Do you know someone who you consider unapologetically strong? I know of quite a few actually, but I think my mom stands out the most. Both my parents were strong, but in different ways. Without going into a lot of details my mom was strong for my sisters and me during our growing up years. There were so many things I didn’t even realize until I was older and yet she remained strong when she could have wilted and given up.
My dad had to learn to be strong from a young age. He was diagnosed with Polio at a 12-15 months. He wasn’t suppose to survive, let alone be able to walk, but he lived and walked again. My grandmother was unapologetically strong in my father’s therapy for a year or more. She is the one who did the exercises prescribed by the doctors. She’s the one who never gave up on my father and his ability to learn to walk. If it weren’t for her perseverance my father may never have walked again, but he did. Due to one of his legs being smaller and weaker, my dad walked with a limp for the rest of his life. He used a brace for many years until insurance no longer covered the cost of replacing it for a new one. I was probably in my late 20’s or even early 30’s by that time. Then he went without. I never heard him complain. My mom would tell us when he was sore but we usually didn’t hear it from him. He worked hard to provide for us. He learned to be strong in spite of his handicap and pain.
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“I participated in this campaign as a member of One2One Network, I received product, and am eligible for a prize drawing. All opinions stated in the post are my own.”
The Mamavation 2 Week Challenge has come to an end. 🙁 It makes me sad. I won’t miss the burpees workout though….ugh….that one still feels like it kills me, more so if I am really tired while doing the workout. The past week has been somewhat of a struggle. I didn’t do my workout during the morning/day, I waited until evening, many times right before I was heading off to bed….bad choice. I should have just stuck to doing it right when I woke up. I also struggled with my carb/sweet cravings. I was able to make a couple 10K or more step days, but for the most part fell short of that daily goal. On the more active days I don’t get as much work done and I’ve gotta work to make money and working means sitting in front of the computer most days. If I could walk and type fast I would, but I don’t type very well on my iPhone. I am faster with a traditional keyboard and thanks to my pedometer, learned that typing does burn calories!
I have yet to weigh myself. I kept forgetting to measure myself, so I don’t have those to compare to and fear I won’t see much of a change…..
I am not sure what I am going to do next. I’d like to continue my daily but am not sure I will be very motivated to unless I can sign up for another 2 Week Challenge or something similar. The accountability helps.
How are you doing for your Monday Motivation goals? I know I have a busy week ahead….
Like most mothers, I want what’s best for my children, but conveying that is difficult sometimes especially when there are other factors involved and a pull from other directions. This means knowing when to be soft and when to be strong through the different situations that arise as a parent.
Life has taken me through many twists and turns. When I was young all I could think about was being grown up, but what I didn’t realize then was adulthood is so much harder than I ever thought it would be. I remember wanting to be a mother and having lots of children. Yes, you read that correctly. You see, I grew up babysitting and being around some amazing children. I was a Sunday School teacher, Nursery worker, Youth Group leader, camp counselor and I eventually “graduated” to become a teacher at the camp I attended as a kid and worked at as a teen. Those experiences helped me know I wanted to be a mother from a young age. The thing is, the parents around me never prepared me for what being a mother all entailed, after all I could leave the children that were in my charge in every situation I worked. Nothing can prepare you for being a full-time parent. While it is the hardest job I have ever tackled, it is the most rewarding job I have ever had. Especially when the fruit of our labor starts to show itself….years and years down the road. Try like 12-15 years. That’s a long time to wait after pouring your heart and soul into another person. Or multiple people. I know I spent countless hours in prayer and agony worrying about how my girls were going to turn out. I still worry, part of being a parent, I guess.
When to be Soft
As a mother, there are times when I am a big softie. I love buying my children things and seeing them delight in those things. I don’t usually go overboard, but when I have eight children to buy for a simple trip to the store can pretty expensive if I cave and get them each something they ask for. That’s why we have established a rule they are not to ask for things when we go into a store. There are exceptions of course, especially if it’s something we have been talking about getting and just never have.
I tend to be a softie when it comes to allowing my children to explore and create too. This translates into our basement being a complete mess, er, I mean a masterpiece of “creating”. Part of my philosophy of homeschooling is to give our children freedom to find out who they are and what they enjoy so they can discover their life’s work in the process. I don’t want to force my children into a square peg if they are a circle. An example of this is our older daughter, who has been given ample opportunity to write. Her goal is to become a published author. The world needs good authors and I believe she can and will become one in God’s timing.
