Mother4Jesus

I had to threaten David with losing video games to get this photo. #TruthBomb See this picture above? I love this photo. This photo can give you the illusion that my children are well behaved and love each other..... ALL THE TIME.  Nope. Not even close. David loves to ruin my photos. Right before I took this photo I said to him, "If you ruin this picture with your jokes, you will lose all video games for a week!!"  I didn't say it as nicely as typing it out makes me look. Just being honest. We've all been there?? right?? or is it just me? It's just me. My kids are the worst!  ********************************************************* There is nothing worse than looking at your child's behavior and thinking, "My child is the worst one here."  The fact is, we've all thought that at times. As an older mom, I've been through it. I have two adult children and also two younger children.  What wisdom has that gained me??  N...

I haven't blogged in a long time. For those that don't know, we moved from NY to NC last February. I love NC. Homeschooling here is so much easier and the numbers are so high, we're actually in the majority !!  That brings me to my topic for this blog: Whether you homeschool or send your child to conventional/private schools, each choice has it's benefits and....problems. That includes homeschooling. There, I said it!! Out loud!! Homeschooling, while a great choice and I LOVE IT, has it's problems, or potential problems.  It's time that moms and fellow homeschoolers discuss these issues OPENLY. I certainly don't feel judged but i'm sure there are many that do. We can't help each other with these issues if we don't discuss them.  My issue that I'm going to tackle today is "Screen Time". So many moms confide that they let their children play video games and watch tv but do so secretly. Why?? Why all the secrecy??  ...

Yay!!! You're pregnant!! Now the choices come and along with that , the mommy guilt.  Here's what I have to say to that...... Natural birth? Medication?? Home birth??? Wine ??  **Go with your gut!! Formula?? Breast feeding?? Chocolate?? **Go with  your gut!!! To vaccinate, or NOT to vaccinate??  **Go with your gut!! Cloth diapers?? Disposables?? Naked??  **Go with your gut!! When to start solids?? Extended nursing???  **Go with your gut!!!! (See where I'm going with this?? )  Oh the list goes on... it gets better.  Co-Sleeping?? Crib?? Floor??  **Go with your gut!!! Gentle parenting?? Positive Parenting?? Figure it out as you go??  **Go with your gut!!! When to Potty train?? 2? 3? 24??   **Go with your gut!!! Binki?? No Binki??  **Go with  your gut!! Organic?? Non-Organic?? Dirt??   **Go with your gut!!  Preschool?? No Preschool?? Co...

There are so many "Chore Cleaning" Systems out there...how does one choose?? While I love everything that has to do with organizing, chore charts and systems have really eluded me. My children clean with me. We homeschool, they're with me all the time. We usually are working side-by-side. So chore charts aren't really needed. I only have 2 of my 4 at home with me, so those elaborate systems aren't necessary. Chore charts where you check off the work doesn't fit for us. Simply telling my 5 y/o , "Go clean your bedroom" doesn't work. Many times they don't know where to start or they're not really capable of listing in their own minds what to do first, next, etc. The Zone cleaning looked good but a bit too complicated. While I love the idea of itemizing what they had to do in each room/zone, the flip chart was annoying and the the days of the week on each card wasn't necessary. Again, we work side-by-side. What was I looking f...

There are so many "Chore Cleaning" Systems out there...how does one choose?? While I love everything that has to do with organizing, chore charts and systems have really eluded me. My children clean with me. We homeschool, they're with me all the time. We usually are working side-by-side. So chore charts aren't really needed. I only have 2 of my 4 at home with me, so those elaborate systems aren't necessary. Chore charts where you check off the work doesn't fit for us. Simply telling my 5 y/o , "Go clean your bedroom" doesn't work. Many times they don't know where to start or they're not really capable of listing in their own minds what to do first, next, etc. The Zone cleaning looked good but a bit too complicated. While I love the idea of itemizing what they had to do in each room/zone, the flip chart was annoying and the the days of the week on each card wasn't necessary. Again, we work side-by-side. What was I looking f...

This is probably going to be one of the most honest blogs i'll ever write. I'm not really an open person. Over the years i've mastered the art of having an entire conversation without really revealing anything deep or private. I'm a guarded person but for the first time...the veil (Pun intended) is coming down. My heart breaks when I see moms so passionately putting others down for not breast feeding or for vaccinating, or NOT Vaccinating. We see memes and even commercials trying to bridge these gaps and I for one love those!! I breast fed, I bottle fed, I home birthed, I had a c-section, I vaccinated, I don't vaccinate.....I "Cried it out", I co-slept.... and I can tell you that I did ALL THESE THINGS...having had two sets of kids, I can say that I had a "Do-over". God is good!!! Did my decisions make much of a difference?? Sure..some did , some didn't but I don't think my way is the ONLY Way, or the right way. Why?? Because paren...

I know my title may upset many but there are times where homeschooling isn't a good choice. There...I said it. When I had my younger two children, there was no doubt that i'd be homeschooling. I had already homeschooled my older two through high school and I simply love doing it. My reasons for homeschooling my younger two is that I simply love being with them and teaching them. This however, is VERY different than the reasons I homeschooled my older two. With my older two, I was going to give the a better education, more God-centered. I was going instill in them the biblical and moral values I felt were important and more importantly , I was keeping the government from instilling their political and social morals to my children. This is what I would tell people....Now, here are some of the reasons in my heart. *I was going to be a perfect parent. *I was going to keep them from making the same mistakes I made *I was going to have perfect teens who never rebelled. I...

I can NOT help but read all the stuff today about health, food, diet...There are times I just want to block it all out and forget what I know. How many times do you read something and then realize that there isn't anything you can do about it?? We live in the information age. We have so much at our fingertips, it can be overwhelming. As a mom I find I can worry about every food I put on the table for my family. With all the appliances we have , you would think that we'd have all this extra time but the fact is...we don't. I don't have time to make EVERY*THING*FROM*SCRATCH!! Even so, I do attempt to make as much as I can from scratch for a few reasons... health and finances. I want to eat all organic...all whole foods but here are a few things i've noticed.  *You can eat all organic and whole foods and STILL have health issues. *Be over weight * not be healthy There are many times that I will ask the Lord, "Why show me all this if there isn...