Download this free Mothers Day activity from Clive & Ian! Click here: Mothers Day Activity

The whole family will enjoy filling the page out together – moms and dads, fill it out about your own moms! Then help your kids create a very special Mothers Day memory sheet that mom will treasure.

Have the words “sexy” and “beautiful” become synonymous?

The argument can be made that we shouldn’t teach our children to judge a book by its cover.  Perhaps we, who do consider dressing modestly to be important, are being prudish and old-fashioned to think teenagers should wear clothing that isn’t at least a little revealing or moderately sexy.  Is it truly important for teens to dress modestly?  If so, why?

What I might consider to be modest dress might differ from what another parent considers to be modest dress.  Discernment is important.  Perhaps the best barometer of knowing the limits in clothing should be to figure out why our teens are wearing specific clothing.  Is it because they are truly drawn to the design of the piece? Or is it to be appealing to the opposite sex?  I was a single woman once, so I understand wanting to be attractive to boys, but perhaps we should ask our daughters, for example, what kind of attention is it they are seeking from boys?  Reminding them that it’s not necessarily Christian to tempt others through our dress.  (Of course this holds true for boys as well.)

Our behavior as Christians really does give witness to our walk of faith in Christ. 

1 Peter 2:12 “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”

It’s imperative to teach our girls and boys that true beauty, as seen by God, comes from our hearts, not what we look like on the outside. Not only is it important for them to see others in this light, it is vitally important for them to see themselves as being worthy of love and truly beautiful (or handsome) in the eyes of God. 

1 Samuel 16:7  “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Parents, what are your thoughts about teens dressing modestly?  Is this an issue you have had to deal with?  How have you approached this with your own kids?

About the Author: Lisa Strnad is a freelance writer/blogger, who regularly contributes to What’s in the Bible? and Jelly Telly.  She is a homeschooling mom of two, who works independently in Christian media in the areas of writing, promotions and marketing. She lives with her husband and children in Nashville, TN.  Follow her blog at www.talkinglikeagirl.blogspot.com

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Most of us know that the Seder meal is a traditional Passover meal celebrated by Jews since the Exodus.  It is the Hebrew “Thanksgiving”, as they are giving thanks to God for deliverance and redemption. For Christians though, Seder is done in remembrance of the Last Supper, in which Jesus took bread and wine and established the New Covenant. Today is the day we remember that Jesus is the Bread of Life and that His blood washes away the sins of the world.

If you’re interested in hosting a Christian Seder meal, but don’t know where to begin, here are some ideas that can make it a little less complicated. Much of the following comes from ideas in: “Family Activities” For the Week Prior to Easter from Christianity Today. The parts in bold are references to the New Covenant. But remember that this is only a guide.  Feel free to make this a personal meal of thanksgiving for your own family.  Perhaps you will want to use different scripture or add songs of praise and worship.  Go ahead.

How to Host a Seder Meal:

Print out a copy of the Haggadah.  This is a step by step guide to celebrating Passover. The link I’ve provided is for a Haggadah that incorporates both Hebrew and Gentile traditions and beliefs. You may also want to include other verses from the New Testament when Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His Disciples, like Mark 14:12-26.

Serve unleavened bread or matzoh.  This symbolizes the bread that the Israelites took with them out of Egypt.  Having no time to use yeast, the bread was flat.  *Yeast represents sin.  The bread represents Jesus’ body which was broken for us.

Serve lamb as the main course. The Israelites were instructed to slaughter a lamb and place its blood on their door posts.  This is what prevented the Angel of Death from taking the first born of the household. He would “pass over” instead. *Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Serve horseradish as a reminder of the bitterness the Israelites went through as slaves. *We are reminded how bitter our lives are when we are slaves to sin.

Serve haroset (ground up apples, raisins nuts and honey). This symbolizes hope. *Jesus is the hope of the World.  He is sweeter than the honey of the honeycomb!

Serve parsley and dip it in salt water before eating.  This symbolizes the tears shed by the Israelites, and the parsley symbolizes new life. *We are reminded of the sorrow we feel when we think of Jesus dying on the cross, but are filled with hope in the new life we have in Him.

