September 2006
September 29, 2006
Supporting this site - Thank you
I was just checking my Amazon Associates account. That's the deal I have with Amazon so that if you click through my site - by clicking on to a book recommendation or Barbara's Store over there on the right sidebar - I receive a small percentage of purchases you make....12:03 PM in | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Mommy Teach Me - make the most of the preschool years!
Here are the covers! Remember, this is a different publisher with different designers - I have no idea whether these were done in-house or freelance. I hope someday I will be able to meet the designer to tell him or her how much I like the covers. I think...8:26 AM in Books, Montessori, Mothering, Preschoolers, Toddlers, Writing | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack
September 28, 2006
The Biggest Loser
Watched the second week of The Biggest Loser last night. It's so exciting to see these people waging a war with their weight and winning. The trainers are so wonderful at motivating and loving them through the process. And I was so surprised by the outcome last night. For those...12:41 PM in Diet | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Teaching kids about disabilities
A reader writes: My daughter is 4 1/2. There is a girl at our church who has Down syndrome. My daughter came home from church one day and complained about M___ [not even real initial] not being nice and taking a toy out of her hand. I told her...12:10 PM in Disabilities | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack
I know it's early to be thinking of Christmas, but in this case I'm making an exception
While linking up with Moms for Modesty, I noticed this at Everyday Mommy's sidebar: Handmade Outdoor Nativity Clicked on it to find out more. Here's what it looks like: Since we're really trying not to buy anything unecessary I first emailed Tripp (yeah, pretty funny - wives and husbands emailing...9:14 AM in Christmas | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Moms for Modesty update
See Moms for Modesty Update at Everyday Mommy. So far 575 people have signed onto the campaign. Yesterday Family Research Council linked to them also - blowing their bandwidth, but in a good kind of way. What next? Does anyone have connections to larger media outlets - TV shows...8:25 AM in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 27, 2006
More book cover drama
So here I am finally crawling out of this cover debacle for The Mommy Survival Guide - when at 5:30 I check my email and there's something from someone at Broadman&Holman, the publishers who are doing my next two books, saying: Please approve covers for Mommy, Teach Me! series. Okay,...10:48 PM in Books | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The man behind Bottlegate
I'd had a number of book covers - some not so hot - before I had the privilege of actually meeting the artist who created one. The book was Reaching the Left from the Right: Talking about Social Issues with People Who Don't Think Like You - 45,000 words from...10:11 PM in Books | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
A little motherly advice
So . . . . . Did anyone take the day off to enjoy the wonderful fall weather with the kids? Tell us! I don't want to sound like a nagging mother - just want to encourage you to let some of the housework go - it will still be...8:13 PM in Mothering | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Easter Seals needs your vote
You know those Easter Seals stamps you get in the mail every spring? Well, you can vote for the ones you'd like to see in 2007 here. It will take less than a minute. Easter Seals is one of those organizations that's been around so long it's become background music...8:04 AM in Disabilities | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Toys for differently-abled kids
Toys R Us has releasaed a special catalog for toys especially useful with differently-abled kids. You can see it online here. Broadband users can select a larger version of the pages. Also, you can probably contact Toys R Us to order one. Each entry describes the purpose of the toy...7:40 AM in Disabilities, Resources | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 26, 2006
Leaf rubbings - Take 2
If you need more inspiration to take off a day and go leaf-collecting and make rubbings with your little one(s), run right over to see the results at Gwibbles! Great pictures! Great memories! Hooray for Charlie and his Mommy!...8:46 PM in Homeschooling, Preschoolers | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sometimes the right answer isn't what you were praying for after all
This morning I posted a request for your prayers which began: Many of you will remember the original discussion about the cover of The Mommy Survival Guide. At first glance, I loved the cover and many of my readers did too. However, there were many who did not like the...8:30 PM in Books, Family | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBack
Preparing future mommies and daddies
I am so excited to have found these two wonderful books my children grew up with. I’ve been wanting to recommend them, but they seemed to have disappeared. Amazon has some used copies of the Mommy one starting at 34.75 – gulp! I found these newly-published copies for only 4.46...4:11 PM in Books, Boys, Fathers, Mothering, Preschoolers | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Parenting Q & A - Keeping healthy
Hi Barbara- I read " Lord, please meet me in the laundry room" and LOVED it................ Just a quick question: I have 3 boys, ages 5 and under. Last week my baby came down with a cold the same night my oldest got the stomach flu. Needless to say, it's...1:48 PM in Big families, Health, Mothering | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack
On gender-free language
I've had the experience of having editors change every "he" in my writing to "he or she" - with awkward results like this: When we meet our child's desire to learn when he or she is eager and ready, we express our confidence in him or her. Our child's learning...9:05 AM in Books, Writing | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack
September 25, 2006
Enjoying fall - a project and some mothering tips
We’re having an incredibly lovely fall in northern Virginia - weeks of the best possible temperatures and gorgeous skies. Though things had been looking pretty brown at the end of August, we got just enough rain to turn everything green and growing again. I can't remember a more lovely...8:22 PM in Montessori, Mothering, Preschoolers, Toddlers | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Comments working? Let me know. . .
