Quote from Pope Benedict XVI--- highjacked from testosterhome.blogspot.com
"I must confess a personal weakness," the Pope said, when answering a question about priestly activities. "At night, I find it difficult to pray. I just want to sleep," he said to much applause. "Nevertheless, it is really necessary to find some time for the Lord."
Monday, February 26, 2007
Friday, February 23, 2007
hush little baby
A few weeks ago, Kain told me he wanted me to start singing to him at night. Specifically, he wanted me to sing "Hush Little Baby". Small enough request, right? It just irked me, singing this song. I couldn't really figure out why, except....
-- I just don't like the song. I've never liked it. Who is this Momma that's gonna buy a baby a cart and bull? A diamond ring? That turns brass??? Where do they get this stuff? What's the message here, "Hush little baby, I'm gonna buy you stuff"?
But that wasn't all of it. I had to do some digging, and I think I know why. It doesn't reveal a pretty side of me, necessarily, but I'm not pretty all over. :)
--He's not a baby. Don't get me wrong, I've gotten really very attached to this child, but there's just something kind of odd-feeling about singing a lullaby to a very large, very un-baby-like 7 year old. Not only is he not a baby, I didn't even *know* him as a baby. I met Kain for the first time when he was three years old, and even then it was just for one summer. I only rarely even saw a baby picture. If my 10 year old wanted me to sing her to sleep tonight, other than being amused, it wouldn't phase me much because I can close my eyes and she's a plump sweet-smelling 9 month old laying on my shoulder and playing with my hair. I have no physical memory of Kain as a baby, and that makes it feel kind of weird.
--He's not my baby. It's a rather specific *type* of lullaby, isn't it? "Momma's gonna do this, Momma's gonna do that." The reason he wants me to sing it to him in the first place is because he says his Momma sang it to him. I am a stand-in. He knows it and I know it. He was embarrassed when he asked me to sing this song. Kain, who is usually seemingly oblivious to what others think and feel, knew he sounded a bit babyish and silly asking me to sing him this song. He was admitting vulnerability. He misses his mother. And even though I am not her, he wants me to pretend. He wants me to pretend so that he can pretend. He wants to close his eyes and have me sing and rub his head and pretend that I am his mother and his world is sane and right again, that he has parents that don't party their lives away but instead take care of him and want him enough to do whatever they have to do to provide what he needs.
--And I guess, deep down, it bothers me a little to indulge this good memory of his mother. I need to villianize her, because I can't understand a world where parents mistreat their children any better than Kain can. Other than occasional awkward phone conversations, I don't know Kain's mother, and I don't want to know her. I have a lot of anger towards both of these parents, these people that have abandoned their child and put us in this gut-wrenching position of falling in love with this boy and trying to do what we can for him while his parents continue to toy all of our lives and with his undying devotion to them both. I don't want him to love her because she doesn't deserve it, and because continuing to love and want her will just cause him more pain. I know it's not right to expect him not to love his own mother. I know this in my head, but that's still how I feel. And I have a picture of her I want to keep, a picture of a woman who neglected her children so much that they have been taken away from her not once but several times, who let things so terrifying happen to her child that a year and a half later he is *still* waking up with nightmares, a woman that after doing all of these things will call me and tell me how she really has her life straightened out this time and expects me to actually swallow that without gagging. I don't want a picture in my head of her singing Kain to sleep, of her doing something sweet and maternal.
I don't want to sing this song. And yet...he has asked. This is what he needs. He needs his mother to sing him to sleep. Of all we have done for him, this is the one thing I can't provide, his mother to sing him to sleep. But I can pretend, for him. I will sit on his bed, push his thick blond hair across his head, and sing about mockingbirds and dogs named Rover...and at the end, promise him that he is, indeed, still the sweetest baby in town.
-- I just don't like the song. I've never liked it. Who is this Momma that's gonna buy a baby a cart and bull? A diamond ring? That turns brass??? Where do they get this stuff? What's the message here, "Hush little baby, I'm gonna buy you stuff"?
