Habits, Hope and Classroom Help: Part II

Or: How to Choose When You Feel Buried

Prologue: I had the best of intentions for this 3-part series, as in, posting more frequently than every three weeks! Hopefully you’ll forgive me after reading this post, and understand that while I really love to blog, sometimes I must choose other things.

Because…

“How to Choose” is a big theme for me.

• Do I wake the kids for daily Mass, or do I sneak away by myself for some quality prayer time?
• Do I eat this Pop-Tart at 10:00 p.m. so that I can stay awake to read Brothers K? Because, like, ack! My book club meets tomorrow! 
• As a certified member of the Netflix #StreamTeam, do I endorse the shows that Netflix recommends?
• And finally, do I sometimes just break away from my buried life to visit faraway family and my much-loved parents?

Answers:

1. Let ’em sleep in most of the time and build on the daily Mass habit gradually;
2. Yes! Especially if it’s cherry-flavored; and
3. No, not always, though to my credit (as a #StreamTeam reviewer) I do give them a try before I decide; and
4. Yes, yes, unequivocally yes.

And now, the Netflix review segment of this post.

 

Okay, I’m just going to put this out there: I am three months behind on my #StreamTeam reviews because, well, LIFE and its multifaceted challenges.

(That’s a fancy-schmancy way of saying: I’ve been really, really busy.)

 

See what I mean? Busy!

You are too, though, so I’m here to tell you how to choose.  First I’m going to focus on what to watch (or not watch) on Netflix, because when it comes to watching shows on Netflix, there are literally 100’s from which to choose and that makes leading a busy life tricky.

In other words, why deal with life when you can watch TV?

(Sorry.)

(That would be the cynic in me.)

So I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth reminding you ’cause I’m an erratic blogger. As a #StreamTeam reviewer, I get monthly updates on all the new shows and often (bonus!) will receive a coordinating care package.

In July, they sent me some “Word Party” goodies…

And in August, it was all about “Beat Bugs.”

So let’s talk about Word Party and Beat Bugs for a moment, because frankly?

I’d feel guilty if I didn’t.

First off: Word Party. Have you seen it? Feel free to jump into the conversation anytime and let me know your opinion, because personally…

We are not big fans of Word Party.

 

Okay, in all fairness I should amend that to: My 11- and 7-year-olds are not big fans of Word Party.

True story:

 

Think “Your Brain on Barney the Dinosaur.”

Yes, the little critters are cute and yes, my 3-year-old probably learns new words, but we could meet that same goal with a really good picture book. It’s not that it’s a bad show for kids, necessarily; rather, it’s intellectually painful for the rest of the family.

Moving onto the next new program…

Beat Bugs.

I really wanted to like this show, because I like to sing and am always looking to for new material to butcher cover.  I sing when I’m happy and I sing when I’m stressed, much to the embarrassed chagrin of my captive audience.

This is why I don’t do Facebook Live.

But as far as letting my kids watch Beat Bugs goes…

Well, let’s just say I’d rather sing the songs myself. 😉

The premise is clever in a somewhat obvious way.  The creator, Josh Wakely,  scored the rights to the Beatles songs (which, granted, is HUGE—kudos to Mr. Wakely) and he decided to make fans of a new generation by having his “Beat Bugs” sing the songs.

The problem (in my mind) is that the Beatles did drugs, and the show seems deliberately trippy in its take on some songs.

 

 

But that’s just me and I do have to say, Sia sings a beautiful Blackbird.

 

 

One last complaint and then I’ll move on: Why Don’t We Do It in the Road is NOT appropriate for 2 to 5-year-olds.   I don’t care if they use it to teach traffic safety. (I know, right?!) It’s just not a song I want stuck in my head.

* * *

So this post is getting a bit unwieldy, and yet I want to tie it into finding “hope” in the classroom. Heck, we could ALL use a little extra hope these days–homeschooling moms  and otherwise!

I mean, you saw the picture of my schedule above.

Often it seems like I’m treading madly just to try to stay afloat, and that’s when I try to make the very best choices. Thanks to the following list, I’m hanging in there despite a truly insane Google calendar.

1. Stay on top of your spiritual life. It’s like an oxygen mask you must have in place before you’re able to help your family.
2. Defer to your husband if extracurricular sports are his thing. Trust me on this one: when it comes to marital harmony, build up your spouse and his worthy passions! In other words, if you can’t beat e’m, join ’em.
3. Sometimes your kids will watch too much TV and sometimes you will need to let them. Right now, my kids are on their second go-round of the entire Batman series. In short, they PREFER watching Batman to everything else—i.e. playing outside, playing inside, breathing—so that’s when I (the Angry Mommy Bird) have to step in and snip the electronic umbilical cord.
4. In the end, all you really need is love. 

 

70 Years of Married Love, 70 Years His Sweetheart

 

If you make no other choice than to love more deeply…

You’re ahead of the game.

You’re doing great.