Parenting IS hard work.

To parent or not to parent?

 Friends of mine did not have children

because of their inability due to infertility.

They did not have a choice to make.

Friends of mine chose not to have children.

Their decision was based on personal choices.

I had initially viewed their decision as a rather selfish one.

However, after some discussion with them and hearing them say

that they wished people would think about having children

as long and as hard as they had about their decision not to have children.

I felt a little differently.

It suddenly didn't seem selfish not to indulge in the duties of parenthood.

In fact, their obvious lack of desire to have children
coupled with the expressed lack of time for self and each another, already in their busy lives,
choosing not to parent didn't feel as selfish as it did wise.

Giving rise to Parenting

A parent may give birth to a child

but child alone does not give rise
 to the birth of parenting.

Parenting is a learned thing, years in the works.

A King is born
I was 30 when I had my first Son. I was all in.

I had finished my 16 year working/career two days before giving birth.

 
 

Lillian the Domestic Engineer

I bumbled, I fumbled, I bawled.
I leaked, I laughed, I cried.

I fell in love.

 I have to say that it was not love at first sight.

The first sight of my son frankly had startled me. 
He was dented and colored shades of red and blue 
as a result of my having attempted to have a bowel movement
instead of heading off to Hospital to have a baby that morning.

My Dr. had informed me that it was common
 to have a bowel movement during delivering 
so I had decided that I was going to spare myself the embarrassment 
and the Dr. the grief of it all by relieving myself at home.

However, instead of having my morning b.m. before my departure 
I had instead squeezed the crap out of my Sons head!
He had been pushed down into the birth canal 
where he then waited for me to move, as it were that morning..

My Son resumed both normal coloring and a normal head shape

not long after birth. 
 

The infant(s) who had grown in me, would grow on me.

Literally.

I had four children in five years.

I was not without baby on board either sucking from or eliminating upon my body,

from at least one orifice of their warm, little bodies, for at least 6 years running.

(I can assure you that it was no slow waltz)

It does takes two to tango but it only requires one mis-step to tangle.

Children teach you that plans are made to be changed and that steps need be taken.

Parenting

The dance between a parent and a child 
is not mastered on the dance floor.

Rather it is first learned in the nursery
 and then practiced on a sticky, kitchen floor.

Parenting requires a stick to it ness

that is stronger than what is stuck to you!

Not all dances are graceful and lovely to see.

Parenting is the get down, get dirty dance

that drives you to keep everyone clean. 

Parenting is not romantic.

Parenting requires putting one foot in front of the other

no matter the music, the whine or the weather.

We may be right but we may be wrong, that's the challenge of discovery.

Parenting will most certainly age you.

Parenting requires that one learn to rock and to roll with the punches.

There are no time clocks to punch but no pay to collect. Time simply ticks away.

I am reminded when I listen to my elderly clients speak of their own children.

They are always quick to remind me that their Son or daughter are now in their 70's!

Parenting is forever.

The Dr. who would help deliver my second son showed up wearing a head piece 
with a full face shield and a pair of rubber boots.
 She knew the mess I was getting myself into!

Why...?

Why...?

Why...?

Why...?

Parents are required to answer the little "whys" a thousand times

with the love and conviction that is necessary in growing great minds.

Parenting will challenge you and all you thought you knew.

Parenting requires patience.

Kids can say the darnedest things

but a parent can and will say stranger things.

Laughing at yourself is vital to survival.

Parenting requires a sense of humor.

Parenting requires great discipline

 
Cute babies of every species do grow up.

Outgrown outfits are replaced 
by peer pressurized stuff.

The duty to parent must come before
 the desire to befriend.

No if's ands, buts or whys about it.

Parenting requires great discipline

My second Son was born 22 months after my first Son.

My third Son was born 361 days after my second Son,

My fourth Son was born 15 months after my third Son.

The birth of a parent demands the skills of a Domestic Engineer.

Parenting is not easy.

Parenting requires the ability to realize and the courage to admit to being wrong.

To err is human. 

Beauty sleep be damned, Parenting will keep you up at night.

My Knights  Clicking takes you to a new page.

ROCK On! Crafting with kids

 Lillian the Domestic Engineer. Craft Blog

Craft your own BUGS

 While you're in diggin' up dinner send the kids out diggin' up rocks.
 The creation of these lovable little Ladybugs will keep them crafting.

Crafting with kids

Glue a Magnet to the back of the finished rock and they become
Computer Bugs
 or 
Fridge Magnets.

Line them up in your Winter Garden just for fun and play!









ROCK ON!

#1. Gather and Wash the Rocks.
 Provide a bucket of warm sudsy water, a couple of wash cloths, an old towel, a safe and allowable place to slop and a tray to lay the clean rocks into.

A Bubble wand and a small jar of dish soap can be presented after the rocks have been washed.
 adding a whole new dimension to a bucket of soapy water!
 Not to mention the added enjoyment of imagination and the potential for creatively crafting...
Perhaps that evening at the table inside they could craft up an assortment of Bubble Wands.
The possibilities are endless. Pull out your kitchen utensils and plunge them in. Try Pipe Cleaners or
 Strings and Straws.. check out the Link below for Wand and Bubble Solutions you can make at home.

