TRUTH - Simple & Slow Fridays

The truth is: I am not prepared for today's carnival. I have lots of different ideas running through my head, ie:

• The truth about how I see myself as a mom
• The truth about who I'm going to vote for and why
• The truth that is in the Bible
• How I may tell the truth "too much"
  

but, I'm taking the day off. Jeff is out of town and Will and I are at Disney on Ice for a class field trip today. :) If you participated this week, please include your permalink below in Mr. Linky.



Join us next week for the topic of

HELPING

Rhythm - Simple and Slow Fridays

This whole week I've been wondering what on earth I'm going to write about on the topic of rhythm. You see, I have none. I'm still amazed that I made the varsity cheerleading squad in high school. I worked VERY HARD, though. I can barely tap my foot and clap at the same time and sometimes I get off rhythm just with clapping alone. No, I don't think I can dance. :)

Well... except for the one dance I created almost three years ago. It included moving forward and backwards, side to side, bopping up and down, and swaying.

ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

Oh, and I held at least 10 pounds while doing the dance.

No joke.

This dance was the craziest thing my body has ever come up with. But it had a purpose. And it worked. Well. So well, I even taught Jeff and my mom how to do the dance because:

It put my colicky baby, Nathan, to sleep for the first 5 months of his life.

I have no video or pictures of me doing this dance. In fact there are very few pictures from the colic days; it was just a struggle to get through the day.

So, I guess in the end, when it counts most...

I got rhythm; who could ask for anything more?

If you posted on RHYTHM, please enter your permalink in Mr. Linky below. Please join us next week for the topic of

TRUTH

Simple and Slow Fridays - Grace

I intentionally only gave the title of the next chapter in Mitten Strings for God because I wanted to leave it open for interpretation for those of you without the book. Grace could be interpreted as "God's Grace" or "Graceful" among other things, I'm sure. I look forward to reading what you decided Grace means for your family.

I'm going to write about grace as in "saying grace".

We pray as a family before our meals. We hold hands forming somewhat of a circle around the table. Jeff leads. The boys are still working on staying quiet and focusing. (go figure...)

Years ago, when Will was an only child, he and I started saying this little prayer when we were home alone for meals:

God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. By His hands, we are fed. Thank you, Lord, for daily bread. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Now that he's older, we've asked Will if he wants to lead the family prayer, and sometimes he does, but always with this same prayer. For his age, I suppose that's fine, but I know many other children say their own prayers from their own thoughts, so I feel kind of bad in that I might have given him the wrong impression that God wants the same repetitious prayer all the time.

Even at night, he won't say his own prayer before going to sleep because he says he doesn't know any bedtime prayers. I've tried to explain over and over and over again that he doesn't have to know a specific prayer; he can just talk to God. But as always, he declines to lead. He'll tell me what he wants me to pray for, he just won't do it himself... at least not out loud... and that's okay.

Prayer is a very personal part of the relationship with God. I know I have a hard time praying out loud, too. I just hope that through praying aloud with him (and the other boys, too) that they are learning that prayer is for anytime and can be said many ways.

On a different note, though, Nathan is so cute when we get ready to pray at night. He closes his eyes so tightly and puts his little hands together up near his chin. He'll say, "Pay, mama, pay." (Pray, mama, pray) I can't help but smile to see him do these rituals (I say rituals because neither eye-closing nor hands together are commanded in the Bible for prayer). It doesn't take more than 5 seconds though for those eyes to open and the hands to start doing something else, but in those 5 seconds he's got me fooled into thinking he's the sweetest kid on earth. :)

Anyway, this subject of saying grace/prayer is a HUGE can of worms. More than I could hope to put down in a single post. I just wanted to take a minute to put down some thoughts on this so years from now I'll see how far we've come (I hope). Will already leads the congregation in song during a short youth-lead devotion before worship services. Talk about a mama's heart soaring! :) Maybe in the next couple of years he'll gain the confidence to lead a prayer, but even if he doesn't, that's ok. That might not be a talent of his.

God will bless each of us as He sees fit, it's up to us to do our part... and that's not always easy, no matter what age you may be.


So, what does Grace mean in your household?

