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TGIF!
Today’s quote is from a movie: “Instead of telling our young people to plan ahead, we should tell them to plan to be surprised.”
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A matter of life
“Dan in Real Life”
“I’m thinking you never know how things are going to turn out. You almost know, but you can never be quite sure.” - “Away From Her”
Isn’t that the truth?! We should plan to be surprised! (Maybe even learn to enjoy it).
TGIF
If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.
Question–what do you all do with your children (whether you homeschool, Christian school, or public school) during the summer? I have three boys in school (4th grade, 1st grade, K4) and a little girl at home. In the past, I’ve ordered “summerbooks” that had a little worksheet (like review) that took about 20 minutes each day. But I’m wondering if we should just have a reading program this summer. In a way, i think my boys just need a break. What do you all do??? I’d welcome all suggestions!
Momoffour - Our local library has a summer reading program that I always signed my kids up for. They had to read books (of their own choosing) on grade level and every week they turned in their reading logs for prizes. The prizes were things like a free game of putt-putt golf at a local mini golf place and a free personal pizza, or ice cream or something like that. The kids loved it and they are still readers.
Also, if you check out the Flylady, she has ideas for at home summer camps (Camp Gonnawannafly). I don’t know if she has started putting them up on her website yet, but I wish I’d had a resource like her when I had kids at home.
www.flylady.net
Momoffour - I just went to the Flylady website. If you go to the menu on the left side (it’s purple) and click search, and then in the search box type in Camp GonnaWannaFly, you will find all kinds of ideas from the Flylady for home camps with kids.
Today’s virtual coffee is awarded to Samuel! Enjoy!
Momoffour,
Momofseven here, I have always had a summer schedule. After breakfast we would work for a couple hours, house cleaning, gardening, maintainence projects.
During the school year the kids have chores, but summers give me time to teach the kids how to do some of the chores. All my kids learned to do the dishes by five, clean toilets by seven, cook a full dinner by nine, etc.It is amazing the frustrations you can cut down on by actually teaching your kids the how-tos. I’m always amazed at how some parents think their kids are lazy when they are simple untaught.
When the chores were done we had an hour of quiet reading, lunch and then free play time which is very important. Fort building, surfing in all its variations (skim, boogie, stand-up). etc. I still do this with my youngest three that aren’t working outside the home yet. I love summer.
LAST DAY OF CLASSES BEFORE FINALS!
TGIF x eleventybillion.
Another momoffour here, with the same child configuration–though they’re 20 years older than yours. I’m not as good a mother as Adios, but all her ideas are great–particularly having fun and a schedule.
I’d do a big calendar and show the older ones all the things you plan to do–one day a week visit a park or some other free activity in your community. One day is library day, etc. One summer I read all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books out loud and your boys may be young enough you can do that (My boys all loved those books–I’ve read them aloud five times). One year we did a Shirley Temple film fest–when my daughter was about six.
Teach them a simple skill–maybe sort laundry at this age, have them bake cookies. Work puzzles together. Mostly enjoy them. Hard though it may seem today, they’ll be gone soon enough.
Or send them to my house and I’ll play with them.
Momoffour, we have always had our kids do a little work, a little play, and a little study–to keep their lives in balance and to keep their bodies and brains from getting soft.
It sounds like your question mainly has to do with reading, and I agree with the suggestions above. The one thing we did not do is force the kids to read. We offered opportunities and incentives and occasional coaxing.
Momoffour - I don’t want to sound like an advertisement, so please email me if you would like more info. I am a rep for Usborne Books, and we have had great success with our Ten Terrific Weeks program. It sounds much like your summer books - it is a set of books on a particular subject, along with a parent guide. It has “lessons” and games and activites for 5 days/week, 10 weeks long - a great summer activity. Human body, outer space, younger kids, older kids. Kids seem to like learning when they don’t HAVE to - like in the summer!
