9 ways to get out of a mommy rut and stay out!

2 Nephi 25:25-26

 25 For, for this end was the law given; wherefore the law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith; yet we keep the law because of the commandments.

 26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

 

I love this verses and it reminds me to be even more diligent on what I am teaching my children. I have been in a rut lately with my kids. There is tension and frustration and I feel more like a prison guard than a Mother. I heard a quote that sometimes you have to move backwards to move forward. I can think of many times where I tried to back out from somewhere in my car, only to have to move forward and then back and then forward and back again. My husband always laughs at me because it can be difficult to get just the right angle that I need to get out, especially my garage. In the case with my children that is exactly how it has been going. One of the best  ways to go backwards is to go back to the basics. This is where this scripture comes in. Heavenly Father does not want to be squeezed in to our busy lives or our children's. They need to know by our example what we hold most sacred. Our Savior gave up his life so we could have everything. We are gifted these children to teach and it is everything! It also over so fast! It should be as important to our spiritual souls as eating and sleeping is to our physical bodies.

I shouldn't have to yell and scream. It changes the feel of our home and there is no way I can teach or guide my children.  I need to come at it from a different angle. I am really not sure what I am going to do exactly but I know what is at stake and that it is important to me to not get lost. I always turn to researching and learning all I can. My children can't ignore me.  If they tune me out they tune out being teachable. It is silly really. They don't want to do school or chores because it is Summer and they should have fun. This mentality worries me the most I think. Maybe they don't see me as an authority figure because I have been so sick? On the outside I smile and carry on, but inside I am broken and confused. It is like I have a team of horses that don't want to pull their weight or move at all.

 It is not easy for me to write posts where I feel I am failing but I hold the reins. I cannot fail! Maybe I am holding the reins too tight or like I am the captain of a mutinous crew? What do I do? I need to get out of this rut! Maybe my children are in a rut too? Here are some ways to get out of a rut. If you keep doing these 9 things it should keep you out of one too!

1. Try to change something up. Find a new routine or new way to put the spark back into a relationship. A strong relationship is like a bridge. If it is strong it will always lead them back to you and you will always have a way to them. I could try to make things more exciting! Change a habit or try a new hobby.
2. Write in a journal. Express your worries or feelings of your day. It may help you see the problem.
3. Look for inspiration. Find someone who is going through something similar. That is what I love about blogs!
4. Try to go against your personality type. What I mean by that is it will not come naturally to you. I have a type A personality so I can be very controlling and manipulative. Therefore, I need to give some slack on my "mommy reins". This is a big goal so the next step would be to....
5. Break this big goal into smaller goals so that you don't get overwhelmed.  
6. Learn to recognize when I am feeling stressed as well as my kids and take time to relax and come back to the situation.
7. Remind yourself that this rut you are in will pass.
8. Take responsibility and see what you are doing to contribute to the problem. Also be prepared to resolve conflicts where they may be needed. In this case I need to resolve it with my kids and tell them I am sorry for the way I have been handling things.
9. Take control of the change you want. Be willing to work hard and constantly until you reach your vision.

Here I go! Wish me luck!

A little bit of sun, fun and Doctors-No pain no gain!

"Are you feeling well?" my kids asked

What can I say to them when it hurts to move, my stomach hurts and my head is pounding. That was yesterday. Today I was at an internist to see if they could figure out what might be going on. She seemed to think opposite of what my doctors were thinking and wanted to test me for Sacroiliitis.?????Whatever that is!This is a term used to describe inflammation of your sacrioliac joints. Hmmmmm interesting. I looked that up and found that I do have a lot of the symptoms but what does that have to do with my stomach? There is definitely more to look into here!

I intend to take this to the Lord and see what I feel from it. Oh yes and she took me off of my supplements and wants me to eat. I told her I do eat, but most food hurts me. I will take this back to my general practitioner to see what they say as well. I feel like I still have more questions than answers at this point. Grrrrr so frustrating!

