Mom Is Teaching

Believe it or not, we’ve talked about this before.  Ha, I am a repeat I guess.  No, really, we talked about sexting and how dangerous it is.  But, I found an article yesterday stating that teens are more safety conscience that we give them credit for.  According to this article, 72% of teens have a social-networking profile.  That’s myspace, facebook, etc for those of you who are unsure what a social network even is. 

And, 73% use cell phones while 91% have an email address.  So, this is where it gets tricky.  How do you monitor your child’s online personality without invading their privacy?

Does your child have an email account?  What about facebook?  Do you have control so you can see what they are doing if you need to?

If we break this down, 14% of teens have a blog, 22% have a webcam (and I would think this is where many would get in trouble), 27% have a game system with chat (I don’t even know what this is), 59% have digital cameras (another place I think that would need monitoring closely), 60% have an ID for an instant messaging account of some kind. 

But, when a group of teens were polled, 59% believed that posting personal information on a public blog or social network was unsafe.  But, at the same time 62% have posted a photo of themselves.  So, that could be an issue.  Just make sure you are keeping up with the photos that your children are posting and you and your child should be fine.  But, insist that even your location remain a secret.

As an adult, someone could easy find me if they tried hard, but in most cases, I still list my hometown as No Where Alabama.  It wouldn’t take much to find out where No Where is but, I’m grown…so I guess that’s where you say, do as I say not as I do.

This article is written by Kat Sanders, who regularly blogs on the topic of top online engineering degree at her blog The Engineering A Better World Blog. She welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: katsanders25@gmail.com.

This is the day and age when children themselves are not interested in education, when they have too many distractions and external interests to be able to devote their attention to school. So is it any wonder that an adult who is contemplating going back to school is possessed by the jitters at all the studying that they have to do? If you’re in such a position, here’s how you can cope with returning to school as an adult learner:

Take things slowly: You’re definitely going to find things different and difficult when you start to learn again after a considerable time gap. So take things slowly, and don’t overdo anything out of enthusiasm because it’s going to be hard to sustain. Do not take on too many courses at once initially until you know how much you can do on a sustained and long-term basis. If you do, you’re likely to struggle with all of them; but if you take just one or two at first, acing them will give you the confidence you need to keep going.

Do a little work each day: Whatever work you may have, do spend some time every day for your studies. Only if you do your daily lessons and keep in touch with what’s going on in class will you be able to maintain the flow that’s needed in order to succeed in the field of education.

Don’t put off learning till the eve of the exams: Similarly, study a little every day keeping your exams in mind. If you try to cram in all your studying on the eve of your exams, you’re going to suffer from stress and not be able to achieve even a passing grade.

Update your technology skills: Education and technology have merged today to create a unique platform that is conducive to both learning and teaching. So if you’re a technophobe or lack technical savvy, make an effort to learn and get up to speed with all the latest in the field of educational technology. This will help you complete your class-related work faster and learn effectively using innovative tools.

Going back to school as an adult learner is going to be an uphill climb, but you must stick with it in spite of all the obstacles you may face. As time goes by and you find yourself getting used to your new schedule and work, you will find the going easier.  

We, or should I say I, talk alot about young children on the website.  But, I know many of you have older children, teens, tweens and college age even.  So, I went in search of some stuff regarding older kids and what goes on.  By the time my kids get old enough to be in their tweens and teens, I’m going to be so old I may miss some of the good stuff I’m afraid. 

No, really, the going joke here is that my kids will learn to drive by taking me back and forth to the old folks home on Sundays.  I’m not that old really but…..by the standards of my kids peers right now, yea, my husband and I….we are …yea, older.  Like the t-ball coaches wife just had a baby and they have one that is 4.  And, for that matter, the only ones on the team that have kids older than the ones on this team are quite a bit younger than we are.  And, all the parents are more in their late 20’s kind of age instead of my early 40’s kind of age. 

