A Challenge Met

I know there is controversy over money for grades, so what is 'appropriate'?  How does a parent motivate a child to do well in school?  Some kids, they motivate themselves, others need a little more pushing.  All kids are different, thus need to be treated differently.  

All my kids are smart whipper snappers.  Me, I was average but that didn't bother me.  I was just trying to survive life.  But it's amazing to have three kids and all three are so different in their approach to life and school.  Does it make a difference if the child is the first, middle or last child?  I'm sure that does play a role in part of it.  We think we parent the same way for all our kids, but truth be told, we relax a lot more after the first child.  Does that mean we don't expect the same out of all of them?  No.  We expect all of our kids to do well in school because we know they are all capable of doing well.  Do we push and push?  No.  We encourage, but in the end, it is up to each child to determine his/her future.

Each child has different motivators too.  Some, it's money, some it's expensive clothes, some it's just trinkets.  Depends on the age of the child too.  Today's technology allows parents to check on their kids' grades daily.  This can also be frustrating seeing homework and test grades so I stopped checking and left it up to the child to check, trying to teach accountability.

The end of the year came and finals were taken and grades are now posted instantly...let's just say my hubby and I were not expecting to have to meet our end of the bargain...SHOCKER!!  Needless to say we were speechless, but yet SO proud that the challenge was met and even succeeded it!  

I am the penny pincher of the family and really have a hard time pushing the 'enter' button, but surprisingly, I wasn't the one hesitating this time.  I think hubby was still in shock.  But how great will it be to see the total surprise on the face of our child for a job well done!!

And the Story Continues...

I received another message right before dinner so I had to work in reading and responding and setting the table...

I wanted to clarify that the sister this person was looking for, that she knew the exact date of her sister's birthdate...My given birthdate is May 8, 1967.  This sister's birthdate is June 23, 1967...see, not too far off!  So it gets weirder...

Another message pops up and she asked me if I have a scar under my chin because her sister had a tumor when she was one...um, I do have a scar under my chin...I have never really pointed it out to people because I never knew how I got it.  One would never see it unless I pointed it out to them.  I have yet to disclose this bit of info to this person.  I will need to see if I got this scar from some other childhood accident.

Mind you, I am doing all of this messaging back and forth on my Blackberry all while preparing dinner...it was crazy!

I keep trying to ask her if she is sure about her sister's birthdate and I tell her because I was just given my birthdate and name randomly.  She stated that her sister did not have her birth certificate with her.  Hmmmm...after the mother died, her cousin is the one that gave away her sister.

So she has her childhood picture of herself and a picture of her sister right next to her's on her profile picture so I try to compare my picture to that one.  Do I see any similarities?  The usual bowl haircut.  The nose, maybe, but the only other picture I have of myself is the one I received from the orphanage I was admitted into and the year later picture, my face is so much fatter than the picture this person has.

I ask this person if she is living in Korea now.  No, she lives in Colorado and her husband is from Omaha....what the what?  I live in Omaha!!  

I know, I know, I am anxious to chat more with this person so hang tight, I'll post more when I do!!


Post Script:  I just talked to my mom and she had no idea I even had a scar under my chin...

Interesting Note

First day of no school for my kids and I am awake at the crack of dawn.  Part of it is due to the stress my hubby is going thru at work so I know I am not sleeping well knowing he's not sleeping well.

So since I'm awake, I change my cell phone from phone only to vibrate, my daily routine.  I see that I have a friend request on Facebook and then a message from this person also.  I try to read the message on my Blackberry, but as usual, I can't scroll down on the darn message without it scrolling up and down on it's own accord, frustrating.

I decide to keep trying to read it on my Blackberry, I finally got it to settle down just enough to read the body of the message.  The message states this person is looking for her sister.  See, now you know why I HAD to read it right then and there.

What this person writes is eerily similar to my adoption timeline:  Her sister was born in 1967, though she has listed a different, but very close month to my given birthdate.  Then she said she thought her sister went to the United States in 1970 between September/October, my travel date to America was in September 1971.

This person has been searching for her sister for 35 years.  I wish her well in finding her and I hope I can be of some help to her and getting her information out to others I know.

My journey continues to search for any of my birth family members as this note shows, one never knows what kind or when I will receive another message...

