When Moms are Away, Boys Will Play

This weekend while the girls of the family were at the Women of Faith conference in Shreveport, La, my brother and cousin stayed with my uncle in Texas. This is what they did to entertain themselves while we were gone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMS2yPTw41Y

I have about the coolest brother and cousin in the world! :D

Parenting

I wrote this as an assignment for my marriage and family class. Though it might be interesting to post here. I wanted to write more, but the assignment had to be no more than two pages.

My parents provided me with a great childhood. All my basic needs were met and they did everything they could to give me every advantage in life. They used many different parenting strategies when raising me and my siblings. One such strategy was teaching us responsibility. We were not assigned specific chores around the house, but rather my parents taught us that when you see something that needs doing, to do it. When we were younger, my mom or dad would ask us to do specific tasks, but as we got older, we were expected to step up and do the things necessary to maintain the house. My parents also taught us discipline. We were taught from an early age that wrong actions have consequences. If we wailed and screamed if my mom told us to wait, that solicited a pop on the behind. As we grew, their mode of discipline changed too. By the time I was in middle school, I rarely, if ever got spankings. Instead, privileges were taken away. The most important part of growing up was the education that my parents gave me. From day one, my mother and father took me church. They taught us the importance of faith and a relationship with God. That has been the best thing my parents ever did for me. Another part of my education that my parents provided was academics. My mom and dad made the decision to homeschool us when my sister was in third grade and I was about to start kindergarten. They made this because of several different reasons, but the reason behind the decision was to provide the best education possible for us.
When I have children of my own, I will employ many of the strategies that my parents used. I believe that these strategies provided me with a great childhood and equipped me to grow into a well-balanced adult. Another parenting strategy that I will use is a fairly stable schedule. They’ll wake up around the same time, eat around the same time, and go to bed around the same time. It won’t be strict and inflexible, but it will help them establish a daily routine. I want to teach my children to be responsible, independent, caring, and love God and the church.
I hope to be able to stay at home with my children, but I know that if I am unable to do so, I need someone to care for my children. In the best situation, it would be a family member or a close friend. If that doesn’t work, I will have no other choice than to take my children to daycare. The condition of daycare in our country is pitiful. Daycare, even if it is not quality care, is incredibly expensive. The people who need it the most cannot afford childcare. The poor have government sponsored programs accessible to them. Even if they are not high quality, it is still their only option. The working class does not have access to government sponsored childcare and cannot afford to pay the price of public or private daycare. There is a serious need to affordable, high quality childcare in the United States. Supporters and government officials should look at European models for ideas and inspiration.

From Turmoil to Peace

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Last night a line of storms came through the Starkville area. I get pretty nervous when it's bad weather cause I'm pretty scared of tornadoes. There weren't any in our area last night, but I still had trouble sleeping. Today was in stark contrast to last night's chaos. As I drove to school this morning, the combination of the dark brown of the wet tree trunks with the bright green of the leaves was very beautiful to me. It reminded me of something out of a movie. As the day progressed, the sun came out and the clouds cleared to make room for a beautiful blue sky. The weather was perfect. A gorgeous day to sit outside and just soak it all in.

In less than six hours, the weather went from turmoil to peace.

~*~

Procrastination at Its Best

Here I am, sitting in the library on campus at 10:08 pm. I'm supposed to be studying. I have a Spanish III test tomorrow. It require a bit of studying, but I am no where near the frame of mind that it takes to actually accomplish something while looking at books and notes. Since returning from Texas after Spring Break, I've been in a mood, a funk, if you will. I don't know where it originated from, and maybe it's just the product of hormones being out of whack, who knows. All I know is that it's not fun. Before Spring Break, things were ok. I wasn't in the best of spirits, mostly because of school. I'm tired of it, and some of my classes aren't going so well. But I had an idea of where I was headed with all this, where to take my education and start a career. I'm still on the same track with that. I have some leads on possible internships for next year, and after that, I have a better idea of where to apply for jobs. So that part is looking up. I guess the part of my life that isn't looking so chipper at the moment is the relationship part. It seems like I've been on a roller coaster the past year, but suddenly, I fell out. Reality hit, and I realized that I have to get used to being alone. That prospect is not appealing to me in the least. Even if I do date some before I graduate, could it ever really get serious? Everyone is going in different directions, so the probability of us landing in the same city is slim to none. So, that's out. Well, let's say I graduate college and get the job I've been wanting. It will probably be in a city where I don't know many people, if any at all. I know from personal experience that it takes a long time to make friends and form relationships. So, again, I'm alone. Sure, I'll keep in touch with family and friends, but that's not the same as being right there with them. Boy, this growing up thing isn't all that great after all. I'm just not the kind of person who thrives on independence and freedom. Yeah, I know that sounds very un-American of me, but it's true. I don't want to be some power executive in a high profile career. That's not me. I want the little house with a picket white fence and four kids playing out back. That's who I've always been and always will be. It's just a matter of if will I ever get there...

Update

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MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS ARE 2009 SEC CHAMPS!!!

~*~

Bipolar Weather

A little over a week ago, Starkville and a good part of the Southeast looked like this:

Now, Starkville looks like this:

Spring is here! :)