But that wasn't all of it. I had to do some digging, and I think I know why. It doesn't reveal a pretty side of me, necessarily, but I'm not pretty all over. :)
--He's not a baby. Don't get me wrong, I've gotten really very attached to this child, but there's just something kind of odd-feeling about singing a lullaby to a very large, very un-baby-like 7 year old. Not only is he not a baby, I didn't even *know* him as a baby. I met Kain for the first time when he was three years old, and even then it was just for one summer. I only rarely even saw a baby picture. If my 10 year old wanted me to sing her to sleep tonight, other than being amused, it wouldn't phase me much because I can close my eyes and she's a plump sweet-smelling 9 month old laying on my shoulder and playing with my hair. I have no physical memory of Kain as a baby, and that makes it feel kind of weird.
--He's not my baby. It's a rather specific *type* of lullaby, isn't it? "Momma's gonna do this, Momma's gonna do that." The reason he wants me to sing it to him in the first place is because he says his Momma sang it to him. I am a stand-in. He knows it and I know it. He was embarrassed when he asked me to sing this song. Kain, who is usually seemingly oblivious to what others think and feel, knew he sounded a bit babyish and silly asking me to sing him this song. He was admitting vulnerability. He misses his mother. And even though I am not her, he wants me to pretend. He wants me to pretend so that he can pretend. He wants to close his eyes and have me sing and rub his head and pretend that I am his mother and his world is sane and right again, that he has parents that don't party their lives away but instead take care of him and want him enough to do whatever they have to do to provide what he needs.
--And I guess, deep down, it bothers me a little to indulge this good memory of his mother. I need to villianize her, because I can't understand a world where parents mistreat their children any better than Kain can. Other than occasional awkward phone conversations, I don't know Kain's mother, and I don't want to know her. I have a lot of anger towards both of these parents, these people that have abandoned their child and put us in this gut-wrenching position of falling in love with this boy and trying to do what we can for him while his parents continue to toy all of our lives and with his undying devotion to them both. I don't want him to love her because she doesn't deserve it, and because continuing to love and want her will just cause him more pain. I know it's not right to expect him not to love his own mother. I know this in my head, but that's still how I feel. And I have a picture of her I want to keep, a picture of a woman who neglected her children so much that they have been taken away from her not once but several times, who let things so terrifying happen to her child that a year and a half later he is *still* waking up with nightmares, a woman that after doing all of these things will call me and tell me how she really has her life straightened out this time and expects me to actually swallow that without gagging. I don't want a picture in my head of her singing Kain to sleep, of her doing something sweet and maternal.
I don't want to sing this song. And yet...he has asked. This is what he needs. He needs his mother to sing him to sleep. Of all we have done for him, this is the one thing I can't provide, his mother to sing him to sleep. But I can pretend, for him. I will sit on his bed, push his thick blond hair across his head, and sing about mockingbirds and dogs named Rover...and at the end, promise him that he is, indeed, still the sweetest baby in town.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
And finally, a Lenten post
Boy, I had a hard time getting my brain around the fact that Lent was starting. We really scrambled to get our preparations ready this year. Maria and I went to the Ash Wednesday mass yesterday afternoon...John was home and stayed with Jack so that he (Jack) could nap. Later that evening we finally got the altar ready. Maria and I made a salt-dough crown of thorns. There's 40 thorns in the crown, and we take a thorn (toothpick) out for each day of Lenten sacrifice and put it in that little glass bowl next to it. On the Easter Vigil, all the thorns will be gone and we will glue flowers to the wreath. The toothpicks in the bowl will disappear and be replaced by candy. So, what are we all giving up for Lent? Well, we pondered and pondered what to do this year. We will do our usually giving up of sweets and treats on all days but Sunday. Other than that, we decided to let the kids focus on their jelly bean jars. Their jars are there on the altar, back in the corners. They aren't exactly jars, more like fancy bowls. You can't tell in the picture, but the bowls are lined with a piece of cardstock to hide the view of the jelly beans because 1. I didn't think it was appropriate to have candy on the altar during Lent, 2. I didn't want Jack to see the candy, and 3. I didn't want the kids to get obsessed with comparing the number of jelly beans in each other's jars. This is a really nice little tradition. Each evening the kids share (with some prompting from us one what we've noticed, good and bad, during the day) what little sacrifices and deeds they have offered up during the day. They get the corresponding beans in their jar...all except for the white ones. This poem goes with the jars--
Red is for the blood He gave. (sacrifice)
Green is for the palm’s cool shade. (good deeds)
White is for the grace He gave. (can’t earn these!)
