Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts

Tuesday 11 August 2015

Mothering

Raising children is definitely not a default chore for women
who were not successful in the world of business, power and wealth.
.
.
Exactly how society forms the next generation
will directly influence
the kind of society they turn create.
.
Do we want a world focused
only on the accumulation of wealth?
Are we  creating a race of humans
who are becoming increasingly
shallow,
cold and
cynical
about relationships, family and love?
.
A  smile
for the wisdom of mothers
practical
intuitive
simple
clear.
.
Tears
for the suffering
necessary to acquire
wisdom
not knowledge.
.
Painful regret
for this hectic modern society
scrambling after glitter
efficiency
success while pushing the wisdom of mothers
to the fringes of influence.
.
Joyful hope
that mothers will reveal their unique
strength
to a jaded cynical world,
which has forgotten all is fleeting
except Love.

Thursday 27 November 2014

Children Are NOT a Distraction

Children are not a distraction from more important work.
They are the most important workC.S. Lewis
They are the most important workC.S. Lewis

Thursday 13 November 2014

Celebrating Individuality Not Conformity

Grace was a unique child with amazing concentration. While four-year-old little boys were struggling to print or draw, my second youngest daughter would cover sheets of paper with tiny intricate drawings at 18 months old. Once she drew at least fifty tiny “eyes” while she stood on a chair and leaned over a piece of paper, for half an hour. We bought her a chalkboard for Christmas, just before she turned two. Grace was so oblivious to everything but her art that she kept drawing her little designs off the chalkboard in a line on the wall and kept going around the corner. We laughed so hard at that example of her quiet passion.
How did this toddler fall asleep?
Why by cutting tiny triangles out of magazines until she passed out, child proof plastic scissors still in her hand. I’d gently remove the scissors and cover her with a baby quilt. Once a week I’d sweep up a whole overflowing dustpan of tiny triangles! When I called Grace to help around the house when she was a little older, she’d be so absorbed in a craft or art work that she would not even hear me.
When Grace was a newborn, her hair was thick, black and stood straight up on end. Her eyes were huge and very dark brown. Actually, Grace was comical looking because her eyes literally popped out in a constant look of surprise. Those eyes seemed to study everyone and everything. Her hair became brown with gorgeous blond highlights that looked like she had streaked her hair but she still has those big, brown eyes that study everything. One day at a store, she caught a glimpse of a girl and thought,
“Wow, does she ever have huge eyes!”
A second later, Gracie realized that she was looking at her own reflection.
My daughter really marched to her own tune as a child. I am grateful that our lack of extra cash gave her the freedom and opportunity to discover and develop her talents on her own. We did not force her to join team sports or go to brownies; we let her enjoy what she loved to do, read and draw. As a result , she is a philosophy/religious studies major and a gifted artist who still wears a tiny smile of contentment as she draws and paints.

Monday 6 October 2014

Raising Children is Not a Default Chore

 Raising children is not a default chore for women who were unsuccessful in the world of power and wealth
I am about to tell you something which goes against what your education has taught you to think and do. Since preschool, adults have pushed you to excel, to rise above your peers. My generation has groomed you for success, to get into the best universities and snatch the most prized careers. Well, it is nice to have confidence, to fulfil your dreams and have a sense of satisfaction in your chosen field of work but that will not make you happy.
Just take a look at the generation that has gone before you. The midlife crisis is a testament to the failure of a life focused on career advancement to the exclusion of family. Men and women bemoan the fact that they did not have time for nurturing and loving their spouse or children. All too often family life crumbles to ashes, sacrificed on the altar of success.As for childcare, society relegates it to women who are often treated as second class citizens.
I want to yell out as loudly as I can, “raising children is definitely not a default chore for women who were not successful in the world of business, power and wealth.” Who raises our children is important because exactly how you, the next generation, raise your children will directly influence the kind of society they in turn create.
Do you want to live in a world focused only on the ruthless accumulation of wealth? Will you consciously create a race of humans who are shallow, cold and cynical about relationships, family and love?  Do you want children who are more comfortable texting, you, their parents, than speaking with you face to face in a warm, loving way?
Family is crucial; it is the foundation of society. Now I see my own adult children beginning their young families and it touches my heart to know how much they value family as well.  Just after his daughter’s birth, my son turned to his dad and said,
”Dad, this is the best thing that I have ever done in my life.”
And, a year later, as his little daughter lay sleeping on his chest, my son said, ”Now I know why you and Dad had so many kids.”

Thursday 13 February 2014

From A Mother’s Heart to Her Children

T
his first quote, especially, speaks to me and for me to each of you. As a mother, I know  these words are true for me; I would not have come up with them on my own consciously but they reverberate deep in my heart, surprising me as I tear up every time I read them.





Thursday 2 January 2014

Great Quotes About Children

















Dr. Seuss, authour
“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”




Nelson Mandela,
We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear.”

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”




Albert Einstein -
The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives. 
Anonymous 
 “Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate.”
Barbara Bush, former U.S. first lady
You have to love your children unselfishly.”
English proverb
The soul is healed by being with children.”
                                                                                    John W. Whitehead, founder, Rutherford Institute
“Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.”
Frederick Douglass
 It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

The most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then stop.
Mark Twain  






Mohandas Gandhi,
If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.”
Emma Goldman, author“No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.”
Lady Bird Johnson, former U.S. first lady
“Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them.”

 Mignon McLaughlin, journalist and author

“Only where children gather is 

there any real chance of fun.













