Thanks to all of you who left comments on the Meghan Rose series by Lori Z. Scott. There sure are a lot of you out there who want to provide good, wholesome reading material to your kiddos. You are to be commended! And thanks to Lori for writing these great alternatives that are sure to delight readers –both young and young at heart!

As for the winners….. here is how these give-aways work: sometimes I choose the winners. Other times I pick random numbers out of a hat (okay….. slips of paper from inside my empty coffee mug!) Once in a while I’ll have my hubby or teenaged daughter choose. This time, since there were two books to give away, I let my two boys (ages 13 and 10) peruse the comments and each pick one winner.

So…..Becky Yoder and Geralyn, congrats!!!! The boys selected your comments. Can you each please email me your home address so I can get your book shipped out right away?

As for the rest of you….fear not! I am lining up some more give-aways coming up in the next few months. There will be interviews with wonderful women as well as books, teas, pampering prizes, etc… so be sure to stay tuned.

In the mean time…enjoy your Wednesday. Mine finds me winding down our Civil War history unit, playing catch-up on emails (my inbox has been whittled down from 156 to 38!!! Yippee!!!) and attempting to get my outlines done for the She Speaks Conference that are due….. today!! Thank the Lord that dinner is already done and in the freezer!

Gotta bounce! Have a wonderful day in the Lord and remember…..read your Bible more than you read your favorite blogs.  Because…..

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Blogs are fun, but God has work for us to do for Him and the only way for us to be prepared is to study the instruction manual so we can get our marching orders, right?

Sweet Bible-over-blogging Blessings,

Karen

As parents, we’ve tried to provide wholesome books for our kids. We did it when they were young as we read out loud to them and now we still try to find such books for our independent readers. At ten years old, Spencer likes anything with a mystery to it. Thirteen year old Mitch goes for the sports biographies and Kenzie, seventeen in a few weeks, can often be found with her nose in either C.S. Lewis or an antique classic such as Peter Pan. What about you? Are there young ones in your house or in your life that would enjoy a Christian based fiction book geared for younger elementary children?     If so, then check out the Meghan Rose series. This new series from Standard Publishing introduces Meghan Rose, the bounciest first-grader in the world! Young readers will get to share Meghan’s adventures, laugh, and learn important life lessons. Each title also includes a bonus section with discussion starters and fun activity ideas.I am excited to welcome author Lori Z. Scott, joining us today to talk about the newest releases in her Meghan Rose series—Meghan Rose All Dressed Up and Meghan Rose Has a Secret.

Since 2000, Lori has published over fifty short stories, devotions, puzzles, poems, and articles for children, teens, and adults.  She has been published in Focus on Your Child, MOMSense Magazine, Spirit Led Writer, Pockets, and Devozine. She is the author of  Busy Moms’ Devotions to Go and four Meghan Rose titles. In addition, Lori has contributed to over a dozen books including Real Moms, Cup of Comfort Book of Prayers, and 2007 Eppie Award winner  Infinite Space, Infinite God. A graduate of Wheaton College, Lori has worked with children for over twenty years, both as a teacher in the classroom and as a volunteer for local churches, museums, and schools. When she’s not busy driving her two children to various church, sporting, and artistic activities, she moonlights as a speaker for women’s groups and schools.

 

Lori, welcome. Thanks for taking time to be with us today.

 

My pleasure.

You often introduce yourself as first a mother, then a teacher, and finally a writer. Why is that?

I feel like being a mother is my highest calling in life. And that means I’m a caregiver, nurse, tutor, cheerleader, counselor, transportation expert, and nutritionist.  Doing all those mommy things is a bit like filling a jar jam-packed with marbles. I pursue my own interests in the empty spaces around those marbles because being a mommy trumps all.

I call myself a teacher second because working with kids has been such a huge part of my life. Just as God gifts different people for different tasks, I feel like God has given me a special ability to understand and work with children. Or maybe I’m just not ready to give up playing and comics yet.

I call myself a writer last because I often feel like writing too much fun—and pays too little—to be a real job. But then again, writing is another interest in my life I have felt called to pursue. God blessed me there too. When I decided to start writing, my first submission won second place in a science fiction writing contest. My second submission won MOPS International story writing contest.I guess what I want moms to realize is, it’s okay to put the mommy part of our lives first and to trust that God will still bless, fulfill, and lead us in other areas as well.

 

Why would parents like your series? A good question—one that I have to answer from my own experience. When my daughter was in first grade, her teacher started reading the Junie B. Jones books in class. Since Meghan liked them, I picked up a few copies.

Well, I enjoyed the humor in those books, but had to edit out some of the grammar slips, name calling and attitudes. I thought there had to be an alternative choice—a book that was just as funny, but also had a good take-away value. I scoured the Christian bookstores. I couldn’t find any fiction for that age group, only devotional books and Bible stories.

When I asked about it, bookstore owners often commented that they wished they could offer such a book. In fact, they’d had numerous parents come to the store, all asking the same thing: Do you have a fiction book my young child will enjoy reading? And, like them, I walked away empty handed.