Yellow is for God’s light so bright. (kindnesses)
Orange is for prayers at twilight. (evening prayers)
Blue is for sweet rest at night. (going to bed well)
Purple is for His hour of sorrow. (asking forgiveness)
Pink is for our new tomorrow. (giving forgiveness)
A bag full of jelly beans colorful and sweet,Is a prayer, is a promise, is a special treat.
The night before Easter, we will fill whatever space is remaining in each jar with white jelly beans...they represent God's grace- you can't earn it, it is freely given to hold us up where we fall short.
So, that's the bulk of our Lenten ideas. We have some nightly scripture readings to add to our evening prayers, we will coordinate with our parish calendar to try and make some of their activities, especially Stations of the Cross, and we have some special activities planned for Holy Week. John and I also have our own things to offer up too...we didn't make our own jelly bean jars. :)
Did you think we were dead?
I was reading my last post, and then realizing I hadn't posted in so long that someone might have assumed the worst. :) We did survive the flu,,,and John and I didn't even come down with it, so that was a blessing. Then we just got busy with life....but here's a few pics of one of Jack's latest accomplishments. :) He worked so hard on this...putting a block on, realizing it was the wrong size and putting on another...I really helped very little. It's a mom-skill, for sure, learning how to sit on your hands and let your kids discover things on their own. He looks quite tickled with himself, doesn't he?
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Quarantine
The children are falling fast. Kain became sick early yesterday morning with a high fever, sore throat, etc., and tested positive for both strep AND flu. He is sickity sick sick. His temp reached 105.8! last night...the highest temp I have ever taken, and I used to work pediatrics so that's saying a bit. I was able to quickly bring it down with motrin and cold rags. But last night Jack started with the fever as well. It's been a loooooong 24 hours ya'll. Throw us up a prayer when you get a minute.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Happy Birthday Kain!
Kain turned 7 years old on February 2nd. He has been waiting for his birthday for months...ever since Maria had hers in September and Jack had his in October he has been waiting for his turn! Friday we celebrated a bit early because he was going to spend the night with his dad. So during reading and rest time, I snuck Maria out of her room and we stealthily decorated the living room, put out presents, pizza, and cupcakes and surprised Kain when he came out of his room.
Saturday we had a little pool party at the Jones Center with some friends and my parents. He had a ball and has been nagging me to go back to the Jones Center pool ever since.
Kain also had his first appointment with the psychiatrist at Schmieding. It was an interesting experience. She had some insights into his behavior I hadn't thought of before, pointing out some progresses we hadn't seen..for example, the way he cries so easily now- when he came here, he *never* cried. Ever. I'd forgotten that, how even when he fell and hurt himself he wouldn't cry. Instead he would become enraged! It was really odd behavior, to see him fall down and get into this angry rage about it. He doesn't do that anymore. In fact, his rages are much less frequent. I keep reminding myself how bad things used to be...we have made a lot of progress and I need to remember how far we've come. He is doing much better in school since starting the medication three weeks ago. He enjoys school and has a very patient teacher that he adores. We were making great progress with his behavior at home even before the medication, but the medication has helped in smaller ways here...he handles things like mass, going to the grocery store, doctor's appointments, overstimulating situations like that much, much better now. We will continue to go the weekly therapy, and we are working on getting OT and speech therapy started through his school. I may have to be a little, ah, assertive about getting that done. There are a lot of kids that need therapy and not enough therapists to go around, so I guess you have to have some pretty severe delays to get therapy...but I've got two doctors now saying he needs this done, and it needs to happen! I also realized how much he has slimmed down since coming to stay with us in August. Between his weight problem and his lung condition, he had no exercise tolerance at all. He would become short of breath and complain about his legs hurting just walking through the walmart parking lot. Now he runs and play outside for a couple of hours everyday, and it is showing. The binge eating that we had such a struggle with is almost nonexistent now. He sleeps through the night many nights now. He used to wander around the house and we would find him asleep on the hallway floor in the morning! Now he still wakes and turns on his bedroom lights some nights, but he doesn't roam anymore, and many nights he seems to sleep straight through.
