I've shared before of my efforts to fight the Facebook battle, but another battle that I want to address is the "computer-on-the-whole" battle.
Like many people who have a constantly-available source of internet, I can easily fall into the trap of neglecting my responsibilities and spending way too much time on the computer. It bothers me, but I find the computer addictive. I find that I am itching to check Facebook-email-blogs just a few minutes after I've already done so, and I also find myself thinking, during particularly stressful moments, "I need a Facebook break!" And those Facebook breaks can be both ridiculously frequent and long in duration ("While I'm on, I might as well check....").
And so, without further ado, I announce a plan that I have had in action since this past Thursday. Ready?
I commit not to get on the computer at all until after our daily quiet time (around 3 p.m. or so).
As I've said, I've been doing this for four days now, and I've found it amazingly helpful, in that:
(1) It keeps me from using the "I need a Facebook break" excuse, which inevitably leads me to neglect my children, my home, my duties, or all three at once.
(2) It keeps me from spending my mental energy on internet debates that I witness when I did my morning internet browsing.
(3) It gives me more time to devote to the things I need to be doing.
To help me with this commitment, I have also this week switched to a pen-and-paper method of homeschool record-keeping rather than a computerized system, so that I don't have to face the temptation of internet-browsing when I get on the computer after school to do record-keeping. Love it!
The only negative?
I am falling even further behind in answering my email, which is not good. However, I was hopelessly behind anyway, so I'll just have to live with it. And, as I need to remind myself, my duties lie first with my family and my home - not my email! (Though I do apologize to anyone who is waiting for an email response from me!)
I do not know if this will be a permanent or a temporary commitment, but in the meantime.... Feel free to come back here and leave nasty comments if you see me on the computer in the morning!
What do you all do to keep the internet monster from taking over your time? I'd love to hear about it!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Loving the Freedom to Wander
One of the things that I love most about homeschooling (and there are so many things to love!) is the freedom to wander freely down various paths of inquiry, following interests and taking time to dwell where enthusiasm is sparked.
Last week, we read the story of Jesus healing the paralytic. That, of course, raised the question, "What is a paralytic?" So, instead of just reading on, we stopped and camped there for a while. We discussed nerves, the spine, spinal injuries, and the different types of spinal injuries resulting in different degrees of paralysis. It was a great time of discussion, of cashing in on a moment of interest, of being able to delve further without having to move a huge group of children along a lesson plan.
This happens all the time - and it's great!
This month I am trying to read lots of stories about the Pilgrims, the Mayflower voyage, and the American settlements. Our son is learning a lot about all the above - ships, ocean voyages, old-time illnesses, English-Native American interactions, Pilgrim life, etc. - it is awesome. And at the same time, he has become passionately interested in Native American life, so we are able to take a side-tour into that subject and check out lots of books on that subject. He is having a marvelous time, and it's a great time of learning. (It's also a great time of him trying to convince me to let him wander around in his underwear, so that he can be a "real Indian," but that's another issue.)
And here's the thing - none of it is predictable. I can't plan ahead for this. All of our son's interests have taken me completely by surprise. It's just a matter of discovering what new subject has sparked a new passion, and milking that passion for all it's worth in order to encourage learning - and more importantly, the love of learning.
I am learning so much about children, about education, about homeschooling - and the ability to follow learning passions in an unhurried and unstructured ways is one of the biggest blessings of this educational method. I'm loving it.
Happy Saturday!
Last week, we read the story of Jesus healing the paralytic. That, of course, raised the question, "What is a paralytic?" So, instead of just reading on, we stopped and camped there for a while. We discussed nerves, the spine, spinal injuries, and the different types of spinal injuries resulting in different degrees of paralysis. It was a great time of discussion, of cashing in on a moment of interest, of being able to delve further without having to move a huge group of children along a lesson plan.
This happens all the time - and it's great!
This month I am trying to read lots of stories about the Pilgrims, the Mayflower voyage, and the American settlements. Our son is learning a lot about all the above - ships, ocean voyages, old-time illnesses, English-Native American interactions, Pilgrim life, etc. - it is awesome. And at the same time, he has become passionately interested in Native American life, so we are able to take a side-tour into that subject and check out lots of books on that subject. He is having a marvelous time, and it's a great time of learning. (It's also a great time of him trying to convince me to let him wander around in his underwear, so that he can be a "real Indian," but that's another issue.)
