FALL CLEANING ANYONE???

I am a spring cleaner AND a Fall cleaner!! I love to batten down the hatches for the upcoming cold months. Get the home spic and span and extra cozy and homey for the holidays. Time to get the summer dust cleaned up, put away the patio furniture and get our homes all clean and warm! We'll start our Fall Cleaning Schedule in September. So for the next couple of weeks, go out and enjoy the last warm days of summer. So who is going to be with me in Fall Cleaning this year??

OFF TO SCHOOL

ITS OK TO CRY MAMA!!

With school starting and us crying mommies sending our children off, I thought I would share some great poems with you, to remind yourself your not alone, you’re a great mommy, and they grow up so fast! So go ahead, print these out, make a cup of coffee and have yourself a good cry after you send the little ones off to school the first day! Get it out of your system and then next week we are back to work on Fall cleaning our homes! So you have a couple of things to cry about!!

Mom, do I start school today?
Everything will be strange and new,
Are you supposed to drop me off ?
But I’m not sure what to do.

I want to be a big boy
And not cry in front of you
Mom, why do your eyes look wet?
Are you sure you’re not crying too?

Aww, I’ll be a brave man, Mom
You have taught me what to do
You said do what the teacher says
And soon I’ll be back home with you.

I’ll learn to read and write and draw,
There’ll be new friends and games to play,
It’ll be ok, Mom, you can go
I think I’d like to stay.

I’m home, Mom! Where are you?
Come see what I have done!
I made a picture just for you!
Boy! School’s gonna be so much fun!
Nyoka Smith 2008

Preschool Survival Kit
The penny is to remind you that you are valuable
The star is to remind you to always try your best
The eraser is to remind you that it’s okay to make mistakes
The life saver is to let you know that you can always talk to me
The tissue is for drying your tears and those of others
The band-aid is to let you know that together we can make things better
The chocolate hug is to remind you that you are cared for
The sticker is to remind you that we always stick together
Author Unknown

“Why are you crying?” a young boy asked his Mom.
“Because I’m a woman” she told him.
“I don’t understand,” he said.
His Mom just hugged him and said, “And you never will, but that’s okay.”
Later the little boy asked his father, “Why does Mom seem to cry for no reason?”
“All women cry for no reason” was all his dad could say.
The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.
Finally, he put in a call to God. When God got back to him, he asked, “God, why do women cry so easily?”
God answered, “When I made woman, I decided she had to be special. I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet her arms gentle enough to give comfort. I gave her the inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times will come, even from her own children.
I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going and take care of her family and friends, even when everyone else gives up, through sickness and fatigue, without complaining. I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her badly. She has the very special power to make a child’s boo-boo feel better and to quell a teenager’s anxieties and fears. I gave her strength to care for her husband, despite faults, and I fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart. I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.
For all of this hard work, I also gave her a tear to shed. It is hers to use whenever needed and is her only weakness. When you see her cry, tell her how much you love her and all she does for everyone. And even though she may still cry, you will have made her heart feel good.

good habits for your children

Are your children organized and efficient? Are you? Do they possess good study skills that will benefit them through school and through life? Do not wait to teach good habits. Be an example to your children in organization and efficiency. Lead by example. Here are some tips to help your child succeed in their education.

Have a place that they can call their own. Be it a desk, a small TV table with baskets set up underneath it, somewhere that they can keep all that is important pertaining to school. Some place they do not have to share with others.

1. Let them set up the “work station” to their liking. Help them to pick out baskets, folders, pencils, paper; a calendar to write down assignment due dates etc.
2. Make it a quiet place in the house. Do not have the TV or music on during homework/study time. Try to keep younger siblings occupied while your child is studying and doing homework. Keep distractions at a minimum to allow your child to focus.
3. Have your child on a schedule of when they do their homework. Keep it consistent. I have always found that the kids do well if they come home, have a snack and get right to it. For one thing, it teaches them not to procrastinate. Secondly, they are still in that school mode, and it is easier for them to just get at it, and get it done.
4. Get your children into the habit giving you papers that you need to see without you asking for them. It will teach them responsibility, and give them accountability.
5. Help your child to keep their backpacks, folders, binders, and desk organized. Teach them to purge once a week anything that they do not need.
6. Do not wait until Sunday night to do weekend homework. Get kids into the habit of getting it done on Friday after school. They will learn that it is smarter to do your work rather than have it hanging over your head all weekend. They will learn that work comes before play, and if it is a bigger assignment than they bargained for, they will not be trying to finish it at the last minute, and handing in poor quality work.