Another One Bites the Dust

Another year of school done, finally!  I guess I have had summer fever for quit some time now.  Forget spring fever, I'm going straight for summer.  Not sure why.  I hate hot weather, I love spring weather.  No major plans for this summer either, no big trips for me.  My youngest daughter and I will not be going on our annual family trip to Vermont, the boys will be going though.  I'm done with that yearly trip too.  I'm in the mood for different views, new scenery and something new!  I want to go explore the world!  Well, just the U.S. will do for now.  I want to show my kids there is so much more to see right here in the good ole US of A!

I loved the trips to Vermont when my kids were younger, but now that they no longer want to attend the camps offered there, there really isn't much more to do.  I've done most of the activities for the adults too, the hiking, the site seeing and so on.  I feel I have a much better view from my house than I do in Vermont.  Last year I really missed looking out my windows at the lake.  Plus, we have the ability to be outside and being very active right in our backyard.

I am a person of routine, but not when it comes to traveling and seeing new sites.  I want to create memories for my kids with family outings so it's time to explore the United States so they too will want to take their kids traveling.

I'm anxious for the no routine of what summer brings, the kids hanging out with their friends, and having a houseful of kids streaming in and out.  Let the summer fun begin!

Really?

Summer is around the corner, my kids are just days away from their last day of school.  Time for days of relaxation and no schedules, right?  Right?  So why would I even want to tackle a huge summer project? No, I won't do the actual work on the project, but still, I am the supervisor of anything that goes on around the house, hence my title CEO Homemaker. 

As I stated in my last post, we will have been in this house two years this August.  We've already done a renovation project and the house is only five years young.  We truly love love our house.  What could make it any better?  Am I ready?  Really?  Do I even want to endure it?  Again?  I've lived thru one of these projects before........

Someone Please Slap Me!

When we moved into this house, we swore we would never ever move again.  We weren't going to move from our last house either because we built that house just for us, then almost ten years later, we moved into this house.  

Yesterday, we received an email out of the blue from the former owners of this house asking us if we would be willing to sell the house back to them?  What the what?  After the initial shock and lots of talking at the dinner table and driving around the neighborhood, we were actually thinking of moving...this is where someone should have slapped me silly.

Moving into this house was a huge under taking, not only with the actual move, but with upgrading too, which we did not plan on.  We have grown to love this house, getting things settled here and there and making it our home.  We are even adding new furniture after our oldest has taken some of the old furniture for her house.  We love our house, we love the view, we have plans swirling...so...We will have lived here two years come August, we are here for good, right?  Right?

So why the heck would I even think of moving again?  Maybe the pain of moving is like giving birth, once it's over, you forget the pain that you endured.  Seriously, I hated moving.  It's so much work unpacking.  It took me a long time to unpack, especially the kitchen, because I wanted that just right and exactly the way I wanted...I didn't have that in my last home, someone else unpacked it for me which drove me crazy.

I feel like we de-cluttered before moving into this house, but it's amazing how much more stuff one accumulates after a move.  I don't even want to think of packing up everything, no way.  SLAP!  Phew! Thank you!  Now snap out of it and get on with the day!

Partial Empty Nest

It's taken me awhile to get things sorted out of my head from the past weekend.  My oldest daughter finished her second year of college and came home, but only for one week.  We had prepped the weekend prior when she was home, but once May 7th came around, it became more real, she wasn't going to be living at home for the summer...

I am sentimental, I can cry at the drop of the hat, but I didn't think this event was going to be any different than when we dropped her off at college for her very first day.  I wasn't sentimental when we dropped her off for her first day, I was excited for her, no tears.  No, I didn't cry this time around, but the feelings were different for me.  I guess I was now seeing my daughter as a true adult, setting her up in her house and making it look like a home for her, this was the real thing.

I have seen so much growth in my daughter over the two years she has been away at college.  That's what it's all about isn't it?  But she's my first born and she's growing up.  And she won't be home for the summer.

So many major life events happen when kids are involved.  My youngest daughter has now been confirmed.  The last one in our family.  All five of us have been confirmed in the same church, how special is that!  I almost started to cry during her ceremony when my hubby and I had our hands on her at the altar.  I had to stop myself or I would not have been able to stop.

My son will be a senior in high school next year.  I better get the sunglasses handy from here on out.  I love my kids dearly and I am one proud mama.