If you wrote a post for SSF on Grace, please enter your permalink in Mr. Linky below. Be sure to link back to this post in your post, too! :)




Join us next Friday for the topic of

RHYTHM

Simple and Slow Fridays - Enchantment

*Please note that I give away some of Santa's secrets in this post, so don't let young eyes peer over your shoulder... ;)


This is actually a post I am struggling with and I'm not sure why.

As a young child I had curiosities of mystical, magical beings. I believed in Santa Clause until the 1st grade when a friend told me the truth. I suppose I eventually put it all together about the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny shortly after that, but I don't really remember when it happened. I collected unicorns and had hopes that there really was one out there somewhere. I wished on stars and wondered about fairies and fantasy.

Even as I grew older and knew these "beings" to be pretend, there was still the hope for the possibility of them being real. Is this wonder and hope something children just naturally have?

Looking back I don't think my parents "pushed" the idea of enchantment; I would say it was encouraged, though. We left cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer and searched for baskets hidden by the Easter bunny until we were well into our teens and knew the truth. We believed it was the Tooth Fairy that took our baby teeth from the tiny shot-glass filled with water that we left on the window sill (yes, seriously...not under the pillow at my house). We'd wake up to a shot-glass full of water and coins. It was grand. We definitely had our fun traditions and enchanting moments. I wonder if I'm making those moments for my boys?

Will (age 6) has asked several times if Santa is "really real". Somehow I just work my way out of the conversation. I'm not ready for him to lose that wonder, but his little brain is catching on quickly:

"Mom, who really leaves money behind for a baby tooth? Fairies aren't real, so there isn't a Tooth Fairy. Who really leaves the money?" {He hasn't even lost a tooth yet!}

"If magic isn't real then how is Santa real?"

We've had some times where he's been scared by something "magical" on cartoons and had to explain that magic is just pretend. He's in that stage of trying to grasp the concepts of real and not real. Enchantment is a hard thing to balance in between those two ideas.

I had a friend whose little girl (then about 6 years old) asked:

" How is it that Santa is not real, but we can go to the mall to see him and Jesus is real, but we can't see him?"

Talk about confusing.

I'm not really sure how I want to handle the whole enchanting/mystical/magical realm with my boys. I go back and forth because I have fond memories of believing from my childhood, but Will is a very literal child and I don't want to confuse him. (I know I'm writing a lot about Will and not the other two boys, but that's because he's at the age of trying to make sense of it all.)

I'm still riding the line on enchantment - not knowing which side to follow.

What do you do? How do you handle enchantment and the idea of magic at your house? Leave me some insight in the comments... please! :)

If you participate this week by writing a post on Enchantment, please enter the permalink to your post (not your blog) in Mr. Linky below. Be sure to link back here in your post, too. The code for the badge is in my right sidebar if you'd like to use it as well.

I hope you'll join us again next Friday for the topic of

Grace

Reminder!

Simple & Slow Fridays starts back up tomorrow with posts on Enchantment!!

I look forward to reading your thoughts on it!

Simple and Slow Fridays Returns!

I hope you'll join me as I bring Simple and Slow Fridays out of retirement! :)

Next Friday I'll have my post up on Enchantment and a Mr. Linky for you to share your thoughts on it, too.

I know I said I wasn't going to do this {grin}, but here's an excerpt from Mitten Strings for God from her chapter on Enchantment (p 119) to get our thoughts going:

Somehow, in our hurry to steer our children toward accomplishment and independence, we seem to have forgotten what childhood is all about. Preoccupied with managing their lives, and our own, it is so easy to lose sight of our children - their tenderness and innocence, their joyousness, their capacity for wonder, their hunger for enchantment. A touch of magic can reawaken the childlike spirit in all of us, allowing us to revisit for time, the secret realm of childhood.

So, what's enchanting at your house? Come back next Friday to share!

Leave a comment today if I can be expecting you next Friday; maybe I can find a brownie to make a batch of hot porridge for us. :)

I Don't Want to Just Survive

Do you ever have days where you feel like you have "just survived" parenthood? When at the end of the day what you really want to thank God for most is that you made it through the day?

Nothing specific has happened, but this thought of "just surviving" parenthood has been on my mind a lot lately. I want to do more than just survive it. I want to be a participant, be more active, and just plain more alive. I don't want my days to pass by taking uncaptured moments and unmade memories with them.