Thank you to everyone that has prayed for us with this situation with Kain...some of you for three years now since we first started this journey of trying to help him. When we lost him three years ago, I never knew if I'd even see him again. We have prayed and prayed...St. Mother Theresa, St. John Bosco, and John Paul II are ones I have begged prayers and intercessions through...and here he is , and doing *well*. We are so grateful.
Saturday we had a little pool party at the Jones Center with some friends and my parents. He had a ball and has been nagging me to go back to the Jones Center pool ever since.
Kain also had his first appointment with the psychiatrist at Schmieding. It was an interesting experience. She had some insights into his behavior I hadn't thought of before, pointing out some progresses we hadn't seen..for example, the way he cries so easily now- when he came here, he *never* cried. Ever. I'd forgotten that, how even when he fell and hurt himself he wouldn't cry. Instead he would become enraged! It was really odd behavior, to see him fall down and get into this angry rage about it. He doesn't do that anymore. In fact, his rages are much less frequent. I keep reminding myself how bad things used to be...we have made a lot of progress and I need to remember how far we've come. He is doing much better in school since starting the medication three weeks ago. He enjoys school and has a very patient teacher that he adores. We were making great progress with his behavior at home even before the medication, but the medication has helped in smaller ways here...he handles things like mass, going to the grocery store, doctor's appointments, overstimulating situations like that much, much better now. We will continue to go the weekly therapy, and we are working on getting OT and speech therapy started through his school. I may have to be a little, ah, assertive about getting that done. There are a lot of kids that need therapy and not enough therapists to go around, so I guess you have to have some pretty severe delays to get therapy...but I've got two doctors now saying he needs this done, and it needs to happen! I also realized how much he has slimmed down since coming to stay with us in August. Between his weight problem and his lung condition, he had no exercise tolerance at all. He would become short of breath and complain about his legs hurting just walking through the walmart parking lot. Now he runs and play outside for a couple of hours everyday, and it is showing. The binge eating that we had such a struggle with is almost nonexistent now. He sleeps through the night many nights now. He used to wander around the house and we would find him asleep on the hallway floor in the morning! Now he still wakes and turns on his bedroom lights some nights, but he doesn't roam anymore, and many nights he seems to sleep straight through.
Thank you to everyone that has prayed for us with this situation with Kain...some of you for three years now since we first started this journey of trying to help him. When we lost him three years ago, I never knew if I'd even see him again. We have prayed and prayed...St. Mother Theresa, St. John Bosco, and John Paul II are ones I have begged prayers and intercessions through...and here he is , and doing *well*. We are so grateful.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Maria's quiz
She got an 83%, which I thought was pretty darned good! I let her do it completely on her own, in fact I wasn't even in the room...which is why she closed the browser window and lost the link to her score...lol. But she says she got an 83%.
I am Melanie...super genius
You are a 100% traditional Catholic!
Congratulations! You are more knowlegeable than most modern theologians! You have achieved mastery over the most important doctrines of the Catholic Faith! You should share your incredible understanding with others!
Do You Know Your Baltimore Catechism?
Make Your Own Quiz
You know the Bible 100%!
Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses - you know it all! You are fantastic!
Ultimate Bible Quiz
Create MySpace Quizzes
I won't get too cocky. Most of the questions in the first one were very, very easy and had at least a couple of "throw away" choices. I may have Maria do this later...a fourth grader that knows her catechism at all should do decently on this!
