Coming to The Common Room: Raising Olives, Life in a Shoe and Smockity Frocks and ME--- beginning the second week of March:
The four of us are participating in collaborative blogging project about how moms of many manage, and sometimes... don't. Our first post is going to be about scheduling, how and why we schedule.... or don't. A week late we'll follow that up with a live blogging event of what happens all day on a single day at our respective houses. After that... well, what would YOU like to hear about from a bunch of philoprogenitive mums? Leave a note in the comments and tell us!
Some introductions would be in order, yes? Of course, yes!=)
Connie is a Christian homeschooling mom of 8 rowdy children, wife of 25 years to one hunky golf pro, wiper of noses, writer of stories. She blogs regularly at Smockity Frocks.
KimC is a Christian, a wife, big sister to 13 sibs, and the slightly-crunchy homeschooling mom of 10 children: 9 on the outside and 1 on the inside. She lives with her very large family in a very small house in south Texas and finds peace in chocolate and blogging at Life in a Shoe: the methods and madness of one family of 12.
Her family shares their little house on the hill with dogs, gerbils, snakes, and tarantulas, and a 10 year old cat named Tim. The chickens stay outside.
Usually.
Kimberly blogs at Raising Olives and is a second generation homeschooling mom to her soon-to-be 10 children. She is married to an amazingly patient husband, who also happens to be a magnificent father. Their family's primary goal is to glorify God and to raise children who will do the same. For that reason they attempt to examine every decision that they make in the light of God’s word. Many of their decisions may seem strange to the world and they're good with that. She blogs at .Go pay them a visit- they're a great bunch of ladies!
Me? Well, probably if you're reading this post here, you already kind of know me, but here's the blurb the other gals are posting:
The DeputyHeadmistress is shy and blogs behind a pseudonym which she intended to be amusing and somewhat self-deprecatory. She and the Headmaster locked eyes in a high school Sunday School class in 1979 when she was 17, and they have been merrily married since 1982, in spite of the fact that at 17 the DHM nearly got the HM beaten up by her other boyfriend, and at 20 she nearly got him arrested by a cop from church. Happily God helped her grow up, and He is gracious and forgiving, and so is the Headmaster.
They have seven wonderful Progeny both by birth and adoption, two handsome sons-in-law, one adorable grandson, and two precious unofficial foster sons, ages 5 and 3, who live with them about half the time. They have been homeschooling since 1988. The DHM (and occasionally some of the Progeny) blogs regularly about politics, family life, living in the country, books, music, cabbages, kings, and living the countercultural Christian life at The Common Room
(That's HERE!!) (http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com).
GUESS which one of us doesn't know when to stop typing? And incidentally, that stuff where I sicked my other boyfriend on the HM when I was 17 and nearly got him arrested when we were 20? That, to satisfy your 'satiable curtiosity, O, Best Beloved, is a huge part of the reason why we don't do church youth groups and didn't even do age segregated Sunday School until... this year- which is another story and another post (we wouldn't do them almost anywhere else, and we *still* don't do high school classes at church).
If you want to post Connie's lovely badge in your sidebar or blog about the venture and pass it along on your blog, we'd be beholden. And do be sure to let us know what you'd most want to talk to us about if you could come on over for a nice cup of tea, or, more likely at my house, a cup of the freshly ground organic coffee beans french-pressed and served up in one of the HM's mugs from his travels, a beverage he calls a 'cup of WHOAH!'
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New here? You may also like these posts:
Quiet Time- one of the most important tools for family peace.
I had a different schedule planned.... a recent morning at our house.
Who We Are- a longer post about the various Progeny and the names of the regulars on our blog (like, who ARE Blynken and Nod, anyway?)
The Composite Titus Two Woman
The Gift of Unplanned Blessings- our adoption story
Make Your Own Pull Toys- and other ideas from the index card files (click on the label at the bottom of that post)
We sell books!! And other things- take a look! Pin It
Can't wait to read! We are a family of seven: Two parents and five young ones. Our oldest just turned 13 and we are entering the struggles of "youth group desire". The Husband and I do not want "peer mentallity" to enter our family. Luckily for us our church is small and our teen is currently the church's only teen.
ReplyDeleteYou're so funny. Personally, I love when you get verbose!
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to this series. And I suppose I need to start following Raising Olives now, since I already read the rest of you. ;-)
Could you talk a little about homeschooling different ages? I have 2 kids, and we most of our school together. But, sometimes I need to work with them individually also. What are some activities for the other to do while I do that. Or tips and tricks you have! If it helps my kids are 6 and 4. Thanks, and I look forward to this series, I think it can be helpful even for those of us with a couple of kiddos!