I need to refocus my thoughts. Redirect them on making memories. Although some of the most special memories are spur-of-the-moment, being more intentional ensures there are special memories being made! :)

With this thought in mind, I am going to start being more consistent with the Unplugged Projects. I love them. They are so simple and so broad in how we want to approach them. This week's project is themed Hard. So, come this Monday, you'll see something Hard. It might not be spectacular, but it will be something that I did with my boys!

Secondly, I am going to start Simple and Slow Fridays up again. Out of retirement it comes! This isn't always something I do with my boys, but it helps me direct my thoughts.

I love the book Mitten Strings for God and that's where I got the titles for each week. In the past I have given segments from the book for direction, but that became too much work. Now, each Friday I will just give a subject for the following Friday. And if you want to get started thinking about a post for my re-launch of SSF, the topic will be Enchantment. What a fun topic to start on!

If you're not really sure how this works, you might like to check out some of our previous topics (unfortunately in my blog re-design I lost all the Mr. Linky links... I am so sad about this! However, If you have the time, you can check the comment section for those that participated and search their blog by the posted date.)


Simplicity
Play
Secret Places
Wants and Needs
Stories
One-On-One Time
Surrender
Healing
Listening
Nature


Not this Friday, but next Friday, September 26th, I will have my post up about Enchantment and a Mr. Linky for you to link up your post on Enchantment, too. At the end of my post I will include the following week's topic. Let me know what questions you have; I hope to have lots of participants, but even if I don't this is something good for me.

I hope you'll join me on my quest to do more than survive! :)

Simple & Slow Fridays Retires

Well, I've been going back and forth as to whether or not to continue with Simple & Slow Fridays. I love the concept and the topics, but it's just becoming more of a chore lately. I may pick it back up one day, or just post topics based on the chapters from time to time, but for now, it's retiring... because that's simpler for me. :)

Have a great weekend!

Simple & Slow Fridays: NATURE - Post Your's Here

While aquariums, mountain hikes, camping trips, and other experiences can be educational, they're not necessities in introducing kids to nature. There doesn't have to be a formal teaching; kids and nature just naturally go hand-in-hand. It's not a one time experience; it is a daily connection and you need look no further than your own backyard!

Even here in suburbia my kids are learning about nature; sometimes I wish they didn't interact with it quite so much, though (LOL!)... last year all of buds on my lilies were plucked off one by one before they could even hope to bloom, this year Nathan is bringing me a smooshed caterpillars, and then of course there is all the bird poop from the dove on our front porch that the kids absentmindedly walk through in bare feet... you know, the fun stuff. :)

Seriously though, there are tons of caterpillars in the backyard (even with Nathan smooshing them and the robins that carry them off - there are tons)! I found these ones pictured below in about one minute's time. I'm hoping several of the many caterpillars in our backyard will make it to the butterfly stage. I would love to have a backyard full of butterflies! I haven't found any making cocoons yet, though... .

We're also watching the carrots grow that we planted at the end of March. They are really doing well! Just think... all this from a $0.10 pack of seeds!

Nathan and I even had a run in with two wild birds (sweet little wrens) yesterday. While he and I were outside digging up iris bulbs, the wrens flew into the house through the open sunroom door. They were both on the shelves in the living room chirping away. When we came in, one flew directly out and the other flew down the hall into the boys' bathroom:

I was eventually able to direct it back outside after a few failed attempts. Nathan was just in awe of the whole situation. A bird! In the House! WOW! :) Wrens are such cute little birds; I think we need to get these two a house and keep them around...they just aren't allowed to eat the caterpillars! :)

Tell me about the time you've been spending with your kids in nature. Please leave me a comment or if you blog about it, leave your permalink in Mr. Linky:

Simple & Slow Fridays: Listening - Post Your's Here

The second morning during our week with no tv was an early one for me. Witt did not sleep well through the night due to two ear infections and Will and Nathan both woke up early. I made the boys their morning hot chocolates as usual and I headed to the sunroom to get on the computer because all I wanted to do was veg-out.

When I opened the door to the sunroom, the first thing I noticed was the coolness. The room is not heated or cooled with the rest of the house, so it was obviously pretty cool outside. That's also when I noticed I had two little boys right on my heels because they had no tv to watch.

