My Dream Was to be a Mother

This is a talk/presentation I gave to the YW in our ward at their YW activity on Wednesday night. The topic was what did you major in and why...When talking to the girls I expanded on each semesters challenges and on other college courses. I tried to just talk with them, but I wrote this talk out as my guide.

Before I begin, I just want to you to know that when I speak of my career it may sound as though I’m putting down any other career. I was asked to speak about what I choose to major in and why. Yes, I’m very proud of what I do so that is what I’m going to talk about tonight and you will come to realize, it is the best choice out there! Ha! So let me begin!
Since I was a very young girl all I ever wanted to grow up and be was a mother. I was one that wrote a letter to my mom at around 7 years old telling her if she had another baby, she wouldn’t have to do anything for her I would even name her, Brittany or Breanne. We’ll my mom never did give me that gift so I was a strange little girl who loved my dolls until I was old enough to babysit. At 12 I was the ward babysitter, I would even sit with the families at church and get the babies to sleep and the mother’s would all say, how do you do that? I continued to babysit and nanny even after I was married I loved babies so much! My goal was to have 11 children, after meeting Danny he put an end to my 11, he wanted a big family too, but it had to be an even number, so it was 10 or 12 he said. Well, the number has gone down just a little to somewhere around 8. But Danny says, if you have twins at baby 8 and end up having 9 we have to have 10, because an odd number just dosen’t work.
Well, at 18 I went to college, just looking to get my MRS. degree, I just needed a husband to settle down with and have those babies with! I really never enjoyed school and really struggled at almost every subject so the thought of college seemed impossible. Well after spending a year in UT., gaining residency, I was thinking that the only thing out there that would be of any interest to me would be Elementary Ed. After meeting with a school councilor I found out about Early Childhood Education, which was only a 2 year degree, working with the young child and all the classes really interested me! So I started in that major at U.V.S.C. After a year there and 2 years in UT and no prospects in marriage I heard that if I was looking to marry I needed to be at good’ol RICKS COLLEGE! So I went there of course, because that was my real major in life! The major there had a little different name called Professional Preschool Education and there is where I really got into the program, it really was difficult in so many ways, writing lesson plans, teaching in the child labs and trying to keep 20 kids entertained during your lesson while other college students watch from the observation booths…having to take generals and tests…any major even if you think it’s going to be the an easy one has struggles. By the end of the 2 year major I was very confident with the decision I made, I loved it and I knew I could go out and teach at any preschool!
After graduating and no marriage I decided to do what the Lord had been telling me all along, I was to serve a mission. After being home from my mission for just 5 months I was married, yes, a lot of our life is on the Lord’s time and I was in denial until then.
After having children and being able to use all the wonderful resources that I learned in college I became even more grateful for my degree. I have friends who majored in all different majors, that call me asking what do I do with my tantruming 2 year old, my bored 3 year old, how can I better prepare my 4 year old for Kindergarten…When I answer their questions or ask them if they’ve taught them this, or do this with them…they just had never thought of the many different things you can do to help teach your children.
I hope that all of your biggest desires is to be a mother. I know there is nothing more important in life than being that! I have a friend who I admire greatly and hope to be like one day. I served with her in my last ward in the Young Women’s program, she has 9 children (8 sons, 1 daughter) this woman was a Valedictorian of B.Y.U. and what she was, was an amazing mother! Her children range from Doctors, Lawyers, Dentist, Musicians, all faithful members of the church, this women was not just a housewife as you can tell she used her talents, skills and knowledge in teaching her children. David O McKay said, “No other success can compensate for failure in the home.” Just try and remember that whatever you do choose to do in life not to let it take over our true purpose as a daughter of God.
There are times in life when we will be needing to use the skills we learned in college or talents that we’ve been blessed with. I feel so blessed having my degree, because right now it is what’s keeping our family a float. There are times we might start something for the purpose of our children and family, but down the road we get so involved in it that we lose sight of the reason and purpose for starting it.
Elder Russell M. Nelson said, “Our family is the focus of our greatest work and joy in this life; so will it be throughout all eternity.” I hope we will always remember our true purpose in life.
You all have your own gifts and desires that will help point you in the direction that is best for you. I hope that if you get a chance that you do take a few classes (usually offered as an elective) in Early Childhood because they will only teach you better mothering skills and ideas for teaching your children!

I Want to Hear From You

I love reading blogs that inspire me as a mother. I love to hear of the wonderful summer activities and the ways mother's continue teaching their children during the summer time. Sometimes we can get overwhelmed seeing what other moms do, but try and take a few ideas or activities and give them a try.
Here are some blogs that inspire me (these girls are sisters and the daughters of author Linda J. Erye that I talked about in my last post).
http://71toes.blogspot.com/

http://looslifamily.blogspot.com/ this is hers too http://www.powerofmoms.com/ (I'm so sad I just missed this retreat I would have loved to have gone, what a bummer! Oh, just saw the price, but I know it would have been awesome!) And her kids' blog which really has great ideas! http://powerofkids-lp.blogspot.com/

http://valuesparenting.com/ Linda and Richard's website (the parent's)

Please tell me what you do with your children in the summer time. Or if you know of other blog links with great teaching ideas.

