Ugh

I haven't been blogging much, partly due to time constraints, but mostly because I have been feeling very overwhelmed with parenting and life in general. I'm hoping to get out of this funk soon.

It doesn't help that we just came back from a ten-day "vacation" that ended up being rather disappointing. I feel on edge instead of recharged.

Ahhhh . . .

Oh, and Hubby is out of town, too.

So, I have declared today Fun Day. We have blankets and pillows all over the living room floor. Agents and I plan to veg out, watch movies, snuggle, and snack (in our pajamas, of course). And turn off the computer. And not think too hard. And just be.

Please leave a comment and share what you do to rescue yourself and your Agents from blah-ness, and I'll be sure to read it . . . tomorrow.

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day.

The One Where I Disappear

Our traveling companions

Just a note to let you all know that I will be tumbling off the edge of the online earth again soon. Our family will be doing some traveling at the end of this month and then again before Christmas. Not sure how much writing time that will leave me between now and the end of the year. (For a few musings on past travels, click here.)

We will also be wrapping up our first semester of homeschooling and coming up with a plan going forward. It's been fun so far, and I am excited to continue. (For some ramblings on our experiences to date, click here.)

I will still be writing and posting on Facebook but probably not as often. But I'm sure once January rolls around I'll be newly motivated to compose all sorts of great bloggy stuff. Hope you will join me then.

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day.

Gratitude Alphabet

Thanks to Jeanie at Cup of Joe with Jeanie for this post's inspiration.

A     Andrew, my favorite little moose

Top: nonfiction, middle: fiction, bottom: feline

B     Breastfeeding

C     Cinnamon, our patient kitty

D     Dave, super-husband extraordinare

E     Eva, my curious and eager student

F     Friday night camp outs in the living room

G     Grace of God, all day every day

H     Homeschooling, more fun than I imagined

I     Innocent, sleeping babies

Little Agent J saying hello

J     Julia, my adventurous spirit

K     Knowing Jesus

L     Learning with my kids

M     Margherita pizza

N     New blue jeans

O     Outside play time

P     Pedicures

Q     Quiet time

R     Roomba, best robot ever

S     Snuggling

T     Traveling with my favorite people

Chatting with the prairie dogs

U     Understanding this too shall pass

V     Veggie Tales

W     Watching the Agents interact with each other

X     eXtra writing time in the morning

Y     You, wonderful person actually reading this

Z     Zoo visit memories

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day.

The Friend Thing

Hubby and I took Agent E (along with Agents J and A) to a favorite playground one afternoon last week. Several of her old preschool buddies were there. Ones she hadn't seen in the last few months because of our decision to homeschool. This lead to lots of hugging, giggling, and running about. And a wee bit of Momma Guilt.

E clearly missed her classmates, and had a great time, not surprising given her playground personality. 

Then the doubts started: By not sending her to school, am I unfairly limiting her opportunities to be with her peers? Am I denying her something she should be enjoying? Am I preventing her from developing relationships? What about all the fun she had? She missed her friends.

But, hold on just a minute . . . Do children even need friends?

Last month my book rave discussed the first part of Hold On To Your Kids: Why Parents Need To Matter More Than Peers by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate. A section later in the book, which I will likely muse about in greater detail in the future, talks a lot about friendship and what it means to and for young children. 

Agents enjoying a beautiful Saturday

The very concept of friendship is meaningless when applied to immature people. As adults, we would not consider a person to be a true friend unless he treated us with consideration, acknowledged our boundaries, and respected us as individuals. A true friend supports our development and growth, regardless of how that would affect the relationship. This concept of friendship is based on a solid foundation of mutual respect and individuality. True friendship is not possible, therefore, until a certain level of maturity has been realized and a capacity for social integration has been achieved. Many children are not even remotely capable of such friendships.

Until children are capable of true friendship, they really do not need friends, just attachments. And the only attachments a child needs are with family and those who share responsibility for the child. What a child really needs is to become capable of true friendship, a fruit of maturation that develops only in a viable relationship with a caring adult. Our time is more wisely spent cultivating relationships with the adults in our child's life than obsessing about their relationships with one another. (from Chapter 17, Don't Court the Competition, page 244)

So, do I think my children need friends? In short, no. They need security. They need attachments. They need adults who care about them. Friendships, real friendships, will develop in time. 

