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Spoiled Rotten.

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

images I was in line at Costco today, waiting for a customer service guy to get me something when a man walked up with his son. He said to the employee, “my son bought an iPod a couple weeks ago and you didn’t have black, so he bought a silver one. Now you have black, so can my son trade his silver one in for a black one or is he stuck with silver?” (as if silver was the booby prize)

I wanted to say “he’s stuck with silver! What do you think Costco is gonna do with the perfect-but-now-used silver one you bring back, you idiot?! They won’t be able to re-sell it because it’s USED, get what I’m saying? Furthermore, as you stand here and teach your son to be a selfish American pig, all the rest of us will get to pay higher prices at Costco due to unreasonable return items. You are training up a spoiled rotten little boy who will then become a spoiled rotten man like you. If he wanted black in the first place, why didn’t you make him wait until the black ones came in? I know why. Because to make poor little Junior wait a week for the new black stock to arrive would just ‘bwake hith widdo hawt’. Well, if this is your pattern in child training, it’s likely that he needs more than his little heart broken, he probably needs a good spanking, too.”

This nation is filled with imbeciles. And they’re breeding.

I just cannot soften the blow on this one, folks. I’m beside myself.

Posted in No Ordinary Child, No Ornery Child! solutions to parenting predicaments, Parenting | 3 Comments »

Mandatory viewing for my teens . . .

Monday, October 12th, 2009

Well, like I said, I was planning to insist that my boys watch the ‘texting while driving’ video posted on my blog yesterday, before they played one more video game. (Leverage)

However, I remembered that they would be traveling on the California freeway at high speeds Sunday afternoon with my 17 year-old at the wheel – YIKES!, so I felt an urgency to have them view it. mud So they did. (P.S. How is it that little boys playing in the mud one day are driving down interstates at 65 mph the next?!)

They didn’t mind terribly and actually found it to be interesting – it’s a high quality, classy presentation – and it stirred us to converse about stiffer penalties for those caught texting and chatting on cell phones while driving. At the moment the fine here is so low, it’s more of a ‘pay to text while driving’ fee rather than a fine for doing something illegal.

We would all take the whole issue more seriously if the punishment was painful. The current penalty is a joke, really.

But it’s not funny.

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Contradictions…

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

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I was flipping through the local paper that lands on my porch every week and I bumped into this ad for an upcoming event. It’s being billed as a ‘wellness fair’ which is a good thing, unless they’re offering us a hot dog (no doubt buying the cheap kind in bulk filled with nitrates plus everything-but-the-squeal plopped on top of a no-fiber-no-nutritive white fluff bun), potato chips (loaded with fat, cholesterol and one more bad habit we Americans enjoy too much of) and soda (between 8-12 teaspoons of sugar in a single serving), oh and I forgot the ice cream (can’t imagine they’d be forking over the dough to serve us the natural kind, which means we’ll be downing everything from emulsifiers like glycerol monostearate to gums such as methylcellulose along with the citrates and phosphates to do their job, along with a another pile of white sugar). All this to munch for a mere four bucks while we learn about how to live longer and healthier!?! What do they think is causing the weight gain, high blood pressure, heart disease and premature death we’ll be hearing about?

Friends, don’t be fooled by the standard American diet. It’s killing our nation and is responsible for the majority of soaring medical costs in our nation for diseases like diabetes, formerly called ‘adult-onset diabetes’ but now a rampant childhood disease resulting more often than not from lifestyle choices like sitting on the couch watching TV (instead of playing outside with friends), while eating hot dogs on white buns with chips, coke and ice cream rather than a fresh green salad, steamed veggies and baked chicken.

There should be one more comment on this notice: CAUTION! We will be serving hot dogs, sweetened drinks, chips and ice cream which have been scientifically proven to shorten the life span of the average American.

Thanks, I had to rant.

