Are We Raising Puppies or People?

I stopped by a garage sale the other day and got looking at some children's items when they asked me if I had kids. Yes, I told them I had four. "You look too young to have four!" Then after asking me if they were boys or girls, the woman smiled and said, "the girl must have been the last one, right?" When I told her the girl was the second, she looked dumb founded. I could see that she honestly couldn't comprehend anyone wanting more children once they had had their boy and girl. She said she would never have another, one was enough.

I can't help, but be concerned at the view point expressed. People talk about having children almost as if they were contemplating acquiring a dog. "It would be so fun!" "They are so cute!" "Maybe we'll have two and then they can play together." And then the same people look at anyone with more than two in the same way they would if someone had a house full of puppies. "That is too much." "They will never get the attention they need." "It must smell." (Okay I've never got the last comment.)

I'm not raising puppies, nor did I have children because they are cute and fun. I am raising children who are gifts from God. I am raising them because that is a big part of my mission to this earth. I will go into why children are so important on another day.

Next time I am pregnant and surrounded by my little children on every side and then get one of those comments from the entrenched in the world type of person, I want to explain this way; If a person you knew managed a small retail chain of four stores and then added another store you would think he was very successful and doing well. It is the same with me, God is giving me a promotion.

Servant or Student?

On an elist I was on one woman wrote in about how she was having such a hard time with her son who would rather play then do school. I know very few young children who prefer the latter and I have been exasperated by it with my son before. But I came upon a solution earlier this year that has worked very well and I offer my reply below.

One thing that is said around here if complaining, inattentiveness or dawdling occur during school time is that they can be a student or a servant. I know that this my not appeal to everyone as it can put chores in a negative light, but it has helped tremendously in putting school in a positive light. The first time their behavior is not what it ought I just ask in the most pleasant manner, "do you want to be a servant or a student?" The answer is always student. But if any negative behavior appears again, they get a chore to do like washing the chairs, cleaning window sills some of the non-assigned seasonal chores. It has removed my emotions from the occurance because it saves me from having to do the chores and is therefore a pleasant and not a negative thing to me, and if they complain at the chore I get two chores done=). It only occurs rarely now which has made school much more pleasant, because the children know that the alternative to school is NOT play time, it is work time.

Supermarket Hugs

We went to the store yesterday. When we were waiting in line Logan, my 1yods, began to get fussy so I took him out of his seat to hold him. He saw Kamron and stretched out his arms to him. Kamron took him and Logan gave him the biggest hug resting his little head on Kamron's shoulder. There was an audible "aahhh," from the people in line behind me. He then went to Aubrey and gave her a hug. He is such a little teddy bear.

It is nice to get positive reactions when I take my children to the store. Four children is not the norm in California. I get so many comments like- wow, you must be busy, you have your hands full, are they all yours?, and even, are you done? I find though that when I feel overwhelmed I get more of them and deal with them less well. But when I am cheerful, talking and playing games with them as we go things go so much better and I can handle the comments more easily. I am more likely to come back with I know, isn't it wonderful? Yep, aren't they beautiful and we have no news at present. After the last one I almost always get, "you want more?" To which I respond with either yes or I repeat that we have no news at present, which politely tells these strangers that it is really none of there business.

About a month ago I went to the store and an older woman smiled and asked if she could help me. I told her that we where alright but we would walk with her if she wanted. She was very pleased and talked about her 5 children, her hobbies and how excited she was to see someone with so many children. She asked me if I could come visit her at her house as her husband couldn't walk and loves children. We also found we both liked to write and discussed that. She gave me her number and then we parted to finish our shopping. When I was in line she came back into the store to find me and ask again if I would come visit her as she really would like it. So about two weeks later I called her and took the baby and did go visit her. She was so happy to see us. Her husband looked very serious at first, but when he saw the baby his entire face lit up and his eyes just sparkled. He showed Logan all of the buttons on his chair and Logan thought it was great. She later invited me to her 92nd birthday party and then began discussing her writing, saying she was old but not done yet and now that she wrote regularly for the newspaper she was going to start writing childrens books next. I said good-bye, glad that I went and a little more at ease with the whole shopping with kids thing.

Understanding Jared

In the book of Ether the brother of Jared was a prophet at the time of the tower of Babel. I've read the book many times and until recently there was one part I never fully understood. Jared obviously believed in and loved God. But whenever there was something important to pray about he would ask his brother to go pray for them. I always wondered why he didn't just pray himself, I mean he obviously had faith that his brothers prayers would be effective.

