Posted by TulipGirl | Under Nurturing Children, Pearls / TTUAC / NGJ
Sunday Apr 30, 2006
Meggan Judge, a mother in Alaska, wishes someone had stopped her from following Pearl’s instruction sooner.
“Thirty times a day, I was striking my son. He wasn’t even 2 years old,” Judge said. “I kept waiting: Where is this joy we were promised?’”
She slowly gave up Pearl’s methods three years ago after locking her son in his room one afternoon for fear that she would hurt him.
Years later, hearing of Lynn Paddock’s story, Judge knows she’s lucky. She suspects she could have been driven to such lengths if she hadn’t met a community of other Christian mothers on the Internet who urged her to abandon Pearl’s teachings.
“Without a doubt, I know I would have been capable of that,” Judge said. “Anyone who says they wouldn’t is a liar. I never knew I had anger issues until I started using his methods.”
The NC News Observer has a feature on Michael and Debi Pearl, written by Mandy Locke, the reporter who has followed the Sean Paddock abuse/murder situation from the beginning.
While the Pearls declined to be interviewed, Mandy Locke has been very fair–and at times sympathetic–to them. Michael Pearl is the “a towering, rugged man with a fuzzy white beard that mesmerizes children.” However, the article does go into some points of concern about the Pearls’ teachings.
For further reading, I recommend the following resources.
Here at TulipGirl:
On the Pearls and Parenting
Pearls Po-Russki
Biblical Relationships or Behaviourism
Children, Good and Grown
Offsite:
On Perfectionism and the Pearls
A Switch or a Cross?
Authoritarianism and Isolationism Among Us (small type, worth the effort of reading)
The Pearls: The Basics, On Original Sin
To Train Up A Child Review
TTUAC: One Family’s Experiences
Another Family’s Experience
Chapter-by-Chapter Review of TTUAC
Avoiding Millstones
TTUAC Short Review
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Family Journal
Saturday Apr 29, 2006
J9 asked Hubby tonight, “Are you a 5-point Calvinist?” He’s reading a “theological novel”about basic Reformed theology.
That led to a brief discussion on infralapsarian and amyraldian views between the two of them.
Then J9 turned to me, “What about you?”
“Why do you think I’m called TulipGirl?”
*grin*
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Breastfeeding
Friday Apr 28, 2006
Via an e-mail from Ted Greiner, breastfeeding advocate, I heard that the World Health Organization has updated its infant and child growth charts. Greiner says, “Based on careful studies of breastfed babies living under “ideal” conditions in several countries, WHO has determined that they grow at similar rates and that this growth pattern is the ideal one. Thus they have issued a series of new growth charts. . . The previous international ones were based on how largely bottle fed American babies grew.”
The new charts can be found here:
Child Growth Standards
WHO Child Growth Media Centre
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Family Journal
Thursday Apr 27, 2006
“The Germans and the Japanese don’t.”
“Don’t what, honey?”
“The Germans and the Japanese don’t have to go to bed at this certain hour.”
(Conversation with C5, as he snuggled on my lap, moments before he drifted to sleep.)
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Mommy-Inspiration Files
Thursday Apr 27, 2006
“Play BALL!” It was the Little League T-ball All Stars game. I was number 17–the littlest on the team and the last to bat. I glanced into the stands, and was reassured to see my mother smiling at me and nursing my baby sister.
I wrote about these vivid and early memories of my mother and little sister a few years ago.
Just today, I came across this article by Elizabeth Pantley and marvelled at how these early interactions among mother, baby, and siblings can make such a profound impression. And how love and nurturing are passed along in our every day family interactions.
My three older children all play baseball, so Coleton and I spend much of our springtime at the ballpark. His first baseball season he was five months old. Since I was a coach on my daughter
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Around the World
Tuesday Apr 25, 2006
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Theology for Girls
Sunday Apr 23, 2006
I just registered for the PCA 2006 Women in the Church Conference. I found out this morning that a group of women from our home church in St. Pete will be attending together and the early bird registration ends next Monday. I was just talking with Hubby about it earlier this week, so he told me, “You want to–why don’t you just go?”
This will be my first WIC conference. I’m kinda hopeful that some of the women I’ve known from MTW will be there. . . I miss the MTW community.
Anyway. . . If any of y’all are planning on going, let me know! We’ll have coffee.