Posted in Home'sCool: homeschool helps, Mom's Home: domesticity, No Ordinary Child, No Ornery Child! solutions to parenting predicaments, Parenting | 3 Comments »

Super Size Me…

Saturday, May 9th, 2009

…is an award-winning documentary I’d been meaning to watch since it appeared in 2004 and gave the McDonald’s ‘boat’ quite a serious rockin’! Since I’d done my own nutrition research for years and was already convinced about the horrors of a fast-food-dominant diet, I procrastinated renting it. But I finally popped it in the dvd player this week, my two teen-age sons plopped down with me and for about 90 minutes we laughed and groaned aloud in dismay while writer/director/leading actor Morgan Spurlock proceeded to commit himself to 30 days of eating 3 meals a day at McDonalds, interspersing his colorful adventure with interesting facts, live chats with his physicians and cameos from leading experts in nutrition. The catalyst for his brilliant 30-day fast-food reality binge was a lawsuit brought against McDonalds for contributing to two young girls’ obesity. In spite of the few choice words and brief mature dialogue with/about/from Spurlock’s girlfriend (we fast-forwarded) this was worth the watch and the edited version should be required watching for the WWW! (PG-13)

Posted in Home'sCool: homeschool helps, Mom's Home: domesticity, No Ordinary Child, No Ornery Child! solutions to parenting predicaments, Parenting | 1 Comment »

I just popped in to remind you that…

Monday, January 26th, 2009

…you are not stuck in a box on an assembly line to nowhere. Perhaps today you find yourself in a situation or circumstance either externally or internally that is very unpleasant to you – nearly unbearable…and it feels eternal! Yes, we’ve all been there. It’s ugly. But I want to encourage you to believe God that it is merely a light and momentary affliction working something good in you (2 Cor. 4:17) and this temporary circumstance will not box you in and own you. It is and it won’t if you will believe God and His Word. Nothing is impossible with God. He is always working, wooing, moving, growing stuff, speaking, brooding, shifting, poking, loving, drawing… That’s why we’re never stuck. Perhaps temporarily delayed, processed, massaged, cleansed, humbled….but if we move with Him, He’s always wanting to take us forward into new things! He can change a heart, open a mind, bend a will, bring a surprise, write a check, close a door, open a door, heal, deliver, sell whatever, ad infinitum. FIND HIM! BELIEVE HIM! LOVE HIS WORD! And then come share your good news with me, ’cause I’m expecting God! P.S. Praise Him – out loud – through it all.

Posted in No Ornery Child! solutions to parenting predicaments | 1 Comment »

Ooops…

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

Cindy, my assistant, phoned to say we’ve received a shipment of books that must be declared ’seconds’. The inside pages and structure are perfectly intact, but the books had apparently been jostled about during shipping, leaving the covers looking rough. Some of the color is missing as you can see above. I know me and I know I’m always looking for a good deal. So, here’s the deal. Until we run out, we’ll sell these seconds at a super-cheap discounted rate of 2 for $10.00 plus $2.00 shipping(that’s like, $5.00 each with $1.00 shipping per book in the USA, my bargain-hunting friends!). If you’d like to order 10 or more, we’ll discount the shipping for you. Simply email us at orders@denisemira.com and let us know how many you’d like, or inquire about a bulk price. Then, we’ll invoice you by email and you can complete your transaction through PayPal, the secure way to pay on the internet. Don’t put off ordering, as we have a very limited inventory of these ’seconds’…

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The Almighty Birthday

Thursday, May 22nd, 2008

Stop the whole wide WORLD, it’s Junior’s birthday! That’s the message we’re getting here in America, anyway. Yes, I love parties. Who doesn’t? And I adore my children. Who doesn’t? And I recently had the unexpected pleasure of spending the entire weekend hanging around my son Benjamin while we were in town for a ministry time, which happened to land on his 22nd birthday, as well you know.

