Children

I had three small children visiting today. The oldest has just turned 5, the next one is 3, and the youngest is not quite 2. There's also a baby, but he stayed home with Mama while I cared for the big kids. It was a lot of fun. They came for the morning, I fed them lunch, then Dad picked them up to take them home for nap time. 

We played with a multitude of toys; sometimes I joined them, sometimes I watched, and sometimes I was busy with other things, although always willing to be interrupted to answer a question or admire something they had found or built.

They liked going on my balcony and watering the plants. Then we went outside for a while. We were going to play on the grassy part between the apartment buildings, but it mosquito central, so we ended up mostly on in front of the building and in the parking lot. I tried to teach the older ones how to throw a frisbee and jump rope with varying degrees of success. They ran some races and played with balls and worked off some energy. They we went back inside to play and have lunch. After lunch we cleaned up, and then it was time for them to go.

Various highlights:

• Convincing the little one that no matter what her brothers said, she still wasn't supposed to eat grass, and the getting it all out of her mouth.
• Convincing them all not to yell in the hallway after they discovered that it echoed.
• Spending half an hour keeping them on track with clean up (but not minding that it took that long because it kept them occupied).
• Admiring the Lego man with all the heads stacked up on his head.
• Taking pictures to send to their mom so she knew that we were doing well and having fun.
• Wondering what my neighbours though about the noise in my usually quiet apartment and the yelling outside as they played.
• The little one constantly shoving more veggies into her mouth despite me saying "Chew and swallow before putting anything else in your mouth," and then having her cough bits of carrots and cucumbers on me because her mouth was too full.
• Realizing that she only did that with the veggies; she ate grilled cheese, bananas, and blueberries perfectly well.
• The laughter and the fun and the busy-ness that filled my apartment for a few hours.

Honestly, it was a bit crazy and not what I'm used to, but also so much fun! I'm looking forward to the next time they come to play.

Thoughts at Grad

Saturday was Church Grad. It used to be Homeschool Grad because we've always had several homeschool families (more than several now), but for some years now it's been open to every grad, regardless of how they were educated.

There's always a mix of children I know well and children I hardly know. The later are usually families who started when one or more of their children were junior high or older, so I maybe know the younger children but did not spend much time with the older ones. Last year was different; almost the entire group had been in my history class one year. This year, of the 13 grads, I had only taught three of them.

One in particular I had taught for 3 years and tutored on and off for more. I had also been involved with his family when he was in the younger classes and needed more help with focus and behaviour. He's much less trouble now!

I was thinking, as I watched my boy (and the others) get their diplomas, as I listened to their parents talk about them, and we all got a bit teary at points: I have so little time with them. I know that their parents feel the same, but I have even less time. I get them for a year or two in Sunday School (the three years was an anomaly and back when there were fewer students and I could keep some for an extra year); I maybe see them in the homeschool room; I talk with them on Sundays; I may have their families over. Taken altogether, it's a very short amount of time. If I add up the hours, it results in days, maybe weeks in total. 

The questions I was asking myself: What am I doing with that time? Am I doing all I can to help prepare them for adulthood? More importantly, am I doing my best to point them towards Christ?

It merged with my plans for Sunday School going forward. I've always tried to find the best materials, good teachers, everything to make Sunday School enjoyable, yes, but more importantly, to point them towards Christ. Many of my plans and desires for this take time that I don't always have, but that I need to keep finding and using well. 

And absolutely, the biggest responsibility is with the parents. It's their job to teach them, raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord, daily point them to the cross and the biggest, most important truths. Still, while my responsibility is much smaller, it's still there. God has given me a place to serve the church family and the church families and the parents have entrusted their children to me. 

This coming year will (I pray) be a planning year, a time to make sure Sunday School is all that it should be. We have so little time with them; my pray is that we will use it wisely and well.

I Might Be Old...

Yesterday the Sunday School girls were over for an end-of-year party. There were crafts to make, pizza and junk food to eat, movies to watch, and things to discuss.

At one point we were talking about books we've read recently. I told them that I'd just finished a autobiography, but they probably wouldn't know the person. It was about Alex Trebek. They didn't know who he was, no problem, but it turns out that they'd never heard of Jeopardy!

They knew the theme song, given that I sing it to them frequently during quizzes and trivia time; in fact, they said that everyone knows that. They had just never heard of the show.

