Six Feet

 A friend of mine shared this on her FB page. I have borrowed it to save it here. 

Read. Understand.

Stop cutting 6 feet off your parenting. 

By Shannon Sedam

A few years ago we were at soccer practice- I have never forgotten this  moment. The kids were told to run around the field, go to the corner and make their way back to the center. The first few kids did it correctly, but they all quickly started cutting the corner. When my son got to the point where kids were cutting, I yelled out "all the way to the corner! Do it right! We aren't cheaters!" 

One of the kids fathers looked at me and goes "geez, it's only 6 feet." 

I didn't say anything at the time. I shrugged it off and sat back down. But his comment has literally stuck with me for years now and I've always wondered "would you cut 6' off a wall if you were building a house? 6 inches? 6 centimeters?" 

No. You wouldn't. You're going to do your best to build that house exactly to spec. You aren't going to say "oh, well, this board is 6 feet short, too bad-we'll make it work." You're going to go out and get another board. Why? Because cutting corners on that home causes structural integrity issues. Cutting corners means you end up with a lopsided house that can't be trusted to provide you shelter in storms. 

I've been volunteering at the school on Monday's. There are 45 kids in the club I work with. It's terrible. Absolutely horrible. I love volunteering, I love working with my sons class, but I've never seen anything like this before. These kids are mean, nasty, and disrespectful. They have zero accountability. They scream, they run, they don't listen, they don't follow directions. They aren't quiet when the teacher talks. They have no respect whatsoever. 

The problem is the lack of parenting. The problem is, these parents think it's ok to cut 6 feet off their job. Do you realize you are raising an adult? Not a child? We don't raise children, we raise adults. It is your job to teach them to be decent people. It's your job to teach them what is right and what is wrong. It's your job to teach respect and responsibility. (Don't even get me started on the kids that have zero idea how to clean up after themselves.) 

When you choose to take a short cut on parenting, you are choosing to cut that 6' off that wall. You are messing up the integrity of your child. You are teaching them that it is ok to be lopsided and not put in full effort. 

As a society we need to stop cutting that 6'. Don't let your child cut 6', because then the next one thinks it's ok, and then the next. Then we have an even bigger problem. 

Stop cutting 6'. Stop letting your child cut 6'. The era of children being raised right now is not a good one. Something needs to change. 

I could go on further, I could write an entire book. But I know most people don't even read this much at all (that's another thing, bring back books!), so I'll stop here. Just please, stop cutting 6' off your parenting. Your child needs a solid foundation, solid walls, a solid roof if you expect them to become decent people.

Time ticks on…

 I cannot believe that it is almost New Years! I had every intention of writing here for Christmas, but that didn’t happen. I got involved with a bunch of other things. Shocking, I know… 

Let me catch you all up. 

LLB arrived on Christmas Eve with her pie pans and her pie recipes. She made two amazing pies: Chocolate mocha mousse pie with Kahlua whipped cream - amazing as always and Angel-food pie - light and fluffy and it tasted like angel food cake only lighter! 

We went to church that night and sang in the choir - we all did a fine job even if we weren’t as angelic sounding as we’d have liked. 

The next morning brought pie for breakfast and presents! Santa was very good to all of us - we certainly are blessed. We got to chat with #1 and Yellow Rose for a few minutes. Her family spent time with them at their house and it seems they enjoyed what we sent. 

LLB got a wooden submarine model in puzzle form which we attempted to put together while drinking Bloody Mary’s and mimosas. The submarine is adorable and we did an admirable job considering we didn’t realize glue was required and how many thousands of pieces the thing actually had! 

This week has been relatively quiet. We helped our new priest get and stack some firewood and clear some fallen trees from his yard. It was fun to spend time and help a friend. Yesterday I did some laundry, and helped a different friend work on organizing her craft space. Today I made some biscotti, made a meatloaf for dinner, made some cheese crisps for tomorrow night, and I started a lap blanket. 

Tomorrow we are spending the day with the wood splitter and chainsaw taking care of some of the fallen trees down by the street. It is supposed to be 60 degrees - perfect weather to be out in the yard. Then for New Year’s Eve, we will head to a friend’s home to celebrate - no worries, I suspect we won’t make midnight and will be home and in our feet pajamas before the ball drops! 

As the New Year approaches, we are thankful for all the blessings we receive, our health, our family, and our dear friends. We pray for a healthy and safe new year for all. 

The Ordinary….

Do ordinary with your children because they will become extraordinary! I know this. I have two extraordinary children who focused on the present, the normal, the seemingly mundane… 

I found this on a friend’s FB page and needed to save it.

 

This!

I don’t know who needs to see this, but… 

Ready!

Write it down! I’m ready for Christmas! Well, I’m as ready as I’m going to be. 

The tree is up. The presents are wrapped. The stockings are stuffed. The menu is planned. I can’t wait to set the table, pour the champagne, and see my family open the gifts I’ve chosen for them. 

I am going to make some caramel coffee syrup and some biscotti next week. That’s fun and easy - and really, it’s for me. I like a caramel latte and biscotti for breakfast. (Wow! That sounds so bougie, but it’s really not. 🤣) 

Cards

Mr wanted to get the Christmas cards done today. Please note that we have been married for 32 years and this is the first year he helped me get them out. Now he does help me write the letter - if we send one with the cards, but we were too busy to do that this year! (He is working almost 24/7 at the moment.) He asked what goes into getting the cards out - umm… I start with updating the mailing labels and printing… he went to make sure we had enough gas for the chainsaw and propane for the grill… so, I did that. 

