en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/1041203 Comments by paschott http://www.theblazingcenter.com/2013/04/me-stephen-me-speak-christian.html#IDComment617046448 When we sang that hymn, we had a footnote at the bottom explaining the meaning of words that are uncommon in today's usage. We could sing the verses that we wanted but not completely lose people along the way. Personally, I'd love to have more songs that needed a little thought and/or explanation. Seems that too many modern praise songs are chorus, chorus, chorus, chorus, brief diversion, chorus, chorus, let's give God a hand.... I don't think that all hymns are great, but there's a richness in a lot of them that is just not present in too many modern songs (not all). Instead of leaving with a greater sense of awe and adoration, I sometimes get caught up in the number of times we're repeating the same line or two. :( Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:30:31 +0000 http://www.theblazingcenter.com/2013/04/me-stephen-me-speak-christian.html#IDComment617046448 http://www.theblazingcenter.com/2012/09/calling-all-readers-help-me-with-my-new-book.html#IDComment434236934 Happy to read in the "Adult" category. Can use the Kindle or PDF format. :) Tue, 4 Sep 2012 14:28:55 +0000 http://www.theblazingcenter.com/2012/09/calling-all-readers-help-me-with-my-new-book.html#IDComment434236934 http://www.life360.com/blog/5-reasons-you-should-be-camping/#IDComment407297694 We enjoy camping - just not during the summer. Texas summers are pretty brutal so we'd have to get quite a ways away to escape the 100+ heat during the day and not getting much below 80 at night. Doable, but not as much fun as more moderate weather. Of course, we can go camping in December sometimes when the weather is still pretty decent and doesn't get too cool to make it uncomfortable. We're also part of a troop that camps somewhat regularly and that helps to get us out. As for unplugging, we enjoy playing together in other ways - mostly board games (Ticket to Ride and Dominion are the most commonly played in our home). Getting away does help to leave the computers and work behind, though. Mon, 23 Jul 2012 15:58:39 +0000 http://www.life360.com/blog/5-reasons-you-should-be-camping/#IDComment407297694 http://www.threedifferentdirections.com/blog/share-your-mobile-mishap-story-asurionsaves-give-away.html#IDComment407049790 I had a Blackberry die on me during a car accident. I had it in my pocket and when I checked it after the accident, the screen was completely shattered. It had survived all sorts of things before that, but the accident did it in. Mon, 23 Jul 2012 05:17:25 +0000 http://www.threedifferentdirections.com/blog/share-your-mobile-mishap-story-asurionsaves-give-away.html#IDComment407049790 http://www.beingtazim.com/stuff-some-fun-into-summer/#IDComment405919956 My wife and kid are both attending a summer camp and have been prepping for home school this coming year (new to us - trying it out to see if it works better for us). That has definitely tied up quite a bit of time and I don't think we need to look for extra things to keep busy. :) Sat, 21 Jul 2012 00:34:06 +0000 http://www.beingtazim.com/stuff-some-fun-into-summer/#IDComment405919956 http://www.life360.com/blog/10-things-to-teach-your-kids-about-strangers/#IDComment405711088 I appreciate the reminder about "adults asking for help". We do teach that not all strangers are bad, but this one is a great reminder. Go get an adult to help another adult and stay away from the car - great advice. We'll need to go over a couple of these again, especially now that our kid is getting older. Fri, 20 Jul 2012 17:04:14 +0000 http://www.life360.com/blog/10-things-to-teach-your-kids-about-strangers/#IDComment405711088 http://www.life360.com/blog/spanking-leads-to-depression/#IDComment404324391 I don't normally respond to these sorts of things because discipline is going to need to vary for each kid, but those stats are just a little misleading or at least incomplete to me. The criteria for this was "pushed, grabbed, shoved, slapped or hit by your parents or any adult living in your house". There's a potentially huge difference between that question and "were you ever spanked". As for a total ban, I'll admit that I'm not really in favor of that. Sometimes a swat on the bottom is a very effective reminder that the behavior crossed the line. I've seen kids cry abuse because they did something wrong, were spanked, and then called CPS on their parents. That's ridiculous and creates a lot more trouble than it's worth. It also takes away from dealing with real abuse issues. I haven't reviewed the UN Convention details, but I'm not really a huge fan of a bunch of other countries that allow persecution of people in all sorts of ways coming in to tell us how to raise our children. I don't necessarily disagree with what's in it, but don't know the details so will leave it as "we can handle this without the UN". Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:24:31 +0000 http://www.life360.com/blog/spanking-leads-to-depression/#IDComment404324391 http://www.life360.com/blog/6-ways-to-celebrate-independence-day/#IDComment394339957 Favorite - singing @ the Botanical Gardens with our chorus while they set off fireworks behind us. This year - being in a parade handing out candy, swimming, relaxing a bit at home, and grilling. We may play some games together, but with typical TX temps, we probably will minimize our time spent outside. Mon, 2 Jul 2012 22:51:47 +0000 http://www.life360.com/blog/6-ways-to-celebrate-independence-day/#IDComment394339957 http://www.life360.com/blog/no-zero-policies/#IDComment385609796 I don't know if we have a no-zero policy or not, but it wouldn't necessarily surprise me. As you mentioned above, the teachers couldn't talk about it and most teachers are willing to give all sorts of chances to make up tests and eventually turn in work. I'm all for a little lenience in the rare case where someone forgets or life gets in the way, but if a student habitually abuses those privileges, they should get zeros. Of course, with all of the focus on getting the kids through, passing the tests, and keeping their (fake) self-esteem high it's easy to see that some people want to make sure that the kids never fail. :( I support this teacher doing the right thing, not the politically correct thing. It's sad that he was let go, especially if it was related to this ridiculous policy. I'm hoping there's more to the story than just that, but it wouldn't surprise me if the whole reason was for giving the students what they earned. Wed, 20 Jun 2012 14:31:00 +0000 http://www.life360.com/blog/no-zero-policies/#IDComment385609796 http://www.beautifullybellafaith.com/2012/06/dear-ole-daddy-o-fathers-day-giveaway.html#IDComment379186020 I'll find out about the plans for the day when my kid surprises me. :) Tue, 12 Jun 2012 13:40:09 +0000 http://www.beautifullybellafaith.com/2012/06/dear-ole-daddy-o-fathers-day-giveaway.html#IDComment379186020 http://www.life360.com/blog/summer-safety-tips/#IDComment378793929 I second the sunscreen warning - even on days that you don't think are "sunny" it's needed if you'll be outside for a long time. Clouds don't stop sunburns from happening. For bug repellent, we found that the bug bands (wristbands with some sort of repellent) work pretty well for our kid. She reacts pretty strongly to mosquito bites so those are an essential. If you're going to be on the water (mostly for boating), use a lifejacket no matter how good a swimmer you are. Mon, 11 Jun 2012 23:17:36 +0000 http://www.life360.com/blog/summer-safety-tips/#IDComment378793929 http://www.life360.com/blog/banning-leggings-really-were-doing-this-now/#IDComment376840570 I'd say that if you're talking Jr. High, then boys being distracted by pretty girls is probably them being boys, not necessarily that they have a problem other than being boys going through puberty. :) Seriously, though, I'm not there so I can't say what's going on. I know my daughter likes wearing leggings as well, but we always make sure that her tops act more like a dress when she wears them for modesty. That may not be happening in this instance. I will agree that knowing where to stop is not an easy call. I think you'd agree that there have to be some sort of standards, though. In this case, the school felt it was appropriate. Looking at the original article it sounds like some of the girls were wearing tops that left the leggings being something less than modest. That being the case, it would likely have made more sense to impose a rule on tops that must go down to a certain point if wearing leggings rather than an outright ban. Fri, 8 Jun 2012 19:38:51 +0000 http://www.life360.com/blog/banning-leggings-really-were-doing-this-now/#IDComment376840570 http://www.life360.com/blog/8-things-i-want-to-do-this-summer/#IDComment375983726 My wife & kid are heading on a road trip later this year to see family and then end up at summer camp. In the meantime - swim lessons, swimming as we're able, a summer movie night @ the library or two, prepping for school, and lots of reading/playing for my kid. For me? Work, play as I can, back to work, etc. :-) Thu, 7 Jun 2012 15:58:45 +0000 http://www.life360.com/blog/8-things-i-want-to-do-this-summer/#IDComment375983726 http://www.life360.com/blog/when-schools-and-facebook-privacy-collide/#IDComment375982683 