MOTHER'S

Okay, my goal was to post each month for this year and my time is almost up for the month of May. I should have posted this on Mother's Day, but I was busy. One thing I learned this year on Mother's Day is that this day is not necessarily a day off, it's a day we get to reflect on the joys of motherhood. If we view Mother's Day as a day off we might end up being grumpy most of the day, so just remember next year, that it's a day to be grateful for the opportunity we have to be mother's.

One of my favorite books on motherhood is A Joyful Mother of Children, by Linda J. Eyre.

Here is a beautiful tribute to women from Elder Maxwell‏... you can view on YouTube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKWDR_y6HT0

Please continue to do a wonderful job, Mother's you are needed and loved!

Cleaning Tips

I've had a some request for cleaning tips/suggestions. There is a lot to say about cleaning, but for now I'll touch on a couple items.
Chores:
We each have 2 weekly chores that we do on Tuesdays. If the kids get their chores done by evening time they get a treat. If they don't finish their chores no treat. On the chore list there are additional jobs they can do to earn money. The job prices are not too much because my kids are young and don't do that great of job to make more money yet. Of course as the kids get older the amount of money they can make per job will go up much more. My friend gave me this idea and I like it a lot because you want to teach your children they need to help clean as a family, but then you also want them to start earning money so you can teach them about savings, spending and (for us) tithing. Here is our chore list...

Name/Weekly Chores

Jenny 1) Sweep and mop 2) Bathrooms (I get until Friday to finish my jobs.)
Danny 1) Repairs 2) Clean up front of house
Max 1) Dust 2) Empty all garbage's
Hanna 1) Vacuum 2 bedrooms and front room
Van 1) Wash walls 2) Pickup backyard toys

Extra Chores

1) Wash computer screen $0.10 2) Put away silverware $0.10
3) Wash walls $0.10 4) Wash bathroom sink $0.10
5) Shake out rugs $0.10 6) Wipe down window sills $0.10
7) Polish door knobs $0.10 8) Water plants $0.10
9) Wash window $0.30 10) Pickup yard trash $0.30
11) Blow leaves $0.30 12) Vacuum furniture $0.30
13) Clean out car $0.30 14) Wash baseboards $0.30
15) Vacuum window/door tracks $0.30

Dishes:
Start your dishwasher after it's full of course, but try and do this after dinner or if it has a little more room then after breakfast. Unload your dishes before "cooking" your next meal. Your dishwasher is then always ready to load and rarely do dishes need to sit in the sink.

Laundry:
Personally laundry must come as a strength to me. The reason I believe it's a strength is because I hear a lot of people complain about it and I don't feel I'm always doing it and I never feel my laundry is out of control. There are 7 of us that I do laundry for. Some people believe because I have younger kids it's easier, truthfully I think with younger ones the hard part is folding and so with younger kids I have less amount of clothes to "wash" but more to fold and without help. I'm not sure, because like I said I only have little ones we'll see in a few years if my opinion has changed. Anyway, I'll tell you what I do and you can try it if you'd like...
I do laundry on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Sometimes I'll wash a load on other days if I see my basket is already full. I wash about 2 to 4 loads each of the 3 days. As soon as one load is dry I transfer clothes and I fold the load right then. I have a large enough laundry room that I just leave the folded clothes in each child's pile until I'm done with all loads and then I put them away (all the way away). I plan on having my bigger kids start putting their own clothes away soon, just haven't gotten to that yet. Doing 2-4 loads of laundry only takes about 2-4 hours and "you" don't have to do too much of the work during that time. I feel if you plan on doing your laundry then finish the job and then it won't feel like you're doing it all day nor all of the time.
Let me know if this helps at all.

Vaccinations

I know that this topic is very controversial and like any controversial topic we need to learn to be open minded from both view points; I have found this has made me more knowledgeable about vaccinations. In the past 7 years of my research on vaccinations my opinion has changed; I have a much greater appreciation for them. I know the importance of vaccines, but I also know why sometimes we don't need to vaccinate our children on "the schedule." With that being said I'm not all for them and I'm not all against them either. I have heard stories from both sides (vaccinated or not) that have killed children. It's a hard decision we need to make as mothers, but whatever chosen please do your research before deciding. After which, do what you feel is right for you and your family.

~Sorry, no sources I wish I had them. I had done this research in the past and kept it for my own benefit, I googled everything.

~I wait until baby is at least 1 year with all my shots, but mostly 2 or older. I do this because you won't know if baby has food allergies until after then and my babies are nursed and not in daycare (but I do shop at Wal-Mart, haha).

