Book Quote - Jane Eyre #3

This copy of Jane Eyre is available for purchase here.

I finished Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. 
I give it 4/5 = I really liked it!

So here is one last quote:
"I care for myself.  The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.  I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man.  I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad - as I am now.  Laws and principles are not for times when there is no temptation:  they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be.  If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth?  The have a worth - so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane - quite insane, with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs.  Preconceived opinions, forgone determinations are all I have at this hour to stand by;  There I plant my foot."

And if you have already read this book or don't mind a spoiler, here is a button that I thought was funny.

Book Quote - Jane Eyre #2

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Chapter 21

"...a more vain and absurd animal than you was certainly never allowed to cumber the earth.  You have no right to be born; for you make no use of life.  Instead of living for, in, and with yourself, as a reasonable being ought, you seek only to fasten your feebleness on some other person's strength: if no one can be found willing to burden her or himself with such a fat, weak, puffy, useless thing, you cry out that you are ill-treated, neglected, miserable.  Then, too, existence for you must be a scene of continual change and excitement, or else the world is a dungeon:  you must be admired, you must be courted, you must be flattered - you must have music, dancing, and society - or you languish, you die away.  Have you no sense to devise a system which will make you independent of all efforts, and all wills, but your own?  Take one day; share it into sections; to each section apportion its task:  leave no stray unemployed quarters of an hour, ten minutes, five minutes - include all; do each piece of business in its turn with method, with rigid regularity.  The day will close almost before you are aware it has begun; and you are indebted to no one for helping you to get rid of one vacant moment:  you have had to seek no one's company, conversation, sympathy, forbearance; you have lived, in short, as an independent being ought to do.  Take this advice: the first and last I shall offer you; that you will not want me or any one else, happen what may.  Neglect it - go on as heretofore, craving, whining, and idling - and suffer the results of your idiocy, however bad and insufferable they may be may be."

Book Quote - Jane Eyre

I am currently reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte for the first time.  There is part of a paragraph that I just love that I thought I would share from chapter 15:

"And, Miss Eyre, so much was I flattered by this preference of the Gallic sylph for her Britsh gnome, that I installed her in an hotel, gave her a complete establishment of servants, a carriage, cashmeres, diamonds, dentelles, &c.  In short, I began the process of ruining myself in the received style, like any other spoony.  I had not, it seems, the originality to chalk out a new road to shame and destruction, but trod the old track with stupid exactness not to deviate an inch from the beaten centre.  I had - as I deserved to have - the fate of all other spoonies."

You can buy this vintage copy of Jane Eyre from rosegoldaline on etsy here.

That's it...I'm just sharing a quote that I like.  I never like to hear what a book is about before I read it.  I never even read the back of a paperback.  I like to go into a book knowing absolutley nothing that will happen in the story.  I sometimes will read the sentence they have on the front to draw you in but other than that, I like everything to be a complete surprise.  That is why I'm not even going to you who says it and or any background.  Because I wouldn't want to know.

But haven't we all been there?

Potty Training Books

These are books both take the no-pressure approach to potty training. Diaper-Free Before 3 would be great for those parents who are wanting to start as soon as possible. Lekovic doesn't feel there is a need to wait for signs of readiness. She suggests starting as early as 6 months and slowly working the child into being fully trained.
Potty Training Boys the Easy Way is even more laid back and does consider readiness to be a very important factor when actively working on potty training but that you should expose the child to concepts as early as opportunities present themselves. I like that it allows the child to own his success. I found it very helpful because it is gender specific. I recommend both books but Potty Training Boys the Easy Way was my favorite of the two. There is also a book called Potty Training Girls the Easy Way by the same authors.