Yet there are other times when as a parent I need to act strong and establish authority and discipline in our children’s lives.
When to be Strong
I think being the authority and disciplining is what I find most difficult about parenting. As I said, I am a huge softie, that also translates into being pretty sensitive. Yet, as a mother I want to do what is right for my children so that overrides my soft heart when it comes to making sure our children are being steered in the direction of being responsible, God-fearing citizens. For example, if Junior is screeching for his way that means I don’t give in to his demands because that would go against our goals for him as a person. It is much harder to remain strong than it is to give into him. My older daughters would say that we have grown soft over the years and while that may be true, our desire is still the same, we just may be adjusting how we reach the ultimate goal. After all the girls were our so-called guinea pigs, unfortunately.
I need to be strong when my children oppose my authority or else I am going to raise spoiled brats and they will never learn how to listen to anyone in their lives. Whether or not they work for themselves or for someone else they have to learn to take direction from people in authority. After all, don’t I obey speed limits out of fear of a speeding ticket from the police, an authority in my life? Children need boundaries and I need to be strong when establishing and enforcing them.
Soft or Strong Charmin Vote
Charmin knows about the soft and strong dilemma and invites you to cast your votes for your favorite Charmin: Ultra Soft or Ultra Strong on their Facebook page.
We all have areas in our lives where we need to be soft and to be strong. The key is to determine those times in advance and stick to it through the hills and the valleys, especially as a parent.
“I am being compensated for this blog post as part of the SocialMoms and Charmin blogging program. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. For more blog posts on this topic, click here.”
If you have ever gone to college or have a college aged student you know how expensive books can be. It’s important to be able to save as much money as possible while attending college to pay for loans, lodging, food and transportation. That’s why I wish we had the internet back when I went to college in the late 80’s early 90’s. I spent a lot of money on books.
Today college students can save money using textbook rental services. After all why buy a book you’ll only read once, right? Another plus with renting textbooks is not having to store books that will never be read again. How many of those do you have in your attic or garage? I know we still have some 20 years later! Campus Book Rentals offers a solution to these issues and incredible savings. Here are some of the benefits you’ll see right off:
-40-90% off of normal bookstore prices (This is better than wholesale!)
-free shipping both ways (Extra, extra!)
-freedom to highlight in the textbooks (Wow!)
-flexible rental periods
-Operation Smile receives money with each textbook rented (Bonus! Helping others while saving money, who can turn that down?)
Hope this helps many college students save money with textbook rentals.
Happy Thrifty Thursday!
I am being compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.
School is back in session, your children may or may not still be at home depending upon their age, and if you homeschool or not. You can now support your child’s school or the school of your choice even more by shopping Box Tops for Education with Jingit app. If you are fans of General Mills, then you can shop for specific General Mills products today through Saturday and earn Box Tops for education for your child’s school through the Jingit app. Jingit helps you earn cash from brands you love by watching videos, answering a few questions after the video and finding your favorite brands in-store.
Several years ago we actively participated in Box Tops 4 Education for missionaries friends in Mexico. They taught in a school there and were able to participate in this program and earn much needed money for their school. We know it meant a lot to them to receive the box tops. For us, it was a blessing to be a part of helping others. It was pretty easy to save box tops, put them in a bag and send a full envelope of box tops to them regularly. We stopped due to the missionaries leaving the field (Mexico).
Shopping Box Tops 4 Education with Jingit App
My daughter and I went shopping (follow link for my Google+ photo album) Box Tops for Education with Jingit app last night and purchased a few things for Box Tops 4 Education. We chose a school in Chicago, Catherine Cook, knowing that many of those public schools are in need of more support. It always amazes me that government funded schools still need more money to provide a quality education. Regardless, Box Tops 4 Education helps fill in the gap, so we picked up a few necessary things on my daughter’s list and a few extras. So much for sticking to my list! 😉 Then we made our way to the cereal aisle.
