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Theresa Williamson

Member since: Mar 24th, 2006

Theresa Williamson's Latest Comments

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Recent Comments:

78-Year-Old Arkansas Man Fights to Keep Pet Pig (Pawnation OLD)

May 15th 2010 12:22PM Has he considered donating Joker to a petting zoo? He would receive a lot of attention, and be taken care of. He would also be around other pigs, and be able to socialize. That way, he would know that Joker would not be killed and eaten.

'I Went on a Cash-Only Diet' -- My Life on the Suze Orman Plan (Lemondrop)

May 12th 2010 1:17AM Congratulations on your new found wealth! I am out job-hunting because our family of 5 has problems making it on $25,500 a year. For the most part, we live frugally, although we are paying for two cars. I wish we could sell one of them, but Texas is not New York---taxis and short-distance buses are few---you can start on the east border of Texas and drive all day, and maybe reach the west border by nightfall.

We use an antenna with our converter box on two old TVs. We have dial-up because high speed isn't here unless you want to pay for satellite, and we can't. We live in what would have been the equivalent of a shotgun house in the 30's---a singlewide mobile home. We are using fans and open windows to keep it cool in our beginning spring/summer months. The light bill gets too high otherwise. I shop clothing sales with the mantra of $5 or less. I cannot imagine paying $50 for a pair of jeans nor shoes. We shop Walmart or Payless Shoe Source for all the kids' shoes. Twenty dollars or less on sneakers or dress shoes. My three children inform me that I am cheap. We visit the library to borrow DVD's and books. Occasionally, we splurge and visit Half-Price Books, or see a matinee costing $2.75 a person. We get a small cup of ice instead of paying for sodas. We visit a local charity that gives away a box of groceries once a month, and it has clothes there too, for free. Having the latest video, video game, electronic gadget isn't that important. Keeping everyone fed and clothed tends to override things like "what's in fashion?" with "what's on sale?" Needs and wants are different.

Packing peanut haters unite: There are better options (WalletPop)

May 3rd 2010 12:59PM I think packing peanuts are a bother. Whatever happened to wadded-up paper? Has anyone tried popcorn? At least it won't hurt your pets if they eat it. Or, if the package also includes clothing, then the clothing can serve as packing also.

Lower Your Grocery Bill (Kitchen Daily)

May 2nd 2010 2:00PM We are a family of five and I tend to shop quite often. On Fridays, I buy my husband's frozen dinners to take to work with him on the weekends. That way, they aren't eaten by anybody else. Food doesn't stay around very long here with a teenager, a preteen, and an older child. We also have to be careful about how much sugar we eat, so I am not always able to just fill them up with starchy foods, although they get enough of those between Raman noodles, Macaroni-and-cheese, and spaghetti. I try to buy whole-grain pasta when possible. I haven't seen a whole-grain raman noodle yet. We try to eat fish. They like fish filets that we bake in the oven. They like the boneless, skinless chicken I buy already precut, that I flour with seasoned flour and fry in sunflower oil. We drink decaffienated iced tea with Sweet-n-Low because we don't need excessive sugar in our diet. There are pros-and-cons about using a sugar substitute. We also use Nesquick with 25% less sugar for them to mix in their 1% lowfat milk that we buy from Braum's who has their own dairy that is not fed rBGH, which is a growth hormone. I used unsalted butter and neuchatel cheese when I bake cookies to cut down on the fat content.

When my children were little, I had to shop when they were in a good mood or asleep in their carseat. If they woke up and were fussy, we would have to leave the store. So shopping was fast. Now that they are all in school, I try to go to the store during the day, or after their Dad comes home from work so that I can go alone.

I find that running into the store for a few things is easier than doing a long shop. Get what you need and leave. Come back later or the next day for other things. Also, I can get better deals of food at different stores, so I shop for those things at those stores. I don't limit myself to just one store.

More Wives Should Dump Their Husbands (Politics Daily)

May 2nd 2010 6:02AM It is mostly a economic problem. Here, she has become accustomed to a lifestyle: she is accustomed to having her hair done at such-and-such a salon; she is used to shopping at particular stores; her children go to private schools; they were the more expensive clothes; she lives in a certain neighborhood. Things like that. If she divorced him, she may not have a means to support herself and her children. Often as not, the ex-husband's former family don't get child support from him because he is now all involved with the other woman and her family. He has forgotten his vows and where his loyalties should be. But she is stuck. What does she do? Where can she go to work? She may not have worked since her college days. Her skills are lacking. She and her children go from a wealthy lifestyle to poverty. Does she want to risk that? Does she want to live without some form of security? She is weighing her options. She doesn't want to put her children through a nasty divorce/custody battle.

