Sunday Insights

I feel like I need to write a little something about why I voted yes on Prop 8. Here is a quote from another blog that I felt expressed the main issue well:
"In California "Domestic partners" have the same rights and privileges as married couples already. So to say that a couple in a same sex relationship is missing out on the rights that a married couple has is simply not true. They have the same rights to property, visitation and other considerations that are legally given to married couples. So why are they fighting for the right to be married in the public eye?

The only reason I can think of is to be able to force the world to have a legal obligation to accept it as moral behavior. We have seen the ramifications of it in Massachusetts as churches that refuse to give marriage ceremonies to gay couples have lost tax exemption status and the right to be a church when they were sued. etc... Parents have gone to jail for refusing to allow schools to just send home information for kindergartners about what constitutes a family. The story of a king and a king getting married is shared with young children because it is now asked to be acceptable and moral to all of us regardless of our deep religious beliefs.

This is war and now I am in danger of being called a bigot by my friends an family that are fighting for the right for same sex marriage. I love you my friends. I love the good that many of you have and put out there for the world. many of my good friends are highly educated, kind-hearted, service oriented and wonderful human beings that just have a lifestyle I cannot accept as something I want to have to teach my children about as okay and moral."-Ennis crew: we are at war...

I voted yes to keep a separation of Church and State and to preserve my right to discriminate between Marriage and Same Sex Partnerships. Not discriminate against- I believe they should have legal rights- but discriminate meaning differentiate. Yes, I believe Homosexuality to be a sin. Yes, I will teach my children that it is a sin. No, I do not believe that Homosexuals are bad people. No, I do not believe they should be punished by the law or prejudice for their choice.

I am not sure if same sex attraction is a choice or a gene but I do believe that acting on that attraction is a choice. They can remain chaste. It is not an enviable position to be in and I am thankful it has not been my struggle. I cannot fully understand it because of that. I struggle between my wish to respect the commitment and relationship that same sex couples have and my moral opposition to homosexuality. I struggle between my wish to respect and love the person and not condone the homosexual lifestyle. I feel that a differentiation between Marriage and Same Sex Partnerships is a line that has to be drawn in order to keep the law from dictating to me my beliefs. I hope that a balance of respect and love can be found.

Sunday Insights

I am running a day late... gotta work on that.

So my biggest thing that I want to work on this week is playing with my sons and not yelling as much. I have a bit of a temper. It rarely comes out in public. I tend to take it out on my family. Especially when I am tired or hungry or one of any number of excuses. I've been working on it for a long time and I need to continue to work on it/focus on it. My goal is to only yell when I am cheering/happy or in shock or in an emergency or maybe to get my DH to get me a new toilet paper roll. Basically I don't want to yell in anger. There may be times when I need a little scream but there is a way to do it appropriately. I need to take a deep breath when stressed or hurried and not snap. I know I won't be perfect at it- probably ever- but I can be better.

These are the things I need to do to help me:

I need to clean more often so that the mess and clutter don't overwhelm me or make me angry.

I need to plan more activities to do with my sons so they will behave better and we can have more fun together.

I need to go to bed earlier.

I need to turn my computer and the tv off during the day. Well, maybe I can use the computer once or twice but not for more than half an hour at a time.

I need to declutter my house.

So my baby step goals for this week are:

do dishes
have the front room clean when Matt gets home from work
organize the boys room

Use http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/ to do preschool time each day. A craft, A song, An activity- spread throughout the day.
Get down on the floor and play animals or cars.
Singing time with Asher each day.
I signed up for two free classes through First Five to do with Kaden. One on Tues and one on Wednesday.
Set up a play date at the park.

Be in bed by 10:30

One movie a day for Kaden.

Declutter 15 minutes everyday in Kitchen and front room.

Ok.... Ready, Set, Go...

Sunday Insights

My Plan is to review my week on Friday. I will be going over the things I did during the week that worked and those that didn't. I have various goals for myself and habits I want to create. On Fridays I will just lay out there what happened and then I will take two days to think about it. On Sunday I will make new specific goals for the week ahead.

This last week was rough. It started off poorly with a sleepless Asher night and just never righted itself. This is of course my own fault. I let it stay a down week. I have plenty of excuses for why I let it stay that way but the reality is I don't want this next week to be the same. So I will set some goals to change this week. They say writing goals down helps them to happen. My mission president was a firm believer in writing down goals and I trust him. I know it helps me to sort out my thoughts and focus my energies. I tend to get overwhelmed by my messy house so this helps me to refocus my stressed out energy and get the work done that I need to get done.

My Goals for this week:

Potty Training: Institute a potty chart and prizes. Kaden will get a sticker on his chart every time he uses his potty. After 5 times going "#1" he can pick out a prize. After going "#2" once he will get a prize. I will encourage him to use the potty every half hour. He will wear underpants except during his nap and at night. I will not buy anymore diapers!
Exception: Tuesday morning will be off because of a doctor appt. for my DH

Kids: Kaden needs to be outside or do a physical activity everyday. It helps him behave and sleep better. My goal is to have him play in the backyard or at a park every day- weather permitting. Since we are potty training this week we will stick close to home. So this week the goal is to have him outside in the backyard (at the very least) every day from 9-10 am. If we can't go outside then I need to set up a physical activity for him in the house i.e. an obstacle course, jumping on the mattress, dancing, rolling balls (or bowling)...

House Cleaning: I will do dishes every day.

Budget: I will not spend any money this week except on neccesities like Milk. No justifications! We don't need it!

Spiritual: Read scriptures and say prayers everyday.

Creative: I will finish one of my christmas projects and do one Digiscrapping Blog header.

So hear goes... A new week....