with Hard Core Concentration Zentangle. This is the most simple, yet time consuming form of art my kids have learned so far. Our fourth son always draws incredibly detailed pictures with pen. He will sit there for hours adding dots, lines and squiggles to a picture and in the end produces the most beautiful drawings. This week I introduced him to the “formal form” of his natural style of artistic expression… The zentangle. I found an easy tutorial on Tiny Rotten Peanuts. I know. The name is funny, but the instructions are great. Here is our son’s first zentangle! This style of art is perfect for kids who get tunnel vision while doing a project, have a love for detail, or have incredible patience and concentration (or who need to practice!). Looking for Summer Fun for you and your kids? Follow Our Summer Bucket List posts on facebook… Jump over and follow us on facebook, then click on “get notifications!”.
Choosing Our Battles: Our youngest son loves to wear his socks inside out. They are comfier. The seams don’t bug him. And it drives me crazy!! This is not one of those battles that I choose to fight. Whether it is socially correct or not, this guy will be allowed to wear his socks inside out. Really, it is not that important. So why does it bug me so much? Parenting is hard. Parenting multiple generations at a time is incredibly hard! There are so many days that I choose to die on mountains like this. “Turn your socks right side out!” We are raising five future men. They vary in age from the nine year old foot above to the twenty-two year old working quietly across the table from me as I write this. Parenting is hard. There are battles worth fighting: you will be kind, you cannot lie, you need to make your bed, you will love to read, etc. I think I over-complicate parenting by engaging in battles over the trivial, non-eternal, ridiculous expectations that my brain creates at night while I sleep in a rose colored world. I think: my boys will not fart allowed my boys will not have belching contests my boys will wear their clothes properly, especially in public my boys will help the elderly couple load their groceries without being told my boys will choose hairstyles that I adore my boys will accept my motherly wisdom without rolling their eyes my boys will bend toward my will for their lives… oops. Maybe I see a problem. “My will for their lives”. I am not saying that I shouldn’t expect them to have manners and wear clothes, I am saying I should allow them to seek after the Lord and live their lives according to HIS will… Even if that mean they wear their socks inside out. Dear mama, choose your battles with your kids… there will be so many to choose from. Choose to let the “socks” go and concentrate on the issues that are eternal and life impacting. I need to pray for my kids, love them, and lead them. But I also need to let them be themselves. God is able to work them all out. I need to not neglect my duty as care-giver, teacher, mentor, tutor, mommy, guide, and prayer warrior. But… I really need to let somethings go… ****************************************************** Join NotebookingPages.com Free Member Program http://notebookingpages.com/free-resource-center