Posted in Good ol' days, Pre-schoolers, Who's the mom here?, Wisdom

Why do people put children in schools? Part 1

Tired and angry child.

People forget children are not adults. Adults can handle many things children cannot. The adult thinks to himself, “Oh, it won’t be that bad.” But he forgets. Time has a way of rewriting our memories.

We project ourselves onto our children and think of how great it would be to be surrounded with 25 five-year-olds every day for nine months. We think as an adult who has authority and could quell any problem with a child. We forget a child has no such ability and does not even know what to do, let alone how.

Or we look at other kids or our own childhood and think, “They did okay. I did okay. Troubles make you stronger, after all.” That is true to an extent. When air blows over a plant, it does make it stronger, unless it is a tornado.

If we look deeper, though, we realize those who did well in school were taught how, as were most of their peers. In my day, kids were polite. It was considered a huge breach of civilized behavior to forget to say “please.” The child who did this was ostracized. Now it is a joke. It is a different world. It is truly bad.

Bad has always been a possibility, though, in schools. Some were blown away by the tornadoes of troubles they faced. Einstein, Edison, Disraeli, and T. Roosevelt all did poorly in the institutions of their days—very poorly.

If we actually were to place ourselves in our children’s shoes, we would think twice, and that would be good.

Think: if everyone at your workplace were mean to you, had better stuff than you, outperformed you, or got chosen before you.

How well could you cope with that?

Would you change jobs?

They say in those circumstances, a person should change jobs. However, children in those circumstances cannot change jobs. Their job must always remain to go to the school of someone else’s determining. Period.

If you did stay in that job, though, would you seek comfort from family or friends? Sure you would, and you should!

The child, though, often finds his family does not believe how bad it is, as discussed above, or does not understand the enormity of it. And his friends! They are all at the school, all in the same boat! How can they help? The child and all his friends are in a social drain that leaves them socially depleted by day’s end. And then he usually has more school to do at home.

You know how you would resent having to bring work home. Daily. Hours and hours of it.

Yet, you have freedom to leave your job if you want, even to take vacation whenever you want. The child is required by law to remain in his torture chamber for 12 years, at least. No wonder they think of suicide.

We will discuss the solution to this ongoing problem tomorrow. See ya!

Posted in Good ol' days, Homemaking, Inspiring

Weekly Photo Challenge: Home

My Secret Recipe for a Home

Winter’s laundry hanging by the wood heater.

homemade laundry
Homemade Laundry

Homegrown bouquets.

homemade bouquet
Homemade Bouquet

Porch plants sharing spaces with us in winter.

homegrown ferns
Homegrown Ferns

A teakettle that whistles.

teakettle
Tea Kettle

A coffeepot, not a coffee maker.

antique drip through
Antique Drip-through

A few herb plants growing around the house.

rosemary
Homegrown Rosemary, In Bloom

A garden plot.

tilled garden
Tilled Garden Plot

A rosebush or two.

roses
Scented Rose Bushes Getting Ready to Bloom

Homemade curtains and crocheted do-dads.

curtains
Laundry Room Curtains

Quilts made by someone you know.

quilt
Nana’s Crazy Quilt

Lots and lots of ancient books.

books
Antique Bookshelf

Art made by someone you know.

wolf
My Teenage Daughter’s Lobo Portrait

Little places for the little people you love.

toddler chairs
The Reading Readiness Room

A well-worn broom.

broom
Broom and Ash Bucket

Floor lamps, pillows, afghans, lace, birding books.

couch
It’s All You Need

Oh, and lots of love, laughter, tears, and prayers.

Posted in Blessings of Habit, Home School, Homemaking, Inspiring, Who's the mom here?, Wisdom

Spring into Cleaning with – Eventualities

Another reason we practice Spring Cleaning has little to do with clean.

Read:

The next in line for the Spring Cleaning ritual in our home is the bookcase area. We own enough books to fuel a small school, because we were once exactly that. You may wonder why I do not store some of them —

I have.

Let’s pretend, though, that yesterday’s scenario has aged five years, and the three imagined daughters are now 12, 10, and 7. You’ve been practicing inclusion of these girls for five years and now you are ready to tackle these bookcases. Your conversation might go like this:

The bookcase
The Bookcase

Girls, help me get a couple of these bookcases done today, okay? Mary, get the dusting spray, the vacuum, and the paper towels. Hmm, I think we need this table cleared to stack the books on it. Can you take care of that, too, Mary? Thanks.

As we put the books on the table, we’ll stack them all in the same direction and then we can vacuum the tops of them all at once. Oh, yes, we should align the tops of them to make it easier. And keep them in order, so we won’t have to reorganize them. I think this will work.

Okay, let’s see if we can do two units in a half hour. Set the timer. Go!

Look at this old crocheted bookmark from Grandma—I want to clean and starch it. Set it aside for later. Someone make a note; we need to reinforce the spine on the “B” volume of this encyclopedia.

Thanks for collecting all our supplies, Mary. Can you attach the hose and the duster? Good.