So I wrote the book I couldn’t find—a book for my daughter AND for all those other mothers just like me. I put in everything she wanted—an interesting story filled with giggles and characters worth rooting for—and everything I wanted—good moral values (but with nothing preachy about the story at all). And because I don’t believe I’m alone in those desires, I’m convinced other parents (AND THEIR KIDS!!!) will like the series too.

Why did you include discussion questions and activities at the end of each book? That’s the teacher part of me flaring up big time! LOL. But seriously, how many times have you as a mother read a book and thought, “There’s a good lesson in here” but didn’t know how to draw your child into a discussion about it? I remember reading Where the Red Fern Grows with my daughter and wanting to talk about the tender topic of death that book touches on. Since I didn’t know where to start, I couldn’t fully take advantage of that teachable moment. (Instead we both just cried all the way through the last few chapters.)

That’s why I included questions for parents or teachers to use after they read the story, so they can capitalize on the book’s underlying message. (Although I hope people laugh through the last few chapters of Meghan Rose instead of cry!)

And the activities are all for the kids. They love extending the story experience by creating their own volcanoes or whatever. I also put a ton of other ideas for parents and kids on my website under the BLAM (Brilliant Little Activities to Make) link (www.MeghanRoseSeries.com). So each book has an underlying message? Tell us about that. As I mentioned, I wanted the stories to do more than entertain. I wanted them to have takeaway value. Each book’s message is very subtle but still evident throughout the book. While Meghan Rose on Stage! talks about discovering your talents, it’s ultimately about friendship. Meghan Rose Has Ants in Her Pants explores the idea of patience—a difficult area for most kids to deal with. The newest two books—Meghan Rose All Dressed Up and Meghan Rose Has a Secret—address inner beauty and kind words. But again, none of it is preachy. It’s heavy on the humor and very, VERY light on the lesson…yet neither quality is lost on the child.  Are the books just for girls?Not at all! One mother of two boys emailed me about how much her sons enjoyed reading them with her. She said they could hardly read for laughing so hard—they were all HOWLING!! The youngest one loved it so much he started sleeping with the first book under his pillow at night. In fact, the comment I hear most from people who read the books is, “I laughed out loud.” The second comment I hear most often is about how much kids (and parents) like the discussion questions and activities. How can all that just be for girls? Where do you get the inspiration for the humorous parts of the books?Most of that comes from my upbringing. My dad was always coming up with puns and jokes. He made them up on the spot, and they were hilarious! I can’t tell you how many hours we spent laughing around the dinner table. I think dad influenced all my sisters. In fact, one of my sisters was part of an improvisational comedy team. (She’s also a pastor’s wife—it’s a fun combination.) I also grew up on a steady diet of comic books. Peanuts and Garfield were my favorites, and later Calvin and Hobbes. And we’d also watch comedy on television, especially The Carol Brunette Show.That said, some of my inspiration just comes from everyday life. My kids crack me up. They both have a great sense of humor.  The main character in the Meghan Rose series shares your daughter’s name. Why is that?She was the foundational basis for the character. When I started the series, I needed someone likable, outrageous, clever, spunky, and sensitive all rolled into one. Well, that’s my Meghan. And since I originally wrote the books just for her, I simply used her name. You’ll also see the names of other people I’ve met, although the character they’re named for is totally fiction. Mrs. Arnold, for example, was the name of Meghan’s real first grade teacher. But she’s not like the Mrs. Arnold in the book. Are any of the characters like you?

I think maybe there’s a little bit of me in all of them. Certainly a lot of me is reflected in the teacher, Mrs. Arnold. Then Ryan shows the jokester side of me, Kayla has the goofy side, Lynette has the rule-following, show-off side, and Meghan’s Mom has the practical side. The Meghan character herself is about 80 percent of the “real” Meghan, 10 percent of me and my creative musings, and 10 percent total fiction.

 

Do you ever visit schools to talk about the books?

 

Yes! I’ve visited several schools and talked about the steps a writer goes through to get from idea to published book. I’ve also shared ways to boost everyday creativity and develop writing ideas. All three presentations seem to fire up everyone, even the reluctant writers. Kids tell me that what they enjoy most about the time we spend together is learning my two-handed drawing trick and discovering how to write their own jokes.

 

As a teacher, I value school visits. I think it’s important to inspire and encourage all children…to help them see opportunities and possibilities. As a mom, I can’t help seeing my own children reflected in the faces I meet. That gives me extra incentive to make kids want to reach their dreams, whatever they might be.

 

Can you share one idea for mothers to help their children be more creative?

 

Sure. Hmmm. Hard to pick one. I guess one great idea is to encourage your children to be involved with artistic endeavors. That can include a whole variety of options, like drawing, painting, or making things out of shoe boxes.  Children can listen to or dance to music. Or make their own music. They can dress up and put on a show for family or friends, or memorize a silly poem. And it should be fun, not work.

 

Where can readers learn more about you and the Meghan Rose books?

They can visit my website at www.MeghanRoseSeries.com. My award-winning illustrator, Stacy Curtis, designed it. It offers jokes, puzzles, and activities for kids and great ideas for teacher and parents (on Mrs. Arnold’s BLAM page). It also introduces the books and characters, provides links to book reviews, and gives ordering information. I posted a retold fairy tale reader’s theater that gives visitors a good feel for the style of humor found in the books at www.meghanroseseries.com/teachers_LittleRed.asp .

