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Apr 27

Wait a minute

Weren’t we talking about Bible study…how did we suddenly end up talking about food and portion sizes? Because anyone who has read 1 Peter 2 or Matthew 4 or Ezekiel 3 or Psalm 19 knows that the Lord has connected physical food-eating with spiritual Word-imbibing. Now you may not have a menu plan designed for the next forty, fifty or sixty years of your life (yes, I will try that new spaghetti recipe on January 27, 2076), but I’m confident you are planning to eat every day until eating is no longer an option. Read more

Apr 21

See the Servings 2

What scoop to use for adult servings, you wonder? How about a scoop for your eight-year-old? Here is another area for research and experimentation in the home sphere, another topic for Executive Oversight time study, another life responsibility requiring attention and training from this generation for the next generation. Food in the home is a big deal. But it needs to be a big deal away from the dinner table, so every table time is full of conversation. Read more

Apr 20

See the Servings

A child’s world is simple: eating, sleeping, playing. From the child’s view, those simple routines provide the only options for flexing will-muscles.

For the distracted parent, those same simple venues seem to spiral into bewildering battle zones with almost no effort at all: endless food wars, extensive, detailed, rigid ritual-streams that consume hours before bedtime really happens, fearsome tantrums and  time-consuming sophisticated negotiations in return for just a few minutes of “self-directed play.”

We can’t solve all those issues at once, but a coffee scoop can help in at least one area. Read more

Apr 18

Deconstructing Priceless

I have a growing collection of  reviews of parenting memoirs: women (100% so far) who have written about their child rearing experiences. Most are entertaining. All are helpful to some degree or another. They all claim to have been desperate, at wit’s end, or deep in the throes of failure before seeing the stars. Tiger Mom was the exception. She started sure-footed in the stars and gracefully slid into reality.

Stories from those endeavoring to maintain biblical principles all along (married before children, committed to biblical family principles regardless of whether children are in the home, personal lifestyle aligned with spiritual priorities) are neither as common, nor as entertaining. They are, however, priceless gems, when you hear of one. These are not the people writing books, apparently. Today is a blip of encouragement for the slow, steady, consistent process of building an environment where scriptural interest is part of the air, flavors the mealtimes, cuddles in with bedtime stories, leads the way in family activities, and is anonymous in the flashy world of modern parenting. Read more

Apr 16

Camping Out at Home

Here’s an idea for family fun that has connections to cleaning, keeping possessions orderly, and mechanical maids and all the benefits we get from them.

Plan a camp out in your own house. The ground rules are

  • You cannot open any cupboards, drawers, or closets to get what you “forget” to take camping with you.
  • You cannot go to a store for any supplies.
  • You cannot use any electricity or running water.
  • The only convenient thing you can do is flush the toilet!
  • You need to cook outside with a camp stove or a grill. No inside cooking! If you cannot cook outside, then plan cold meals.
  • You need to keep cold items in a cooler with ice.
  • Be prepared to “leave” on your camping trip late in the afternoon. Plan to “return” the next day either before or after supper, depending on how well things are going. Read more
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