Fixing Holes and Ramblings

If you are on facebook then this post will be a repeat and you don't need to read it.  Yesterday I had some time off and the kids were out of school.  We had a great day just hanging out together.  Oh... back up.  Monday Blake wanted to go to the farm with Dave.  He had a soccer game that night and the girls also wanted to go.  We decided to have Dave head out early and then we would come in the afternoon.  The girls and I went up to the high school so Cora could practice for divisionals.  We did the long jump and the 100m dash.  I ran it in 18:32 seconds.  Very embarrassing.  I need to shave about 7 second off of that.  I was so stiff and sore Tuesday morning, I could barely move.  We then did a little cleaning and headed to the farm.  After a few hours we took Blake to his game and Dave stayed to finish a bit more.  Tuesday I sewed a dress for Leah's doll and fixed a few pair of pants for Blake.  As I said I am pretty sure that the person who decided that ripped jeans was in style had a son and was tired of fighting the inevitable.  I think Blake could get a new hole every day.

Leah made cookies.  She is doing a book report on 'That is How the Cookie Crumbles' and wanted to give them out at the end. We then headed to Cardston for dental appointment.  The girls both got their implements checked.  All is going well.  I had a filling that had broken off and I got that hole fixed also.  While I was getting my work done, the kids took bat and balls to the field across the street and played.  We tried to see my Grandpa but he was sleeping and I didn't want to wake him.  Next we headed to Natalie's and caught the end of Colton's baseball.  Then on home.  It was beautiful weather again.  We do need some rain.  A good soak would be nice.

I have read an interesting article on facebook about behaviour problems in kids.  Nobody else might think this is interesting but I want to have it for future reference so am going to summarize it here. I have been researching solutions for what to do with Blake.  He just seems not nice lately, talking back to me and hitting his sisters.  I mostly think that this is because I have been gone lots and have seen a slight improvement this weekend.  I  have also found a few scriptures that we have been studying with him.  But anyways this article was very interesting to me.  It compared the parenting of French kids and US kids. They were basically saying that French kids are taught 'NO' from the time they are born. They are not given snack just before meals but taught to wait.  And are not allowed to fill up on candy and sugar.  They are taught to have structure and discipline.  Spanking when used correctly is not abuse but a punishment for bad behaviour. They are given guidelines and rules for protection.  Parents spend more time with them overall, instead of sticking them in camps all summer and other programs the rest of the year. Where the US kids are getting medicated for bad behaviour.  Can eat what they want and are not taught the meaning of NO. French kids have a .5% behaviour problem in schools and US is 9%.  While this is certainly a wide generalization and I am not sure how you can say an entire country is that way, I agree with the "French" approach. Kids need structure they don't want to be let to their own devises. Not yet.  Even if they think they do.  And as I have mentioned months ago this is coming from kids as I listen to them, running them back and forth.  Camps are good in moderation, like all things.  But our kids really just want us.  I don't have it all figured out.  I have many problems to solve with my own kids.  But I did like this philosophy.  I think it is OK to spank.  I try other things first, but a spanking works in this house.  In summer I get frustrated and the kids get bored but I try to have lots of things that they can do at home that is creative and fun.  I know that when my family is together in the summer I don't want to parent my kids.  I want to sit in the front room and talk with my sisters and mom or cook in the kitchen together.  I keep telling my kids to play outside, play outside, but with out that structure they are only good for a few days.  The older ones are great and have learned, but the younger ones still need some guidance.  That really was a ramble.  Any tips about parenting that I can read or follow from others is great.  I am thankful for the way I was raised and for some of the examples around me that I can follow. 

I found this little gem on my camera.