Book #21

I did something hard last Sunday--I played the piano in Primary.  It's a long story how it came about, but I suspected I would have to jump in and play so I practiced all week.  The chorister said that she would swap places with me, but I said it would be good for my kids to see me do something hard.  Let me share a little history about my piano playing skills.  I took lessons for about 8 years and finally got permission to quit.  I never loved playing.  After quitting, I would sit down and plink around every once in awhile.  Shortly before I got married I was called to play in Relief Society.  I was a nervous wreck every time I played.  I haven't played in church since.  I'll play for Family Home Evening if it's a song that Braedi can't play, but that's it.  I don't think I'm good enough to accompany.  But, I stepped out of my comfort zone and did something hard. 

"You can do hard things" is a phrase we use a lot in our family, so when someone told me there was a book with that title I bought it.  Too bad it took me 2 years to read it.  The premise behind it is that teenagers have too low of expectations set on them.  People expect them to spend their teen years partying and relaxing.  The authors disagree and set out to prove that teens can do hard things.  Even though the book is geared toward teens and shares only teen experiences, the principles apply to all ages. 

The authors (who are 16 year old twins) share 5 kinds of hard things: things outside your comfort zone, things that go beyond what is expected or required, things that are too big to accomplish alone, things that don't earn an immediate payoff, and things that challenge the cultural norm.  They also give tips to accomplish those hard things. 

I've learned that I like to be comfortable, but the more I step out of my comfort zone the easier it is.  A couple of years ago I decided that I would try to attend more of Arizona's TJEd group activities.  They typically meet far away from me, but I felt a push to meet more like-minded people.  It was uncomfortable for me because it was new and I didn't know anyone.  But because I did, so many doors have opened up for me and I have learned so much.

Doing things that go beyond what is required is an area I need to work on.  I will often do the bare minimum and avoid pushing myself because I know it will be hard.  I see this in my scholar studies.  I have a goal to read 45 minutes everyday.  I do that, but I'm a lazy reader.  I also have a goal to write about each book I read, but my writing is more of a book report than ideas.  I do what I said I would, but no more. 

Working with my Primary presidency and other groups where different personalities are involved is hard.  Sometimes there is confrontation or difficult situations, but being a leader means that I have to do hard things.  It means that I have to work with others to accomplish our goals.  There are others areas of my life that are hard--homeschooling challenges the norm, being patient and speaking kindly, exercising daily and eating healthy, living the gospel, communicating about tough subjects, and so much more.  I have to remind myself daily that I can do hard things.

 

Book #20

Our homeschool group held a biography fair last week.  I was a little behind in my preparation--we didn't have time for the kids to pick out their own person to study.  Luckily I found a biography on the bookshelf that I was able to read aloud and Braedi, Corbin and Dyllan did a group presentation. 

The book we read was from a series called Childhood of Famous Americans.  The famous person was Albert Einstein.  The book shared many experiences from when Albert was a youth.  We learned that he liked to ask questions and solve puzzles.  Through a lot of trial and error he figured out how to build a  boomerang.  We learned how much Albert didn't like living in Germany.  He was a poor student, but only because the schools in Germany were so rigid.  When he went to school in Switzerland he had a better experience.  Albert played the violin and loved to read books.  He didn't have many friends--he didn't fit in well--but he was kind and honest. 

It was interesting to learn about the childhood of Albert Einstein.  Now I would like to learn more about his scientific discoveries. 

Book #19

A few weeks back I was suffering from a painful sore throat and couldn't do my normal reading aloud, so I downloaded an audio book--Palace of Stone.  It's the second Princess Academy book by Shannon Hale.  Years ago I read the kids the first book and we were all excited to learn there was a second in the series. 

The story tells of a group of girls from Mt. Eskel who come to Aslan (the home of the King and Queen) because their friend is marrying the prince.  Unfortunately there is unrest in Aslan.  There is a bit of a revolution happening.  The poor are not pleased with how they are treated.  And there is an issue with a commoner marrying the prince.  The Mt. Eskel girls get caught in the middle and do their best to make things peaceful. 

We enjoyed the audio presentation.  There were different voices and the songs were sung.  Shannon Hale has many fun books.