Anyway, that’s not what matters, that’s definitely not what I wanted to write about.  I wanted to write about tweens and teens and activities to entertain them.  Since I’ve already told you that my children aren’t really big on TV, I wonder if that interest will peak some as they get older or if they are always going to be running and playing as hard as they are right now?  Because honestly, I can barely keep up now.

Anyway, the site I mentioned in the last post, Education.com has a link to a page about camps for kids and teens.  They talk about SuperCamps and 10 day sleepaway camps.  I don’t have to tell you that with my kids at the tender age they are right now, I can’t imagine them sleeping away from home.  They both stayed at my  mom’s Saturday night and it was painful. 

Anyway, what are your thoughts?  Do you kids travel without you much?  Just curious?

We have a television.  What do I mean, we have a bunch of them.  I grew up in a home where that is was the main form of entertainment – compared to my internet being the main form now.  We had 2 or 3 little channels back then.  Now, we have a satellite, DVR, VCR, DVD, Wii, you name it, we have all sorts of entertainment here.  Even still, my kids don’t watch much television.  I make jokes about it and people think I’m one of those television nazzi’s who doesn’t own a TV and beats my kids for acting like they are interested in it.

When, in fact, I have thought many times when I was either sick or nasty that if my kids would have watched one 30 thirty minute cartoon I could have re-grouped and got back to business.  But, nope, not my two.  In the length of time it could take me to shower, my kids have a full house demolished.  No if’s, and’s or but’s about it, they could send the place into flames.

So, as I read this article about turning off the tube for month, I was curious, how many of you actually have issues with your children wanting to watch too much TV?  Is this a myth?  Is it something that has just occurred because of lazy parenting (I”m not accusing, I’m asking) or does it just happen that some folks like it better, period?

I personally don’t watch much TV, my husband could veg in front of it all day.  So, if you have a minute, take my poll, tell me what you think.

I mean, bam, you turn your back and all of the sudden, you have a kid graduating from Kindergarten……and then, you have to get really hacked because someone broke the scanner.  But, then someone fixed it, then someone lost the cords, and then someone brought home graduation pictures and geeez Louise how am I going to show these pictures…ahaha, I’ll take a picture of the picture – damn I’m smart….

oh brother

Taking a picture is not easy…

Ok, let me try again…

Ok, look, this is not as easy as it sounds…

but I being the pestering kind, I managed…look how cute he is..

He looks huge doesn’t he?  And, with all those bright lights…well yea, he looks really big.  He is big for his age but he doesn’t necessarily have shoulders like a full blown linebacker just yet. 

May 26th, we walk the walk – and we will officially be a First Grader – Oh My, I am super scared!

Yea I know, trains were not part of what I envisioned my years with children would be.  But, along came little boy number 1 and then, little boy number 2 and finally I gave up and gave in to the train-lovers of the world. 

We have Thomas the Train EVERYTHANG!  Ha Ha that rhymed.  So, when I saw an opportunity to see Thomas the Train live, I jumped on it.  We’ve discussed taking the kids to see Thomas the Train when it has been a featured item at the local train station but I had no idea I could see Thomas the Train on-stage. 

And, so live it is…..we will be seeing Thomas live and in person!  If you want to go, you can definitely get the time and locations on their Events page and check the Tour Schedule as well.

I sure hope you can find a way to see ol’ Thomas the Train on stage because I’m thrilled………and remember all those of you who told me my son needed to see a show on stage (back when we were discussing going on field trip to see Cinderella without the parents)…well now my son will see the Thomas the Train live…courtesy of Mom Select.  Does life really get any better than this?

We’ve discussed public schools versus homeschools until at some point I think we’ve probably beat a dead horse.  But, hey, it is what it is.  So, what about a Private school versus a public school?  How do you all feel about that?

For me personally, it’s not an option.  There are a couple of private religious schools but the one I would opt for is a good 45 min drive one way and is mega super expensive.  And, thus, we are handling our child’s education through public schools…all be it quite grumpy about it most of the time, that’s just how it has to be.

