Read a Book, It'll Make You More Interesting.

Isn't this mommy-ism right?! Unfortunately being a mom makes it hard to read anything more than a paragraph long. But in a mom's world full of baby talk it's really helpful for our own sanity to curl up with a good book every once in a while. Reading can help us combat the ever present "mommy brain." Mommy brain is a proper title for that mushy brain that we seem to get once we become pregnant. Reading gives us something adult to think about. And maybe even talk about when we encounter other adults. Lets get real though, this is easily said but not so easily done. I think I have a list a mile long of what I want to read. Currently I am reading a book for Bible study (only 2 weeks left). I talked about that book in a post last week. And from time to time I actually get a little devotional time in a book called Women of the Bible (I totally recommend it). I've managed to carve some reading time out of my day thanks to the carpool line but I could also do better to turn off the TV and Computer in the evening to get some more reading time. My next step is to add some reading for pleasure. I love history (pre-kids I was a history teacher) so I think I will try to finally pick up my copy of 1776 that I got last Christmas. Wish me luck!

Wonderful Wednesday!

On this wonderful Wednesday I want to talk about a wonderful book that I am going through in my Wednesday morning Bible study at church. It's called Mom's Everything Book for Daughters. It's a great book with more than just advice for Mom about building relationships with their daughters. The author Becky Freeman includes activities and other suggestions for building a relationship that can withstand the teen years and beyond. Its a must read for any mother with daughters. She also has a book for Mom's with sons, Mom's everything Book for Sons.

For Dads, there is Dad's Everthing Boook for Daughters, and Dad's Everything Book for Sons by John Trent.

Bad Mommy

My girls had their yearly well-child visit with the doctor today. Everything went just fine as far as health goes. But while the doctor was talking to my 5 year old, I found out that I was neglecting something pretty important in my parenting. Something I always swore to myself that I would be pro-active on. Safety.
First the doctor asked, where do you live? My daughter correctly answered the name of our town. I smiled with pride that she knew this much. Then, the doctor asked what her address was. I tried to hide the blush as I knew she didn't know that. Next, the doctor asked if she knew what happened if she dialed 911 on the phone. At this, I just cringed. She gave my daughter a second chance, asking "who comes if you dial 911?" My daughter just shrugged and the Dr looked at me. Not necessarily disapproving but more like, "does she really not know these things?" I thought, ask her phone number, this is something we have worked on. No she moved onto something else. She asked if my daughter knows the rules about playing in the street. I thought, she has to know this, we don't even allow her to go past the sidewalk at the end of the driveway. Nope. She answered, "sometimes, if I'm careful." Wrong! I felt like I was failing a test. The doctor finally asked her about swimming. "Do you go swimming alone?" The 5 year old answered, "no, but sometimes when I can touch I go by myself." I thought, no way!! This is the one thing that I was confident she knew. She went on to explain that I was on the side of the pool and I breathed a small sigh of relief. Two out of six. Not a good score.

So, I need work on a few things. We have 14 days left until kindergarten. She WILL know these things before kindergarten, so help me!

Some research brought me to these web sources:
Safe Kids: Focused on accidental injury has printable activities for teaching
Safe Kids Club: This is an organization that I heard about at MOPS one year I bought their workbooks even though I had a 3 month old at the time, it covers personal safety
McGruff: Games and other resources