Psychology’s Quantitative Program continues rapid rise - University of Notre Dame : News & Information

For those interested, the link below is a news story about the PhD program I am in. I feel very blessed to have been accepted into a program which, by some criteria, can be called the best Quantitative Psychology Program in the world.

Psychology’s Quantitative Program continues rapid rise - University of Notre Dame : News & Information

God Uses The Internet

First, I have to be totally honest. Today, I almost gave up. I almost hired a nanny, someone who knows how to get a 4 year old and a 2 year old to acknowledge their existence without yelling. I wouldn't leave, I still love them and want to be home with them, I'm just very saddened by the idea that I can't control my children. There's that phrase--control. So, then, I turned to God instead of the nanny service, I confessed that I wasn't really good at this whole mom thing, that I didn't like the idea of being so grumpy, but that I didn't know how to act when I was being disobeyed constantly. I keep being told that it gets better as they get older, but I'm doubting this, I mean, if they don't want to listen now, what gives me any hope that the teenage version of them will do any better? Anyhow, as I prayed, I fell asleep (perhaps I was the one who was tired & cranky?), then I arose and came downstairs to the computer to search the word "obedience" on google. I like google, I can search for things and end up somewhere else completely. Anyhow, I did a search with obedience and toddler in it, and found a story, a story that was making me laugh, until I got to the last section. It had some language in it, so I'll edit it for the sake of my readers, but I'll also post the link. Here goes (note, I'm only posting the last section:

The Purpose of Parents

When I got comments on these journals (which were usually, in general, positive), I occasionally received an angry complaint about people who “can’t control their kids.” This phrase generally comes from a person really in love with the idea of his or her own intelligence.

I still can’t get over this phrase. I dwell on it a lot. So I will write about it only one more time, and then shut the **** about it.

You CANNOT CONTROL your kids. You can influence their behavior. You can shape it, slowly, over a period of years, to make a sensible, bearable human being. But you CANNOT CONTROL your child.

Why? Well, I will answer that reasonable question with another of my own. What would it take for ME to control YOU?

What would it take for me to control you? To jump at the sound of my voice, to obey my whims? Suppose I walk into the room and start barking orders at you. What would it take to make you obey them?

My guess, if you are a sensible human being, is this. For you to utterly submit to my control, I would have to tie you to a chair, and I would have to start torturing you. I would have to make you undergo so much fear and pain that your sense of humanity snaps. That you will do anything, say anything, shrink yourself into a tiny ball of former humanity, to keep my rage from lashing out.

That is what it would take for me to control you. And do not think, for a second, that a small child is any less a human, any less independent at the start of the process, than you.

I sometimes read about people who try to control their children. About the series of increasingly extreme steps they take. After reading these stories in the paper, people usually say, “And where was protective services while that was happening?”

I’m not controlling my child. I’m molding her. It takes time, and it involves going out in public. I never take her to nice restaurants, just pizza places, BBQ joints, and the like. And sometimes, during this process, she will annoy you. God knows she is annoying me. But the way you learn to do something is by trying to do it. Sometimes you fail, but you get better next time.

But she is better with every passing month, and soon she will be a pleasant human. And if you have a problem with it and can’t cut us any slack, then please give me the honor of being the first to invite you t...[edit].

http://www.ironycentral.com/archives/toddler/todvol32.htm

So, as you can see, I was spoken to, almost slapped in the face with this part because I'd asked God, "How can I control my kids?" and then I came and read this. It was perfect, for me. I can now go to bed with the mindset to start again, with a different point of view. And maybe, just maybe, I'll learn to control ME.

Four...Months.

Yes, tis true. Wee Payge is a full four months old as of yesterday. Funny moment in her short life: We were at Sam's Club just the other day (I'd already taken to saying 4 months since we passed the 16 week mark) and one of the sample ladies said, "Awwwww, how old?" My reply: "Four months." A few seconds later (a noticable pause) she says, "Wait! Did you say months? I was thinking 3/4 weeks, tops."

Ha ha. Yes, our youngest is petite in her baggy zero-to-three month outfits, but she's healthy, happy & full of smiles--especially when she's with her siblings, they get all the good grins!