So, what about you folks out there?  Are private schools an option?  Are private schools or even religious private schools an option for you?  Even those of you who homeschool, if there were a private school alternative, would you do it?

If you want to check out the article on Mama Source and see what folks over there are saying and you can even jump in and add some to it if you want.  One of the questions comes from someone from Malaysia who admits to being very confused about the education system here and well, that makes a bunch of us who are confused about public education here. 

And, of course, there’s the ever important pre-k for those folks in states like mine (Alabama) where pre-k is not a state funded program versus those where pre-k is a lottery funded (Georgia I know for sure- been there, taught that) system. 

Honestly, if I could stress one thing to each and every parent out there, it is to keep yourself abreast of all that is going on in your school, read those notes, no matter how many, how long, how short they are, read them, know what’s going on…..otherwise, I’d have never known about the candy reward program…….

What do you think?

I know you are all dying to get the scoop on the kid crap and so I did kindly move it to my personal blog where I promised you months ago that I would try to keep it.  But, I am human and I get emotional.  So, you can go read it at Lot’s of Poo-Poo that really has no home.

So, go read, comment there or come back here, it doesn’t really matter, I’m just going to be out and about tomorrow with Mini Me’s therapy so….I’ll catch you all when I get back!!!

What will you get today for Valentine’s Day?  Will you get something special from your spouse?  From your children?  Or are you the one that does all the gift giving?  Either way, Valentine’s is about loving one another and I’ve got love in the air. 

After recollecting a few of my old boyfriend tales and ex-husband tales too at a conference last weekend, I happen to realize, as did many others at the conference, that I have one of the greatest husbands in the world.  You can’t pick a partner for your children.  But, you can be a good guide, you can be a good example and you can show your children what’s important in a partner.

I know, sounds all preachy but the examples set before me by my own parents weren’t very good.  I can’t blame them for my bad choices but I can’t say that either of them were very influential in helping me make good decisions. 

So, for Valentine’s this year, I want you to all know that it took me 3 tries, but I have the greatest husband ever and I hope that my own 2 boys learn from their father what it is to respect women.  He sets a great example and I do my best to make sure they know that not only is it important for them to be respectful, but it is ok to expect and demand respect in return. 

Do you think you can give me some Motherhood Lessons?  I know if I find the right parents, I can get the right set of lessons.  And, I’m going to approach this Me Me a bit differently on this page.  I was fortunate to got to Blissdom and I am over-whelmed with all the work laid out before me now.  And, I know that is true of so many other bloggers.  So, for this post, I’m going to give you my Motherhood Lesson, just one and in a sentence or two.  Then, I’m going to ask some of the wonderful women I met this weekend to add just one motherhood lesson to the post in the comments section.

Now, if I don’t ask you, it certainly isn’t intentional, I’m barely holding my head up right now so just bare with me and as with every post here, always feel free to comment regardless of a direct invitation. 

So, I will start the Motherhood Lesson Me Me off with my one liner:

1.  Teach your children to respect their elders.

I’m not going to list the women who I am tagging here just in case they don’t want their information out there so publicly, but I am going to email them this post and see if I can get some replies to go with my one….then i will be a “you plus me makes we*” Me Me. 

*I totally stole that blog name from my cousin.

Ok, start thinking you never know when the email will hit your box….

Hummm this should be a good one…right?  I’m telling you, with a four year old who is so defiant so much of the time, I could use 5 hours to discipline but 5 seconds just seems amazing.  I want to refer you to Parents for the article but as always, I have to give you a few ideas.

They call it the Friendly Approach to Discipline.  I had an opportunity this weekend at Blissdom and explain to them my purpose in taking this blog and how so many of you thought it was wrong.  So, for those of you who have forgotten about my motivation, it is to remind the world that WE ARE ALL EDUCATORS of our children.  Teach our children to respect authority regardless of where they are.  Allow our policemen, our fire fighters, our ministers, our parents and even the janitor at the schools or malls to teach our children within reason.