 

That sounds great. Well, thank you for your time!

Thank you for letting me visit with you.

 

And calling all readers…be sure to leave a comment to be entered in the drawing. Tell us who would enjoy winning a copy of one of these great books!!! Book Reading Blessings,

Karen 

This past week, I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of women in nearby Lansing at St. Gerard’s Church. They were a delight, so friendly and encouraging and ranged from young moms to sweet Grandmas. What made it doubly fun was that I grew up near this church and a family from our neighborhood–who had ten children–attended there. As I stood there speaking, I spied the matron of the Baker clan, Mrs. Baker. (Yes, I am old enough now to call her by her first name, but my momma’s manner training has stuck with me. She’ll always be Mrs. Baker to me!)

I have so many memories of playing neighborhood kickball with some of her kids, being babysat by the older ones and her daughter Mary Jo was actually in my grade. She was friendly and sweet, the first person I was allowed to have ride in my car to school once I could drive and she was elected as homecoming queen our senior year, beating out the other nominees–which included yours truly. But I remember being happy she won. She really deserved it. She was one of those sweet, non-cliquey girls that everyone liked.

So, I took a trip down memory lane after that speaking engagement as I drove back home. Made me wonder what memories my own kids will have of the ‘Mrs.’ in their lives. They have many wonderful families that serve as godly role models to them and their own recollections of playing pick up games of sports. It isn’t usually kickball, but soccer or basketball or baseball. And I hope that someday they too will have a blast from the past when they run into one of the moms from our circle of friends.

Now on to the future…..watch for a give away coming on Monday. I’ll be hosting a blog tour by author Lori Z. Scott and giving away two copies of her children’s books from the Megan Rose series. They are laugh-out-loud fun books with just the right amount of mischief, but they will also help to point your children to God! You can check them out here.

Have a great weekend! Grab some kids for a game of neighborhood ball. You make the lemonade. They’ll make the memories!

 Sweet Blessings,

 Karen

Do you like a good fight? No, I don’t mean watching two guys in shiny shorts punch each other out on television wearing big, padded gloves. I mean you, another person—usually a family member—and some verbal jabbing, sarcasm tossing, mud slinging exchange to try to prove your point?

I do. I’d like to think I come by it innocently as my father has always loved to debate and is very persuasive with his words. Well, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Unfortunately, the apples keep falling in our family and I have offspring who too love to argue. (Thankfully one now is old enough for high school debate and is using this skill in a good way to stand on scripture and stand up for the unborn).

Now in our defense, most times we can keep it together with people who are not members of our family. You know, “speak kindly….turn the other cheek….do not pay back evil for evil” sort of stuff. It is in our own family that we seem to let it all hang out. My husband calls it “throwing flesh balls”. As believers, we are supposed to be walking in the spirit, tempering our words and reflecting Christ. We know in our heads that is the right thing to do. In reality, sometimes it just feels good to toss a flesh ball or two.

However, often I wonder, what are my kids seeing? A huge contradiction! “Mom held it together with that guy who cut her off in traffic, the lady in the little league stands who was being totally obnoxious and the dry cleaners who completely ruined her new sweater, but man does she let me have it!”

This is not good.

I have been in the habit since my college days 20+ years ago of reading a chapter of Proverbs every morning that I can. That Old Testament book has 31 chapters. Most months have 31 days. Perfect plan!! I switch versions every year or two to glean even more understanding. You might want to try it yourself. Well, just recently I switched back to using the NIV version I used years ago.

It was the 17^th of the month. I was reading chapter 17. I had just throw a whole bucketful of flesh balls at my husband to prove my point and prove him wrong. It was over something really important. Uh, oops….maybe not….since I now cannot remember what it was about—probably the proper way arrange condiments in the fridge door or some other globally crucial such thing. (I forgot to mention….I like to argue over trivial matters. I’m pretty good at the big stuff. It is the nitty-gritty, daily grind where I come unglued sometimes.)

But I digress……At any rate, I came across verse 19 and it reached up and slapped me across the face:

“He who loves a quarrel, loves sin”

YIKES!!! That is me!!!!!! But, I am a Christian. I am supposed to love God and hate sin!!!

I decided right then that this needs to stop. Not to mention the whole apple dropping thing. I don’t want generations of Ehmans who could make the Hatfields and the McCoys shake in their boots! So I have begun to memorize verses that will slap me in the face before I can reach back and start my wind-up for a new inning of flesh ball pitching. I know God’s word is what can keep me from sin. I have seen it work in so many other areas. But you know what James says about the tongue…..(If not, go read the third chapter of that small but powerful book).

I am also trying to help one of our sons, who can actually out-argue both Grandpa and me, to see the danger of going down this same road. We had a chat before his dad, brother and I went on a recent overnight to a hotel for a speaking engagement that I had. I asked him to make an extra effort to get along with his brother and not argue over the nerf football at the pool, debate over who grabbed the bigger slice of pizza, and waste time bickerin’ when they could be having fun. For good measure, I threw in that wonderful verse:

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” Psalm 133:1

And it worked! We had a great time and there wasn’t any strife between the boys during that entire 36 hour period! On the return trip home, my little apple offspring and I were walking together in a parking lot when I leaned over and whispered to him, “See….isn’t is good and pleasant, just like the Bible says, when you and your brother get along?” He nodded his head and smiled. But then, after looking off into the distance for a second, he turned back to me and said…. “But it is enjoyable to throw a good punch every now and then too!”

