Okay, normally I'd be putting up a Wordless Wednesday picture and making the rounds today, but as I've put off blogging for the last 5 days to finish a book series (you should read the Twilight series if you haven't already...especially if your a woman!) so today I wanted to dig right into catching up and conversing.

I was just driving home from taking my son to school and I heard such a funny song that I started laughing out loud in my car. I was flipping stations, in an effort to avoid talking and commercials, when I heard this country song describing an adult male living at home, 5'3", overweight who starts to describing himself "online." I busted up at the picture in my head of the same guy on My Space who was 6'5", 6 pack abs, rich, and the catch phrase of "I'm so much better online." I don't know if Brad Paisley wrote the song or just sings it but the author should get a 5 star comedy rating for the lyrics.

It got me thinking about my recent push to make my blog more reflective of who I am and how easy it is to use technology today to boost your confidence. Sometimes the boosts are real and other times they're not like the song, but either way there's a power there. The first time I had a professional writer tell me that I was a great writer I flushed with the compliment. I enjoy sharing things, I always have but I never thought of myself as a good writer before that comment and it really boosted my confidence. Then I got a great review for a poem I submitted to an online poem organization and the response to publish it was so positive that it boosted me too. Neither of these things would have happened without the power of the Internet. Okay, maybe that's too extreme to know but I do know that I wouldn't have been beating down doors pursuing a writing career so it's unlikely I would ever have received feedback about things I'd written.

My husband jokes with me that I must have taken some communication or speaking classes in my former life. He says I've missed my calling as a public speaker. I'm not sure about that but I do love to talk! Sharing and presenting is a bonus for me. But I'd be lying if I said I hadn't received some warm feedback from many people in many places when I've shared my thoughts in text. It's part of the reason he pushed me so hard to start blogging I think. He seemed to think people might actually read or even care about things I might have to say or share. I thought he was nuts but then I come across fun surprises like this:

"I’ve a passion for Books and keep looking for good articles. Today, I checked if I could find more info by entering ‘health parenting’ in Google and found this:"

The result is some text from one of my articles. I was a bit dumbfounded. I don't know who the author of <a href="http://booksazon.com/2007/10/health/things-that-matter/"target="blank">the blog</a> is but to say it was a boost to have someone stumble across something I'd written with this description is an understatement. I mean, someone was actually out looking for something good, found something I wrote and is now asking for feedback/discussion on it. That was cool. No, that IS cool.

Here's to things better online. grin

Check out my newest photos to see today's hair appointment that didn't turn out at all like I'd hoped! Good thing I know how to fix it!

Filed under: Family, Parenting, Sharing, Emotions, Motherhood —

There a million other things I should be doing right now but if I don’t jot this down this minute I may forget and I don’t want that to happen. My four year old son just gave me one tearful drive to school.

This past week he’s had a difficult time adjusting to routines and schedules with school. He is very particular about the things he does and how he does them. From the moment he began to understand the concepts of writing and coloring if he (or mom and dad) couldn’t get something just the right way or the way he had it pictured in his head we’d have meltdowns and tears. In fact, last year his preschool teacher had to work very hard just to get him to try to do things that he couldn’t do as perfectly as he wanted like cutting. Now he’ll try things but he’s a real stinker about timing and wanting to finish things to his satisfaction before moving on to something else. Naturally, this doesn’t work really well with the class routines and schedules carefully timed out to fit in curriculum. So when his teacher told me on Monday that when she’d tell him it was time to stop something and that they’d finish it later and his response was a “No, I want to do this right now” I wasn’t surprised. Consequently he’s had a few yellow squares on his behavior calendar this week about listening and following the rules. Monday evening we talked a great deal about it and how he needs to not tell his teacher or mom and dad no when he doesn’t want to do what he’s been told. Apparently something stuck because yesterday when I asked him why he got another yellow square and had to stand in the “choice box” he emphatically told me that he didn’t tell her no, and last night at dinner he was careful not to use the word even though he wasn’t listening. I tried to help him understand that even if he didn’t remember saying no with his words he could still say no with his actions.

So this morning as we started our drive to school I asked him if he was going to do his very best today to listen and follow the rules. He was quiet for a minute and said “Mom I want to be good.”

I told him that there were lots of people who are there to help him. His teacher, his mom and dad and especially his Heavenly Father and Jesus. He asked me how they could help him and I told him he just need to say a prayer and ask for their help. And when I reminded him how we started a prayer I heard this from the back seat:

“Heavenly Father, ummmm…..please help me to be good and to listen.
I really want to be good and listen. Sometimes I am good. I want to be good.
Please help me. I can’t do it by myself. Help me be good. That’s all.
Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”

This is the first prayer I’ve heard him say all by himself. And to hear the innocent prayer of your child just plain tugs at your heart. There were pauses between what he said as he was really thinking out what he wanted to express. But when he said “I can’t do it by myself” I felt a fresh sting of tears.

When he was finished I told him how much I love him with all my heart and what a good boy he is. He asked me if when he did something bad if it made me not love him.

A fresh wave of tears found their way to my eyes. I didn’t want to discount the feeling and worry he was expressing, I too have felt it many times in my own life. So I told him that I will always love him no matter what, even if he makes bad choices. I may not love his choices and he will still get in trouble when he makes bad ones but I will always and forever love him with all my heart.

Taylor, I just want you to know that mommy is praying for you today too. You are such a sweet and precious boy. I know how much you want to be good and even if you slip again today and end up in the “choice box” mommy will still be here with loving arms to scoop you up and help you try again. Thank you for always reminding me about the things that really matter. I really do love you with ALL my whole heart.