The Innocent

   Such a special day. First day of kindergarten. As I looked at the line of kids waiting with my son to go in, I wondered if any of these as yet innocent kids would grow up to be criminals.
   Excuse me!?? Wow, I've got to lay off watching the evening news. Of course my kid was not included in my musings. 
   My kid had the strong love and, support of two parents. My kid had a stay at home mom who lovingly prepared him with 1 2 3's,  a,b,c's, his name and colors. This kid was always presented with age appropriate entertainment that we all watched together. 
   We are a family of Christians who regularly attended church, who know that you can learn about salvation at church, but attendance is not what saves you.
   With all these advantages, you would think, doing your best and never slacking, your kids would all turn out just fine.
   Sure, then there is the real world.
   These kids were not the best students. Not bad, but not the best. That would be okay if you saw an effort from the teachers to get better work out of them. However, everything comes back marked "satisfactory" in that second grade class. Meanwhile, in the fifth grade class, the teacher is ranting at the students about the fact that they can't spell. This is observed after listening to the kindergarten teacher expose joyfully, to the parents about the program they have in place to let the kids "just spell things the way they think they should be spelled, according to how the word sounds."
    My oldest was in the 5th grade class at the time and would spell special, s p e s h a l l. Drove me nuts. So, we home schooled. This was a bonus! No creepy, public school values being presented to our kids.
   Our kids did flourish at home. They are all five of them great writers. They have grown up mature and articulate. They were told on numerous occasions, by people they had just met, that they were well spoken and had great vocabularies. They had activities and social interactions. They also had, personalities!
   A strong willed independence. A deep soul searcher. A free spirit. One that has not been able to buckle down yet, and the last whose nose is to the grindstone.
   Two of those have rejected the faith they were brought up with. One is gay. One wants to be accepted by, and do what the others do, and one has sought out the christian faith and embraced it all on his own.
   Sometimes you can't win as a parent. I look at it like this. Sometimes eating right , exercising and using sunscreen does not stave off cancer.
   In as much as God gives us freedom of choice, we can do no less with our kids. I can not make them be, see, do and choose what I told them was best. They have the freedom of choice that God gave them.
   Yet, I have won as a parent. I have thoroughly enjoyed these kids their whole lives. I continue to do so. They are all loving and supportive of each other. 
   When we gather together at holidays etc., we bask in the quick wit and joy of each others presence. A huge sharing of pure love that grew within a family.
   P.S. I have not as yet seen any of that kindergarten class in the evening news.
   

When Our Best Efforts & Intentions Fail Us

The Good, The Bad & Sometimes It Gets Ugly

Marriage, children and family. All treasured. All held so tight in our hearts. Despite our commitment to have the best of these things, marriage is between two people who are not perfect. (heard that before did ya?) Children walk their own paths irregardless of the one you raised them on. The family you planned to have became something else all together. Can you relate with me? It's okay. Life gets very real. There is such a cold, hard reality that we never expected sometimes. We can warm it up though, by forgiving ourselves, and loving through.

I don't wear my heart on my sleeve. I did, however wear my defensiveness on my sleeve. Of course, just when I think that stain has laundered out, traces of it are still there.

Some years back we found out my husband is Bipolar. Knowing what the heck was going on helped a lot. There was counseling, medications and lots of stress. We grew very distant. After going to the very brink of our marriage, we have been working towards each other again. We have let each other know that the other is valued and loved.

I can now know that my husband does love me, even though this disease stands like a stout fence, keeping that love from reaching me freely. So I wait at the fence. Steady in love as the fence itself. I bide my time as the emotional roller coaster runs its coarse. It seems to come and go like p.m.s!

Many's the day I waltz right through the gate and enjoy the companionship that is ours alone. Other days I am abruptly met by the pit bull of this mental illness, and I waltz right back out the gate. I try not to take it personally anymore. There will always be times when I come back through the gate with my emotions chewed up. That reality can't always be avoided. So, the Band-Aids of a deeper reality are put on. The emotional response that chewed my emotions up were just that. A roller coaster of emotions spilling off the track. This is not the steadfast love that brings me plants and flowers for my yards, praises my cooking and has barely left my side when I have needed to be in the hospital. That's the deeper reality. What I focus on, and wait to re-emerge.

In the meantime I hope you can find some healing in the deeper realities of your life if need be. I'll be writing about the deeper reality of the kids in another post.

So, yes, things are good, things are bad and sometimes they get ugly. Which ever it is, you're always welcome at the Homehearth.

Nitty Gritty Kitchen

Note, I have to say why it has taken me so long to post after setting up my blog. It seems you can't get to my blog from yahoo. I use yahoo, so I didn't think my blog existed. I mentioned this to my sister who also has a blog, and she found me right away. I still couldn't find it, or her blog either. Then I tried a different search engine. Low and behold, there they both were. So I don't know what's up with the yahoo thing, but here we are!
So, as promised, on to cleaning the kitchen cabinets. Ugh! Kitchen grime. Dust with glue in it. Fortunately it dissolves! Unfortunately, it is on everything we don't wipe down very often.
I have found that the best way to tackle an overwhelming job, is to piece it out. Pick one cabinet, or section of cabinet, to do each day. This way, it is not a big job.
Dawn dish soap is a great grease cutter. I like to put some directly on an old dish cloth that has been wrung out under hot water. Don't wring it out too much, you'll need enough water to mobilize the grime, and make the soap nice and sudsy. (careful, the concentrated Dawn makes a LOT of suds, which will take extra time to rinse.)
Remove everything from the cabinet or shelf you are cleaning and place in the dishwasher or sink to be washed. Remove old shelf liner if you use it, and are replacing it. Now, with your warm sudsy cloth wipe down the top shelf, and, if your cloth is not too saturated with gunk, move on to the next shelf down. Rinse the cloth as needed and add another bit of soap. Rinse the cloth a final time, when all is clean, and wipe all the suds off, leaving clean shelves behind. Let them air dry.
Wipe around the handles and front of the cabinet, and turn your attention to the things removed from the cabinet. If they are still enjoying their spa day in the dishwasher, do something else while you wait for them. Otherwise, turn your attention to the items sitting all alone with their shame. Give everything a good cleaning and let dry thoroughly.
Now that the reputation of your glassware, platters, gravy boats and stored appliances etc. feel squeaky proud again, don't put them back just yet. This is the time for shelf liner. I like the rubbery kind with holes in it. There is a nice, non-slip cushion under everything.
Now, before you put all of that back in the cabinet, does it all need to go back in the cabinet? This is the time to get rid of unused and unliked vases, sippy cups, never used salt and pepper shakers etc. As you put everything back, know that with this method, you will be done in a handful of days. The same principle applies to the lower cabinets and drawers, one at a time. Never overwhelm yourself. Pace and consistency make for success!

Life is so daily

Every day, life comes. No matter what, life comes. Is today good? Productive? Or just lived through.

Good and productive can be a day that you are happy. Or it can be getting the cupboards cleaned.

Yes, getting the cupboards cleaned is reaching the top of my "to do list." I have some tricks though.

I will be sharing some very fun, and imaginative ways to clean your cupboards and everything else!

I hope you come along, find a friend, share coffee and live a little with me.