Oh, my!!! Time to assign some memory verses to the kids too!

Sweet Brotherly Blessings,

Karen

Note: For those of you wonderful ladies who were at the Christ Community Church’s retreat this past weekend, Mackenzie’s post is further on down. You might want to read it first to get caught up. Here you will get the “rrrrrrrrrrest of the story”

View from our balcony.

Marian leading worship as the sun is about to come up over the Atlantic ………….

THERE IT IS!!!!!!

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” I John 4:7

Well, I sure met a lot of new friends this weekend who love and have been born of God. As a speaker, I get asked to share at a variety of places: quaint country church MOPS groups, lovely ladies’ Bible studies, an event in an old church basement, a woodsy, rustic retreat center. All of these are a joy for me to do as I meet so many sweet sisters in Christ whom I can’t wait to see again in eternity. However, every once in a while, God pulls out all the stops and blesses me with not only another great group of ladies to hang out with for a while, but an awesome location to boot. This was such an event!

First, met by cheering crowd at the Philly airport….(uh, oops…guess they were there for Barack.) At any rate… Ocean side room. Balcony looking out over the rolling waves. Sunday morning worship on the beach watching the sun rise. Strolling alongside cute seaside shops spending time with my daughter and sister-in-law. Okay…..now I am feeling guilty even taking my speaking fee!!

Thank you dear Deb and Beth and Marian and the worship team and Amy and Jen and all of the others whose faces I still see but whose name tags I can’t!!!! I had a blast. The best part for me was our hour of silence. I needed that. God was in the midst of it. Remember what we talked about? He whispers. The world shouts. I heard Him this weekend about a couple of things. Thanks for drowning out the world’s noise for me so I could not just hear, but listen.

Okay…….now lest any of you out there in cyber-space think this was a perfect weekend that you wish you could have had……uh, um….it is 8:30 Monday morning. I am sitting in an old hotel in Detroit. Nothing wrong with that. However, when you realize that our plane was supposed to board last night just after 7:00 and, after one stop, get us safely to Michigan soil around 11:00 you will realize that the return trip has not matched the rest of this wonderful adventure. NOPE!!!!! Delay out of Philly…..LOOOOOOONG delay. Took off near 11:00 pm. Missed our connection. Got a hotel. Had to have luggage pulled from the plane for sister-in-law’s meds and c-pap machine and daughter’s lip gloss (just kidding). More waiting in an airport. Checked into hotel at nearly 2:00 am AFTER waiting over a half hour for a shuttle bus in the chilly Michigan air. Had to share bed with tossing daughter. Woken up by sister-in-law’s cell phone alerting her that she had a new message—at 4: 23 am!!!!!!! Dozed some more. Gave up. Got up. Read my Bible. Updated this. Now going to call home to tell principle of our homeschool (dear dad) what the boys need to start on. Realizing he’ll probably call a snow day (in April) and let them eat junk and play X-box! Now scheduled to fly out at noon, land at 12:46 pm. Drive over an hour home. Arrive 16 hours late and a day behind schedule.

But God……….He planned it. He approved it. And I know He ordained it. For proof I only needed to overhear my sister-in-law encouraging a beautiful, bald, scarf-donning woman during that annoying wait in the Philly airport. She was on her way to Chicago to seek treatment for her cancer. It was a God appointment I am glad we did not miss. My sister-in-law is a breast cancer survivor and an upbeat, positive encourager for those who feel as if they have lost all hope. When she told that precious gal that she herself is approaching her 6 year anniversary of her diagnosis—cancer free, full head of gorgeous red hair and sporting an assuring, wide smile—it imparted hope to this women who smiled right back.

Thanks God for letting me see you work. It was worth the wait.

Sweet, sleep-deprived blessings,

Karen

Greetings all!

This is Karen’s personal assistant, Mackenzie. Normally she would be updating this but this weekend she is speaking to 178 women from Christ Community Church about how to manage your time, organize your home, and surrender your heart. So you all get to put up with me! Right now I am sitting on the patio of our room looking out at the moonlight reflecting of the waves as they crash just outside our door. It is beautiful and if you ever get the chance ya’ll should come to Ocean City Maryland! It is definetly worth it. When my mom was asked to do this retreat she thought it might be a fun girls weekend so she invited my Aunt Thais to come with us. What a good idea we are having a blast!

Let’s see our day yesterday started off at about 4:30…am. We woke up, before the sun, and drove to Flint (about an hour and fifteen minutes away from our house) to catch our plane. We then took flew from Flint to Detroit. That was only an eighteen-minute flight and when we arrived we had about an hour and twenty minutes to kill until our next flight took of for Philadelphia. This flight was a little over an hour and I’m pretty sure that my mom got a little annoyed with my aunt and I. First you must know that my aunt is the biggest kid ever. She never really grew up, and is very energetic. My brothers and I really enjoy it! When she watched us for the weekend our parents always say “Now kids keep your aunt Ty in line.” We love her! Second of all, my mom got a new MacBook and my aunt and I were fiddling with the built in camera, we were messing around making our faces twisted, enhanced, or ‘smooshed’. My mom kept telling us to be quiet and that people were looking at us but we were laughing so hard it was no use.