That's not to say the Agents (and Momma) don't enjoy a trip to the playground or a play date with someone other than their siblings every once in a while. We certainly enjoy the company of other families who have similar age children.

I simply don't buy into the whole "but children must to spend time with other kids to turn out okay" bit. That if they don't, they won't be . . . wait for it . . . social. (For some witty, well-written words of wisdom on The S Word, click here, here, or here to see what some of my favorite writers have to say. Or click all three; you know you want to.)

I think what my children need right now is to develop a solid foundation of loving Jesus, enjoying learning, and practicing kindness. Everything else can wait. Even friends.

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day.

Versatile Blogger Award

Jennifer at Little Homeschool on the Prairie passed The Versatile Blogger Award to me!

Agent E on her 3rd bithday

(And I'm a little embarrassed to admit it took me a while to get this post published . . . the days just get away from me sometimes!)

The rules for this award: Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to her blog. Tell your readers seven things about yourself. Share this award with up to 15 other bloggers, and be sure to let the blogs you have chosen know you are passing the award on to them!

7 things about Momma . . .

1. I am always reading at least two books, including the Bible.

2. I do most of my writing very early in the morning, before anyone is awake. (Often prior to five a.m.)

3. I earned a bachelor's degree in psychology, which proves useful in parenting, even though I never worked in the field.

4. I admire people who can stick to a routine, because I usually fail miserably about four days in.

5. I didn't have a reason to get a passport until I was 37 years old. (My son, however, has had one since six weeks.)

6. I cannot understand Twitter to save my life. (But, I still have an account.)

7. I have been pregnant, breastfeeding, or both for just over six years now. So, basically I've been super hungry and lacking sleep since 2005.

Agent J, Christmas 2009

Some great blogs you should check out . . . 

2 Sweet Things

Website
Facebook

Cordial Chaos

Website
Facebook

Cup of Joe with Jeanie

Website
Facebook

Mama Raw

Website
Facebook

Agent A and Cinderella

Our Crazy Adventures in Autismland

Website
Facebook

Sprout Schoolhouse

Website
Facebook

The Accidental Natural Mama

Website
Facebook

(As an added "bonus" list of some of my other favorites, check out this post .)

Thanks for reading an have a blessed day.

7 Quick Takes Friday (14)

Many thanks to Jennifer for hosting this each week. Be sure to click over to Conversion Diary to see her post and others linked up. These will all be quicker than usual because it's been, um, that kind of week.

1. Trick-or-treating Monday, followed by birthday cake Tuesday, equals way too much sweet going on here and we all could use some detoxing. (Okay, mostly Momma. If it is there, I will eat it. I can't help myself. No control when it comes to chocolate.)

2. Littlest Agent had three nights in a row that he didn't sleep well, so Momma didn't sleep well, either. I think I have totally blocked out what being up at night tending to babies is actually like, because those couple of nights about killed me. Hooray for co-sleeping, otherwise I am sure I would be dead by now.

3. Okay, someone please enlighten me on Catholic Bible Study. A commenter last week pointed it out as a distinction from, well, just regular old Bible study, I guess. Whatever that is. Am I missing something? Is there some super special secret way to study the Word that only Catholics are privy to? (I should probably note that I grew up going to Catholic church, religious education classes, etc. and never once did I open a Bible nor did anyone even suggest it to me as an option. The general message I received was: Catholics don't read the Bible. If there were something in there you were supposed to know about, the Pope would tell you. When I first started reading it on my own as an adult, it was . . . whoa. Probably another post there.)

With my little dragon

4. Agents and I all got flu vaccines this week. Hoping to lessen the chance of repeating last year's two weeks of torture when all three kids had the flu. Of course, I know it's not foolproof, but now I've done something proactive, and that always makes me feel better.

5. E and J like to play games based on various stories they are infatuated with at any given moment; currently it's Pooh and company. They assign each family member a role, and then do some improv. I am almost always Rabbit. Yes, my children consistently make me the most neurotic storybook/cartoon character of all time. I'm not sure what to make of that.

6. I haven't posted on this blog since last Friday's Quick Takes. I've been feeling a bit slacker-ish, but am looking forward to getting out of this funk and putting in some actual writing time.

7. I have also slacked on my weekly homeschooling wrap-ups, but hope to get back on track soon. Those small people require a lot of attention and time.

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day.