Mommy of Many®

This is a lesson I’ve been working on for awhile. It has taken a bit of experimentation and observation. But, I feel pretty confident about it. Bigger kids/teens need positive physical contact. It can change their mood and how they respond. Think about when our kids are little. We are constantly picking them up and kissing them or squeezing their sweet, little bodies. We nurse them and hold them and rock them. Then, suddenly there comes an age where physical contact goes by the wayside. They stop pulling at our arms and stop saying, “hold me”. But, they still need it. They just stop vocalizing it. Think about seeing teens or middle-schoolers and how they greet one another. They usually give each other a hug. Hugging becomes a big part of showing friendship and acceptance. One of my children stopped asking for hugs or being held pretty early on, because they became a “big” sibling at a young age and soon had 2 and 3 younger siblings who were demanding my attention. I started to realize that when this child became grumpy and even mouthy, that I could “love” them out of it. Clay and I started grabbing this particular child, every time they got “poopy” and giving them a big hug and saying something kind or even silly and it made all the difference. But truly, the best example, in our home, has been with one of our teens. This kiddo had become sullen, mouthy and even violent. The times that I could remember to speak softly and give a hug (sometimes under the guise of being silly) instead of yelling back and threatening extra chores, worked out WAY better. I even involved the other kids and would say, “That’s it! Everyone hug” So and So. This always diffused the tense situation. Now, I’m not saying that it’s the solution to all problems (that’s a drink of water) but, it is something to keep in mind on a daily basis and when you just don’t know what to do with your older child or teen. A hug can never hurt and it may even give you the minute you need to think of a solution that doesn’t involve yelling. Do I remember this all the time? Heck no! But, it’s a lesson that I keep revisiting and I’m always more pleased with the result when I DO remember.

So, lesson #4-Big kids need hugs and positive physical contact even though they may not voice it.

Have a great day~

Clay has taken on the project of transferring our family movies to DVD. It’s been a trip down memory lane. I need to break out the video camera and get some new video while these guys are still little. We have tapes of Kateri, JJ and Mariah when they were tiny, but the other kiddos have gone untaped. We have TONS of pictures, but the movies are so great to revisit. Ok, that’s it, I’m committed to breaking out the camera and the tripod and getting some footage. After all, it all goes so quickly, I better capture it now!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Well, I forgot my camera tonight, so there aren’t any quirky pics of the squadron party. But, it was lots of fun. I realized that I must be getting older because I got tired around 9pm and the high energy dancing was beyond me. People looked like they were having a great time. Whew, I’m just getting old. Plus, I have to think back and realize that I’ve never gotten really comfortable with being out drinking and dancing. Having become a parent at such a young age, I jumped right into work and school and didn’t go out “partying” with friends. I like to see people having a good time, but I also don’t feel like I missed out. Ok, a couple of you are probably saying, “wait! We went out.” Hmmmmmm, maybe twice and we were too young to go to bars. So, it’s a whole scene I’ve just never done. But, again, I enjoy seeing people having a good time and WOW! Some of those guys can dance!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Well, I hope the kids didn’t give the sitter too much trouble. She didn’t really give us a report and sounded really tired. The evenings can be challenging. I guess I’ll get a full report from everyone in the morning. They are all pretty good about letting me know who did something wrong (of course they never tell on themselves ).Ok, off to bed.Good night~

This long-distance parenting is kind of tough. We got a call yesterday from JJ to let us know that he had been hurt during rugby practice. I know……,”rugby practice! Of course he got hurt”. So, we had to figure out the Dr. situation and what to do. We contacted our provider and found out that he could go to an ER or Urgent Care and it would be covered, but to see a Dr. in a clinic would not. Ugh! So, off to the ER he went. The report is that his wrist is fractured. Luckily he will be home in a couple of weeks and can HOPEFULLY be seen here at that time. We have a friend who’s an orthopedist and is going to look at his x-rays to determine if he can wait that long. Long story-short, we need to get some paper work done to have him eligible to see a Dr. where he’s at school. Why does life take so much paperwork?!

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It’s Mariah’s birthday! She’s 14 today. This makes her very happy because she’s been one of only a couple Freshmen at her school that were 13.

The kids are getting big SO fast! Thank goodness I still have little ones (even with their crazy messes and changing diapers) because I’m not ready to just have “big” kids.

Have a great day~

“I AM GREAT” this is the sentence that I was told should be “screamed” in the car before recording or doing any presentation to build confidence and create a mood.  A good friend had recently gone to a leadership conference and these were her words of wisdom for me.  So, if you happen to be walking by my van and here me, loudly proclaiming my greatness, just keep walking.  It’s all about the mood.  ;-)   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The above picture was taken this weekend at the Children’s Christmas party for the squadron that Clay is in. The importance of the picture is that, not only is Santa coming out of the helo, BUT Clay is the pilot. This is his second year of “flying to the North Pole” to pick up Santa and bring him to the party. Imagine our kiddos’ excitement! It looks something like this;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Well, I have my Christmas cards all ready to be assembled and addressed and mailed. Now, if I could just finish the final Harry Potter book, I might be able to focus on something other than Horcruxes! I love to read! Clay and I, both, have been avid readers for many years. Unfortunately, I’ve had a very, hard time reading anything besides Reader’s Digest since Gabi was born. So, making my way through this book has been a challenge. I can’t wait until Luke-Xavier is a little older and I can go back to regular reading. I miss that feeling you get when you’re taken away to another place in a great story! All of our children (so far) love to read. It took JJ a bit longer than the girls, to LOVE to read, but by 4th grade he was devouring books with the rest of the kids. Max is looking forward to reading. He looks up to Tristan and wants to do everything that Tristan does and that includes reading.I hope everyone had a peaceful weekend!Good night~

“Hey Jen!  You’re show’s out of order.”  Yes, I know I should be releasing show #6 today, but show #7 it is!  Just think of it as one of those “insider” things that you’ll know someday when Mommy of Many trivia comes out and you’re able to answer the question, “which 2 Mommy of Many shows were released out of order”.

Christmas is around the corner!  This week I talk about getting ready and the importance of making your list before hitting the store.  Remember that it’s the Spirit of the Season that’s important and not how much you can cram into the next few weeks.

Thank you for stopping by the site and I hope you enjoy the show!

 

 MOM 07 [9:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (78)

Except for today!  This morning I woke to the soothing sound of the rain and realized how much I missed it.  When I got the kids all bundled (like little marshmallows) and into the car to get to school, I found out that only ONE of my windshield wipers worked.  Who would know?!  It’s been awhile since we needed them.  Luckily it was the driver’s side that worked, so I was able to get the kids to school and then drive to the dealer to have it checked out.  It came down to something being loose.  Whew!  Easy and free fix.  The rest of the day was spent indoors doing “rainy day” things like reading books and watching movies (ok, those were the kids activities.  I still had to fold clothes and wash dishes).  So, the grocery shopping will have to wait for a drier day (surely tomorrow).  

Today’s Dance of the Children was a slow dance.

Good night~