The Newest

Here is Rosey, on her throne. I gave her a few Sunchips, to help her stay put. She also practices alphabet letters with the fridge phonics while doing her business. She is wearing the pink jumper I found last week. I love it on her!

Oh, my goodness, Bloggy Friends. Do you ever feel parenting is like running a marathon, only the drink (rest) stations are fewer and farther between? With the parenting marathon, there's no guarantee you'll ever reach a finish line.

An interview was recently done with Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol, by the Fox News Channel. One of the things Bristol emphasized was how much family help she is receiving with the care of her new baby; four generations are assisting her, according to her mom. My husband and I just looked at each other, green with envy. Where's our earthly help, Lord? My father is still extremely busy caring for his ailing sister, who is seventy-eight and suffering from congestive heart failure. We both feel we would be SO MUCH BETTER at this if we could have breaks. The more children one has, the harder it is to get help.

When my children are in this position, desperately wanting assistance, we will be a much older couple. I will still come to their aid though. I have a plan. I will enlist a younger-older person from my church to go with me to help out my children, when I am too frail to do all of it myself. Either way, I will remember this feeling, and not leave them without help.

When our children are older, I want to start up a church "Date Night" ministry. I will enlist helpers to assist me in providing babysitting so church couples can go out twice a month for much needed date nights. I suspect this will do much to strengthen the marriages within the church body. We are too swamped to do it now, but the Lord has already planted the seed in my mind. So many couples are in our shoes, in terms of not having enough family around.

Sadly, I think our nation's 50% divorce rate increases the likelihood that families will scatter as the children grow older and leave home. There is almost always some dysfunction in the aftermath of divorce. The level of dysfunction might perhaps increase with the current practice of having children spend half a week with each household. My sister's children are currently facing this, with great turmoil involved. I strongly feel this arrangement doesn't provide enough emotional security or routine, both of which help children thrive. Children are potentially bombarded with questions about how it went at the other house, making the transition stressful, especially when the ex spouses haven't found peace with each other, or with their plight. I know there are legitimate reasons for divorce, but in most cases, I think people just end up trading one set of problems for another. Does anyone in the equation really gain GREATER PEACE, when children are involved - save for abusive situations?

As I waited in the ER on Sunday, I happened upon a young mother I had previously met at a local park, and also at our local library. We talked for a half hour, catching up on each other's lives and new children. She is thirty, with two boys, ages four and five, and a baby girl, who is six months old. She was there to have a potential blood clot checked in her leg. Since last giving birth, she experienced on-going pain and numbness in the back of her calf, which was of increasing concern to her.

Her major struggle right now happens to be the same as mine. No help. Like me, she longs to have someone come in and watch the kids for a couple hours, just so she can CLEAN HER HOUSE. I totally get that! Her mother lives in Toledo, which is 2.5 hours from here. Her husband's family lives in northern California. They are thinking of moving to California and living with his family while they find jobs. Both just finished college and have been living on student loans. This women is so sweet; I really enjoyed talking with her. I mentioned our children's involvement in church, as we spoke about the goings-on in our lives. But I failed to talk with her about spiritual things. I regretted that as I drove home. Why didn't I? She mentioned no church involvement, but didn't seem turned off when I brought it up. Hard as my situation is, I can definitely say it would be infinitely worse without the Lord as my comfort. Having him as a friend doesn't erase problems. It just helps one look forward, with hope. And it helps one find blessings in the midst of struggle. God's Word, if one is faithful in staying in it, helps magnify those blessings.

I have gotten into a habit lately of watching Fox news at night, while rocking Anna through her evening fussiness. It keeps me abreast of the news, but it's a bad habit, nonetheless. While it's hard to read the Bible with her in my arms, I can do it. I do need to invest in one of the large-print Bibles though, which I've seen at Walmart. My vision is nearly legally blind, but with contacts it has always been correctable. Now that I'm over forty though, I'm suddenly having trouble reading fine print, even with the help of contacts.

In other news, Anna Grace is better today. I did take her to our pediatrician. I'm sure he was happy to see me, since my family is probably single-handedly paying his mortgage, what with our regular well visits, eczema, ADHD, and illnesses. LOL Lately, his office is my home away from home. Anna does have RSV, but he is encouraged at how well she is doing. He did give me a prescription for albuterol, just in case she gets into breathing trouble. RSV resolves within four weeks, but my other two children got better within ten days.

I am trying to get away for two hours a week, with thrift-store shopping and the preservation of my sanity as my standing excuses. Due to the economy, inventory is down, but I did manage to find twenty nice items on Saturday, all for $82. A few are pictured above. I buy things for upcoming years as well, if they are nearly new or never worn.