There's a city on my knee!

This is just a funny story that I don't want to forget.  We listen to K-Love radio station, which is a listener supported Christian radio station.  We love the contemporary music and how it reaches our hearts and sweet Meryt's heart.  I love driving to and from school and listening to her pipe in or ask to hear a specific song.  Even more: when she brings up a song in conversation.  Her theology is usually pretty spot-on, but there are times I've completely missed the mark in my explanation.

Example:
Friday night, after a LONG day, I let Meryt sleep with me.  It was about 12:30 and I was EXHAUSTED and she should have been.  I noticed she was inspecting her knee. 
Meryt: Mama, did you know I have a city on my knee?
Me: WHAT?
Meryt: I have a city on my knee.
Me: You do not.
Meryt: Well, that's what the song says.
Me: WHAT?!?! (realization sets in and I bust out laughing)  No, it does not say that.  The song says we are a city on OUR knees.  That means it would be so amazing if everyone we know loved Jesus as their savior and got on their knees and prayed to God. 
Meryt: That's not what the song says, Mama.  It says I have a city on my knees. 
Me: No, it doesn't.  (explanation again)

I feel rather pleased with myself that I've cleared up her confusion.  UNTIL Saturday night at dinner when she says to H, "Dada, did you know we are on God's knees?" 

I'm thinking further discussion is going to be required on this topic. 

Here is the song, just in case you're curious. 

The Beginning of Discipline

I think we've arrived at that place that is always so hard for me, as a parent.  The beginning of discipline.  I clearly remember the questions I had about my methods with Meryt, my doubt in myself, but my confidence that I must begin to discipline her. 

Does she understand? 
Does she know what she did wrong?
Does she know why she's being discplined?
How long is too long after the offense to discpline?

Luke, on the other hand, gives me absolutely no reason to doubt myself.  He clearly needs to be disciplined, but how? 

He's a hitter.
He's a hair puller.
He's a pincher.
He's a biter.
He's a spitter.

Yes.  He's a spitter.  That just started yesterday morning.  I was so shocked the first time he spit at me, that I busted out laughing.  It is slightly humerous to see your chubby, sweet faced, blue eyed toddler bend at the waist and slobber toward you.  He was so mad that he didn't even notice that I had a moment of amusement at his expense.  He just spit {spat?} again. 

We've tried "time out" where we put him in the chair for 1 minute.  He just screams--because he's still mad about whatever caused his aggressive behavior.  Not because we've put him in time out. 

We tried a quick pop on the hand or the leg.  Um...that just led to more hitting. 

The wooden spoon is what we use when Meryt needs some discipline, which is not very often.  So, this morning, I busted out the wooden spoon for Luke. 

The first time he spit, a TINY pop on the leg.  He was shocked, so he immediately spit again.  Another tiny pop.  Another spit.  Another tiny pop.  Another spit.  This went on and on and on. 

Oh...did I mention Luke is INCREDIBLY strong willed? 

By nap time this morning, he wasn't spitting back after his pop. 

So, at just a few days shy of 18 months, we are at the beginning of displine.  The hard core, we are the parents-you are the child type of displine.         

Luke's Talking...or not

I am typing this post for one reason only! : ) So I can one day look back and laugh at being such a worry-wart mom. Or I can look back and know that perhaps there was a problem. I'm praying that the first situation is the reality.

Luke is 17 months old as of April 9 and not talking. He whines and fusses a lot, indicating that he's very frustrated with his inability to communicate his wants and needs to us. There is lots of melting down and throwing of objects when they are offered.

Signs of hope:
Luke signs please, more and all done when prompted.
He occassionally signs please spontaneously.
He is beginning to make the /p/ sound when signing please.
Words: Mama (not necessarily for me), MY! (means Mine!), and tonight he said, "nigh-nigh" when I said, "Are you ready to go night-night?"
Just yesterday he started giving mouth (his) to face (mine) kisses while making a sound.
He waves all the time, even when no one is around. As soon as I unload him at his babysitter's house, he starts waving.
He touches his head when asked. He touches his nose when asked.
He made an animal sound one evening this week. (I think it was moo for cow.)
He tickles us.