When we landed In Philadelphia it was a little over seventy-five degrees! Pretty warm for three Michigan gals like us. A car had been reserved for us and after snatching our luggage we continued on our way. There was only one problem, you se my mom is used to driving back roads and we were in the middle of the most congested traffic I have ever seen. AND, that was their ‘slow time’. Well long story short– we got lost about four times. We finally stopped to get directions and a suggestion for a restaurant from the Christiana City Fire Department. The man kindly told us where to go and then invited us to dinner (actually, offered to ‘rustle us up some grub’) We declined and went on our way.

I went to sleep, freezing might I add, as my Mother and Aunt, both over forty, blasted the air conditioner. In a little over two hours we were entering Ocean City. Upon arriving at the hotel we realized that we were in one of the most beautiful places along the east cost. The people here just match the scenery. They are the sweetest people ever. My mom’s new friend Deb, the retreat coordinator, is one of the most genuine women I have never meet. She is running the conference and she is doing a marvelous job of it. We have had the best food and meet the most amazing people. Speaking of which, the snack tonight is Fondu with Strawberries! YUM! I can’t wait!

I was excited to meet Marian, the worship leader, who just happened to have another guitar that she is letting me use for the weekend. (I told you guys they are amazing).

Last night my mom was introduced by sharing some random facts about herself. After that, her and I hung out while everyone else was meeting in their small groups. The rest of the night consisted of snacks and fellowship. After a little while we all agreed that we were exhausted from the trip and headed back to our room to crash. All in all it was an exciting day (even though our travel time was near eleven hours).

Today we woke up to a breathtaking sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. What a view! After getting ready we headed down to breakfast followed by morning session. My mom spoke about surrendering your heart. Her talked ended with me signing in sign language a song called Broken Things by Sylvia Lange. As soon as that was done we were given an hour of silence just be alone and reflect on what she has shared. My aunt headed for the beach my mom took the porch and I grabbed the guitar that sweet Miss. Marian lent to me and made my way to join my mother on the porch.

I sat and played for about twenty minutes until I spied three little boys standing under my balcony. They informed that they wanted to find out who was playing and that they liked my playing. For the next fifteen minutes I heard all about how they were in a rock band (and when I say little I mean like ten or eleven year olds). They sang one of their songs that went something like “Baby the way you make me feel, Baby the way you make me feel. I see it in your eyes, it looks like pies” I’m not even joking. It was great!

For lunch my mother, aunt, and I went to a place called Macky’s where we actually sat on the beach, at tables, in the sand and ate. They had amazing food as well! After we were all stuffed, and my aunt finally got her crab cakes that she had been craving since we arrived, we continued on the find some little souviners for my brothers, we ended up finding an amazing little candy shop! It had every candy you would ever think of their was a variety of salt water taffy, chocolate, fudge, hard candy, soft candy, lollipops, anything you think of it was there. I felt like I was in Mr Wonka’s factory. And of course we had to try some of it. We bought taffy and chocolates, and let me tell you they were amazing! My mom, being as disciplined as she is, only wanted half of a chocolate so after we left the store she was in the mood for something sweet. We remembered that we passed a frozen yogurt place on the way in to Ocean City so we began our search. We found it, got ice cream, and mom was happy! (Lowfat-peanut-butter-anything does that to her!)

We returned to the hotel for the rest of our down time. My aunt took a nap, I did some homework, and my mother was convinced that she needed to go run of her lunch so she worked out. After about an hour it was almost time for supper. My aunt and I went for a walk on the beach and took some pictures. We meet my mom for dinner which was: salad garnished with black olives, purple onions, and feta cheese, chicken broccoli Alfredo (My favorite!), and Tiramasu.

Once again we were stuffed! My mom and aunt went on to the night session where my mom is talking about managing your time, and I retired to the room to work on homework and update my mom’s blog.

So here I sit rocking out to Sara Groves and writing to you all. I hope I haven’t bored you all to death. I know I am no where near as good at writing as my mother but hey, I need to start somewhere. Practice makes perfects…right? Well ladies, there is chocolate fondu with strawberries calling my name! So I’m off.

Thanks for putting up with me! You will get my mom back next time.

Have a blessed day!

Mackenzie

Here are some pics of the trip: mom and Miss Deb; me in the candy store and the endless candy counter!!

 

So many of you have contacted me with glowing reports about your decluttering ventures after last weekend’s Swap and Hop on organization. I’ve heard tales of boxes of no-longer-needed items being hauled off to Goodwill, bags of trash taken to the dumpster and mounds of unwanted papers being recycled. Good work!

