Merry Christmas!

I've decided that I'm probably not meant for blogging. First of all, I seldom find the time. If I turn on the computer during the day, Eli is sure to ask me for "Thomas on the computer" or "Yo Gabba Gabba" and when I tell him that it's Mommy's turn, he starts crying and then the writing mood has left me. If I wait until the boys go to sleep at night, I am usually to tired myself. Second of all, when I blog, its really hard for me to not write in an article type format, rather than just laying it all out.
But tonight I am breaking the pattern. I have to wait for Silas to fall asleep, so I can finish up some Christmas preparations and so Santa can come-so sleep is far away and I don't really feel like writing a polished piece. I am actually blogging!
I guess all I want to say tonight is that I am so thankful every day for God's blessings. Christmas is no exception. I love the candy making, the present wrapping, the shopping, the decorating...but most of all, I love going to bed Christmas Eve, knowing that He is ever present, Alpha and Omega, inside my heart and surrounding our home, in the back alleys and the quiet hillsides, Living, because He died. Died so we could live. Born not in a palace but in a manger surrounded by animals and starlight. Lowly, undesirable, even hated because God so loved the world...He gave His only son so that we would not perish but have eternal life...Thank you God, for sending your son on that night so long ago. Merry Christmas!

Five years ago, I moved back home to the country. I had been away since I was a teenager and although I loved the fresh air and undisturbed scenic views, I had pretty much adopted an urban mentality. But as time passed, something unexpected happened. I developed a sort of local pride-a bit of esteem for understanding the difference between a backhoe and a dozer, what kind of birds migrate here in the Winter and how to feed a mule a balanced diet. Country people are not ignorant or uneducated. One of their most unique qualities is their unwavering determination to survive. Many of my neighbors could read Shakespeare if they so desired but would rather study the reproductive cycles of their garden plants because that is what puts food on the table. These are a people who can write poetry and formulate equations, but only when necessary to complete a task. They are strong willed, bodies worn from overwork but eyes wise. They have watched the butterfly emerge from its cocoon, laid down a rifle so that a young doe can live to reproduce and with tears held back, they have turned their gun to their old dying horse. They know how to fix anything and everything-old cars, washing machines, dripping sinks and broken families. They turn to God when things get bad and when things are good, they humble themselves in prayer. They pray before breakfast, dinner, supper and yes, they still call it supper. They know how to fix a hearty meal and have recipes passed down from their great grandparents that no restaurant can compare to. They know how to skin a chicken and cook it in a pot, how to dress a deer, how to tie a fishing line, and how to eat a crawdad. They can tell you where to find the blackberries and paw paws, poke and morels, where the wild sassafras and ginseng and mint grow. They know how to crochet a mitten and quilt a blanket and how to measure and sew and spin. They can whittle a cross from an old piece of cedar and make a table from a pile of logs. They are the craftsman, the artisan, the herbalist, the gardener, the doctor, the mechanic, the plumber and the cook. The True Renaissance Man. They are the one you want to know when the Apocalypse, the Earthquake hits, or just a winter storm, where they will always have a wood fire burning. These are a people who could retire in the city with a green lawn and a grocery store down the block, but they would rather die poor and alone under the stars on their own land. Oh, I am becoming one of them. I want to be 85 and gray and understand how to predict the weather from a persimmon seed. And if there are no trees left by then and the steel aluminum world has paved its way to my front door, I want to let the weeds around my house grow tall in protest until the vines crack the asphalt, taking back what once was.

The Candy Dilemma

You spend all year long, and twice your allotted budget, to make certain that your pantry is filled with healthy food. And then comes Halloween. Your kids have modeled their costumes in the mirror half a dozen times and they have a list of places that they want to go celebrate; parties, hay rides, corn mazes, and trick or treating. By the end of it all you are stuck with an enormous bag of Red #40 and Potassium Sorbate disguised by artificial strawberry flavors. Images of your kids, sick from a compromised immune system, flood through your head and you sigh as you think of all the antioxidant herbal tinctures you carefully mixed into their applesauce. So what do you do? You can't make a preschooler understand the effects of eating candy. Taking it away while the other children are devouring it may cause resentment and misunderstanding. So is there a way to keep your child healthy during Halloween, without you being mistaken for a ghoulish monster? Here are a few ideas.