But through some experiences with my oldest son who is only 7 I have come to realize a few things. I have faith in God, I love Him and am truly grateful for all he has done for me, I trust him to take care of me and my family. But my sons' faith goes deeper and is in a way more pure than mine. He has had many experiences that I have seen and in a way make me want to get him in on the important things I am praying about. He has lost things and prayed, only to have someone be inspired and find it. He has prayed for confidence in certain things and been given it. One time we had a six month old kitten that ran away and was gone a little over a month when one night Kamron knelt down and asked Heavenly Father to bring the cat back tomorrow. He hadn't prayed for a specific time before or quite so directly about the cat. He told Him that he would be very kind and gentle with it, but just please bring him home. We had put up signs weeks earlier and I was pretty much convinced that we would never see the cat again. But Kamron had faith and the next day when he went out to play in the afternoon, there was the cat sitting on our back patio ready to come in. I was amazed and humbled as I was when he was younger and before his Dad left the church. Kamron got very sick and after awhile he asked for a blessing. About an hour later I went in to see how he was doing. When I asked him if he still felt sick, he looked at me with this look on his face that said, 'duh.' And said very seriously, "Mom, when someone gives you a blessing then you are not sick anymore."

That child has faith in a very real God, and while I have faith also, I'm afraid mine is more like Jareds' and my young sons' is like that wonderful, but imperfect brothers'.

Daddy Got a Job!

My husband had been looking for work for a few months as the work he had been doing for his dad had slowed to the point that they couldn't both make a living. He had had many unsuccessful interviews and things were starting to get tight. I was blessed with the oppurtunity to do the contracts for a Real Estate transaction that helped a little, but that money was not going to last much longer. Anyway, Kevin got a call from a recruiter who set up a phone interview for a desktop support job for Johnson and Johnson. After the interview my husband told me about it and asked if we could say a family prayer that he would get it. You have to understand that my husband is not an active member of any church and doesn't know what he believes, but these glimpses of faith reassure me that Paul's council to the wives of non-christian men is not in vain. Anyway, I said a prayer and then my husband said a prayer and then my three older children said faith filled prayers that as my son put it "Daddy will get this job and work hard and do well at it so that it can further our family."

Usually after the phone interview there is a series of interviews as a company narrows down to who they think will best work out for the job. It was Thursday when he had the phone interview so we didn't expect a call to see if he was going to make it to the in person interview until the next week. But the next day they called and said, we want to offer you the job. Just like that, without ever even meeting in person. After my husband called me, I gathered my children around me to offer a prayer of thanks. I was so grateful that we had included our children on that prayer as all of our testimonies of prayer have been strengthened.

Later we had a salesman come into our house, he mentioned that this was a new job for him. And my daughter pipes up with, "My daddy just got a new job too. We just prayed about it and then he got it." I'm so thankful to a loving Heavenly Father who gives us these experiences.

A Birthday and a Smile for Mom

Today was my daughter's birthday. She has a Bitty Baby doll sold by the American Girl company, and so I got several things from their clearance section for the doll. She was completely not expecting it as she knows the things are rather expensive. Anyway she was adorable as she opened her presents with, "Ooooh, look. Ooooh, wow. Mom, I just don't believe it. Thank you."

Later as I was helping her fold all of the little clothes and put them in a straw suitcase for Bitty (okay, I admit I still love dolls), she kept saying that she couldn't believe she had these things from the catalog and then she takes a deep breath and says with her voice full of emotion, "Mom, I think you are almost as nice as, or maybe, even some more nice than ... Kamron." The highest level of compliment this sweet daughter could give was to put me on the same plane with her dear brother. I couldn't help but smile, and when I told my husband I couldn't help feel gratitude for that beautiful relationship.

Dinner

My husband has recently gotten a new job working on the computers in one of the Johnson and Johnson facilities. This allows him to have a regular schedule and to be home a little after six each day. It has been a long time since we have been able to eat dinner together consistently. I have been making menu plans and serving full meals to my family. I am not the best cook, but I am improving. I can now cook a dozen or so dinners that are pretty good. First I make sure there are at least three different items and four is better. I always serve a vegetable and a grain product sometimes a meat and just as often fruit. I make sure that the food served is of varying colors. Picture Alfredo pasta with rolls and corn, compared to Alfredo pasta with bacon bits and parsley, rolls with strawberry jam and peas. I am glad that God made vegetables in such beautiful colors, with so much of the other food in the brown to yellow range it is so nice to throw in greens, oranges and reds.

So what is for dinner tonight? Green salad, tamales and rice pilaf.