Let’s hurry, here. It’s a big job. Susan, can you see the top shelf or do we need the step stool. Go get it, then, Leah. I want you two on the dusting job and I will vacuum the books. Try hard to keep the spray off the floor. It can be dangerously slick. And be sure you wipe the corners well and get all the spray wiped off.

Okay, start handing me books, in order, and I’ll restack them in their places. This is going well, time-wise, but I think we’ll stop in the middle of the second bookcase, so we don’t go overtime. No need to wear ourselves out with such heavy work.

No, I think we’d better stop short of that. There’s always tomorrow. Let’s call it done for now, and have some tea, okay? Then I want to show you all how to wash a delicate piece of crochet. Mary, you take care of the vacuum. That’s my girl.

Oh, how good it is to have all your help, girls! I don’t know what I’d do without you.

Can you see how, since the girls have received diligent training, they have become like extra arms and legs for the mom? Not only that, but also, they are learning good, quick, efficient work habits they can take with them into their futures.

In exchange for all the training you gave them before, you now are reaping great helpers. They, in return for their help, are receiving a gift many people lack: the ability to be diligent, reliable, trustworthy, hard-working members of their future worlds.

Wherever they go, whether into marriage or some other career, they will be ahead of their peers and rise quickly to betterment at every possibility.

It’s worth 30 minutes of my time.

How about you?

Posted in Blessings of Habit, Home School, Homemaking, Inspiring, Pre-schoolers, Who's the mom here?, Wisdom

Spring into Cleaning With – Everybody!

Coat closet
Coat Closet

Okay, girls, today our fast-clean project is this stuffed coat closet. Oh, we have so much to do to make it better! Here, Little Mary, you can play with all these wonderful wooden hangers. Can you pile them onto the couch for mom? Great! Thanks!

Hey, Big Sis, look at Daddy’s old umbrella–it needs mending. Write that on the list for me, will you? First write “mend”, then I will spell “umbrella” for you, okay? Thanks!

Oh, look, here is the glove you were looking for, Leah! I’m so glad we are cleaning this closet out. Maybe we’ll even find some MONEY hiding in here. Run and put the glove with your other one, okay?

Oh, I wonder what is in this box–Would you look! It is empty except for one cap. What a waste of space, and just when I was thinking we needed a bigger closet! Are you back already, Leah? Take these road atlases over to the couch beside the hangers. Yes, that’s right. Thanks! No, Little Mary, those are grown-up books. Good girl.

Okay, this other box has candles in it. Can you tell from the lovely perfume coming from it? Here, everyone sniff and tell me what it smells like . . . Right! Just like flowers, isn’t it? Good job! We’ll set it on this big chair, and don’t you let me forget to put it back, when things in there are dry.

What else is up on this shelf? Daddy’s two good hats are dusty. Big Sis, do you know where the whisk broom is? Get it for me, please. Thanks. I didn’t know I would need that in here. Leah, could you bring me back the big box? Yes, that’s the one. Let’s put Daddy’ good hats in it, since he doesn’t wear them often. That will keep them clean and keep bugs off them. Oh, here’s that broom. Good. Now we can clean the hat before we store it. Won’t Daddy look sharp in this new, clean hat? What? You want to try it on? Okay, but let Mommy help you–Whoa! You look just like Daddy!

You know, I think I will pull all the coats out of here before I wash the shelf. I don’t want to get soap on our good coats, if I spill. We’ll lay them across the back of the couch. There. Much better for the coats, and you help me remember to take this graduation gown to my closet, okay? Okay!

Big Sis, how are we for time? Fifteen minutes? We need to hurry more.

Little Mary, would you like a job? Can you carry out all the umbrellas off the floor in here? You can? Great! Leah, you help her with that huge one. Yes. Good.

Big Sis, hand me the step stool. Thanks. Let’s see if Mom can fit up inside this little closet. Oh, sure, I see we need to wipe the shelf, so here goes. Can you fetch the fan from the dining room? I want this to dry fast so we can put everything away before the timer goes off. Do you know why it should be dry? Yes, the box could stick to the shelf. That would be a big mess. I think I will clean this door, too. Somebody handled it with grimy hands. Too bad!

Now to sweep the floor right quick . . . There!

Let’s put the coats back and let’s be sure to check all the collars. Uh-oh, Daddy’s trench coat needs dry cleaning, see? Look at that. We’ll take it out to the car in a while. Everything else looks good, so back it goes, into its place. Hey, Little Mary, I’m ready for you to bring me the hangers again. Thanks, Baby. You are such a helper. Okay, let me get the candle box. Now the hat box. We are almost done.

You two put the umbrellas back except for the broken one. Mommy will take care of it. Whew! All that work made me hungry! Who wants a cookie?

There you have it: one session of the new Spring Cleaning plan, in a one-sided conversation, with three imaginary girls helping. Of course, your children are not exactly like these and your words would differ, but do you see how it might work to incorporate children into this job?

They SO need the attention and the teaching. Let’s go for it!

Posted in Inspiring, Scripture, Uncategorized, Wisdom

Sunday Scriptures – Home

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.

Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young–
a place near your altar,
O Lord Almighty, my king and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.