Worrisome signs:
He doesn't consistently call me mama.
He doesn't call Meryt anything.
He rarely responds to his name (turning to me, laughing, etc.)
He doesn't make animal noises.
He doesn't know his body parts (except head and nose), despite us talking about it every bath.
He screams A LOT. (He's perfecting this horribly annoying screeching scream that is so horrendously high pitched that it hurts your ear drum.)
He just doesn't have any words for common things: cup, food, basic needs, etc.
Since September, he's had a lot of ear infections--he is not usually symptomatic, so I never know if he has one unless I just think there is something wrong and we have him checked. I've been caught off guard twice because I didn't even realize anything was wrong.

I know part of this is a comparision between Meryt and Luke and that isn't fair to either of them. I don't want to do that. But I want to be aware of any delays or concerns so I don't let too much time get away before dealing with any issues.

Luke is very aware of his surroundings. He watches what other childern do and mimics them. He tackles Meryt to engage her. He knows how to climb up a ladder on a playset and slide down. He loves our {almost unlovable} dog. He is jealous when I give someone else affection (like holding another baby, loving on one of his school friends, etc.). He saw Meryt hunting Easter eggs and wondered around the yard to collect a few for himself.

Just to remember what Luke looks like at almost 1 and a half, feast your eyes on this complete cuteness:

My Thoughts

On The Macon Miracle

The opinions, thoughts, and ideas expressed in this post are MY OWN and do not reflect the opinions, thoughts, or ideas Board of Education or any other employee of the Board of Education.

For those of you that don't know what's going on in this community, we have a new superintendent who was hired to come in and completely revise our public education system (the problems of which deserve their own post...maybe another day). I will refuse to comment on the man. I'd rather focus on the PLAN. I am writing this so in years future, I can return here and revise, reconsider, reevaluate how I feel about the changes that have taken place.

Background:

Yesterday, school closed at noon and every employee in the county was required to attend a celebration as the plan was revealed to us. In the fall, the employees, parents, and community members participated in two days of "strategic planning," during which our thoughts and ideas about how to change the system were collected and organized and used to draft "The Macon Miracle." I do, shockingly, believe that SOME of our ideas were heard and implemented into the plan--or at least the plan already contained some of the changes we believe will help improve our school system.

Last Friday afternoon, after some serious misjudgement on people in charge, there was a BOE meeting where the plan was revealed early. The public was outraged, immediately polarized. No one should have been shocked by that--that's what this community does best.

Another board meeting was held Thursday. Attendees were invited to come early and submit their questions prior to the meeting. I did not attend, but it seems as if those that did felt that their voices and concerns were not heard.

Also, Thursday morning, a peaceful group of highschoolers protested the plan. They spoke with the media beforehand, sharing their concerns. They elected spokespeople, had their concerns laid out and even had solutions for their problems. They tried to contact members of the Board of Education and were brushed off. Employees at the top of the food chain KNEW they were coming, yet the students were not even allowed to step foot in the Board of Education. The Superintendent and all of the deputy superintendents were unavailable to meet with them or listen to their concerns. The Director of Risk Management met the students outside and refused to let them in. I find this behavior deplorable. These kids were TRYING to do the right thing.

Friday's Meeting:

We were seated and ready by 1:00, with a start time of 1:30. Honestly, I was shocked that there weren't many community members there--the public reaction was dismal. I expected the arena to be filled to capacity.

I was beyond shocked when 2 classroom teachers opened the celebration. Seriously!? After all the fallout from the public, I expected Board members to kickoff this celebration.

Listening to the recorded message from a previous keynote speaker was a major waste of time. Not only could we not understand a single word he said, it was not a positive way to gain our attention.

The video? POWERFUL. I'm probably the only person who liked it, but I thought it was very nicely done and I thought there was a nice representation of community supporters. It was nice to see influential community members say they will support public education. I also liked that black and white community leaders were heard from. Too bad that's not always the case. I'm also a sucker for a good documentary and that's sort of how the video was done. Could have done without the children in it--even though I know all of the children in it.

The high school singer? Nice voice. Terrible choice of song in light of the speech that would be given in a few minutes.

Okay...the heart of the matter.
Finally, the superintendent showed up. I felt like the presentation was a rally cry for the employees. There was NO unveiling of the plan. He did not give us any new information. Everything he said had already been presented in the media. He did not provide any research to support his decisions (Mandarin Chinese, anyone? Extended day?). He did not touch on ANY of the hot topics. I was looking for him to actually present the plan, if not point by point, then at least a glossed over version of it. Instead, he spent a lot of time talking about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Not where I would have gone given the state of race relations in this community. I'm not sure if he was comparing himself to MLK, Jr. That wasn't the impression I got, but I might have missed that.

