My son is shy. Not the quiet-withdrawal type of shy, the glare-you-in-the-face-and-refuse-to-budge type of shy. At home, however, we can't stop him from talking. He chats about everything.
He's beginning to talk about events that happened in the past, like, "Mummy, member me, Mummy, Nanny, Pa, Daddy, Essie went zoo?" He's also very observant about his surroundings. One of the reasons his meals take at least an hour and a half to complete is that he talks so much between mouthfuls. This evening I took him down to the supermarket with me, and he talked incessantly - until we ran into someone we knew. After we said goodbye, the non-stop verbiage commenced again with "Who's that somebody?"
The problem, I've discovered, is that I've taught him how to speak improperly. For him, everything is a question. Unknowingly, as he grew into speech, I would say "What colour is that flower?" instead of saying "That's a red flower." My reasoning at the time was that I wanted to know how much he knew, and wanted to get him to produce a response. Now it's come back to bite me. Rather than announcing his own observations, he interrogates: "Who's that somebody there?" or "What's that?", waiting for me to give a response before he tells me. I find myself now having to help him unlearn ways of speech so that he can learn them properly. His speech patterns frustrated me until the penny dropped that it was a problem partly of my own making - though he does have an inquisitive nature!
Mind you, his current favourite phrase is "I know..." followed by a suggestion for play. There is hope yet...
Monday, April 30, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
Funny Friday
This news item from the Sydney Morning Herald gave me a laugh today:
Japanese told their "poodles" are sheep
It's fake, but it's still funny - particularly that the distinguished halls of the SMH (and me!) could be fooled by urban legend.
Just goes to show you can't believe everything you read in the paper...
Japanese told their "poodles" are sheep
It's fake, but it's still funny - particularly that the distinguished halls of the SMH (and me!) could be fooled by urban legend.
Just goes to show you can't believe everything you read in the paper...
Monday, April 23, 2007
Praise God for the iPod
Sorry. Cheesy title.
I know we're supposed to be suspicious of grabbing the newest/latest/bestest electronic gadgets around, but this one is an exception for me.
Why? Mainly because it's hard to hear a sermon for longer than 2 seconds when you're looking after small children.
How is this relevant?
I've discovered a wealth of good MP3 sermons around the net, and I've been able to download and listen to them while still looking after the kids. I can move around from room to room without having to miss anything (so is good for multitasking while putting away washing). I can listen to something edifying while my kids are happily bopping away to playschool or Colin. I can cook dinner and have music or other things keeping me company while not bothering anyone else.
It doesn't have to be an Apple device. Any little mp3 player would do the same job. I think they should be recommended to all mothers who want to keep their brains engaged, but aren't allowed to sit still long enough to read something (or are too braindead by the evening to bother).
I know we're supposed to be suspicious of grabbing the newest/latest/bestest electronic gadgets around, but this one is an exception for me.
Why? Mainly because it's hard to hear a sermon for longer than 2 seconds when you're looking after small children.
How is this relevant?
I've discovered a wealth of good MP3 sermons around the net, and I've been able to download and listen to them while still looking after the kids. I can move around from room to room without having to miss anything (so is good for multitasking while putting away washing). I can listen to something edifying while my kids are happily bopping away to playschool or Colin. I can cook dinner and have music or other things keeping me company while not bothering anyone else.
It doesn't have to be an Apple device. Any little mp3 player would do the same job. I think they should be recommended to all mothers who want to keep their brains engaged, but aren't allowed to sit still long enough to read something (or are too braindead by the evening to bother).
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Why I like working with Kids, #467 and #468
#467 - they don't mind if you can't draw stick figures properly. I gave my first "chalk and talk" today, and they liked it, even though my pictures would have failed year 5 art.
#468 - they don't hide their feelings from you. I was hugged by one of our kids today, who said it was good to see me after his holiday away with his dad. I'm glad he's hanging in there with our program!
#468 - they don't hide their feelings from you. I was hugged by one of our kids today, who said it was good to see me after his holiday away with his dad. I'm glad he's hanging in there with our program!
Friday, April 20, 2007
SCRADD rides again...
Yes, it appears that my Small Child - Related Attention Deficit Disorder continues unabated. I seem to have given up on my earlier attempts at reading, and have taken up various "projects", instead...
