January Q & A

Sometimes I regret the fact that I get creative ideas. Like Winnie The Pooh, my ideas usually seem more "thing-ish" before I put them out there for all the world to see. One solution would be to stop putting them out there; another would be to just plow on and hope for the best. I reckon we're gonna plow on with this one.

Just because I feel like

 using random pictures...

When I had this bright idea to do questions and answers, it was some vague notion of a fun 'get-to-know-each-other" type of deal. When the questions started showing up, I held my head in my hands because it started looking a lot more like an "I-have-all-the-answers" type of a deal than anything else and that is the last way in the world that I would want to come across.

But here we are, and it's January. I said I would answer questions and I will. Not because I think I'm wise and have great answers but because it is interesting to hear from you and I value that interaction enough to give my thoughts on your questions.

I'm hoping to learn things from you, too, and I'm going to give you lots of chances to join in the conversations this month. Your first chance is to give me some input on two questions that were asked:

#1. "I have come to expect January to contain many illnesses, and partly blame it on Christmas gatherings and such at the end of December. But it still gets old! What are some things you do to promote wellness and boost immunities? Or any tips to help nurse the sick, whether colds or fevers or stomach bugs? What about coping tips for mom?" 
(In light of the past three weeks or so, I certainly don't feel qualified to answer this one. We're STILL not all back to 100% around here!)

#2. "I spend a lot of time here at home alone with the children. Because of the calling in my husband's life as deacon in the church and his gifted ways of helping people he ends up being gone a lot evenings, etc. I would love ideas for activities for my children to do that occupies their time. My 4 daughters are 14, 13, 11, & 9. Son is almost 6.  My daughters are the ones that I struggle the most with in keeping them busy and happy. Would love ideas of craft projects, games, etc for them to do. Love it when they can somewhat do it on their own as least in part.
(I have a few ideas for this one but I would love to be able to share a nice long list with some of your ideas too!)

If you have any input or ideas to share on either of these questions, please send me an email at christopherbethany@juno.com Towards the end of the month I will compile any ideas with my own and post those answers. In the mean time, you can expect to see a couple of 'Q & A' posts per week this month.

Thank you for your help and your questions. I do really think this will be fun!