Serve wine or grape juice.  *This reminds us of the blood Jesus shed for us on the cross.

Other symbols that are used at a traditional Seder meal are:

• An extra wine glass/ place setting, called Elijah’s Cup, which welcomes the prophet of hope who announces the Messiah’s coming. In the Christian Seder, this cup is referred to as the Cup of Redemption, which Jesus offered to his Disciples at The Last Supper.

• Two white candles that act as the presence of God at the Seder.

• A hard boiled egg at each place setting.

• A basin of water for hand washing. You may also want to incorporate a time to do a foot washing ceremony, like Jesus did.  Wash one another’s feet in an act of love and service.

I know that planning a Seder meal can be a pretty daunting for someone who has never hosted such a holy and traditional celebration. But I would just remind you that this is also done, as Jesus said, in memory of Him.  This is a celebration of the covenant you now personally have with God, through our Lord. God bless you on this Holy Thursday!

About the Author: Lisa Strnad is a freelance writer/blogger, who regularly contributes to What’s in the Bible? and Jelly Telly.  She is a homeschooling mom of two, who works independently in Christian media in the areas of writing, promotions and marketing. She lives with her husband and children in Nashville, TN.  Follow her blog at www.talkinglikeagirl.com

Palm Sunday

This weekend, during Palm Sunday, many churches will spend their service times retelling the story of Jesus entering into Jerusalem while people were waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna”, welcoming him into the city. But what does all this symbolism mean to a kid? It’s a great opportunity to share with them that in the days of Jesus, waving palm branches was a respectful way to welcome royalty! Jesus was being welcomed with great respect, as a king into the city of Jerusalem! Many churches have crafts for the kids that utilize palm leaves. Some churches pass out palm leaves to the entire congregation and have a blessing ceremony!

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Maundy Thursday

On Thursday, or Maundy Thursday, many churches celebrate by having an Agape feast, communion, having a symbolic foot-washing service. Another way to remember this very special night is by partaking in an actual Seder meal. The word “Maundy” refers to command, and it stands for the new commandment that Jesus gave His disciples, “to love one another…” If you’re looking for a Seder meal plan, this is a good site.

Good Friday

Good Friday is usually a solemn day in most Christian homes and churches, as we remember the perfect sacrifice that Jesus, the Lamb of God, made for each of us. We can talk to our kids about what Jesus’ death means. While it’s very sad, we would not have the chance to live with Him forever in Heaven if this sacrifice was not made. We can be so thankful to Him for loving us this much! Many churches have Stations of the Cross or Passion plays on their schedule for this day. If your church has a Good Friday service, the children’s ministry might have something even more special planned to help teach the importance of this day. When I was growing up, we made sure that at 3pm, the time we think Jesus actually died, there were no tv’s, radios or other distractions allowed to be used. It was a time when we were in prayer– both thanksgiving and repentant.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday is the very core of our faith! We celebrate this day because unlike any other religions, our God loved us so much that He took the form of man to die for all our sins and then RISE from the dead on the third day!! He is alive!! He is the resurrected Savior of the world!!

While there are people who resist the “worldly” aspect of the egg to symbolize anything to do with Easter, it has always symbolized new life. If you or your church, or even your neighborhood choose to have an Easter egg hunt, you could always include the popular Resurrection Eggs to help tell the story of Easter. Even if you choose to use candy or money in your eggs, it has been a long tradition to have an “empty” egg to symbolize the empty tomb.

What are some things you and your family do during Holy Week? Are there specific devotions that you enjoy reading? We’d love to hear about it!!

About the Author: Lisa Strnad is a freelance writer/blogger, who regularly contributes to What’s in the Bible? and Jelly Telly. She is a homeschooling mom of two, who works independently in Christian media in the areas of writing, promotions and marketing. She lives with her husband and children in Nashville, TN. Follow her blog at www.talkinglikeagirl.com

In the book The Lorax, Dr. Seuss uses a lot of personification.  The Once-ler represents industry and the Lorax represents the environment.  The movie builds around these characters.