Psalm 84:1-4 (NIV)

Posted in Blessings of Habit, Homemaking, Inspiring, Womanhood

Spring into Cleaning with Ease!

Did you read yesterday’s post? Did it make sense? Did it sound hopeful?

Today we will walk through a session of how I keep my house spring clean. Seeing an example will give a better idea of how this method will serve you as you clean your house within your schedule, so here goes!

Cleaning supplies
Cleaning supplies

First, gather the supplies you will need. I like the double sided tote shown here because it can hold supplies and soapy water in one container. I’m not sure I’ll need all of this, but I don’t mind bringing it along. I don’t normally use rubber gloves for cleaning windows, but I know there will be need for them when I do the threshold. Not shown is a roll of paper towels.

My front door
My Front Door

This is the front door to my house. We know it is early spring because the tulips in the yellow pot have faded. We know there was a recent cold snap because the geranium is not in its plant stand. You see the trees across the street from us, reflected in the glass of the front storm door. What you do not see is how dirty the glass and the frame are. They really distract from the beauty outdoors with smears and dusty rain spatters. The first step is to spray the glass with window cleaner and wipe down with paper toweling. This huge expanse of glass is hard to make clean-looking, so I am not afraid to spray some cleaner and change paper towels often. I found that spraying the entire door-sized window and wiping quickly, from the bottom up, works best. Then I repeat. After that, open the door and do the inside the same way.

Since the storm door is aluminum with a baked-on paint-like finish, I spray the frame with glass cleaner, too, and wipe it down. I am always amazed at how dirty doors can be, by the handle or knob. I notice a couple screws missing, and list them for replacing, later.

Close up of carved door
Close-up of Carved Door

Next is a close-up of the intricacies of this door. It needs a new coat of paint as the dark green is too heat-trapping for this western exposure. We do not have the paint, yet, so I guess it will keep until the weather warms more. Therefore, I will clean the scrolling designs, which tend to fill with road dust. I use the window spray, again, because in these tight designs, rinsing off soap would be difficult.  I use an old toothbrush to scrub gently on the knocker, without any cleaner.

Threshold
Threshold

Before going indoors, I notice the threshold is rather dirty. Using warm, soapy water and a scrub brush, I work on the concrete surface and the metal parts. The rubber strip gets a careful wiping with a sponge. I wipe off as much as I can and make note of the tiny crack forming, so we can make repairs.

Inside of door
Inside of Door

Inside, the door is not so intricate, but is a flat white, needing washing often. I note the door has not been painted correctly, needing white on the edge, instead of the green. Then I begin at the bottom, using a spray, again.

By this time, a half-hour is nearly over, so it’s time to put things up.  What? It doesn’t seem like much? You’re right, using this method makes Spring Cleaning not seem like much, at all.

 

Closet
Closet by the Front Door

I’ve been working hard all week and tomorrow is my usual day off, so on Monday, we’ll do this closet, by the front door.

See you then!

Posted in Blessings of Habit, Homemaking, Inspiring, Wives

Spring into Cleaning with Efficiency!

As promised, here is the 30-minute way to keep your house “Spring Clean” at all times. Well, almost—so close that eventually you are going to love your house and love this method, okay? Here we go:

  1. Commit one-half hour per day to this method. (This truly is all it takes. Use a timer. More about the time aspect in a few minutes.)
  2. Before you begin, gather what you need for that day’s job. (The half hour is for cleaning, not fetching.)
  3. Start at the front door. (First impressions mean a lot to you and to all who pass your way.)
  4. Hurry. You get more done that way. (You can blitz for 30 minutes—sweat never hurt anyone.)
  5. Scrub, scrub, scrub. Clean, clean, clean. Conquer all mold, dirt buildup, dead bugs, cobwebs, and anything else you find that you don’t like. Accept nothing less than squeaky clean. (Make it like new.)
  6. Repair. Fix that nagging thing that bothers you every time you look at it, if you can. Make note of anything you need to buy or get help with fixing. Don’t let this step slow you down! (You’ll need a notepad in your cleaning supplies.)
  7. If you finish before the half-hour is up, great! Move to the right or left and begin another area. (When the timer stops, you stop.)
  8. Repeat, tomorrow, beginning where you left off. (Rest from all this busyness, one day per week.)

Get it? I hope so. This is all there is to it.

Just pick a starting place, go around the circumference of your house (except the kitchen, which we will discuss next week), and clean like lightning for ½ hour per day. If you will faithfully quit after 30 minutes, you will begin again the next day.

After about a month, you will have a new and wonderful habit. After about a year, you will have a house that has been thoroughly Spring Cleaned.

I know, it is not the conventional Spring Cleaning, but I also know, if you are like me, you will hardly know what to do with such a clean house. And if your house is so big, or your arm is so slow, or your interruptions are so abundant, that it takes you two years to make the rounds, tell me: Did your house ever get Spring Cleaned every two years, before? Hmm? This method is not conventional, but is so much more do-able, that it works.

I’ll have company this weekend, so won’t have time to research famous sayings. What I will do, instead, is take you on a visual tour of a couple days of Spring Cleaning at my house, so you can see exactly what it takes.

See you tomorrow!