By Samantha Allred
Getting your kids to eat a healthy meal is no easy task. You will only survive if you can learn to laugh about it. Check out these 5 relatable memes to help you cope with the mealtime madness.
When a child is learning to recognize shapes, they may attempt to put a round block in the square hole, or the square block in the triangle hole. They may become frustrated and believe it won’t work, therefore giving up. We love our children and we want to help them understand that placing the circle block in the circle hole will fit. We take a moment to exhibit how this is done and we explain the process as we perform the action. Our child observes us putting the right block in the right hole and that it does work and so they desire to model after us. They try and try until they begin to recognize and understand the shape matches the hole it fits into. Rarely will it be the first time. It takes practice and learning the skill of matching the block to the correct hole.
Even as adults, we sometimes believe things won’t work — until our perspective becomes clearer as we learn from watching others succeed. Budgeting is like fitting the right piece in the right place. It CAN work for us, too!
“ I cannot afford it” “There is not enough money”
A common phrase we all may have thought when thinking about giving money to tithing or a donation to a nonprofit.
As you do your best to make ends meet, sometimes there really doesn’t seem to be enough. It feels like a square peg going into a round hole. Many people go year to year living paycheck to paycheck. When writing your budget, many times the total ends with a negative balance. You are not alone and this is a very common lifestyle for many.
It has taken me many years to change my understanding of how to manage the “outgo” of our family finances.
We are actually correct in thinking that when we spend our money on the bills and frills first that nothing is left for God. We need shelter, food and clothes so those are at the top of our list. No one wants to go hungry, naked or be out in the cold. So it is natural to rationalize why those would be our first expenses. However, God has asked us to be generous and make contributions to a church or other organization that cares for the needy.
Our Creator made all things possible through all He created on this earth: we rely on the earth for the food at our table; clothes and our homes are made from the very substance of the earth.
I would like to use the example in the Personal Finances Self Reliance Manual, page 41 (published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)
Picture that we have a glass jar which represents our income (a resource of limited size). a big rock representing our debt to the Lord, pebbles representing our savings for our future selves, and sand, representing our current needs and wants..
Take the empty jar and fill it with the sand first, then place the pebbles in, and finally put in the big rock. By following these instructions, there is no room for the big rock. It will not all fit in the jar. This is the most common way we arrange our budget, like the square peg in the round hole.
But what if we put the big rock in first, add the pebbles, then pour in the sand? You will find that it is possible for everything to fit in the jar.
“I have enough and more” – this can be your new phrase! Abundance mentality.
Our family has chosen to put God first by paying our tithing and a fast offering. We have discovered that our money has always been sufficient for our needs and beyond. And it is fun to find the miracles that make it happen.
Ask other people you know and trust about how they arrange their budget and what works for them. Search different ideas on budgeting. You don’t have to pay anyone to tell you how – there are plenty of free resources. But take the time to find what works for you.
Put the circle block in the circle hole as you recognize that giving back to your Creator is your biggest rock and all the pebbles and sand will have room by taking this step first in your budget.
By Annette T. Durfee
Snuggled up in my arms, my little grandson stares up at me with his big beautiful innocent eyes. Together we rock back and forth in the overstuffed chair singing song after song and I’m convinced that I love him more every second! As I sing, my mind wanders back to yesteryear when my babies were tiny and I sang song after song to them – hoping to relax them and hush their sleepytime fears. Hoping to instill in them the things I knew were true. Hoping to fill their hearts with the love that I had for them.
It’s amazing how magical music can be! Music has a way of touching our hearts and filling our memories with the best things of life.
Music was at the heart of the home I grew up in, so naturally, as an adult, I shared it with my children. We sang lilting lullabies and fun children’s sing-along recordings. We also offered xylophones, harmonicas, recorders, and rhythm instruments for the little ones to explore creating their own sounds.
As a classical musician, I knew the benefits of classical music: an increased learning capacity, creativity, and self-esteem, to name only a few. Knowing that our children weren’t going to grow up on a farm (like my parents did), we still wanted to teach them hard work, patience, and discipline. We decided to instill these values through formal music lessons! Thus, we became the beneficiaries of practice sessions, morning-noon-and-night! We eagerly attended recitals and concerts galore! Music sweetly and simply lent a soothing atmosphere to our home and even our car, as we traveled to and fro.
Music became a parenting friend that would quiet the mayhem of the moment. When life became a little hairy and scary and the decibel level was a little too high, I would nonchalantly pop in a CD of classical music or church hymns (my secret weapons!) and – voila! – an essence of calm and peace would descend! Soon, things would settle down.
With a house full of rambunctious kiddos, we found that with a little creativity, there seemed to be a song for every situation that could gently persuade, teach, or motivate. Songs to make diaper changes more pleasant, songs to make hair washing less scary, songs to help children cooperate when it was time to brush their teeth. Sometimes songs distracted us from the mundane and helped to pass the time while we did the dishes or other chores. At bedtime, songs even helped us march up to bed in a happy way! We became a train connecting arms at the shoulders and chugging up the stairs singing, “Choo choo choo, what’s coming down the track?” The person in the lead would “pull the whistle” and up we went.
Music was an unseen friend that added joy and spontaneity to our lives at just the right time! Sometimes the music was a toe – tapping “Turkey in the Straw” for a Thanksgiving program! Or the girls would make up choreography to a whimsical children’s song, their fancy dresses swirling in a wide circle. Sometimes a child surprised us with an unsolicited solo of a kindergarten-melody as they stood atop a make-shift stage (aka a chair in the dining room). And impromptu Family Talent Shows gave us rousing marches, emphasized by mini flags in the front room!
With littles on the loose, life is more pleasant with a song in your heart. In your home or on the go, music has the power to create a sort of a haven that smooths the creases of chaos and lifts the spirit. So, whether your family chooses to learn an instrument or two, sing at top volume in the shower, or pop in a favorite CD, music is the power to make any moment a happy one!
Photo by Colin Maynard on Unsplash
Rachel has been married for 12 years to her best friend John. They have 4 kids, 1 boy and 3 girls. You would think it would be a house of sparkles and Barbies but it’s more a house of soccer balls and Pokemon cards, with the occasional tutu skirt being thrown around.
Rachel’s first job was being a nanny and teaching in a day-care. Although that prepared her for the day-to-day of caring for children it did not prepare her for the emotional, mental and physical joys and hardships motherhood comes with.