So, the suggestions are to prevent setting yourself up for a power struggle, watch your tone, give your child choices, rephrase your requests and rephrase your questions.  That all sounds good to me and you will probably agree. 

Do any of you have any suggestions to add to this?

Cindy from Mom Talk asked me if I would like to participate in a Me Me and I am one of the few people who actually likes these.  Especially when I am either having a lull in entertainment or I’ve had so much going on that I don’t know where to start.  So, without further ado, you are getting a Me Me from Me.

This is by far the easiest one I’ve ever taken part in because there’s a topic, but not a number of items to give and really, no rules.  With that, the rules are….

Share with us and your readers a lesson that you learned from your own mom, a special mom in your life, or while raising your own children. There’s no right or wrong answers…just lessons that each of us can learn and implement with our own children.

Link your post back to this one, leave a comment below so we can visit and learn from you, and then tag 2-3 other moms to participate.

And, I’m thrilled that this is so open to allowing me to tell what I want to tell about parenting, motherhood, and children and do it on my own terms.  So, what I think I will discuss with you is the fact that the time has come for everyone to take a step back and teach our children to respect authority.  Allow our children to learn from their peers, from their teachers, their parents, the policeman on the corner, the firemen, the minister, the cashier at wal-mart, respect the adults in your life.

Now, I know that there are some bad people out there.  And, that is the parents responsibility to teach the children the difference in good and bad but in general, if our children are taught to respect authority figures, their minister, the janitor at their job, their peers, their bosses, etc….then I think our children, our teens, our young adults, the next generation that will be leading our world will know how to make better decisions. 

If children are taught to respect the people who are good to them, it will be easier for them recognize and stay away from the adult figures who are up to no-good. 

So, please, go out, teach your child to respect and teach them to do it through your own actions.  Make it work, one way or another.

I’m only tagging one person and if you read any of my other blogs, you’ll see who I tagged…..it will be quite a surprise.

On Wednesday I had managed to successfully boost my confidence enough to take the lessons my father had taught me and go to the airport, get on a plane, fly to Miami and make my way around.  No one to lean on but myself.  No one to talk to but strangers. 

On Thursday morning I dress up nice.  I fixed my hair and put on make-up and began to make my way down down the street to the convention center which was only a mile away.  No reservations what so ever as to my ability to walk a mile.  For those of you who remember, I could walk about 6 minutes on the treadmill when I gave up a month or so ago.  (I didn’t really give up, time just ran out – more on that later).

Either way, I was depending on no one.  I wasn’t taking a cab because I didn’t need to, I could walk.  I could follow directions and I could ask strangers for assistance without reservation.

But, I couldn’t however walk along the designated route AND tweet on my phone.  The excitement was overwhelming and I was busily twittering away my experience.  I don’t have a lot of memory about the exact moments prior to the accident, I just remember laying  flat on my face in the middle of the street with on-coming traffic in several directions.  My $5 sunglasses in one direction, my phone in another and people surrounding me trying to help.

I had stepped off the curb and not onto solid ground.  I twisted my ankle and I flew across the street in an attempt to keep my balance.  I landed in the middle of the street.  I was embarrassed more than hurt I thought.  People helped me up, assured me that I wasn’t dirty and I hobbled on across the road. 

Once I was safely off the road, I even tweeted about the fall.  My left foot was hurting.  It was hurting a lot.  But, I was NOT missing this conference.  I was half-way there, I could make it.  I continued to walk.  I went to session after session and I ate lunch and then attended more sessions.

Finally realizing that I had to get back to the hotel before I could crash and that the pain in my foot was worsening and I was obviously hobbling more now than I had earlier, I made my way outside.  This involved lots of steps.  Lots and lots and lots of steps….it was hard.

I sat down on the concrete slab and in a moment, I was completely confused as to what in the world I was going to do.  How was I going to get to the hotel.  I was I going to get to food for dinner, somewhere, but how? 

