What's In My Teapot?

The other day I was writing a review about a children's poetry book and used the words homeschooling mother of four to describe myself. Four little words, and yet I stumbled over them and felt like it must be a stranger at the keyboard. How can it be? Me? A mother of four...and a homeschooling one at that? I might be old enough for this (although my mind hasn't wrapped itself around the number 33 yet) but I am certainly not...well, mature enough! Mothers of four are composed and wise. They have learned what to stress over and what not to. They can discern what to discipline for and what not to. They know what to affirm in their children and what not to. Me? I fly by the seat of my pants. Every single day. I may have be on my fourth child, but I still don't have this whole elusive thing called sleep training figured out. Therefore, if Finley sleeps through the night (which he does occasionally!) great , but if he wakes up? I feed him, and most of the time...

My favorite Sundays are the ones in which I go to church in the morning, have a nice lunch (either at home, church, or as a guest in someone's home), get a good nap, eat some popcorn for supper, and then spend the evening in the company of others, be that at another church service, by going visiting, or by having guests in our home. Yes, these are the kind of Sundays which leave me tired and with a huge pile of laundry to show for them, and yet invigorated and encouraged about facing the week ahead. Well, one of the first things you learn as an adult is that even though you are an adult and get to pick a lot of things a lot of the time, you cannot always pick your favorite things! For instance, this morning I stayed home from church with the two youngest as Parker is under the weather with a possible case of hand, foot and mouth, and Wesley had to teach the adult Sunday school class, so he couldn't very well be the one t...