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| sick little puppy |
Happy Labor Day pals! Labor Day usually means a trip to the Farm around here, but poor Toots was sick all weekend. She and I stayed home while Monster and Tommy trekked up to Wisconsin. The Farm is mecca to our Monster; it's a safe bet that he didn't miss us.
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| at the farm so he's happy... |
Hey remember that one time when I loved all the good things
the Internet has to offer? Oh yeah. Every week. I've long
wanted to do a weekly link up but it seemed sort of silly since no one was
reading this blog. But, according
to my comments, there are at least 5 of you checking in from time to time now. And so, inspired by my friend Catie’s
recent link up, I think you should know about the Internet awesomeness I've
discovered. I'll likely do link ups on Fridays (for your weekend reading
pleasure) but as it's a holiday I thought we'd start today. So get the kids in bed (if you have
them), put up your feet and forget that you have to go back to work tomorrow.
Enjoy a few of my favorites from the week!
Jen Hatmaker remains
one of my all time favorite writers. This post
filled my whole heart with joy. Mamas out there- you're doing a great
job.
"Whether you are a sweet mama imagining the spicy
mamas have all the fun (not true...we're mostly breaking up fights), or a spicy
mama assuming the sweet mamas have all the tenderness (they don't...they are
mostly, um, I'm not actually sure, I've never been in a sweet family):
If you are worried about being a bad parent, you are
probably a good one.”
Around here we’ve
been talking a lot about cochlear implants. Because I’m an extreme feelings person I can tell you
all about the emotions Monster and I are going through with this
transition. I am particularly bad,
however, at explaining anything technical with regards to Monster’s
implant. I recently came across
this blog (viviymyfam) and these parents do a fantastic job relaying the
technical stuff. Their daughter
Vivian lost her hearing at age 3 and received implants at age 5. I particularly enjoyed this, which has a great video that shows what things sound like to people with different levels of hearing loss, and this post about Vivian's reactions when the implant was activated. It was similar to Monster's but because she is older she could give words to everything that Monster could not. (You may only care
about this if you know my Monster and are tired of all my “feelings” post about
his situation but it does help to explain more technically what Monster is going through and what things sound like for him.)
My friend Catie
(the same one from above) wrote a fantastic post about how to engage your kids
about their day. I’m storing this
away for when Monster is able to answer questions after school and I don’t have
to guess how his day went based on the half eaten remnants of his lunch and
impossible to decipher art work.
“In the morning, give
them an assignment. Things like:
‘Be on the look out for what brings you joy today.
When I pick you up, I want to hear all about the different things you've
seen or learned or heard that made you feel super happy inside.’
OR
‘Find the funny, today, kiddo. When I pick you up,
report to me all the funny things that happen through out your day.’
OR
‘Today I want you to be a secret agent of kindness.
Find a few ways to be extra kind to another kid or teacher and when I
pick you up, tell me about it, okay?’”
I LOVE what Laura Ortberg Turner is doing with her “Growing up Evangelical (and being so glad for
it)” series! It’s honest and as a
parent who also works in a church I am taking lots of notes so Monster and
Toots don’t write their own memoir one day about the horrible plight of growing
up a church worker’s kid. Check
out part I, II and III (and keep an eye out for the rest of the series!).
***
Enjoy these last
bits of summer friends. I am
decidedly not in the “excited for fall” camp. I mourn the end of summer with everything in my being.
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