Motherhood Tips 13
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 by Renee Ellison
There just might be some mom out there at the other end of your forward button who needs some little push in an uplifting direction today. Send along some sunshine!
(See http://www.homeschoolhowtos.com/blog/ for the first dozen Motherhood tips, and to view this current one as a blog, nicely formatted.)
Parenting Tip: Swift discipline, part II
Here’s a key verse to nail this topic that we discussed last week: Ecclesiastes 8:11: “Because the sentence [the mete consequence; spanking, perhaps] against an evil deed [deviant, defiant behavior] is not executed speedily [i.e., was not done right away, SWIFTLY, with due vigilance, at the time the child defaulted… not hours later], therefore the hearts of the sons of men [the will of the child] are fully set [like concrete] in them to do evil [to remain deviant].”
Home Management Tip: Emergency preparations
Remember the Boy Scout motto? “Be prepared.” Here are four keys to good preparation:
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Build artificial heat—pretend like disaster will strike tomorrow. What MUST be done today to make you less miserable tomorrow?
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Make to-do lists and prioritize...what is the MOST vital detail to do FIRST, the second most vital… etc. If you could never do another step before disaster hits, what would you want to make sure was completed?
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Purchase objects AND THEIR NECESSARY ACCESSORIES—be aware of the parts and pieces and batteries or fuel that could make your perfect provisions inoperable if you didn’t have them.
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Practice—shut off the electricity for one weekend. How’d ya do? What did you find out you NEEDED?
Kitchen Tip: Plussing carrot cake
Add cinnamon, raisins, walnuts and PINEAPPLE to your standard carrot cake recipe and you’ll have your family eating out of your hand. Simply scrumptious.
Sewing Tip: Colors
See to it that you wear pretty colors (YOUR colors), even when you are only wearing old knockabout clothes. It is a gift to your family who have to look at you all day. If you just love the FEEL of that old drab sweater or shirt, just cover it up with a prettier OUTSIDE layer.
To achieve this, you could try sewing a vest, or cutting off the tails of another shirt that IS in your right color to use as an open lightweight jacket on top of the thing you’d really rather wear. Try sewing on a collar of some sort in the right color to just get your better color up near your face. Or perhaps sew two large swaths of color down both fronts of your top. You could cut these long pieces from another blouse that was uncomfortable but had a wonderful
color. Sew these large rectangles of better color on TOP of your more comfortable clothes… edge it with trim at the front lapel and armholes, or add small pockets of your drab shirt on top, by cutting potential pocket fabric off the bottom of your shirt tail…. to artfully make it look deliberate, as if you had bought it that way.
Some women waste huge blocks of time looking for expensive clothes, well-fitting clothes, stylish clothes, flattering lined clothes, etc., when all that is needful is to conquer COLOR. Making sure you’re adorned in the best colors for you GIVES your family energy when they look upon you. This is a subtle additional layer of creating pleasant affection and bonding between you and your family. People love to be around a visually uplifting living canvas! You are a nurturer, so nurture those around you visually, too.
Children could care less how much you WEIGH; they just want to know if you LOOK happy. The right colors take you from looking worn out and haggard, to looking cheerful and at peace, despite what lives on your insides at the moment. Color can catapult you from drab and dowdy to dynamite.
Marriage Tip: Detach
Last week a friend told me that she has learned to have this thought when she starts heading into a marital conflict: “Oooooohhhh, this could get really ugly here quickly OR I could just grow up!”
Just like the old adage about sin, so goes every spat. Every argument “takes you further than you wanted to go, makes you stay longer than you wanted to stay, and makes you pay more (in your OWN nervous system) than you wanted to pay.” Do yourself a favor and detach. You are not obligated to take everything to the mat.
Devotions:
Relate/pray/be devoted to the Lord so much NOW that when you die you’ll only change PLACES, not OCCUPATIONS! NOW is the time to be consumed with Him. Heaven starts now.
Thank you, Mrs. Ellison!! I had the great pleasure of hearing you at the NM Homeschool Convention this year, and am loving being able to come to your site now and explore further!