I knew that once my shoe was off, my foot was going to swell.  And in the length of time it took me to take off my shoe, put it in my bag and call my husband, tears began to stream down my face.  In that moment, I had no idea how to take care of myself.

I managed.  I had another meltdown when I realized that I had missed my flight and that time, in tears, I begged my husband to just “please do this for me, figure it out and tell me what to do”.  And he did.

I do know how to fish, but sometimes, we all need a partner to toss the line for us.  And, my father taught me the art of independence, but he also taught me the art of knowing when to say when.

I know this is going to be the last thing you equate to teaching a man to fish but, that’s just what came to mind when I started to write, so, that’s what you got.  You may or may not know that I went to Miami Florida on Wednesday to a Social Networking Conference.  I won the registration which was $2K at the door.  It was cheaper if you purchased earlier and of course, I never would have been able to go, even at the early bird rate of $1250, but I won my spot and I went.

I had no reservations what so ever of getting on a plane, flying to Miami, hauling my own bags, making my own way, making my own decisions and going to this conference, alone.  There was someone who had also won a ticket that I had chatted with but I had not made  true “connection” with them and didn’t expect to even meet them simply because the conference was so huge. 

Now, jumping around a bit here but one of the things that I remember my father (who passed away when I was 19 and I had been my primary "care giver” if you will, since I was 13 – just me and him in the house alone) telling me was that one of the most important lessons he wanted me to learn was to be independent.  And, he did everything within his power to ensure that I could take care of myself.  He was sick and lived 13 months longer than they told him he would.  During that time, he made what I believed to be ridiculous statements to me trying to teach me “how to make it on my own.”

He knew he didn’t have long.  He taught me how to change a tire, how to balance a checkbook and how to fill out and file income tax returns.  He MEANT I would not need anyone.  I would be more than self-sufficient.  And, I have been for the most part.  I suffered here and there on occasion, but for the most part, I’ve never had to lean on anyone.

Until now that is.  I depend on my husband to make a living for our family.  I could work.  We did just sell a daycare remember.  I have a teaching certificate and I could work, but right now, my work is at home and that’s a decision that my husband and I made together. 

Since I’ve rambled on, I’ll tell you the rest of this life lesson tomorrow, but the jest of everything I have to say goes back to some of the things that I mentioned when I first started authoring this blog and that is “education comes in all forms, not just from what is traditionally thought of as “school” and “teacher”’. 

More next time….

The authors of Wild Things are interviewed on Blissfully Domestic’s Homeschooling site and it is extremely enlightening.  If you have only girls, you probably don’t get it, but honestly, boys are very different.

I never bought into that theory myself until we had our little plot of boys.  When the youngest was 18 months old and I had to pull him out of the window, he was hanging on, toes on the edge and fingers on the top of the window…what the heck?  Boys?  Who told them this was ok?

Anyway, the authors of the book open my eyes with quotes like these.  But, you will have to go read the whole thing if you want to get the whole story, lol.

Problem number 1 for me and Wayne is quoted here: “mistake my wife and I make is that we over explain and over verbalize with our son”.  Well, at least I know we aren’t alone.

Problem number 2 for me and my family of boys:  “compulsory model we use for schooling in the United States is generally well-suited to a girl’s learning style. It’s heavy on verbal and written expression, two particular areas of strength for most girls. It involves a good deal of sitting still for extended periods of time with mostly auditory instruction. These methods don’t match a boy’s way of learning or draw on his learning strengths.”  Yerp, couldn’t have said it better myself.

Problem number 3 or not really a problem, but definitely a thought worth thinking over more than once, “chapter that specifically address a mother’s relationship with her son as well as a chapter that addresses a father’s relationship with his son. But it doesn’t stop there for boys. There is great truth to the old African proverb that says “it takes a village.”

All I can say to this is, yup, you got it, “boys are complex, imaginative, mysterious, brilliant, challenging, creative, strong, tender, courageous beings—and each is unique. Parenting and educating them is a wonderful, difficult, complex, enjoyable, physical, emotional, delightful, maddening journey”