We are going to incorporate some pre-kindergarten learning for my son this summer. He does a lot around the house with my husband - he is home with the kids all summer - like sweeping/mopping, loading the dishwasher, helping with meals, cleaning his room, etc. He loves to help and it’s a great time to teach him. Taking on a new project or hobby is a great summertime activity, too. If you want to teach the kids how to bake or cook, for example. I can’t wait for summer! We are supposed to get snow this weekend!
I like that: Plan to be surprised!
And surprised by Someone who loves you.
My wife stayed home with the kids. So did my mom.
This summer I’m trying to kick the last one out.
Of course with all the price increases, I’m not sure it’s feasible.
At least he’s talking about Tech school now, instead of how much he hated college…
I smiled at the question about summer plans because of how God blessed our son. The year he was 13 we felt like he was too old for “day care” and too young to stay home alone. He was a real wizard with Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, so I got permission for him to go to work with me and pick up some of the tasks we had that fit his skills. LSS (long story short), they ended up hiring him as an intern and letting him learn and gain experience as a web developer all through high school and college. They liked him so much that they completely paid for his college, and when he was done, he had tons of technical and business experience and launched right into a successful (and well-paying) career. We all look back at how that played out and say, “God is so cool!”
Nice story, Mommy. thanks for sharing it.
After 30 years, I was finally starting to make some headway with my socialist wife and getting her to realize that being a lefty whack job isn’t such a cool thing after all - until I blew it.
I do her investing for her in her 403-b and IRA’s which are self directed. In order not to have her mad a me for making more money in my self directed 401 - k and IRA’s than I do for her - I learned long ago to invest in the same things so that we both do equally well.
The last several years Emerging Markets have been on fire and all of our investments have been overseas. At any rate, she had doubled her net worth from mid August to November 15 being long in EM’s and The Art of Low Risk Investing was saying it was time to short them again in a big way, like it was the 6 weeks prior to mid August last year. Some if you may remember my June hint that shorting EM’s was soon arriving.
So anyway, in November, I was giving her a bad time for being a socialist, talking down a great economy for 5 years, while she and other lefty investors were basically long and getting rich. I told her that it looked like the lefties would finally be right and it was time to get totally short in a very big way - except for WalMart of course.
Like typical lefties, the idea of her owning WalMart stock was just too much. In truth, I was going to put her short in EM’s and I just threw out WalMart to upset her. Getting a lefty upset and foaming at the mouth for a conservative is about as good as being born again for a Christian.
WalMart always does great in economic downturns. Poor lefties always shop at WalMart and smart conservatives always shop there too. But, when times are bad economically even hard core rich lefties shop at WalMart even though they claim it is the worst evil company of all time. As a result WalMart is a great stock to invest in as the rest of the market tanks.
I explained this to her and she said it makes sense but would never shop there when things got bad and she would never invest in WalMArt stock. I reminded her that the WalMart hating Hillary, she loves so much, used to sit on WalMart’s board owned WalMart stock and that if it was good enough for that hypocrite socialist it should be good enough for my wife. I told her she needed to forget her stupid wealth stealing ideology and be a real hypocrite instead like her idol in order to make money.
She said no way - no WalMart stock. Of course, I bought her some anyway, not too much because I really wanted to short EM’s. Sure enough, just like always WalMart stock took right off and my wife made a cool 30% on her WMT stock. It sounds good but this is 3 times less than the money she made on shorting EM’s over that time.
I couldn’t help myself and let it slip that she was now a normal hypocrite lefty of the highest order like Hillary and now can claim to be a true socialist, talking down WalMart while owning their stock and getting evil rich doing so.
Needless to say she went ballistic while putting huge smile on my face - I was on cloud 9. Only one shoe had dropped. I told her that I had noticed that someone had been shopping at WalMart while I was out of town, according to the credit card bills and since I know she would never do so, someone, probably an illegal alien she loves more the Hillary, stole her credit card.
Yep, I caught her shopping there and she was forced to admitted it. I told her conversion to be a total, typical, socialist whack job was now complete - except for one small thing. Then I stepped in it.