1. Strategize- take your child trick or treating only to friends and family who can sympathize. Ask them to buy small toys or give out homemade treats instead of the traditional junk. If they have other ideas, ask them if they would mind you dropping off a few treats beforehand to give out to your children when they arrive. This year, I purchased some little trinkets from Oriental Trading Co. to hand out to our trick or treaters. Last year, I gave away cute homemade kitty cookies. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Black-Cat-Cookies/Detail.aspx and there are tons of other recipe ideas online that kids love.

2. Prepare your children- make sure your kids understand that Halloween is a special holiday and they will be allowed to eat some of their candy only on Halloween night. After that, they can only have one piece a day, etc. Then you can decide how long to keep up the daily dose.

3. The Candy Fairy is Waiting- Start a new tradition by letting your child leave his candy by the door Halloween night. When he wakes up the next morning, the Candy Fairy will come and take the Candy to Candyland. In turn, she leaves behind $5.00 or a new toy.

4. Donate- Last year, we sent some of our Halloween candy to my brother-in-law and his unit that was serving in Iraq. You can also donate to Treats for Troops. Another idea? Recycle and give to local organizations that participate in Thanksgiving Day/Christmas parades. Anybody who participates can always use candy to throw to the crowds as they pass by.

5. Use it for incentives- Only give your child a piece of candy when they accomplish something big-using the potty, learning to write their name, etc.

6. Teach your children well- By instilling good health habits in your children year round, hopefully they will learn that candy is a sometimes food, and though they may want to eat a little, they will understand that their health is most important.

Reflecting

Just before sunset, for fifteen short minutes, as the kids are expelling the last of their wild leaps across the yard and the animals stand suspended, waiting for their evening grain, I connect with my ancestors. I gaze out at the same hillside that they once worked their plows, that they hunted and fished upon, that they gathered paw paws, walnuts and berries upon. For a moment, there are no cars on the nearby highway, no airplanes flying above. I hear a hawk cry in the distance, the sound of the wind, the river twisting below. I pick up the bucket of grain, just as my Grandmother did and her parents before her. My little ram and the two ewes follow me into the pen. His head is against me and I reach down to scratch his soft fur. He probably is only interested in the feed, but it is so fulfilling to look into his trusting eyes. The donkeys and the chickens are following me now, all ready for supper. Ive found that they all respond best to different ways of communicating. I am slowly learning techniques that, to my grandparents was second nature, even survival. I wonder sometimes what my Grandmother would think. When she passed away, I was a misplaced city girl, slowly finding her way back to her roots. My eldest child was months away from being born, I couldn't lift a five gallon bucket and the only animal I took care of was a housecat. When she was alive, we weren't very close but since Ive came back home, I feel sometimes as if I know her just from walking her steps. Sometimes I imagine her watching as I secure the latch to the chicken coop. I can almost see my Great Grandfather smiling as I toss a bail of hay into the shed. Ive came to appreciate, admire, and even long for the lifestyle that they led. There is a peace in simplicity, in the still perfection of God's creation. There is fulfillment in my fifteen minutes, a breath of fresh air, a slice of a past I never knew, of a present that couldn't be more right.