Socializing

I took my son in to get his ears checked after he had complained that he couldn't hear very well. After telling me that children don't mention when they can't hear, they just start turning the TV up louder and things like that, the doctor asked me what his teacher thought of the situation. I informed him that this child had mentioned it and he was homeschooled so I was his teacher. His response was why? I told him because I wanted to. After he asked why again I said because I thought the public schools were not a good learning environment. He said, "Well yes, but we encourage it so that your children will learn to socialize so that they will learn street smarts."

There were so many things wrong with that statement I don't know where to begin. First of all that he thought that it even mattered what his "we" think. He was meeting my child for the first time and yet he thought he knew enough about him to set his whole course of childhood. Next that he could admit that the schools were not good learning environments and just dismiss it out of hand. And then the whole socialization thing, which we all know is a very weak argument. Children learn to make friends based on age and popularity, which are not very worthy requirements as far as friendship is concerned. And far as street smarts, I can only assume he means things like how to deal with bullies, name calling, being picked last, how to defend oneself, get in someones face, make fun of people and the like. No thanks I'll take the other kind of socialization.

The problem is that most people have forgotten that there is another kind. Let me describe it to you. We go to co-op on Fridays, it is at a Bible Church which is on about 20 acres, so there is lots of room for the kids who are not in classes to play. Aubrey takes an art class and Kamron plays outside with other children that range in age from 2 to 13, a game of knights is going on. Kamron has brought along his wooden sword and sheild and is at the center of the battle. There is a big hill and a large rock and the kids are defending the rock and some take prisoners up to the rock. As the little ones go up an older boy leans down and takes their hands so they won't fall. The sword play gets more energetic and Kamron's wooden sword gets broken. He is obviously distressed. One of the older boys comes over and tells him that he has wood working equipment at home and will make him another sword and bring it next week-even though he was not involved in breaking it. The children break up into different groups some to play hacky sack and others to run races. The younger children who want to play hacky sack are given a try, the older children smile at their attempts but don't tell them to go away. Aubrey and another girl come out of the art class they help the teacher carry supplies and are busy talking with her. Brennen is running around me pretending to be a wolf and the other mothers all smile at him which only encourages his antics.

In this type of socialization there is acceptance and encouragement for everyone. The children only see each other for a couple hours once a week so the family bonds are still stronger then the friendship ones. Adults are always present to nip anything inappropriate in the bud and this keeps the activities pleasent. There is no age segregation in fact many of the kids play with the adults just as enthusiastically as the children. Many of the parents climb the big rock or go down the slide and seem to geniunely enjoy being with their children.

I'll take this kind of socialization over lessons in street smarts any day.

Don't Feel Qualified to Teach History?

Some homeschooling mothers don't feel qualified to teach various subjects, and some use this as an excuse to send their kids to public school. So let's look at this as it relates to history. Are the public school teachers better qualified?

Well, the short answer is, not likely. They may be licensed to teach history, but are not required to take classes in the topics they teach. For instance a 7th grade US history teacher may fulfill licensing requirements by taking social studies classes, or women and minority in history classes, but do not need to actually take any US history courses. But surely these teachers who teach US history study it on their own. Maybe some, maybe not. For instance when bogus US history material made its way into the public school curriculum stating, that Muslims came to America in 889 and then intermarried with natives, none of the 1200 teachers in 155 cities questioned it. Or when teachers went to a Muslim education conference lesson plans were quickly created with multiple errors, such as the Koran includes the Old and New Testament. Of course when these poor student are tested on the material they would flunk if they did answer "correctly."

Textbook writers have an agenda. They can present facts or even falsified statements in such a sequence that lead children to believe whatever they have set them up to believe. Students in government controlled schools no longer take logic and so they do not even have the tools to question these arguments or understand the fallacies presented. The textbooks are full or errors, this is not news to most people. But why? Well the textbooks are a jumble of political correctness and special interest group agendas-they are not books about what actually happened in our history. Of the 533 errors found by the Texas texbook reviewers 351 were admitted to be errors and the other 30% were "misunderstood." The misunderstood facts were not fixed. So tell me if a text is misunderstood by an adult how is your 8 year old going to come to the correct meaning. Do we care? Perhaps it is just okay with most people that their children are going to grow up with a completely inacurrate understanding of what happened in our past. They will go on to form their opinions and cast their votes based on what they have been taught. If the premise is wrong and you build upon it then the conclusion will ultimately be wrong, children do not understand this, but their parents should.

