raise my kids well

They are doing well, today.

My eleven year old needs more bras and leggings, my 17 year old believes it is my fault he didn’t know he bombed a test (because that is my job to tell him) and my darling 13 year old forgot all his fundraising stuff today. Our 18 year old cannot be talked to if it is not a good time for her

But – Overall, their day to day needs go down and they grow up and their emotional needs go up???

More later! Busy at work…

I would like it if my kiddos could feel the pain realistically of what they DO as opposed to what I SAY to do.

For example if they don’t make good decisions, I prefer for them to feel that it was a bad decision instead of me telling them it is. Along that line, here is what I have done. As Adults we have several (or more) things we MUST do everyday or we are not succeeding – get up, work hard, put gas in the car, kids fed, groceries in house, etc. As kids they too have several things:
1- room presentable
2- no lying, cussing, yelling at family or anyone else
3- homework
4- be where you are supposed to be -school on time, home on time, etc.

That is about it if those things at the LEAST are done, you have a pretty highly functioning kiddo. since we have five, we have to have continuity. chores and other things figure in, but these are the minimum. One kid in my house gets points (2 per item per day) if he has at least 32 at the end of the week (not perfect) he can go out with friends. Since he is a little slower learner than the others, it works for him to feel successful even if he misses a mark or two. This is my comment on this today. Thanks for reading.

Well – as far as raising kids well. we want to create responsible, conscious adults right? When our teenagers cannot get out of bed because they are just frankly tired, football, job, school, family life is just getting to them. It is so hard to be the one always cracking that whip. I try very hard to teach them the consequences of what they are doing and how it affects them. All I can say today is there are good days and bad. Today is a bit of the bad. Thank God we get a new chance every moment to improve it.

I think they need so much more than ipods and xboxes. They need us to tell them we LOVE them every day and that they are worth every single effort from diapers to college. I hope my children know deep down that they are not duplicates of me or their father, but great individuals capable of anything they set their minds and souls to. I always say one thing. I am in the business of raising adults. The art of creating indepence in thought and action, self esteem and awareness of our amazing world. That they become people who add to life and not create burdens. These things seem easy enough, but it is a daily focus in our home of 4 kids from 18 down to 10. These are great years and I hope they feel it too.

Things progress. Every day, I have the chance to see what beautiful, confident, and caring children I have. Sometimes they’re small vandals, but they are everything I could hope for, and I couldn’t be happier with my children!

I am a goal oriented girl. I assess, analyze, then calculate odds on various desired outcomes. I pick a direction, then work as hard as I can to see it happen, and see my goal met. I do this with everything, even my kids. So far, so good.
One needs to develop empathy, another the will to follow through. So we work on this. My kids are young, so we’ll see how it goes. I’m not expecting perfection, nowhere near, but if I can raise them with the tools to be successful and a minimum of emotional damage, I will have done a great thing. For now, Lord help us. We need it.

... like I’m doing a decent job lately!

Both kids are in sports right now, and I can see that it has a great effect on their well-being. Both are so much happier when they’re active. Also, their dad isn’t around, and they both have male coaches who somewhat fill that void.

When their seasons are over, I think I’ll hand write thank you cards to their coaches. :)

I want my son to put God first, do be fearless and to know how much he is loved

I’m very proud of my two sons.

My kids are turning out great, but now that they are entering school the real challenges begin.