Living Unabridged

Today is cold but sunny and clear. My kids are experiencing the glimmers of hope that maybe winter will finally move on and spring will come. I hope it's that way for you today too, but just in case you're stuck inside, I have some thought provoking and just for fun links for you:

Learning

• NYC Elementary School to Kids: No More Homework - Go Play! from Free Range Kids. May their tribe increase. (But it probably won't and parents are a big reason why. Some of the parents from this school are already panicking that their kids will "fall behind" if they don't have homework.")
• Keeping Journals: 5 Ways Your Kids Can Start Now by Alysa Bajenaru for The Art of Simple. My kids have a few of these type journals going already but I think they'd enjoy adding the others.
• A Weird Way to Beat Writer's Block by Marcy McKay at The Write Practice. "Write anyway." (Don't worry, there's more to her advice than that. But that's the quote I wrote down for myself.)
• Of Tolkien, Fairytales, and the Gift of Hope by Siobhan Maloney at The Rabbit Room. "We need, more than ever before, stories that truly confirm for us that we can rely on something beyond ourselves, on the definitive, final victory of Good over Evil. Because only the truth of such a victory lends any purpose, meaning, or hope to the defeats that we experience inevitably in our daily lives." It's somewhat lengthy, but please, read it all.

Living

• Parents: Give Up Your Great Expectations by Amy Julia Becker in CT. Love this. Parenting should be about helping our kids discover their God given gifts, not molding our kids into what we want them to be.
• Let Boys Be Non-Medicated Boys by Greg Gibson for CBMW. "Boyhood is not a problem to solve." We need more people to understand this.
• Parenting Means Wrestling With Demons by Jonathan Parnell at Desiring God. Provocative title, but it doesn't mean what it sounds like. Great post.
• Too Frugal for Our Own Good? by Cherie Lowe for CT. Good reminders.
• Revel as Rebellion Against the Culture by Dawn at ladydusk. My blog friend, who was gracious enough to let me write a guest post for her, has chosen the word "revel" as her word of the year. This post does a great job of explaining why.
• We've Overcomplicated Motherhood Because We Don't Like It by Anna Mussmann for The Federalist. (I told my husband, "Maybe this is why motherhood has never seemed all that bad to me: I have no problem with imposing my beliefs on our kids." But you'll have to read Mussmann's entire article to understand why I said that.)
• What God Really Wants for Moms with Young Children by Lisa Jacobson for The Better Mom. Lovely reminder.

Loving

• Why I Recommend Books That Use the F Word by Anne Bogel at Modern Mrs. Darcy. I appreciated Anne tackling this one. It's something I wrestle with as a person who loves to read. People who know I love to read ask for reading recommendations and I always try to tell in a book review or recommendation when there might be material others find offensive, but it's tricky.
• Dear Rules, I Love You by William Ross. Loved this look at Psalm 119.
• If I See Blue and You See White, Why Does it Matter? by Karen Swallow Prior for CT. Yes, we're still talking about that awful dress. But Prior is always worth reading.
• How HGTV Built a Network on Redemption Stories by Melanie Rainer for CT. We don't have cable but my husband and I love to watch these shows whenever we get the chance. Maybe this is why.
• Good Christian Girls Get Angry by Dorcas Cheng-Tozun for CT. Women and anger is a tricky subject in our culture (perhaps especially among Christians).
• 6 Girl Scout Cookies You Thought You Were Getting But Aren't. Who knew? (I haven't actually bought Girl Scout cookies in years, but I still thought this was interesting. But if you want to buy me some, I like the Samoas or Thin Mints - the real ones.)
• New Tower to Be Added to Westminster Abbey. Talk about an historic renovation!

My husband took this picture on our anniversary trip to the UK. However many towers it might have, it sure is a gorgeous place:
Here at Living Unabridged we talked about  Kids in the Kitchen, The Central Task of a Teacher, and What to Read in March.

Don't forget to enter the Simplified Dinners for New Cook giveaway. There are no hoops to jump through and you can get four entries. This is a great resource for kids or grads or anyone who hasn't quite learned their way around the kitchen yet (or anyone who's in a season where they just need some simple meals to get on the table quickly!). And don't forget you can use the code reallife for 25% off any of the Simplified Dinners cookbooks right now.