And here's the thing - none of it is predictable. I can't plan ahead for this. All of our son's interests have taken me completely by surprise. It's just a matter of discovering what new subject has sparked a new passion, and milking that passion for all it's worth in order to encourage learning - and more importantly, the love of learning.
I am learning so much about children, about education, about homeschooling - and the ability to follow learning passions in an unhurried and unstructured ways is one of the biggest blessings of this educational method. I'm loving it.
Happy Saturday!
Friday, October 26, 2012
Diet & Postpartum Nausea: Your Local Information Bulletin
One surprising thing that I have learned in my studies of pregnancy and birth is that there are some areas of medicine that are unknown to modern doctors. With regard to nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, one area of which modern doctors do not seem to be aware is the phenomenon of postpartum nausea. I am not referring to the extremely rare phenomenon of HG that continues past the birth (though that seems to be similarly unknown), but rather to the phenomenon of residual nausea - minor nausea that persists for sometime (weeks, months, years) past the birth of the child.
The common perception seems to be that NVP vanishes completely at birth, but that was not my experience. With my first full-term pregnancy (also my one experience with true HG), I experienced bouts of nausea that lasted for various amounts of time (usually a couple of minutes or hours), and this continued - in diminishing amounts - for the first two years postpartum. At one point the nausea was strong enough to make me dry-heave, but the rest of the time the bouts were merely unpleasant. Because I was new to the experience, though, I was in a continual state of panic during that time, thinking that I was pregnant and that this was the start of HG.
With my subsequent two (non-HG) pregnancies, I also experienced postpartum nausea episodes. This past time, they were quite unpleasant, and quite frequent (multiple times per day).
Since writing about residual postpartum nausea, I have heard from numerous women telling me that I am not alone - that they too have experienced this phenomenon (whew, I'm not crazy!). However, when I have mentioned this subject to several different doctors, the only response has been a "You're crazy, lady" look and a quick change of subject. No doctor to whom I have spoken seems to have heard of residual nausea.
This leads to two points:
- Whatever NVP/HG does to our bodies, the effects do not disappear instantaneously, especially in some women.
- This leads me to wonder what would happen to a woman should she start another pregnancy before the residual nausea was gone from the last pregnancy. Actually, I'm not sure I want to know, because it scares me too much.
HOWEVER, there is good news!
Being that my cycle has (supposedly) returned, I am now back on the VLC diet - I am now on day 68, with no cheating!! (Except for one day when I took a big drink of my son's lemonade, thinking that it was my water. And then did it again two hours later. Nice!) And....
My postpartum nausea has evaporated, pretty much completely! Hurray!!!
Score one for the VLC diet! For whatever the cause, it really works with nausea. I am thrilled about this, because the residual nausea was very unpleasant, and it's nice to be finally rid of it.
Thoughts, everyone?
And now... Have a great day, everyone! I'm off to go shopping, make cauliflower pizza, and organize family movie night. If all that gets done, it'll be a miracle.
Happy weekend!
The common perception seems to be that NVP vanishes completely at birth, but that was not my experience. With my first full-term pregnancy (also my one experience with true HG), I experienced bouts of nausea that lasted for various amounts of time (usually a couple of minutes or hours), and this continued - in diminishing amounts - for the first two years postpartum. At one point the nausea was strong enough to make me dry-heave, but the rest of the time the bouts were merely unpleasant. Because I was new to the experience, though, I was in a continual state of panic during that time, thinking that I was pregnant and that this was the start of HG.
With my subsequent two (non-HG) pregnancies, I also experienced postpartum nausea episodes. This past time, they were quite unpleasant, and quite frequent (multiple times per day).
Since writing about residual postpartum nausea, I have heard from numerous women telling me that I am not alone - that they too have experienced this phenomenon (whew, I'm not crazy!). However, when I have mentioned this subject to several different doctors, the only response has been a "You're crazy, lady" look and a quick change of subject. No doctor to whom I have spoken seems to have heard of residual nausea.
This leads to two points:
- Whatever NVP/HG does to our bodies, the effects do not disappear instantaneously, especially in some women.