Some of you with kiddos still in the house, however, are wondering how to get them in on the act. So, today our 16 year old Mackenzie—a formerly messy kid turned mostly tidy teen, will be our guest blogger. In my latest book, The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized, she actually wrote a sidebar at the end of each chapter just for the kids. Following is some of her advice:

I think we kids sometimes need to put ourselves in our moms’ shoes for a minute. We need to think how hard it would be to keep the house clean while doing laundry, dishes, and making dinner. We should imagine that mom just cleaned out an entire room, and then one of us kids drops our junk in it a half hour later. For us kids, it would be like us building the coolest Lego tower ever, only to have our mom come right along and kick it all down.

When I was younger, I used to argue a lot with my mom about my hair not being brushed, my homework not being finished, and all the other normal things that kids and moms sometimes fight about. But the worst thing was my room. I was the messiest kid you could have ever met! I kept everything. I’m talkin’ everything! My younger brothers and I would go on a walk, and I would find a bottle cap. I would keep it forever, stuffed under my pillow. Pretty soon the junk began to really pile up, which drove my mom bonkers. It wasn’t until later that I learned the importance of truly decluttering (as my mom calls it) my room.

What really got me motivated was when I turned thirteen. For a birthday present, my parents, a bunch of my friends, and all their parents all came over and pulled a “while you were out” on me. This means they totally redid my whole room while I was away for the weekend. They painted it a pale lime green and decorated it in a retro theme with a comforter set and curtains I had been eyeing all year long. They even hung neon-colored beads on my door and placed a lava lamp on my dresser. It was an awesome surprise! But this really got me wondering, How am I ever going to keep my room this way? I knew I had to change, and finally I actually wanted to.

This was the starting point for me to quit being a messy kid and start taking some responsibility for the look of my room. If you were to see my room now, you would never believe the same person lives here. Even my closet, which no one sees, is usually neat and tidy. Not to say I’m never messy. But for the most part, my room is clean. I have to work to keep it this way, and so will your kids.

Here are some ways I keep my room clean and decluttered. Maybe they will help other kids get started too. Let your kids read this section…or read it to them.

• Try to make it a habit once a week to go through your room and gather up all the little things lying around that you don’t really need anymore: things like school papers, broken toys, bent baseball cards, earrings that are missing a match, old wrist bands from summer camp. Throw away or recycle these items.

• At night, before climbing into bed, spend just five minutes putting away your toys or those clean clothes you have been stepping over for three days now. This way you don’t have to do it when your friends call and want you to go play outside with them. Besides, your mom will be more likely to let you go out since you showed her some respect and did what she asked you to.

• If your Mom lets you have a snack in your room, clean up afterward. This will make your mom extremely happy. Also, remember to thank her for letting you eat a snack in your room!

• This one is my favorite. Put on some good music and just have fun. Work is only work if you make it so. Make it fun and it won’t feel like work. Yep, I say find some good clean music to clean your room to.

• Most of all, teach your children a phrase that my mom says often at our house. “Don’t put it down, put it away.” If we put our things away when we are through using them instead of just dropping them on the floor, it saves us time and our moms some major headaches. (And haven’t ya ever noticed that moms are much more fun when they are headache free?)

Mackenzie

Yesterday, when I was finished running (okay, so it was more of a slow trotting—to this former couch potato, it was running. If you do not understand why I say ‘former couch potato’ click on my 700 Club appearance in the side bar) Anyway, as I was leaving the hospital rehab center where I work out, I ran into an old friend. She was a woman who attended the church Todd was on staff at 20 years ago when we were first married. She was raising her kids when he was the Youth Pastor and she saw us begin our family with the birth of Mackenzie, who is soon to turn 17.

Naturally, the conversation turned to where her children are now—marriage, kids, careers, location, etc.. And she wanted to know what the future held for our three. Where would they go to college? What career path would they choose? (She had sons and daughters who all ended up in high paying, prestigious careers, including a surgeon!)

It got me thinking about what we say is ‘success’ when it comes to our offspring. Is it having kids who grow up to do a job that society deems important? And what about now? How do we measure success in our kids where they are still young and in our homes? By having ones who are outwardly obedient, saying ‘yes ma‘am’ and ‘no sir’ and ‘pleased to meet you’ on cue? That can be a good sign and we ask this of our own children. However, the older I get the more I know this to be true: Obedience, while it manifests itself in outward actions, begins in the heart. While I want to teach my kids to behave—sometimes not an easy lesson to instill—more importantly, I want to teach them to have their hearts right with God. I used to want kids who did no wrong. Now, I have a different goal. When they do do wrong–as all kids and adults sometimes do, I want them, rather than to hide it, to correct it. To be sensitive to the times they hurt someone’s feelings or disobey behind our backs. Then to listen to the spirit’s prompting, admit their fault and right the wrong.

And as far as academics go, can I let you in on a little pet peeve I have? All of those bumper stickers! You know the ones, “My child earned a ________ award”, “My kid is on the honor roll at _________.”, “My kid is far superior to the two academically average offspirng you currently have fighting over leg room in the back seat” (Okay, so I’ve never really seen that one, I’ve just felt that way when I’ve spied the first two!)

Now, if you have such a bumper sticker on your vehicle, I am sure it is to honor and bless your child who worked hard to earn the right to display that colorful decal. That is wonderful!! Smile and be proud!