Parenting With Love and Logic

I believe it is a good idea to read parenting books and ideas regularly. I don't always agree with what I read and sometimes what I read just isn't right for the stage my family is at or for our family dynamic but I think just thinking about doing a good job at being a parent is important. I just finished reading Parenting with Love and Logic by Foster Cline and Jay Fay for the second. This is one I think every parent should read.
This is the description Amazon.com gave for the book:

From Library Journal
Psychiatrist Cline and educator Fay's "Love and Logic" parenting method advocates raising responsible children through practice. "Helicopter" parents hover around their children while "drill sergeant" parents give orders to theirs, they claim. Neither of these styles permits children to learn how to make choices and learn from the consequences. The result is that as early as adolescence these children too often make bad decisions. In the context of a healthy, loving relationship, "Love and Logic" parents teach their children responsibility and the logic of life by solving their own problems, providing skills for coping in the real world. After laying out the principles of "Love and Logic," the authors provide "parenting pearls," which are strategies for applying the method to actual situations such as back-seat battles in the car, homework, and keeping bedrooms clean. The narration, performed by Tim Kenney and Bert Gurule, is clear and energetic. This is an upbeat and sensible approach to child rearing that will be popular in public libraries.?Nann Blaine Hilyard, Fargo P.L., N.D.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
If you're looking for practical parenting skills, this book is a must. The pages are chock full of tips that you can implement right away...this book is one of the best parenting resources I've seen. Because of what I learned from this book, I've already seen positive changes in my relationship with my son. Don't let this vital resource slip by. (Jolene L. Roehlkepartain, OURS Magazine, February 1993)

Without question, this is the most practical book I have ever read on this subject, and I hope that every parent gets a copy and puts it into practice. -- John Kennington, Fellowship Today Magazine, December 1990

It really is that good. However, I would like to say that many of the "parenting pearls" at the back of the book were a little extreme. For example: To fix the "'That looks gross!' when a new meal is placed in front the kids" problem, the book says to say "That's no problem," dump the food down the garbage disposal and tell the kids to go play because their meal is over. Later, when they come in and get themselves something to eat, you stand and watch. When they are done eating, you tell them the food they just ate cost $1.90 and ask if they want to pay cash or if they want it taken out of their allowance. I can see that this would make a big statement but I think, in my house, when the kids say "that's gross!" if I told them that if they complain like that, they can chose to not eat and they won't be getting anything later. If they do indeed choose to not eat and they are asking for something later, I could offer that they can pay for the extra food or stay hungry. Or I could not offer at all. They made the choice to go hungry. I want my kids to feel like they live in a stable house and that Mom isn't going to be springing all these strange rules up at any given moment. I understand that the problem that is being addressed is not having to deal with kids saying they hate the food at every meal and I think they certainly will think twice before saying it at another meal if their food gets disposed of and then they are charged for extra food but I also think that letting them know that if they complain about the food, they know what will actually happen.
Using a less drastic approach may require a reminder when they start to complain at the next meal but if there is a third time, there doesn't need to be a warning. The rule is in place and it must be followed through with - and the children will know what they are getting into when they complain about the food. I prefer consistent consequences to unexpected consequences.

Other than toning down the drama a bit (we already have enough of that here), I think it poses a very good way of thinking about parenting. It provides parents with the way to give the responsibility of being a good and responsible kid to their kid.

Earth Day

To celebrate Earth Day, we planted sunflowers and morning glories to make a sunflower house that the kids can play in during the summer. The idea came from Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots I bought heirloom sunflower seeds from Seed Savers so I can harvest the seeds and replant next year. We also reused household items that would have been thrown away or recycled for the containers (newspaper, milk jugs, toilet paper tubes, paper grocery bags, etc.) when starting the seeds. We talked about the things we love about our earth and what we can do to help the earth.
These are our sunflower starts. We used most of them.
This is what the base of our house looks like:

Now we just have to watch the weather carefully to make sure they don't get too cold. We love our earth!

Oh, and we bought second-hand bikes for the kids today so they can spend time outside enjoying our earth.

Children's Poetry Book

I love this book of poems for my little ones. When my daughter turned three, she recited this poem from it:

Three little candles on a birthday cake
Count them very carefully so there's no mistake.
We've counted three and there's no doubt
Now it's time to blow them out.