The Box Top products we purchased were Honey Nut Cheerios, Nature Valley granola bars (ones my husband likes), Fiber One Brownies and Yoplait yogurt. Three of the four items we bought are products we’ve tried in the past, but have not been purchasing regularly due to our journey to better eating and cost factors. We tend to make homemade goodies and purchase packaged items when we are traveling.
Out of curiosity I visited Walmart.com to see if Jingit is mentioned or an option when you shop online and I couldn’t see anything while browsing General Mills products. However, if I click on shop Walmart on Jingit’s app page, it will take me to this Walmart page and allow me to shop using Jingit online.
I think the app is great, but as you will note in my Google+ story of our shopping experience, it has its quirks. Technology is amazing.
Support Your School
To support your child’s school and participate in Box Tops for Education start by signing up at Jingit . Then download the Jingit app here for your Android or iPhone.
You can also follow Jingit on Twitter use the hashtag #JingIt4Edu if you mention this app and Facebook as well.
“I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Jingit #CBias #SocialFabric. All opinions are my own.’
Can you believe summer is over? I can’t. Sniff. Sniff. Summer is my favorite season. Everyone’s been busy with their back to school schedules and acclimating to new routines. I know nearly every weekend in September, October and November we have something one or both days of the weekends. It’s mind boggling. With such busy schedules and being out and about more it’s even more important to keep in mind our daughters’ monthly cycles. Since my girls are still pretty new to having their period I tend to baby them a little.
Back to School with U by Kotex Tween
We homeschool so our girls do not have to worry about going off to school all day and starting their periods, but we do go out places. I have always told them to carry a couple of pads in their purse…just in case they started while we are out. Our older girls are very much girlie girls and love purses and accessories, so it wasn’t difficult for them to adapt to carrying pads around. U by Kotex Tween pads are very compact to carry and easy to keep hidden. Last month, my girls received little bags that look like make up bags, which just made carrying pads easier for them.
If your girls are in school, then getting a little bag that could pass as a pencil case could make them more comfortable carrying pads too. It would make it less conspicuous in a locker or back pack.
Warning Signs
I’ve tried to teach my girls to keep track of their menstrual cycle on a calendar so they know when to expect it. This is to help eliminate the surprise element. U by Kotex has a calendar available on their website. Even if they are experiencing irregular cycles at first it is a habit I established as a young girl and wanted them to as well. We all have warning signs that our period is near and my girls know that they are prone to headaches or backaches and probably other things that are escaping me at the moment.
I Remember When…
I remember when I first started my period and going to school. I had to watch what color pants I wore. I even remember asking one of my close friends if she could tell if I was on my period – you know that pad “bulge”? Ugh. These are not very fond memories. I remember being uncomfortable at school when I was on my monthly cycle. Not fun. If I had of had internet access back then, I imagine I would have Googled “pad bulge” or visited a website like U by Kotex Tween to get answers to my questions since I really did not talk to my mom about the subject.
What about you, what are your memories of your starting your period and school? What kinds of things do you do to help your daughter feel more comfortable with her feminine cycle while at school?
“I wrote this review while participating in a Brand Ambassador Campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of U by Kotex Tween and received products to facilitate my post and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.”
The weather has been great here and we have gone to the barn for the past three days. The children have been horse back riding bare back and all of them save the two little boys have trotted on Blaze! Jumpy had got on and off of Blaze by himself and even led Blaze around. A year or even six months ago Jumpy wasn’t doing these things. He’s growing up. It’s been so fun to watch them with the animals. Just call this Animal Week…
Here are our Ranch Dude and Dudette for this week:
I wanted to add some new photos of the chickens in their new home and of our turkeys, for those of you interested. I wish I had my phone or camera when we let all the turkeys and chickens out this morning. They loved stretching their wings, flying, puffing up and the chickens especially enjoyed foraging. While we move their coops every day or two depending, we don’t get them out enough, especially the turkeys. Electric fencing runs around $500 and we’ve been trying to hold off on that expense a bit longer…It was fun to watch the “barnyard” full of poultry. Of course we had to keep Padfoot tied up so he couldn’t cause any trouble.
Our Buff Orpington rooster went at our youngest daughter, Blondie, today because one of the hens she was holding made a noise. Blondie was more frightened than hurt. She said he pecked her on the back but there wasn’t any marks at all. He’s still alive and I am at a loss what to do because by all rights he should be on a platter, but the girls reminded me that we want to raise our own chicks and they have decided they want Buff Orpingtons. Without a rooster no baby chicks. A slight dilemma.