How do I know these thoughts? I have considered them myself. There is not real love in the marriage. We have children. I don't work outside the home because of the varied schedules and health problems. There may be battles over custody. I don't want to put my children through that. What is best for my children? That is more important to me than what I may or may not want to do, myself. He is an okay dad. He spends too much time away from us mentally. He is physically here, but he often shuts us away from him and doesn't want to be disturbed. Kids usually turn out better when both parents are in their home. It has been proven to be true. See how many people end up in prison, or worse, when they don't have a father in the home. Boys don't learn about being a man without a father figure in the home. Girls can become promiscuous when they don't get Dad time either. They need to have a relationship with their Dad, not a sexual one, but an emotional one. So you really have to look to see what is the most important.

Her Husband's Last Name: Does a Woman's Identity Change, Too? (Politics Daily)

Apr 26th 2010 3:31PM Over the course of my lifetime so far, I have taken 3 different husbands' last names: Evans, Whistle, and now Williamson. Evans was easy to spell. Whistle was fun to spell for others, I just whistled. Williamson is 10 letters long. My maiden name only had 6 letters, and it was mid-alphabet. Guess I'll keep this last one, all my kids have it too.

I'm Raising My Grandkids And They're Out of Control! (ParentDish)

Apr 26th 2010 11:24AM You have an advantage. The 9-year-old is in school most of the day. The 5-year-old could be in kindergarten for half or all day. Then you would only have to deal with the two youngest all day. One thing I did during the time my kids (I had them in my 40's) was I kept them in the living room and kitchen with me. I shut off the rest of the house. If you can keep them somewhat corraled, it is easier. Also, I set up a routine of feeding them breakfast. Then allowing them to play until they were tired. Then there are naps, which help. Three-year-olds still take naps. Four-year-olds may still take an afternoon nap. They get tired. If they aren't getting enough rest, they are irritable. Don't give them a lot of sugary liquids, like juice, nor Koolaid, nor soda. Milk and water are great.

Keep their toys in the living room or den, wherever you spend all your time. My kitchen and living area are together. Keep childproof locks on all your cabinet doors. Is your backyard safely enclosed? Your grandkids need to spend time outside. When things go crazy in the house, take them outside. Fresh air and sunshine help everybody's mood.

You have just forgotten what it was like to raise little children. What kinds of things did you do with your children when they were little? They still like to play in the water hose, or sprinkler. They still like to swing on a swingset, or ride a tricycle.

You have to remember that this is an adjustment for them too. Children don't like change. This is a major change. Distraction works well. You can change a bad scene into a good one by changing the subject. You could also start watching Super Nanny. She has great ways of disciplining children, and changing home atmospheres. Do you have a strong-willed child? Or several of them? Dr. James Dobson addresses that in his book, THE STRONG-WILLED CHILD.

Try a few things, it will get better.

How to Go Organic Without Breaking the Bank (Kitchen Daily)

Apr 26th 2010 12:09AM We live on a one-acre plot. I have chickens and two young geese in a pen in the back yard. I have dug 3 places and planted seeds. Today, I noticed that the Kentucky Wonder beans had sprouted. I have constructed a simple Teepee of bamboo poles I got from Home Depot in the garden department there. I had planned to use an old steel bedspring from my grandmother's bed to grow squash through, but the dogs kept getting out, so now it is part of the fence. Does that sound silly? I have "rigged" all kinds of things needed for various things. Right now an old baby gate is the door to the chicken house. The newer baby gate sits at the entrance to the hallway to keep the chihuahuas from going into the kids' bedrooms.

To Kaiwanzuihou---I had prayed and asked God when I was going to meet somebody. I heard an audible voice tell me that it would be the next day at church. I was attending a tiny church, at Romayer, TX, max 15 people on special days. I went expecting to meet "whoever" and he didn't come in during Sunday School, nor church, but afterwards during our First Sunday of the Month Dinner. We met 4/5/92 and we married 5/24/92, and we are still married. He was my third husband, I was his third wife. Neither of us had had children. I had my first one at 40, the second at 42, and the third at 45. Don't give up. Pray instead. All the times I tried to make things happen, it was disasterous. When God makes things happen, everything works out.

