Finding joy in the everyday

Below is part of an  interesting  article from "Focus on Family" by  Joanne  Kraft ( SOURCE ). I have taken the part that looks at all the little things that parents teach their children  i.e.   picking  up toys and why these small steps are so important later in life.  Sometimes being a parent is just so hard — but what you are doing is SO important, perhaps it is hard to see right now, but later on when the fruits of your labour  flourish, it will all make so much more sense.  I hope you enjoy this article.  Small steps, big beginnings One day when my kids were young, I slumped down at my kitchen table and dropped my face into my hands. Tears welled as I prayed silently. Really, Lord, is this my lot in life? Teaching children to put away their toys? Reminding them repeatedly to use kind words and to share with each other? Lord, surely You must have something bigger, more important for my life. After I...

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “ Honour your father and mother, ” which is the first commandment with promise:   “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” Ephesians 6:1-3 We are commanded to honour our mother and our father, it isn't an option or something we can to do occasionally or when we want something. Nor is it something we do when we are young and don't need to bother about it later in life. Honouring our parents starts at birth and we ALL need to do it throughout our lives.  However not all children have been raised by Godly, loving parents —sadly there are many people who have been raised by parents that have been abusive, making it very difficult to honour one's mother and father. Regardless of how you were raised, we still need to honour our parents and that can be very difficult for those who have been badly damaged in their childhood. Here are some things to help those who have not...

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY So much emphasis is placed on the role of mothers in a child's life we sadly forget that dad is just as important as mum. Both bring special gifts to the role of parent and both are equally as important.  Dads shouldn't be away from home so long each day that he doesn't have time to play with his children. Dad shouldn't be so exhausted from all the hours that he puts into his job that he hasn't got time to read to his children. Dad shouldn't be so stressed with financial matters that it makes him sick and misses out on special moments with his children.  As wives and mothers we need to take care of our husbands (our children's daddy) so they can be the best father ever and create the most precious memories for their children.  Wives and mothers - take your role as helpmate seriously and share the load with your husband so he can be the dad your children deserve.  Fathers need all the support they can get in th...

"Many people have the expectation that children are going to come to school and they are going to be taught all of the things, including something as basic as speech, manners and toilet training,’' . . . Parents are making schools responsible for toilet training their children in some cases, putting an extra burden on educators, teachers have reported.   ( source ) I think we are living in an age of lazy parenting . . . apathetic parents . . . parents who are no longer parenting.  Parents using electronic devices such as iPads and TV as baby sitting tools.  Parents who don't have the time to have proper conversations with their children. Parents who are too "busy" to play with their children. Parents who don't have the time for proper sit down meals that are healthy and home cooked.  Parents who take their children to the park but then spend the entire time checking their phones.  Parents who send their childre...

A while back  I wrote about the importances of education. As I was writing this I realised that my  thoughts  on education have been shaped by my parents. They strongly  believed  in education and encouraged us as children to study hard and undertake further education. My mothers views were influenced by her parents.  My love of music and art  were  influenced by my mother. Our house was always filled with classical music and my brothers and I all had music lessons. My mother encouraged me to draw and paint and was always encouraging in her comments. My mothers love of music and art was influenced by her aunt who lived with her after her mother died.  My love of reading was influenced by my parents love of reading and they  surrounded  us with books and reading from an early age.  My love of gardening was influenced by my father who loves to garden.  I still ask my dad for advice.  My skills in th...

How true. We are often so busy looking after our own families that we forget that our parents are getting older and need our help. We need to reach out and care for our parents, even when its difficult (as it can be).  They have done so much for us, now it is our turn to help.  If they are living alone they also need someone just to talk to and a phone call can make all the differences. My dad and I chat for ages on the phone (we often fix the worlds problems all by ourselves) and I pray that these phone calls do cheer him up and do make a difference. He lived with mum for so many years and now he is on his own and that must be very lonely at times. This is our time to help our parents and even if you live a long way from your parents, as I do, there are little things you can do such as regular phone calls, letters and cards (always a nice surprise to receive a cheery letter), assist with buying books, clothes etc..  . . . . because one day we will be old...

When David Kendall was growing up in Melbourne, he would leave home in the morning to play with his brothers and friends, riding his bike, yabbying, or sneaking into cinemas, with the only requirement to be back in time for tea. It's a familiar story for most who grew up in a time before computers, and a study of 1000 households, commissioned by a power tool company, has found only a third of children today are allowed to leave their property unsupervised, verses 90 per cent of their parents.  Time spent outdoors is also right down, with half of the parents surveyed spending over three hours a day playing outdoors as children. Now less than 15 per cent of their kids do. ( link ) Only the other day I read a blog that was advising parents to watch their children 24/7 and only let them play in your sight (not even in their bedroom alone as children can't be "trusted"). The blogger suggested this was complete necessary well into the teenage years as you never...

