My Overactive Super Mommy Syndrome

I am one of those moms who suffers from the Super Mommy Syndrome.  I like things to be perfect, they are far from it!  I like all my ducks in a row, they tend to waddle here and there.  I also feel guilty if I let someone help me rather than doing it myself.  These children were entrusted to me after all!

I do believe that children are given to their parents from the Lord and that it is the parents responsibility to raise them rather than pawning them off for someone else to care for.  Honestly, we are pretty capable around here.  We do not whine and ask for help when things get tough.  We tough it out!  This sometimes leads to neglect from family members because they think we have it all together and because the kind of help they offer is not what we really need.  I am learning to live with that.

Even though I have this great desire to be the mom of all mothers I realize how far short I fall.  Maybe that is a God’s way of making sure I remain humble in this area.  When you realize that the Lord entrusted these children to your care to raise them to bring glory and honor to him, well, that often seems an insurmountable task for one such as I!  I must rely on the Lord and not myself, it is only with his guidance, strength, and wisdom that I can be effective at all.  I definitely cannot do it on my own!

This Super Mommy Syndrome is some respects can be healthy.  It keeps one from shirking their responsibilities!  If we are focused on the Lord and seeking to do our best for his glory and not our own then it can also be a good propellant!  Sometimes though our own selfish and prideful nature rears its ugly head and then we have problems.  Sometimes it is hard for us Super Mommy types to ask for help or to even accept it when it is offered.  I have a prime example from today!

My hubby is out of town right now.  One of my children has standardized testing today on the other side of Anchorage (about a 40 minute drive).  My neighbor is taking two of her children so she offered to take him as well.  I said ok.  I woke from a dream this morning in which he didn’t make it on time and I was rushing around to get him there.  I called her when I got up and of course they were there and all was well.  I simply felt guilty because I was not taking care of getting him there myself!  I was letting another person take care of it.  I know this might sound crazy to most of you but I am being brutally honest here.

Let me ask you…..are you a super mommy?  Now let me ask you this, if you do not think you are a super mommy…..Do others classify you that way?  If so, then I would say you fall into that category anyway!

How do you balance your super mommy tendencies and high standards with accepting help from others and dealing with unnecessary feelings of guilt?

Copywork & Handwriting

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When teaching penmanship, basic grammar, spelling, literature, accuracy, punctuation, vocabulary, sentence structure, attention to detail, and memory skills copywork and handwriting books are a great resource.  There are many different curricula available for such things but you want to make sure they are books of substance?  We do not want to just have busy work. When trying to instill godly character in our children it is important to use a curriculum that addresses those needs as well.  I have several listed here that you may want to look into.  We have used several ourselves!

A Reason for Writing has been around for a long time.   They offer curriculum for grades K-6th.  All of the lessons are based on scripture verses.  Along with learning good penmanship children are memorizing and sharing the Word of God.

Memoria Press has a little bit of a different approach.  Their books not only contain scripture but also classic poetry, literature selections, Latin sayings, and hymns.  They also have a great explanation on their website of the benefits of copywork.  They offer a primary set consisting of three books, a cursive book, as well as a composition and sketch book.

Veritas Press has a handwriting series entitled Classically Cursive.  There are four books in this series.  These reproducible books originated by the folks at Logos School are all you need to teach cursive handwriting.  These books use scripture and the catechism.  The four books are entitled, “Bible Primer, Ten Commandments, Shorter Catechism, and The Attributes of God.”

Last but not least are the Journibles.  These are actually designed for older teens and adults.  Yes, we adults can benefit too!  I am very excited about these and am looking forward to investing in some for myself.  Here is a description from the website on these books.

Each book is organized so that you can write out your very own copy of Scripture. You will be writing the Bible text only on the right hand page of the book. This should make for easier writing and also allows ample space on the left page to write your own notes and comments. From time to time a question or word will be lightly printed on the left page; these questions are to aid in further study, but should not interfere with your own notes and comments.

So there you go!  Several great resources for meeting the needs of handwriting and copywork but also attending to our spiritual needs.  Do you have any other great resources for this?  Have you used any of these?  Which are your favorite?  I would love for you to share!

Should I Be Discouraged?

In a previous post I shared about our plumbing woes.  I also shared that we had colds being passed around.  You would think that would be enough for Murphy to move on to someone else but NOOOO!!!  I have not updated here simply because of that.  He seems to still be making himself at home!

I told you a few of us had colds.  These are not your average colds and several of us have it.  In fact, I thought that if a cold could kill someone I was next!  I had a friend tell me she uses Zicam.  So I went the store and spent the almost $8 on the little box of medicine hoping that I hadn’t wasted that money and that it would at least give some relief.  Well, let me tell you, never again will I endure a cold without that stuff!  It was AMAZING!  I am talking like literally 6 hours later I was on the mend!  We still have some sick ones here but we are all on the mend as far as colds are concerned.

