First, I'm trying to make homemade laundry soap. It has to sit over night so I'll let you know tomorrow if it works. I have to find castile soap and tea tree oil before I can start making more cleaning stuff.
Secondly, while I was making homemade pizza for dinner, I could hear the cutest conversation. Prasun was sitting next to Ananya saying "Its ok baby. Its ok." He was rubbing her head and repeating it. It was the cutest thing.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
How Do You Define Yourself?
When someone asks me what I do, they probably get a very long answer.
Yeah, I'm a nurse. Any more the main reason for that is so that I can talk to doctors about my children. It's come in handy. I go to work to support my family. I don't get an opportunity to go to church because of the days that I work. I work my days so that I can say home with my kids. It's where I need to be. It's where I love to be. Going to work reinforces my need to be at home.
I also tell people that I stay home with my kids. I'm not a nurse. I'm a wife, a mother, and a homemaker. Those are my favorite. I homeschool because I love having the kids with me. I love being able to teach my kids (right now just Anthony) how to cook and bake. I'm looking forward to all the other lessons I can teach throughout the years.
I'm a homemaker. That doesn't mean that I clean my house. I try to but little people keep eating, wearing clothes, tracking dirt, and playing. That means I have to clean again. It's gotten better since Flylady, but we are still working on it. I found an article today on the website Ordinary Time . I just love what the author says about homemaking.
"And I do more than just clean and wipe noses. I have many gifts and talents that I make use of during my days and weeks. Women who fall into the "just a mother" trap don't seem to realize that they can exercise their gifts and talents as a compliment to being a mother. Just look at the woman described in Proverbs 31, it makes me tired just to read about all she accomplished. But I think one reason some women find it difficult to suddenly being at home is that no one has ever trained or taught them to be at home. These women go from full-time jobs, where much of their time is prescribed for them, many with a boss to whom they must answer, and a set job description... to being in a place where none of this exists. As a homemaker, I am responsible for organizing my days, deciding what must be done, what my budget is, and determining if I am doing a good job. If I want contact with other people, I must arrange it; there is no ready-made group of people to socialize with. I must be OK with being alone at least some of the time. (As well as never really being alone, given the many small people....) It is a totally different lifestyle and we act as if women automatically know how to make it work."
I wasn't raised like this. My mother still doesn't understand why I don't just send my kids to school and work more. We could buy more stuff. I hate stuff. It robs me of joy. It robs me of the gift of being able to give to others. Its selfish and unnecessary for the most part. I wish I knew how to make jelly, pickles, and beets (oh how I love canned beets). I wish I knew how to "put stuff up". I can freeze stuff with the best of them. I have never canned though. I unfortunately didn't get around to it this year. Maybe next year.
I love the part where she talks about not having ready-made socialization. It answers a quesion for me. How do adults socialize? If you own your own business and don't live near family, who do you socialize with? What if your coworkers are nothing like you or don't share your values? How do you find friends as a adult? By homeschooling, I hope I'm teaching my children this skill. They will hopefully learn to live in a world where they seek others like them. They will find friends who have their values. Its important.
So I ask. How do you define yourself? What is your answer to the question "What do you do?" Do you admit to worshipping the One True God? Do you confess to being a wife? Are your children part of your identity?
Yeah, I'm a nurse. Any more the main reason for that is so that I can talk to doctors about my children. It's come in handy. I go to work to support my family. I don't get an opportunity to go to church because of the days that I work. I work my days so that I can say home with my kids. It's where I need to be. It's where I love to be. Going to work reinforces my need to be at home.
I also tell people that I stay home with my kids. I'm not a nurse. I'm a wife, a mother, and a homemaker. Those are my favorite. I homeschool because I love having the kids with me. I love being able to teach my kids (right now just Anthony) how to cook and bake. I'm looking forward to all the other lessons I can teach throughout the years.
I'm a homemaker. That doesn't mean that I clean my house. I try to but little people keep eating, wearing clothes, tracking dirt, and playing. That means I have to clean again. It's gotten better since Flylady, but we are still working on it. I found an article today on the website Ordinary Time . I just love what the author says about homemaking.
"And I do more than just clean and wipe noses. I have many gifts and talents that I make use of during my days and weeks. Women who fall into the "just a mother" trap don't seem to realize that they can exercise their gifts and talents as a compliment to being a mother. Just look at the woman described in Proverbs 31, it makes me tired just to read about all she accomplished. But I think one reason some women find it difficult to suddenly being at home is that no one has ever trained or taught them to be at home. These women go from full-time jobs, where much of their time is prescribed for them, many with a boss to whom they must answer, and a set job description... to being in a place where none of this exists. As a homemaker, I am responsible for organizing my days, deciding what must be done, what my budget is, and determining if I am doing a good job. If I want contact with other people, I must arrange it; there is no ready-made group of people to socialize with. I must be OK with being alone at least some of the time. (As well as never really being alone, given the many small people....) It is a totally different lifestyle and we act as if women automatically know how to make it work."
I wasn't raised like this. My mother still doesn't understand why I don't just send my kids to school and work more. We could buy more stuff. I hate stuff. It robs me of joy. It robs me of the gift of being able to give to others. Its selfish and unnecessary for the most part. I wish I knew how to make jelly, pickles, and beets (oh how I love canned beets). I wish I knew how to "put stuff up". I can freeze stuff with the best of them. I have never canned though. I unfortunately didn't get around to it this year. Maybe next year.
