Little Green Peas

Little green peas brightly contrast the beige carpet. Shiny credit cards peek out among the socks in the drawer. A carton of sour cream hides among the fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator vegetable crisper. Life seems to be a juxtaposition of unlikely objects in my role as mother of an adventurous, curious toddler. The daily life of a toddler is a series of the struggles highlighting opposing pairings. From sucking their thumbs and wanting to be held like a little baby to demanding to dress themselves, toddler behavior is a study of opposites. The mother’s life too reflects the often uneasy pairing of the polished professional woman with the sometimes frazzled, uncertain or exasperated mother of a young child. There is I believe a lesson to be learned in these contrasts. Life is enriched by the unexpected, popping up in refreshing ways, keeping us alert and reminding us not to sit too comfortably in one place for too long. A spatula hiding under the bed? Well, why not?

Hallelujah!

I am beginning my career as a freelance writer in earnest now. After going through a bit of a dry spell, God has been blessing my efforts lately. Although a book proposal was turned down by Zondervan, I had an article accepted by Christian Parenting Today and received payment for an article that I wrote for Westchester Parent. God is good.

And if all that was not good enough, I found a pretty cool set-up at Associated Content in which they will pay freelancers to write articles to be featured on various websites.

They just accepted 5 of my articles, Praise God. I could use some cash in my PayPal account about right now.

All you homeschool moms (and dads) who are freelance writers (real or aspiring) should check them out.

And if you mention that I sent you and you actually start writing for them, I could get $20.

Hope this is helpful.

Another Beautiful Day

Sunny and warm. These are two words we have not heard together in a while up here in Ohio. It is so nice to sit in the sun again. I love running around the backyard with Chase and watching Alyssa enjoy the birds.

Speaking of Alyssa, unfortunately, she has a superior memory for the traumatic. I was preheating the oven and the fumes from the oven cleaner must have set off the smoke detector because it started screeching "FIRE, FIRE" and beeping very loudly (as I hope it will do in a real fire).

Alyssa was so frightened by this that she did not want to come into the dining room where the noisy contraption had been (my husband temporarily took it down so I could finish cooking).

Otherwise, Alyssa's memory seems pretty poor. I must say several times each day "Did not Mommy tell you we don't put small pieces of tissue in our ears, we don't put our fingers in our nose or we don't pinch people." For some reason, she can not seem to remember any of these basic instructions.

Oh well. For the next little while, I will just take down the detector while I am baking until the fumes burn off. My poor baby.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

A future freelance writer.

Praying for Guidance

I find that it is easy for me to start worrying and forget to pray. As a mom, I have so much to worry about. Yet, I also have so much to enjoy. I just want to stay balanced and keep all issues in their proper perspective. I am now deciding what curriculum to use in Chase's homeschooling next year. I know that I would like to try an online curriculum but there are a few to choose from. Of course, as my husband and others have said, I can certainly change if I try one and it is not a good fit for me or Chase. So why am I acting like this is such a life or death decision? The bottom line is, I can only make the best decision for right now based on the information that I have and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I have noticed though that when I forget to pray, it is much more difficult to discern what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell me.

So why don't I just make my life easier and "pray without ceasing"?

I do not know but I am working on it.

The Good With the Not-as-Good

The runny nose, the constipation, the late night awakenings and the picky eating are all a part of my life as mom.

Today is a day of fatigue so it is easy to focus on the negative. But it is also sunny (although a little chilly) and life is so full of rich rewards.

Chase is in a play, play, play mode as I think we all have been since the time changed and it stays lighter into the late evening (hence part of my fatigue). We have not done much structured homeschooling the past few days but I am starting to appreciate the beauty of unschooling. Even in his play mode, Chase has asked me to spell out words for him to write on the board and he stops me in the middle of my work frequently to ask me to listen while he counts to 100 or to ask me "How does God make...."

A master storyteller, Chase makes up fantastic stories about Bibleman (and his toddler sidekick Biblegirl) and recounts stories of Jesus healing the multitudes.

Life is good because God is good and He is good all the time!

I Am a Real Mom

A little essay that I wrote:

Are You a Real Mom?
By Victoria Carrington, M.D.

Forget stay-at-home mom vs. working outside the home mom. I have created a completely biased test of who rules the moms and who the real moms are. Are you ready? Let the mud-slinging begin.