I opened the door from the sunroom to the outside. A fresh breeze blew in with a chill and we could hear the birds chirping. I told the boys, "Let's sit down and just listen to the birds together. Don't they sound pretty?"

We snuggled up in our oversized recliner under a handmade quilt, Nathan on my lap and Will next to me. We sat there for a few minutes together not saying anything. I was just listening to the birds chirping and the boys slurping the hot chocolate through their sippy cups.

Then Will asked, "Can I sit on your lap, too? Nathan on one leg and me on the other?" So, that's what we did... and it was just so sweet and wonderful to snuggle with my boys, not saying much of anything, but listening just the same.


(Click here for next week's topic of Nature.)

Simple & Slow Fridays: Nature

Excerpts to ponder over for this week from Mitten Strings for God are about Nature.

I think we parents have come to think of nature as something we need to teach our children, something we are meant to provide as a part of their well-rounded education, like music lessons and team sports.

Yet, I've come to realize that a few small, familiar places have made far deeper impressions on my children than all of the whales and panoramic views and rain forest exhibits we could ever offer. The encounters with nature that mean the most to them are those that happen without any agenda at all, beyond going forth to see what's out there. (p 111)

It is so easy in our culture to lose touch with the natural world altogether. We believe we don't have time for nature, and so we ignore our own primal hunger for earth and water and sky. Modern life calls us away from nature's rhythms, away from the kind of observation and interaction with the natural world that can quiet a troubled mind, restore a sense of well-being, and renew our connections with all life. (p 113)

Any relationship requires time, lots of it. If a child is to truly love the natural world, to experience beauty and truth and power at a spiritual level, he or she must first spend time in natural places. In the end, those who will make a real difference in our world - those who will grow up with the confidence and the imagination to help save the earth - will be those who know it well and love it deeply. (p 114)

Meet back next week to link up your post on Nature. To link up your post on this week's topic of Listening, go here.

Simple & Slow Fridays: Listening

Excerpts from Mitten Strings for God:

In this noisy world of ours, there are times when the only way to be heard at all is to shout about the din. We scream for attention, one voice raised above the multitudes, and hope our children hear us. And the children themselves clamor, squeal, and yell - they are exuberant creatures, bursting with sound and energy. But within each child there is also an innate talent for listening that deserves to be honored and encouraged. (p 104)

We give our children a great gift when we help them to tune in to the muted sounds of earth and sky, of soul and spirit. It is a joyful lesson, offered in the spirit of play, even as they learn the discipline of listening. All we need to do is lead them into quiet moments and allow them to open their ears. (p 106)

Find a dry spot to sit with your child on a sunny winter day and listen to the snow melt - you will both be astonished at the subtle symphony of sound. Sit in the car together, before you turn the key in the ignition, and listen to rain fall on the roof. Ask your children to listen to the world around them for two to three minutes - and then compare impressions of what each of you heard. Listen to a cat purr, and notice all the variations in tone and tempo. Listen to a bee as it takes nectar from a flower. We can all find a moment in every day for listening, a moment in which we gather our children close, open our ears, and luxuriate in the sounds of our world, wherever we may be. (p 107)

What do you like to listen to?

Take a few moments with your kids and listen. Come back next week to let us know what you heard.

If you are here to post on this week's topic of Healing, click here.

Simple & Slow Fridays: Healing - Post Your's Here

I am quite amazed at the healing power of a kiss and a hug. We're also constantly being reminded of the value of saying we're sorry even when it's an accident (maybe even a car accident!).





Not only is Nathan my biggest "lover", he's my biggest antagonizer, too! Go figure.

Oh, and as for the "healing basket" I mentioned last week... I have an assortment of 12 different bandages, ranging from Care Bears to Spiderman to the Incredibles to Scooby Doo and others. They get to pick which bandage will help them heal best. Will likes the Care Bears and Nathan likes Nemo.

How many boxes of bandages do you have on hand? I'll give the winner some extra "linky love".

Post your thoughts on Healing here.




Click here for this week's topic of Listening.

Simple & Slow Fridays: Surrender - Post Your's Here

This week's S&SF is entitled Surrender. To be honest, I don't think I knew the meaning of the word before I became a mother. Sure I got a taste of it when Jeff and I married when compromises needed to be made, but to surrender my wants/need for my family's wants/needs is something I work on daily. I am but human and selfish at times.