When I was younger, I'm pretty sure everyone had at least hear of Jeopardy! I showed them a short clip of final Jeopardy (teen tournament), but they did not recognize it.

One day I'm going to make them watch a full episode, but an older one with Alex Trebek.

Crafts with the Kids

Yesterday was fellowship week at women's ministry and therefore fellowship week in the homeschool room, and that means games and crafts. Last month was crazy in the craft room with way, way, WAY too many children, so this month I changed some things. All of my craft kids were from the two middle rooms, so they were all 6-9 years old. The littles had their play time and the oldest two groups were games groups. That way I only had 14 craft kids and it was manageable.

We made rockets and shooting start. They were coloured and cut out, pasted to construction paper to make them sturdier, and then cut out again. Then we attached a bit of a larger straw (covered a the top with a bit of paper) to the back, gave them a bendy straw that fit into the larger straw, and all they had to do was blow through the bendy straw to launch the rocket or shooting star! They were a mostly simple and remarkably popular craft.

We also tried making rockets out of toilet paper rolls, but those were more challenging. I had to teach them how to make a cone out of a circle of paper, then triangles for fins. And then we had to attach them to the decorated toilet paper rolls, and they could not grasp "leave it alone for the glue to set" and were upset because things didn't just stay in place! Also, we ran out before we could add the tissue paper streamers to the bottom. Oh, well; they had fun decorating them and had the first craft to take home.

It was a pretty good craft time. I not only kept the numbers down, but I also managed to find something that they could all manage (okay, one youngster wanted me to do the cutting for her, but I refused because I knew she could do it).

Added to that, the young man who was helping was very helpful!

Teaching Children

When I was working on my masters degree in Biblical Studies, one of the advisors was helping me decide on electives when he used the words "You'll just be teaching women and children." 

No. Absolutely not. I am not "just teaching women and children". I am teaching women and children. This is not a lesser ministry than teaching men. Yes, it's not at the same level as the pulpit ministry, but it's not somehow less important than every other ministry in the church.

Mostly I teach children, so that's probably a level under teaching women. After all, it's mostly just child care with some nice little Bible stories and games and crafts and cute songs, right? 

I am so thankful for a church where Scripture is so important and is part of every ministry. Our women's study is on year 2 of an in-depth study of 1 Corinthians and the women are in the word weekly. 

The younger half of the Sunday School program are learning Bible stories so they know what is in the Bible while getting to know about the God of the Bible. The older years are building on that and learning about salvation and sanctification. I've started creating a new curriculum that goes through biblical doctrine and teaches the children to know Scripture more fully.

Teaching children is a huge responsibility. They don't have as many critical thinking skills and can't go to the Bible to see if what we say is true (some of them can't read yet). Everything we teach them needs to be backed by Scripture and we need to make sure we're clear and precise. 

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the responsibility. I have 114 children under my care this year (I don't teach them all, but I do oversee the Sunday School program). We're helping raise the next generation of godly men and women who will then help raise the next generation....all the way until Christ returns. They need to know God and His word so well that they can stand firm for the truth, boldly, courageously, in the face of opposition.

No, I am not "just" teaching children. I am teaching children. 

Noise

My Sunday School boys were over yesterday for our end-of-year party. We had planned to go to the park for the evening, but it had been raining and was wildly windy with more rain to come, so we stayed inside. There was pizza, cookies, chips, and pop, so they were well fed. They played together, building with Lego, checking out whatever toys I had, and making up games with the farm animals and Mr. Potato Heads. We watched the worst version of The Pilgrim's Progress I've ever seen, laughed at it, and complained about the missing and/or changed parts.

It was fun, but SO NOISY! Everyone seems to think that girls are noisier because they talk and giggle. No way. The girls may be noisy, but the boys are louder. Many of them don't have quiet voices and they try to fight and wrestle. They also laugh loudly for longer than necessary (there was some attention-getting going on). It was four hours of loud boys.

To be fair to my boys, there weren't all extremely loud. A couple of them are quieter and understood when it was time to settle down a bit; one walked away from a game when another boy wouldn't behave (the other boy straightened up right fast when he was going to lose his playmate). 

They're good boys, but my main memory of yesterday evening is NOISE!

