Since we home school, it has been made clear a lot lately that my girls aren't getting enough technology thrown in their faces. Since we are fairly new to the HS world, I honestly never even considered this. When I first brought them home, I was set on focusing on the areas that they were struggling with and bringing them back up to pace, to the best of my ability. Well, they have come, seen, done and got numerous shirts. These girls are rock stars and have blown me out of the water with how quickly they have been able to catch up and catch on. Makes me wonder what was ever wrong in the first place....but that's another post, for another time.
Long story short- we have decided to let our girls create their own blogs. They came up with names, picked out the "perfect" backgrounds, etc and off they go.
As I am typing now, they are sitting down plotting out their first post and what it will include. To say they are excited would be an understatement.
They are equipped with all of the internet safety talks, information about how something is on the internet once, it never goes away- even if you delete it, and all of the million other scary facts that I could think of. I mean, lets be honest, the internet, while it is a great thing...has broken a lot of people. I want my girls to have the tools that they need to succeed, including common sense.
So...here are the links to their blogs (which are both under my name so I can monitor them.)
They would be thrilled to get any positive comments or anything else you may have to offer a 9 and 10 year old, just trying to figure this technology thing out. :)
Em's: http://emmasworldofdreams.blogspot.com/
Ha's: http://biglifeofhalie.blogspot.com/
Here's to a positive blogging experience, filled with a ton of useful information and skills learned- and praying that they don't get eaten up by the big world of blogging...and everything else at your fingertips.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Friendship has been really heavy on my heart lately. I have my girls that I have been friends with as far back as I can remember and our friendship works great. It fits us well and we understand each other and know that we are here for each other, always- even if we are out of sight. I struggle with new friendships though. I am not an in your face friend. I am not an in your face person, so it's only fitting that I am not that kind of friend. Does it mean that I don't love someone? That I don't appreciate someone? Or that I don't care to be friends with them? No! Not at all! It just means that I am not perfect. I long to please people- which makes it really hard for me to, because it will never be good enough. I struggle to know when it is the right time, the right words, the right things to do....because if I just jumped at every thought of someone (like I often feel the desire/need to) I would never be home with my family.
A friend and I had a great conversation a while back and she referred to it as, the disease to please. I could not describe it any more perfectly. Through our conversation I realized that I want to make people happy and tend to set an unrealistic bar, that I cannot attain. Then, when I fail at keeping it up- I not only let myself down, but they are also struck with a new kind of friend...which is not 100% agreeable, 100% I will drop anything I am doing to work on your problem....simply not 100%. But lets be honest...who can always be 100%? Most definitely not me...or I wouldn't need friends in the first place.
I love my friends. All of them, but I have found that many people that I thought I had great friendships with will label me, judge me and intentionally hurt me the minute I no longer aim to please and fit their mold. I have lost several friends lately because things happened in my life, the same time as theirs and I wasn't there enough. I am human. I fail. I cannot, will not, refuse to try anymore to be a friend to perfection. Being in a relationship with anyone, friendship or otherwise is accepting someone, along with their imperfections. I have a lot of imperfections. It hurts to think of what you thought were healthy friendships ending because they didn't take a moment to ask if you were OK...or ask why you haven't been around much, but they called it quits because you weren't in their face about their trials and hard times. We are all fighting something, facing something and feeling overwhelmed at some time. We just don't all show it the same ways. I had one person say, "well, you never posted anything about that on FB." People, come on!!! Not every bit of information is meant for the internet.
This is something I have really been struggling with. I have put too much effort into trying to figure out what I did wrong, or when I should have done differently. I understand. However, what I failed to consider is they only made assumptions about why I wasn't there when they felt I should have been. Or, whatever the situation may have been. None of my "friends" that have turned their back to me because I failed to be the perfect friend have ever called, sent a text, or taken a single moment to ask about me and mine- and what's been going on...if they had, they would have known that I was not just being inconsiderate, or failing to be thoughtful. They would know that whatever situation they were in, whether I talked to them daily or not- they were in my prayers every night....and in my thoughts so much more than that.