First, let me start off with the fact that I am one of those black and white thinkers, either something "is" or it "isn't", numbers are easy for me and I like concrete thinking. It is hard for me to picture something in my head if I've never seen it before. If there is a book on how to do something, that something should work out just as the book states if the directions are followed correctly.

Much to my surprise, "they" weren't kidding when they said there is not an instruction manual for babies. Trust me, there's not one. I looked. I read. I tried the directions the books gave. They didn't work. I was so frustrated because basically those books say, "In order to be a good mom and raise a healthy child, you must do XYZ." However, Will apparently did not read those books and he obviously didn't know that he was supposed to do XYZ. ;)


I stressed and stressed over his nap schedule, his feeding schedule, his poop schedule. How many wet diapers, how many minutes he nursed, how long he was awake, how many minutes he slept. Oh, yes, I counted the minutes in his naps. I remember the day I was so excited that he slept for 48 minutes! He was a terrible napper: generally 20-30 minutes every 2 hours until he was 9 months old. I felt like a failure at times because I couldn't get him on a schedule like all the books said I should.

It wasn't until I tossed those books, surrendered to the mother I am inside and just listened to my child and my instincts, that our lives became less stressed and more balanced. I became a better mom when I surrendered to the needs of my child, not the child in the book.


I learned a lot from my experience as a first-time mom. And it's a good thing, too, because my second child had colic for 4 1/2 months and had chronic ear infections for the first two years of his life. If I didn't surrender to his needs, I can't imagine what life would have been like. My third child was a surprise. I'll admit, there was a transition period of surrendering to the idea of another baby... but it didn't take long for that momma-love to kick in! I am so glad it was a fairly quick transition so that I could enjoy the great blessing of carrying him.



I guess where I'm going with this is that once we learn the art of surrendering, when done for the right reasons, our life gets better, clearer even. Once we, as mothers, are able to surrender our human desires for the needs of our family, everyone is happier. (ie surrender blogging time to spend quality time with the boys instead, etc).

Not only is surrendering important as a mother and a wife, but of course as a Christian as well. To surrender our cares, worries, and troubles to Christ is something I also struggle with, but in the times I am able to do it... life gets better, clearer even. Everyone is happier. There is a reason we are told not to worry (Matt 6:25-34) - it's not necessary; we've been given the act of surrendering instead. We only have to learn how to use it... and you know what? There is a book for that. :)

Please link up your posts on Surrender:

Click here for next week's topic of Healing.

Simple & Slow Fridays: Healing

Next Friday's posting idea comes from the chapter Healing in Mitten Strings for God. Here are my chosen excerpts to get our thoughts flowing:

Bumps and bruises, aches and pains - they are the inevitable, minor irritations of childhood, as universal as a bad dreams and runny noses. We are inclined to dispense a quick hug and a reassuring word, and to carry on. (p 100)

But sometimes our children are really asking for more from us than a perfunctory response, and that is when we must minister not only to the skinned knee, but to an inner need as well. It does no good to advise a weeping child that the pain will go away on its own. We are mothers, after all, and it is our job to do something. And so I created the "hurt basket," a treasure chest of magical lotions, potions and healing aids. ... To an adult, a Band-Aid may be nothing but a sticky plastic strip; but to a child it is a badge of honor, imbued with magical healing properties. Be grateful, and stock up. (p 100 - 101)

When we minister to our children with love and care, we teach them to care for others in return. Through our own loving example, we show the healing way, opening their hearts to the needs of those around them. (p 102)

The day will come, of course, when our small ministrations are no longer enough to ease our children's pains, but until then, we can stock their emotional larders with a bounty of love and tenderness, precious stores for the future. (p 103)

Do you have a "healing basket"? I'd love to see a picture... well, really I'm curious if anyone out there stocks more bandages than I do! :)

Doesn't your heart just soar when you see your child tending to another hurt child?! Do you have a child with a huge heart? a more loving nature? Not that the other children don't have a loving nature, but a child that has more than another? (I do... can you guess which one?)

This week, think about healing and how you set the example for your children to minister to others in need. Do you make a point of teaching it or do you just let the experiences come as they may? I'd love to know!

Be back next Friday to post your thoughts on Healing; this week, post your thoughts on Surrender.

