I'm sick

Being a mom and being sick is probably the worst thing ever. I've been sick with a cold now for three days and it is progressively getting worse. It's days like this that I wish I had a blow gun and had good aim.

.....I wake up to pitter patter, pitter patter. Then all of a sudden a small, but anvil like hand hits my face with a loud "moooooooom". This would be a perfect time to pull out my hidden away but easily accessible blow gun. I pull it out, the ammo being tiny arrows, tip filled with tranquilizer. Shwoosh ting. One child down. One child to go. Then the eldest child rushes in,  jumps on my bed, and another tiny arrow flys through my little blow gun and now both children are down. At least that's what happened in my day dream.....

But unlike my day dream, that fist really did hit my face. And I really had to get up, more like drag myself out of bed. Walk into the kitchen with both children under my feet almost taking me out because my head is so fuzzy and I can't really tell where I am or where I am going. Both children yelling at me to get them food, making the sinus headache I woke up with much more intense. I then pursue to haphazardly throw cereal into bowls, pour milk, turn on a movie, and head back to bed to try and get more rest before they finish eating and get bored.

I think that like the workplace moms should get sick days. Days when you are so sick that you can't function. You call into the workplace and take a sick day, thus giving you the day off and some much needed rest. Right? Anybody with me?

But alas, there is no such number, and no such day. We moms have to trudge through the day whether we feel good or not. There are no sick days, vacation days, or paid time off. But fortunately there is a trade off. You get to experience moments of pure joy. Even though this morning was really hard. And I felt horrible and the kids didn't care. There was a moment where my 3 year old Miss E came and wrapped her arms around me and said "I love you mommy! sorry you don't feel good." Those are the moments that make everything right in the world. So I thank my Heavenly Father for the opportunities to experience sorrow so that I might feel joy, sickness so that I might have health.

Wishing you all good health
Meg

What is equal?

Ok so I just need to rant for a second. There is so much going on in this world about equal rights and the right to choose. But what does that mean? I do not agree with gay marriage, and I never will. I do not support abortion, and I never will. I do not agree with making bathrooms unisex, and I never will. I don't agree with murder, and I never will. The list goes on. However. That does not mean that I think less of those people who are gay, or that are in a gay marriage. Or that I think less of someone who has had an abortion. It is possible to love someone and not agree. I do it all the time within my own family, with my husband, and with his family. I also do not agree with drug use, and I never will. I have had friends and family members that have abused drugs, and I at one point in my life used drugs. But I have a different life now and make different choices. But I don't agree with it and it's hard to watch someone make the choice to use, however, I still love them. 

So why is it that in this world and in this day and age that we can't agree to disagree and still be friends? What is wrong with that? Why is it that people that disagree with gay marriage or abortion are ridiculous and clouded by religious convictions? Why can't I disagree with you? Why do you feel the need to make me feel bad for what I believe in? Isn't that the opposite of equality? You want to make your decision but no one can disagree with you....that doesn't make any sense to me. I get that everyone wants to be right, or fight for what they believe in. But when someone comes against your belief then they are hypocrites or misguided? I don't think so. I have the right to believe what I want. And so does everyone else. 

I believe we were sent to this earth to be tried and tested to be proved worthy to enter the presence of God again someday. One of the things God commanded us to do when he sent us here is to love one another. And I believe that wholeheartedly. I think we should all love each other. But that doesn't mean we have to agree. And that surely doesn't mean we even have to believe in the same things. But don't hate me or get mad at me because we believe in different things. Because I'm not going to do that to you.

There is not a single person in this entire world that is the same as another person. We are all different. Have different wants, needs, dreams, talents, and abilities. So that by definition isn't equal. Or fair. I really wish that I could sing. I want that ability so badly. It will never happen for me. This life is not fair, nor is it equal. And it shouldn't be. Satan would like us to believe that we all deserve and need the same things. But that just isn't true. My needs are completely different than a mans, than my husbands, than my friends, than my sisters, or than my mothers. If everyone was the same it would be incredibly boring. So I'm grateful to my Heavenly Father that he made us all different. 

I am imperfect and have made a lot of choices in my life that I am not proud of. Choices that I feel have given me the ability to have compassion for those that make different choices than me. Or understanding for people that are just different than I am. For that I am really grateful. Knowledge brings understanding. With that we should take the time to get to know one another. To understand each other. To become friends. So that we can help one another through the hard things in life. To show one another compassion when life gets hard and things aren't in our favor. That is what this life is about. 

End of Rant.
Meg

This is a great info graphic that also sums up Montessori really well, much better than I can do.

Montessori Part 1

So I said that I would talk about the two different types of education that I am using to homeschool my kids with. This is kind of a huge task. Mostly because I've read soooo many books, articles, and blogs dedicated to this very subject and to try and condense it into a blog post seems almost impossible. So I will do my best. But I think I will split it up into a series to give myself some breathing room since there is so much information.

What is Montessori? 

Well Montessori was an actual person. Her name was Maria Montessori. She was born August 31, 1870 and died on May 6, 1952. She was a physician and an educator. She started her work in education with mentally disabled children. In 1906 she opened the Casa die Bambini, or the Children's House. She was asked to oversee low income children that basically had nowhere else to go while their parents worked. She had developed materials working with the disabled children that she also included in the casa. And she added other work including care of self and care of environment. The ages of the children varied from 2-7. Over time she made observations about the age groups. When the children were given free choice of what to do they chose practical activities over toys that were given to them. She eventually replaced all the over-sized furniture with child sized furniture that was light weight so they could independently move them wherever they chose to. And also added low shelves so that the children could easily access the child sized materials. She felt that through the children's independent work they would gain  greater levels of understanding and self motivation. In her book she outlines a typical day 

http://www.lightwayschools.org/3-years---6-years.php

• 9–10. Entrance. Greeting. Inspection as to personal cleanliness. Exercises of practical life; helping one another to take off and put on the aprons. Going over the room to see that everything is dusted and in order. Language: Conversation period: Children give an account of the events of the day before. Religious exercises.
• 10–11. Intellectual exercises. Objective lessons interrupted by short rest periods. Nomenclature, Sense exercises.
• 11–11:30. Simple gymnastics: Ordinary movements done gracefully, normal position of the body, walking, marching in line, salutations, movements for attention, placing of objects gracefully.
• 11:30–12. Luncheon: Short prayer.
• 12–1. Free games.
• 1–2. Directed games, if possible, in the open air. During this period the older children in turn go through with the exercises of practical life, cleaning the room, dusting, putting the material in order. General inspection for cleanliness: Conversation.
• 2–3. Manual work. Clay modelling, design, etc.
• 3–4. Collective gymnastics and songs, if possible in the open air. Exercises to develop forethought: Visiting, and caring for, the plants and animals. 

Montessori also believed in treating children as individuals, which she believed would yield greater learning and achieving higher potential. 

She eventually added more and more to her educational method further enriching the child in all aspects of education. She felt independence was the aim of education and that the teachers role was to be an observer. Through her observations she found innate characteristics which she defined as human tendencies.

• Abstraction
• Activity
• Communication
• Exactness
• Exploration
• Manipulation
• Order
• Orientation
• Repetition
• Self-Perfection
• Work

She describes these tendencies as the driving force behind each stage of development in a child.

So that was a "brief" overview of who she was and how she developed The Montessori Approach. My next post will talk about the prepared environment and the planes of development. And all of this information is really dry and boring and so I apologize. But the results of all this information in a functioning classroom or in a homeschool environment are fascinating and really exciting to see. 

So stay tuned.....

Meg