So what do I suggest? Teach your own children history yourself. Preview materials, use primary sources and stay far away from any texts approved by the government schools. You are just as qualified to teach history as someone who has a license and probably more so, because you care about your children and you are not limited in what you can use to teach.

For more information see http://www.washtimes.com/specialreport/20040328-125027-5592r.htm and http://www.educationnews.org/Commentaries/
What_Happens_When_History_Teachers_No_Longer_
Understand_the_Founding.htm

Pressure to Remove all References to Mom and Dad From Classrooms

'Mom,' 'dad' to be axed from school textbooks?March 9, 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

A traditional-values organization in California is warning the state's residents that a bill pending in the Legislature, if approved, could remove all references to gender in public schools - threatening even references to "mom" or "dad" in textbooks. If the bill, SB 1437, were to become law, warns the Capitol ResourceInstitute, "it could potentially require gender-neutral bathrooms in our schools and all references to 'husband' and 'wife' or 'mom and dad' removed from school textbooks as the norm." Sponsored by Democratic Sen. Sheila Kuehl - a lesbian actress best known forplaying Zelda in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" in the '60s - the legislationwould add "gender" (actual or perceived) and "sexual orientation" to the law thatprohibits California public schools from having textbooks, teaching materials, instruction or"school-sponsored activities" that reflect adversely upon people based on characteristics likerace, creed and handicap. States Capitol Resource Institute on its website: "The reason this is such an outrageous bill is because it is the most extreme effort thus far to transform ourpublic schools into institutions that disregard all notions of the traditional family unit. SB1437 seeks to eliminate all 'stereotypes' of the traditional family so that young childrenare brainwashed into believing that families with moms and dads are irrelevant. To read entire article: <http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49171>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49171


Another demonstration of special interests groups trying to use the schools to educate the kids into the viewpoints they want future voters to have.

Aubrey's Water Color Pencil Sketches

I originally did not get Aubrey a nature journal, but when she saw Kamron's she wanted one too. The Four O' Clock sprouts are her second entry. I am glad for all of the encouragement I have gotten to get quality art supplies. We got a set of primsacolor watercoler pencils, they are fabulous. After we drew in our nature journals we had an art lesson and learned more about how to make the pencils blend using the paint brushes. You can kind of see Aubrey's rose in this picture, she really did a fabulous job. Kamron will even use these-he is usually not very willing to color or write or any art, Aubrey draws daily and absolutely loves it.

Kamron's Nature Notebook

Here is Kamron with his nature notebook. We are growing a variety of seeds for our garden and Kamron drew the sweet pea sprouts. He still dictates the writing parts to me. This is his first plant entry, everything else has been rocks which both kids love. I had intended to study stars, but we got a rock identification kit and the kids have been fascinated, so we gave up on stars and have been doing rock experiments. Both kids can identify 8 to 12 rocks, and so can I! I love homeschooling, I get to close all of those gaps in my own education.

The Blessings of Our Physical Bodies

Before my mother died she had a vision where she saw what Heaven was like. She saw that there was much work to be done in teaching the gospel to those who had not had the chance to have it while they lived on the earth. My mother has an outgoing spirit and was always excited to do God's work, so I know she is busy in Heaven serving. But I can't help but think of all of the physical service she gave on earth. She could make almost anything, she sewed many of our clothes and presents. She knitted, crochetted, painted, drew, worked with cross stitch, plastic canvas and many other things. I'm not sure a day ever went by when she did not work on something with her hands. As busy and happy as she is now I bet she misses her body. It was not perfect, she was often sick, she was overweight and in the end it took her from us. But I bet she misses all of things she could do with those hands, all of the skills they had learned in her fifty years. She always took such good care of them, putting lotion on them in the evenings, sharing dolops of it with her children. Those fingers that had almost no fingerprints-when she was getting certified for foster parenting they couldn't get any prints from her fingers for a long time and through several visits. I bet she misses them.

People complain about their bodies wanting to be thinner, have a shorter nose, be taller or whatever. They are constantly comparing themselves to others, never catching a glimpse of what a miracle our bodies are. Think of how hard it was to learn to type, play the piano or crochet at first, but as your fingers built memories of what to do it got easier and easier. They don't usually work perfectly, but they allow us to do so many things. God knew we needed them to have all of the experiences He wanted for us, and what a blessing they are! Who was it that said, "if there was nothing else my thumb would convince me that there is a God"?

I will miss my body when I no longer have it, that is why I will try to appreciate it today and everyday. I thank God for the plan of Salvation and that we will someday be reunited with our perfect bodies, not to be separated ever again. I truly appreciate all of the hand skills which I am able to develop and I thank God for the hands which I have been blessed with.