Real moms:
• Are never dressed, showered and made up before 9 am.
• Never eat a hot meal. By the time they get everyone else fed, the food is cold.
• Never use the bathroom without an audience, no matter the time of month. Her feminine products are found around the house being used to create interesting construction projects.
• Never wear clothing that is not decorated with some sign of motherhood. Spit-up, baby food, leaking breast milk or modeling clay are all possibilities.
• Pretend that they are deaf when they hear “she pinched me” or “he frowned at me”. Unless there are blood-curdling screams or actual blood, the real mom knows not to get involved.
• Forget how to make macaroni cheese on the stove or in the conventional oven. They only use the microwave packets.
• Have kids who believe that homemade cookies are always found in the refrigerator section of the grocery store.
• Never dust. Real moms know that the best way to keep furniture dust-free is to let the kids climb on it
• Never wax the kitchen floor. Real moms know the only wax that belongs on a floor is from that of a stepped-on crayon.
• Visit the bakery section of the grocery store to bribe her crew with cookies before the shopping begins. She is careful to get enough sweet stuff such that their mouths are full for the entire trip.
• Never have an uninterrupted phone conversation
• Never have an uninterrupted conversation period unless they are far, far away from their children.
• Never have conversations without saying the word “potty” or other words associated with private, sometimes embarrassing bodily functions.
• Have learned not to be embarrassed by bodily functions.
• Know that no matter what happens, these crazy days will all be a memory one day and she will end up longing for these days to return.
• Try not to take things too seriously because things could be a lot worse.

They Love Each Other So Much

I did not know how wonderful having two would be. Honestly, I did not know that I would like having two children. I loved Chase so much that it was hard for me to imagine loving another child as much.

But something wonderful happened after Alyssa was born. Not only did I not love Chase any less but I seemed to love him even more! Of course, I also loved my new little one as well. Furthermore, my love has expanded to include this new unit, the two of them, as one.

It is hard to explain the feelings that well up inside of me when I watch them play, laugh or share together. It is a contented, peaceful feeling filled with hope for the future.

Of course they fight sometimes. But underlying every scuffle is a heartfelt love that is wonderful to watch.

Up Again!

Alyssa had a hard time sleeping again. Turns out, she is fighting a runny nose which always bothers her. That on top of the teething is just too much for her to sleep comfortably with. Daddy got up with her last night again, giving me a chance to get some much needed sleep.

Why do I still feel tired?

Mommy Confessions-Again

Have you ever been having so much fun playing together as a family that you lost track of time and stayed up way too late? Or worse yet, did you ever realize that it was getting late and still let everyone stay up and have fun?

A combination of the two factors happened yesterday in our home. After a freak snowstorm over the weekend, we were so excited yesterday for the temperatures in the seventies. I really did not complain too much about the snow because Chase and I took advantage of the late snowfall to make one last snowman. I am glad that we enjoyed the snow because the balmy summertime temperatures arrived yesterday.

Chase and Alyssa were so cute together, holding hands chasing birds in the backyard. Then Alyssa was pushing her lawnmower and Chase his vintage GI Joe sandloader (Dad's old toy)as I sat reflecting on what a blessed life I lead. It is not perfect but I have so much to be grateful for everyday.

May I never forget that. Maybe I can get everyone to take a nap today.

Little Miss Clean Hands

Have you ever seen a little girl who likes to play in mud but hates mud on her hands? And what about a little girl who likes to play in the sand but does not like to get her hands sandy?

Well, that's my little girl! Finally it was nice outside (after Saturday's snowstorm) so we all spent much time outdoors yesterday. Alyssa seemed to like the mud at first but then she started fussing and wanting me to wipe her hands after each swipe in the mud.

Then, it was to the sandbox to play with brother. I had been dreading the time that she would want to join her brother in the sandbox. After all, a 1-year old does not understand that sand is not for eating, blowing or throwing. What's a mother to do? She was adamant and after all sand play is a good tactile activity for her. The main problem turned out to be her hands again.

She enjoyed running her hands through the sand but constantly wanted me to wipe the sand off her hands. Let me tell you it is not easy to keep sand off a child's hand when she is playing in a sandbox!

Overall, we had fun and stayed outside way too late (see next post). We even found one last little patch of snow and my husband made what he optimistically called the "last snowball of the season."

I am so happy that spring has graced us with her presence.

Thanks and praise to God for the changing of the seasons!

Mommy Confessions #3

Okay, maybe I should get the Terrible Mother of the Year Award but Alyssa and her "I'm going to cut 8 teeth at one time" routine is getting old. I know that I should only feel sorry for her (and God knows, I do feel for her!)and not for myself. But I also feel for me and my lack of sleep and that makes me feel bad.

I should be the selfless mother, devoted to my poor child's comfort but finally at 3am after more than 1 hour of being awake, I had to hand off the child to her Daddy.

I do feel better now. The crew even let me sleep in until a little before 9am. Nice.

I feel up to the challenge of tonight now. Let's see what happens.

The Happy Child

Don't you love watching your child's eyes light up with unbridled laughter as they play? Chase got his Dad's old electric train set from Grandma and Grandpa today and boy was he excited. So much enjoyment was had by our whole family as we watched the Lionel train go around and around, puffing out steam and making realistic noises. The track even sparks (is it supposed to do that or is there a short in it?) and the trailer car carried Chase's Matchbox cars.

And Alyssa? Well, she was content to watch from afar. Surprising. I thought she might grab at it.

Ahh, the treasures to be found in Grandma and Grandpa's attic.