- This leads me to wonder what would happen to a woman should she start another pregnancy before the residual nausea was gone from the last pregnancy. Actually, I'm not sure I want to know, because it scares me too much.
HOWEVER, there is good news!
Being that my cycle has (supposedly) returned, I am now back on the VLC diet - I am now on day 68, with no cheating!! (Except for one day when I took a big drink of my son's lemonade, thinking that it was my water. And then did it again two hours later. Nice!) And....
My postpartum nausea has evaporated, pretty much completely! Hurray!!!
Score one for the VLC diet! For whatever the cause, it really works with nausea. I am thrilled about this, because the residual nausea was very unpleasant, and it's nice to be finally rid of it.
Thoughts, everyone?
And now... Have a great day, everyone! I'm off to go shopping, make cauliflower pizza, and organize family movie night. If all that gets done, it'll be a miracle.
Happy weekend!
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
In Which We Are Proved Right!
A year and a half ago, we took our second baby to see a pediatric gastroenterologist for some reflux issues, as the request of our geneticist. We will be forever grateful to that doctor (the GI doctor) for getting us out of a very unpleasant test that our geneticist wanted us to have performed - she was awesome about not doing unnecessary testing, and we really appreciated that.
However, after that was over, the doctor turned rather nasty - she freaked out about the fact that our baby (then 17 months old) was "too small for his age," and she tried to bully us into weaning him off of breastmilk and putting him on high-calorie weight-gain formula (because, you know, "you can't breastfeed him forever" - her words, not mine).
My response, in a word, was:
I eventually compromised by agreeing to add goat milk to his diet - which we did in powder form, added to his food, NOT from a cup like she wanted us to do (anything to get him away from that horrible breastmilk).
Our (late) pediatrician, when we saw him later, confirmed that her advice had been absolutely rotten - and he added that it is not an advantage to add extra weight to special needs kiddos who have low muscle tone, since the added pounds make moving about even harder (and he already has such a hard time with movement).
That we made the right decision was confirmed again this past month, when we had our little guy's three-year check-up. He is low on the height scale, yes, but he is fifty percentile points higher in weight than in height. In other words, far from "wasting away," he is quite a chubby little guy who, like most special-needs children who have hypotonia (low muscle tone), he will most likely have a lifelong struggle keeping his weight down to reasonable levels.
Had we followed this doctor's advice, we would have:
The moral of the story: Don't be afraid to say no when you disagree with your healthcare provider! I am usually a wet noodle in the hands of a doctor, but I am so glad I found the backbone to say NO.
However, after that was over, the doctor turned rather nasty - she freaked out about the fact that our baby (then 17 months old) was "too small for his age," and she tried to bully us into weaning him off of breastmilk and putting him on high-calorie weight-gain formula (because, you know, "you can't breastfeed him forever" - her words, not mine).
My response, in a word, was:
~ NO ~
I eventually compromised by agreeing to add goat milk to his diet - which we did in powder form, added to his food, NOT from a cup like she wanted us to do (anything to get him away from that horrible breastmilk).
Our (late) pediatrician, when we saw him later, confirmed that her advice had been absolutely rotten - and he added that it is not an advantage to add extra weight to special needs kiddos who have low muscle tone, since the added pounds make moving about even harder (and he already has such a hard time with movement).
That we made the right decision was confirmed again this past month, when we had our little guy's three-year check-up. He is low on the height scale, yes, but he is fifty percentile points higher in weight than in height. In other words, far from "wasting away," he is quite a chubby little guy who, like most special-needs children who have hypotonia (low muscle tone), he will most likely have a lifelong struggle keeping his weight down to reasonable levels.
Had we followed this doctor's advice, we would have:
- Interrupted a thriving breastfeeding relationship
- Deprived our baby of the benefits of breastmilk
- Exposed him to all of the negative health effects of artificial milk (formula)
- Caused a weight-gain problem on top of what we will already be dealing with
The moral of the story: Don't be afraid to say no when you disagree with your healthcare provider! I am usually a wet noodle in the hands of a doctor, but I am so glad I found the backbone to say NO.
 |
| Our Chublet in all his cuteness. |
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Our Recent Doings in Blurry Pictures
Sorry, folks - smart phones just don't take awesome pictures!