Meltdowns

My 4 year old is having a meltdown again. He cannot rationalize, cannot even eat his lunch because he is consumed with the notion that his brother is playing with his wooden cupcake set.
"But the cupcakes are in the oven and they will not be ready for Daddy if he plays with them."
I remind Silas that he promised to share the set when I bought it for him and since Eli has already finished eating, Eli can play with the set until Daddy gets home.
The tears begin to fall, Silas is screaming and heads for his little brother to take the matter in his own hands. I shield Eli from him and firmly tell Silas that it is Eli's turn and there is to be no more arguing about it.
Finally, Silas sits down to eat. Eli is sitting beside him playing with the cupcake set. Silas can't take his eyes away from his brother.
"But he is going to put dots on the cupcakes and I already have them decorated."
"Silas-not another word."
"But I can't let him do that. I just can't." Silas whines. And then it is quiet for a moment.
Silas calmly leans over to Eli and in the sweetest big brother voice says, "Eli, can you pick up the cupcakes and put them back where they belong?"
Eli wants to please his big brother so he picks one up and puts it back in the box.
"Good job, Eli! Now do the next one." Under my little manipulator's instuction, Eli puts each one back in the box.
"Good. You did it! Now its time to put them away" and Silas picks up the box and carries it off!

My former favorite magazine made me do it. Or at least it inspired me to do so. It was such a great parenting tool, great topics and information. I could somewhat overlook their secular stance because of the informative articles on everything from birthing at home to breastfeeding. My parting began when I noticed on their facebook link that the magazine not only opposes circumcision in baby boys, but they believe it is a human rights violation. When I commented that it should be a personal decision for the parents, just as the choice to vaccinate or breastfeed, I was vehemently opposed and told that I was a misled and uneducated mother. My two boys were circumcised and I even watched the procedure with my youngest son. My midwife took the utmost care and he cried just a little until I nursed him in my arms. He was not in shock, as many tried to convince me. He was not mutilated or abused. We were practicing a religious tradition that dates back to the time of Abraham and was mandated in the Old Testament. Although we, as Christians, are under the new covenant, Peter and Paul even debated the issue, finally reaching the conclusion that the Lord circumcises the heart and so the old tradition is no longer necessary. However, for me personally, I was retracing the steps of my spiritual ancestors. On his 8th day, just as God ordered Abraham and his decedents, my little Eli was circumcised. My heart told me that this was a ritual, a dedication, to the Lord. Not necessary to secure anyones salvation, but an act of faith and promise. It is something I will never regret, as it was a covenant between me and God. I don't know that circumcision is the answer for everyone. God demands different things out of all of us. However, I see the removal and even criminalization of circumcision in our country as just another step away from Biblical principle and comes to no surprise to me that liberal media is labeling it as a human rights issue. And so I said my goodbyes to the magazine and concluded that I would begin my own all natural mommy blog, where love and tolerance are a foundation and the Bible is a guiding light.

Should Christians celebrate Halloween?

In the Halloween party store, I had to distract my children from looking at the creepy electronic "demon babies" that were on display. When did smiling ghosts and jack o' lanterns stop being enough? Like everything, Satan has cunningly and inconspicuously crept in and taken over full throttle. So begs the question, "as Christians, should we celebrate Halloween?"
Although Halloween originates from ancient Celtic and Roman traditions, the holiday that we celebrate today is also greatly influenced by the early church and barely resembles the original celebrations. In fact, Halloween as we know it didn't evolve until the early twentieth century, so we cannot really base our decision of whether to celebrate or not by looking at the history. What we need to do is look at the present traditions. I believe that we should keep our distance from obvious Satanic influence-the extremities of an already ghoulish holiday. Anything that is blatantly against God and the Bible, we should NOT take part in or encourage. This includes witchcraft, devils, demons and even some horror movies. Aside from the candy issue, which I will touch upon later, allowing our children to participate in dressing up and visiting neighbors, friends and family is completely permissible and can actually be used as an opportunity to teach. Point out some of the scary Halloween traditions. Remind them that the world can be a frightening place and when they are afraid, they can always turn to God in prayer. Teach them that, like the Jack'O Lantern lights up the night, we should let our light shine before men.(Matt 5:16) There are endless opportunities. Feel free to share your ideas and opinions here.