Children questions....

You guys are awesome.....you know that?!

In this post, I asked you for some questions. Questions you might have about me. And boy did you come through! I am going to enjoy answering them as the days go on. Today, I am going to start with the questions about children.

So here we go...

What do you find most challenging about motherhood?

I think that what I find most challenging would be that they didn't come with a manual!! And just when you think you have gotten your kids figured out, they move into a new stage which is totally foreign to you.

How do you handle chores for your kids? And how did you handle them when they were younger?

When my children were small, I divided chores into 2 categories. First, there were chores that you did just because you were part of the family. Those would be things like making your bed, cleaning your room, picking up after yourself. Second, there were chores that you did for an allowance. These would be things like emptying the dishwasher, setting the table, vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom, etc. My kids started out with one or two age appropriate chores at 6 for an allowance....usually emptying the dishwasher, setting the table, basic dusting.

At first the kids got 50 cents a week allowance. When Alyssa was around 8, I read a book "money doesn't grow on trees". It was a secular book that gave help in teaching your kids the value of money. It's a great book. It talked about kids receiving their age/month in allowance. That is what we followed and broke it down by week. So if they are 8, they get $2/week.

Each year on their birthday, they would get a new chore and a raise in their allowance. We had the kids decorate 3 jars (also from the book)....spending, saving and tithing. They had to put 10% in savings and tithing and the rest could go into the spending jar.

One last thing, you had to complete ALL your chores to receive your allowance. If you missed even one chore.....no allowance. It really only took one time of missing their money to get their chores done!!! :)

Let's hear about some funny things your kids said/did when they were little.

This is a hard one because of my menopause brain.....I can barely remember last week, let alone 15+ years ago!!!

But one thing that popped into my head happened when we lived in North Dakota. Alyssa was about 4 years old and we were flying home to see my family. She was in the window seat and giving me a blow by blow of the take off........mommy, we're going real slow right now, mommy we are going faster, now we're going really fast mommy....and then as the plane took off into the air, she gasped and yelled "mommy..we're going to see JESUS!"

The lady behind me leaned forward and said "let's hope it's not today".

What do you love the most about the age each of your kids is at right now? The least?

My kids are currently 16, 18 and 20. What I love the most about age 20 is our relationship. We have moved from a "parent/teaching" roll to a parent/supporter roll...which is awesome. What I like the least about age 20 is that she lives so far away and I miss her terribly.

What I love about 18......is that he is planning to go to college! :) No really, I love that he doesn't mind showing me affection any more! I also love seeing his faith become his own. Seeing him do things to please God and not us....that is awesome! What I like the least is........ senioritis.

What I love about 16 is that he is my last to teach to drive....whew! What I like least about 16 is that I am still teaching him how to drive!! I also love the independence that starts with this age. Though this one is a homebody, there is some freedom for me that comes with them becoming independent!!

That's all for the children questions. Thanks guys, that was fun!

I hope you enjoyed it too....and maybe learned something that will help you as you walk this path of parenthood!