Wednesday's WORD: I Use to Know A LOT

I knew A LOT about marriage and motherhood. 

And then I got married and became a mother and learned that I don't know much.

I've been working on a major project: Organize Everything! 

I may or may not have jumped into a disaster.  You see, I've pulled out all the files from the filing cabinet, every box of papers, folders, notebooks, file boxes, and every pile of things in the house (including in drawers, closets, ...you get the idea).  Some things are recent, and others have been hidden on purpose since we got got engaged almost a decade ago when I had to quickly move out of my college apartment and in with my parents to save money for a couple months, and then there are the boxes of things my mom found in the back of her closet that are "mine".  I think she saved every picture I ever drew.  You see, when I say EVERYTHING, I'm really meaning everything.  Oh yeah, and I also have lots of printed photos from back in the day before digital cameras.  I took all these things into one room, (it use to be where my son read books and played with legos...those activities have migrated temporarily to a different area of the house), and I've banished anyone from that room until my project of overcoming my unorganizedness is conquered.  You see, I use to be quite unorganized.  I married an organized man.  I've been learning from him.  I'm glad.  But now those piles are DRIVING ME CRAZY and I want to get it ALL done.  Thrown away, or put somewhere useful.  I'm sick of the hidden but not forgotten boxes.  I'm tired of moving them each time we've moved (though we're probably in this home for a while since we bought it).  I'm wanting to DE-CLUTTER, SIMPLIFY, ORGANIZE.  You get the idea. 

So, what does this have to do with what I use to know?  It seems totally unrelated doesn't it.  But it's not.  You see, before getting married, and before having kids, and while I was in school getting my awesome possum degree, I kept a lot of things that would help me be the-most-awesome-rockin-mother-EVER!!!  And when I was in school getting my degree I learned tons of great stuff.  And then I worked for a university teaching people how to teach kids and coming up with lessons for preschoolers.... I have a lot of stuff and learned a lot and I have PAPERS to prove it.  As I've been going through things I've been reminded of all I use to know.  If only I could remember all of it each day.  If I did, I'm sure I'd never become impatient with my kids because I'd understand exactly what stage of development they're in and about how long it lasts, how to communicate with them without conflict, how to teach self sufficiency with a perfect balance of obedience, and I'd have creatively fun ideas galore coming out my ears for every minute of the day and would never hear my son say "I'm bored!".  But I guess it doesn't work that way.  Everything I learned didn't stick.  I'm human.  I get tired.  I forget.  I try to remember.  And experience is a completely different kind of knowledge than the knowledge from notes I wrote during lectures in college.

So, I think I'll be okay with not "knowing" as much as I use to.  I'm having the chance to experience what I didn't have before but dreamed about.  And experience is better.  Experience gives hugs, kisses, and a homemade cardboard-box-fishtank gift for Mother's Day.  It doesn't get better than this! 

Experience is a knowledge of the heart. 

Wednesday's Word

"DO SMALL THINGS

WITH GREAT LOVE."

~Mother Theresa

Tuesday's Tidbit: Crawling

When I was in college I remember reading an interesting study done somewhere about teenagers that had problems with math.  They had found out that many of those students who were struggling with math had never crawled as a baby.  They had skipped that step in development and had gone straight to walking.  They taught these teenagers to crawl, did crawling exercises in class, and their math skills improved significantly.   I don't remember the details of the study, but the idea obviously stuck with me and I became VERY excited as each of my children began to crawl.   (Especially my little girl because of all her special therapy that began when she was only 6 weeks old.  Another post for another day.)

Now, I'm not going to say that all non-crawlers will struggle with math.  Neither will I say that all who struggle with math weren't crawlers as a baby (I crawled and am  not good at math at all...I won't mention how many times I repeated math classes.)  But I will say that crawling is a very important part of development.  And Math isn't the only area it seems to affect.  There are many studies that show how it affects the brain development (coordination, memory, etc.), and there are many theories out there including the possiblity that it's a factor in ADHD.

So, basically, don't push walking when your baby is enjoying crawling-this is an important time for your baby's brain to be getting a work-out, but if your baby skips crawling, maybe when he/she is an older child you can think of fun crawling games later in life to get them moving on their hands and knees. 

* And here's a good article if you'd be interested in learning a little more: medcentral.org

Monday's MOMent

Today I went to change T's diaper & quickly discovered that it was not a pretty one. As I was wrapping it up, I decided to wrap it tightly so that none of the poop would spill out as I went to throw it away. Bad idea...it only squeezed the poop out of the diaper all over my hand. I held the diaper with my soiled right hand as I tried to catch any extra spillage with my left hand. It continued to drip into my hand as I ran downstairs only to find that I had a child lock on my doorknob to the garage that my kids would not be able to assist me with. I asked my other son to help open the cupboard under the kitchen sink so that I could get an old grocery sack to put the diaper in, but of course it was childlocked & he couldn't open it. I was trying to pry the door open with my toes when my piano student knocked on the door. Crap. Of course J couldn't open the door for her because it had a cover on the doorknob as well. I ended up throwing the diaper in my kitchen garbage can (which I should have thought of in the first place), washed the filth off of my hands & proceeded on with my day as if nothing had even happened.

~Jackie, mother of 4

Friday's Food: Vegetable Pizza

That's right...a vegetable pizza.  You can hide all kind of nutrients in this sneaky pizza.  The smaller you chop the vegetables the less recognizable they are. :)

Vegetable Pizza

1 8-oz pkg refrigerated crescent rolls

1 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 tsp mayonnaise

1 garlic clove finely minced

1 tsp. dill seed (or dill weed)

salt

black pepper

1/4 Cup cheddar cheese, shredded

2 C. Assorted Fresh Vegetables of your choice (broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, tomato, green onion, mushrooms, carrot, zucchini, squash, etc.)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Unroll crescent dough; seperate into 8 triangles.  On a large pizza pan, arrange triangles in a circle with points in the center and wide ends toward the outside.  By pinching seams together and rolling flat, make a 12-inch circle.  Bake 12-15 minutes or until light golden brown.  Remove from oven and cool completely. 

2.  In a medium size bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, garlic and dill weed.  Season with salt and pepper.  Mix well.  Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over top of crust.

3.  To prepare vegetables, slice, dice, or coarsely chop each vegetable.  (Remember, the smaller the pieces the less likely they'll recognize it.)

4.  Sprinkle vegetables over top of pizza.  Grate cheese evenly over top of vegetables.  Place plastic wrap over top of pizza and push vegetables into cream cheese mixture, (this helps them not fall off as it's being eaten).  Remove plastic wrap.  Cut into squares and serve.  Keep refrigerated.

*Variation: Ranch Cream Cheese mixture.  Mix 1 1/2 tsp. mayonnaise with about 1/2 envelope of dry ranch dressing until smooth, then mix with 8 oz. cream cheese.