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Talk A Latte

  • Terri Camp Home school author and mother
  • Updated Oct 22, 2002
Talk A Latte

I am a communicator!  Doesn’t that sound better than saying I interrupt people and talk when I’m supposed to be listening? As a woman, I have had a difficult time with the concept of keeping my ears open and my mouth shut.  I can even rationalize that I am simply “contributing” additional information. 

I was the one in school who would often be asked the question, “Is this something you would like to share with the whole class?” 

For the most part I would turn red and utter a simply barely audible, “No sir.”  In my old age though, I’m almost begging to be caught and asked if I would like to share.  “Yes!” I would scream.  “I have insight you must be told about!”  Fortunately for most, our pastor doesn’t call on me during his sermons, wondering if I would like to “share” with the congregation.

I think I have a word-expression deficiency.  On any given day I will type roughly 5,000 words, if you count typing in a chat room.  I speak regularly to nine other people in our house.  I talk on the phone roughly an hour each day.  And, yet, I am still deficient. 
As soon as Steve walks through the door I will begin to “share” with him every detail of my life.  I often feel sorry for the salesman on the phone who unwittingly calls to find out if I would like a credit card from his company.  I will often “share” how I am pretty convicted to live a debt-free life.  I may even give them the Web site for Larry Burkett’s ministry.  I will then go on to tell them that there are times I slip up, like around Christmas, but then I feel guilty about it, so they would really be doing me a disservice by giving me yet another credit card with a low-interest rate.

I’ve attempted to fix my deficiency by putting music on in the house, then I can sing words.  Perhaps that would help with the deficiency?  It doesn’t seem to help.  Perhaps one of the reasons I am a mom educating my children is an effort to speak as much as possible in a given day?

One thing I have found helpful is finding others with the same deficiency as me.  In case you are wondering if you too are etymologically deficient, I have developed a few questions which will help you diagnose yourself.

1. Do you often stare at the phone hoping it will ring so you can talk to someone?
2. Do you sometimes talk to yourself while driving down the road?
3. Have you ever had a twenty-minute conversation with a complete stranger while standing in line at the bank?
4. Do you frequently lean over to your husband during a sermon to mention something you caught from the sermon?  Or to remind him that he has a pile of clean underwear sitting on the couch.
5. Do you secretly wish you could sit around with your friends and just talk about your day for hours-on-end?  Do you ever wonder what you would end up talking about?  Of course you don’t.  People like us do not run out of things to say. 
Do you say goodbye at least three times before actually hanging up the phone?
6. Do you begin Internet based broadcasts for home schoolers just so you can talk for hours and feel like you’re doing something important?
7. Does the idea of going to a conference called Talk A Latte get you excited?

If you laughed knowingly at any of the above questions, then you are a prime candidate for the Talk A Latte time of refreshment coming to a city near you.

What is a Talk A Latte time of refreshment, you ask?  A Talk A Latte time of refreshment was born out of the mouths of a few home-school moms who love to talk.  Do we dare call it a gift from God?  As we thought about the needs of the home-school mom, we came up with a few needs which we felt we could help fill in them.  One need is to be able to talk with other moms about our struggles.  We also want to be able to get up close and personal with those who have gone before us. 

A recent TAL survey showed that home-school moms like to talk about three things.  They like to talk about food, family, and faith.  Not necessarily in that order.  A Talk A Latte time of refreshment will meet the needs of the home-school mom to talk about the three most important topics on her hearts. 

Check out www.talkalatte.com to see if you too can be refreshed.

Listen to Terri's weekly broadcast for home schoolers at www.thepathhome.com.
 
In addition to devoting herself to her husband and the eight children she home schools, Terri also enjoys writing and speaking to offer encouragement to women in an effervescent, humorous way. Visit her Web site at www.ignitethefire.com or e-mail her at terri@ignitethefire.com.