What came over me I do not know because this was the wrong time to be asking but I just couldn’t help myself for some reason. I asked her if she would consider giving up being Jewish, since she doesn’t practice it well or often like most Jews and become a Jew for Jesus instead.
I heard long ago that Jewish women have have basements in their dog houses for some reason. I found out this is true and what they are for.
Well, It was worth a try
Thanks for all the suggestions, guys! Lots of good ideas!
Today I am being completely selfish. Would you please pray for me as I am making some very hard financial decisions.
May God direct you & give you wisdom in your decision-making, Kim.
Great story Llama, but you deserve the basement. I hope it isn’t long term and it is a good thing summer is not far away so it isn’t too cold there. DW is a Christian and I find myself in the doghouse more often than I would like for the same reason as you. (i.e. making an astute observation at the wrong time!)
You’ve got it, Kim. Once you decide, set it aside.
I have just read that the t-rex is now considered the precursor to the chicken.
Llama, you do deserve it. You have to learn when to “fold ‘em” or at least keep your mouth shut. But I loved: “Getting a lefty upset and foaming at the mouth for a conservative is about as good as being born again for a Christian.” (Thanks for the stock tip.)
I may as well tell all of you what is going on so you understand. I spoke with an attorney and have decided with her help to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy. I am at the end and have no further I can go. I got a referral from a friend who is an attorney and represents the trustees in bankruptcy court so she could not handle it for me. She did help me decide to move forward with it. This is not a decision that was easy for me to reach. At 48 my father was faced with bankruptcy because fo my mother’s alcoholism. He managed not to do it. I still have not been able to tell him and if I can get through this whole thing without telling him I will. I did tell my ex-husband. He has offered to help me buy a Civic once my truck is gone. I just want to be through this and to the other end. So much has happened to me this week that has just left me emotionally exhausted. Thank you all for the prayers and support.
My sympathies, Kim. May God give you wisdom and peace.
Kim, I assume that’s the form of bankruptcy in which you do actually repay your creditors, but you just have more time in which to do it? Have you talked with Crown Ministries or any other Christian financial gurus to see if there’s anything simpler? Tough decision.
NJLawyer,
To set you straight. I am no longer short Emerging Markets butam long since the week of March 17th - 24th and do own BX, UYG and QLD now. But I had to sell my wifes WMT. So I bought her some Walmart de Mexico ADR’s (WMMVY). I really did too.
I’m so sorry to hear this Kim, I’m praying for you and will continue.
God bless you my friend
Does she know what you did, Llama? (re Walmart de Mexico). Otherwise she’ll slam you again, and I don’t want you to spend so much time in the basement of that doghouse. I have too much fun reading your posts!
Kim, Kim, Kim!!! The bankruptcy law exists to allow people to have a fresh start! This is a very emotional decision for you, I understand that, but the law exists to help you. Use it. It is a tough economic state of affairs we’re all in, especially for a single woman, and there but for the grace of God we all go. It will be harder for you to get credit, but believe me, some bank will offer you a credit card relatively soon. Life is more than this, and remember that a lot worse things can happen besides bankruptcy. My prayers are with you that you will see this as a new starting point. God bless you.
Thank you all for your graciousness and understanding. This really is embarrassing and I was afraid I would be shunned a little. Some of you here know more about me than my real life friends do and I couldn’t face this by myself. I also would have felt hypocritical not telling you what was going on in my life since I share so many other things.
Kim, as NJL says, someone will soon offer you a credit card. Cridit cards are handy, but don’t use them to buy things you can’t afford. If you can’t pay it off next month, don’t buy it. I never carry a balance. Buying items with a credit card and paying monthly increases the cost of everything by 18-21%. It’s worse if you pay the minimum.
Take this test: You sell a car for $30,000. The buyer pays nothing down and pays it off in 60 payments. How much does his car cost?
Kim, Chas is right about the credit card, but one will be offered with a fee. Take it. Use it for emergencies. When it is offered, it will have a low line of credit. For now, you will have to carry cash. Think twice before you use that cash. People laugh at me because I use cash for gas and food, but the truth is, I try to use it for everything. Using cash may be old fashioned, but it’s reality. This could turn out to be the best experience of your life. Remember, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger! We love you.