Distracted

Ahhhhh, books. I love them. They are EVERYWHERE in my house. In baskets, on shelves, in stacks on the floor. I read them. A lot. Being literate is one of my favorite blessings. I thank God daily that I can open a book and sink into it, almost absorb it, putting myself into the story so effortlessly. It's exciting to see that I'm passing this ability on to my children. Watching my oldest sit with a book, listening to him ask questions, really getting into it. It's bliss, it's...distracting. What? Yes, that is what I said--distracting. Not that books are bad, not that they aren't full of wonderful information (and don't the scriptures say that we should search in the best books, learning all we can in this life, for the knowledge we attain here will help us in the world to come?). Yes, books amaze me. They thrill me! I could live in a library. In fact I often choose to spend my "night off" wandering the stacks of books on Main Street. However, there is a problem. I'm forgetting to search the BEST books: The scriptures. While sitting today, I realized that I've read through countless books, cover to cover, but only snippets here and there of scripture. I enjoy the scriptures, I've read many parts of them. But there are parts that elude me. Parts that I have never opened...I don't know what they say. I have to acknowledge: This is a problem.

So, I have decided that I must remedy this problem. I spend plenty of time on the couch feeding my shortest child, and therefore, that will be the time I delve into the scriptures. I'm also starting a new blog, as I have a feeling that getting a little better aquainted with the scriptures is going to be an amazing journey for me. Feel free to join me. While I'm nursing my baby, I'll be nursing my soul...and writing about it at Nursing My Soul.

A Political Stand

I must say, I've found a few good comments online today that I do not want to forget. I don't frequently take a political stand verbally, but it was funny to me to get a phone call from a survey taker who was very obviously a democrat...how did I know? His question, "And what do you think of the current President (of the USA)?" My response: "He's doing the best he can, given the circumstances." His (unbiased?) response: "REALLY? YOU DO? Oh, umm, OK, let's see, next question..."

As for the quotes I found, here ya go:

Ours is the first generation of Americans that thinks it can demand perfection in war. Our present leisure, wealth, and high technology fool us into thinking that we are demi-gods always be able to trump both human and natural disasters. Accordingly, we become frustrated that we cannot master every wartime obstacle, as we seem otherwise to be able to do with computers or cosmetic surgery. Then, without any benchmarks of comparison from the past, we despair that our actions are failed because they are not perfect.
Victor Davis Hanson

This may become the first time in the history of the United States Congress that it has voted to send a new commander into battle and then voted to oppose his plan that is necessary to succeed in that battle.
President Bush when he was referring to Lt. Gen David Petraeus as the 'new commander'.

Swimmin'

Ahhh, swimming lessons. I got some great shots of the kids...and a video. I'm not posting the video due to the number of little kids whose parents I do no have permission from to post online, but feel free to ask to see it when you come visit us. Visit us. visit us. visit us...
Notice, Chayce reaaaaallly dislikes the backfloat.

Anything You Say Can AND WILL Be Used Against You!

This evening we made cookies...chocolate chip--no decorating required. This, however, did not phase my dear children. They still got the sprinkles out. I informed them they could only put sprinkles on the ones they were going to eat. The following conversation ensued:

Z: Why?
Me: I don't like sprinkles, so I don't want any on my cookie.
Z: Here's a cup of sprinkles.
Me: What for?
Z: You need to try them again. You said that if I don't like something I need to try it a few times. Keep eating those sprinkles until you learn to like them.

(a few minutes later, he comes up to me imitating my "mmm, this is a good (insert veggie here) statement)
Z: Mmmmm, Mommy, these sprinkles sure are yummy! If you'd try them, I know you'd like them!

I'm trying really hard not to laugh.

THEN, I find Chayce with the colored sugar bottles.

Me: what are you doing?
C: Eating these sparkly sprinkles.
Me: I see....why?
C: They are yummy, and they don't have sugar IN them.
Z: Nope, not in them, because they ARE sugar.

Laughter no longer controlled. You have to love them.



With red sprinkles stuck to her face.