But, I’m really quite tired of birthday obsession and I’ve been wanting to chat about it for awhile. Especially as it relates to our children. This might sound bad, but I haven’t been in town for some of my children’s birthdays. Recently I was in Boise, Idaho, with my husband’s blessing, ministering all weekend long while my Seth Daniel turned 13. I chatted to Seth in advance to reassure him of my love and devotion, and reminded him of how God always brings him such happy surprises when it’s necessary for me to be gone on his special day. I had a couple of gifts wrapped and ready so Daddy would be prepared for THE BIG DAY. Wouldn’t you know it – a precious family from our local church invited him to their son’s birthday party and ended up spoiling my Seth and honoring him unbelievably. I couldn’t have planned that, now, could I?! Our Father in heaven knows just what needs to happen, if we could only trust him more. How many times over the years, have I heard a mother proclaim, “oh, no, never, no we couldn’t, absolutely not – we wouldn’t, we shan’t for it’s JUNIOR’S BIRTHDAY! As if suddenly the earth must stop orbiting and time should stand still while we all:

-buy extravagant birthday gifts and coordinating plates and napkins and decorations and $5.00 cards and $6.00 bags and $40.00 cakes and…

-cancel all kingdom activities for the entire day since, after all, it’s a birthday…a BIRTHDAY - did you hear me????

-over plan, over spend and over hassle due to Junior’s BIG DAY!

Let’s not allow Hallmark, Chucky Cheese and Build-An-Expensive-Bear run our already chaotic, expense-filled lives.

STOP the insanity. Inhale. Exhale. DON’T feel you must make ‘party bags’ for already over-indulged children who have way too much already. They add up real quick $$$ and never quite satisfy. The kids get to come to your house, eat cake and play. That’s enough. Save your money. Take them all to the park with a ball and jump ropes and water balloons and let ‘em run wild. Keep it simple. Your child can feel just as much love for half the price!

Now I don’t want to bring you into bondage by making you feel guilty over your creative party planning. I want you to be truly FREE in Christ. I’m grateful for the freedom I have to love my sons; to, yes, even lavishly express my love with extravagant gifts at the appropriate times…but if I’m feeling PRESSURE to create an event; if I feel huge expectations I must fulfill…then it’s probably not the way I should go.

If something inside you is saying, “yes, this sounds right. I need to scale back and relax on this birthday party thing-it’s gone too far,” then take practical steps that you’re comfortable with. That’s often how change comes to our lives: step-by-step, little-by-little as God gives us grace. We move from the ‘real’ that we’re living, into the ‘ideal’ that God has for us. Perhaps you’ve got some victories in this area that you’d like to share with us. We’re all ears (under the party hats!)

Did someone say “PARTY”??? Don’t forget, every comment you post ANYWHERE on the blog is an automatic entry in our May drawing!

Posted in Mom's Home: domesticity, No Ordinary Child, No Ornery Child! solutions to parenting predicaments, Parenting | 5 Comments »

Help Amanda and ENTER TO WIN!

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008

I FOUND THIS IN MY INBOX RECENTLY AND I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU – MY BLOG READERS AND FRIENDS, BOTH HOME SCHOOLERS AND NOT, COULD HELP ME TO ANSWER AMANDA’S HEARTFELT INQUIRY(FYI Amanda okayed me sharing this with you):

Hey Denise
I have been thinking about homeschooling for about a year now (it is my second choice as the Christian private schools are just unaffordable for a one income family) and I was wondering if you could give me the hard facts about successful homeschooling. No flower please. My husband doesnâ€™t think I can do it because of my temperament and is convinced that homeschooling is what causes premature socialization. (he is comparing 4 homeschooling families and they are all, in fact, socially immature for their ages)
Can you give me some insight?
Thanks Amanda

O.K. LET’S GIVE IT TO HER STRAIGHT AND REMEMBER, ANY COMMENT YOU POST ANY WHERE IN THE HISTORY OF MY BLOG IS ONE MORE CHANCE FOR YOU TO WIN DURING OUR…

BIG MAY CELEBRATION!

