Child 2

Something about her little determination to keep up her older sister, impresses me.

I see it in her eyes, her body language, and all over her face when she thinks no one is watching.

Perhaps I was too busy doing school, when Mikaela was at that age, to notice. (Yes - those 90 credits I earned between 2009-2011 has a tendency to make *her* newborn days a blur). But, I still can remember enough to realize that Porky is a tad more advanced than Mikaela was, at her age.

Maybe it's because I have time to take her out to see the world a lot more . . . you know, external stimuli, etc. or maybe it's because she just wants to do whatever Mikaela can do. Who knows.

This is Saraqael. Isn't she adorable?!

We call her Porky. Because, well . . . she has Porky thighs.

I mean, lookit. There's no way around it. Those thighs are just . . . porky.

 This is Porky sitting up, soon after she turned 5 months.

And here, she's standing - at 6 months.

We love you, baby. We're so blessed to have you in our lives.

I'm confident you'll be walking before Mikaela did - you have 5 more months to practice beating her. No pressure!

~ Mrs. Arcfide

On Discipline

I grew up in a strict Christian home, where my father often reminded us that he would not hesitate to discipline (ie, spank, cane, smack, etc.) all of his children when the occasion called for it, regardless of our age. . . just because he sincerely believed it was his prerogative to do so, as a parent.

I remember feeling incredibly sad and humiliated about it (I was 20 years old), and even if I had not been "spanked" since I was an early teen, his threats of discipline always caused me to shrivel up, a little, inside. At that time, I was not able to articulate my feelings very well . . . I just knew that I was always the brunt of his displeasure, and that perhaps, there might be a better way to handle discipline.

Fast forward eight years, and I'm now a parent myself, of two precious little girls. I must confess that I have disciplined Mikaela many times, for all the wrong reasons. My frame of reference was the way *my* parents raised me, even though I was keenly aware that I was perpetuating a cycle I did not want to follow.

This is the best resource I have read, to date, on discipline:
Thy Rod and Thy Staff They Comfort Me

Lord, have mercy on us all!

~ Mrs. Arcfide