4Real Forums: MOTH

Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.

Active Topics || Favorites || Member List || Search || About Us || Help || Register || Login

Tea and Conversation
4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation

Topic: MOTH

Author

Message

<< Prev Topic | Next Topic >>

Lisbet
Forum All-Star

Joined: Feb 07 2006
Location: Michigan
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2706

Posted: May 10 2007 at 9:42am \| IP Logged

Anyone have this? Do you find it useful? Thanks!

__________________
Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12

EmilyC
Forum Pro

Joined: May 09 2007
Location: New Hampshire
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 250

Posted: May 10 2007 at 10:03am \| IP Logged

I have it, and have read it over and over, but I find it way too rigid. I couldn't break down my life into 15-30 minute increments. Of course, I'm absolutely terrible at sticking to any kind of schedule, so I may be the wrong person to comment on MOTH. I love the idea of it, but just couldn't make it work for me.

I much prefer A Mother's Rule of Life.

Maryan
Forum All-Star

Joined: Jan 02 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3145

Posted: May 10 2007 at 11:03am \| IP Logged

Okay, I tried to do a search in the forum on MOTH and got a thousand MOTHer entries....

So I give up... What is MOTH?

Somedays my brain can't play the abbreviation game!

__________________
Maryan
Mom to 6 boys & 1 girl: JP('01), B ('03), M('05), L('06), Ph ('08), M ('10), James born 5/1/12
A Lee in the Woudes

Cay Gibson
Forum All-Star

Joined: July 16 2005
Location: Louisiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5193

Posted: May 10 2007 at 11:07am \| IP Logged

MOTH (Managers of their Home)

I dug mine out the other night.

__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks

Lisbet
Forum All-Star

Joined: Feb 07 2006
Location: Michigan
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2706

Posted: May 10 2007 at 11:30am \| IP Logged

OH Maryan, I'm so sorry for not providing a link!

I searched here also, only for dozens of MOTHer topics to come up!! (do you ladies have any idea just how much we use the word MOTHER here??

)

Thanks for the link Cay. Do you like it/use it? I browsed their website and it is so very very protestant, and that makes me a tad wary, but I am needing more order around here again.

__________________
Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12

Maryan
Forum All-Star

Joined: Jan 02 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3145

Posted: May 10 2007 at 11:30am \| IP Logged

Oooo and a link too -- thanks Cay!

__________________
Maryan
Mom to 6 boys & 1 girl: JP('01), B ('03), M('05), L('06), Ph ('08), M ('10), James born 5/1/12
A Lee in the Woudes

MarieC
Forum All-Star

Joined: Oct 19 2005
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1011

Posted: May 10 2007 at 11:50am \| IP Logged

Lisa,

I have a copy...gathering dust on my shelves! Would you like to borrow it to check it out?

__________________
Marie
mom to 6
dds-98, 00, 02 and 09 & dss-03 and 06
Out in the Orchard

JenniferS
Forum All-Star

Joined: Nov 09 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1049

Posted: May 10 2007 at 1:10pm \| IP Logged

I also have a copy gathering dust. I found it to be too rigid for us. I do know of a family(our physician) that uses it. It started while they homeschooled. They no longer homeschool, but they still use it. His wife says it saved their lives. I tried it, but I am like Emily.

Jen

hylabrook1
Forum Moderator

Joined: July 09 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5980

Posted: May 10 2007 at 1:18pm \| IP Logged

If you were to use it as written, I agree, it is very rigid. I think it is a jumping-off point, though. The idea of thinking out a list of what you would like to accomplish in a day, instead of just letting the day *happen* seems like a good start. Of course, that's where the rigidity problem comes in, because much of the reality of life with a number of children is that their needs can't be scheduled. But as an example, I liked the idea of scheduling half an hour a day for sewing, or whatever you enjoy but just *never* get around to. I also liked the way that you set up the schedule initially using sticky-tack to put the slots and tasks into place and then adjust by rearranging the pieces. So many times, I have drawn out a beautiful chart and then when I need to adjust something the whole thing becomes useless. This seems to get around that particular aggravation.

Lisa, see whether you can borrow a copy from someone before deciding to buy it. I'd hate to think of you spending the $ if it isn't what you hope it will be.

