Heart Reflections Live

My wonderful, bargain-seeking husband blessed us abundantly last weekend when he happened upon a garage-sale in the same town we live in. Knowing how much I'm inspired by the art and brave lifestyle of the late Tasha Tudor, he snapped up "Springs of Joy". I have 2 of her books now!

For those who aren't familar with illustrator Tasha Tudor, who passed away last year in her nineties, she was as widely known for her beautiful gardens, afternoon teas, and living her desire to dwell in the 1830s, and to bring her children up in an innocent non-commercial world, as she was for her beautiful watercolour illustrations. She truly followed her dreams and lived a life consistant with Phillipians 4:8. She still inspires me. Hers was the real world- not the techno-overladen society that surrounds us today. I'm convinced we can all learn from Tasha- not that we all have to live in the 1830s- but that we can make our homes havens of joy and peace, dance to the beat of our own drum and not the commercial world's, and give our children something far better.

After that little digression, hubby also bought "The Fairy Caravan" by Beatrix Potter- I LOVE Beatrix Potter! and The Buttercup Story Book by Enid Blyton- beautiful treasures to capture our children's imaginations. He also purchased some Dr Suess books just for fun and a few others that Talitha loved. I can't wait to find some time and a cosy nook to read some myself!

Labels: Books, changing times, thrift

How frustrating it is browsing the clothing catalogues these days keeping an eye out for bargains for our 6 year old. Talitha is very tall for her age and we generally buy sizes 8 to 10. There seems to be hardly anything in the mainline department stores that suit our criteria of modesty or simple feminine style anymore. Everything is either plastered with media-driven name brands (which we don't buy- except for an occasional Pooh Bear nightie or something). We steer clear away from Barbie, Bratz, Hannah Montana or High School Musical emblems. What I have noticed though, with the rise in popularity of Hannah Montana and High School Musical is that clothing from size 7-14 is either plastered in that, or designed to make your sweet little girl look like a rock chick!

As a Christian Mum, I object to this look on 2 counts:

1. Six or Seven year old girls are no where near high school age, and

2. It is an image of rebellion and quite the opposite to the graces of Godly Girlhood, modesty and then Young Womanhood we are seeking to nurture in both our girls.

It is very dangerous to think your little ones look cute like that, and then suddenly try to get them to dress modestly and act with decorum when they suddenly develop in their teens.

I thank the Lord that so far we've been able to keep our girls dressed modestly in girly dresses found through thrift shops. We don't allow shorts (except for some PJ's in Summer) or low-cut jeans, in fact they usually only wear fleecy trackpants when it's very cold, and little Zara likes to wear them under her dresses some of the time anyway.

All this aside, sadly both the girls know who Hannah Montana is via other children their age. Before we started homeschooling, Talitha did 2 years of Prep at a Christian school, and you wouldn't believe the number of kids- then 5 and 6 years old who had seen Harry Potter, Hannah Montana and High School Musical!

What ever happened to the simple joys of chidhood? Our children hardly ever watch TV. They mainly watch Christian DVD's or family movies with good morals we've approved. That is when they watch it- they'd rather play outside or look at books.

Whatever happened to teaching children that their characters would be set, for good or evil by age 20? This topic was covered in both "Anne of green Gables" by L M Montgomery and "Stepping Heavenward" by E Prentiss, both classics that used to be widely read by girls in older childhood or in their teens- see how far the cultural shift has taken us? For our children's sake, I will no longer buy into it.

Just recently my hubby and I were up early before the children and noticed that Hannah Montana was on and thought we'd check it out for ourselves. We didn't catch the whole show, but we caught a gay joke and were horrified when Miley AKA Hannah opened her immodest showbiz wardrobe to show a school friend, and The Hallelujah Chorus played majestically as her friend went into idoltrous raptures!- That was enough for us. It's also been reported that Miley Cyrus has stated she is a Christian and so many Christian Youth today think it's OK to follow a celebrity who says this, and they disregard the fruit shown to their own detriment!

I've been flipping through a recent Kmart catalogue as I've been writing this, and I've just noticed that on the Bratz and Barbie page, where incidentally a 6 year old model has said "I love Bratz, the fashion is cool.", they have a bright sign saying 20% of Hannah Montana and High School Musical Toys!, so you see they are now pushing Hannah Montana to 6 year olds!!

I'm not writing this to have a go at anyone- the shops are out to make money, and every parent is entitled to buy whatever they like for their children. All I am saying is let your children BE children, and if you haven't thought of it before, please consider the long term fruit these fads may bear in your children's lives.

SOME LINKS: http://homeliving.blogspot.com/2008/07/bring-back-childhood.html

http://thepleasanttimes.blogspot.com/2008/07/is-hannah-montana-harmless.html

Labels: changing times, child's play, food for thought, media

I know a lot of folks these days who say that good neighbours are as rare as hen's teeth, especially in these modern times of high fences and wild parties- but we are truly blessed!

Not only have we a comfortable home with cheap rent in a lovely area, many of our near neighbours are committed Christians too!

Last Sunday, we stopped home after Church to unpack the Church gear and to grab our lunch before heading off again. I made a mental note to rush out and grab the washing in off the line from the day before, as a lot of our daughters' bedding was out there and we've had very sudden showers of late. I looked out the laundry window- NO WASHING!?!