Why am I so hard on myself because a "friend" got upset and stopped talking to me, when they were not being a friend to me either...or they wouldn't have been so quick to judge and would have just asked...hey, what's up? Why you being all distant lately? I mean....who is the one really missing out when they throw their hands up in the air and say I'm done? It has taken me a long time to understand.
If you find that in your friendships, you search for a moment to catch your friends doing you wrong...not being able to be attentive enough, or being the friend you think they should be, there is a big chance that you are wasting too much time trying to make them something they are not and you are missing the good in them. So, while you waste so much time overlooking the good, to search for the moment there is bad....take a minute to think about what kind of friend that makes you. No one is perfect. You can love, without being in your face (some people, like me...are just weird like that.) Instead of looking for the negative, try focusing on all of the positive. They may not fit your mold, but you may be missing out on a great love from someone, simply because you wanted them to be selfless, when you were not even able to be.
Mind boggling to me how we, as humans expect the ones we love to love so much better than we do.
A friend and I had a great conversation a while back and she referred to it as, the disease to please. I could not describe it any more perfectly. Through our conversation I realized that I want to make people happy and tend to set an unrealistic bar, that I cannot attain. Then, when I fail at keeping it up- I not only let myself down, but they are also struck with a new kind of friend...which is not 100% agreeable, 100% I will drop anything I am doing to work on your problem....simply not 100%. But lets be honest...who can always be 100%? Most definitely not me...or I wouldn't need friends in the first place.
I love my friends. All of them, but I have found that many people that I thought I had great friendships with will label me, judge me and intentionally hurt me the minute I no longer aim to please and fit their mold. I have lost several friends lately because things happened in my life, the same time as theirs and I wasn't there enough. I am human. I fail. I cannot, will not, refuse to try anymore to be a friend to perfection. Being in a relationship with anyone, friendship or otherwise is accepting someone, along with their imperfections. I have a lot of imperfections. It hurts to think of what you thought were healthy friendships ending because they didn't take a moment to ask if you were OK...or ask why you haven't been around much, but they called it quits because you weren't in their face about their trials and hard times. We are all fighting something, facing something and feeling overwhelmed at some time. We just don't all show it the same ways. I had one person say, "well, you never posted anything about that on FB." People, come on!!! Not every bit of information is meant for the internet.
This is something I have really been struggling with. I have put too much effort into trying to figure out what I did wrong, or when I should have done differently. I understand. However, what I failed to consider is they only made assumptions about why I wasn't there when they felt I should have been. Or, whatever the situation may have been. None of my "friends" that have turned their back to me because I failed to be the perfect friend have ever called, sent a text, or taken a single moment to ask about me and mine- and what's been going on...if they had, they would have known that I was not just being inconsiderate, or failing to be thoughtful. They would know that whatever situation they were in, whether I talked to them daily or not- they were in my prayers every night....and in my thoughts so much more than that.
Why am I so hard on myself because a "friend" got upset and stopped talking to me, when they were not being a friend to me either...or they wouldn't have been so quick to judge and would have just asked...hey, what's up? Why you being all distant lately? I mean....who is the one really missing out when they throw their hands up in the air and say I'm done? It has taken me a long time to understand.
If you find that in your friendships, you search for a moment to catch your friends doing you wrong...not being able to be attentive enough, or being the friend you think they should be, there is a big chance that you are wasting too much time trying to make them something they are not and you are missing the good in them. So, while you waste so much time overlooking the good, to search for the moment there is bad....take a minute to think about what kind of friend that makes you. No one is perfect. You can love, without being in your face (some people, like me...are just weird like that.) Instead of looking for the negative, try focusing on all of the positive. They may not fit your mold, but you may be missing out on a great love from someone, simply because you wanted them to be selfless, when you were not even able to be.Mind boggling to me how we, as humans expect the ones we love to love so much better than we do.
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