Simple and Slow Fridays: One-on-One Time - Post Your's Here

To be honest, I haven't given much thought to one-on-one time this week. Life kind of came in and swept the rug out from under me, so the days went about their normal routine and I really didn't make an effort for more one-on-one. However, as I think about our normality, there is, of course, some one-on-one time that takes place every day: bedtimes.

Witt is in bed at 7:30PM, Nathan at 8:00PM, and Will is between 8:00 - 8:30PM. If - I mean WHEN - they get a bath, Witt is always first. I have that one-on-one time with him and Jeff maintains - I mean PLAYS - with Nathan and Will. After Witt's bath, he gets a kiss on the head from each member of the family and I take him into his room to rock and sing. He gets the torture - I mean PLEASURE - of listening to me sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and my rendition of Hush, Little Baby before a kiss from me and a pat on the butt after he's in the crib.

Then, hopefully, maybe, the other two boys are already in the tub. If not, that's where I put them (if they get a bath, that is). Jeff and I have a little one-on-one time to talk or cleanup or just veg-out while they are in the tub. We check on them from time-to-time to make sure no one has drowned, of course.

After their bath and pjs, there is another round of "night-night kisses". This past week I have started a new book with the boys, Five Minutes Devotions for Children. It's a quick and easy read with beautiful illustrations. Each night we read about a different animal, why it is unique and that God created it. The book also has simple questions to ask the kids about the story and a couple "Why do you think..." questions as well. I love to hear the answers Will comes up with!

After the devotion time, Jeff takes Nathan for rocking and a song or two. Jeff usually sings His Grace Reaches Me. (When I have Nathan, he gets You are My Sunshine... I'm a little less talented than Jeff in terms of singing!) Will and I go to his room for another book of his choice. Lately he has been very interested in the books from the Help Me Be Good series on Lying, Cheating, Disobeying, etc. They are pretty good books about teaching those concepts.

After a book, I ask Will what he wants to thank God for and what he would like to pray for. Usually, it's: "I want to pray for Madeline; that she will be my wife. And for the first dinosaurs; that they will come to life again. And for the trains; that they won't become derailed. Oh, and for my teacher and my family." Just about every night... the same thing. So, we pray about those things in some form or fashion (we pray for his future wife (whoever she may be), that we're glad the dinosaurs were here and that we have fun learning about them now, to keep people safe while traveling, his teacher, and family).

Then it's a short conversation about something random, one more "night-night kiss" and an "I love you; see you at 7." (We ask him to wait until 7:00 before getting up... if at all possible!) :)

With the boys in bed before 8:30PM, that gives Jeff and I a nice chunk of time to be alone, too. Not only is one-on-one time important for children, it's important for adults, too. I have seen such an improvement in our relationship since we moved Will's bedtime earlier (it used to be 9:00PM).

So even though this week is about one-on-one time with our kids, I think it is also important to have that special time alone with your spouse, and truth be told, it's important to have time to oneself. I'm sure you'd agree.

Now, how do you spend your one-on-one time with the kiddos and how do you make room for it in your day?





Pick up next week's topic of Surrender here.

Simple & Slow Fridays: Surrender

I wish I could copy this whole chapter from Mitten Strings for God. As a mom, for me, every day is about surrender. I must surrender my wants for the needs of my family. Just becoming a mom is a huge process of surrendering ... at least it was for me. I had no idea what it meant to take care of someone else, but this is for a future post. Let me recap some of the passages from the book:

Jon Kabat-Zinn, a meditation teacher who writes about mindful parenting, suggests that we think of our children as Zen masters housed in small bodies, who come into our lives to push at all of our fixed ideas. They are our best teachers, he says, and one way or another they will teach us whatever hard lessons we most need to learn. (p. 87)

This is one thing motherhood has taught me: Living according to my values does not necessarily mean being rigid in my convictions about what's "right". Sometimes our children's needs do not coincide neatly with our own beliefs. And therein lies a challenge. Do I try to control every aspect of our family environment, or do I allow others to help shape it, too? Do I always enforce the rules or do I sometimes step aside and trust my children to find their own way? Surrendering is always an act of faith, and letting go is never easy. (p 88)

When we try to hold on tight to anything, we find ourselves grasping at air; when we struggle to possess - a person, a time, a way of doing or being - the very thing we seek slips away. So it is with my most treasured rituals. The moment I try to carve them in stone or to institutionalize them in any way, they seem to vanish before my eyes. Then, rather than try to force the family back into old vessels that no longer fit, I must shape new ones. As soon as something fails to work for us, it is time to let go and create something fresh. This kind of surrender is not easy, either - but necessary if we are to continue growing together as a family. (p 89)

In surrender, I clear a space in which
something new can grow. I place my faith
in something larger than me. I trust.
(p. 92)

How's that for some things to ponder?! :) Come back Friday and post about how you surrender. This week, post about one-on-one time.

