Author's Corner, David Martin

All for Pie Pie for All, by David Martin

Oh my, folks. Every time I check out this book I'm so tickled by it. Have I blogged it before? I don't think so?

I've been holding out on you book lovers then.

Grandma Cat makes an apple pie, and after Little Brother Cat, Big Sister Cat, Momma Cat, Poppa Cat and Grandma Cat eat a piece, there is one slice left over.  Guess who gets that slice?  And guess who they share it with?

You'll have to read it yourself to discover the delightful, heartwarming details. What a pleasure!  My kids have a smile on their faces the whole read. Yes, even my big boys......including Daddy.

Other books by David Martin, a former teacher, are pictured below. Still more can be found on his official website (includes his biography).

This Moment....A Letter to Mommies

My Peter, always having some scheme in his fast-paced mind, taped a notice to the kitchen wall (shown below). Amusing doesn't begin to cover this precious childhood keepsake. 


Earlier, perusing the bookshelf which I'd newly rearranged, he found a Creepy Crawlies thematic unit I used in my teaching days. 


The wheels of that mind began spinning. 


No, he wasn't interested in me teaching it to him. Rather, he saw it as a teaching opportunity for him. Mommy, Mary, Beth and Paul were to be his pupils, along with his homeschooling friend and fellow bug enthusiastic, Elizabeth, if we could swing it. (Turns out she broke her foot).


Remember, he is my challenged speller. The same words that are incorrect here are correct somewhere else in his samples. His mind is always on content, rarely on mechanics. 

Ther is to be held a bug cllas in the dinning room at 9:30 AM. We pray you will come.

He prepared, people. Like a determined, dedicated professor. 


He went through the book painstakingly, deciding what had merit. He kept all his materials on a clipboard and carefully copied any pages he needed for his students. 


I marveled, observed from afar, and then marveled some more. But no, this boy doesn't want to be a teacher or anything. Farming is the life for him, complete with many kids around to help him and delight him. That boy's been looking at Ann's blog, you know.


Did I ever tell you playing school was my favorite thing to do as a child? Many a time I coerced my sister and my mom and any neighbor kids, when they were around (we moved a lot.....military family), into attending my classes.


Anyhow, for Peter's bug class, we were to identify insects by their body parts, sequence six picture frames showing a spider making its orb web, and for the hands-on, he went outside and cleaned out an old aquarium and dressed it up with branches and leaves. He found six live insect samples and put them in the aquarium for us to observe and then write about. He copied graph paper for us to graph our favorite bugs.


And his execution? To die for.

"Welcome to my bug class, students! Thank you for coming. How are you doing today? What are you enjoying about fall?........Well, today we will be learning about the body parts of an insect. Does someone know how many legs an insect has?"

Here is my letter to my mommy self, taped to my brain.

Welcome to the best years of your life. Treasure every notice child-taped to your wall by your amazing-brained, tender-hearted, hyperactive Peter.  

Treasure every paint mess, complete with wildly beautiful painted butterflies, courtesy of Mary, that keep you from hanging that twice-fluffed laundry. 
Treasure every inconvenient time your toddler asks to nurse because you've been crazy-busy and nursing is how she slows you down and claims your adoring eyes.

Treasure every muddied pair of jeans your Paul comes in with, fresh from playing an exuberant game of backyard football, featuring himself as offense, defense, and announcer.

Treasure, treasure, treasure. So you can remember.

Because someday your house will be clean, dusted, organized. Fingerprints will no longer soil your walls. Butterflies, painted, drawn or cut out, will no longer color your world in spring and summer and fall. You won't run out of milk every two days. There won't be a pile of muddy shoes littering your entryway.

Headache-inducing noise won't follow you around. 

It will be quiet. And empty. 

Yes, your Bible can be devoured in peace. Books, too. And prayer time can last two hours, if desired. You might even sleep through the night.

But the best years of your life will be gone. Forever.

Claim this moment as sacred. Relax in it and give thanks.

Views on Homeschooling....Annoying Ones

A little soapbox. Sorry.


We had company here for lunch today, including one guest whom I hadn't seen in 14 years. Today's lunch was her second meeting with us in a week. Knowing Beth's diagnosis and observing Peter's neurological problems, she suggested I send Paul and Mary to school and just homeschool Peter, since that would be easier on me.


I knew to tread carefully because this guest, though a loyal churchgoer all her life, happens not to be an evangelical Christian. She believes that people are mostly decent and good, and as long as they don't do anything terrible, they'll be going to heaven.


Not wanting to hide my belief system, I briefly mentioned that I homeschool, in part, to ensure that my children develop their own faith in God, and that this faith grows and deepens, unfestered by worldly distractions.


She responded that if I raise them right, they will come back to what is right, even if they take a vacation from it. The Lord will always draw them back, she said. It is all up to Him. She added that homeschooled kids are probably just are vulnerable as others in terms of walking away from faith. (Statistics strongly refute this notion.)


It's important for children to be around other children, because so much of life requires interaction, she reminded me.


