•5:32 PM
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 10:50 p.m.
I mentioned in my last post that my mind has been very scattered. So, I haven't been able to sit and concentrate deeply enough to write a thoughtful blog post. The only thing I can come up with is a smattering of scattered thoughts, much like the present condition of my mind.
So here goes...
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I went to the Mall yesterday to shop for Sweet Girl's seventh birthday next week. I usually don't go to the Mall. It is a strange thing, but whenever I go to a Mall, especially when I am alone, a strange depression comes over me. I feel completely out of my element. I feel like a visitor from another planet. I get clumsy, and I am in danger of making poor shopping choices so I usually just walk on by. There is nothing I see that I want. I avoid eye contact with anybody. I race-walk through the cosmetics department as fast as I can. I purchase, maybe, one thing, and then hustle out to my car. Then I go to complete my shopping at Mal-Wart, or Bull's-Eye, and breathe a sigh of relief. Here is where I feel at home. Weird, I know.
**********************************
Although I am not particularly tickled by the girls' clothing styles that prevail in stores today, I realize that Sweet Girl is getting older, and I reconcile myself to the idea of her wearing certain styles. I have come up with a new criteria: I don't have to actually like the styles, but they do have to be modest. This is the only way I am going to be able to buy her anything new and not have to rely on thrift stores.
**********************************
I am blown away by both my children's Calvert School advisory teachers. They put so much time and energy into grading my children's work. Chips' teacher is a man, which is a change for us, too. Sweet Girl got her second work packet back yesterday and got Straight 1s this time. She felt really proud, and so did we.
**********************************
We've been cutting back some on the violin competitions, voluntarily deciding to skip the scholarship competition this year. We just don't want it all to be too much. Both children are doing great, but we have enough going on this spring without yet another competition. As a result, this coming weekend should be somewhat normal. I think. And then, what will we do next year? Youth orchestra, or not?
**********************************
We continue to be completely satisfied with the richness and challenge present in the Calvert homeschool curricula. I say this after seven years of using it. I see the struggles and worries of other homeschool moms, and I am happy to say that I am at peace regarding the academic preparation of my children. I can hardly imagine their lesson work being any better.
Nevertheless, I do worry that as a homeschool mom, I will seriously drop the ball with one or both of my kids some day. Self-Reliant Man and I are so mindful of preparing ourselves for everything that might come down the pike in the future as our children grow older. But what about the unforeseen? Will we be blindsided by something that comes along that we are totally unprepared for? Will that one area of parenting where we tended to let things slip by a little bit come back to bite us one day?
I have noticed among conservative families of young children that the younger the children are, the more black and white their parents tend to see things. And then their children grow older, and life gets more complicated, and then the parents need to redefine their priorities. Or evaluate anew how they feel about the parenting issues of the day. Things start to become less black and white.
We have definite convictions about many different things regarding the upbringing of our children. Some we share with most of our friends. For some convictions, I have only found common ground in a few online friends. As my children near ages 7 and 10, I am questioning more and more our stance on certain things, like media usage within our home and family life. When our son is already asking for his own laptop, for instance, and his own Facebook account, we have to think long and deeply about our objectives. This is certainly a time to walk closely with the Lord, for every day that our children develop and mature. I am sure things have been relatively easy until now.
***********************************
A bright spot in our lives is the planning and preparation for our whirlwind trip out West this September. The trip is to be 23 days in length, and on the agenda are Mammoth Cave Nat'l Park (NP), Badlands NP, Black Hills, Needles Highway, Crazy Horse Monument, Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Beartooth Highway, Yellowstone NP, Grand Tetons NP, and Rocky Mountain NP. All in one big loop drive. It is amazing what can be discovered about potential campgrounds, sights, and stopover places simply through using Google Maps, Youtube, and R.V. Park Reviews. I can actually virtually drive by a place, and check out the surroundings. I can choose another campground if I don't like the looks of the area. I can check out a steep mountain drive and decide whether our van can make it over all the switchbacks. It is all rather amazing. But of course, the consistent flood of information across my field of view is probably the root cause of..... my........ scattered ............... mind!!!!
I mentioned in my last post that my mind has been very scattered. So, I haven't been able to sit and concentrate deeply enough to write a thoughtful blog post. The only thing I can come up with is a smattering of scattered thoughts, much like the present condition of my mind.So here goes...
**********************************
I went to the Mall yesterday to shop for Sweet Girl's seventh birthday next week. I usually don't go to the Mall. It is a strange thing, but whenever I go to a Mall, especially when I am alone, a strange depression comes over me. I feel completely out of my element. I feel like a visitor from another planet. I get clumsy, and I am in danger of making poor shopping choices so I usually just walk on by. There is nothing I see that I want. I avoid eye contact with anybody. I race-walk through the cosmetics department as fast as I can. I purchase, maybe, one thing, and then hustle out to my car. Then I go to complete my shopping at Mal-Wart, or Bull's-Eye, and breathe a sigh of relief. Here is where I feel at home. Weird, I know.
