Ever Do a Little Wondering/Worrying?

I won't mention exactly what provoked the thoughts, but I've recently been worried about how I'll teach my children, who will be teenagers all too soon, what I believe in as far as morality. All forms of media seem to want them to learn something else entirely. I want to protect my children, and all children, and help them make good decisions. How impossible is that?

I like this quote: "I think we should put more of our tax dollars into educating poor girls and boys, and give them information about contraception that can prevent unwanted pregnancies, lower abortion rates and help ensure that every child is loved and cherished. But I also think faith can fortify a young woman's sense of self, a young man's sense of responsibility, and the sense of reverence all young people should have for the act of sexual intimacy." President Elect Obama said this. Motivation for my worries aside, I always hear people saying that they'd never wish to be a teenager again. Is being the parent of teenagers just as bad? Or worse? I sure hope not!

Sa-tur-day is a Special Day

Saturdays that precede General Conference Sundays are the most special days of all, y'all. Now stop right there before you give me too much credit. Don't go thinking that I'm blogging about watching the Saturday sessions, because nope, that's not it at all. What I love about today is that today is "the day I don't have to get ready for Sunday." No bathing kids (so what if they smell funny, I'm not going to church tomorrow!), no laying out church clothes (they can wear the grubby clothes they've got on, I'm not going to church tomorrow!), no packing a church bag full of "quiet" toys and CTR 7 lesson materials (they don't keep babies quiet anyway, not that it matters, I'm not going to church tomorrow!), and no early bedtimes (what do I care if the kids are a little grumpy in the morning, I'm not going to church tomorrow!).

Are You Kidding Me?

Memory lane . . . I was looking for some kids' books on Amazon and I wandered over to Jim Trelease's website. He wrote several guide books about what and why parents should read to their children. I'm a former librarian and lifelong bookworm, and his website is fascinating. (Better add "total nerd" to that description.)

He writes about an urban library. Tons of outdated material and no budget to replace them with new books. "Harry Potter? None. Gary Paulsen? One. Langston Hughes? None. . . . Not that the shelves were entirely empty. There were books on television (copyright 1955) and the telephone (1967), among others, that insult the young mind in search of reality on a printed page." http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/rah-ch7.html#printaccess So sad. But ahhh, how those crazy 1967 copyright dates bring back memories of my Kaaawa School library!

So Trelease's assertion is that children succeed when they have access to print. Simple, right? I love Gary Paulsen's story. He had a librarian hand him a library card and a book. It changed his life. (Paulsen writes books like Hatchet, which was a favorite of my sixth graders.) Reading rocks.

Words of Wisdom

I yoinked this quote off of Janet's blog because it's amazing:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."~Maryanne Williamson

Thanks for letting your light shine.