I was very proud of Peanut and Jumpy for catching the turkeys and getting them back into their coop. The younger children are quite adept at chicken catching too.
We have some very happy chickens and turkeys…take a look:
The turkey that is above all the rest in the photo below is our largest turkey and he’s also the one that was the hero the other night when a predator came a-callin’.
Today’s Monday Motivation is Mamavation Monday. I am half way through Mamavation’s 2 Week Challenge. Wow. I have made it. I have completed each day’s workout. Felt like I was going to die but didn’t, obviously! One thing I have struggled with is the goal of 10,000 steps. I nearly made it on Saturday and am pretty sure I would have made it last Tuesday when we attended a farm tour that included a lot of walking, plus I lifted 400 lbs of feed in and out of the van. For the most part I spend a lot of time in front of the computer, so that’s why I invested in a pedometer to help me get up and get active. It arrived on Thursday. On the busier days of computer work, it doesn’t seem to help me much even when the pedometer flashes, “Walk me!” Nice reminder but when I have client projects, two articles, four blog posts, a giveaway and 2 sponsored posts due, guess where I end up? Yep, so it’s been hard to get more active beyond my beginner workout.
Eating has been going ok. I find myself snacking less, which is a good thing or at least reaching for mostly healthy snacks. I find that Mamavation provides not only accountability (we have to post our meal photos to Twitter) but support as well. It’s encouraging to get a tweet or comment saying “You can do it” or “Way to go”. Not to mention I can get answers to why I am craving sweets and carbs. Mr. Bookie Boo suggested more protein, fiber in fruits and chewing gum. On Saturday I was craving sweets and carbs and caved to a Snickers bar (Ugh probably not only a GMO product but also laden with sugar, fat and calories) and pretzel sticks. I love my carbs and lately we rarely have wheat bread, though I love it, in our house due to a couple of children’s reaction to it and our mill being broken. Yes, we ground wheat berries into flour with the mill. We tend to make unbleached white flour products, not the greatest, I know but it’s just where we are at while we figure out allergies. We do have coconut flour in the house and maybe some arrowroot or rice flour but not enough to make things for the whole family. I need to order more from our food co-op.
This 2 Week Challenge has been good for me. It’s shown me that I can take steps to getting back in shape. It has also piqued our children’s interest in getting enough exercise, so I have ordered them a child’s wrist band S2H (Switch 2 Health), which I mentioned in another blog post. The girls have earned theirs already, but the younger crew is going to have to work for theirs! Responsibility and accountability for all. Another huge reason I want to join the Mamavation Sistahood. I think Mamavation is going to play a huge part in helping me get back into shape, which I need to do if we are going to add more animals and veggie production to our farm!
If you have been struggling with getting into a fitness routine, I highly recommend Mamavation. I love that I can do everything from home and being such an online person myself, it really fits my lifestyle and job too.
I cannot very well teach about health and wellness if I am not in shape myself, can I? Another huge motivator.
Here’s to the second half of Mamavation’s 2 Week Challenge and beyond….yes, I am even thinking of beyond now. 😉
“This post is sponsored by Salba Smart and hosted by Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway.”
We had such a response (nearly 5000 entries!) when we participated in August’s edition of the Cash and Gift Card Giveaway Hop that we’ve teamed up with them again to offer all of you the opportunity to win over $600 in cash or gift cards (or digital gift codes). Each of the blogs participating are giving away either a gift card or actual cash worth $25 or more. Exciting, right? Who doesn’t need a little extra cash?
Faith and Family Reviews will be giving away another $50 Amazon Gift code for the September Cash Giveaway. Thr giveaway will run from today through 9/21 at midnight.
$50 Amazon Gift Code Giveaway
To enter the giveaway simply do as many, if not all, of the options in the Rafflecopter below. After you’ve entered my giveaway, be sure to click this giveaway link that takes you to the rest of the $600 cash and gift card giveaways. Good luck and have fun!
Friendly reminder: Don’t forget! Visit the other participating blogs to win over $600 in cash and gift cards. Wowsa! Here’s the link with all the blog giveaways.
