Monday, July 27, 2020

Self Improvement at Home

 sky from a "house with a view"







Listen, learn and  along: Lord Speak to Me



Today's post is to aid you in having a successful and lovely homemaking day.

Poems:
Hurry the Baby (A Man While You Wait) by Nixon Waterman
O Give Me Patience When Little Hands
Babies Don’t Keep
Jeannette and Jo

Making a Man
by Nixon Waterman

Hurry the baby as fast as you can,
Hurry him, worry him, making him a man.

Off with his baby clothes, get him in pants,
Feed him on brain foods and make him advance.

Hustle him, soon as he's able to walk,
Into a grammar school; cram him with talk.

Fill his poor head full of figures and facts,
Keep on a-jamming them in till it cracks.

Once boys grew up at a rational rate,
Now we develop a man while you wait,

Rush him through college, compel him to grab
Of every known subject a dip or a dab.

Get him in business and after the cash,
All by the time he can grow a mustache.

Let him forget he was ever a boy,
Make gold his god and its jingle his joy.

Keep him a-hustling and clear out of breath,
Until he wins - nervous prostration and death.


A Mother's Prayer

Oh give me patience when little hands
Tug at me with ceaseless small demands.

Keep my lips from hasty, sharp replies,
And give me gentle, smiling eyes.

Let not weariness, confusion and noise
Obscure me from life's fleeting joys.

So in years to come when my house is still,
Beautiful memories its rooms may fill.


This was an embroidery I had on my wall many years ago. I do not know if it is still available in a kit. 




JEANNETTE AND JO

By Mary Maples Dodge 1837

(Note: Learning to be encouraging and cheerful has always been a problem, even back in "the olden days." Poets, writers, preachers and teachers often addressed this subject. How much easier it is to get through a trial when your heart is rooted and grounded in hope and trust in God. This poem was written for girls.)

Two girls I know--Jeannette and Jo,

And one if always moping;

The other lassie, come what may,

Is ever bravely hoping.



Beauty of face and girlish grace

Are theirs, for joy or sorrow;

Jeannette takes brightly every day,

And Jo dreads each to-morrow.



One early morn they watched the dawn--

I saw them stand together;

Their whole day's sport, 'twas very plain,

Depended on the weather.



"'Twill storm! ' cried Jo. Jeannette spoke low,

"Yes, but 'twill soon be over."

And, as she spoke, the sudden shower

Came, beating down the clover.



"I told you so!" cried angry Jo:

"It always is a-raining!"

Then hid her face in dire despair,

Lamenting and complaining.



But sweet Jeannette, quite hopeful yet,--

I tell it to her honor,--

Looked up and waited till the sun

Came streaming in upon her.



The broken clouds sailed off in crowds,

Across a sea of glory.

Jeannette and Jo ran, laughing, in--

Which ends my simple story.



Joy is divine. Come storm, come shine,

The hopeful are the gladdest;

And doubt and dread, children, believe

Of all things are the saddest.



In morning's light, let youth be bright;

Take in the sunshine tender;

Then, at the close, shall life's decline

Be full of sunset splendor.



And ye who fret, try, like Jeannette,

To shun all weak complaining;

And not, like Jo, cry out too soon--

"It always is a-raining!"



11 comments:

Homemaker's Heart said...

Enjoyed the talk show today :-) I really like that your dress matched your painting in the background. How fun!

Laura Jeanne said...

Lydia, would you please be so kind as to share the names of the poems you read in the post? I often wish to read them again or even print them out, but I can never remember the titles.

Lydia said...

I added the titles to the post.

Laura Jeanne said...

Thank you! The poems you share are probably my favourite part...I am a real sucker for poetry. :)

Lydia said...

From Janet:

Hello Lydia,

I am unable to post so I will send this to you and let you post any of it you like.

First of all I am a grandmother and great grandmother and I SO LOVE my homeschool lessons!
How I wish I had a mother who would have taken the time to read to me. I remember picking up a picture book and making up a story about the picture and pretending to read it to her. Her response was "You aren't really reading anything." My heart would just sink.

While listening to your words about the history of the French Revolution, I was folding clothes and wondering why I was not taught this in any of my Junior or Senior high school public schooling. Then it occurred to me how our own country has been going through a radical change for years and the powers-that-be did not want anyone to recognize this.

I recently subscribed to the X22 Report and listening to it was most revealing. I'll be looking at the news with different eyes now.

Blessings, Janet

Lydia said...

I posted the poems in full on that page.

Lydia said...

Dear Lydia,

I enjoy the relaxed, conversational style with which you do these videos. It’s like having a good friend over to inspire, motivate and encourage me.
I might add how much fun it is to be homeschooled as well. Today you shared about not hurrying and rushing children. I watched a young mother’s 4 children all day yesterday, and I can’t adequately express how much pleasure the children had in a simple, leisurely nature walk in our woods. We saw deer, butterflies, toads, dragonflies, chipmunks, ferns, acorns,shelf fungi, raspberries, apples, and boysenberries, just to name a few. We concluded our walk by gathering a wonderful array of wildflowers to serve as a centerpiece during our meal and tea time.
We didn’t have any time restraints during our walk and the children were absolutely delighted! It was no small coincidence that you should speak on this subject today. Thank you, too, for posting all the beautiful poetry on your blog. You always go the extra mile for us , Lydia.🙂

Blessings,
Holly
Sent from my iPhone

Rhonda said...

I really like all the variety in your homeschool. Today I washed dishes, straightened the house and caught up the ironing and laundry.

Rhonda

Dianne said...

You share the neatest things with us! Thank you!! So many rare gems sprinkled throughout your talks and posts! ♥️

Dianne said...

Listened a second time....and wanted to say how much I appreciate your kind ways with children. It's so rare to see nowadays. I just loved how you waited a little bit while the children were so involved with their toy animals on the window sill. I could picture them playing. So many would have advised, "Make the children obey immediately!!" Your sensitivity to
the heart of a child is so sweet and wonderful. I think you are very young at heart and always will be. And beautiful! Thank you for all the precious things you share. It's those small anecdotal incidents that mean so much and are so easy to relate to and learn from. God bless you!

Lydia said...

Unfortunately I fell for some of the child rearing advice when I was younger but learned that if a child is not doing any harm and his play is so essential to his growth and learning, its best to let them have time to see it through. After all that is one reason we are staying home. Children don’t respond well to being interrupted when deeply engrossed in something and that’s also one reason we homeschool them. So they have plenty of time to dwell on a subject rather than being in a system of constant change. They just get into deep thoughtful about something and it’s time to move on to something else.