Tebow ad

I'm pro-life. However, I recognize that women who decide to have their baby have indeed made a choice. To take that away that choice from someone is totally missing the whole point! The women choosing life are choosing a full future for someone else. How amazing is that! That as women we have the ability to shape the future in ways men cannot. It just brings tears to my eyes to think about the power God put into our hands.

I do understand people, women, feeling alarmed by the ideas that may have been talked about in the ad. Namely that men can tell women what to do with their bodies. However the ad doesn't discuss that. It's about the wonderful outcome of the decision Tim Tebow's mom made.

I found a great article by a pro-choice woman. Sally Jenkins makes many good points including that fact that his mom did in fact make a choice.

Peace begins in the womb, as Feminists for Life say. Choosing life is choosing the best thing for the women facing a difficult choice. But the abortion debate needs to also about young men being responsible. They have just as much to do with the issue of perventing pregnancy as women. I love the fact that Sally Jenkings mentions chastity as a good thing. Amazing!

Am I a helicopter parent?

I wonder if people think that we are because we are homeschooling. I wonder if real helicopter parents have kids who make satelites out of magnets. Sure, it's to destroy the enemy and maybe a planet, but I surely didn't help him. I realize the kids will need to be able to fail, and learn to get over those failures. But right now they are spending plenty of time creatively making up a world of their own. They often spend three or four hours a day playing. Kids use what they have learned and reinforce it within playtime. Dr. Stuart Brown from the National Institute for Play has recognized the importance of playtime in a Time magazine article:

managers at Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) noticed the younger engineers lacked problem-solving skills, though they had top grades and test scores. Realizing the older engineers had more play experience as kids — they'd taken apart clocks, built stereos, made models — JPL eventually incorporated questions about job applicants' play backgrounds into interviews. "If you look at what produces learning and memory and well-being" in life, Brown has argued, "play is as fundamental as any other aspect.'' The American Academy of Pediatrics warns that the decrease in free playtime could carry health risks: "For some children, this hurried lifestyle is a source of stress and anxiety and may even contribute to depression." Not to mention the epidemic of childhood obesity in a generation of kids who never just go out and play

There is also concern from teachers that kids never learn to do their own work. Well, I can say that my kids do all their own work. I'm sure not going to it for them. As I write this Abraham is finishing his report on invertebrates. It may not be spelled completely correctly, so my decision is whether to have him correct it or let it be. I do sincerely struggle with this point. Is this when I should let go, or should I help him to understand that the work isn't done until it's perfect. But I also don't want to swoop in and fix it for him. With math I have them keep working on a problem until it is correct. That is how is works out in the world, you keep at it until it's right. Well, this may be a mental burp, but just the thoughts whirling around my head.

On another subject, Esther has learned how to say "down" and "thank you." And they actually sound like the words. Amazing, right?! Okay, so not so much. But I am happy that she is trying to communicate.

Morning Talk

Samuel and I have had some fun time together this morning because Esther is taking an early nap.  We were listening to some music and one song was said that God will never leave us.  Samuel and I were talking about it.  His response for why God will never leave us is that He is invincible.  I wonder if in some part of his mind Samuel thinks God is a superhero.  

So many people see God as a kindly grandfather who says, "It's okay, don't worry about that sin.  I've taken care of it.  You don't owe me anything."  While that's a nice and true enough, one doesn't think that their grandfather is invincible.  I tried to explain to Samuel that God is more than invincible.  How do you explain to a 4 year old that God has more facets to him than just one?  I want him to have a dynamic faith that includes a full picture of God, not just a small box that feels comfortable.

Reluctant Mother

I finally did the Facebook "first born quiz."  I have to say that I have been putting it off because of the shame that goes along with my memories of my first pregnancy.  Abraham wasn't planned.  He was a "honeymoon" baby.  I got pregnant within weeks of getting home.  I was embarrassed and angry.  I saw all my plans went up in smoke.    

Before we got married I told Peter I didn't want kids.  Funny how things work out, huh?  I realized that kids take a ton of work and I believed that kids need a stay at home parent.  I say this not to shine a light on others parenting, but to inform you of how I came to my emotions.  I had all these plans for life that didn't include kids.  I made the immediate decision that I was going to keep going to school and have my career.  Too bad my stomach didn't agree.  Within days of finding out I started having "morning sickness."  What a cruel lie, you know what I mean?  I actually had all day and all night sickness.  When I had my next appointment a week later to have the first meet the nurse time I had lost 10 lbs.  I eventually went into the hospital the first week of school.  I had to withdraw from college which essentially ended my plans for a career. 

Somehow I decided that I would be a good mom to a girl.  I spent almost every moment after I found out I was having a boy trying to deny the truth.  Eventually I decided that he was going to be someone special.  Happily that part turned out to be true.  During that time I was so scared that I wouldn't love him enough.  Happily I was wrong.

When Abraham was born I felt a whoosh of love.  It felt like it was pouring out of me in a warm encapsulating hug.  I wonder even now if God was showing me in just a small portion of His love for us.  I know that it can be explained away with some doctor prattling on about hormones or something like that, but I've had three other kids and it never happened again.  Having Abraham changed me in a profound way.  I wanted to be a good mother rather than just getting by and existing.  

On Monday I spent the day with the kids playing, doing laundry and truly enjoying them.  It helped me remember and reflect on my journey so far as a mother.  What joy God has given to me in the form of four children!  The person I was 9 years ago would be so surprised at who I am now.  I am an unabashed mother who finds such great joy in my role as mother.  I lost it for awhile, but I am so glad to be back in this place.