While on the treadmill this morning, I listened to my new playlist I downloaded from my daughter’s music. Steven Curtis Chapman’s song, Do Everything, started and I grunted my agreement with the lyrics:

You’re picking up toys on the living room floor
for the 15th time today
Matching up socks and sweeping up lost
Cheerios that got away

You put a baby on your hip and color on your lips
and head out the door
And while I may not know you I bet I know you
Wonder sometimes does it matter at all

As a mom, there are times where we all wonder if what we do as a mom is insignificant. Let’s face it — when was the last time you heard of a prize given out for laundry folding? Do you see cashiers at the grocery store giving you a thumbs-up or cheering you on for going grocery shopping? And what real lasting value does sweeping have anyway (apart from wear and tear on the floors)?

Compared to the completion of a large project at my husband’s work or a successful day teaching homeschooling, it’s easy to feel like the mundane things I do every day are hardly worth mentioning. Yet, that is far from the truth.

Not only are we to reflect God’s glory in everything we do, we never know what little thing will have a monumental impact. Good, bad, or otherwise, our children watch what we do and see our attitude in doing it. That’s enough to make us think twice, right?

So, no matter what we’re doing – it matters!

Back to school. Three little words that carry a lot of weight. For kids, it may be the anxiety of a new class and new teacher. For parents, it may be the chunk this time of the year will take out of their checkbook.

No doubt, August is notoriously an expensive month for parents. School clothes, school supplies, registration fees, and extra curriculum activity fees. If you homeschool, add on all the costs of curriculum and you feel like all you see is dollar signs everywhere you look!

I’m all about a bargain and always on the lookout for a good deal. So here are a few of my personal tips for saving money this time of the year.

• Recycle clothing fundraiser – have your kids go through their closets and take out all that no longer fits them. If they are in relatively good shape, take pictures of them, write up a description, and list the items for sale on eBay. In no time, you will raise money to purchase clothes for the new school year.
• Look for retailer coupons – this time of year many retailers offer free cash if you spend a certain amount. Look for sale or clearance items and once you combine that savings with the retailer’s additional coupon, you’ve gotten a great deal!
• Buy/sell used curriculum – if you homeschool, take advantage of the many places you can buy and sell your used curriculum. Check out these places online: eBay, HSLDA’s Curriculum Market, or Educational Accents.
• Join a Buyers co-op – for homeschool families, check out online the Homeschool Buyers Co-op (www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org) that enables you to get deep discounts just like school districts receive.

For additional ideas, check out Good Morning America’s segment on Back to School Bargains for 2011.

Whatever you do, don’t fret … the bargains are around!

Bullying. What immediately comes to mind is children playing on a playground and one kid is picked on.

What is a parent to do?

I have to admit, the first time my daughter came home in kindergarten and said someone had called her a name on the playground, my instinct was to march to that playground and give the other little kid a piece of my mind. Not too adult of a response, but I just hurt so badly that someone would hurt my daughter like that. I instead talked to her about going to a teacher immediately and how we should treat others like we would want them to treat us.

Then in middle school bullying takes a different form–in the halls, in the lunch room. More conniving, kids know when and were to bully without getting caught.

What is a parent to do?

I met repeatedly with the principal and teachers to confront it and taught my daughter different ways she could respond to being bullied.

Now in high school with the internet and social networking, bullying looks even more different–more aggressive and ruthless. Teens hide behind a screen and say things they never would say in person. Boys tend to use more physical bullying while girls often gang up on another and use exclusion as a bullying technique. Words cut, but spreading lies and gossiping punctures.

I recently read statistics that about 2.7 million students are being bullied each year, and in 2010 about 160,000 children missed school every day just out of fear of being bullied. Cyberbullying is relentless as it invades a person even in the safety of their own home through instant messages, email, text messages, and social networking sites. Cyberbullying ensures no where is safe.

Bullying doesn’t just happen in schools or on playgrounds. It’s all around us–even in churches and youth groups. Unfortunately no place seems to be exempt from bullying these days. Our children are bombarded at every corner.

What is a parent to do?

Parents may feel helpless in these situations, but we aren’t. Whether our child is being bullied at school, electronically, in youth group, or at church most importantly we need to let our child know we are there to listen and we are standing tall with them!

Depending on the age of a child, being our child’s advocate may look different the older they get. However, we can make sure our child knows we are willing to take a stand for them.

We need to pray for our child and ask God to give us wisdom to know how to approach the situation. We can also discuss with our child how they may respond in the future to such attacks.

Apart from all the discussion and teaching moments, we can make sure to encourage our children to surround themselves with those who love and support them, and those who are kind … even if that leaves just your immediate family. They are not alone!

As parents, we may not be able to stop bullies, but we can stand with our children when they fall victims to such attacks.