(DTP now DTaP)~Diphtheria Precautious (whopping cough) Tetanus (lock jaw)- The newer shoot called the DTaP has less side effects then the DTP vaccine. Only take the DTaP or DT (DT is rare reactions but will not vaccinate for precautious it is the P that has more abnormal side effects). Td is a booster shot given at age 7. Tdap is a booster given at age 11-18, if not given the Td at age 7.
~I try and do this shoot at 1 year of age.

The MMR-is the vaccine with a lot of scary side effects. Side effects for the measles is death, the side effects for mumps is brain infection, and the side effects for rubella are birth defects and mental retardation.
~I give at 5 years old because it's needed for public school.

Vercelli (chicken Pox)-This vaccine wears off when child is 19, which is way worse to get chicken pox when older, but it is already going away and hard to find, so maybe we won't need to worry about it when our children are older.
-rare reactions, mild symptoms may occur.
~I wait until child goes to school to give.

Hep B-this is the one that they give in the hospital. *If baby is allergic to bakers yeast or eggs it says do not take! May experience analytic shock. Well since we don't know at birth if baby is allergic to bakers yeast we are taking a big risk in giving this no nonsense vaccine the day baby is born. Then why isn't this vaccine given to an older child? The reason "they" give Hep B in the hospital is that "they" have the vaccination schedule set up for the lowest class person that may never go back to the doctors again. This vaccine is for those who use needles/drugs.
~Other than allergy reactions-rare reactions, mild symptoms may occur.
~I wait until after age 1 to give.

Hep A- rare reactions, mild allergy symptoms may occur.
~I wait until after age 1 to give.

Pollio-don’t get if child has had reactions to certain antibiotics (do more research). Never give the oral vaccine (OPV)!
~I wait until child goes to school to give.

Hib-protects from fetal brain infection-rare reactions

Influenza-protects from egg protein-rare reactions

Pneumococcal-protect from pneumonia and meningitis-rare reactions

Rota virus-Is flu like symptoms-given to babies-would not give baby because not sure if baby is hypersensitive to an ingredient in vaccine (do more research if getting).

HPV (Human Papillomavirus)-for cervical cancer-for girls given at age 11-12 years old. Not sure about this one, haven’t researched it yet.

Meningococcal disease (MCV4)-not given until child is 11-12 years old, ok at that
age.

I would love to here your thoughts on vaccinations.

How to Teach Your Child Through Play

Here are some ideas to help you teach your child. For children ages 0-5.

Should Do...
• Play with your child
• Use descriptive words- "Max is driving the RED car OVER the bridge." While pointing say, "This tower is TALL this tower is SHORT." "Your
YELLOW ball is so BIG and your BLUE ball is very SMALL.
• Read to your child.
• Listen to music and make your own music.
• Give choices.
• Talk to your baby. Try to make faces & sounds that baby can imitate.
• Allow child to get dress, brush teeth, pour their water, drink out of a cup, help with cleaning and cooking...
• When child is expressing an emotion tell the child what emotion they're feeling... I know you're SAD...
• Color & draw pictures a lot!
• Allow 3 yr. old child to use scissors. (Supervise this and try to have them hold/cut the proper form, you can do this hand over hand. Let them cut scraps into the trash can.)
• Practice cutting on straight lines.
• Teach before testing.
• Let child explore their world even if it scares you.
• Play board games with your child. Play ball with your child (throwing, catching, kicking, bouncing...)
• Practice jumping and hoping (on one foot and two).
• In the car you can sing ABC's, count, teach opposites, and rhymes.
• Teach shapes,- colors, numbers and letters (capitals and lower case & sounds).
• Make patterns with your child.
• Teach child their birth date, phone number and address.
• Practice writing child's name (properly, Max, not MAX).


Should Not Do...
• Teach child to write their name in all CAPITAL letters!
• Test before teach; “What color is this, what color is that...”

Ear Infections

*I'm starting this blog back up again. Hope to do a post a month.

Does your child suffer from ear infections? Here is a simple natural way to treat your child's ears before it's too late.

What you'll need is Hydrogen Peroxide, a medicine dropper and Garlic Oil (you can make your own by placing 3-5 cloves of minced garlic in a baby food jar then add olive oil about 1/4 full, keep for up to 2 weeks on counter or 3 months in refrigerator.)

Using the medicine dropper place about 6 drops of warmed hydro. peroxide in child's ear leave inside for about 1 minute, drain ear/wipe out, then do other side. Then place about 4 drops of warmed/room temperature garlic oil in ears place cotton ball. While doing ears you do have to hold child down on side, if baby is nursing you can do while nursing.

This can be done 2 times a day for 3 days and repeated every two weeks if needed. The garlic oil is used to sooth the pain if feel that child is in pain. If you notice child's ears are just really waxy just treat with the hydrogen peroxide.

I can honestly say I have 5 children and have never had to give any of them antibiotics for their ears.