“I have learned that people are a lot like cement. You find cement or concrete in two forms: soft or hard. You can shape the soft cement with a spatula if you get to it early. If you wait too long, you'll need a jackhammer to change it.”

I have so many heroes, authors as mentors and other people that I look to for answers. Tim Elmore is one and he wrote the above words. This is not necessarily very good news in the world of adopting older children. I’d find it discouraging if I hadn’t already seen such success with my other children.

Realistically I am not necessarily out to change my children; I like... more

My ten year old rode with his big sister to Wal-Mart yesterday as they needed to pick up some more school supplies with my debit card. We live a fairly sheltered existence, rural and wholesome, so JoJo was shocked and outraged when he heard a Grandmother cuss at the store.

“Grandmothers shouldn’t cuss, right Mama? I heard her say d-a-m-m-i-d.”

I’m wondering if I should address the spelling or the real issue.

“Yes, darling, some people cuss, but your grandma claims they must have a very limited vocabulary if they have to resort to a couple of... more

Am I this annoying in real life? This pompous and over-bearing? Probably more so, just ask my kids. I was accused yesterday of bugging the crap out of one of them, but also he can never say that I gave up on him, because I know that I never will do so. He just doesn’t realize it yet.

I’m so much a part of the nerd herd that I was listening to a podcast this morning while I worked outside in the garden, reaching into my grubby pocket for the index card I keep there, and I was taking muddy notes about what I was listening to at the moment.... more

“Getting a good education and making good grades no longer ensures success, and nobody seems to have noticed, except our children.”

This is from the book I'm reading, Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki.

Our children have noticed Madonna, Michael Jordan or Bill Gates and Oprah become wealthy without studying hard like we told them to do. For me, as a formerly devoted grade grubber, this comes like a smelly horse pill to swallow, but our world has changed.

It’s not so much so that the lack of schooling helped these role models (to our children); I believe that our children are failing to see the deep drive and determination... more

I harp a lot about money around here. I have to do so as usually what I’ve said ballooned through my kid’s minds and out their ears. If you spend more than you make you will be in trouble. If you have a minimum wage job you cannot qualify for a 2008 car loan. Simple things that I feel I was born knowing when in reality my parents taught me daily; something my kids obviously lacked.

I’d picked this book up Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki, I’d watched him on a CNBC show, The Millionaire Inside, one night and I was transfixed.... more

Flipping channels late at night, relishing the snores of children throughout the house, I came across a show about messy houses. I don’t know the name of what I was watching, I was just astonished that two people could have trashed the house so much, heck it takes 40 of us to do so, and fortunately we can also get it cleaned quickly.

The host of this show was walking around picking up stuff and asking, “Is this really essential to your life?”

Responding to everyone’s questions about organization... more

So for my first day alone in my life, although my parents live in an attached house to us and I have two unemployed grown sons living with me, I planned a busy day after spending an initial hour at the schools putting out emotional fires and wiping tears.

I came home to utter silence that is monumental when one has 39 children. It is never quiet here.

I cleaned up for awhile and a friend dropped by. She’s a Probation Officer in the next county and made her point to one of my sons that I’d been fussing at for over an hour. He quickly replied, “Yes M’am,” and went out the door, while I just could not get through to my other son who has lost quite a few jobs since leaving the... more

First day of middle school for my three sixth graders was rather eventful. It’s tough to be frightened of what’s ahead when you have three other siblings in the 7th grade and two eighth grade sibs plus a seventh grade niece paving the way at the school. It’s the same school that I retired from so the faculty and staff also look out for my children. The principal’s son roomed with my 21 year old son in a dorm, and so on and so on in a small town.

The kids have the same bus driver from elementary to high school plus everyone around here knows where we... more

And along with our back to school preparations I literally have to factor in the time sucked up by anxious, upset, apprehensive and fretful children who are always highly suspicious of, and resistant to, change. We’ve recently had two broken windows punched out in their wild-eyed fear that was manifested by anger. Kids are picking at each other until someone bursts into tears over nothing and I have to settle everything.

Yes, everyone needs structure and routine and the school provides it well.

I have eight boys out on the back deck... more

The twin dishwashers on either side of our industrial kitchen sink are exhausted, they’ve run about four times each day all summer as we’ve had very large numbers of people in and out of our house, eating constantly and filling up with water. Both dishwashers are literally breathless, I caught one G.E. Triton looking at the clock, calculating how many more hours until the kids went back to school. And yes, that’s my youngest daughter swimming in the sink,... more