First. Before we go any farther, let me make something clear. This is not a degrading post on my sister. She is a dear, sweet girl. She loves to come up to me and give me lots of hugs and kisses throughout the day. She loves spending time with people and doing things with them. She has very beautiful eyes and a sweet smile. And she is very musically talented. While it is true that she is a bit unorganized, she has many other sweet qualities.
However...
My sister Emily is quite messy. A trail follows her through the house, and, left to herself, her room would be a disaster. In fact, I have proof of this for you. This is a picture of my sister's bed when she was three years old (she slept on the floor every night, hee hee):
And this is what her room looked like last week, at six years old now:
She and I spent a while cleaning and organizing this wreck. Because... she was moving into my room! And there was no way we were going to move all that stuff into my room and dump it on my floor. She moved in the next day (Elisabeth moved in with Amy). And ever since then, the room has stayed nice and clean! True, I have not allowed a day to go by without getting any mess be straightened out, but that is the point of this post. I would like to share some things I have learned about helping a messy little sibling keep his/her room clean.
First of all, be kind. Emily does not want to listen to me if I am yelling at her and telling her to "pick this up, now pick that up! Come on Emily, move faster!" No, I have to do it gently and kindly, with a smile in my voice (and on my face, too!).
Secondly, work with your sibling. Don't be a slave driver. I help Emily clean. Perhaps she will put her clothes away while I make her bed, or vise-versa. True, she was the one who made the mess, so it is not my responsibility to clean it up for her. But in a family, we have to work together. And it really is a lot more encouraging to have someone working with you, not just telling you what to do.
Thank and praise your sibling when he or she finishes. Give a hug. Emily loves hugs.
Don't say things like "You are such a mess." "Come on, I have other things to do today than watch you clean." "Won't you ever learn to be neat and tidy?"
Do say things like "Good job!" "Isn't this a lot better?" "You're a good worker." "I love you."
Remember to work with them daily otherwise the task will become gargantuan, discouraging both you and your sibling. And your parents. I also just realized something yesterday. I need to train her to recognize the mess, and then clean it up on her own without me telling her what needs to be done. It will take a little longer, maybe, but I will have to stick with it until she can clean her room quickly and effeciently. Better yet, I'm hoping eventually she'll just keep it clean, and then we won't have to keep cleaning it again every day!
Sometimes progress isn't always the best thing. For several years we've used the dishwasher to wash our dishes. Well, most of them. Of course there were always the dishes left over that couldn't go in the dishwasher for one reason or another, so my sister (or Mom) was stuck washing them. Why not me? you ask. Ha. It was my sister's job, that's why! Up until recently, it was my job to empty the dishwasher. This happened daily, sometimes twice a day.
Well, a few months ago, Mom decided we were going to quit using the dishwasher. Just an experiment to see if it made any difference on our electric bill. We kids (I was, at least) were skeptical, but went along with it cheerfully enough. Surprisingly - I found I love washing dishes! We quickly worked out a schedule. Emily is to wash the breakfast dishes, Elisabeth and I do the lunch dishes, and Amy and Mom do the supper dishes. It works out pretty well!
And what do you know? It does make a difference on the electric bill! I guess that means we have an inefficient dishwasher. I'm not kidding about enjoying dishwashing, either. There are so many advantages! First off, We don't have to have all those non-dishwasher-compatible dishes piling up on the counter in between meals. The counter seems to be "freer" of dishes, which I like. The warm water feels good on my cold fingers (just so long as it's not too hot!). And it's nice to do the dishes with a sister. Our home does not have to be filled with the sounds of a super loud dishwasher. No one has to empty the dishwasher!
One more thing - we don't run out of knives anymore! That might not seem like a big deal. But we used to be running out of knives constantly, it seems. Now that the dishes get washes more often than once a day (in theory at least, right?), the cupboards are more full of dishes.
So you see, technology isn't always that much better. In this case, I think washing by hand is better. That doesn't mean I'm going to start washing clothes by hand, though. Don't get any funny ideas.
Amy and I played this as a special last Sunday (just practicing in this video). The original arrangement was meant for piano accompaniment to a soloist singing, but this works, too! This and other piano arrangements can be found at http://www.thechurchpianist.com/.
Just in case any of you thought I'd given up somewhere between Day 6 and Day 21... well, I haven't!
Word Count? 41,217!
To my dismay, I discovered that the word counter on Google Docs and the word counter on the NaNoWriMo website do not agree. And Google Docs, what I have been using, is the one with the higher count. So I'm not really sure which one's right, but it doesn't really matter, since it's only the NaNo counter one that guarantees winning status at the end of the month.
The writing is going super. I've written quite a bit today, mostly thanks to Bluejane -- the two of us have done several word wars. I did my first word war last night, and it's absolutely amazing!! Now I'm just feeling kinda disappointed that I was into the end of week 3 before I discovered them! I don't get tired out like I do just grinding away on my own. Thanks, Blue!