Peace,
Nancy

Lorri
Forum Pro

Joined: Dec 21 2006
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 248

Posted: May 10 2007 at 7:17pm \| IP Logged

Like others have mentioned, I found MOTH to be too rigid. Scheduling our lives into half hour increments would drive us all batty. However, using larger blocks of time, I was able to give our day some much needed structure. Read it with an open mind, thinking about the system as a whole, not as a slave driver.

__________________
Lorri
mom to

The Mac and Cheese Chronicles

MarilynW
Forum All-Star

Joined: June 28 2006
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4275

Posted: May 10 2007 at 7:51pm \| IP Logged

I found it very useful as a starting point - to figure out how to share myself and my time between all the children, how to make sure we do not have arguments about piano time or computer time, or chores - and to get some sort of overall structure to the day. I did it in half hours (not 15 minutes) - and set up my own Word schedule with different colors - and then changed it when things did not work.

Now we do not follow it strictly - but we keep a similar order eg with piano practice time, computer work, who does chores on which days etc

I think it can help to get oneself organized - but I found it too hard to follow to the letter. I will revisit when planning for the new baby - especially for allocation of chores, making sure basics get done etc

__________________
Marilyn
Blessed with 6 gifts from God

teachingmyown
Forum All-Star

Joined: Feb 20 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5128

Posted: May 11 2007 at 12:18pm \| IP Logged

I think the book is very helpful, even if you don't do the scheduling like they suggest. I have bought it, sold it and bought it again!

It comes with lots of worksheets that can help you really think through all you need to get done and how better to organize it.

I think it is a great resource, even if I don't follow it very well.

__________________
In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today

Bookswithtea
Forum All-Star

Joined: July 07 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2621

Posted: May 11 2007 at 5:48pm \| IP Logged

I have it. We certainly don't use it as designed...the mom trains her babies to sleep through the night and we are attachment parenters so a lot of the baby advice didn't work here. That said, I wouldn't sell my copy!

I pull it out every spring/summer and plan, using her system, but with much larger time increments than she recommends. I also find it encouraging to read, from time to time. I like knowing that if our life did need rigid time slots for awhile, I would know how to do it and I could shore up our existing schedule to make life work.

I wouldn't bother with chatting on their web site. Its mostly fundamentalist ladies that live a lot like we do but don't really respect Catholicism.

You might try some protestant used hs boards for a gently worn copy...but it sounds like some here might be willing to sell you theirs, too.

__________________
Blessings,

~Books

mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and

due 9/10

Cay Gibson
Forum All-Star

Joined: July 16 2005
Location: Louisiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5193

Posted: May 11 2007 at 7:57pm \| IP Logged

Lisbet wrote:

Thanks for the link Cay. Do you like it/use it? I browsed their website and it is so very very protestant, and that makes me a tad wary, but I am needing more order around here again.

Lisa,
I agree with everybody here. If used as read, it is too rigid. Yet you have to admire the family who created it. The family is very devoted to each other, very devout in their faith, take pleasure in work, and really seem to practice what they preach.

I've never used it as it is intended but it is a help to focus me and get me on a more paved path.

I just used it to develop a new plan and it's working great. And I've had my book for years and never once felt the call to get rid of it. I pull it off the shelf about once a year and that makes it worth it. I did get it second=hand though, for about half the cost. You might want to look into that.

Don't worry about the publisher being protestant. They are an family who adores the Lord. While I suspect little tolerance for Catholics, they've never come out attacking us...that I know of. And their beliefs really don't interfere with the MOTH manuel.

__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks

Lisbet
Forum All-Star

Joined: Feb 07 2006
Location: Michigan
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2706

Posted: May 12 2007 at 6:18am \| IP Logged

Thanks everyone. I'm going to borrow Marie's copy and check it out. Then I'll see it I'll shell out the bucks for it!

Thanks Marie!

__________________
Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12

SuzanneG
Forum Moderator

Joined: June 17 2006
Location: Idaho
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5465

Posted: May 12 2007 at 4:29pm \| IP Logged

MarilynW wrote:

I found it very useful as a starting point - to figure out how to share myself and my time between all the children.
I think it can help to get oneself organized - but I found it too hard to follow to the letter.

My thoughts too. I bought it, and even though I don't follow it EXACTLY, I pull it out and consult it, re-read, re-think, quite often.

__________________
Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)

If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login
If you are not already registered you must first register

[Add this topic to My Favorites]

Printable version

Forum Jump

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

Hosting and Support provided by theNetSmith.com