Posted in Home'sCool: homeschool helps, Life in the Fishbowl: ministry wives, Mom's Home: domesticity, No Ornery Child! solutions to parenting predicaments, Parenting | 19 Comments »

Through the innocent ‘lenses’ of a child

Friday, April 25th, 2008

These photos came from one of my son’s ‘moments of genius’ (see April 18th Post) with digital camera in hand . Why five photos of the same blackbird with merely subtle variations in movement? Because this is a boy with an eye for detail, one who truly appreciates and learns from God’s creation most every day. A boy who has the privilege of an unhurried life, a lifestyle which allows him to STOP and ponder the brilliance in what others would consider mundane. He is a very rich boy indeed; a boy whose innocence allows him to delight in simple pleasures. I’m committed to protecting this aspect of his life for as long as I’m able, by God’s grace. This is a precious thing.

I’m suddenly reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 6 verse 23-26: “Life is more than food and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?????”

Hope you’re having an unhurried, pleasant, peaceful day; filled with God’s wonders. If not, how ’bout tomorrow?

Posted in Home'sCool: homeschool helps, No Ordinary Child, No Ornery Child! solutions to parenting predicaments | 1 Comment »

LIFE’S POWER TOOL.

Monday, April 21st, 2008

Today as I was reading in Mark 9, this passage really spoke to me and I thought I’d share it with you. The entire account begins at vs. 14 and generally, it’s about a father who brought his demonically oppressed son to the disciples, so he could be set free.

You can imagine, as a parent, what this Dad was dealing with: a son who was mute; who had seizures at random, foaming at the mouth, grinding his teeth, then becoming rigid and lifeless. Oh the days of sorrow this family must have endured, feeling powerless to effect change in their precious son. The father went on to describe how the boy had been ‘thrown into fire and water’ by the evil spirit, with the demonic intent of destruction…since childhood. What constant anxiety and regular panic this must have caused these tired, loving parents, who suddenly had hope that their son would be unfettered from such debilitating spiritual chains by this pack of godly men.

Unfortunately the disciples couldn’t get the job done and suddenly Jesus showed up on the scene. In verse 22, the father says, “if you (Jesus) can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Sort of like, “um, well, I’ve tried everything else, maybe you’ll be my good luck charm, Jesus, ’cause I’m pretty hopeless”. It appears he’d lost his will to war and to believe for change.

In verse 23, Jesus replied, I believe, with incredulity and perhaps some indignation, with these strong words, “If you can! (Can’t you just imagine Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, King of Kings thinking…well, let’s see, I created the heavens and the earth, I’ve opened blind eyes, fed 5,000 people with a small bag of food, turned barrels of water into wine…”If you cannnn?!?!?!”) But he maintained his composure and our loving Lord then patiently added this:All things are possible for one who believes”.

Did you hear that?

ALL THINGS.

ALLLLLLLL THINGS!!!!!!!!!!

I was reminded of how small we pray and think at times. As I glanced at my current prayer focus list, I was convicted to lift my level of expectation. Instead of confidently expecting Jesus to DO WHAT HIS WORD SAYS FOR ME AND MY FAMILY and those I love and minister to, I can end up lowering my level of expectation, subtly ‘crossing my fingers’ and hoping something good happens. Let’s get indignant about this weak ‘faith’ we’ve embraced, these lies we’ve believed and let’s remember Jesus said ALL THINGS! God does not live in our little boxes and He is not limited by our ‘limitations’. I WANT MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let’s go after it.

P.S. I have to tell you how much I’m enjoying this new version of the Word this year (see my January 1 2008 post). It’s the ESV and it’s sharp and clear and fresh. I’m planning to order the mp3 and load it onto my iPod as soon as the budget allows. Sometimes a little change will do you good.

Posted in Home'sCool: homeschool helps, Life in the Fishbowl: ministry wives, Mom's Home: domesticity, No Ornery Child! solutions to parenting predicaments, Parenting | 3 Comments »