I said that my children interact with other children of various ages at least twice a week.....AWANA on Wednesdays, homeschool gym/fellowship on alternate Tuesdays, church on Sundays, playdates, and various homeschool events and library events sprinkled throughout the year. 


I did not mention that my children also go everywhere with me, interacting with and watching me interact with, librarians, nurses, doctors, barbers, grocery workers, postal workers, and various business owners. Relating comfortably and respectfully with adults is important as well, yes?


I smoothly changed the subject by working on the mashed potatoes with her.


Homeschooling parents receive this feedback all the time. It's important to be patient and understanding of the different perspective, and not to be opinionated in return, but this same scenario over and over can be annoying, I must confess. 


I think all people need to have a social circle, since God created us to need fellowship. It relieves stress, makes us feel loved and supported, takes our mind off of ourselves, and it's just plain fun, usually. 


But, I completely disagree with the notion that without traditional school, a child is at a disadvantage socially. Parents and family teach interpersonal skills. Children haven't the capacity to teach healthy social skills to each other.  


Yes, children can learn by trial and error how to fit into a certain acceptable mold, but fitting in isn't a social skill, and it isn't a Christian concept. Christ is the only "person" children need to seek approval from (to honor), aside from their own parents.


Jesus has a lot to say about how to relate to others, and His teachings are learned and reinforced in the home. They are hard teachings....most unnatural to the human condition.


I also disagree with the notion that a parent should choose the route that's easiest, just because it's easiest. I should send Mary and Paul to school because it would be easier on me? What excellent thing in life is easy? Every challenging thing God sends my way makes me stronger in Him. I need to have open arms. My spiritual growth depends on it.


These children are a gift from God. They aren't a right, but a privilege. I want to express my gratitude by honoring Him in my parenting, even when it's hard.


Our goal as parents is not to send our kids out to conquer the world with their stellar interpersonal skills, earning promotion after promotion in the process. Our goal is to send them out as world changers...as messengers of Christ's love and forgiveness. That's counter-cultural parenting.


Though my guest, 76 years old now, raised six kids and took them all to church, none ever developed any spiritual interest. None. But yes, they are decent people. Very nice people.


I want to raise very nice people, yes. But even more, I want to raise messengers.


Homeschooling is only one way I can honor God in my parenting. There are many ways; homeschooling certainly isn't for everyone. It doesn't matter to me what method of schooling a family chooses. 


Just don't say that my choice puts my kids at a disadvantage socially, and don't suggest I change my mind just to make things easier on me.


Both are ridiculous. 

overheard

Yesterday Mary said she wanted to be a train driver someday.  I said that sounded wonderful, and was she also looking forward to being a mommy?


MARY:  I don't think I can be a mommy because I don't know how to babysit.


Then today I was washing her hair and we somehow started talking about babies.


MARY:  How many babies do you think I'll have, Mommy?


MOM:  It's up to God how many you have, Sweetheart.


MARY:  But what if I only have two babies? (Uttered with a whine)


MOM:  Oh, I think you'll have more than that.


MARY:  Then why did you only have one baby, Mommy? (She's speaking of Beth here, who is still a baby in Mary's eyes.)


MOM (chuckling):  I had four babies, Mary..........Beth, Mary, Paul and Peter. You're all bigger now, but you were tiny babies at one time.


MARY (looking shocked and thoughtful): We were?

Update on Beth

Beth saw a rheumatologist today and she does have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in both knees (JRA). She has the least serious type, called oligoarticular. She may grow out of this (50 % do) in late childhood or earlier. She is ANA negative, so she is not at increased risk for eye involvement, though she will have eye tests every 3-4 months to be sure. 

She will be on naproxen (an NSAID similar to ibuprofen) for a couple years (unfortunately), but it should treat the inflammation well enough to take away most of her pain and all of her limp, and prevent permanent joint disabilities. She should be able to get around normally in a few months, after the full therapeutic affect is seen. Blood tests to check for side affects will be done every 4-6 months. They do not see liver or kidney damage in young kids from these drugs. Ulcer is sometimes, but uncommonly, seen. 

She will have regular physical therapy appointments as well.

One of my worst fears is that since autoimmune diseases tend to occur in twos, that she is at increased risk for another auto-immune disease. The doctor confirmed this and said they do see teens with JRA get Type 1 Diabetes, or sometimes, lupus.  MS is not seen.  These are not regular occurrences, but they do watch out for these other diseases. We will be praying hard that this is her only disease. I know carrying a baby to term is particularly hard on diabetes patients, so that really tugs at my heart. I want her to live a normal life, including being a mommy.

Please pray for an exceptionally early remission and no other diseases and no side affects from the meds. Thank you.

The doctor thinks the knees will be the only joints involved, but in the next five months if no more than four joints total become involved, she will still have a good prognosis.

We were able to cancel the MRI, thank goodness. My husband just read in the Wall Street Journal yesterday that young children with still developing brains ( 0-4 yrs old) are at risk for learning disabilities after going under anesthesia. Hearing that, we were even more concerned about the MRI with sedation. So happy to be avoiding that test!  

The kids at greatest risk are those that undergo anesthesia more than once, before two years old.