{Spoiler alert!!}

The movie is beautifully animated. It is about Ted, a young boy who lives in the walled up and perfectly artificial town of Thneedville. There are no longer any real trees to be found, in fact all the trees in town are fake– they are not messy and they never die, which is taught to be a good thing. All air must now be bought, since there are no trees to help produce it. Ted wants to win the affection of young Audrey, whose biggest wish is to see a real tree.  Thanks to his knowledgeable grandmother, Ted’s search for just one real tree takes him outside the walls of Thneedville and to the home of the Once-ler.  It is here that Ted learns that many years ago all the trees had been cut down to be used to make “thneeds”– a commercial product that everyone was convinced that they couldn’t live without!  The Lorax, who was the keeper and protector of the trees, was not able change the heart of the one man who wanted more than anything to profit from his idea, even if it meant sacrificing the trees and sending all of the animals, who lived in the forest, off to find new homes.  At the end of the movie, Ted is entrusted by the Once-ler to change the way things have become by planting the last tree seed.

While some have argued that this story is anti-capitalism, I’d rather like to see it as a story about stewardship.  While God gave us this world, it’s ours to care for, and at the same time it’s important to have balance.  We can take our kids to this movie and find plenty of issues to discuss afterwards. You can talk to them about taking care of the environment, what it means to be a “good steward” of a gift from God, and why being greedy can hurt other people.

I’d recommend this movie for kids who are at least Kindergarten-aged and up.  There are vibrant colors and fable-like creatures that will keep their attention.  The story may lose their interest mid-way through, but there’s a few nicely done songs to get their focus back.  For the kids with sensory issues, there are times when the movie gets loud. I gave my son a pair of ear buds and that helped a lot during some of the louder scenes.

There’s a Dr. Seuss quote that comes at the end of the movie which seems to sum up what The Lorax’s message is meant to be:  “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s going to get better.  It’s not.”

Have you seen The Lorax? What kinds of things did you talk to your kids about afterward?

About the Author: Lisa Strnad is a freelance writer/blogger, who regularly contributes to What’s in the Bible? and Jelly Telly.  She is a homeschooling mom of two, who works independently in Christian media in the areas of writing, promotions and marketing. She lives with her husband and children in Nashville,TN.  

Fast forward a few years and that little chatter-box has a laptop or iPad or a phone of his/her own. They are surrounded by technology in ways we could never have imagined back even a couple decades ago, when we were asking our friends if we could borrow a dime so we could call home from a pay phone.

Yes, technology is moving fast, but don’t think for a moment that this fast-paced world is something that most 13-year-olds aren’t totally comfortable maneuvering through.  They are.  Very comfortable. Perhaps too comfortable; too trusting and a bit naive.  But are they safe?  How do we protect our kids from some of the pitfalls associated with the internet, specifically social media?

The first step is to find out what social media communities they currently belong to.  We have openly discussed the fact that our son can take part in Facebook and Twitter, but we must be “friends” or “followers” in his accounts.  We still hover… and are proud of it!

A child can get his or her own Facebook account at age 13.  The only necessary criteria is an valid email account (which they can get on their own and free) and their birthday, proving they are indeed over 13. Yes, easily manipulated, but that’s a blog post for another time. There are safety settings available that parents should be aware of, which will help keep their page more private, but these settings are not automatic.  It’s imperative that parents communicate with their teens about safety on social media.  Because unlike the days when we could advise them to not talk to strangers, social media is sort of geared for people to do just that!

We have spoken to our teenager about this very thing.  A perceived popularity based on the number of “friends” people are connected to online is misleading.  Our rule is that he can not “friend” anyone he doesn’t already know.  Surprisingly, he had added a few upperclassmen as friends who he didn’t actually know and had never seen on campus, but whose information page listed them as attending his school.  When we explained to him how easy it was for someone to post a fake profile picture and general information he understood why we have certain rules in place.  It’s a safety issue.

In the year 2012, the issue really isn’t IF your teens are involved in social media.  The real issue is communication between parents and kids in order to make their online experiences as safe as possible.

How do you guard you safeguard your older kids online?

Lisa Strnad is a freelance writer/blogger, who regularly contributes to What’s in the Bible? and Jelly Telly.  She is a homeschooling mom of two, who works independently in Christian media in the areas of writing, promotions and marketing.  She lives with her husband and children in Nashville,TN.  