Wednesday 13 November 2013

My Ceiling is My Children’s Floor

Funzug.com
Whimsical, philosophical thoughts from a mother of nine.

The only thing that could kill a mother of a large family is trying to pair all the socks.
Raising children is not a default chore for women who were not successful in the world of power and wealth.
The existence of a joyful mother of nine confounds most people.
steve hanks
Children help you forget what is not important.
Relax. If it is not broken yet, it probably should be.
Laughter turns each tragedy into a comedy of errors.
My kids helped me discover who I really am.
Babies are not idiots; relate to them like intelligent people, albeit little people,
I became a baby whisperer.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
Ingenuity and creativity are birthed in boredom.
Bored children never stay bored for long, so don’t worry about it. They will pick up a book or a pencil.
Ignore the bad and praise the good.
Don’t get upset over messes.
Pino Daeni

Mothers hold the future of society in their hearts.
I am not the centre of the universe but merely one part of a community called family.Discover joy in the plethora of little details that delight your children.
The joy of mothering is my call, my vocation and my witness to the modern world.
Closing the wings of my intellect and opening the wings of my heart.
This too will pass.
Let your baby love and nurture you.
All will be well in the end.

Thursday 7 February 2013

The Power of Love


mother-with-child-laughing-compressed-for-website
A loved child can change the world
covenanthousefaithcommunity.wordpress.com
If my children could  remember only three things to take with them into their adult life , what would I want them to be?  Tony Berkman at BlogCatalog asked me this question.
1.Trust that I love you and believe in you. Let that love be your foundation and your springboard into life.
2. God loves you,  just as you are. Relax in that Love, let it sink in , heal you, strengthen you and release you into freedom and joy. Don't try to save yourself and everybody else on your own . Notice that I called God Lord. Let God be God and don't steal His job.
3. Reach out and allow love to flow through you to your partner, children, neighbours and in doing so discover your unique vocation, your work in the world.
A child rooted in love becomes a secure, warm, giving adult who attracts as much light as he reflects. He can live in relative peace with himself and others. With his basic emotional needs fulfilled,  he is free to love and serve other people and to develop intellectually as well as creatively.
Baltasar Gracian , a Spanish Jesuit scholar who lived from 1601 till 1658 said:
"Give me the child until he is
seven and I care not who has him thereafter."
or
"Give me the child till the age of seven
and I will show you the man."
A child grounded in his parents' love, who knows  that the Lord loves him,  is strong and resilient Most of us spend years dealing with love, trust, fear, guilt issues. Imagine a whole generation of young people healed and set free to serve the world in  and through Love? It would be heaven on earth. It would be the beginning of a revolution that would change the face of the earth.

Monday 28 January 2013

God Leads


apr5

Outwardly, my life is diametrically opposed  to anything I could have imagined as a teenager. Yet this strange life I find myself living has brought me more fulfilment and joy than I ever could have imagined.
At sixteen, I was still an avid reader, who loved school.   As  expected, I completed an Honours Degree in English Literature. By 23, my life was still on track. I considered continuing my studies as a graduate student because I still loved everything about academia.  The relaxed but challenging experience of reading Chaucer and Old English in the original vernacular with only one other student in a professor's office was invigorating. This teacher was delighted to find two students interested in his life's work
I loved my life and didn't for see any changes. I had grown up with one sister, ballet lessons and a library filled with great fiction. I enjoyed gardening, painting and drawing, eating a vegetarian diet, reading spiritual literature and growing in my faith ; I was content.
Suddenly, my life as I knew it, changed dramatically.2008 140
I met Michael, who was just passing through Regina, Saskatchewan from Ottawa, Ontario to Prince George, British Columbia and from that very first, it felt like the prairie wind had swooped down and scattered all my work and plans. Michael described our first meeting in much kinder terms;   he saw fireworks when he first laid eyes on me.
I was not ready for this dramatic change in my life but it was clear to me that this was my call. So I baffled my fellow students, profs, advisors, friends and family by saying yes to the unexpected. I did not know anything about my newly chosen lifestyle or even where we would live. I did realize that I was completely ignorant and lacked even the most basic skills required to survive.CCF04152012_00000
I became pregnant before our first wedding anniversary. Instantly, I began to panic because I knew, that once again, I was utterly unprepared. I had never even held a newborn! So I prepared in the only way I knew how and I read every book I could find on pregnancy, birth and baby care.
However all this studying did little to equip me to mother a fragile, completely dependent newborn. For example, as I held my baby in a small bathtub for his first bath, I was very nervous. Guess what? I had a book propped open with one elbow awkwardly holding it open to the right page, while my baby was in the baby bathtub on the table. The book was my security blanket. In fact reading at any odd moment I could grab a few seconds , strong cups of tea plus the mercy of God  and a wicked sense of humour have been my strength.
In the ensuing years, 18 spent pregnant and/or nursing babies,  I discovered fulfilment. My call, vocation and witness became the joy of mothering children. Perhaps I could have started  writing seven years ago when everyone was in school full-time but realistically there was simply too much physical work involved in running a household for eleven people and helping with the farm animals and our large vegetable garden.
Now I  have come around full circle because I  have started writing again. Just as I imagined at 16.  It just took 40 years of living a strange life before this avid reader and crazy oral story-teller was ready to start writing.
A comment
I had to smile through the whole thing, Melanie. I believe that God had plans for you from even before you met the love of your life. Your story, how you became a wife and then a mother, is so beautiful. I don't think I could tire reading it. :)

Maybe that is the beauty and mystery of life...that we do have a destiny to fulfill and often are not aware of it till it happens...