**********************************
Although I am not particularly tickled by the girls' clothing styles that prevail in stores today, I realize that Sweet Girl is getting older, and I reconcile myself to the idea of her wearing certain styles. I have come up with a new criteria: I don't have to actually like the styles, but they do have to be modest. This is the only way I am going to be able to buy her anything new and not have to rely on thrift stores.
**********************************
I am blown away by both my children's Calvert School advisory teachers. They put so much time and energy into grading my children's work. Chips' teacher is a man, which is a change for us, too. Sweet Girl got her second work packet back yesterday and got Straight 1s this time. She felt really proud, and so did we.
**********************************
We've been cutting back some on the violin competitions, voluntarily deciding to skip the scholarship competition this year. We just don't want it all to be too much. Both children are doing great, but we have enough going on this spring without yet another competition. As a result, this coming weekend should be somewhat normal. I think. And then, what will we do next year? Youth orchestra, or not?
**********************************
We continue to be completely satisfied with the richness and challenge present in the Calvert homeschool curricula. I say this after seven years of using it. I see the struggles and worries of other homeschool moms, and I am happy to say that I am at peace regarding the academic preparation of my children. I can hardly imagine their lesson work being any better.
Nevertheless, I do worry that as a homeschool mom, I will seriously drop the ball with one or both of my kids some day. Self-Reliant Man and I are so mindful of preparing ourselves for everything that might come down the pike in the future as our children grow older. But what about the unforeseen? Will we be blindsided by something that comes along that we are totally unprepared for? Will that one area of parenting where we tended to let things slip by a little bit come back to bite us one day?
I have noticed among conservative families of young children that the younger the children are, the more black and white their parents tend to see things. And then their children grow older, and life gets more complicated, and then the parents need to redefine their priorities. Or evaluate anew how they feel about the parenting issues of the day. Things start to become less black and white.
We have definite convictions about many different things regarding the upbringing of our children. Some we share with most of our friends. For some convictions, I have only found common ground in a few online friends. As my children near ages 7 and 10, I am questioning more and more our stance on certain things, like media usage within our home and family life. When our son is already asking for his own laptop, for instance, and his own Facebook account, we have to think long and deeply about our objectives. This is certainly a time to walk closely with the Lord, for every day that our children develop and mature. I am sure things have been relatively easy until now.
***********************************
A bright spot in our lives is the planning and preparation for our whirlwind trip out West this September. The trip is to be 23 days in length, and on the agenda are Mammoth Cave Nat'l Park (NP), Badlands NP, Black Hills, Needles Highway, Crazy Horse Monument, Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Beartooth Highway, Yellowstone NP, Grand Tetons NP, and Rocky Mountain NP. All in one big loop drive. It is amazing what can be discovered about potential campgrounds, sights, and stopover places simply through using Google Maps, Youtube, and R.V. Park Reviews. I can actually virtually drive by a place, and check out the surroundings. I can choose another campground if I don't like the looks of the area. I can check out a steep mountain drive and decide whether our van can make it over all the switchbacks. It is all rather amazing. But of course, the consistent flood of information across my field of view is probably the root cause of..... my........ scattered ............... mind!!!!
4 comments:
Scattered, maybe. But I found this post to be very interesting. My thoughts have been scattered lately too. Maybe I need to write a scattered post.
I know what you mean by girls' clothing choices these days. A few months ago Alyssa tried on a dress. Very pretty, but she looked 25. I'd wear a style like that! It's not easy, but if you dig, you can still find some nice things. Like you said, not what I'd pick, but modest and appropriate for her age. Hope you have a wonderful rest of the week. It was great to catch up with you.
i remember having a hard time acquiescing to contemporary styles when my older kids were younger. it seems silly now, but i think maybe i wasn't yet used to the newer clothing fads and they made me feel like the kids were growing up too fast. there were a few things worth making a fuss over, like the midriff-showing low-waistband-high-shirt-hem craze and the gradual proliferation of "dark" themes on shirts. but for the rest, it seems pretty inconsequential now.
as you have noted, as kids get older, some things that once seemed black & white turn to shades of gray, and you start thinking more about what is really worth making an issue over and what isn't. it's part of growing up as a parent! :-)
even if you loosen your media restrictions a bit as the kids get older, i think you have done well to eschew television and the like in their younger years. adding more media back in might be needed in order to prepare them for life in the world out there; be warned, though, that each new thing opens up new cans of worms! still, it's better to deal with those worms while they are still under your roof. just set rules and be vigilant (easier said than done). *sigh* no one ever said parenting would be easy.
wow, look. i wrote a novel in your comment section.
ps- technically, you have to be 13+ to have a fb. kids younger than that with fb's have put in a false birthdate. you can tell chips that; it will keep you from being the bad guy.
You seem pretty coherent to me!
I think you'll reap the benefits of cutting back on competitions. Quality, not quantity.
With a 19 year old and a 16 year old I can attest to the growing complications through the teenage years. I still find it amazing how they seem to absorb good standards of behaviour and a sensible outlook without too much overt rule making from us. And then I become aware of how much every conversation, every attitude I display to them, has shaped their outlook. Quite a responsibility.