Getting Kids to Read

Some of us were reading at an early age (I don't actually remember learning to read; I just read), while other children took longer. And some could read but didn't want to. Children are different and not everyone will be a reader and not everyone will learn at the same rate. That's okay. Still, you want children to read something, if for no other reason than to practice so they can read the important things as they enter adulthood (recipes, contracts, emails, love letters, menus, street signs, etc.).

So how do you get a child who does not want to read to actually read? 

First, make books a good thing. Start by reading to your child. You can start reading to them in infancy and keep it up until they leave the house (I still like being read to). And don't worry if they don't seem to be listening: the babies are enjoying being with you and the sound of your voice; older children may listen best if they are doodling or something; wiggly children are actually listening. Picture books are great, but don't be afraid to start reading chapter books to them when they are still young. Share books that you enjoyed as a child or that just look interesting. Make reading time a fun time that you enjoy (don't read to them because you have to and with a goal of getting it over with).

Conversely, don't use books and reading as punishment (unless you have a devoted reader, in which case taking away the current book for a bit may be a good deterrent). Forcing a child to read won't make the child enjoy reading, especially if it's seen as a consequence for bad behaviour (which are supposed to be negative to discourage the behaviour).

Have books in the house. Go to the library regularly. Surround your child with books of various genres, topics, and reading levels. Give your child options of what to read (within reason; there are things that you may hold back because your child isn't mature enough for that topic yet). Don't worry if your child prefers either fiction or non-fiction; many children will find some overlap in time and expand their horizons. Just provide the books. You won't get a reader if there aren't any books around!

Very importantly: You need to read. Your child won't think that reading is important if you never do it. More, it will seem like a kid thing to do and all children want to seem very grown up. So pick up a book that you will enjoy and read it.

Limit screen time. I have dealt with kids who "don't have time" to read, but who have time to play on-line games, watch movies, and spend hours on social media. Books can take time and effort to read and understand, and for a child who is used to the easy entertainment of computers and television, it can seem like too much work. Limit screen time and encourage reading time.

Be careful of finding a long series that "turned my child into a reader". Did it turn the child into a reader or just a reader of those books? The challenge is that these tend to be books that are easier to read and getting the child to read anything else can be almost impossible (I speak from experience here; there is a series that I will not name that I dislike for that reason). It's not always that bad, but you're better off finding a book, or even a trilogy, that your child likes, and then finding similar books to keep the reading going.

Do all that and I can guarantee that you still may not have a reader on your hands.  Again, some people are not readers and that's okay as long as they can read and comprehend well enough to enjoy life and not get sucked into a cult. Nothing I've suggested will harm your child and it just might get him or her interested in reading.

Reading to Children

I read to children a lot. I've read to my nieces and nephews when they were smaller and I've read bedtime stories to children when I babysat. I read to my Wednesday morning homeschool kids (one day I was reading to the older ones and even the "too cool for story time" kids joined us). I read to classes when I sub and we have a bit of time at the end of the day. One evening I was babysitting for friends, and after the little ones were in bed I started to read the older ones The Story of Doctor Dolittle. It was only supposed to be a few chapters before their parents came home, but their parents were later than anticipated, so I read them almost the whole book. When I was working as a tutor two days a week for friends, I read to their children for part of class (it was historical fiction, so very educational). When I visit one family, their youngest is always eager for me to read to him (and any of the older children who are around; they're so used to being read to by their parents that they don't even pretend to not listen). 

So yes, I read to children a lot. I think it's an important part of childhood and even adulthood. I've read to babies and high school kids and they all like it. I have friends who read to each other on road trips (the person not doing the driving does the reading). I remember the joy of being read to. Audio books are popular not only because you can listen while you do other things, but you're experiencing the joy of being read to.

Reading to children is beneficial for a variety of reasons. First, it introduces children to books in a way that is enjoyable for them and makes reading a good thing. Books are associated with happy times and people who care about them. When they learn to read, they're finding old friends in the pages of a book and it's easier. In fact, if they already have an idea of the story, reading goes faster and they get better at it without even realizing it.

It also allows children to enjoy stories that they aren't ready to read yet. This is obvious for younger, non-readers, but is true for older children as well. They may not have the reading ability for novels, but they have the listening ability to enjoy them. They may not understand everything just yet, but they can usually follow the story line, and they will get more in a few years if you read it again. I have a friend who reads to all her children at once regardless of their ages; she rereads favourties every few years and the children get more out of it each time.