My Blog Guru is still fine tuning the comments section. If for any reason you are unable to post your comment, pleaseemail me....7:00 PM in Blogging | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 24, 2006
Comments
In case you've commented here in the last couple weeks and not seen your comment in print, it may be because I've been bombarded with ugly, nasty spam - usually over 300 per day, that are - thank goodness - weeded out by my spam filter. The problem is that...7:31 PM in Blogging | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
September 22, 2006
The Biggest Loser
Wednesday night I watched The Biggest Loser on NBC. I found myself crying as each of the contestants told their stories, described their struggle with weight and their yearning for a better life. Honestly. I was really crying. I didn't have a moment like that when I set out February...3:02 PM in Diet | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack
September 20, 2006
Call for pictures!
My work with the books is not over. I will be spending the month of October gathering and setting up photos to illustrate the exercises in the books. Some of you have already sent me pictures and I still have them. But I am sending out another call to bring...2:26 PM in Books, Montessori, Preschoolers | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
What I've been up to - a glimpse of the next books
Just heard from my editor for Mommy. Teach Me! and Mommy. Teach Me to Read!, the manuscripts I finished last week. For those new here, these are two books which will provide mothers who want to make the most of their child's early years with a "curriculum" for the preschool...1:54 PM in Books, Montessori, Mothering, Preschoolers, Toddlers | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Catching up on links
Thanks for your patience. I will begin posting something soon. Just kind of regrouping and catching up on things I've let go while working on books. One thing I did yesterday was clean up my Blogroll. Inclusion on my blogroll is very simple - I just link to anyone who...9:51 AM in Blogging | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack
September 14, 2006
Contest News!
Spunky is hosting Capture the Educational Moment - a contest with a Canon Digital Camera as grand prize. Check it out!...11:25 AM in Contest | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
September 12, 2006
Need. Rest.