I also started reading the Book of Mormon in a month challenge with my sister in law. We are supposed to read 8 chapters a day. Not too much but it definitely takes more time than my usual morning study. I am loving it!

My oldest 2 have swimming lessons this and next week so life is a little more busy for us! Might have to take a break from school?

My oldest son finished his Pokemon bag with pieces of white, red, black and blue felt! Yay! I am so  proud.
  
At the end of the day I took my kids to the splash pad. It was hard to really enjoy them because I was hurting so bad! I am glad I did it though. Every day is a challenge but I am not giving up! I hope this will help any of you, who may be struggling on some way. You can find the gain in the pain. This is my true blue days of pain but I can only change the way I see it and that is my gain!

Summer of sucess 3 lesson plans

June 8
Devotional-My choices-Part 1

97983_00My choices have consequences

 

writing-What would you do if you were the last man/woman on earth? What fun things would you do?
Activity: Make a worm ecosystem

June 9th
Devotional-My choices-Part 2
Challenges help us grow

activity-Learn about where you live .A Biome is. a distinct ecological community of plants and animals living together in a particular climate is called a "biome."

Writing- What do you think you will find in your dirt sample? Follow steps of lesson. For younger kids they can draw pictures and just play with the sample and look under a microscope.

June 10th
Devotional-Making an effort

The reward is worth the effort

Star burst rock cycle
Writing: Write a story mixed emotions of changing forms

June 11th-
Devotional-The formula part 1
Read Magic school bus goes inside the earth
 
Writing- 4th-Write a 1 or 2 fictional narrative from the perspective of a rock moving through cycle
Activity- How to make a rock

June 12th-
Devotional-Formula Part 2
Art and friend Friday-wax rocks

Summer of Sucess Week 2 -Day 4 and 5

It has been a crazy week around here! Being a Mom is HARD!!!! I pulled my kids aside to talk to them and tell them that I wasn't happy. It wasn't because they are bad kids or misbehaving..........much. Things around my house just need a little tweaking and it may take all Summer to do it! Ahhhhhhhhh!

The kids participated in my little experiment of being Mom for a day. I feel like I was hoping a big light bulb would go on, like "Hey we should help Mom out more because she does a lot! My daughter was the most excited about it! Such a good little Mommy! They changed the babies diaper and got the 2 and 4 year old dressed. The oldest kids made eggs for breakfast too. Their favorite part was during quiet time they got to relax and so they chose to watch a movie. I don't ever let them watch a movie during quiet time or be in the same room. They have been working on a video that portrays being Mom for a day too! It is not finished yet though. I have decided that I do not like the constant nagging so I made a list of things that they have to do for the morning and then they have a chore for morning afternoon, and dinner. I just get so stressed and that isn't good for me at all! I am already stressed because my available food list is shrinking. If the kids do not complete their task it gets put under the oops category. If the kids ask me for something I say go look at your oops chart. Then they have to do ______ to get what they asked.

I used the video below to get the kids attention and give them ideas for their video!

We also took a little break from school this week. I did have my younger two work on Alphabet and my older two, on math.

I found this cool math trick where she used her fingers to practice her 3 times tables.


My daughter also passed off the 4th article of Faith! Yes!

Reading:
10 year old-6 hours

8 year old-4 hours

4 year old-1 hour

Here is to next week!!

Summer of Sucess week 2- Day 2 and 3

June 2
Devotional-The opponent
Satan is the great deceiver, liar, and enemy to all that is good, including our happiness and our well-being. His great desire is to thwart our Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness and make us “miserable like unto himself” (2 Ne. 2:27). Being the very author and perpetrator of deceit, he in effect would invite us to join him in his snipe hunt, to fill our bags with excitement, fun, popularity, and the so-called “good life.” But his promises are as illusionary as the nonexistent snipe. What he really offers are lies, misery, spiritual degradation, and loss of self-worth.

Skill: Morning routine and listening

Activity -Help kids understand the self-contained aspect of ecosystem. What supplies would you need to survive in their rooms for a day? What about if the whole family or 16?