Yeah, the school was out of line here too. The harassment sounds illegal and the mom could likely get some help from ACLJ or ACLU to remind the school about that. I don't know that what the school did was illegal (not familiar with the laws), but it's not right, even if they are trying to be helpful. As for Facebook, it says right there in the Terms & Conditions to which you agree when you sign up that you won't let anyone else access your account or provide them your password. To do so is in violation of that agreement. There's your out for providing a password. Of course, having a 13 year old get the courage to say "no" is hard just because of the authority/age difference. Thu, 7 Jun 2012 15:56:49 +0000 http://www.life360.com/blog/when-schools-and-facebook-privacy-collide/#IDComment375982683 http://www.life360.com/blog/the-magic-of-santa/#IDComment116480091 We pretty much got around this by just deciding not to worry about lies. We don't invite the guy in the red suit for Christmas and do cover the various stories of St. Nicholas, Sinter Klass, Sankt Niklaus, and so on. I'd rather not worry about times later in life when my kid remembers that we kept some sort of game going while we're trying to impart values and advice. Besides, for us, we don't really like the focus being so heavy on "getting". There's just more to life than that. We do give presents, but we keep them to a minimum and try to enjoy our time as a family and/or with friends rather than numbers and quality of gifts. We don't rain on anyone else's games, but we've decided not to take part in this particular one. (Though the various stories, traditions, and such can be very interesting topics.) Fri, 17 Dec 2010 19:59:36 +0000 http://www.life360.com/blog/the-magic-of-santa/#IDComment116480091 http://www.life360.com/blog/parents-dont-influence-kids-eating-much/#IDComment115498743 We typically just don't offer other choices, but started early so it's a lot easier. We make sure vegetables/fruits are appealing or part of a larger dish. Our kid actually asked when we were going to get more broccoli at one point (mostly because she didn't care for the other veggies). I get the feeling it's a lot harder to encourage if you don't start earlier. Mon, 13 Dec 2010 18:11:10 +0000 http://www.life360.com/blog/parents-dont-influence-kids-eating-much/#IDComment115498743 http://www.life360.com/blog/treasure-hunt-birthday/#IDComment114972977 There's another great "how to" for a treasure hunt party at instructables.com (though this was a great writeup). We tend to do a 50's party for my kid - music, sock-hopping, hot dogs (maybe burgers), soda and milkshake orders, and cake. No presents - we ask for donations for our local food pantry. We ask them first what they most need and just request that or generic items like cereal as donations. Our kid then brings the donations to the food pantry soon after that. The party is the gift and the kids have a blast. We like to sleep after that, though. :) Great idea for a treasure hunt party, though. A bit more work up front, but it sounds like a bunch of fun. Fri, 10 Dec 2010 22:51:34 +0000 http://www.life360.com/blog/treasure-hunt-birthday/#IDComment114972977 http://www.life360.com/blog/celebrity-parents-bad-role-models/#IDComment114386820 I tend to agree - in general celebrities just don't make good role models. Too many of them are just out of touch with the average person's life. Some may have it together and know where to draw the line between celebrity and parent, but it sure seems like most celebrities just keep on going on with their lifestyle and leave others to raise the kids. I can't imagine why anyone would take a celebrity as a role model when there are likely much better ones nearby. Wed, 8 Dec 2010 00:41:08 +0000 http://www.life360.com/blog/celebrity-parents-bad-role-models/#IDComment114386820 http://www.life360.com/blog/happy-thanksgiving/#IDComment111980986 We started the day by watching Tangled (mostly empty theater, but a fun movie) and then went over to a friend's house and joined them. We ate, played a game, chatted, and watched the kids play. We're about to cook up some Chinese food to eat here. Fri, 26 Nov 2010 01:25:54 +0000 http://www.life360.com/blog/happy-thanksgiving/#IDComment111980986 http://www.life360.com/blog/drinking-water-before-a-meal/#IDComment111773128 Interesting. Hadn't thought of doing that before. I may look into drinking a bit more water prior to meals just in case. As for the extra trips to the bathroom, I've heard that the body adjusts a little bit to that, but haven't put it to the test myself. :) Wed, 24 Nov 2010 21:59:13 +0000 http://www.life360.com/blog/drinking-water-before-a-meal/#IDComment111773128