At the pumpkin patch, one of our favorite places!
Baby Moose is learning to pull up! And he is into everything!
This weekend's camping trip. A "complete fiasco" might be too harsh of a descriptor, so I will just say that we're still all alive and on speaking terms, so it could have been worse:
Trying to keep the babies busy while setting up the tent. Can you tell that the Chublet is not enamoured (yet) of being played with?
Getting the 6yo involved:
A trip to Canyon Lake after the trip to see the Dolly Steam boat. The day-use area was closed to visitors for the day... can we say "trauma"? Yes, we can. And we did.
The mountains at dawn. This has got to be our worst picture:
Trying to get everyone ready in the morning:
Sleeping late:
Some cuteness:
Some highlights of the night were a neighboring party of energetic boy scouts whose exuberant campfire lasted long into the night, and a baby (the 3yo) who decided to wake up crying (and crying and crying) in the middle of the night. I ended up on a deflated mattress squished between two babies, while DH spent the rest of the night on the floor with the 6yo.
And now, off to bed! Have a great week, all!
Rating the Dynamic Duo
DH and I are minor-league classic film buffs (of film 1933-1959), and last night we spent some time trying to rate the seven Katherine Hepburn / Spencer Tracey films in order from our most to least favorite (based on both quality and personal liking). Here are our conclusions:
Without Love
State of the Union
***
Well, classic film fans? How would you rate the works of the ultimate dynamic film duo?
Have a good night, all!
First place, a tie:
Desk SetWithout Love
Second place, a tie:
Adam's RibState of the Union
Third place:
Woman of the YearFourth place:
Pat and MikeFifth place:
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner***
Well, classic film fans? How would you rate the works of the ultimate dynamic film duo?
Have a good night, all!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Oh, the Irony!
Last week, DH received recognition for his five-year employment anniversary with his company. He received his five-year pin, his five-year anniversary gift, and a letter from the company telling him how they valued faithfulness and long-term employment.
Three days later, they went through and laid off DH's entire division. Called a meeting, said goodbye, and that was that.
So much for "faithfulness and long-term employment"!
I must admit that I have derived considerable amusement from contemplating the above.
But now we're back to the drawing board! DH is working diligently on investigating employment leads, hoping that we will be able to stay in the valley and that he will be able to find employment soon.
However, in this as in all things, we are trusting God - for timing, for wisdom, for direction, for everything. He knows where he wants DH to get a job, and where He wants us to live, and the direction in which He wants our family to go.
Over this past year, I have been praying for God to change us - change us to be the mom and dad He wants us to be, the husband and wife He wants us to be, to be the family He wants us to be and to be going in the direction He wants us to go. I have seen some absolutely incredible (read: mind-boggling) changes to our family, and I expect that this is (as always) part of that process. We are trusting Him in that process.
Hopefully I will not fail to trust Him should our length of unemployment creep close to (or past) the point where we can successfully support ourselves financially.
And so... here we go on the unemployment journey! As God wills, may it be a short one! :)
Three days later, they went through and laid off DH's entire division. Called a meeting, said goodbye, and that was that.
So much for "faithfulness and long-term employment"!
I must admit that I have derived considerable amusement from contemplating the above.
But now we're back to the drawing board! DH is working diligently on investigating employment leads, hoping that we will be able to stay in the valley and that he will be able to find employment soon.
However, in this as in all things, we are trusting God - for timing, for wisdom, for direction, for everything. He knows where he wants DH to get a job, and where He wants us to live, and the direction in which He wants our family to go.
Over this past year, I have been praying for God to change us - change us to be the mom and dad He wants us to be, the husband and wife He wants us to be, to be the family He wants us to be and to be going in the direction He wants us to go. I have seen some absolutely incredible (read: mind-boggling) changes to our family, and I expect that this is (as always) part of that process. We are trusting Him in that process.
Hopefully I will not fail to trust Him should our length of unemployment creep close to (or past) the point where we can successfully support ourselves financially.
And so... here we go on the unemployment journey! As God wills, may it be a short one! :)
I thought I'd end with this video... not because it has anything to do with anything I've been discussing, but because.... we just love this video, and I'm feeling particularly random at the moment. If you've spent any time in an American megachurch, you know how true this is. We love this!!
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