eek! :O

Hey everyone! *waves* Sadly, I've been neglecting my blog again. Here's part of the reason:

Cranky Pants

I can't help but laugh at this photo! You always see cutesy pictures of babies, usually taken when they aren't upset, lol. I've been helping my sister out with my niece, her first baby. This is Mila's true nature, revealed at like four o'clock in the morning, ha ha! My sister's husband is in Afghanistan--he was assigned to go there just before they found out they were expecting a baby, and I know how difficult it is to have a newborn. I can't imagine my husband being away! It's stressful to take care of a newborn even when you have your partner there to share the responsibilities. My sister also had to have a c-section, and she's handling her recovery and parenting duties like a boss, lol.

Okay, because I feel kinda bad about laughing at her when she's in a cranky mood, here's a photo of Mila in a happy mood:

August just flew by and was a really busy month for me and my family. My broken foot is still healing and along with helping out my sister, I have my nine year old daughter, two year old son, thirty year old husband, two cats, a puppy, and a partridge in a pear tree to take care of. Yep, I'm busy, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Something is always going on. I know I'll totally have empty nest syndrome. I'll probably be so bored!

I'm also trying to read through my review pile, which has gotten out of control. I'm halfway through The Moon Dwellers (The Dwellers #1) by David Estes and have five reviews I need to type up. They're already written; I just need to post them all of the different websites I use. :)

I'm working on setting up the badges of all the blogs I follow in a scrolling list on the sidebar of my blog. I'm having some difficulties right now--there are some badges up, and if you don't see yours,  no worries. They'll all be up hopefully soon. :) I'm learning how to work more efficiently, so I can have more time to handle all of my family responsibilities and still be able to read my books and write.

Here's to an awesome September!!

fighting monsters with lightsabers

If you read my last post, I promised to look for the link to the article I had read about conquering your child's fear of monsters. I couldn't find the exact article--it might have helped if I could remember when and where I saw the article. :P My memory just isn't what it used to be! However, I did find plenty of other articles with the same theme of creative ideas. Below are just a couple that were interesting to me.
Fighting Monsters with Force Fields and White Lies
Helping Children with Monster Fears

The first link takes you to an article written for one of my favorite magazines, Psychology Today. The author mentions some of his colleagues expressed concern that the fear of monsters may be reinforced if a parent chooses a method other than telling the child they don't exist in the first place. I can see where they're coming from--perhaps this would happen in some cases, but I honestly think the number would be very low.

Children, especially the very young such as toddlers, don't think the same way adults do. My parents told me monsters don't exist, and I sure as heck didn't believe them! Eventually, I just grew out of that fear but suffered many sleepless and anxious nights until I did. I want to prevent that for my kids. I believe a more effective and possibly quicker fix to this dilemma calls for some creativity. :D

I'm want to know what all of you think! Whether you aren't a parent, are a parent, or will be a parent, please tell me your opinion and any experiences you'd like to share. If you are unable to comment directly on this post, then you can contact me in one of the following ways:

Twitter @pearlofagirl30
Goodreads Jennifer R
Gmail jennifer.m.ricketts@gmail.com

Do you think "fighting" monsters with your child (or another similar idea) would be helpful to him/her, or do you feel that it would be feeding into your child's fears, thus reinforcing them instead of dispelling them?

Let me know your opinions, and I'll post them on here to share with others! :D

when did the word "scary" become scary?

There comes a time in every parent's life when you can no longer say the word "scary" without your two-year-old son climbing into your lap, telling you he's scared.

Nah, I'm just kidding! I don't know what I'm talking about. :D While I doubt this happens to every parent, what I don't doubt is that my son becomes slightly afraid when I say something like, "I'm afraid I'll forget to turn in our library books," or "I'm scared I'll forget to do...". Just fill in the blanks with whatever the average person might forget. And since my examples both involve forgetfulness, you can bet I'm a very forgetful person!

My son just recently began saying he's scared or afraid when these two words are used in any context, and he doesn't do this with just me. He does this with all of our family and friends. If someone laughs loudly and suddenly, he claims to be startled by saying, "That scared me." I'm hoping this is a phase he'll grow out of since I don't want him to be afraid of everything, especially the word itself!

He is also now "killing the monsters" that purportedly live in his room. He grabs whatever "weapon" is available, whether it's his lightsaber, sword, various toy guns, etc., and proceeds to attack them--very noisily I might add. I read somewhere that if your child is afraid of monsters, rather than trying to convince your child there are no such things as monsters and that there's nothing to be afraid of, you should ask your child to describe what the monsters look like and then "attack" them with your child. I believe the author advised this strategy to conquer the fear instead of "discounting" it. If your child has this fear or any fear, rationalizing with them probably won't work. Fears aren't usually all that rational. Many times fearful thoughts are worse than what's actually coming up ahead.

I'll try to find the article and post a link for anyone who's interested!

It's interesting my son is already doing this himself. I must admit, I did tell him there are no monsters at first because it was my instinct to do so. We've talked about them many times, and I ask him questions to see if he will describe what they look like to him or not. Or I'll describe them myself and pretend I'm having a conversation with one, assuring my son they're friendly. This seems to be working, since he is now attacking them to keep himself and mommy safe! :D