My Best Educational Tip-Tapes

When my oldest son was 2 I started putting on scripture story tapes at nap and bedtime. By the time he was 3 he could recite many of the stories word for word. We later added "Scripture Scouts" and "The All About's"-all are must have CD's for the LDS family, I can not tell you how many gospel principles my children have learned from these. The kids also listen to much of their school books on CD.

Aubrey,5, has "Just So Stories," "Winnie the Pooh," "Pooh Corner," AA Milne Poems all read by Charles Karault (Kamron once whispered to me, "Mom I realy like Winnie the Pooh, but don't tell my cousins." You will also find that these are quite suitable for children up to about 8, if they haven't been raised on TV. I also enjoy them.) She also enjoys the "Standin' Tall" series by Janeen Brady (I picked the whole thing up at a library sale for $2!) We also have a CD set called "50 Famous Fairy Tales," these are the real fairy tales and not watered down versions. Also the Tales of Peter Cottontail have inspired forts to be built in the 'dear old briar patch.' The Uncle Wiggily stories have a comfortable predicatable patterns that help the children learn basic story telling with beginning, middle, end,- introduction, problem, resolution.

Kamron who is 7, has not been raised on much TV, so his attention span tends to be longer than most kids his age. He loves "The Story of The World," series which is actually a history text on CD, but he just devours it. He also loves almost everything read by Jim Weiss. How many 7 year olds climb into bed excitedly with, "Oh good, I love Shakespeare." We also have everything for AO year 2 that Alcazar Audio offers, http://www.alcazaraudioworks.com/schooling.html. He also listens to "Pilgrim's Progress."

The best thing about tapes and CD's is that they are a very valuable source of education that does not take my time. Gospel understanding has been increased, history has been learned, musical instruments can now easily be identified by sound, spanish songs have been learned, imagination has been sparked, great literature has been made apart of our lives and vocabulary has been increased by the audio gold mind. I can't recommend making tape time a part of your children's routine highly enough.

Flour Sack Towels

What is a flour sack dish towel? Flour used to come in cloth bags of varying sizes 10, 25, and 50 pounds being the most common. The cloth of these sacks had to be very sturdy and with a very fine weave. It also had beautiful prints to attract the attention of buyers. After the bag was emptied the lady of the house would often take the seam apart and then boil the cloth to soften, shrink and clean it. She would then hem the sides. Then she had a cheap new dish towel or lap apron. Today the sturdy material can be found as ready made dish towels. You can see them here http://www.hopechestlegacy.com/vintage_print_flour_sack_towels.htm.

As a girl I didn't know anything about these towels, but my mom had several that were all white. We would use them to dry dishes, but the thing I remember most about them was that whenever she would bake bread and set the dough to rise in the huge silver mixing bowl she would use one of these towels to cover the bowel. I bought a few of these towels with their delicate patterns a little while ago and I love using them. They are bigger and prettier to look at than many kitchen towels. It is one of those things that helps me to "embrace the work." And it is another connection to my mother and her love for her family.

After my third child was born I also figured I had a large enough family for a large silver bowl. This is known around her as the popcorn bowl. I also use it to make up large batches of things and to raise dough. I find the more connections I make to my tools the more I enjoy the work I do at home.

Poetry Reading

As a child I can remember complaining to my mother about poetry. She pointed out a book on her shelf next to her bed and said that was her favorite poetry book. I remember looking at the book, it had a lot of pages with illustrations of babies growing in a mothers womb, and I remember not understanding the words, which didn't suprise me as I was pretty sure people didn't really understand poetry. It didn't change my dislike for the subject.

Later when I was homeschooled, during my last two years of high school, my mom suggested that I do a poetry unit. I read about poems, followed formulas and illustrated my own poetry book. I began a little and mostly depressing poetry book of my own. I wrote free verse and sent a couple off to be published. I got a letter back saying they had accepted one for publication, the one my mother said was very good and I was rather proud of myself. The book was $40 if you wanted to see your work in print with all of the other selections. We couldn't afford $40 for a book so did not get it. My dad said that they published everyones poems that are sent in just so they can make money on selling them the book. I was crushed to think they hadn't chosen it on its merit, so I never wrote poetry anymore. I had never had interest in reading poetry, so it was written off as a lost subject.