Do you know what dads talk about at work? I don't think the team I work in is completely unique, I hope it isn't, but the dads in our team love to talk about their children. Two of our dads have young children (4 [girl], 3 [boy] and a baby [girl] combined) and we often hear funny (or sometimes sad) stories about their children. . . the new things they have learnt, places they have been, the new words they are learning, problems they might be having, funny stories etc . . . but most importantly it is very clear that these dads love being a dad and they love their job as "dad".  These dads love talking about their children both between themselves but with the rest of the team and we love to hear the latest stories.  Other team members have teenage children and young adults (three are turning 21 this year) and stories are shared about all the joys and dramas of having teenage children. There is a misconception that once at work we don't think about o...

The children do leave home one day.  This is a photo of my great-grandmother , her youngest son (not in this shot) was my grandfather.  My husband and I are empty nesters.  Our two sons have left home, the eldest is married and has set up a home of his own with his lovely wife, whilst the youngest has moved in with some friends.  Children grown up and want to spread their wings. We can't keep them at home forever and neither do we want to. Whilst parents love their children dearly, their own relationship is also important and part of being an empty nester is rediscovering that relationship which is often lost (sometimes only a little, but for some couples a lot) when children and life take over.  As children become teenagers and young adults they start leading their own lives, they have their own interests, study, work and friends. It is a nature progression from the dependency on one's parents to be able to live independently. That is one of t...

The term sandwich generation refers to a generation that is simultaneously caring for parents and children. AUSTRALIANS give $22 billion a year to their adult children to help them get established, buy property, and tide them over tough times, a study reveals.  And they give another $1 billion a year to elderly parents . . . It shows parents spend about as much on their adult children as the federal government spends on the health system . . . Dr O'Dwyer, who presents the findings today at the Australian Institute of Family Studies conference, said whether people were rich or poor made no difference to the amount of practical help they gave their elderly parents. Men and women gave equal amounts of time, though doing different chores. However mothers and mothers-in-law in the oldest generation were given more help than fathers or fathers-in-law. ( source ) There are two things of interest in this research - firstly, the amount of dollars Australian families are spen...

Morning hug by Robert Doncan I was reading God Bless our Home by Mrs A and she asked a question that I am sure every mother with young children has either asked or thought about.  " A wife like me who's heart can't bear the thought of any one of her daughters being a future "prodigal" or marrying unequally yoked? " We all dream of our children future and without even really trying to, we map out what we would like our children to be doing as adults (we have even had them dressed and walking down the wedding aisle). But sadly, things don't always go to plan. Our sons and daughters have others plans, their plans, not ours . . . whether that involves marrying a guy we don't like or becoming a career woman. Their plans may break our hearts and we wonder what we have done wrong, however we cannot control our children forever, at some point a parent must let go, no matter how painful it might be. All we can do is build the best foundation...

WITH dementia rates set to soar, it is imperative more Australians plan for when they can no longer manage their health care, end-of-life care, or financial affairs, a new report says.  Only about 55 per cent of Australians have a will, and an even smaller proportion have recorded their wishes in legally binding directives about nursing, guardianship, or power of attorney arrangements. ( source ) I am some way off planning my old age, but this is worth considering.  My mother has recently moved into aged care (as she now requires high nursing care)—my parents knew the time would come when she would need specialist care, but not quite as soon as it happened.  My mother didn’t want to go into a nursing home, you do hear terrible things about them, but the Lord has provided us with a lovely place that meets all her needs and the staff are very nice, friendly and caring.  However, at almost 80 it will take quite a while to adjust to her new surroundings - comm...

Roses in my brothers front garden - aren't they gorgeous? Dear all . . . I am back from my week away. My flight home was without incident (unlike my trip over to Adelaide which was hours late), in fact I arrived 10  minutes early.  There was two parts to my trip, spending time with dad and helping him organise things in his house (no that he lives alone) and the second part was spending time with mum at the nursing home. (and spending time with my brothers, they spoilt me  with wonderful meals and accommodation as always!) Dad and I achieved all that we set out to do.  We cleaned out mum's clothes (things that she can no longer wear) and now dad has a pile to take to the charity store (I snuck a few things into my suitcase that I will be able to wear and think of my dear mother!!) and everything else can be used at the nursing home. We also went through all of mum's craft things plus others bits and bobs. Now dad knows where everything is and if he forgets, hope...

As you are reading this I am on a plane on my way to spend a week with my parents and siblings in Adelaide.  I am not the only one in the air, as we speak, my brother from the USA is also on his way, he arrives tomorrow morning.  I haven't seen him since 2007, so it will be a very exciting week.  I can't wait. Thanks to modern technology I have scheduled in some blogging that will appear whilst I am away!!  I have been busy preparing blogs so my blog doesn't stay empty for a week and get lonely!!! I will be able to read all your wonderful comments via my phone internet (hint hint) or on my brothers computer - so I can still stay in touch (and read your blogs, which I love to do). As this is Art Wednesday I thought I would have a theme on aviation.  However when I started searching for aviation art all I could find was artworks with bomber planes blowing up things.  Some were quite nice, but I thought not for tonight (too boyish).  So I decided to loo...