These are the things he did talk about:
Mental health support for children who are struggling in the classroom and their families.
Transitional programs for students who have been in the judicial system and are returning to the classroom.
Extended day (basically current afterschool programs) with support from teachers.
Class size will be capped at 25.
Closing 12 elementary schools because some schools are not filled to capacity and we need to utilize our resources.
There will be no layoffs. The 300 less teacher positions will come from retirement over the next 5-10 years.

Basically, that was it. He shared his personal story. He preachered-up on us at the end, which felt like the rally cry. Some teachers and the small-ish group of community members were standing and clapping. Other teachers were sitting quietly. He marched off the stage and that was that.

A major let down as far as presentations go.

I will not discuss the Chinese artists. Don't ask.

My opinion didn't change. There are still a lot of things I like. There are still a lot of things I have concerns about.

I'm sure I'm going to get hate mail about my next comment. I've taken measure to protect my heart from hateful comments.

If I had to decide for or against RIGHT NOW...

I'd have to say for.

I have many, many questions. I'd like to see research. I'd like to hear answers to my questions and know that I'm being heard. I hope that some of the things in the Macon Miracle change to better reflect the needs of the community.

But this system is FAILING it's students. We are working so hard and spinning our wheels. Something has to be done. Out of 164 systems in the state, we are ranked 151. Dismal.

I'm willing to try being part of the change.

Please, don't be a hater.

Going Granola, Part III

Update on Going Granola.

I couldn't take it any more. I gave in and bought (sent Dwayne to buy) real, actual dishwashing detergent. We are back on the tablets (because he went to Lowe's and that's what they sell. Don't ask...it's a story not worth retelling. I'm just thankful he went to the store for me!) and OFF vinegar/Borax/baking powder. I have to admit that I want squeaky clean dishes. Like the kind where you scratch your finger on the plate and it squeaks...yeah, that's what I want. Dwayne and I are both committed to going to a powder and using only the smallest amount necessary, but the whole Lowe's shopping trip sort of messed that up. Next time, people...next time.

I'm almost out of body wash--maybe another day or two. In preparation, I bought a small-ish bottle of Dr. Bronner's peppermint castille liquid soap. I'm going to dilute it and try it out. It was less than $10. If I get 5 bottles of body wash out of it, I'm coming out even. I noticed the hand soap was out at the sink tonight, so I mixed up a bit to use at the sink. It smells heavenly. I don't mind supporting organic/fair trade/green earth products, but MAN, OH, MAN...have you read the stuff on the Dr. Bronner's bottle? WEIRD. Not up my very conservative, Christian-worldview alley. I find it rather strange. But that's okay. I'll keep you updated on my opinion of the product.

Kefir: Loving it, still. Luke's diapers are a thousand...no, a million, times better. His bowels don't stink to high heaven any more. They are normal in consistency, color, and odor (maybe even a tad odorless!). We blend 2 cups kefir with 1 banana every morning and Luke loves it. He drinks it in place of milk at meal times. I am a little concerned because he is super congested again like he was before we went to Disney World. I don't know if it's a result of consuming a dairy product regularly or if he's just battling a cold that he can't shake (maybe even extra worried because his nurse mentioned RSV on the phone today! YIKES!).

Homemade detergent: Meryt puked in the bed the other night. There was throw up on the comforter, sheets, and mattress cover. The home made detergent cleaned it all out. We did wash the comforter 3 times, but that's because it's so fluffy that I couldn't get it positioned good in the washing machine and we wanted it really clean. So far, we're loving the detergent. I'm almost out of dryer sheets...not sure what we'll do about that. More research to follow.

So, that's where we are. Oh...I did buy Luke a loaf of gluten free, dairy free, nut free, somethingelse free bread at the natural store Sunday. He had a slice tonight. Not sure if he liked it or not because I found a bunch of it under his seat after I put him to bed. I think that's because he was screaming his head off and not eating much tonight because he was so tired. I don't think it's a true measure of his like/dislike for the product.

I'll update again soon. Have a few other posts in my head that I need to work through and get up. Thanks for following us on this journey!

Laundry Detergent

Several people have asked how I made our laundry detergent. I found a pin on pinterest (oh, my goodness...do you pin???). Trust me, I would not have tried it if it didn't look super easy and CHEAP. I wasn't willing to invest a bunch of time or money in case I didn't like the detergent. My total investment was about $5. I spent a about $10 buying everything I needed, but I've got PLENTY of Borax * and Super Washing Soda * to make more or to use for other things.