Next we find out if we have enough cards. He was still checking propane or email or something… Umm… I need to get more, but for this year, we had just enough - some people are getting the ASPCA free cards that come in the mail… Please note: If we see you on FB or in person - sorry, no card for you this year. We love you, but desperate times call for desperate measures! I’ll restock the cards after Christmas and if postage isn’t even higher than it is this year, you might get a card next year.

He returned from his chores and asked what he could do to help get the cards out - he signed each and every one of them. No hand cramps for me this year! Woo! I addressed them, stamped them, and sealed them. He will deposit them in the mailbox tomorrow morning. 

Well, 32 years and we can say we’ve finally done the cards together… I hope he decides to help next year, too! We had some laughs, some fun chatting, and neither of us got a paper cut. I’d call that a success. Spending time with each other is our favorite thing to do. Being productive while spending time is fun, too! Being productive while spending time that doesn’t involve hard labor - now that’s my kind of fun! As much as I love splitting wood, addressing cards is far less taxing.

The Green News

I subscribe to a newsletter written by a local gentleman, John Green. What he says makes sense! 

Read. Understand. 

ALL  I  SEE  IS  CONFUSION                      

THE  GREEN  NEWS                                        

DECEMBER 2021   ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Trying to understand this world and what’s going on in America is confusing to say the least. Where are we headed? All I can sayis we have reached the end of normal. Nothing appears normal anymore. Nothing makes sense any more. Take the word “family”. It once meant a man and a woman getting married and raising children together. They call it the nuclear family. It’s out of style today. Now anything goes. 

It makes no sense.​​​​​​

All nations have borders. America has borders too but refuses to control our border with Mexico. Our own government refuses to enforce our laws on immigration. Millions of people have crossed our Southern Border illegally. Our government pays no attention. 

This makes no sense.​​​​​​​​​

On his first day in office Pres. Biden started undoing EVERYTHING Pres. Trump had done. It was like watching a mad kid get back at his playmate. Pres. Trump made America energy independent. Pres. Biden made America energy dependent. We don’t control the price anymore. 

Does this make sense?​​​​​​​​

The Biden Administration offers their “Green New Deal” to save the world from Climate Change. We have 15 coal-fired power plants. They are all planned for shutdown. Europe has 468 coal-fired power plants and plans 27 more. India has 589 coal-fired power plants and plans to build 446 more. Japan has 90 and plans 45 more. China has 2363 coal-fired power plants and plans 1,171 more. 

Does the “Green New Deal” make sense without the rest of the world joining in? And science has not proven that climate change is caused by man.​​​​​​​

We are a socially confused country. The Wokeism movement seeks to cancel history. They literally want to erase all knowledge of history. Then we would never see the failures of communism and socialism. Also there is Critical Race Theory (CRT). It states all whites are racist. And everyone else is oppressed. We have Deep Equity Process. Here our schools work to have equal outcomes for everyone. I wonder if this applies to NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball players? 

It makes no sense.​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Another program in vogue is transgenderism. It eliminates sex, sort of. According to this we are not born male or female. The gear we carry doesn’t matter. What matters is how you feel. You decide if you are male or female or something else. And you can change that anytime you want. The boy in Northern Virginia was born a boy, decided he was a girl and was allowed to use the girl’s bathroom. Then he decided he was a boy when he sees a girl in the girl’s bathroom and raped her. 

This whole thing makes no sense.​​​​​​​​​​

How did we get to this state of confusion? Let me offer my thoughts: Our Founding Fathers believed in God and the Judeo-Christian value systems. They believed in a God who Created all things. And that we are responsible to God who gave us Commandments to live by. He also gave us Free Will to accept or reject Him. And we have a Conscience, a sense of right and wrong. We have been running away from God. We are replacing God with man’s imperfect government. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

We have lost our values, the values that worked so well for us.Man’s wisdom cannot come close to God’s wisdom. By rejecting God we put ourselves into a constant state of confusion. This confusion will continue until we rediscover God. Christmas is a good time to rediscover God and His plan for us.  

John Green

Bells will be ringing

Today - two performances - at 3pm and 7pm! Trinity Lutheran - be there! 

BRAVA, the community group we ring with, is having our Christmas concerts today. The music is great! Mr and I are also singing (with others, of course). Yep, that’s a scary thought. It’s good that we have some really good singers, because Mr and I are far more parrot than Pavarotti… 

In between concerts, we are having a pot luck. It seems not everyone is staying. I’m a little sad about that, but they live close, so… That’s fine. They will miss my yummy Brunswick Stew. 

I made a blanket for one of the ringers who is getting married in a couple of weeks. I hope she likes it. It’s one of my best! 

Projects!

Christmas is my busiest season. Between bells and decorating and making special things for special people - time is fleeting! I’m currently playing yarn chicken with a scarf. Will I have to go upstairs and find a matching skein of yarn? Probably… ok, yes. I did have to get another skein. The recipient will love this gem. Heck, I love this gem and I might have to make a few more for friends if they see this. I think I have enough yarn to make 3 more… so, if you want one, message me. 

I finished this little lovely for a new friend who is getting married in a couple of weeks. I hope she likes it. 

I’ve made some hand lotion. I’ve got ingredients for my homemade biscotti. I need to make a couple pair of mittens, and I’ll be done… for Christmas… maybe… But before any of that can happen, I need to finish the project at the top so I can mail it today, get through a rehearsal tonight, survive 3 handbell performances this weekend, and enjoy brunch and a tree trimming with my LLB. 

I will get back to projects on Monday. That should leave me plenty of time to get it all done before Christmas… right??