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Family Journal
Sunday Apr 23, 2006
“Oh, crap!” I heard my 8 year old say, as we drove down the road in the minivan the other day. Shocked me a bit. Haven’t heard him use language like that before.
His expletive was followed by some banging, and sounds of paper being rumpled, and a book being slammed shut.
“What’s going on?”
“Those stupid guys are whalehunting again. And they killed the whale already.”
T8 is reading an illustrated version of Moby Dick. T8, my whale lover, budding marine biologist. He has a great sensitivity to injustices, chief of which is whale hunting.
A few days later he told me, “You know what I’d do if I were a millionaire?”
“No, what?”
“I wouldn’t be foolish with my money. I’d buy a big house and get a wife and a bunch of kids. But I wouldn’t just buy them every toy they wanted. And I’d work at the aquarium. If I couldn’t work with the whales, well, then I’d just be the guy that feeds the sharks.”
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Uncategorized
Sunday Apr 23, 2006
Q. 5. Are there more Gods than one?
A. There is but one only, the living and true God.
but one only
Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 45:21-22, 1 Corinthians 8:4-6
living and true God
Jeremiah 10:10, John 17:3, 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 1 John 5:20
(via OPC/CRTA)
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Christianity and the Church, Creation and Eco Care, Theology for Girls
Saturday Apr 22, 2006
For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
For the beauty of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
sun and moon, and stars of light;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of ear and eye,
for the heart and mind’s delight,
for the mystic harmony,
linking sense to sound and sight;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
For thy church, that evermore
lifteth holy hands above,
offering up on every shore
her pure sacrifice of love;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
For thyself, best Gift Divine,
to the world so freely given,
for that great, great love of thine,
peace on earth, and joy in heaven:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
Lyrics: Folliot S. Pierpoint
This hymn is special to me because of my mother. I didn’t know it until she asked that I learn to play it. I took several years of piano lessons. Squirmed during practice, back always ached, had trouble concentrating. But I loved playing from my hymns in easy arrangements book. The church we attended at that time didn’t include hymns in Sunday service very often. But I would play them, all the verses, singing under my breath.
I’m posting it today for its praise of our Lord of Creation, who provides our sustenance, relationships, and sanctification.
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Nurturing Children
Thursday Apr 20, 2006
Posted by TulipGirl | Under GFI / Ezzo / Babywise
Monday Apr 17, 2006
We followed the advice on feeding and sleep schedules very closely, until my 5 week old son began failing to gain weight. Fortunately I am a pediatric nurse and noticed the early signs before his health was severely affected. I visited a lactation consultant and learned that my milk supply was almost gone. . .
I dismissed the idea that his feeding problems could be related to the Babywise program (I don’t know what I was thinking!) and continued with the program.
Read more from this pediatric nurse and former Babywise mom.
Several people influenced us in our decision to use the Ezzo parenting ideas–one was a NICU nurse. I trusted that the materials were medically sound because they were from her, even though they went against much of what I had learned about breastfeeding and early infant development before then.
Read more Voices of Experience from families leaving behind Ezzo parenting.
(Via Ezzo.Info)
Tags: GFI / Ezzo / Babywise, Babywise, Gary Ezzo, Pediatric Nurse, NICU, Ezzo.Info
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Creation and Eco Care
Monday Apr 17, 2006
I took this Earth Footprint quiz primarily to compare our lifestyle in the US with how we lived in Ukraine.
Our eco-footprint in Ukraine? 2.4
In Florida? 12
I think the Florida one might be a tad low, considering our water and electrical consumption. But the biggest factor in the difference, I believe, is due to transportation.
In Ukraine, we did not own a car. We primarily used public transportation. When the family went out all together, we’d take a taxi–seven people in a little sedan. I walked to the market or the grocery store, where I purchased mainly locally grown or processed foods. (Unlike most of our Ukrainian friends, I also indulged in imported items. Trust me, luxuries like boxed cereal and frozen veggies in winter were much appreciated there.)
Now, I don’t have any destinations within walking distance, aside from the park. We have two vehicles, and put quite a lot of miles on them each week. We do have electrical conservation appliances and try to limit our AC use to when its really hot–but this is Florida, and it is hot a lot. In Ukraine, energy conservation bulbs and appliances were unavailable. And the heating/hot water system was woefully inefficient (even though for our apartment, we did enjoy the endless supply of hot water! Except when it was turned off in the summer. . .)