- Writing one (1) children's talk for Sunday, including a crash course on sketching
- Hemming and putting up curtains (6) for three (3) windows in the family room
- Completing two (2) Beatrix Potter cross-stitch projects for Essie's room
- Planting lots (?) of bulbs for spring
- Repotting one (1) magnolia "little gem" so it won't block out the light when it gets older.
- Printing out digital photos
- Finding time to put mounds of digital photos into albums in a way that is helpful for posterity.
- Finding the dryer mounting hooks so it can be moved away from the laundry cupboard.
- Removing the final dregs of the conifer from the vegie patch (stubborn root system)
- Hanging shelves in the study so we have a little more breathing space at desk level.
Me First!!!
Yesterday, I heard an argument against the concept of Original Sin - that children aren't born bad, their egocentricity is just a survival mechanism.
Is that true? Is it absolutely necessary for a baby to be totally self-focussed in order to survive? Is it evidence that they're not "sinful", they're just trying to grow up?
If we lived in a world where no one operated under the principle of "me first", then a child's egocentrism wouldn't be necessary. Caregivers would be attuned to the need for their children to survive. Children wouldn't need to demand attention, sustenance etc, because their care providers would be willing, ready and able to give them what they needed any time.
On the contrary, I think the egocentric impulse provides ample evidence that we are sinful from birth. What is sin? Sin is putting "me" at the centre of the universe, instead of the One who made the universe. The key temptation in Gen 3:5 is "you will be like God," and the result of the Fall is that we all want to think we are.
People like to put sin "out there", as in things we might do or say. But why do we lie? We lie because we want to make ourselves look good, we want to avoid looking bad, or having other people think badly of us. Why steal? Because we think we deserve something that we didn't earn, so we just take something without paying for it. Why commit adultery? Because our desires are more important than anything else - commitments, covenants, family etc. Why covet? Same reason as stealing: we think we deserve something we don't have. Why worship idols? Because we think it's going to get us something in return: happiness, health, wealth, meaning, significance. Once we toppled God out of his rightful place, there really was only room for one other person: ourselves.
It's just that as we get older, we get better at hiding it.
Is that true? Is it absolutely necessary for a baby to be totally self-focussed in order to survive? Is it evidence that they're not "sinful", they're just trying to grow up?
If we lived in a world where no one operated under the principle of "me first", then a child's egocentrism wouldn't be necessary. Caregivers would be attuned to the need for their children to survive. Children wouldn't need to demand attention, sustenance etc, because their care providers would be willing, ready and able to give them what they needed any time.
On the contrary, I think the egocentric impulse provides ample evidence that we are sinful from birth. What is sin? Sin is putting "me" at the centre of the universe, instead of the One who made the universe. The key temptation in Gen 3:5 is "you will be like God," and the result of the Fall is that we all want to think we are.
People like to put sin "out there", as in things we might do or say. But why do we lie? We lie because we want to make ourselves look good, we want to avoid looking bad, or having other people think badly of us. Why steal? Because we think we deserve something that we didn't earn, so we just take something without paying for it. Why commit adultery? Because our desires are more important than anything else - commitments, covenants, family etc. Why covet? Same reason as stealing: we think we deserve something we don't have. Why worship idols? Because we think it's going to get us something in return: happiness, health, wealth, meaning, significance. Once we toppled God out of his rightful place, there really was only room for one other person: ourselves.
It's just that as we get older, we get better at hiding it.
Fairytale theology, Part 1
It occurred to me the other day that fairy tales have more influence over our thinking than we may realise.
Let me illustrate with an example.
In the pantomime (and book) version of Peter Pan, one of the famous lines we are given is that "whenever someone says they don't believe in fairies, somewhere a fairy drops down dead." When Tinkerbell eats the poisonous cake instead of Peter, we're encouraged to clap loudly and believe hard in fairies, and she will suddenly get better.
The other day, my other half told me about a discussion he'd heard about God. One of the responses was along the lines of "I choose to believe that he's not there" - the idea being, perhaps, that if they say they don't believe in Him, He will therefore disappear in a *puff* of smoke. Peter Pan theology type 1: If I say he doesn't exist, that totally exonerates me from any responsibility towards him, because he ceases to have power when I refuse to acknowledge his presence.
Sadly, rather than the fairy dropping dead, it's rather like standing on a train track with eyes closed, hands firmly clamped over the ears while shouting "NotlisteningNotlisteningNotlistening!!!" You can do that all you like, but that doesn't change the fact that the Express is headed in your direction.