All I am saying is that my goals for my kids over the years have changed a bit. Now? Well, I am shooting to earn the right to accurately display the following bumper sticker on our aging silver mini-van:

“My kid nearly flunked math, is as we drive, pestering his sibling, but his heart is tender toward the Lord”

Sweet mini-van blessings,

Karen

Happy Monday, all! I hope you had a fantastic weekend. Those of you who joined us for Lysa TerKeurt’s Swap and Hop, I hope you found time to work on giving a good spring cleaning to both your heart and your home.

Now for the winner’s of the two book giveaways from among this weekend’s participants who posted organizational dilemmas on Mr. Linky on Lysa’s site. Again, it was a grueling decision, but the two ladies who will receive a copy of my newest book The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized are…… #20 Becky and #36 Dawn. If that is you, please email me your snail mail home address so I can get these shipped right out to you, pronto!

For the rest of you, enjoy your daily, ordinary day as you begin another week, wherever that week’s journey may take you. Me? I’m off to work out, get my hair trimmed and my gray touched up since I have a speaking engagement coming up this weekend and I don’t want to scare the dear folks in Ocean City, MD. Then it is home to finish school with the boys and finish up working on my talks for the upcoming retreat.

That is after I finish looking for the cord that connects our camera to our computer. I still wasn’t able to post a picture of my recipe binder solution to Lysa’s organizational dilemma, since I—who writes books on organization—can’t find my cord!!! YIKES!!

No cute or funny comments necessary, please!!!!

Sweet, somewhat organized blessings,

Karen

Hello and happy weekend! I know many of you have made your way here via yesterday’s Proverbs 31 Ministry’s Encouragement for Today devotional or because you are participating in the Swap and Hop hosted by Proverb’s president, and my friend, Lisa TerKeurst. If you have no idea what I am talking about on either of those points, scroll down to yesterday’s post and you can get caught up! Or click here to read the devotional entitled Spring Cleaning.

Now ladies, I must tell you that I was totally game for this whole Swap and Hop thing. As Lysa and I chatted about it over the past few weeks, I looked forward to meeting new cyber friends, seeing their organizational dilemmas, reading other women’s solutions and picking a gal or two to try to assist personally with any solutions I could offer. I never dreamed that I would have such a tough time choosing!

This morning, I feel a little like I did when we picked kickball teams in my childhood neighborhood circa 1974. I always hated being the captain. Should I pick my best friend? The fastest runner? The furthest kicker? The new boy so he didn’t feel left out? Decisions, decisions!!!

Well, that is how I feel today!!! I want to choose you all! So here is my solution. Since so many of you wrote about and took snapshots of similar dilemmas, I will pick one of these areas to zero in on. I will still choose a winner or two for a free copy of my latest book The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized. This will be announced after sundown Sunday or first thing Monday morning so check back to see if it is you!

Now, on to the solution…

The first thing I noticed when hopping over to view your posts is that so many of you are at such a loss as to what to do with your ”stuff”. And by “stuff” I mean the many piles I see. Piles of paper, piles of kids’ items, piles of assorted kitchen clutter, why, even piles of fabric!!! Do you know what all of those piles are? They are the result of two little words that you have ingrained into your homemaking vocabulary. Two words that you must rid yourselves of if you want to bust up those piles. Those awful two words ladies are….

“For now”

You know, “I’ll set this junk mail here for now.”

“I’ll place these toys and trinkets over there for now.”

“I don’t know what to do with all of this ______(you fill in the blank) so I’ll lay it here for now.”

Girlfriends, our “for nows” are ruining us! And do you realize that every pile is just a stack of unmade decisions? The first time I read that statement years ago in an organizational book it was a revelation for me!!

Now, many of you wrote that you do not know what to do with your stuff. Part of the problem is that you have not made a decision about where it will go. Thus the piles of “for now”. The bigger part of the problem, however, is not where to put the stuff. It is that you have too much stuff. So, first let’s learn to do a little dejunking, ridding ourselves of the unnecessary clutter. With what is left, we’ll find a place other than the dreaded culprit piles of “for now” where they currently lodge. And take note: the following system can be used in one room—for you gals with that cluttered home office, messy toy room or catch-all kitchen—or for the really brave at heart, in the entire house!

Dejunking Basics

So here is how this works. First, you’ll need five boxes, (Or, if you are tackling a really big room or area, bins or laundry baskets.) They will hold items that you come across that belong somewhere other than where they are at the moment.

Label the first box Put Back. Inside of it place another small lidded container such as a shoe box or plastic tote. This box will be used to collect the items that are out of place in your home. The smaller container will hold items such as pens, pencils, barrettes, and coins so they don’t get lost in the bigger box.

The second box will be labeled Take Back. This will corral all of those items in you home that don’t belong to you and need to be returned somewhere. You know, library books, rented DVD’s, a shoe from your son’s friend who spent the night last week, a pan from the sweet lady fom church who made your family brownies two months ago, etc..

The third box will be used for garbage. Label it Toss or Trash. Line it with a garbage bag so that when it becomes full, you can tie it up and transport it to the trash can. If you are a family that recycles, you can also have a box or bin for that purpose too.

