Musings from a Busy Mom

Okay, I just have to say this, and some of you will be offended (sorry)!  Many people, including myself, are making more and more things at home - from sauces, ketchup, bread, and jams - to quilts and crochet washcloths - to household cleaners and dish and laundry detergent.  Some of us are doing this because of allergies, some for better quality, others to save a buck, and some of us just for the challenge.   Nothing wrong with any of these reasons.  I do it for three of those reasons: allergies, quality, and challenge.  Yes, I do sometimes to save a buck on some items, but there are just as many times when I am paying just as much if not more to make it myself, which is frustrating, actually.  I know I spend more on my good olive or canola oil I use in making mayo than I would on a jar of Duke's, but my son is allergic to soy, so I make our own.  Yes, I spend more on the local honey to make my ketchup than I would on a bottle of Heinz, but I'm going for quality (you can us

We've all been told to 'feel the burn' and that exercise is supposed to hurt.  So, what is supposed to be our motivation that makes us do something we know will hurt?  It would be so much easier just to sit on the couch and watch another movie.  After all, our grandparents and their parents, and so on throughout the ages, did not get caught up in the latest exercise fads.  Why should we exercise now? Well, frankly, our grandparents did not have to make a point of exercising.  It was a part of their daily lives: walking through their gardens weeding and hoeing and harvesting; washing laundry by hand and going out to the line to hang it up and back later to bring it in; washing down their walls and sweeping their floors, taking their rugs outside to beat them; and the generation before that would either walk or ride horses into town rather than sit in a car.  They would walk to their neighbors for a visit, which often included helping them with their chores.  Let's fac

Do you ever feel like you are just the wrong person - doing the wrong thing - at the wrong time?  I have recently found myself in this state of mind.  And when I go there, I bring others with me.  Not that they know it, but they are there in MY heart.  When I go to the place where I am down on myself, I also get down on those who are closest to me - my husband, my children, and sometimes even my friends and other family.  When I don't feel good enough, I don't see the loves of my life as good enough, either. Why do we go down these roads?  I believe we allow Satan to plant seeds of self-doubt.  At times I feel that I should not be a MOPS Field Leader (and before that a MOPS group leader) because I don't always have it all together.  I don't have all the answers, I sometimes yell at my children, I don't always get along with my husband, I get frustrated, and I sometimes let the housework go - for far too long.  Sometimes I feel like I should not be teaching my chil