Anyway, I haven’t looked through the whole site, and I’m prone to be skeptical of some of the things I’ve seen there. However, it’s a good reminder to be mindful of our consumption and lifestyle habits, and how they impact the world and people around us.
(Via Suburban TreeHugger)
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Christianity and the Church
Sunday Apr 16, 2006
Hear the bells ringing
They’re singing that you can be born again
Hear the bells ringing
They’re singing Christ is risen from the dead
The angel up on the tombstone
Said He has risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead
Joy to the word, He has risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
Hear the bells ringing
They’re singing that you can be healed right now
Hear the bells ringing, they’re singing
Christ, He will reveal it now
The angels, they all surround us
And they are ministering Jesus’ power
Quickly now, reach out and receive it
For this could be your glorious hour
Joy to the world, He has risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah, hallelujah
The angel up on the tombstone
Said He has risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead
Joy to the world, He has risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
Hallelujah
Lyrics by Keith Green
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Family Journal
Saturday Apr 15, 2006
This is where I would insert a post reflecting on what life and the Lord has brought us in the past year. One year ago today, we stepped back onto US soil. One year ago was the ending of our life in Ukraine. Understandably, I’ve been a bit emotional today. Contemplative.
And I can’t quite bring myself to blog on it beyond this.
But I do want to thank everyone who has prayed for us, supported us, encouraged us–both in our time in Ukraine and our time in the States.
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Theology for Girls
Friday Apr 14, 2006
O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory
What bliss
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Creation and Eco Care
Thursday Apr 13, 2006
I want these shoes. They’re from Green Toe line of Simple Shoes, minimizing the ecological footprint left by shoes.
I bet the Manolo, he would approve.
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Theology for Girls
Wednesday Apr 12, 2006
Well said, as usual, Rebecca.
I recommend reading Kitchen Wives in order:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want, (whether up to my elbows in dirty dishes or not?) I can do everything through him who gives me strength. from Philippians 4
Posted by TulipGirl | Under GFI / Ezzo / Babywise, Nurturing Children, Pearls / TTUAC / NGJ, Theology for Girls
Monday Apr 10, 2006
Perfectionism
I read what Ann writes on perfectionism, parenting, and the Pearls. I understand her heart, her experiences. I know the need to lean more into the Gospel, for myself and my children.
And I say, Amen.
I encourage all parents, regardless of faith background or parenting approach, to read Ann’s post.
Updated:
Along the lines of Ann’s post, is Spunky’s post A Switch or a Cross? Ann and other are involved in the comments, which are worth reading through and provide food for thought and reflections.
And to further understand how mamas are drawn to the Pearls’ materials and then realize their harm, I recommend reading nutmeggmama’s story and Anne’s story.
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Theology for Girls
Sunday Apr 9, 2006
Q. 4. What is God?
A. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
is a Spirit
Deuteronomy 4:15-19, Luke 24:39, John 1:18, John 4:24, Acts 17:29
infinite
1 Kings 8:27, Psalm 139:7-10, Psalm 145:3, Psalm 147:5, Jeremiah 23:24, Romans 11:33-36
eternal
Deuteronomy 33:27, Psalm 90:2, Psalm 102:12, 24-27, Revelation 1:4, 8
unchangeable Psalm 33:11, Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 1:12, Hebrews 6:17-18, Hebrews 13:8, James 1:17
in his being
Exodus 3:14, Psalm 115:2-3, 1 Timothy 1:17, 1 Timothy 6:15-16
wisdom
Psalm 104:24, Romans 11:33-34, Hebrews 4:13
power
Genesis 17:1, Psalm 62:11, Jeremiah 32:17, Matthew 19:26, Revelation 1:8
holiness
Hebrews 1:13, 1 Peter 1:15-16, 1 John 3:3, 5, Revelation 15:4.
justice
Genesis 18:25, Exodus 34:6-7, Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalm 96:13, Romans 3:5, 26
goodness
Psalm 103:5, Psalm 107:8, Matthew 19:7, Romans 2:4
and truth
Exodus 34:6, Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 117:2, Hebrews 6:18
(via OPC/CRTA)