As far as our plumbing woes.  Well…….The walls are still ripped open and the carpet and padding is STILL drying but the leaks are fixed.  BUT our washer broke.  This machine is only 2 and 1/2 years old.  Not only did it break but it quit working with clothes and water in it.  So we pulled out our manual for our front loader to address the problem.  It book said to unplug and call a technician.  Since our water had been off so much the previous two weeks for the plumbing repairs our laundry pile had grown into a mountain.  We NEEDED clean clothes.  Not the best time for a washer to throw in the towel!  So I loaded everything up and headed to the laundromat.  Three hours and $50 later I was home.  I guess the upside is that all the laundry was finished and put away in less time than running single loads.

The repair man arrived yesterday and the repairs are going to be $250.  PLUS another $50 for the laundromat because it won’t be fixed for another 7-10 days.

These things are all inconveniences but nothing to really be discouraged over.  Then there was yesterday.  Yesterday we started school back up after our Christmas break.  Children who had been staying up late and getting up late now had to set alarm clocks.  Grumpy, Grumpy is not the best way to start the day.  Yesterday was the school day from…well….let me just say….it was not the perfect peaceful picture of children sitting and reading books!  Far from it!  People seem to think I have it all together.  If you had seen my home yesterday all admiration would have been lost!  My house is indeed generally calm and under control but yesterday chaos with a capital C prevailed!

I was actually so discouraged yesterday this thought went through my mind, “What am I thinking?  I so cannot homeschool anymore, I have LOST it!”  Yesterday, I was so discouraged!  More so than I have have been in such a long time!  I have been homeschooling since the fall of 1996, I have dealt with children with learning disabilities, I have dealt with chaotic days before, but yesterday…..I was like my washing machine.  I was ready to throw in the towel!

My house was loud!  The 1 year old cried ALL day.  Apparently, getting four molars all at once on top of a cold isn’t fun!  The three year old didn’t want a nap and she is sick with a cold too.  No one seemed to be able to focus.  Three of the children had piano mid-morning  and that always interrupts our day.  We were behind on everything, no one could focus, and it seemed we were not accomplishing what we needed to.  The things we did get accomplished I was sure would never “stick” because it was so stinkin’ loud in the house!  Ok, well as I type this, it doesn’t seem as bad as it felt yesterday! hmm

If it had been any day other than our first day back I would have just said we were putting things away and having a recess day.  You just cannot do that on your first day back, it sets the wrong tone.  In the end we finished all but a few things that I just deemed not necessary.  We packed up the school books and headed to ice skating.  Everyone was in a better mood.  Maybe just some physical activity was what was needed.

I just kept reminding myself that I couldn’t quit that day!  I forced us to trudge on and felt a small level of accomplishment.  I did go get a haircut and even the stylist was VERY pleased.  I have been working on loosing weight and have lost 8 pounds in the last week and half.  So there have been some ups.  I found that I was letting the circumstances dictate my outlook.  I need to refocus once again and apparently, my patience is far from perfected as well.

It is so easy to become discouraged amidst a chaotic day.  Discouragement causes one to question and give up.  The key is to stop and pray and to never give up.  Easier said than done. Easier to say after the chaos and before the new day begins.  Now to go begin my new day (as I hear a child yelling at a sibling**sigh**).  Pray for me that I would cultivate peace, calmness, and love in my home today so that chaos will not prevail.

Winner Announced

The winner of my 1000th post giveaway is…….

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Michelle B.

Congrats!  Please email me your mailing address!  I hope you and all of those sweet children will enjoy it!

Thank you to all who entered!  I hope you continue to visit and comment!

1,000th Post Giveaway

I cannot believe that I have hit the one thousand mark. To celebrate this milestone I am having a giveaway because what other way is there to celebrate, right? I will only be running the giveaway for 5 days and the opportunity for entering will end at midnight (Monday) December 7th, ALASKA time. The winner will be announced on December 8th. The giveaway includes 5 different titles. They are listed below with photos of exactly what you will receive.

Full package includes:

• Considering God’s Creation Set

• Children Just Like Me

• Missionary Stories with the Millers

• Heaven’s Heroes

• Marvels of Creation – Magnificent Mammals

Now the rules: There are several ways to enter.  You can have just one entry or up to four.

1. Leave a comment here mentioning what you like most about this blog (1 entry) if you do any of the following for additional entries please let me know in your comment.
2. Subscribe and become a follower of this blog (1 entry).
3. Blog about this contest and link our blog on it – and don’t forget to give us the link below in the comments! (1 entries)
4. Add a badge (found on the link buttons page) to your blog and post a link in the comments below (1 entries).
5. Existing followers and those who already display a badge count as entries, as long as you post a comment (with link if applicable) to let me know!

Not for additional entries but I would be thrilled if you would consider tweeting this giveaway and any other blog entries by using the tweet buttons at the bottom of each blog post!  Thank you and good luck on the giveaway!

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