(She and I sorta have this competition going on over who can hit 50,000 words first. It shall be interesting to watch it unfold.)
Okay, I said the writing is going super. It is, but it is not going perfectly, lest you get that idea. I have several scenes that I think are pretty much pointless. But at least they are there, helping fill that progress bar. I can tell I'm getting close to the end of my novel, but I'm not sure how close. And I'm not exactly sure how it's going to end, either.
Hey, if you're a fellow Wrimo struggling with your word count, let me give you a quick hint. Write a scene telling the gospel in great detail. It accomplishes two things. First, anyone who reads your novel will hear how to be saved. And second, It really does wonders on your word count. I wrote a 1,609 word scene with the gospel as the central focus (not like it was all telling about Jesus, but mostly).
And of course, word wars do wonders, too. Throw in a character with a broken heart who can go on for a long time telling all her troubles. Have someone get kidnapped, betrayed, whatever.
Just a few things I've learned this month.
Oh, and go congratulate Narniagirl -- she reached her goal of 25k last night!!! *throws confetti and sets off fireworks*
My six-year-old sister Emily has caught it. Today she wrote the following story. Way to go, Em!
Chapter 1
It was a dark and stormy nite. A black figure was oowtside. Wooo woooo it went. It loock [looked] werde. Grase was 5 and she was the only one home. The nabbse [neighbors] hred it to. Sam was the only one home he was 2. Dad was the black figyor. Grase hid under her covers. Sam hid under the table.
I love it! She is still working on it, too. Do you think she qualifies for the Young Writers Program? *grin*
And I haven't written anything today yet! I really should, but I've been so busy with tennis and speech co-op... now that is another story. I didn't have my expository speech ready yet this morning, and when I tried to draw an evolutionary tree as my visual (my topic was on convergent evolution), it just didn't work out. So instead of stressing out over my visual, I just wrote a whole new speech! (And this was like two hours before I had to give it, too.) So I did my expository on CDs instead -- how they work. I was very pleased with the way it turned out, especially since I didn't have a whole lot of preparation on it!
My next speech has to be a humorous interpretation. *dies*
And tennis... it's been great for only day three! Today I took Betsy to the courts for about an hour. She is improving, too. It's fun when other people come to use the courts while we're there -- then I can watch them from a distance and try to imitate their serves. And I only hit the ball over the tennis court fence once this time. Much better than yesterday when I hit like five over the fence (at least). That got to be a pain.
Um wait... this was supposed to be about NaNoWriMo. But my life this week has been more than just NaNo.
I'll leave you with an excerpt from my (still unnamed) novel. I like this scene, even though I was feeling a little goofy when I wrote it. lol.
At the same time that Joel was getting his fishing lesson, William's spirits were sinking lower and lower as he participated in the classes for the handful of children on the island. This was even more dull than school back in Canada!
The teacher was an old man named Thomas who had no hair, and no teeth (which made him very hard to understand). He never smiled, but he didn't raise his voice, either. In fact, he spoke in a monotone. A toothless monotone. If one of the children misbehaved, he would walk over to them and knock sharply on their head for a good two minutes while the class continued.
The children varried in ages from three to fourteen, and Thomas believed in teaching them all at once. As a result of this way of thinking, the older ones had to review the learning material for the three-year-olds every day. The day started out with a pledge to the island, the ocean, and the sun and moon that William found very disturbing. Of course, he did not know the words yet, so he was not expected to participate, but as he listened to the chant of the other children, he knew he could never join in with them. Growing up in Canada, the idea of saying a pledge was completely foreign to him.
Next, they said the ABC's together. Then they counted to 100. After that, Thomas called the students up to the front of the class one at a time and had them spell simple, three-letter words. William was bored to death with all of this.
After this came Science. This was the worst class of the session, William was sure. Thomas gave the class a lecture on some scientific topic (at least William guessed it was scientific, but he couldn't tell at all what the man was teaching them about). Then he asked each of the students questions which they could not understand because of his missing teeth. When they did not know the answers, he calmly walked over to them and started knocking on the child's head.
This man is crazy, William thought, as Thomas was painfully knocking on his head. Why is he allowed to be our teacher? We aren't learning anything here. At least I'm not. I'm not even keeping up on my multiplucation tables!
"Neh we wih do hiftoree," Thomas said in his usual monotone.
William payed close attention. This was his absolutely favorite subject. Hopefully Thomas would not make it as miserable for him as he had the other subjects so far. But "history" turned out to be nothing more than the children saying a chant that went like this:
China, Japan, Russia, and India. These are the countries of Asia. The men of China built a wall around their country to keep out intruders.
England, France, Switzerland, and Germany. These are the countries of Europe. Long ago, some people rebelled against England and started a new country in North America.
Canada, Mexico, and the United States. These are the countries of North America. The United States is made up of that group of people who rebelled against England.
Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and Argentina. These are the countries of South America. These countries are not important; nothing ever happens down there.
