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Leonie
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Genevieve has a post on her blog that has been haunting me these last few days.
It is on mothering and on what sort of mothers do we want to be. Have a read!
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Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
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Jen L.
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Thanks for linking to Genevieve's post, Leonie. I don't get to the blogs most days :-( and love when I am pointed to them here!
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Jen
dh Klete,ds (8/95),dd (12/97), dd (11/00), and ^2^ in heaven
"...the best state in which to glorify God is our actual state; the best grace is that of the moment..." St. Peter Eymard
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ladybugs
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| Posted: July 23 2006 at 11:21am | IP Logged
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Thanks for pointing this out, Leonie!
Genevieve, your article on your blog was AWESOME!
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Love and God Bless,
Maria P
My etsy store - all proceeds go to help my fencing daughters!
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Genevieve
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| Posted: July 24 2006 at 8:04am | IP Logged
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Thank you, Maria, for your kind words. Mothering, as Leonie , articulated so well as been much on my mind since I consider it the foundation for homeschooling or for that matter, for families in general. I wish I could ask my children what they think of me as a mother but they are young and I can only take cues from their spontaneous acts of kindness and love towards myself and to each other.
Leonie you mentioned about your mythical vision of a mother which very similar to mine. I've been thinking about it this past weekend. It seems like my vision is static but really mothering is fluid. Different children need different response from us and different situations calls for different reactions from us. One of my children needs lots of hugs and kisses. My other needs me to be energetic and excited about little things in life. Jesus at different points in his life reacted differently. There were times to be calm, authoritative and even angry. But always loving. He does all things out of love and that love is always shown.
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Genevieve
The Good Within
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Leonie
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| Posted: July 24 2006 at 5:15pm | IP Logged
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Genevieve wrote:
Leonie you mentioned about your mythical vision of a mother which very similar to mine. I've been thinking about it this past weekend. It seems like my vision is static but really mothering is fluid. |
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I think you are right - I tend to forget the fluidity of mothering ( and of life and of homeschooling  ).
BTW, I have been thinking about mothering and your post so much that I ended up posting my thoughts on my blog
Thanks for your inspiration. 
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Leonie in Sydney
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Nina Murphy
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Thank you so much, Leonie and Genevieve. It was just what I needed today.
This is so hard for me....because this sums up what most matters to me (after my relationship to God) and what I want to be remembered as----a good Mother. Everything you mused on was true---we all know it---we set the atmosphere and affect everyone's moods for good or ill...and yet, it does not always come naturally to be cheerful, positive, or 'strong'. I am a classic Melancholic. I tend toward seeing things negatively and feeling things sensitively--- lightheartedness does not come easily to me. And yet, I always am aware of it and have to PUSH myself to make the effort and see through everyone else's eyes...what they need. It is a cross. I love them so much...painfully so sometimes....and yet I do not feel "up to the task" much of the time. I feel like sleeping and being by myself. Not good for a mother of 8. 
I daily work on "taking captive" my "thoughts to make them obedient to Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5b) and I have to rewire my thinking constantly. Renew my mind.
Anyway, thank you again for such honest, probing words. I just love how you all think!
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God bless,
~~Nina
mother of 9 on earth,
and 2 yet-to-be-met
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Leonie
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Nina Murphy wrote:
| I daily work on "taking captive" my "thoughts to make them obedient to Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5b) and I have to rewire my thinking constantly. Renew my mind. |
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Definitely - amd I think Genevieve's blog post has been part of my renewing. And reading the comments of others on my blog re mothering - people are very honest in their sharing. I appreciate that.
Mothering is part of who I am and I want to do my best - even if my best is different from others and is fluid. 
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Leonie in Sydney
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Genevieve
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| Posted: July 25 2006 at 6:22am | IP Logged
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Leonie wrote:
BTW, I have been thinking about mothering and your post so much that I ended up posting my thoughts on my blog
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I love your post and especially the discussion going on in the comments. I feel much community knowing that other mothers are striving to be the mothers our children need us to be. Truly I think you are a wonderful mother. I also thank you for pointing out that we all have something good to offer to our children. I think for me I tend to forget that. I'm always striving to be better when sometimes I need to remember what I'm doing is good. Actually, it is extremely hard for me to see the good within but that is another topic altogether. It is indeed a prayerful discernment between humility and contentment.
