Light from Lewis on Young Adult-hood

Yes, I too think there is lots to be said for being no longer young; and I do most heartily agree that it is just as well to be past the age when one expects or desires to attract the other sex. It’s natural enough in our species, as in others, that the young birds should show off their plumage — in the mating season. But the trouble in the modern world is that there’s a tendency to rush all the birds on to that age as soon as possible and then keep them there as late as possible, thus losing all the real value of the other parts of life in a senseless, pitiful attempt to prolong what, after all, is neither its wisest, its happiest, or most innocent period. I suspect merely commercial motives are behind it all: for it is at the showing-off stage that birds of both sexes have least sales-resistance! 

C.S. Lewis’s  Letters to an American Lady

HT:  Mrs. Wilson at Femina

Catching Up--Summer Birthday Portraits

 

Top to bottom: Lewis (5), Evangeline (2), Anna (7)

Thanks, Ruthanne!

Manners with Music--A Step or Two Beyond the Barney Clean-up Song

Good Manners added 9-3-01 Original Author Unknown

Sung To: "My Bonnie lies over the ocean"
 
Good manners is thinking of others,
Good manners is doing what's right
Good manners is thinking of others
Good manners always feel right.
Helping,  caring,
Sharing with you today, today
Kindness,  honesty
Sharing with you today.


Friends added 9-3-01 Original Author Unknown

Sung to: "Twinkle twinkle tune"

We say, "Thank you. We say, "Please."
We don't interrupt, We don't tease.
We don't argue. We don't fuss.
We listen when folks talk to us.
We share our toys, we take our turn
Good manners are easy for us to learn. 

HT: Mrs. Boswell at Protocol Matters for the link to the lyrics above.  http://www.protocolmatters.org/site/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Songs-about-Manners-for-the-Children-in-your-Life.html&Itemid=5 

Oldie but Goodie

Still can't find my camera.  I guess there is such a thing as technology being too compact.  I miss being able to capture daily life and preserve it on here so much that I've already been having thoughts about replacing a camera that I'm certain will show up sooner or later--so not like me.

Anyhow, a browse through the depths of my inbox turned up this little gem to pacify me for now.  Ian was helping Titus build a brick mailbox for my parents last spring when my dad snapped this shot.  It is a good pic of Worker Ian, Daddy's Thursday Assistant, and a good reminder of something I've been thinking about lately.

Whether or not they regularly ride in the work truck, we are the first "employer" for each of our kids.  They may be hoping to eventually work for themselves or for someone else.  They may be looking for payment in cash or kisses, but we are helping them develop the work ethic they will rely on for the rest of their lives.  Kinda makes a body want to do a few more quality control inspections on kitchen clean-up and dusting under the bed!

Simple Delight

As my camera has been AWOL for the past few weeks, I can't post any pictures of the beautiful nine-inch snow blanket God has sent us--and we thought the four or five inches last week were something!  Snow days make for good reading days, and Anna and I have started on Lucy Maud Montgomery's series that features Anne of Green Gables.  We're reading separately since neither of us has much patience for extended read-alouds, but we enjoy discussing the plot.  We're only two books in so far, and I think the first is clearly the best writing.  However, Mrs. Montgomery's real life context as a minister's wife at the turn of the century serves her consistently well for providing both a plot set firmly on a Christian foundation and numerous flashes of wisdom and grace throughout.  It is good for both Anna and me to be reminded of things like this gem from chapter twenty-six of the second book:

". . . all the little simple duties and interests . . . [Anne] had glorified into beauty and delight by the enthusiasm she had put into them."

Making the little things a joy is wisdom indeed--and much more fun than simply doing them out of nothing more than a sense of obligation.

 ". . . he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast." Proverbs 15:15

Cheerful, Authoritative, Consistent

In the Jan./Feb. 2010 issue of No Greater Joy, Michael Pearl sums up their family's child rearing wisdom in an article that shares its title with that of this post.  He emphasizes cheerfulness as being by far the most important of the three--something I have been very convicted about myself as of late.

"Training up a child in the way he should go is a 20 year graduate course in life.  It produces more humility than it does experts.  But know that cheerfulness will cover a multitude of deficiencies. . . . Training without joy is tyranny."


~Michael Pearl

Here's the link to the full article:

http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/articles/general-view/archive/2009/december/03/cheerful-authoritative-consistent/

The Fam

In order to avoid burdening my busy photographer friend in the middle of December, we made a quick stop in the big city to get an updated family photo on our way to exchange tile for the kitchen.  (I'm not talking about how many times we've changed our minds on the flooring issue recently.)  Grammy and Grandad's Christmas outfit gifts made deciding on the wardrobe pretty simple, and I'm thankful for that.

Though this pic is not nearly as creative as Ruthanne's work, I do like it because you can see everyone's personalities pretty well.  Really I'm just glad we were able to get all eight of us looking in the same direction with a halfway pleasant expression.  We also did individual shots of a couple of birthday people while we were at it, but I'm determined to get caught up on summer birthday picture posts before moving on to winter.   

Merry Christmas!