All posts by Janna

Look At Who They are Right Now

Parenting

I need to give you a bit of back story for this one…

Grace is 10 and has been lying to us about seemingly insignificant things.  This scares the snot out of me.

Eli is 9 and has some anger control issues.  And impulse control issues.  That’s a rough combination…

I have operated under the “every offense gets a consequence” system for far too long because I was always afraid of a behavior becoming a habit.  I now find myself in a bit of a panic wondering if this system of mine has caused some of these aforementioned behaviors.

I’m … Read the rest

Wednesday Wit: September 18, 2013

Wednesday Wit

Chad made a fart sound with his mouth…
Chad: Did you hear mom?  Oh my goodness!
Ada: Nuh-uh, mom would NEVER fart like that.  But I would.  I have!
There’s no parenting in a situation like that, just lots of laughing.

Chad found a hidden stash of popcorn in Grace’s room, then later…
Grace: I need a drink of water.  There’s something stuck in my throat.
Chad: Like popcorn?
Silence….
Grace: Probably.

[subscribe2]… Read the rest

Sticks and Stones

Faith, Just My Thoughts, Parenting

You know how it goes.  Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.  The reality is that words do hurt, and their effect can last much longer than a physical injury.

There are a lot of words that swirl around in my head.  Some are true and some are not.  Some are kind and some are not.  Some are mine and some are not.  Some are godly and some are not.  I am going through some counseling right now (oh yes, I will wave that banner high), and one thing we are working on is … Read the rest

Summer Vacation Pregnancy

Parenting

I’ve recently compared summer vacation to pregnancy: at first it’s all fun and exciting and hopeful and not so bad.  Then you reach the end and you’re thinking, “Drug me up, cut me open, do what you gotta do, just get it out.”

I was hopeful in June.  A long weekend at a family wedding was great fun, and a week at the beach put us to the halfway mark of the month.  We were on our way to a fun, successful summer.

July was pretty much over in a flash.  The kids were at my parents’ house for … Read the rest

Am I the Only One?

Parenting

Seriously…am I the only one

  • whose children fight all the time?
  • whose son rolls his eyes at any simple request, like “Pick up your shoes from in front of the fridge”?
  • whose preteen rides her bike just past her boundary so she can sit in someone else’s yard and cry because you’re the worst mom in the world? (because I made her wear her bike helmet that she decided she no longer likes)
  • whose children wrestle anywhere and everywhere, including in the street if that’s where it takes them?
  • who has been counting down to the first day of school?
… Read the rest

Grieving at a Hillsong Concert

Faith, More About Me

I’ve mentioned here before that I don’t like to cry – I feel like the tears are controlling my body instead of me.  But I’m still in a grieving period over the loss of Pastor Stan Buck, and I cry about that regularly.

There is this song called “Forever Reign” by Hillsong, and it somehow was the song that we sang at church when Pastor Stan was diagnosed, then his first Sunday back after surgery and chemo, whenever he had a clear scan, then when he was re-diagnosed, and on the day that he died.  This song holds a … Read the rest

First Day of School Anxiety

Anxiety, Parenting, School

As parents I think we sometimes get so busy down in the trenches of where we are currently that we forget to stand up and take a look around.  Right now Grace is in a rough patch, and if I stay down in this trench parenting her it can feel like we don’t make any progress.

Last night I was thinking back to last summer when she was filled with first day of school anxiety: starting a new year with a new teacher, new classroom, and potentially all new kids.  I had to take her in to meet her teacher … Read the rest

The Whisper Yell

Parenting

I trucked my circus to the pediatrician Monday because the Boy came home from camp with swimmer’s ear, but with his newly added sinus congestion I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a full-blown ear infection.

The tables in the exam rooms have the top that you sit on, then a bottom shelf that books are on, but where my non-ill children lay to read.  On this visit to the pediatrician’s office, the girls were on the bottom shelf reading and Eli was sitting on top.  And he was getting bored, which is immediately threat level orange.

Potty language was … Read the rest

Wednesday Wit: July 31, 2013

Wednesday Wit

Ada: I wish I was Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony.
Chad: So you would eat hay?
Ada: No.  Dad….
Chad: Would you poop in the street?
Ada: DAD!  No!  Ugh… Dang it.

Me: Eli, do you think you can find something to do that won’t get you in trouble? (after a long talk about terrorizing his sisters)
Eli: I don’t know….probably not.

[subscribe2]

 … Read the rest

A Letter to My Daughter

Kids

Happy Birthday, Heather Grace!  Ten years ago I was blissfully in labor with a wonderfully face, sleeping 2strong epidural.  At 6:15am on Monday, July 28, 2003 I became a momma to the most beautiful baby I had ever seen.

You slept well, you were happy, you followed all of the Baby Wise instructions.

You were musical before you could talk – whistling before you were one, singing a melody before you could talk, clapping on two and four better than most adults.

And just like that you’re a preteen.  I actually had to google that to verify.  I’ve never been the parent … Read the rest