The original recipe is from WellnessMama. You can see her post here.

1 cup Borax

1 cup Super Washing Soda

1 bar Dr. Bronner's Castille Soap*

5 gallons water

1. Put 2 quarts water in a pot. Shred the castille bar soap and melt it down in the pot.

2. Pour borax and super washing soda in a 5 gallon bucket with 2 quarts hot water from sink. Stir until dissolved. (Now you've used 1 gallon water)

3. Slowly add water and stir. (I did this until I had 4 gallons in the big bucket. I knew I'd need a little extra stirring room when I added the melted bar soap/water.)

4. When soap is completely melted, add to borax/superwashing soda mixture. STIR well.

5. Finish adding water until you've got 5 gallons water.

6. Let detergent sit overnight. The soap mixture will sort of congeal in the middle of the borax/super washing soda mixture. Stir it well. It will be a bit lumpy and glumpy (I just made that word up). That's okay.

7. Pour into 1 gallon milk jugs to store.

Use 1/4 cup detergent for each load of laundry. Make sure you shake up the detergent before you use it --the soap will continue to separate a little.

Meryt and I did an experiment with the detergent. We used one of Dwayne's old t-shirts and smeared all kinds of staining matter on it. (I should have taken a "before the stains" picture because I'm almost positive that the one stain that is left was already on there.)

(Sorry the picture is upside down)

1. Strawberry syrup

2. Chocolate syrup

3. chocolate ice cream

4. dirt from outside

5. Coffee grounds

6. Ketchup

As you can see, most of the stains washed out pretty good. I did not pretreat the stains...just tossed it in the wash. I did wash it by itself with 1/4 cup detergent, so I suppose someone might claim that it is a bit more concentrated because there was no other laundry in the load.

Overall, we are very pleased with the homemade detergent. I might try to use the Fels naptha * next time because I've heard it's excellent for removing stains. I'm excited that the detergent will last FOREVER. I'm guessing about a year based on how much laundry I average and how much detergent I made.

If you want to make powder detergent, WellnessMama also has a recipe for that at the link above.

*I only provided these links so you can see the actual product. I did not purchase my supplies on line--they were available at my local supermarket in the laundry section. Dr. Bronner's castille soap was available in the health food/organic section.

Thanks!

Going Granola, Part II

SOOOOOOOOO...

I know you're dying to know how Going Granola, Part I is going.

And it's going.

Well. As in, good.

Things we're doing:
~Using homemade/chemical free laundry detergent.
~Using vinegar/borax/baking soda in the dishwasher.
~Growing kefir and feeding it to the kids.
~Making muffins from scratch so the kids have more wholesome breakfast options.

Things we like:
~Laundry detergent. It does a great job of washing the clothes. It even gets Luke's nasty poop out of his clothes. Unfortunately, this happens all too often around here and is a necessity in laundry detergent. Meryt (it's so strange typing her name on here when I called her M for so long so "protect her identify") and I did a little experiment on the laundry detergent. The pics are on my phone. I'll do another post with the pictures soon.
~Kefir. Actually, like is a bit strong. I don't like it at all, but can tolerate it in a smoothie (with spinach and bananas). Meryt can tolerate it a bit if it's blended with a banana. She also drinks it mixed with her smoothies. Luke loves it and will drink it UP when it's blended with a banana. I don't notice a difference in his bowels yet, but I'm hopeful.
~Homemade muffins. Luke loves them. Dwayne and I both like them. Meryt still prefers her pillsbury strudel. :) Some things might not ever change.

Things we're not crazy about:
~Vinegar/borax/baking soda. I wouldn't be worried about serving you food on my dishes, but I don't feel like they "sparkle" when I take them out of the dishwasher. There's no film or anything, but...they just aren't "squeaky" clean. I'm going to keep going for another week or so and see how I feel about it then. I might go back to dishwashing detergent.

Things I'm going to attempt next:
~Finding a non-chemical body wash. I'm almost out of my body wash, so I'm going on the prowl to find something more natural. I can't give up soap. I don't care how natural my body can be without washing it. I MUST WASH WITH SOAP. I want to feel clean. End of story. I'll go granola, but I'm not going THAT far. I'd like for it to be something I can use on the kids. Luke's skin needs a little TLC.
~I might try a homemade deodorant. Maybe.
~I might attempt to make Luke some gluten free bread. I honestly don't feel like I have the time to commit to that, or keeping it up, all the time.

I'll keep you posted.