Next, you’ll want to have a box for those items that are still in good shape, but no longer needed or wanted at your home. Label this one Charity or Garage Sale. You can even place price stickers on your things at this point if you will be holding a sale. If you will donate your belongings to a charity or homeless shelter, as a box fills up, seal it and put it in your vehicle to be ready to drop off next time you are near a donation center.

The last box in the bunch will be labeled Nostalgia. More on this in a minute.

Before starting, please determine that you will be ruthless. Promise yourself that if you have not used it, needed it (but couldn’t find it), worn it, or enjoyed looking at it in the past year—then you’re going to LET IT FLY!

Haul your boxes into your problem room. Position the boxes in the middle of the floor. Beginning in one corner of the room, pick up an article, and ponder the following:

• Is this item out of place? Place it in the Put Back box.

• Does this item need to be returned to someone or somewhere? Into the Take Back box it goes.

• Is this item in such dire shape that it is no longer usable? Then place it in the Toss box. If it is made of metal, glass, paper, or plastic, it goes in the recycle bin if you are going to add this step too.

• Is this item in fine shape but no longer needed by anyone in our family? Into the Charity or Garage Sale box it goes.

• Now here is the final question: Is this item no longer needed by anyone in our family, but one of my children (or my husband) is so attached to it that if I pitch it now, they’ll be emotionally damaged for life and, yes, someday they will be on national TV spilling their guts to Dr. Phil about my cruel actions? Then into the Nostalgia box it goes. All of your kiddos can have a few nostalgia boxes with favorite “keeper” items. I like to attach a note to the item such as “You wouldn’t fall asleep without this stuffed turtle by your side” or “You carried this little lunch pail on the first day of school.”

Once your question and answer exercise is finished, look down in your hand? Is the item still there? It must be:

A. Something you actually want or need and ….

B. It must be located in the proper room of the house.

Continue making a sweep around the entire room, following the same procedure with each item you encounter. Check every drawer, shelf and closet. Make certain you are taking inventory of everything you own. Be ruthless! Every so often empty out the boxes—put back the out of place items, throw out the trash bags, transfer the storage and nostalgia items to a box that can be placed in permanent storage, and keep on truckin’! What seems like an overwhelming task will soon gain momentum.

Crank up some music you enjoy or pop in a book on cd to help the time pass more quickly. And if you are like me, you’ll discover that this concept works best when following the buddy system. Junk busting is easier with a friend who is, unlike you, not emotionally attached to your stuff. They will help you decide objectively what you will keep and what you will pitch, give away, or sell. When you come to the Tupperware deviled egg holder your Aunt Tillie gave you ten years ago that you never use, your friend will grant you the courage to get rid of it, offering their full assurance that Aunt Tillie will not suffer irreparable harm because of your decision.

Now, with what is left, you need to think logically. Just having things arranged all ‘neat’ does not necessarily mean they are arranged in a user-friendly and organized manner. You want to place items back according to their frequency of use.

For those home offices for example, decide what items you pull out and use most often. Place them closest to your work desk. I mean so when you are sitting down typing away or making phone calls, you will not need to get up, walk across the room, reach up or dig in a pile or drawer to find them. In fact, go through and make a list on a notebook or legal pad of all of the items you need to do your daily work. Then assign them each a number of priority. Make the number ones things you use daily, number twos the ones you use most days but not always, number threes those you only get out once a week or so, and so on. Once you have given your items their assigned numbers (usually five categories are enough meaning each item on your list will have a number 1 through 5 after it) begin putting things back.

First things first.

Acting as if your desk chair is the center of the universe, orbit your items around the room beginning with all the number ones first. Then go on to the number twos, etc….Place them according to how often you use them. Really think through your work patterns—where you do what you do and place items accordingly.

Then you can shift to ‘neat and tidy’.

Then you can purchase baskets and bins, cubbies and crates. Don’t just go to the office supply store and buy a bunch of cool looking organizational items and then return home and try to find what items will fit nicely into them. That is backwards. Think logically. The proper plan of attack is to:

• Decide what items you really need and which ones you don’t(dejunking process),
  
• Then determine how often you use them (priority number ranking excercise)
  
• Then purchase your organizational tools.

For you gals who had the messy counters. Do this in a mini-version. Be ruthless about what you must keep. Then, rather than make a list of specific items such as in a home office, list by priority the categories of stuff you seem to save. Maybe it will be:

#1 Kid’s school items

#2 Bills and correspondence

#3 Fliers and coupons

#4 Out of place items, etc….

Then you go through and craft a system where you can put these rotating items (you’ll always have items in these various categories, just not the same items each week.). Again, think logically and in order. Give each category a basket, a handy-dandy plastic stacking paper holder, a folder, a slot, a drawer, etc…Then make it a habit, just like washing the dishes or taking out the trash, to deal with each of these categories on a regular basis. Take care of the papers–sign those slips,transfer the info to your calendar, etc… pay the bills, return the out of place items to their proper location, etc..

You see most of us get frustrated with ourselves and fuss and fume at the dear members of our families, wanting them to stop creating clutter and get with the program.!

The problem, dear sisters, is we have no program in place to get with.

Taking time to dejunk and re-think your work patterns can help solve this dilemma. You can do it! I have faith in you!

Happy organizing!!!!

Karen