As I began homeschooling I read what Charlotte Mason said about poetry. I figured that I should give my kids the chance to hear it even if I didn't like it. We started with "When We Were Very Young" by AA Milne. I really fumbled it in my reading, trying to read it a sing-song way which didn't work and then trying it just like any other read aloud and that didn't work either. Then we got a tape, the "Tales of Winnie the Pooh" by AA Milne read by Charles Karault and it had both of his collection of poems. I was fascinated, that poetry was fabulous. Then I read it again to my children and this time I got it. I was so excited. I love reading AA Milne's poem now. I can't recommend them highly enough.

We branched out to "A Child's Garden of Verse," by Robert Louis Stevenson, and "Sing Song," by Christina Rossetti. The former is great and the latter is a bit sad, in a way it is a gentle introduction to death. We have explored many emotions with these books. We have also read parts of a few children's anthologies and are now reading Walter de la Mare. Do I always get it? No. But sometimes I do, and that is worth the effort.

So how do we do this? It is very simple, I read them one poem every morning at breakfast. Sometimes we talk about it, sometimes we don't.

The Stay at Home Daughter

In some of the general Christian circles there is a movement towards keeping daughters home and not sending them away to college. There are many reasons for this and I see many possible benifits to it. I am not sure it would be the best thing for every daughter, but a child should no more go to college just because everyone else is doing it than anything else. It ought to be a matter of prayer.

The women of the LDS church are asked to gain as much education as possible, but does this have to mean a college degree. What if a daughter were to stay home and learn from her mother instead, learn to keep a home, sew, cook, care for children, garden? What if she were to spend her time reading books on these subjects, learning educational theory, child development, the use of herbs and whole foods to increase health? What if she learned business principles and started a home based business?

For the future stay at home wife and mother wouldn't the above skills and knowledge benefit her far more than a degree in anything. I see great benefit in learning these skills before the children come and not waiting until they are here to stay home and figure it out.

Would she not be a great benifit to those around her? There are many young mothers without family near and a young woman who could come over from time to time and offer constructive and imaginative activities for the little children would be a great service indeed. She would be available to go and oversee the running of a relatives' house who has just had a baby or who is sick. This would give her experience, endear her to her family and truly help them. There are elderly people who would be pleased with a visit that a stay at home daughter could give. There is church service to be given. Wouldn't this be better than the often gossipy activities that many young adults are involved in? Good and Christlike habits could be developed.

I hear the questions already, but how will she meet someone to marry? What if something should happen to her spouse how would she support the family without a degree? Shouldn't she get out and experience life before she is tied down by the home?

My answers would be that if one prays and follows the promptings that follow God will provide a worthy husband. There are student wards, institute, friends of the family, friends of friends. Believe it or not women used to get married before they all started going off to college. After one gets married, what if something should happen to her husband? Lets consider this. How relevant is a degree that is ten, fifteen or twenty years old with no work experience? It isn't very. I think that having experience with running ones own homebased business would be much more benificial, because not only can it help if something should happen it can also help the family when the husband is working and with the wife and mother still staying at home. Also the wife would come into the marriage with no student debt, which is a great benifit to the young family. Also gaining knowledge and experience in homemaking which she is much more likely to do is of greater benifit than the skills and knowledge that she very likely will not be using.

As far as experiencing life, yes she should-real life. Life where people help people, where she can observe how other families are run. Not life that exists in a bubble of all single approximately the same aged people all living away from their families. This type of life tends to be puncuated by the pursuit of fun; the parties, the dances, the trips to Europe, shopping, eating out, movies. How many of these things are really beneficial to preparing for ones callings in life? How many set up bad habits of spending money needlessly, of setting up unrest when one needs to stay home, of setting up an addiction to eating out and seeking entertainment?

I do not think that every girl should choose this option, but perhaps they should think about it and pray about it. It is one that certainly those around them should see value in. I think we would be better for it if many of the girls did stay home and continue their education there.

My Views on Education

From my previous post it may appaer that I believe Homeschooling is the only right option. I do not. I believe that parent controlled education is the only right option and that government controlled education is wrong.

I will tackle the latter part of that statement first. There is something very wrong with a country that claims to be free insisting on controlling what the future voters are taught for 12 years prior to voting. This opens up scores of special interest groups trying to get their foot in the educational door so that such and such must be taught in the hopes of swaying the future votes.

By its nature a government mandated scope and sequence is generic meant for the generic child and children are not generic, they are above all else individuals. They are as Miss Mason says persons.

So what do I mean by parent controlled education? An education where parents decide what is best for their children to learn and decide how it is best taught to the children. Homeschools, co-op schools, Mom schools, cottage schools, tutors, apprenticeships, some private and charter schools all can fit this definition.

