Children who are young thrive on order. If you have a certain way of doing things every day, your children will squabble less and be more productive. Yes, they will be happier because they feel like they’ve gotten something done.
If your young children are pulling on you all day and complaining because they feel like they have nothing to do, this will wear you out and you will have no energy. Join Susan Evans as she gives you lots of ideas on what to include in a routine for young children.
In the summer between my first and second years of teaching, while I was still single, I decided to get a job as a day care substitute. Each morning I would get a phone call, and I probably saw about 20 different day cares. Some of them were in areas of poverty, and some were in richer areas of town. I saw such a wide variety.
A few of them were so filthy, I didn’t feel like I could start working with the children until I had scrubbed the entire room and organized it. I’m sure that the health department would have been horrified with the condition of some of these day cares. The majority of the children looked so sad as their parents dropped them off.
After making sure the room was clean, I would look around for activities for the children to do. I took out play doh, and we all made animals. Then we would get on the floor in the blocks area and make a castle with blocks. I pretended to be a dragon coming after the children, who were roaring with laughter. I had no problem putting the children to sleep for nap time, because they were very tuckered out. And by the end of the day, the children didn’t want to leave.
Finally one day care booked me for the entire rest of the summer. It’s because I was the only one who could put a violent 3-year-old biter to sleep. (Yes, this boy bit children regularly and drew blood each time. I always wondered why he was allowed to be there.) No matter what I was doing at the nap time hour, someone would come fetch me to put this violent kid to sleep. First I calmly danced around with him in the dark, swaying and singing “Raindrops on Roses” softly, from “The Sound of Music.” Then I placed him on his mat and continued singing, softer and softer, with my eyes drooping closed. Eventually he started snoring.
At a previous daycare during the first month, there was another violent boy who was 2 years old. He cussed and hit everyone who came near, and he disobeyed every command. I knew nothing about parenting back then, since I was single, but I was used to being obeyed as a teacher. So the first time he disobeyed me, I took him and hugged him while he pounded me with his fists. I didn’t care if I got bruised, because for some strange reason, the love of Jesus flowed through me to this kid. There was nothing lovely about him, but I chose to love him and not allow him to injure anyone else. He thrashed about for what seemed like forever, and then he yielded to me. He looked me straight in the eye, and he knew I loved him for real. He obeyed me the rest of the day.
I couldn’t help but be reminded of how this situation was similar to salvation. Christ chose us and loved us when there was nothing lovely about us. We were wallowing in our sin when He opened His arms to us, and then our sin bruised Him as He chose to suffer and die to have a relationship with us. When we finally yielded to Him, the automatic and true response was to walk in obedience. Our relationship to Him caused a change in our behavior.
One of my family’s favorite dinners is mahogany wings. They are absolutely delicious, and I serve them with homemade potato chips and raw veggies.
Get about 3 pounds of chicken wings, already cut. If you have to cut them yourself with a pair of kitchen shears, you might as well not do it because of the pain in your fingers, the extra time, and the ridiculous amount of effort. So make sure that the chicken wings are already cut into “drumettes.”
I cut the skin off the chicken wings with the shears. I do this while listening to an audio to make the time pass faster. I don’t want my family to swallow all that nasty skin, after all.
Okay, now you’re ready to marinade the de-skinned drumettes. Mix together:
Pour it over the chicken wings and let it marinade overnight.
Line your broiler pan with aluminum foil, and heat your oven to 375 degrees. Place the chicken wings on the broiler pan and bake uncovered in the oven for 25 minutes, occasionally brushing with marinade. Flip them over for 10 more minutes. Yum.
For the homemade potato chips, heat oil deep enough to throw in some thinly sliced potatoes. I use a wok because I don’t have a deep fryer, and even if someone gave me a deep fryer, I would get rid of it because I don’t want to store it. I don’t like clutter, you know. When the potato slices are golden brown, take them out with a slotted spoon or tongs, whichever you feel like. Set on a plate with a paper towel to absorb excess oil, and press another paper towel on top, being careful not to burn your hand. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you.) Sprinkle with a generous helping of salt and pepper. Enjoy.
Oh, and if you’re wondering what else is in the picture, I made barbequed ribs, but I cheated by buying one of those that you just had to heat up. That’s because I realized I only had half the chicken wings that I needed to feed my family. My husband probably went to the store to buy the wings, and not knowing how much to buy, bought a ridiculously small amount. Yes, I’ll blame my sweet husband for the fact that we had barbequed ribs the day I snapped this picture. (If you click on the picture, it will enlarge enough for you to see the mahogany wings, which is the whole point of this article.)
And one more thing: you might want a stool to sit on while you are flipping the potatoes. Otherwise you’re standing there for ages, and you can’t pawn the task off to your children because they’re so short (at least mine are for a couple more years) that they’ll be hit in the eye with hot oil. So be forewarned of that as well. You should be amply rewarded by their squeals of joy at dinnertime, though, which will make all the standing around flipping potatoes and brushing mahogany wings worth it.
“I don’t give a flip about the poor. I think they are lazy frauds that beg off people just to go buy booze. Why on earth should I help them?” I declared to my husband.
After doing a Beth Moore Bible study on the book of James, I was aghast at how many Scriptures command us to help the poor. Helping the poor is something commanded by Jesus, James, and tons of other Scriptures. I was floored and horrified because I have never heard a sermon about helping the poor, and I don’t care one whit about them. What is wrong with my hardened heart?
(Here are some verses about helping the poor: Exodus 22:21-27, Leviticus 19:9-10, Leviticus 25:35-38, Deuteronomy 14:28-29, Deuteronomy 15:7-11, Deuteronomy 24:17-22, 1 Samuel 2:7, Nehemiah 5:6-13, Psalm 12:5, Psalm 112:5, Proverbs 14:21, Proverbs 14:31, Proverbs 17:5, Proverbs 19:17, Proverbs 22:16, Proverbs 28:8, Proverbs 28:27, Isaiah 3:14, Isaiah 58:5-7, Isaiah 61:1-2, Ezekiel 18:5-9, Amos 5:11, Matthew 19:21, Luke 6:34-35, 38, Luke 14:12-14, Galatians 2:10, James 2:1-7, Revelation 3:17.)
As I was reading the book of James, I was convicted that we live “in luxury and in self-indulgence” in this country, and meanwhile other believers are working hard and don’t have enough to feed their families. In the body of Christ, we ought to fill each other’s needs instead of overpampering ourselves. My husband has the gift of giving. If he sees a need, he automatically fills the need of the other person. I am not talking about professional beggars that are liars. What I’m talking about is interconnecting with other believers in the body of Christ, whether at a local church, or with other homeschoolers, or with friends. These people aren’t lazy and shouldn’t be lumped in with frauds.
I do NOT believe the poor should get help from the government (aside from not having to pay taxes), because then they feel a sense of entitlement and demand it, and the majority stop working. That’s sin. If someone doesn’t work, neither shall he eat. (II Thessalonians 3:10) If someone doesn’t provide for his family, he is worse than an unbeliever. (I Timothy 5:8) But if someone is working hard and still can’t feed his children, and you know about it and do nothing, you are guilty of sin. Read James 2:15-17: “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” God says your faith is dead if you see someone in need (for real), and you don’t help them.
We enjoy hoarding and piling up all of our money at the bank. There is nothing wrong with being rich, since Abraham was rich, and so was Job, and they were both godly people. But both Abraham and Job gave to other people and didn’t just hoard it to amass riches.
This whole idea of hoarding money reminds me of the man in Scripture who had full granaries and worked super hard to become rich, only to have his soul required of him that very night. “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'” (Luke 12:20)