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Genevieve
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Genevieve
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| Posted: July 25 2006 at 6:36am | IP Logged
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Nina Murphy wrote:
.and yet I do not feel "up to the task" much of the time. I feel like sleeping and being by myself. Not good for a mother of 8.
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At one point of my life, I was like that too. What did help was
proper nutrition (Have you looked at Prescription for Nutritional Healing)
exercise - That may be difficult with 8 children but even a day in the backyard with just fresh air with no agenda can be rewarding. Elizabeth wrote a wonderful chapter on burnout in her book. Although you may not be technically, everyone needs to refill their emotional tank and maybe you need to more frequently?
practising good thoughts - It was during this time that I discovered Feeling Good and I think honestly the exercises in the book can be applied to any situation in life. One that I do frequently is to draw a line down the middle of the page. On the left column to write thoughts that simply come into my head without any editing or correcting. Sometimes I have to limit myself to just five.  Then on the right column I would question the validity of each thought. For example, thought - I am not a good mom. Counter - I may not the mom that I hope to be but there are moments when I do respond in the way that my children. I just would like to make those moments more frequently. The fact that I care is a good starting point and a strong indication that I am indeed a good mom. Changes happen slowly but that doesn't stop myself from trying.
I hope I am not being presumptious. I just wanted to share with you what has worked for me.
You are a great mom, Nina. 
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Genevieve
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Leonie
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Genevieve, so much positive discussion has come from your blog.
I also like the feeling good exercise you mentioned above.
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Leonie in Sydney
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ladybugs
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I was thinking about your comments on mothering, Genevieve, last night at adoration.
I thought, "You know, this could apply to being a wife, too." What kind of wife do I want to be? Being loving as a wife doesn't always come easy to me...not as easy as mothering, anyway  ....
Should we create another thread? I could always use encouragement and advice!
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Love and God Bless,
Maria P
My etsy store - all proceeds go to help my fencing daughters!
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Genevieve
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ladybugs wrote:
I was thinking about your comments on mothering, Genevieve, last night at adoration.
I thought, "You know, this could apply to being a wife, too." What kind of wife do I want to be? Being loving as a wife doesn't always come easy to me...not as easy as mothering, anyway ....
Should we create another thread? I could always use encouragement and advice! |
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Of course... go ahead!
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Genevieve
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Nina Murphy
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Maria,
I'm with you on that thread. Yes. 
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Genevieve,
You were in no way presumptuous----just loving.
YES! I have had both of those books. I agree wholeheartedly. Feeling Good is a great help in the cognitive "re-wiring" department. For me, I think this is just a stressful time of life that can't be gotten away from....And until my cycle returns and I have *normal* hormonal levels, lower rhythms are inevitable. I do need to keep on top of those good herbs and vitamins and oils.
Great thread!
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God bless,
~~Nina
mother of 9 on earth,
and 2 yet-to-be-met
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Leonie
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ladybugs wrote:
I was thinking about your comments on mothering, Genevieve, last night at adoration.
I thought, "You know, this could apply to being a wife, too." What kind of wife do I want to be? Being loving as a wife doesn't always come easy to me...not as easy as mothering, anyway .... |
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Oh, my gosh, Maria. Now you all know that I don't feel I match my mothering vision, wait till you hear about my wifely role and visions! I fall down short.
Looking forward to the thread...
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Leonie in Sydney
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Elizabeth
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Leonie wrote:
Genevieve has a post on her blog that has been haunting me these last few days.
It is on mothering and on what sort of mothers do we want to be. Have a read! |
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This reminds me so much of conversations I've had with Kim Fry through the years...It's so good to have good women who strive every moment for holiness to remind us of the vision...
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Leonie
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Thanks for linking to Kim's blog, Elizabeth.
There is *more* and *more* to mothering and to layers of mothering, isn't there?
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Leonie in Sydney
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Marybeth
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Beautiful, Genevieve, just beautiful!
I was deeply hurt by something my mother said to me the other day. I light of your post...I just couldn't help thinking how much our words and opinion matter to our children at any age.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feelings with us.
Marybeth
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: On mothering.