I quickly popped into our neighbour Pat's to see if she knew anything about it and- Bless her heart!- she had gotten the lot in and folded it as she could see rain coming. What a Saint! She is such a blessing to us, giving me weekly sewing lessons and even offering to tumble dry our wet washing during rainy weeks.

Good neighbours are hard to find these days- we are so thankful. Are any of your neighbours an especial blessing to you?

Labels: changing times, community

Once upon a time...There was no such thing as a...."Teenager". Teenager? No such thing? Yep, there was no such thing as a teenager. Those between 12 and 21 were classified as young ladies or Young men, collectively as youth. Hence the beginning of such organizations as "The Young Mens' Christian Association" (YMCA) and "The Young Women's Christian Association" (YWCA).

The word teenager was manufactured in the 1950's- a product of commercialism that spawned not only a new generation, but a generation gap as well.

David Cloud said in his article on MYSPACE:Rock and roll created the “teen culture” in the 1950s. Prior to that, while young people had some different interests than adults and while there has always been some rebellion toward the older generation and a desire to “do my own thing,” which comes from our fallen nature, there was not such a wide gulf between youth and adults. Prior to the rock & roll explosion, young people often liked the same movie stars as their parents and wore the same dress styles and even liked the same music. Top hits of the 1940s and early 1950s before the onslaught of rock were “The Ballad of Davy Crockett,” ‘The Good Ship Lollypop,” “This Land Is Your Land,” “Catch a Falling Star,” “The Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy,” “I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus,” “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing,” “Mr. Sandman,” “Sixteen Tons,” “Sentimental Me,” “The Doggie in the Window,” “The Typewriter,” “This Ole House,” “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be With You),” and “High Noon.” The vast majority of hits was morally innocent and was loved by young and old alike. In contrast, by the late 1950s and 1960s the top hits were “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” “The Twist,” “A Big Hunk of Love,” “Louie Louie,” “Purple Haze,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “House of the Rising Sun,” “Good Lovin,” “Whole Lotta Love,” “Honky Tonk Woman,” “Wild Thing,” “Devil with a Blue Dress,” “Revolution,” and “Gimme Some Loving.”
The rock & roll phenomenon created an entirely separate youth culture with its very own clothes, music, movies, and attitude. Youth became a style. Young people began to be more influenced by disc jockeys and rock musicians and fashion designers than by their parents and teachers. For multitudes of young people, what’s cool became the be-all and end-all of their lives. Their innate selfishness and rebellion to authority was encouraged and enflamed by the youth culture. " Read his entire article if you wish www.wayoflife.org/fbns/myspace-or-gods.html

So that gives you a bit of a picture of how it all began and it's expanded since then with the marketeers trying to create another group- "The Tweenagers" or Tweenies- children practicing for teenagerhood, reading their Barbie magazines as a prelude to "Dolly", developing anorexia and nagging their parents for the latest fashions that imitate their favourite "Bratz" dolls. (Sorry folks but Bratz dolls still look like hookers in my book).

So...what was it like for those 12 to 21 before the teenager was invented? In many cultures- especially the Judeo-Christian culture- the age of 12 has always signified a transition into adulthood, it's an age of greater accountability for sin. Note how the Jews celebrate the Bar Mitsvah for boys and the Bat Mitsvah for girls. Jesus was 12 when he knew that he must be about his Father's business.

Some Christian denominations have confirmation around this age or soon after, or have conversation with those young one's who have grown up in the church in preparation to take the Lord's Supper. I experienced conviction of sin for the first time around this age and came to know Jesus as my personal saviour.

In our family read-a-loud time, we recently came across this passage from "Anne of Green Gables":

It's such a solemn thing to be almost 14, Marilla. Miss Stacy took all us girls who are in our teens down to the brook last Wednesday, and talked to us about it. She said we couldn't be too careful what habits we formed and what ideals we aquired in our teens, because by the time we were 20 our characters would be developed and the foundation laid for our whole future life. And she said that if the foundation was shaky we could never build anything really worthwhile on it. Diana and I talked the matter over coming home from school. We felt extremely solemn, Marilla. And we discovered that we would try to be very careful indeed and form respectable habits and learn all we could and be as sensible as possible, so that by the time we were 20 our characters would be properly developed.

I believe the book, "Stepping Heavenward"has some of the same principles. We have a copy of "Beautiful Girlhood" by Mabel Hale which I plan to read with our girls around the early teen years.

If you examine the cultural goings on prior to the 1950's, you'll find that much of the music, movies and literature of the time was consistant with Phillipians 4:8, whether the content was Christian or not. Look at the innoncence of the themes of many of the old Shirley Temple films:some of them were taken from the wholesome classics of the time-Heidi, A Little Princess, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm... In her famous song "When I Grow Up", she aspired towards marriage and then Grandmotherhood. Her character wanted to be a wife and Mum- not Paris Hilton!- what unrealistic role models children have today...

In other films of the time, charcters courted with a view to marriage, they didn't serial date- how times have changed:( Oh for the days when the "Hayes Code" kept movies decent!

Our little ones are nowhere near the teen years yet, and I still have much to learn as a parent, but I believe that avoiding a lot of modern youth culture and pop-culture in general, enjoying healthy multigenerational relationships, as opposed to peer-orientated ones can, with the Grace of God, help bridge the gap between 12 and 21 with a truly noble path to adulthood.

Labels: changing times, generation gap, pop-culture

Labels: changing times, shoes