Reading to children teaches them to understand how stories flow and how good writing sounds. When they cuddle up with you for picture books, they can see how reading goes from left to right, and they may start to recognize words. Listening to stories can teach thinking skills as they learn to wonder "what next" and to think about why someone might do something or if the story makes sense. They also sometimes apply what they hear to the world around them, noticing that someone is acting like a character in a book for example. And they learn to narrate stories as they tell someone (or everyone) about their new favourite story.

Besides all this, reading to children is fun. It's also a very relaxing activity: you're curled up on the couch or sitting on a comfy chair, sharing a favourite story with someone. The world around you may be crazy, but you get to sit in a little bubble of calm and just read.

Teaching Math

It's math month in the home school room. The first week, we learned about Euclid and some geometry (shapes, perimeter, angles, and symmetry). The second week, we learned about Pythagoras and his theorem, as well as odd/even numbers, triangular numbers, and perfect numbers. Next week, we're learning about Fibonacci so we can see the beauty of the Fibonacci sequence. There's a bit of adding and subtracting thrown in, and basically fun with numbers.

The most fun part is teaching the little kids (grades 1-3) things like the Pythagorean theorem and how to do square numbers and all sort of math that they've never heard about. They have no clue what I'm talking about, and I'm not sure how much they remember (although they could all explain right angles to me a week after I taught it, so there's that), but they just have so much enthusiasm for it, and they're so delighted when they understand something. They haven't reached a point where they think that they can't do it, so they listen eagerly and make the connections and love it!

Seriously, we have this conversation all the time:
One (or more) of them: I don't understand that.
Me: I know, but I'm going to explain it to you, okay?
Them: Okay!

And then I explain it, and they get it (to whatever extent), and we're all happy.

It's a bit more challenging with the bigger kids who already know that some learning is really hard, but even they try learning what I'm teaching. The best part is that they aren't afraid to say when they don't understand, so I can try again. And some of them already know some of what I'm teaching (and most of them can do the basic math behind the concepts), so that helps.

So far, math month has been a lot of fun.

Book Month

On Wednesday mornings, we have the Ladies' Study at the church. Because we have a large number of homeschool families, part of our child care is the homeschool room. This is my responsibility, and I love it.

I actually have 2 rooms: grades 1-3 (formerly grades 1-4, but it became necessary to move the grade 4 student up to the big kids' room, much to their delight) and grades 4 and up. For the first hour, I teach the little kids while the big kids do school work, and then in the second hour we switch.

Every month I have a theme of sorts for what I'm teaching them. September/October we combined into church history months, culminating with Martin Luther on Reformation Day. November was geography month, and they did country projects. December we were off. January was astronomy month, and we had fun learning about stars and planets and the size of our solar system and galaxy.

This month is book month. I told them to bring books to read (or look at for my smallest students). For the smaller students, I had them read quietly for the first 30 minutes, and then my helper read them a story, and I finished with another story. The big kids had to read for the first 30 minutes, and then had a choice to keep reading or to start writing/drawing a book. I wouldn't let them just sit and colour; the choice was "read a book or make a book".

I have never heard my homeschool rooms so quiet, even the little guys (although it was a bit noisier as they can't all read in their heads just yet so there was a lot of whisper reading). It was beautiful, and I got to relax and read as well. I'm pretty sure this was my best idea yet. I wonder if we can keep book month going for the rest of the year?

The Last Week of Summer

Of course I know that summer doesn't really end until near the end of September, but I still run on a teacher schedule, so summer ends on the Labour Day weekend. Then the kids go back to school and I get my days back, which means finally catching up on paperwork and such. It also means working more regular hours (not "normal" hours from, say, an office worker's perspective, but I can settle back into routine).

I have been sleeping better the past few nights, including a full 8 hours Saturday night (and it's been a really, really long time since that happened). It's always easier to deal with life when I'm at least a bit rested.

Yesterday was Sunday School registration. From the best I can figure, 2 families were there and didn't register, 1 family was away, and there are a few others who came sometimes near the end of last year that I'm not sure about (the didn't register, but they may not be planning to attend). I think my numbers are fairly accurate, so I can start organizing classes and materials.

As I left church yesterday, I noticed one of the little guys (he's around 3) wandering outside. He was just at the edge of the parking lot, and had obviously escaped whoever was supposed to be watching him. I suggested that he should go inside, and he just looked at me, so I asked one of the older boys to bring the little guy in and hand him over to his mom. The older boy was willing, but the little guy still wouldn't go until the older guy said, "Let's race to see who can get inside first!" It worked (of course). When I told the big guy's mom, she was pleased that he had that figured out, but then realized why that trick no longer works on him.