 #2. Provide the Paint.
I used the Acrylic Paint that can be purchased for a Dollar a bottle. Paint the rock Black.
Let dry for 10 minutes. Paint the Red Wing shapes leaving small Black Circles showing..
You can always go back and touch up the Black circles if you need with a black sharpie.

#3. Provide the Eyes.
Glue them on. I use Arlene's Tacky Glue available at Walmart. It dries quicker and is a bit thicker than regular White LePages glue making it easier for kids to work with.. Do take care.  These eyes are small items that should not be used without supervision by children under 6.  They can be purchased in assorted sizes in packages at the Dollar Store.

 #4 Provide the Fabric Paint.
 This can also be purchased at the Dollar Store. Cut the tip off the little bottle and gently squeeze the Fabric Paint onto the rock. I created little dots of silver paint to form the Antennae. Leave to dry for at least 2 hours.

#5 Optional. Apply a thin coat of Acrylic Spray to the finished bug. Walmart has a couple of options in a can. Leave to dry overnight. (The spray does have an odor so dry overnight, in a well ventilated space..like the garage.

Enjoy yourself and your children today. 
Take time to laugh, take time to play.
 The future is not as far away as sometimes it seems to be.

These critters will age and evolve into the sweet memories of the past and a growing family.

Engage your kids imagination...Play is wonderful stimulation.

This crew of little critters have come to life with the addition of the fabric paint. 
The paint is squeezed from the tube directly onto the bug. 
The depth of the paint gives a new dimension to the critter collection.
 

Rock on. Craft your own bugs.

Painted rocks. Kid crafting

Craft Blog. Lillian the Domestic Engineer

Crafting with kids.

Painted rocks

                                 When the bigger kids paint
                                         the tools change
                                                              but the fun results remain.
       

Painting rocks

  
                                                                 Easter Eggs.
       Although you can't put all of these eggs in one basket, you can put all of this color on one egg.

Easter Egg painted rocks

 These oval rocks are first painted with a black acrylic paint. Using a small paintbrush the larger circles are painted on, allowing the paint to dry before the applying the smaller circle of contrasting paint.
I have used an acrylic spray to seal the finished egg rocks.

Painted EGG Rocks @ craft blog

          Paint pens could also effectively be used to create bright, stunning, fun painted rocks.


Check out more HERE @ Lillians Page For the Love of Crafting

Check out this Great Blog on Bubble Solutions and Wands.

Identity Crisis

And now what?

"It's the most wonderful day of the year, isn't it?"
 I called out to my neighbor who was standing (now alone) at the end of her driveway.
 We watched as her little ducklings made their way up the road towards the Elementary School, her youngest just entering Grade 1 this year.
  "I'm not sure she confessed," as she wandered towards me.
" I think I'm having an Identity Crisis" she continued.
 " I'm not sure what I'll do all day now." she lamented.

 I smiled.

 As the stay at home parent to four children myself, the last of whom just graduated this past year, I could identify with her Identity Crisis and her fear of filling all the free time she was imagining having!
  "Fear not" I assured her, "Your short day will be filled with washing, wonder, worry and wit!  Savor every moment of it.
 Soon enough it will be a time that you miss.

Home is.. Where Life really Happens. 

 The worth of your duties will now be measured by your investment in self and not by the dollar nor the labels we acquire from everyone else!
 Seek to find the time that you won't have to nurture identity and love self. Take some of the time that is given so readily to else.
Fear not the changes that perpetuate the necessity
 to re-situate, by understanding that plans are made...
to be changed. 
Avoid exhaustion and the heartache of frustration by remembering to celebrate the moments wisely chosen to elevate..
If Momma ain't happen no one is..fits in here

As the writer of rules and the ruler of the roost
and the doer of things you never imagined doing..
As the enforcer of Rules, Respect and Dignity, 
our common sense must be bigger than societies Bigotries. 

The Apple never falls from the tree? goes here
 In looking back it's clear to me that I was right where I should have been..
Amid the middle of the muddle of a Mother in love,
 surrounded by family and the raising of.

Measuring up will be hard to do in the eyes a soul never walked in your shoes. Pooh, Pooh to those who don't see the importance of Parenting in Society.
 The Mental Health of a Nation is grown at home.

You don't know what you've got till it's gone..goes here
Conscious, Moral independence be the ultimate goal of Parenting without daily rewards.
 A busy road we must travel, over bumps and through gravel. Over mountains and across seas, through meadows and thick trees we will trudge with child on back and snack in pack-
 towards a separation that becomes the meaning of an end.

-To a time when our children will leave home, each giving their heart and mind to someone else, that we begin to see the fruits of the labors of a Domestic Engineer. 
    
It is in the growth of our children that we can begin to know
whether as mentors we have grown. 

 23 years older I have grown since the birth of my Domesticity.  
Onward I will travel now with the thankful memories
of Mothering a generation that will soon Mother me.


Call me when ever you feel alone, I'm at home waiting for you to phone. I'm having a crisis in my kitchen next door.. don't know what to do with myself anymore.