CPSIA CLEARANCE SALE

This is a great time of year for clearing out the old and bringing in the new. Closets ore being weeded through, dressers formerly stuffed to the brim

are now beginning to feel an ease on their joints. Stores are also getting rid of their old merchandise at wonderful prices getting ready for the new seasons fashions. Well, thanks to CPSIA, I too am experienceing a season of change and you directly benefit from that!! I will no longer be offering ready to ship slings. Those pictured above are my last three (I think). They can be yours for only $30.00 at www.RedheadO.Etsy.com !! Which is a considerable savings from their $55.00 price. I will still be offering slings but only on a custom order basis. It will severly thin out my Etsy store. No more tag toys, hats or slings. Just a custom service. BUt honestly, that is okay. When I started this business, that is all I offered. Just custom orders. I love designing for and with you. I love toiling over specially selected fabrics, praying for your family and your little one who will be riding in my carrier, knowing your name as I send up my petitions to the Holy Father. Change is good!!

Blessings, KimO

Kid's and $$$$$$$

Recently I was asked to write a post about one of the major goals of our parenting adventure, teaching our children about money. Once upon a time, we subscribed to a chore based allowance system. We believed we were teaching our 3 older children (13, 9, 5) that hard work earns you big bucks (or at least a few bucks as in their case). It backfired on us. The children believed that if they were asked to do something, it should include a price tag. They got greedy with their time and lazy with their everyday family chores. We heard a lot of disrespectful mouthiness and they lost their willingness to volunteer to help Mom and Dad. We had always told them that if they see something that needs to be done, do it. We had children coming to us saying "Mom, I see that you have been working hard laying up the applesauce for winter. The floor is a mess, I'll sweep it for 50 cents!" SOOOOOO not part of our plan. We wanted to teach our otherwise compliant children to work hard, work together, and respect every penny they got, instead we taught them to only take the highest paying jobs and easy money was also easily spent money. My husband and I also noticed the gross amount of arguing that was happening. They were disrespecting each other and forget about asking one of them to help another with a job. We both felt it was important to teach the children about tithing, saving and money management. Plus, if they weren't given a regular bit of pocket money, how could we say "Well, maybe you can get that with your allowance" when they would ask us for every little desire. But, the current system was not working, something had to change.
Change it did!! We stopped giving our children the chore based allowance. Instead, we explained that chores were part of life. Even if they weren't part of a family, they would have chores to do that they would not be compensated for. Such is life. They would from that point forward, be expected to cooperate with prompt and cheerful obedience (a phrase they are being to dislike) whenever asked to do something. They would also be expected to respect each other. Not only were they to refrain from the use of any unpleasant words, they were also required to watch the tone they used when talking to a family member (or any guest, elder, etc.) They would start each new pay period with a "salary" of sorts so they knew they could expect $5.00 with the proper behavior. Any infraction to these rules would cost them a quarter. These new rules have helped so very much. I can't say it's perfect. They are still testing the boundaries, but we are seeing a lot less mouthiness and a lot more eager compliance. They are treating each other a bit better, with less sibling rivalry. We are still working on the "doing what you see needs to be done" thing. We award this out of the ordinary behavior by lavishing on praise. They soak that up! Better then any dollar we could ever spend!

Questions? Email me at Oroscowa@yahoo.com

Blessings, KimO

MIA

It accured to me the other day that I have not been faithful to my blog as of late. This being my first blog, I am assuming the seasonal lack of posting is natural and may even be expected by the seasoned blog reader. I must however, apologize to my faithful 8 subscribers who without you, I would really fear that NO ONE is hearing me. I thank you for hanging in there with me even with my lack of updates. First off, I have to say that my usual reasons for posting (irate rants from some social injustice) have silenced themselves. Either I have grown up and am no longer effected (doubtful) or they are just not doing things to annoy me (most probable). These rants were the most entertaining for me to write. So, I have been bored lately! Of course, the CPSIA has lent itself to me as a plentiful base of material. I am not writing about that much because it causes a bit of panic as I watch congress end my little dream. Not to mention, denial has been a faithful friend lately. I deny the fact that this is happening to me and it goes away (at least temporarily in my brain). I should have blogged about my little ones first Christmas and his induction into the worldly day of gift giving. I have to admit that his adoration for the taste of all that colorful paper was quite delightful!! His little giggles of glee every time someone handed him another ball of the crinkly stuff!! What joy it was to watch. Some of you will ask why I speak only of the commercial aspect of Christmas and not about the religious meaning. Well, some of you already know that answer. I don't subscribe to the "Christ's birth, Reason for the season" thing. Christ was not born at this time of year and far to many people don't actually realize the pagan history and beginning of Christmas. We as a family choose to celebrate this time of year as a time to share His love with the world and yes, we do participate in the school functions and such, but even our church teaches the truth on this issue. SO, for us "Christ's love is the Reason for the Season"!! Enough on that.

In 2009, I promise to keep up a bit better. Blog a bit more often. Love a bit more fiercely. Oh and lose that pesky 20 lbs. What does this new year bring for you? I would ask you to post a comment but I STILL can not get that to work for my blog. So email me! Oroscowa@yahoo.com. I'll post your comments in my next update (with your permission of course).

Blessings, KimO