The second Peter Pan theology I've noticed lately is the "clapping loudly = poison antidote" type of thinking. Not literally clapping, mind you, but the power of positive thinking. The idea that if I think something hard enough, it'll overcome the forces of nature and I can suddenly make X or Y happen. In this type of theology, God becomes the divine waiter, running around to fill our orders and turn the world upside down, just because we want something to happen. It puts the order of things backwards - God's desires should be first, ours way down the pecking order.
Let me illustrate with an example.
In the pantomime (and book) version of Peter Pan, one of the famous lines we are given is that "whenever someone says they don't believe in fairies, somewhere a fairy drops down dead." When Tinkerbell eats the poisonous cake instead of Peter, we're encouraged to clap loudly and believe hard in fairies, and she will suddenly get better.
The other day, my other half told me about a discussion he'd heard about God. One of the responses was along the lines of "I choose to believe that he's not there" - the idea being, perhaps, that if they say they don't believe in Him, He will therefore disappear in a *puff* of smoke. Peter Pan theology type 1: If I say he doesn't exist, that totally exonerates me from any responsibility towards him, because he ceases to have power when I refuse to acknowledge his presence.
Sadly, rather than the fairy dropping dead, it's rather like standing on a train track with eyes closed, hands firmly clamped over the ears while shouting "NotlisteningNotlisteningNotlistening!!!" You can do that all you like, but that doesn't change the fact that the Express is headed in your direction.
The second Peter Pan theology I've noticed lately is the "clapping loudly = poison antidote" type of thinking. Not literally clapping, mind you, but the power of positive thinking. The idea that if I think something hard enough, it'll overcome the forces of nature and I can suddenly make X or Y happen. In this type of theology, God becomes the divine waiter, running around to fill our orders and turn the world upside down, just because we want something to happen. It puts the order of things backwards - God's desires should be first, ours way down the pecking order.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Things I love about ministry
Ok, so last week I published the negative list. Today, I'm trying to be a little more positive, so here are some the things I really love about my job...
- Helping people to get to know Jesus
- Watching kids' eyes light up as they finally understand something we've been telling them for years
- Finding new ways to bring the bible to life for kids
- Being an idiot in public (You can do this very well with small children. They actually enjoy it when you're over the top)
- Being thrown back on the bible when you are asked the tricky questions
- Legitimately being able to play with textas, glue and coloured cardboard
- Being able to listen to young people who are wrestling with the big issues in their own lives
- Watching young people take on faith for themselves
- Reaching kids who have had no contact with God or church whatsoever
- Seeing the evidence of God working in and through people.
- Having prayers answered in a visible and powerful way (the simple and mundane answers are also wonderful to see!).
It's started already
Yesterday, my eldest son started an imaginative new game:
"Mummy, can mees have some money?"
I have a feeling that's a question I'll be asked quite a few times in the next decade or so...
"Mummy, can mees have some money?"
I have a feeling that's a question I'll be asked quite a few times in the next decade or so...
Monday, March 26, 2007
Old Stationery junkies never die, they just run out of ink...
Ever since I was in primary school, I've hoarded stationery. First it was the funky eraser collection in the Little Bitty Bin, then it was the collection of metallic gel ink pens and beautifully covered notebooks. The Back to School period was exciting simply because I loved stationery - the feel of a new, fresh notebook; the smooth progression of a new pen as it glided effortlessly over the page; the clean, unsullied pencil case bursting with new items. School itself could be a drag, but at least I had cool stuff to write with.
What do you do when you're no longer a student, or the computer has become your notebook?
You visit stationery websites, of course. In the privacy of your own home you can become that 10 year old again, itching to get your hands on that new folder.
Here are my two favourites at the moment:
Smiggle (they have bendy pens!!!)
Kikki-K (slightly more sedate and classy, but just as exciting)
I could justify it all by saying it's a necessary resource for helping us become more organised in our busy lives. But the reality is, I just like window shopping. Affluenza's got me again!
What do you do when you're no longer a student, or the computer has become your notebook?
You visit stationery websites, of course. In the privacy of your own home you can become that 10 year old again, itching to get your hands on that new folder.
Here are my two favourites at the moment:
Smiggle (they have bendy pens!!!)
Kikki-K (slightly more sedate and classy, but just as exciting)
I could justify it all by saying it's a necessary resource for helping us become more organised in our busy lives. But the reality is, I just like window shopping. Affluenza's got me again!
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