That's about it for now. Life at work is about to settle down; life outside work is about to get busy (Bible study, women's Wednesday morning group, Sunday School, and counselling class are all ready to begin next month).

Sunday Stuff

It's hot. It has been so very, very hot lately, and even with the fan, I have not been sleeping well. The good news is, the A/C at the church had been fixed; last week it was broken, and had it still been broken today, we may have all roasted. On the other hand, there is a severe thunderstorm watch. I like thunderstorms.

After the service, I was up in the library, getting some of the new books shelved. There were a couple small children running through the library, shrieking (they all seemed to be in a very shrieky mood today). After telling them to stop and chasing them out once, I decided to return a couple of them to their parents. The one small guy ran from me...right to his mom to tell her that Miss Dorothy was coming. He doesn't quite realize yet that her response is to ask why Miss Dorothy is coming. That worked out well, especially since his dad came from the other direction (I think he had been up in the balcony, which is just off the library, and had seen/heard what was happening), and had him tell me that he was sorry for running and screaming. He agreed not to run or scream in the library again.

Church Notes

Today in Sunday School we learned about Zwingli (who has a great name), the Swiss reformer. One thing we talked about is that sometimes you need to make a stand. Erasmus (a contemporary of Zwingli) tried to stay in the middle, refusing to take sides or debate or anything, and in the end, neither the Protestants nor the Roman Catholics trusted him. Zwingli tried to reform the church from within for a time, but eventually had to side fully with the reformers and the Bible. We talked about how sometimes you can be flexible (not everything is a hill to die on), but other times you need to choose, and if you try to stay in the middle of the road, you'll get hit by a car.

We also had a library meeting, now that things are getting settled in the library. We talked schedule and policies. One thing we need to keep an eye on is the children playing in the library. We want them there, but not running around or sitting too close to the fireplace. Also, if they are at the edge of the balcony looking down at everyone, they need to keep both feet on the floor (and definitely not on chairs). We want the children there, and are planning a "children's corner" where they can hang out and read or colour. We just don't want them to get hurt. Among the librarians, we have 3 moms, a grandma (so technically 4 moms), an older brother (and I can testify as to how bossy older brothers can be), and me (I love the children, so I'm very firm with them when I need to be, and they listen to me). I think we can keep the children in line!

I've just listened to half-a-dozen versions of this, looking for one where I could understand the words, and where they didn't change the words. Appreciate my effort for you while you listen!

Christmas Concert Stuff

Tomorrow is the Christmas concert at the church, so today was dress rehearsal day. Except that we weren't able to do an actual dress rehearsal; we just did a "this is the best we can do; forget about the costumes" rehearsal.

This year's concert has been a headache from the beginning, and yet I've been remarkably calm (although I've been accused of being stressed and upset, but that's just when I've been herding children into one spot and trying to figure out how to deal with problems; it seems that when I'm trying to do 3 things at once and I'm talking talking to 3 groups at once I seem stressed, even when I'm not).

Here's the issue: In October, I emailed the elder with the plans for the concert meeting, the practice times, and the dress rehearsal time. He told me that he would confirm with the other elders, and a few days later assured me that the times were all good.

What no one told me was....

1. The day of the concert meeting, we were going to have coffee/juice/cookies to celebrate the church's 11th anniversary and the installation of the newest elder/pastor, and that this would happen during my meeting. 
2. There would be a baptism the week of the first practice. They did give 30 minutes between the service and the baptism so that there would be time for practice, but since I also help back stage for the baptisms, it was a rather rushed and busy day.
3. They were going to welcome all the new members with a fellowship meal the day of (and the time of) the second practice. I gave up then and cancelled the practice.
4. The elder would forget to check that we could use the church for the dress rehearsal (we're not in our own building quite yet, so we rent another church for our services and other stuff), and we would show up to find that the other church was having choir practice on the stage, and that they had a funeral scheduled to start before we were going to finish.

