Jen B asked: Where did you get your mad cooking skills from? Were you always a wonderful cook?
I’ve just ALWAYS loved cooking. I was always looking through cookbooks and cooking magazines and experimenting with recipes when I was growing up.
I come from a long line of wonderful cooks. My mom was a great cook. Both of my grandmothers were good cooks. My aunts are all wonderful cooks.
My mom enjoyed cooking (although maybe not quite as much as I love it and consider it to be a hobby). I loved cooking with my mom and with my grandma. I shared more of my cooking memories in this post if you’d like to read more.
And no, I made many cooking mistakes back when I was a beginner (still do of course). Did I ever tell you about the first time I made gravy for Matt on our sixth month dating anniversary? He had to spread it onto his meat and potatoes with a butter knife. I am SO glad he married me anyway.
Kathy Shaner said: Speaking as one who had years of the single life with a great career, then marriage at 40– I wonder what career you would have pursued if you’d gone that direction? Maybe I should know this after reading all about Laura, but I don’t. What ‘outside’ interests have captured your attention and might have launched a career if you hadn’t built a life with your wonderful family?
I got a degree in Elementary Education and taught first grade for a very short time in a Public School before our oldest was born.
Growing up, I always told my mom that when I grew up I wanted to be a mom, a teacher, a baker and a hair cutter person.
How great is it that I now get to be everything I always wanted to be when I grew up?! (Never in a million years though did I ever dream I’d also have a website. That might have had something to do with the fact that computers hardly existed yet…)
I suppose if I would have continued in a career, I would have continued teaching school. That all seems like another life to me now…the days when I taught school. Good memories…but I’m so, so happy with what I’m doing now. Although, I will say…I miss having a janitor. :)
Becca Banana asked: What do you wish you had known about marriage and/or parenting before learning lessons the hard way?
Oh my goodness sakes…how long do you have?
Regarding marriage…I actually am planning to write a little series addressing some of these things…so if it’s okay, I’ll save that topic for a few weeks from now.
What I wish I would have known about parenting? What I wish I could change?
I really, really didn’t know that my kids would be naughty very often. I really thought my household would always be blissful and calm and my children would always behave and be clean and never have crusty noses. I was very organized and on top of things (before marriage and motherhood) and my children were going to be practically perfect except for a tiny little episode that they might have once every six months or so. And only then if they were sick.
Because that didn’t really happen (not even close)…I was pretty hard on Asa (our oldest) and didn’t always respond to his challenging two year old (and three year old and four year old) normal behaviors the way I should have. I sort of expected him to “perform”, if that makes any sense.
I wish I would have understood then that parenting is constant “Godly character training”…not “create perfect people so everyone will think you’re a great parent” training.
Also, when we started homeschooling I thought I needed to be a Nazi about schoolwork so that I’d have the smartest kids ever. I almost made Asa hate school by the time he was six. I backed off a WHOLE lot, and by the time he turned ten, I had finally convince him that it really was okay to miss a math problem or spell a word wrong.
Our schooling is SO much more relaxed now. Guess what? They’re still smart. Go figure. Of course, “smart” is relative. ;)
More Learning about Laura coming up tomorrow…
becca banana says
This is so fun! It hasn’t been long since I first came upon your website, and I am so glad I did! You are so very wise and honest with your readers. Thank you.
melanie says
I am SO with you on the dreamy parenting of ‘perfect’ children. Our poor first-born… who is still a die-hard perfectionist.
Jen B says
Thanks for answerng my qyuestions! I wish I listened to people when they told me to relax when we stzarted HSing. I was very hard on my oldest also, but now, I’ve learned to chill and have fun.
Lois says
What a neat thing you’re doing, Laura, voluntarily exposing your imperfections to the entire world to view!!! (Just kidding….better you than me.) I will be happy to read about your marriage too. I’m so glad no one has perfect kids. Here’s a question I get asked a lot, and I wonder if you do too. Do you think you are more qualified to homeschool since you have a degree in teaching? I usually answer no, and I try not to let my college degree interfere with our homeschool. Then I smile, and don’t mention that I taught music, and here I am trying to remember enough about algebra and biology to help my daughter!
Princessperky says
Wow, that whole wanting to be a mom thing and starting out a bit stressed on homeschooling could so have been me! But I am nothing to write home about as far as cooking.
I taught kindergarten, and though I am no slouch in math, I already send my son out to get his math checked by daddy (and today had to call daddy in to explain a mass/volume/density chart. (very nifty chart about elements and such btw). I also have no idea what I am supposed to do with writing, so no being a teacher is NOT helpful in homeschooling!
Andrea says
Thanks for that reminder on parenting. As a fistborn RAISING my firstborn, I really want to encourage heart and attitude and not performance. It is so hard already as I am so proud of all the little things that Clara is learning to do, and I know that I will be mortified when she acts up in front of others later. I really need to take the long term approach. I totally believe in it in home schooling (you aren’t trying to create a 2nd grader, but an educated adult), and I guess I will have to focus on it in character training as well. Are there any good books that have helped you do this? I love the “Raising Godly Tomatoes” book. It’s available to read free online too!
Hannah Garcia says
Home Schooling is also nice since you got to always see your kids.;,`