Ms. Druckerman moved to Paris with her husband not long before getting pregnant with her first child. She quickly noticed that parenting in France was different from what she had seen in the States: “The moms never feel guilty and the children are boisterous and curious, but well-behaved.”

Druckerman, a Wall Street Journal reporter, decided to start talking with French friends, teachers, neighbors, and childcare experts to find out the secrets behind French parenting.

I’ve not read the book, but here are some areas of differences between the Americans and French parenting styles that she writes about, according to SFGate:

1) French children sit quietly in their high chairs eating their vegetables and fish, while American kids are whining and throwing food.

2) French children aren’t required to clear their plate but they do have to try everything, while American kids refuse to eat anything but french fries and macaroni and cheese.

3) French parents have the ability to focus on one parenting style and stick with it, while American parents read dozens of different parenting books, overwhelm themselves with information, and are constantly changing and questioning the way they parent.

4) French moms are sexy and skinny and quickly lose their baby weight, while American moms are forever dieting and wearing pajama bottoms when dropping their kids off at school.

5.) French babies sleep through the night by two our three months and French parents never use the “cry it out” technique, while most American parents don’t get a night of uninterrupted sleep until the child is at least 1 year old.

6) French children greet adults with a friendly bonjour while a typical American 4-year-old cowers at her mother’s leg. Ever notice how American children don’t look adults in the eye? 

Ahhh, the French! I’ll admit, I’m both intrigued and a little offended at the same time.  Getting my kids to eat their vegetables would be a great accomplishment, but what’s wrong with a big bowl of Kraft Mac n Cheese, every now and then?  And isn’t in Druckerman’s best interest that we Americans DO read every parenting book we can get our hands on?

Oh, and thanks so much for the over-generalizations of American moms. For the record, I never wear my pajamas while “dropping off” my kids at school. We simply home-school while wearing them!

Lisa Strnad is a freelance writer/blogger, who regularly contributes to What’s in the Bible? and Jelly Telly.  She is a homeschooling mom of two, who works independently in Christian media in the areas of writing, promotions and marketing.  She lives with her husband and children in Nashville,TN.  

Back in the 1970’s, comedian George Carlin spoke about the “7 words you can never use on TV”. That standard no longer exists. Carlin was a pretty uncensored comedian, so the fact that some of these offensive words have actually become mainstream language, speaks volumes about where we’ve gone in programming. Language that was once only heard on adult cable dramatic programs, like “The Sopranos” has gone primetime!  The major networks have recently taken this issue to the Supreme Court, asking for more lenient FCC rules.

More lenient?

The Parent’s Television Council has researched this very topic and found that use of a bleeped-out F-word during primetime has increased from 11 instances in 2005 to 276 instances in 2010.

Christian parents are already having to play police officer when it comes to what our kids watch and listen to.  It’s not as difficult when they’re in preschool.  Big Bird, Buck Denver and Larry the Cucumber are pretty safe choices! We can easily plug in a DVD that reinforces our values and worldview or that teaches our kids about their ABC’s. But like it or not, our kids will eventually be exposed to what pop culture and what society now deems “normal language” or “acceptable values.”  It’s not just bad language either. The media’s barrage of youth-centric sarcasm and the ever-present talking back to elders, is now considered acceptable and cute. Parents are constantly portrayed as stupid, weak, and incapable.

While we could disallow all secular television or music in our homes, what happens when those kids of ours venture out into the world with their iPhones and iPads– which easily connect them to a vast assortment of streaming media? Most 12-year-olds are media savvy. Videos on YouTube go viral within hours of being posted and their content is sometimes questionable, if not outright offensive.

The world can be an ugly place, especially to those of us who walk a different path.  As our kids get older and have to make choices about what movies or TV to watch or what music to download, I pray that they make good choices based on what we’ve taught them and based on the examples we have been in their everyday lives.  We can’t trust that the FCC will moderate the airwaves as they once did.  The crumbling values of our pop culture society are seeping into all areas of our lives.  Unless we choose to live in virtual bubbles, we will have to prepare ourselves to guard our children’s eyes and ears even more than we have been while instructing them how to live in a world that doesn’t speak or live out their lives the way we do: Biblically.