• calculate the amount of food, water, paper, oxygen, etc. to live in the classroom for a day.
• you can't refrigerate or cook any food and that electricity would be limited. Encourage students to think of any resource problems that truly exist in the world today and to list ways to solve and remedy such problems

It was a good practice on multiplication and division. My soon to be 3rd grader needs to practice her multiplication math facts.

My oldest son ran and got the bunny just for back up. Ewww we are not eating the bunny!

It has been really tough to get the kids to help out so  am trying something ne tomorrow.......

See what it is like for my kids to be Mom for a day!

When Mom has a bad day!

I have a little confession to make! I just wrote a big long post and vented! I am a real in who I am and the voice I want when writing about my life. However I did not want you to read my words dripping with anger and frustration, so I erased it all! Let me tell you though it wasn't pretty and my to do list is gathering dust. I don't want to fight I want to surrender and scream for help! Do you feel that way?

Honestly I could blame it on all the forces of nature against me right now. I am stuck in a tornado of emotion. I know ultimately that I choose my behavior. All this anger and frustration is like a cyclone going through me. What will be left after the storm is over? I feel off balanced and lost. My kids are good kids but they have really been challenging to say the least! The last few day have been watching the clock until nap time and even nap time has had its challenges. The more the kids fight or didn't listen the more angry I became. I yelled and I hate that.

The kids are in bed and I am filled with regret and wondering if I did anything right today. When it all boils down to it I want to be in control. The first thing to fly out the window is my patience and not surprisingly my kid's patience as well. What is really strange is that we have had devotionals in the morning and prayers. That should be starting our days off on the right tone.

Children want to please their parents. I know if my children do not feel like they can please me they act out. Parent and child should not be fighting against each other! There is no harmony when we are all digging our heals in right? I need some training or classes on dealing with strong will. We are all strong and that makes us all have the leadership qualities within us. How do I let my children lead without leading me to the loony bin.

Try....try again.......adjust...........try..........try.......try......
Maybe I need to surrender a little bit. Not that the kids are right in being stubborn but I don't have to be so strict.

My plan of action:
Tomorrow I plan on asking the kids about the routine and how they feel about it. I hope to have more individual time with them and apologize for the last couple of days being off. I guess I am no master of my feelings so how can I expect the kids to be too? Then I am going to say yes as much as I can and stay away from nagging like it is the plague!

Summer of Sucess week 2 Day 1

June 1
Devotional-I am a key player
"Some of you may feel that you are not as attractive and beautiful and glamorous as you would like to be. Rise above any such feelings, cultivate the light you have within you, and it will shine through as a radiant expression that will be seen by others.

You need never feel inferior. You need never feel that you were born without talents or without opportunities to give them expression. Cultivate whatever talents you have, and they will grow and refine and become an expression of your true self appreciated by others.

In summary, try a little harder to measure up to the divine within each of you. As Alma said, “Awake and arouse your faculties” (Alma 32:27)." Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

 

writing- Find an insect. Write a story about where they are coming from and where they are going.This is an assignment to turn in on Friday to practice turning in homework. Yes I am desperate!

My daughter passed of her 4th article of faith today. Yay!

My oldest is starting a blog too! Just to give him an outlet and place to put all his writing. It will be private of course. His first project a bag made from jeans for his Pokémon cards. There is more to come tomorrow!

   



Skill: I am still trying to get my kids to do their morning routine without me. Still trying.....

 It was a really rough morning today! The kids just wouldn't listen so we worked on listening. We talked about eye contact and repeating what I said back to me. We had some fun playing Simon says and Red light green light. Well, my toddler mainly just ran around back and forth sating green light, red light.

 I am a good listener

 

2-5 year old:

Story

 

Activity-swirling twirling lady bugs

Plan Fathers day gift!

8 to 10 year olds:

Intro: Ecosystems-levelsof organization in an ecosystem

Watch:

 

Talk about one concept of ecosystems (Producers, Consumers, Decomposers, and Predators). Designing and constructing a mobile for lady bug or bug of choice