Simple & Slow Fridays: Stories - Post Your's Here

Stories are a HUGE part of everyday life around here. Will has always had a wonderful imagination for stories... about trains that is... always about trains. From around the time he turned4 up until and including now, he'd rather have had a story made up and told to him than have a book read; however, it must be about trains. Usually he will tell us which trains he wants in the story and if the story goes in the "wrong" direction (where he doesn't want it to go), he'll correct us and take over. Rarely does a story have a "The End". It's usually continued the next day or the next time we get in the car to go on a "journey".

Here is an excerpt from a story I took the time to record one day. Will was 4 years 9 months old at the time. I help him along through the story, but now he's very self-sufficient in telling a 15-20 minute story all by himself!


Me: Who is the story about?
Will: Engines
Me: What kind of engines?
Will: Oliver & Molly


Me: Tell me about Oliver.
Will: He has Toad the break van
Me: What color is he?
Will: Green
Me: Number?
Will: 11
Me: Where does he work?
Will: Coal yard




Me: Now, what about Molly?
Will: She's a yellow engine with no number on her side
Me: What's something neat about Molly?
Will: She's a new engine with two big wheels. She collects some coal and gets all dusty from the trucks... the trucks pull her back into the coal hopper.

Me: What is a coal hopper?
Will: Something that shoots down coal.

Me: What do they use a coal for?
Will: To burn up their firebox.

Will: Molly got dusty and she got so dusty she was really mad and she coughed. She cleared out her funnel of dirt.
Me: How did she do that?
Will: "Ahh... Ahhh...Ahh-CHOOO! She blowed dust right into the air and covered the other engines.
Me: Who else was there?
Will: Oliver!
Me: What did he think about getting dirty?
W: I don't know; what did he say?
Me: Did he say, "Molly, you just sneezed on me!"?

Will as Molly: "I just needed to clear my funnel."
Me as Oliver: Well, you should look for other engines around you. We don't want to get dusty. We might sneeze too.

Will: Toad became covered up, too.
Me: Who is Toad?
Will: He's a Brake van.
Me: What does he do?
Will: He just always gets coupled behind.
Me: Behind who?
Will: Behind Oliver's freight cars.
Me: How does he help?
Will: By watching behind what they ran over.
Me: Does he apply the brakes?
Will: Yeah, that's why he's the brake van.
Me: Oh, that makes sense.

Me: So, what did Oliver and Molly do? Did they get a wash-down? Where did they have to go?
Will: To the wash-down yard.
Me: What happened after they were clean & shiny?
Will: Oliver got a small tender that didn't get much heat.
Me: Tender? What's a tender?
Will: Something that engines pull behind them.

Will: Molly has a very small firebox and she didn't know what to do. Mom, what did Molly say to Oliver when she had a very small firebox and didn't know what to do?
Me as Molly: I think I might need some work done, my firebox is not working properly. Who would do some work on me?
Will as Oliver: I think some workmen and the workmen's yard.

Me as Molly: Will you come with me, Oliver?
Will as Oliver: Sure, but first I have to collect some cargo cars.
Me: What do cargo cars carry?

Will: They carry special stuff like hives. (bee hives)
Me: Are you collecting hives today?
Will: Yeah.
Me: Be careful with beehives... you know what can happens with beehives...
Will: But cargo cars are built with heavy wood and they won't break.
Me: Just remember, James got stung by a bee on the nose!
Will: Don't worry, I will just "weesh" them away!






This story with Will goes on and on with twists and turns and finally a "The End"(with my persuasion). I need to record another one of his stories now that he can tell one by himself. It shouldn't be hard to come across a story, Will tells them at least 2- 3 times daily...

Click here for next week's "assignment" of One-on-One Time.