I love the part where she talks about not having ready-made socialization. It answers a quesion for me. How do adults socialize? If you own your own business and don't live near family, who do you socialize with? What if your coworkers are nothing like you or don't share your values? How do you find friends as a adult? By homeschooling, I hope I'm teaching my children this skill. They will hopefully learn to live in a world where they seek others like them. They will find friends who have their values. Its important.
So I ask. How do you define yourself? What is your answer to the question "What do you do?" Do you admit to worshipping the One True God? Do you confess to being a wife? Are your children part of your identity?
Monday, September 21, 2009
Pretty Good Day
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We've had a pretty good day. Ananya was laughing and playing this morning. She got balloons from her Papaw and Paula. It was the perfect gesture for her. She loves balloons. She got a hold of the string and was shaking them for at least 45 minutes. She also talked to a few people on the phone today. She ate a good breakfast and a good lunch. About 4:30 the bottom fell out. She started crying and was almost inconsolable for a good hour and a half. She finally got completely calmed down about 6:30 and is enjoying Max and Ruby at the present moment. I hope she gets some rest tonight and has a good day tomorrow as we are supposed to go home. Thanks for all the messages and prayers. This hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
We are Settling
Hi all. Sorry no follow up post yesterday. Ananya is settled into her room and doing well. She is having some issues with anxiety or rotten or pain. She has an epidural right now so I'm not sure its pain. She started screaming yesterday when the nurse looked at her. It took 15-20 minutes to get her calmed back down. I got a little nap last night before Patrick went to sleep. I'm really tired now. I gave up trying to sleep though. We are watching the Dora Super Babies DVD. I was hoping it would calm her. She is laying next to me grinding her teeth so I am probably going to ask them to give her something. Its going to be a long few days. I'll try to keep everyone updated.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Finished with Classes
We finished our foster care classes on Thursday. Just in time for Ananya's surgery. I have to say that was about the most stressful 5 weeks I've had in a while. We had to be in Charlotte on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 5 weeks. We had to find a babysitter for 10 days. We had to leave home between 4:30 and 4:45 (0ne day I left at 3:45 and we were still late) and we didn't get home until at least 11:00. It was hard to do homeschool, therapy, or any kind of cleaning in general. I've been so tired.
It was a good experience though. We are very excited to be working with Another Choice for Black Children. They specialize in hard to place foster children ages 8 and up and sibling groups. They have been doing this for a while and are well known and well respected in the field. The biggest sticking point for me has been that they offer post placement services. They say that we are becoming part of their FAMILY and so when we have problems, they are there. They have a monthly kids night-out, mom and dad's groups. They also do outreach work. I'm excited that they will be helping us find our next children.
The classes are good. It was alot of things that I've covered in the process up to this point. I've done my research and had a general gist of the process. I don't think that they realized that I do know what I'm doing and don't take this lightly. I also don't think that they realize our commitment to our children. It was a lot for us to find a babysitter for those 10 days. We normally just don't go places that we can't take our children.
Now we are waiting for our packet. We have to do the medical form (about the only time my family doctor sees me is to fill out a medical form for an adoption). Then we can start with the homestudy and fire inspection. Once the state certifies us, then we will be ready to take a placement at anytime. Of course, we have been on the AdoptUSKids website looking already and will be ready to get information as soon as we are cleared.
I'm so excited to be taking this journey again.
We are looking at children mainly 5-11 years old, possibly a sibling group, with no regard to their age or sex. We will probably end up with at least a boy that is close to Anthony in age. We are also looking for a bigger van.
It was a good experience though. We are very excited to be working with Another Choice for Black Children. They specialize in hard to place foster children ages 8 and up and sibling groups. They have been doing this for a while and are well known and well respected in the field. The biggest sticking point for me has been that they offer post placement services. They say that we are becoming part of their FAMILY and so when we have problems, they are there. They have a monthly kids night-out, mom and dad's groups. They also do outreach work. I'm excited that they will be helping us find our next children.
The classes are good. It was alot of things that I've covered in the process up to this point. I've done my research and had a general gist of the process. I don't think that they realized that I do know what I'm doing and don't take this lightly. I also don't think that they realize our commitment to our children. It was a lot for us to find a babysitter for those 10 days. We normally just don't go places that we can't take our children.
Now we are waiting for our packet. We have to do the medical form (about the only time my family doctor sees me is to fill out a medical form for an adoption). Then we can start with the homestudy and fire inspection. Once the state certifies us, then we will be ready to take a placement at anytime. Of course, we have been on the AdoptUSKids website looking already and will be ready to get information as soon as we are cleared.
I'm so excited to be taking this journey again.
We are looking at children mainly 5-11 years old, possibly a sibling group, with no regard to their age or sex. We will probably end up with at least a boy that is close to Anthony in age. We are also looking for a bigger van.
Surgery Day
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Hi all.
We are sitting in the hospital this morning waiting for Ananya to get done in surgery. Our date got bumped back from Thursday to today. Bright and early we got to the hospital.
The doctor said the procedure will take about 4 hours. I don't know how parents do this. Patrick and I both only got about 1 1/2 hours of sleep last night. We are expecting a 3 day hospital stay. Guess its a good thing I don't mind being in a hospital.
I'll keep everyone updated.
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