Egypt, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Kenya. These are the countries of Africa. The ancient Egyptians built giant pyramids and a strange looking statue called the sphynx, but other than that, nothing much happens here anymore.
Australia. This is a country that gets a whole continent to itself. No one is really sure what goes on here.
Antarctica. There are no countries here. It is cold and snowy, and no one lives here.
William found this exercise very dull, very uninformative, and very silly. Of course it wasn't true that nothing happened in South America, Australia, or Africa. And there were a lot more countries in the world than those mentioned in that silly chant. He started to raise his hand to say so, and then thought better of it. No sense in saying something that would cause Thomas to come over and start knocking on his head again. One time in Science class was painful enough.
Please excuse any improper grammar, punctuation, or spelling. NaNo is about writing, not editing. I'm stomping all over my inner editor, and it's great! *grins*
Oh, and I finished Algebra II this week!!!! We're having cake and ice cream tonight to celebrate.
Recently a friend loaned us some tennis rackets and balls. We had been wanting to learn to play tennis for a while, but never acquired any equipment. When our friend heard about that, he offered to let us borrow a couple of rackets and a set of balls. Great, we thought, we can play at the high school's tennis courts.
So Mom made a couple phone calls to find out who exactly we needed to see to get the key to the courts, and then we four girls set off in high spirits, with our water and rackets and balls -- oh, and our $5 deposit to get the key.
As we walked onto campus, we were a bit nervous, never having been there before. This place has a high fence all around it, so as we walked inside it was sort of like entering a prison or something. I turned to Amy and said, "It's not like we're entering the Institute or anything!" (If you've ever read The Mysterious Benedict Society)
Of course, we were stopped by security. "What are you doing here? Do you have ID?" I don't know why I was so nervous, it's not like we were breaking the law or anything. We were allowed to continue.
So we made it to the desk where we could pick up the key. Whew! "We'll need a copy of your driver's license to give you the key." Of course I don't have one. So the woman at the desk went to go check with someone else to see what we could do. "I'm sorry, but you'll need an adult to be responsible for you." Frustrated, we left campus and wait for Mom to get there.
Finally Mom showed up (on my bike) and we were able to finally secure our prized key. Our troubles weren't over, however. Mom turns to ask a man (who she thinks is a security guard) if there is an exit out a different direction, and it turns out he is a police officer, leading away a student in handcuffs!
And of course, there were all the weird looks you get from all the high school students who no doubt are wondering what you are doing there. *screams*
And then, the tennis courts were being used anyway! So we had to go all the way back home without playing.
I guess it doesn't sound that bad now, as I write it, but all in all, it was the kind of experience that makes your blood boil. When we got home I put on my iPod and listened to Handel's Water Music to calm down. *grimace*
Oh, and NaNoWriMo! Isn't it something that my happiness depends on a number? As long as the number is up, so am I. If the number goes down, so does my writing interest. Hmm, there's something not quite right about that. Oh well. Anyway, I'm now at 7,341 words! Not as good as some people... but at least I'm ahead of schedule.
I hear that week two can be tough... well, I'm preparing to meet it head on. Now if I could just get a running start -- a giant leap ahead on my word count, that is. *heads off to write*
Yes, I'm doing NaNoWriMo. And yes, I'm still getting used to the idea myself. Because it wasn't until just a few hours before the starting line that my evil friends, writer4him and Bluejaneconvinced me to do it.
Actually, I wanted to do it, but I had no plot idea. And then, while chatting with them last night, I decided to rewrite a book I started like two years ago. But I am totally re-writing it. I'm not even going back and reading the old manuscript, if I can help it. I want it to be entirely fresh and new. So we'll see how it goes. Unfortunately, I have forgotten a shocking number of characters' names, so I will have to go back and find them. lol.
And of course, I'm already way behind on my word count, but I'll recover sometime this month (hopefully). Hmm, well, this is only the second day, I could stop worrying about it, right? It's not like I have a big fat 0. I actually have 908 words. I'm hoping to catch up today.
So you know where I'll be for most of my free time this month -- either glued to my pen, or glued to my keyboard. Holler if you need me.
We just finished up our church's special meetings Thursday night. The preaching was excellent each night!
Sunday morning my sisters and I played I Sing the Mighty Power of God on our violins for special music (that's Amy on the piano). I love it, and I can't wait until they're ready to play in church full-time -- with the congregational singing, that is.
Welcome to my blog! I'm a fifteen-year-old girl who enjoys writing -- not only for my blog but also fictional stories and the like. Here you'll find stories, devotional thoughts, miscellaneous aspects of life, and more. Enjoy!
I also just realized something yesterday. I need to train her to recognize the mess, and then clean it up on her own without me telling her what needs to be done. It will take a little longer, maybe, but I will have to stick with it until she can clean her room quickly and effeciently. Better yet, I'm hoping eventually she'll just keep it clean, and then we won't have to keep cleaning it again every day!
Up until recently, it was my job to empty the dishwasher. This happened daily, sometimes twice a day.
convinced me to do it. 