Speak No Evil? How to Get Kids to Talk About Bullying (ParentDish)

Apr 20th 2010 10:39PM I was bullied as an elementary student, junior high student, and high school student. I left one school after 9th grade and it continued at the next school. It is like you are wearing a target on your back. I had a friend who later told me I could have told him and he would have taken care of the high school one. I wish I had. I ran away twice because of it, because the county judge's son was berating me for two years. I didn't know how to stop it. Who would believe me? I lived in fear most of the time I was in school, hence, I hated school. When you are made fun of daily, it gets really old. When you sit down on a bench and everybody on the bench gets up and walks away, it hurts. When boys tease you by saying "so-and-so likes you," it hurts. I suffered with a nervous stomach and diarrhea for years. When nobody picks you to be on their team in PE, it hurts. When other kids are invited to birthday parties and you aren't, it hurts. When nobody wants to sit with you, nor be seen talking to you, it hurts. I never tried to hurt myself because I knew I wasn't doing anything wrong. I was just different and didn't fit in. I had a lot of depression, although I didn't know what it was. I cried a lot.

I had friends at home in my neighborhood, but not at school. I was so relieved to graduate from high school and go to work in another town where nobody knew me. I could finally be myself.

Later, my first husband verbally abused me, and he would use mind games against me. That is a form of bullying. He would leave me everytime he decided he was mad at me. He wouldn't sleep with me when he was mad at me. He threatened to hurt me. I left him. Later, I divorced him.

I discovered that figuring out their mind games and using them against them worked pretty well. Sometimes you can know ahead of time what they might do, and prepare yourself.

Most of my friends were animals like dogs, cats, horses, pigs, chickens, geese, ducks, older people, younger kids. Never my peer group. Nothing in common with them. Reaching out to help others helps take the hurt away. Meeting other people's needs feels good.

One time, this was a long time ago, one of the girls I was being a friend to, but who was more interested in being part of the group, she came to where I worked and apologized to me. I was so surprised. I was raised to treat others like I would like to be treated. Satan's goal is to "steal, kill or destroy" us. He uses people to do his bidding. It isn't right, but it happens. We can stand against evil. The best weapon we have is to tell someone else who is hurting us. To look them in the eye, nose-to-nose if you have to. One of the strongest things we can do is to pray for that person to come to know Jesus.

Children learn what they are taught at home. If they are loved, they are loving. If they are abused, they abuse others. If their family curses at them and tells them they are no good, they act it out, because they think who would know better than their family how they are.

My oldest daughter was being bullied at a new school she started going to. I went and told the school. The first time they sent us to the school counselor and she laid the blame on my daughter. My daughter would either get sick to her stomach or burst into tears. She missed too much school, and had to go to Saturday school. I kept reporting it to different people at the school. The last time, I spoke with the Assistant Principal and she told the ones who were bullying her that they would be expelled if they even approached her or spoke to her. It was at the end of the school year, and they wanted to pass.

We home-schooled the next year. She started doing the home-school 2 days after getting out of that school. The next year, we did a private school that was self-paced called Accelerated Christian Education. Another bully in that school---the administrator, his wife, and another student. Back to home-school. My daughter was dealing with depression. We got her into painting. It helped. We put her into a safer Christian school, not self-paced. They use Abeka curriculum and have teachers, and a principal, and small classes, and it has really helped her level out emotionally.

Do what you have to. If you have to take them out of school for their protection, do it. They can do home-school. The Accelerated Christian Education is good. It is easier to deal with than a lot of homeschool curriculums. Look under School of Tomorrow. They have a distribution center in the Dallas/Fort Worth, TX metroplex. Texas is a great state when it comes to home-schooling. If you get a lot of flak from other states when it comes to home-schooling, come to Texas.

Do what you have to in order to protect your child. That is the most important thing.

No Soup for You: School Serves Up Cold Lunch As Punishment (ParentDish)

Apr 17th 2010 12:06AM Lots of kids would be grateful for having a cheese sandwich. It just shows you how spoiled the schools' students are.

Maybe they should contact Jaime Oliver to come and change what those students are eating.