Education is the parents responsibility. It is up to the parent to decide if such and such should be covered and how. Education is persuasive, and very influential in molding the character of the student, in molding the habits and the trains of thought that that child has.

I do not understand why active LDS, or any Christian, parents would so easily send their children to places where God's influence on mankind can not be discussed by law. Is this not evil? Taking God out of the lives, conversation and thoughts of our children is wrong. Every thing in this world relates to the Gospel and nothing should be taught in isolation from it, but when parents give up all say it is. If you are LDS educate your children as such.

John Taylor "Shall we employ teachers that will turn the infant minds of our children away from the principles of the gospel and perhaps lead them to darkness and death? ...I would like to know if a Methodist would send his children to a Roman Catholic School, or vice versa? I think not. Do either send their children to "Mormon" schools, or employ "Mormon" teachers? I think not. Do we object to it? No, we do not; we accord to all classes their rights, and we claim rights equal with them. Well, shall we, after going to the ends of the earth to gather people to Zion, in order that they may learn more perfectly of His ways and walk in His paths, shall we then allow our children to be at the mercy of those who would lead them down to death again? God forbid! Let our teachers be men of God, men of honor and integrity, and let us afford our children such learning as will place our community in the front ranks in educational as well as religious matters. But would we interfere with other religious denominations? No. Prevent them from sending their children where and to whom they please? No. Or from shipping where they please? No. I would not put a hair in their way, nor interfere with them in any possible way; they can take their course, and we want the same privilege. (Journal of Discourses 19:249-250)"

Sunday

My 2yo ds woke up before 6 a.m. screaming, which seems to be his standard wake up call lately. This of course woke up the baby, so while Daddy laid down with Brennen, I went to nurse Logan who shares a room with my 5yodd, and she of course wakes up. "Mom, can we sew Bitty's (her doll) Easter dress today? She really wants a new Sunday dress." Brennen walks in, "I have dinner. You hold me." Aubrey says, "Can we watch a movie and have popcorn? And will you play Geuss Who?"

At this point I realize I am going to have to talk, and I am barely awake and would rather not for a half hour at least. "No Aubrey, you can't watch a movie, I can't play a game or sew right now. I need to finish feeding the baby and get a couple of things done then I will cook the cinnamon rolls (our traditional Sunday breakfast.)" A sits by me and talks and talks while B whines and cries. After a minute L is done and I try to put him down, nope he shreiks and so I pick him back up. I really dislike it when the kids wake up before me it makes me feel like I'm starting the day way too far behind.

The younger boys and I all have colds, so I ask my husband to stay home with the two little ones, he says that I should stay home too. But if he thinks I am going to give up my almost only period of adult interaction and no children he's crazy.

So I go and listen to high councilmen talk about families, being true to them, loving them. We have Sunday School about Abraham, and I spent part of the time trying to find out how many children he had, 8 for those who want to know. I love Abraham, I admire him, he is a hero to me. The third hour is a combined meeting, the Bishop is speaking and it is about families. We discuss the worlds view of a family and Heavenly Father's. The discussion turns to that many people in the world think that anyone can raise children and it doesn't matter much who, and we discuss the recent studies that were meant to support the new bill trying to get tax payers to pay for daycare for ever younger and younger children in CA, but instead came back showing that the longer a child stayed home with parents the better the children were in governing their behaviour, interacting with others and learning academic skills.

We discuss the parents' responsibility for guiding and directing their children. And I wonder to myself, so if it is shown that a child is best left with parents through the preschool years is that child suddenly ready for great lengths of time away from home and under an influence that the parents have no control over when they are five, they can not control the content or the method of presentation. How does one teach the gospel to the children..."when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up" if the children rise and leave to be under the influence of others for 6 to 7 hours and then come home to homework dictated by someone who does not share the families commitments or beliefs.

And I think again of the quotes and prophecy's of Brigham Young concerning free government controlled education, I think of the peers the children will have, I think of the discussions I have with mothers who think the schools are fine, but have no idea what is being taught there. I ask myself again, "Would Abraham have sent Isaac to a government controlled school in a land that embraced evil?" "No, he would not have." We understand that evil is embraced in our society, so why do so few stand up against it. Yes, it is harder to be responsible for your own childs' education, to not go along with what everyone else is doing, but like the High Councilmen said today the straight and narrow is not on the center of the road anymore it is far, far off to the side.

I go home renewed and strengthen in my calling as a mother. I hug my two little ones, feed everyone lunch and sing silly songs with my children and ramble on to my husband about everything in my head, which he is very used to by now.

