cool phone camera picture. Last night Jenna was in bed reading and I came in to talk with her. I was bugging her, she wanted to read and didn't want me to snap a pho-to, but the result was kind of a fun shot anyway. She did nicely put her book down to chat but did remind me that she was busy, so it was short. I am going to miss her like crazy next year.It's raining today. I nice fall rain, the only bummer is Lu was supposed to go on a field trip to the pumpkin patch :( and J is out on the water in a canoe with her environmental class. Hopefully there won't be a freak tsunami.
We've been having some neighborhood drama. It's really different for me living here, I don't know why but this is the first place I've lived where I have known many, many neighbors quite well and where everyone is in each other's business. It's a bit Stepfordish. I was at the park yesterday and got quite an ear full about the middle school "gang" that has been roaming around wrecking havoc. It make me sad because these are nice kids really, but they are doing some destructive stuff and moms have called the police and are taking pictures of the kids doing wrong making a report of sorts. It could get ugly.
I have a list, I call it things I want to do/get for the house.
- clean the garage out
- put in shelves
- move shelf out of mud room
- put up pegs for coats and backpacks as well as a storage bench
- change lots of light bulbs out
- get overhead lighting for living room and music room
- finish painting my room
- paint living room wall
- get a nice sectional for living room
- get furniture for basement (we'll do that when we go to Ohio for Thanksgiving!)
- buy a vacuum for each floor
- make a "cleaning kit" for each floor
- buy more paint paint paint
- get shelves in basement closet
- eventually build built in book shelves in the basement
- refinish dresser and move it to basement for storage
- some day, in a land far far away, get a nice bedroom set (this is way low on the list and will probably never happen)
- get curtains for a few remaining rooms
- deck furniture
I wonder if we'll even finish the list before we move? I actually like it here, truthfully I have liked everywhere I have lived, but Big doesn't so much. Mostly I think it's job stress and busyness. I would like to live overseas some time. ...maybe that will be next. Or maybe not. We have no plans to move right now so maybe we'll be here a decade or longer. Who knows?
Who to vote for?? We are digging a huge hole and I am not sure how to get out of it. Signs of the times and really "hurry up!" is all I have to say. I am ready for peace.
Christmas shopping has begun. Slowly, I feel behind.
H cried and cried last night. The cause: her Halloween costume. She really wants something different than the thing we already got together for her and spent money on. She said it only cost $4 and she had to use old stuff for the rest so it doesn't count. She is a nice girl, and sweet and lovely but where does this sense of entitlement come from? this inability to be happy with what she has and this feeling that she is always slighted? She can never be happy because she is always looking at what others have and what she wants next. What's a mother to do?? I recognize the irony, this coming from the woman who just wrote "the list". This is the difference. I will be happy even if I never get any of that and a lot of it just costs my own labor. Madonna was right, we really are living in a material world and it's a huge trial to be born. I really wish I knew the right thing to do. We are so blessed, and have a nice home and we want to provide a nice life for our children but the balance of raising hardworking, grateful, contented people who are wise and good is hard to strike.
Looking forward to tonight's YW activity. We've been planning for awhile and I hope it will be powerful. Had to borrow alcohol from a neighbor for a clue I needed. Felt a little weird, but I promised to return it unopened. Love my neighbors.
The only bad thing is little is getting his wolf tonight and I won't be there. It really bugs me that we have so many things scheduled on the same night. really.
Sierra got 100% on her last paper (that I helped her with! ~I was so excited, I love "helping" with English homework!)
I wish I could solve every one's problems and that everyone would be happy all the time. Is that too much to ask?
Things to clean :) off I go...
7 comments:
I posted a link on my facebook page to a Meridian Magazine article addressing entitlement. It will have two parts to it, but the first article was great. I'm looking forward to Friday when the next part is published. I think it is just an issue we're all going to have to work through with this next generation of kids. David is already a snot about entitlement sometimes. Unfortunately I don't have a farm I can go raise my kids on right now... ;)
I hear you loud and clear on the entitlement issue. When my oldest was getting close to driving age- he thought we owed him a car. Um- NO! It was a tough pill for him to swallow. It was harder because so many other people give their kids- not just cars- but super nice cars and trucks. We bought a car for him to use- but he had to pay "rent" and it is our car- not his. That way we could ground him from driving if necessary. I never in my life would have dreamt that my parents owed me a car- it is getting worse- but my other kids won't make the car mistake because they already know. My kids also do not have cell phones- even though most of the friends do (hello? what is up with that) My nearly 14 year old is gripping the worst about that right now-
I am not personally ready for the second coming- but that is my own fault- and boy, I don't even want to think about how much worse the world is going to get in a hurry.
About your list- most of those things are not personally beneficial- they are meant to improve your family's life- so I think the motivation is key- Why does H want to change her costume? Is there a deeper reason perhaps? I finally figured out why my youngest didn't want to be any of the things I suggested to her- and I understood it. She didn't want another hand-me-down from her big sister.
Sorry for the novel :) Have a great day!
That's probably the only thing I will ever say that Madonna got right ; ) I feel for these children growing up in a world where so much is about what they have and don't have. It's a wonder they feel they are entitled. We made so many mistakes with our older kids--and we're paying the price today.
I think we all make lists and quite often they are only dreams. I would love to re-carpet the house. More than likely that will NEVER happen, but I would love it. But other things are more important.
Wonderful comments! Ditto to all. When I was a kid I loved hand me downs...of course they were from my cousins, but still! I think there is a reason why the general authorities have told us over and over to teach our kids to work. And I think the more they have to work for their own stuff the better. They appreciate it more. We will only get grief from them when they are young for being such meanies. But they will be grateful when they are adults.
Our children today have no idea the affluence that surrounds them. They all need a trip to Mexican villages.
A trip to a Mexican village or a soup kitchen/homeless shelter. My father-in-law took Jonathan's siblings just younger than him to a soup kitchen when they came home from school complaining about not having all the stuff their friends had. When they saw how the people at the shelter had so little, but they were so grateful for the mat that they could sleep on out of the cold, and for the one bowl of soup they got, the kids quit complaining.
I remember when you "helped" me with an English paper in high school!
Did I tell you about our "time cards?" We pay the kids to do out-of-the ordinary chores (1/2 their age per hour) and then they have to buy their own clothes. My youngest person, who often acted like he was entitled to lots of stuff, seems to like managing his $ and picking out things he likes when they're on sale. Just a thought...
I like your list, and just so you are forewarned that you might not get one- I've been married 31 years and have never had a matching bedroom set. But I have a VERY comfortable mattress.
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