How do you plan on guarding your children against the crumbling morals of mass media?

Lisa Strnad is a freelance writer/blogger, who regularly contributes to What’s in the Bible? and Jelly Telly.  She is a homeschooling mom of two, who works independently in Christian media in the areas of writing, promotions and marketing.  She lives with her husband and children in Nashville,TN.  Follow her personal blog posts on www.talkinglikeagirl.blogspot.com.

This Week’s Currents:

1. iPhone Apps for Moms (Confessions of a Homeschooler)
A list of helpful iPhone apps recommended by a mother of four.

Source: confessionsofahomeschooler.com via JellyTelly on Pinterest

2. Valentine’s Day Printables (Money Saving Mom)
A great printable pack of Valentine’s Day activities.

Source: moneysavingmom.com via JellyTelly on Pinterest

3. Printables for The Mitten by Jan Brett (Homeschool Creations)
A printable pack with fun activities that can be used with the book The Mitten by Jan Brett.

Source: homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com via JellyTelly on Pinterest

4. February Calendar & Coloring Page (Ministry-to-Children)
Free download of a coloring page that doubles as a February calendar.

Source: ministry-to-children.com via JellyTelly on Pinterest

5. Free Valentine’s Day Photo Cards (Faithful Provisions)
Get free, personalized Valentine’s Day cards, this week only.

Source: faithfulprovisions.com via JellyTelly on Pinterest

Thanks for reading!

For generations there have always been “those” kids at school…the cheaters.  The kids who copied a friends homework before class, wrote the answers to the test on their hand, or who had a minuscule cheat sheet hidden in their sleeve. But in the cyberage which we are now living, the concept of cheating may be a little blurry when every fact can now be googled on our smartphone and then copied and pasted.

It’s tempting to not take part in this type of cheating, as many young people will tell you.  How do we parents help instill in our older children the importance of education and truly leaning, sometimes even failing, over cheating and the instant gratification of a guaranteed good grade?

According to Michael Hartnett, Ph.D., author of “The Great SAT Swindle”, there are five important steps we should take to help our kids in this age of rampant technology! This advice came from an article on Williamsonparent.com:

1. Check homework every night.  This may sound a little age inappropriate for our middle to high schoolers, but how else will we know what our kids are learning at school? According to Dr. Hartnett, a good sign that our kids may be cheating is the routine lack of substantive work. Our kids should be able to show, concretely, how they completed their assignments.

2. Create a device free zone of at least an hour a day for studying. Being the mother of a teenager, I can see this as a viable point!  In this cyberage it’s been noted that our young people can multitask pretty well, but can they unitask with the concentration that is needed to complete an assignment well?  Kids will argue that they NEED the internet to complete their assignments and many times that’s true.  But this argument might also be a slight exaggeration, and they could easily fill this hour’s time with studying, rewriting notes or reading.  I know from experience that many times that the computer workstation is just another place where my teen can toggle back and forth from social media sites during his homework time.

3. Give your child a practice test the day before an exam. This is something I’ve started doing in one particular subject.  His teacher routinely gives out “reading” as the assignment.  I’m not sure how reading gets cross-referenced as having “no homework”, but it has happened!

4. Talk to your kids about honesty and realistically about cheating. This is the place that our Christian worldview can be inserted, not merely as a device to instill guilt, but as a means to teach our kids why cheating directly goes against what God expects of us.  Proverbs 6:16-19 “Here are six things God hates, and one more that he loathes with a passion: eyes that are arrogant, a tongue that lies, hands that murder the innocent, a heart that hatches evil plots, feet that race down a wicked track, a mouth that lies under oath, a troublemaker in the family.”

5. Avoid Cliches.  In the article they point out to not tell our kids that “Cheaters never prosper”, because the truth is that many times they do– at least in the eyes of the world.  The sometimes painful act of learning has always trumped grades in our family. Cheating will only get you so far.  At some point, everyone must stand on his or her own, away from the test / grades.

As a Christian parent I think it’s vitally important to teach our kids important values by example.  Never–ever would I use the old “do as I say not as I do” argument.  Kids are smarter than that. And they observe us more than we even know!  This is again where our worldview is used to validate our values!