My favorite parenting or teaching tip I learned lately:

           If you want to change a child’s attitude or behavior —change your approach!!!!!!

Kind words, a soft voice, or even a song can get the attention of the most belligerent child.  Sometimes just walking away is the best answer. 

I just spent a couple of days going to seminars at the National Association of Education for Young Children conference here in Dallas.  WOW!  It was so awesome to get to hear from some of the greatest early childhood educators!  It was also fun to meet people from all over the nation that are wanting to do what is best for young children.

What I learned or at least was reminded of:

Play is the most important activity your child can do!

Teachers need to set up a good learning environment, and get out of the way so that the children can experience the learning.  The student’s experience is more important the teacher’s lesson plan.

Challenging parents and children are much more receptive if they know you are on their side and not on their back!

There are some very wise people in the early childhood field who care deeply about the education of children.  I still have a lot to learn!

Today our school was a polling place.  In anticipation of the huge crowds, we told the teachers to go the back way through the school so they would not be taking the children through all the people in line (yes, I was sure there were pedophiles and kidnappers voting so I didn’t want them to see our cute kids!!)

My cute friend, Tyler, was questioning a teacher on why they were going the back way— when she told him it was so that they didn’t have to go through all the people that were voting — he said, “Well I hope they vote for me!”

When people were still coming when school was over, Tyler wondered to his teacher how many people had voted for him!!!   John McCain and Barak Obama could learn a few things from Tyler— I wish I had voted for him!!!

I love Halloween!!!! 

 I love all the children in their costumes and the candy, of course, is awesome!  I really don’t like all the scary stuff, like bloody masks and gravestones, I’m more into princesses, pirates and pumpkins!

Every year there is some parent or “expert” who talks about the ghoulishness and scary history of the holiday.  Religious fanatics and scare tacticians always try to make more of this holiday than there really is.  Let’s allow the children this holiday and keep all the adult ideas out of it.   For young children they could care less about witches and warlocks, they just want to get to dress up and pretend they are a superhero or cartoon caricature for awhile.  It’s an awesome time of pretend!!!!  Older children want to just go house to house with their friends and get FREE candy!

What a great holiday!!!!!

Over the last several days I have had the opportunity to talk to several people who are dealing with family tragedy—either sick parents, cancerous spouses, or ill children.  Oddly none of them were concerned with how much the care cost, or what they had to do in order to help their family - money and time were not the isses.  In a world of falling stock prices, rising food costs, and financial bailouts— the main thing remains the main thing—our most important goal is to be there for our family.

I am so thankful that the election is almost over and we can get to the season of thanksgiving—we need to start counting our blessings instead of concentrating on what we don’t have.  We recently received an update on Wray’s 401K–it’s not been pretty the last couple of months, but I’m just grateful that we had money to lose.  There was a time that we wouldn’t have lost anything because we didn’t have anything.

Let the celebrations begin!  Let’s begin to look at what really matters— family and friends—and I am extremely thankful for both!!! 

I just finished the book ADHD & me, what i learned from lighting fires at the dinner table.  It is written by Blake Taylor, a guy now in college, who writes about his experiences  dealing with adhd.  It  is a great book!  I wish this book had been available back when I was trying to navigate the ADD highway with one of my boys.  Blake writes it about himself and how he felt—it would have been helpful to have seen things from the child’s prospective.  He also gives helpful hints to those dealing with adhd so that they can avoid some of the pitfalls he had. 

It’s a good book for teachers–from preschool to high school, so they will be able to understand their students a little better and know how to help them.  It’s a good book for parents to understand how their child feels.  Mainly it’s a terrific book for all children with ADD or ADHD or behavorial issues to read to know that they are not alone in their feelings, and to get some positive insight from someone who has been there.

I was just wondering why it is that when your children are young and need a lot of attention –we don’t have much time—but when they are older and you have more time—they don’t need much attention!

We have a new little foster girl and she is adorable.  She was requiring a lot of my attention today which made me remember the days when the boys were young and I had so much to do.  Now that they are older and I have a little more time, they really don’t need me.  I’m glad they are so self sufficient, but it sure made me appreciate having a new friend to play with!

I haven’t blogged lately because I have discovered Facebook!  Now I know why all the kids are always on Facebook—it’s really fascinating!  To be honest Wray set me up a Facebook account because a lot of my Zambia friends posted pictures and stuff.  Well now I’ve discovered that I can talk to my friends all over the country–and it doesn’t cost me a thing!

I have to admit it’s kinda weird because you have to ask people to be your friends, but the funny thing is that a lot of the boy’s friends have asked me to be their friend.  I like seeing what they post about what they are doing, but I don’t really talk to them.  It’s fun to see the pictures that they post too.

Wray has discovered some word games that he can play with his cousins in Arkansas–he’s on much more than I am.  If there are ever any changes to my facebook page, it’s because Wray got a hold of it—he likes to up date me.  I’m sure there’s lots more that I could do, I’m just content to keep up with all “my friends”!

I’m going to be better about blogging, but right now–I need to check on my friends! 

This last week has shown us a lot about ourselves—we are definitely a country, a society, a people of excess!  Wall Street’s debacle is just one example– we are spending more than we can afford to — the news media continues to interview men who have lost millions of dollars this week, yet they still live in giant homes.  I really am not sure that the they are really hurting all that much–and do they really need to be living in those homes that are 20 to 30 rooms?  A picture of excess!

The last two summers, upon returning from Africa, I have reflected on how lucky we are to have so much!  Do we really appreciate all that we have or do we expect to have all that we do?  What would happen if we had to exist on one or two meals a day, and sleep at night without air conditioning or go without running water?  Most of the world is not as fortunate as we are.  I feel very sorry for those folks in Houston who are still without power, yet most of the world lives that way every day!

One example of excess a little closer to home is homecoming!  In Texas we have gotten absolutely ridiculous in how we spend gobs of money on pieces of plastic to put around a fake mum for a child to wear for one day!  What are we teaching our children?  More is better?  The amount of money spent for that one frivolity is more than most African families spend in one month–and that includes food!!!

I know we’re not going to change Wall Street overnight or cure world hunger this month, but one thing we can do is take a look at what we are doing ourselves.  If each one of us would look at our own excess—instead of eating out this week, could we take food to a shelter to help the Ike refugees?  Instead of buying another new shirt, could we use that $36 to sponser a child for Family Legacy Missions  so that the child could go to school?  Could you make two dinners and share one with your neighbor who is without a job?  How we spend our money is a reflection of our hearts!  What is your heart?  What are you teaching your children?

Sometimes you are a  winner and sometimes not so much—yesterday was a bad day—I had to send my 2  little foster guys to a new home; one that was more capable of caring for them than me.  Unfortunately, they had issues that I am not really equipped to handle — the hard part is knowing I can’t help them—it feels like a failure!  After more than 50 children in my home, you’d think I would be equipped to handle just about anything—the positive in this is that there are people out there to help them, and hopefully they’ll get what they need.

I will just have to get myself ready for the next ones, and hope that I can be the help they need.  There are definitely lots of good days ahead!