Kim, if ANYONE should shun you its to their SHAME, whether they are your 3D friends or those here on the blog. Everyone goes through trials and heartache in this world, as brothers and sisters in Christ we are to pray for one another.
About you being ‘embarrassed’- you are human Kim, I’m sure this is something you have tried to avoid, but have no other alternative. There are many in this country who are losing homes, jobs and they are left wondering which way to step first. I just read on DRUDGE that many writers, etc are losing their jobs at the New York Times. I believe its 60 or so, thats a lot of writers.
Love and prayers
As I mentioned over at Rants & Raves, we’re having problems with water in the basement again, more than last time.
My husband looked on the internet for possible solutions and read about something called Sani-Tred. Anyone have any experience, positive or negative, with it?
Kim, I never had to file bankruptcy, but my husband was out of work a few times through no fault of his own. We ended up not being able to pay all of our bills and needing help just to eat. It was a very difficult time as we had always paid everything on time and were usually on the giving end of things. We determined we could only do our best and leave it at that. It was embarrassing and difficult, but we got through it and you can too. The lessons we learned and empathy we gained were priceless. I pray you will have the wisdom, peace and comfort you need. Remember the bible says that God comforts us so that we may comfort others. (2Cor 1:4) Someday you will be comforting others.
Thank you all. I know others here have struggled as well. Not to make excuses but I was owed a 7 or 8 thousand dollar commission and I was involved in a spec house that was supposed to pay me about 25K. Unfortunately I trusted the wrong person to keep their word and nothing was ever in writing. When I told him what was going on and that I was meeting with an attorney to discuss this…guess what? Haven’t heard from him since Tuesday night. Leopards never change their spots. Had I received that money or still had hope of it I would not be in this position and this is the first month I haven’t been able to pay everyone. This is just one of those situations where the handwriting is on the wall. I haven’t been sleeping worrying over this and tonight I feel like a weight has been lifted. In our state you have to go through credit councelling and budget councelling. Believe me I know how I got here and I don’t ever intend to repeat it. Thank you KI for the Bible verse, I will keep is close. Chas you are wonderful. Victoria and NJLawyer thank you for your words, advice and understanding. You will never know how much it truly means to me to have people I respect understand. Perhaps Llama will take over my finances…I promise not to spit.
Kim,
Know that you’re in my prayers. I still hope God provides a way out before you actually have to declare, simply so the road ahead will be easier.
As far as the credit card, Dave Ramsey of financial radio show fame doesn’t own one–he uses debit cards to buy everything, even online, plane tickets, etc. The Visa/MC logo protects you just the same as long as it isn’t a PIN purchase (i.e. you must sign for the purchase).
Kim,
I will be happy to help you if I can. Being short $35,000 right now doesn’t seem like a lot of money or near enough to declare bankruptcy over especially if all your creditors were paid until this month.
Send me an email at [email protected] and I will send you my cell phone number. We can talk this weekend. I’m staying in Virginia this weekend and actually have nothing better to do anyway. I’m sure we can work something out that will be better than bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy should only be used as a last resort like war and you need to be wounded severely and near death to do it. The laws changed recently making it even more difficult than ever.
Lawyers make money doing bankruptcies and they don’t if you don’t do it. It is always good to get several opinions if talking to doctors or lawyers.
I will have lots of questions and ther are no wrong answers.
Kim,
Email me anytime. You are in my prayers, GOD knows this entire situation better than you do, HE will be with you.
I am reminded of one of my favorite passages of Scripture.
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
Proverbs 3
Kim, I didn’t realize you’d met all your bills this month. Llama is right — you do have time, so call him! Talking to someone who knows finances can provide you with alternatives, and he’s right, bankruptcy is a last resort. Good luck. We’re praying for you.
Kim - I just came back to my computer from being out of town at a wedding. Just want you to know that my prayers are with you too.