I have finished my book. Finally. For those of you who are trying to figure out which book I mean - there's confusion because books take so long to come out after leaving an author's hands, so I actually have thre manuscripts I've completed scheduled for future publication, here...7:45 AM in Books, Family | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack
September 11, 2006
Not your grandmother's PTA
Like the Girl Scouts, the PTA enjoys a reputation built before it became politically radicalized. If parents knew what these organizations are up to politically, I believe they'd think twice before joining. It's a bigger story than my biweekly 500 words at the Loudoun Times-Mirror (for which I remain very...9:52 AM in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
A great way to start the day
Click on I Can Only Imagine...8:20 AM in Inspiration | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 10, 2006
Another mother in the midst of renewal
In my last post I said I get mail that makes me cry. This was one I received a few days ago. Since the writer gave me permission to share, because I know that it's always exciting to catch a glimpse into the early stages of God at work in...8:09 AM in Inspiration, Mothering | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
God is never finished with me - or any of us
I've been talking a lot about renewal and transformation in my own life. I'm so grateful that God never finishes with me, that as long as I love him, no matter where I might wander, he calls me back - like a father calls a toddler who has let go...7:58 AM in Inspiration | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 8, 2006
Responsibility, renewal and joy on the journey of motherhood
Since February 2, when I started shedding pounds and dress sizes (more here), I've been doing a lot of getting rid of excess baggage around the house, cleaning out closets and drawers. In a way, it's symbolic of the cleanup work that's been going on inside me. I shared...9:11 AM in Big families, Down syndrome, Family, Inspiration, Mothering | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack
September 7, 2006
Elisabeth Elliot on responsibility - and how that's been working in my life lately :)
Responsibility An important sign of maturity is the acceptance of responsibility. One quits depending on everybody else and acknowledges that certain duties are his alone. If he doesn't do them, nobody will. Every day there is, for example, a "cross" to take up. Who else is going to carry...7:52 AM in Inspiration | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack
September 6, 2006
Feminism and the sexual revolution
Re: Moms for Modesty: just a little more food for thought from one of the founding mothers of the Second Wave Feminists (circa 1968 and on) - me. Looking around you today, you would never believe that eliminating the treatment of women as sex objects was a bigger part of...3:20 PM in Current Affairs, Feminism, Mothering, Teens and Tweens | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 5, 2006
Modesty and responsibility
Here's something that came to mind after I mentioned that girls are responsible for the message their clothing sends. It's an excerpt from my book Dirty Dancing at the Prom and Other Challenges Your Christian Teens Face - which, by the way is a useful book for anyone with kids...8:29 PM in Mothering, Teens and Tweens | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack
More on modesty
It's not just in the U.S. that people have reached the boiling point with the corruption of our kids. One of my readers in Manila, Phillipines This is Not a Job for Superheroes posted this last Friday: Snuffing out childhood before it begins Other articles of note: Selling Sex to...7:06 PM in Current Affairs, Mothering, Teens and Tweens | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
A little writing lesson
A couple days ago someone posted a comment that I did not publish. When I wrote to her explaining why, she wrote back asking for more clarification. I sensed complete sincerity in her request. And because in the beginning I too was often too harsh in my approach -...8:25 AM in Blogging, Writing | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack
September 4, 2006
More on Abercrombie & Fitch
Speaking of campaigns to get the attention of clothing companies that exploit sex to sell to children, Marybeth Hicks, who writes for the Washington Times and National Jewish Review had a meltdown last week at the mall. Here's a teaser: We maneuvered quickly to keep 8-year-old Amy from noticing the...8:30 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Moms for Modesty
Our family just doesn't do malls. So the last time I was in one - a few months ago when Maddy participated in a singing competition - I was shocked by the "progress" made in the seven or eight years since I last set foot inside. Truly our children live...12:21 PM in Culture, Mothering, Teens and Tweens | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack
Talking about New Age beliefs
Dear Barbara, I know that you're crazy busy with your writing (good luck, I look forward to reading your most recent books!), but I wanted to know your opinion on a piece I saw on the Today show this morning on NBC. There's a man from Puerto Rico, claiming to...8:26 AM in Religion | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack
September 3, 2006
Good News on a Paper Route
Once upon a time - when we lived where houses were in walking distance - my four boys had paper routes. Their entrepreneurial dad and I were grateful for the opportunity to help them learn about keeping commitments, working for wages, and handling accounts. We were also grateful the local...9:03 AM in Mothering | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack
September 2, 2006
What to do when husband and wife are not agreed on more children?
This lovely lady would like your prayers and advice: It's all great and lovely when both dh and dw are moved by God to be on the same page as far as letting Him plan their family goes...but what about when dw wants more children and dh says, "NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"??? I...12:43 PM in Big families, Marriage, Mothering, Pro-Life Issues | Permalink | Comments (19) | TrackBack
September 1, 2006
Elisabeth Elliot on servanthood
In case any of you are still not subscribed to Elisabeth Elliot, I must run today's - it is so good for workaday mommies. Volunteer Slaves "Slave" is not a word most of us nowadays feel comfortable with. It is significant that most modern Bible translations use "servant" instead. For...7:36 AM in Inspiration, Marriage, Mothering | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