ReplyDeleteKristen
In the stage I am in right now, with my daughter almost 2 and my son 2 1/2 months, what I am most desperate for is advice on discipline. I want to be able to teach my daughter how to do the right thing--for the future, for safety, for my sanity. I need a plan or a system so that I don't just get frustrated and angry and sad when she does things she knows full well she shouldn't. There's so many systems out there and I don't believe that all of them are good or equal, and my goal is for my daughter to feel loved and to meet her needs, not necessarily to mold her to what I want her to be, but what God wants her to be. I know that right now a lot of her acting out is because she feels she is getting less attention because the baby requires so much of my time, so she is seeking my attention in inappropriate and sometimes destructive ways, because it works. Timeouts don't seem to work and physical punishment doesn't seem appropriate to her behaviors and level of understanding.
ReplyDeleteConsistency is more important than what or how you discipline. So whatever you decide, be calmly consistent.
ReplyDeleteIf she is deliberately being disobedient to get your attention, doing things that, as you say, she knows perfectly well she should not do, then I am not sure why you would think physical discipline is inappropriate for her level of understanding and behavior, unless you think physical discipline is always inappropriate, but, and this is a huge but, I do not like to give discipline advice on the internet. You should never take advice on what method of discipline to use from strangers. Do NOT physically discipline your child just because I or any other stranger said something that makes you think it's a good idea. This is because we all come to the discussion with our own background and baggage, and we all have unique children and situations. Find somebody in real life with children you admire and seek their counsel, ask them exactly what they mean, how they do what they do, and when. Let them get to know you and your child.
What *I* mean by physical punishment may look nothing at all like what you mean by it, and what I mean by consistency is tempered with what I think is common sense, but what I call common sense, you might call something else.
I will tell you that at my house, when a child starts screaming at me (not crying sadly, screaming in anger) when she hears the word 'no,' that is a big cluebat that she knows perfectly well what I said and she is being deliberately disobedient, and that was a big cluebat to me that discipline was in order. I did spank. I had a rule in place for me that took care of any concerns about being angry- no more than three swats, ever, with one or two exceptions (telling lies to get somebody else in trouble got a couple more swats, and running away from me did, too).
But, again, what I mean by a swat may not be what you mean. We'd need to know each other to be on the same page.
I have seen physical discipline badly misused (both from overuse and underuse- as a last resort when Mom is mad, for instance, which is a moving goal post for the child, as what makes mom mad one day won't make her mad on a better day, so however you choose to discipline, do so for behavior/attitude, not for how you feel about it) and I have seen timeouts badly misused as well. I've seen 'gentle mothering' that was effective, 'gentle mothering' that produced brats (although their parents didn't recognize that) and 'gentle mothering' that was manipulative and disrespectful of the child.
So... while I am comfortable with principles (like consistency, and disciplining for behavior and attitude, NOT for how Mom feels about what tot did today), I think you need a real life human being or two or three to discuss this with.
Also, if she feels she's getting less attention because of the baby, could you let her help more with the baby with you? My first was 20 months old when her sister was born, and she loved to bring me the things I needed to change a diaper, to carry the diapers to the diaper pail, to help 'salt' the baby with a bit of cornstarch, to rub lotion on her back, to 'help' me hold her, to hold books while I read to both of them.
Ooops. This answer has turned into a post!
Thank you for responding to me and for the manner in which you did so.
ReplyDeleteI think you may have inadvertently hit on some things that I badly need to deal with. I appreciate your advice.
I'm really looking forward to learning from everyone in the group. Thanks for being willing to participate.
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to this! I only have one right now, but my husband and I are very much looking forward to the day our family expands.
ReplyDeleteI'm really curious about teaching cooking--and not just any aspect. Particularly, I would like to know how you ladies prepare your progeny for their eventual need to cook for a much smaller number of people. I know it was difficult when my husband and I took on a roommate for me to go from cooking for two to cooking for three, so I can't imagine transitioning from cooking for 10 (or some such number) to cooking for 2 (upon starting a household with a spouse).
Thanks,=) I'm a little nervous about discipline advice on the internet, as I would hate for somebody to hear me say physical discipline is okay and consistency is good, and then go consistently beat their child, which is not what I mean at all.
ReplyDeleteI am sure you will figure it out. Another suggestion I would make is to read the Bible a lot, especially Proverbs.
Considering your propensity for hospitality, I read this post and thought all of these moms and their children were coming to visit your home! I was imagining how you were going to house everyone, feed everyone and keep the boys busy. Then I wondered how much productive time you moms would have to collaborate on a blogging project! Sending love and hugs to all!
ReplyDeletewow i found this link by mistake...typed in wrong website...but awesome as i am a mum of 8 aged from 18 to 2.5 and hubby is a hard working paitent wonderful man...we live in australia and believe me its not normal to have large families here, i get most of my cooking ideas on usa webpages as there are alot more larger families willing to share...i will look forward to reading all your bloggs...thanks from janine
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Janine, glad to have you!
ReplyDeleteI seldom leave comments on blogs, but you really impress me, also I have a few questions like to ask, what's your contact details?
ReplyDelete-Johnson
Johnson, you can email us at heartkeepercommonroom
ReplyDeleteat
gmail
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thanks.