The steering wheel was wet. I could barely hold on, but the anger inside seethed and prevented me from stopping, despite my blurred vision from the tears that jumped from my face. I ranted and raved in my head. The injustice! The money lost! The months waiting! The painful nights! The fervent prayers…all for nothing!
Dear Lindsey,
Tuesday (coincidentally the day after I had written you regarding the underwear fire), I left three children for a few hours in the morning, while I went to a friend who was dealing with news of the unexpected loss of her father.
When I returned, a Brady crime scene was underway. Water was pouring out of the light canister in the ceiling of the first floor. I walked past to find the two male culprits Continue reading
“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.” – Mark Twain
Dear Lindsey,
I took three of my kids to the dentist this week- the normal every 6 months habit. We walked into the waiting room, books in hand. (Aside: I really believe if I bring my book, my wait is less. If I forget my book, the wait is longer. It is like a Murphy’s Law for me!) The television had been playing to an empty room, and was set to a morning talk show. A commercial came on with a famous female commentator asking a woman, “Did you kiss her? Did you like it?” I had no idea what was coming, but I quickly jumped up to turn off Read more of this letter
Book Lists by category
Did you ever want to find the perfect book to read as you snuggle as a family and read by the fire? Did you ever want to see your pre-teen boy thinking on the adventures of being the hero of the family? Have you ever wanted your little girl to be curled up on the couch with all of the Little Women of whom Louisa May Alcott wrote? I have! I love lists and I would love to sit here and tell you all of my wisdom of what books to read and at what age. However, after reading Thomas Jefferson Education, I see that my list would simply be plagiarizing the list that Oliver DeMille previously wrote, so I will not. Instead, please go to the resource list of classics at DeMille’s site, TJEd.org to see his list of recommendations for family reading, followed by links of other classics by category. I couldn’t agree more with his list.
Another list that has been helpful since it is divided into age groups is found at Amblesideonline.org. Ambleside is a free homeschool curriculum that uses reading as its core teaching source. It has a list of “normal” public school grades with a link to a booklist for each grade. Though their books are mostly intended to be schooling, they also have a “free reading” list in each grade, which I believe I pretty much own.
I am thankful for HSLDA and their free webcast about the following list of books for boys. Below are notes from a meeting which I “attended” online in 2011. The meeting was to discuss “Books for Boys,” which is such an important topic, I wanted to tell you what I learned!
Dear Lindsey,
When J.R. was 3, I had such an embarrassing night! I invited my pastor’s wife and daughter over for dinner, since our husbands were traveling together. She innocently asked who would like to say the prayer and J.R. was the first with his hand up. His prayer went like this: “Dear God, please make all these people go away so it can just be our family for dinner.” Read more
Dictionary.com defines it as “systematic use of intimidation to achieve some goal.”
I never thought of using it to describe my child’s methods, but Chris was using the word correctly (of course!) when he referred to our 17-month-old.
The word could well describe the methods of many mothers, husbands, wives, friends, bosses, children, and …of course foreign radical religious leaders. Read more of this letter
Nate(10), had worn the same shirt for four days straight. Being an extreme soccer fan, he is often seen wearing a favorite jersey day after day until family members beg the change. Our trip to Italy for a four-week vacation was just beginning, but I think he was taking my light packing to an unneeded extreme. My husband ordered him back inside to change into something less “fragrant,” while adding, “Nate, you have to be on your game all the time. You never know what hot chicks we’ll meet today,” in a teasing tone.
The next morning, same story, different subject: “Brush your teeth; they’re growing hair! Come on! We could run into some hot chicks today,” Chris added fun to the parenting as Nate was sent back in for a date with toothpaste.
By the third offense (need for a shower), Nate knew what warning was coming and said, “I don’t care what ‘hot chicks’ could be there, Dad!”
Later that evening, we were having dinner with some new found friends from Belgium – the only English-speakers we had met thus far. Two teenage boys gave a different dynamic to our dinner conversation, since our kids were younger. The older said to his brother, “Hey, let’s go to the beach in Maori tomorrow; there could be some hot chicks there.” Nate quickly joined the conversation as if he were just one of the guys, “My dad is SO obsessed with hot chicks!”
Ha!
Nate may not know it yet, but his dad IS obsessed with hot chicks – or at least ONE hot chick –me! OK, that’s what he thinks, so let’s not tell him otherwise. 🙂
His chiding of our boys just reminds me how visually attracted men are. I am grateful to have a faithful man, who disciplines his eyes and mind, but I pray I can help him with that role.
Honestly, I have been saddened to see a person suddenly attractive, taking care of herself, changing into a “clean jersey”, only to find out the reason – that she is newly divorced and “back on the market.”
Chris has a game he plays, and once he told me about it, I jumped into playing it too. He likes to pretend that every year we have a chance to end our marriage and choose anyone else. He says that he takes it upon himself to make sure that he is the one whom I would choose again. He knows the qualities I love (because I’ve told him!) and he works hard to be the best at them. So I took it upon myself to do the same. If he could start over tomorrow, would he choose me? Would I be THE hot chick? Am I the playmate he married – throwing football for fun on a crisp fall day, singing in the rain, laughing out loud at his jokes? Do I make him feel more important than all of the other people with whom I deal? Am I doing MY best to keep my health (because angels can do no more!) so he knows my efforts for his physical attraction? Is my beauty on the inside one of which he can be proud? So often, I feel like I fail, (and I’m glad the marriage contract lasts through that! Ha!) but with the goal set to be THE one, I can get back up and try again. One thing I know: he is obsessed with a hot chick, and I am blessed he chooses me.
Letters to Lindsey 