Book #18

Last Summer I took a series of parenting classes.  One was about simplifying.  The book Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne was recommended.  I went to my library and reserved it.  I was on a long waiting list and finally got it.  Dr. Payne believes that the behaviors we see in kids are caused by the complexity of the lives they live in.  He had a lot of great ideas about simplifying and I felt affirmed that I was doing many of them.  I also learned some more things that I can apply. 

Dr. Payne begins with a chapter called Soul Fever in which he shares the symptoms of an overwhelmed child.  Then he moves on to other chapters where he gives solutions.  He talks about reducing the amounts of toys and books and organizing what is left.  Here is an area that I think I've done well in.  The kids don't have a lot of toys and what they do have is kept in boxes high in the closet and they need to ask to get them down.  Clothes are also mentioned.  Today as we put away our winter clothes and pulled our our summer clothes, I tried to implement some of the author's ideas. 

Another area Dr. Payne says we need to simplify is the rhythm of our daily lives.  Is it predictable and consistent?  He even talks about simplifying food and dinner time.  He emphasizes the importance of routines.  He also has a section called the Gift of Boredom.  Free time has been an important part of our life for awhile.  I read somewhere that free time is when real learning occurs.  The kids' free time is the same time as my study time.  Yes, they still come to me and say they are bored, but I let them figure out how to fill that time on their own. 

Dr. Payne's next idea is filtering out the adult world.  We can do this with less screen time, by the way we parent (being present but not hovering), avoiding adult topics, and by talking less.  I love the idea of talking less. "The more you talk, the less you are listening."  We've also been big on minimal screen time.  I start seeing bad behavior when the kids get extra amounts of screen time. 

I wouldn't have picked this book up on my own, I feel like I've simplified my life without being told how to do it, but I was grateful for the additional ideas. 

Book #17

My couple's book club selected The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour as our March book.  I don't know if I mentioned this before, but the book club is actually a Gathering Project--a TJEd book club where we "gather" other parents and teach them about leadership principles through the books we read and discuss.  We've read a lot of great books and have had interesting discussions about leadership. 
As I read this book I was reminded how much I dislike Louis L'Amour's writing style.  It is choppy and doesn't flow.  But, I enjoy the stories and the messages.  The Walking Drum is about a young man, Mathurin Kerbouchard, who sets out to rescue his father.  It takes place in Europe during the 12th century and contains a lot of history.  Kerbouchard has many adventures and is able to solve problems because of his education. 

I am a lazy reader.  I often read just to read and forget that I should be thinking and writing as I read.  Sometimes I will underline and take notes and summarize, but mostly I read and enjoy.  This, unfortunately, means that I don't get as much from the book as I should.  I realized this at the book discussion.  There were 3 of us there, and only 1 person took notes and had stuff to share.  I wished that I had written down my favorite parts and thoughts so that our discussion could have been better.  I also wish that I knew how to identify themes and principles and could express my thoughts better.  That is part of the reason of this blog, though, to help me with writing. . . 

Book #16

The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright is a cute book about 4 siblings who are tired of wasting their Saturdays.  They form a club (the Independent Saturday Afternoon Adventure Club), pool their allowance and each take a Saturday to do whatever they want.  One goes to an art show, another goes to the opera, the third gets her hair cut and styled and the fourth goes to the circus.  After a couple of outings on their own they decided to find things to do together.  I enjoyed the book because of their adventures, but also because of their relationships.  I love books that show that brothers and sisters can get along. 

Book #15

We listen to a lot of audio books in the car while driving.  One series that we started listening to last year was the John Carter of Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  We just finished the 5th book--The Chessmen of Mars.  In this story John Carters daughter, Tara, gets lost in a storm, then kidnapped, then escapes only to get caught again, then finally rescued. 

It had a slow start, but when we started meeting more characters it got interesting.  There were creatures that were only heads, but would attach themselves to bodies.  They believed that the mind was more powerful than the body.  Then we met another race of martians who played Jatan (I'm not sure if that is spelled right--when I listen, I have to guess at a lot).  Jatan is a little like chess, but these martians played it live and to the death.  We learned about love along side Tara.  And we learned about courage and chivalry. 

I've enjoyed the books.  One one hand I'm glad that we listen to it because I wouldn't be able to pronounce the names, on the other had I wish it was a different reader.