So we had the "dress" rehearsal in the atrium, which worked, but didn't give us the right amount of room on our "stage", or the right amount of room for the wings so they know where to come on and off the stage, or the piano on the correct side. I know that last part doesn't seem like a big deal, but I had a hard time explaining to one adult how things would be for the actual concert. She was convinced that they children would be coming on stage on the side with the piano because they came on the side with the piano today. It was a very confusing conversation, and why would I confuse the children by having them come on the other side (also, the children weren't confused because most of them remembered how it was last year, and that hasn't changed).

We'll see how things go tomorrow. If everyone is on time (ha, ha....like that would happen), I'll have about 20 minutes to make sure the children know where to stand and the adults know where to send them on stage.

Right Now

Right now there is a flock of small nuisances in my living room. They range from 6-10 years old and there are 5 of them.

So far they have made 2 bracelets, one bead person, and a mess of beads and bead accouterments.

They found the small doctor kit, and then I found them the real stethoscope. We listened to everyone's hearts, heads, and lungs. Then we all took turns being the dead person and getting heart and kidney transplants. There was a lot of drama and Skittle pills.

Eventually we ordered pizza and pop and now they're eating and watching a movie and playing and talking.

They're so much fun.

Christmas Concert Notes

Last night was the Sunday School Christmas Concert, attended by parents, grandparents, assorted relatives forced to attend, and maybe 5 other people. Our Christmas concerts do not draw huge crowds, although the crowds are getting bigger because we are getting more children. Here are my thoughts:

1. No one fell of the stage. No one has ever fallen off the stage (although a couple of the older kids jumped off at the end despite it being forbidden) but every year I wonder if one of the angels will take one more step backwards and fall off.

2. How can it be over in 30 minutes? Granted, that doesn't count the Pastor's part (he reads a Christmas story to the children and then prays with them) or the candle lit singing of Silent Night. Still, the part I'm responsible for, which requires weeks of work, is over in 30 minutes.

3. I would make it longer, but that would require more work and stress.

4. The shepherds did their part perfectly, and about 2 Scripture readings ahead of when they were supposed to. I think not too many people noticed and we just cut out part of the the Scripture so it all made sense.

5. The young musicians were very good, especially since most of them got the songs a week or two before the performance. Some of them just started learning them this month. I'm going to do that differently next year (well, if I'm organized enough I am). One small pianist made a mistake, said "oops," and started over. It didn't bother her at all.

6. The pastor thought his wife had arranged for candle lighters and she though he had arranged for candle lighters and no one had arranged for candle lighters. What this meant is that someone lit the candle at the front of the church, then they turned out all the lights, then we sang Silent Night in the dark. During the second verse someone finally went up and lit her candle, which got other people going, so we sang the rest by candle light.

7. The same children who could not sit still and pay attention during rehearsal were complete angels during the performance. It might be the audience, and it might be the threat that they wouldn't get treat bags is they didn't behave.

8. Also, while we were getting them costumed, the shepherds would not settle down and behave properly, so Mr C (the grade 3/4 teacher) had a talk with them. He's very good.

9. For the first time, I had a real multitude of the heavenly host. Usually we have a chief angel who is joined by 3 or 4 other angels. I'm not sure how many we had this time, but there were a lot. It was good.

10. Despite being told at least 3 times about the rehearsal, one of the main readers (the older kids do readings, and the main ones are the ones reading Luke 2 because that's when the acting takes place and they have to know when to pause and such) did not show up. Happily I was able to snag her before the program and make sure she knew not to read the angel's lines. Having her at rehearsal would have helped.

11. The readers are given large index cards and write out their parts so they don't have to memorize or bring up their scripts. It works, except that they don't remember to mark the parts that the shepherd or angels are going to say so we have to double check that. Also, one student couldn't read his own writing at the rehearsal. Someone else wrote it out for him before the performance.

12. It was fun, but I'm glad it's over for another year.

Sunday School Issues

Today I sent two of my boys out of Sunday School. They would not behave and kept being silly (mostly saying stuff that was irrelevant or giving the wrong answers and laughing). I gave them enough warning and they tried one more time...and they were out. It was just a little thing for each of them, but it was the final straw. A couple of the other students, ones who usually laugh or participate in the nonsense, were looking annoyed as well, so you can imagine how things were going.

So, two students and two results:

Student one: He and his mom came to me at the end of Sunday School. According to him, he hadn't heard my last question and that's why he gave the wrong answer (yeah...nice try, kid). His mom agreed that he was probably at fault, but he hadn't taken his meds that weekend and that's what happens. Even his teacher at school notices when he misses a dose. Okay, but you're giving him an excuse for not behaving. Besides that, you're allowing him to disrupt my class. She told him to say sorry, he didn't, and she let him go.