That night at our family dinner my mother-in-law calls me a Saint and says she has no idea how I do it all. I tell her I don't, my floors have not been vacuumed in a week. But honestly I do it because I believe in what I am doing, I believe in these children and that they are too precious to be turned over to anyone else, and I believe in God and He strengthens me, like today He gave me Sundays.

Brigham Young "We had to pay our own schoolteachers, raise our own bread and earn our own clothing, or go without; there was no other choice. We did it then, and we are able to do the same to-day. I want to enlist the sympathies of the ladies among the Latter-day Saints, to see what we can do for ourselves with regard to schooling our children. Do not say you cannot school them, for you can... I understand that the other night there was a school meeting in one of the wards of this city, and a part there--a poor miserable apostate--said, "We want a free school, and we want to have the name of establishing the first free school in Utah." To call a person a poor miserable apostate may seem like a harsh word; but what shall we call a man who talks about free schools and who would have all the people taxed to support them, and yet would take his rifle and threaten to shoot the man who had the collection of the ordinary light taxes levied in this Territory--taxes which are lighter than any levied in any other portion of the country? (Journal of Discourses 16:19-20) "

Gardening

I do not know how to garden, not really. I have tried since I was 13. I put many hours into my first attempts. Imagine a flat piece of land, 20 acres actually with about a dozen sticks that we called trees that were gifts from the utility company, who gave them out under the stipulation that you had to plant them in the precise position that they said as this was supposed to in years to come shade the house and so lower the air conditioning bill. Of course my parents hardly used the air conditioner anyway-I learned when to open and close windows for maximum coolness throughout the day from them.

Besides the sticks and endless fields of weeds we had a front flower bed. My mother had a flower bed in front, or perhaps the frogs owned it-I'm sure they thought they did. My mother planted these hydranga bushes among various other plants. But those bushes stand out the most in my mind. There was a sidewalk that led to the front door of our house and the bushes were so wide that they leaned out of their bed and completely covered it, making everyone walk around in the dirt. One time when my parents had a little extra money they doubled the width of the front sidewalk, so that the bushes could keep their share and we could walk on ours. My mother has gone Home, but whenever I see a hydranga bush I think of her, it is like one of the many signatures she has left behind. I love those signatures.

The spring of my thirteenth year I claimed a spot next to our "compost" heap and declared it my garden. I enlisted my 3 younger brothers to help my remove rocks before I could plant. We spent a month and got about three wagon loads full. I thought that was enough and so I dug and then I planted seeds and dutifuly watered them. I can remember the mud holes watering would create. By the next day the dirt would be dry and cracked. I kept at it for awhile but nothing but weeds ever grew. The next year we did a family garden in what had once been a very large sandbox. I can remember the plants in rows, but I think we must of forgot to water on one of those 102 days because they all died. One year though we had good luck that encouraged me for ever so long. We had hoses that would run all the way down to the animals; chickens, goats, rabbits and a horse with others thrown in every now and then. We would turn this hose on up at the house before we would feed and it dripped under the faucet. It was also almost directly over the sewer. Well that year there was what we had thought was a weed that was growing and growing then one day it had little green tomatoes on it. I was so excited. I didn't eat them, one of those ultra picky children you know, but I loved picking them and thinking they grew from our very own land.

After I was married and we bought our first house, I attempted another garden, the corn stalks grew, but we got no corn on them. That house did have a plum tree that was too tangy to eat raw so I made fruit leather, a delicious cherry tree that we ate fresh and dried. And a very sour apple tree with very small apples on it, yes now I know that I should have thinned them. We stayed at that house 18 months, just long enough to repair it and redo the yard then we moved north to a newer home on a large lot. This house had a tangelo tree, and I immediately got chickens. I planted in pots that first year as the land wasn't ready, and then we moved again this time into an apartment, for 2 years. I had 2 grape vines, an apple and a pear tree along with pots for vegetables. We haven't gotten any grapes, apples or pears yet and that was almost 4 years ago, but we will get them out of their pots and into the ground now that we are in a house again with a yard. I have had some success with strawberries in pots, though.

So it is February and I have taken a desk calender and seeds and marked when I want to plant seeds, when they need to be transplanted and when they should be ready to harvest. I am determined to someday have a productive garden. My sister-in-law has a mound of composted horse manure, and I will go get a truck load within the next couple of weeks then I will disk it into the designated garden spot, plant, water, try to figure out that fertilizing thing and hope for the best... while I am at it, I think I will get a couple hydranga's for my front flower beds.