Student two: He and his mom found me after Sunday School. She gave him a look and he apologized for his behaviour, and more than just a "sorry." He was sorry that he had misbehaved, hadn't listened, and had been disruptive. After, his mom and I talked. She said that he had tried the "other people were also laughing" line as well as "but I couldn't help it." His mom wasn't accepting it. He was responsible for his behaviour and he had the choice of how to behave, and he could ask God for help to behave.

Guess which student is less likely to give me more trouble in the future?

Side note: I was looking at my stats. Someone has been looking at old pages from a few years ago (I don't know why; that's just what the stats say). I looked to see if there was anything interesting there and discovered that the small elf who sits with me in church used to be known as the little imp. She has been protesting being called the small elf; do you think she would prefer if I went back to calling her a little imp?

Oh My...

I don't have cable or satellite television at home, so whatever I watch comes form the internet. I have happily allowed this to limit my viewing. This week I'm staying at a hotel in Grande Prairie and dealing with limited internet access (it comes and goes), so I'm watching television again. It turns out that I haven't really been missing much.

It isn't all bad. I've watched some Jeopardy and a few dramas and episodes of The Big Bang Theory and that's been fun. Tonight, though, I was bored and decided to check out Toddlers and Tiaras. All I could think was, what is wrong with these people????? The children are so totally spoiled and you cannot convince me that they all want to be in the pageants. Some of them are not quite 2 years old. And the moms...they're all paranoid and scary. You can tell that it's all about them and how their daughter's win (or loss) reflects on them. They need a life of their own so they can let the children be children. Speaking of which...who dresses a 5 year old up as Sandy from the end of Grease, complete with big hair and a cigarette? Her mom spent a lot of time trying to justify it, like she was really trying to convince herself that it was okay. The other little girls weren't much better. It actually made me very sad and I wanted to bring them all home and let them be children.

I think I had better stop watching most television again. It upsets me too much.

To Care for Widows and Orphans

I'd like to introduce you to Warm Blankets Orphan Care, They care for widows and orphans in third world countries by starting churches and orphanages; the orphanages are staffed by the widows.

I like what they do and how they care for the children. They are dedicated to caring for both their spiritual and physical needs. They also keep them in their own communities as much as possible; at the very least, they are in their own countries. That way, there is a generation raised knowing God and ready to work and live in their country where they can in turn minister to others.

If you head over to their website, you can learn more about them. I would also encourage you to check out how to become a prayer guardian: someone who will pray for one of the orphans.

The Sleepovers

The sleepovers are over, and both I and my apartment survived and are on our way to recovery!

The first one, two Fridays ago, was the "little girls" from my Sunday School class. In the end only 4 were able to attend, which made it very quiet. It was a miserable evening outside so we couldn't rent movies, but between what I had and what one of them brought, we were well stocked. One girl also brought the game Life, which I generally find tedious. It's much, much better late at night with 4 rather tired, giggly girls! Then they decided that they were tired and I should put on some nice, quiet music so they could fall asleep. That's how, at the not-so-late hour of 11:30 (well, not late for sleepovers) they were all sprawled around my living room falling asleep to the sounds of Beethoven.

The second sleepover, this past Friday, was an entirely different story! These were my "big girls" from the Junior High class (well, one is in grade 10, but the rest are all grade 7 or 9). They, of course, are too old for kids movies and silly things like sleeping. Except that they really enjoyed "Gnomeo and Juliet" (my choice: they initially objected but only because they didn't get to choose...poor babies). Their choices tend to be chick flicks, which bore me. I also have to say "NO" to most of their choices for various reasons. In the end, they chose "The Back-up Plan" and some other movie (there's a baby, and 2 guardians who don't like each other....). I had to stop "The Back-up Plan" at least twice so we could talk about all the things that were wrong with it (God's plan for families does not include purposely getting pregnant when single; when a guy invites you to the farm or cabin or whatever, he has only one thing in mind....). It's really, really hard to find appropriate movies that the girls want to watch. Anyway, these girls went to sleep at around 2:30 (a couple of them before that, but one won't admit how early she fell asleep!), and slept until 9:30. It wasn't bad, really.

That's my tale of sleepovers.