The bible one had some harder questions...in typical Catholic fashion, I know the catechism better than the bible. So I was suprised I got 100% on that one. I honestly made educated guesses on a couple of them.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
hidden motivations
Why do I neglect this blog so? Well, for the same reason I started it...accountability.When I don't want to post what we did (and didn't) get done in a particular day, it's easy to be "too busy" to post it...haha! Ah well,,,a quick catch up.
Tuesday- we did a decent day of school, but I couldn't recall it for you now. Maria started soccer with our homeschool group and really enjoyed it, which surprised her to pieces...soccer is "for boys" you know. She only tried it because I pushed her to do so. She has never played any team sports...what is the point of a sport that doesn't involved pretty shoes and tutus?
Wednesday- Well,,,what can I say about Wednesday. It snowed about 4 inches. Kain's school closed early, throwing a great big wrench in the middle of my best laid school plans, and then I turned the kids loose to go play. We haven't had a winter with this much snowfall in a few years now, and the kids are eating it up. We did do some school before picking up Kain....a math lesson in Saxon, reading a story in Bible History, catechism questions,,,we started reading "He Went with Marco Polo",,,finally. It has been MIA upstairs. Fabulous book if you can find it. Then I began the 45 minute/2mile drive on extremely hazardous roads and crazy, crazy traffic to pick up Kain from school. Kain was supposed to have therapy yesterday, and Maria was supposed to have choir practice at the church...both were cancelled.
Thursday-, today....letting the kids play in the snow again. Kain's school is closed. We will go upstairs when Jack wakes up and work on the school work we didn't do yesterday, plus read some more of the Marco Polo book.
On the menu- freestyle breakfast...I let the kids sleep in since I knew it would be a "snow day", so breakfast was kind of freeflowing.
Lunch- spaghetti
Tea time- banana bread? Some cookies? Not sure...planning on doing some baking today
Dinner- Beef nacho casserole, asparagus
Tuesday- we did a decent day of school, but I couldn't recall it for you now. Maria started soccer with our homeschool group and really enjoyed it, which surprised her to pieces...soccer is "for boys" you know. She only tried it because I pushed her to do so. She has never played any team sports...what is the point of a sport that doesn't involved pretty shoes and tutus?
Wednesday- Well,,,what can I say about Wednesday. It snowed about 4 inches. Kain's school closed early, throwing a great big wrench in the middle of my best laid school plans, and then I turned the kids loose to go play. We haven't had a winter with this much snowfall in a few years now, and the kids are eating it up. We did do some school before picking up Kain....a math lesson in Saxon, reading a story in Bible History, catechism questions,,,we started reading "He Went with Marco Polo",,,finally. It has been MIA upstairs. Fabulous book if you can find it. Then I began the 45 minute/2mile drive on extremely hazardous roads and crazy, crazy traffic to pick up Kain from school. Kain was supposed to have therapy yesterday, and Maria was supposed to have choir practice at the church...both were cancelled.
Thursday-, today....letting the kids play in the snow again. Kain's school is closed. We will go upstairs when Jack wakes up and work on the school work we didn't do yesterday, plus read some more of the Marco Polo book.
On the menu- freestyle breakfast...I let the kids sleep in since I knew it would be a "snow day", so breakfast was kind of freeflowing.
Lunch- spaghetti
Tea time- banana bread? Some cookies? Not sure...planning on doing some baking today
Dinner- Beef nacho casserole, asparagus
My very first meme
I'm getting a little misty eyed...Ok here goes--
Homemaking Meme----from A to Z
Aprons – Yes, I have one. If I wore it more often, my shirts would probably be in better shape.
Baking – What is your favorite thing to bake?- Bar cookies of some kind. Much easier and quicker than individual cookies. It's all about efficiency here, folks.
Clothesline – Y/N? Yes, we have one. I don't use it. John doesn't like "crunchy clothes". I have a retractable indoor one in my laundry room that I use to hang up stuff that shouldn't go in the drier. Right now it is holding wet gloves and pants. (snow yesterday!)
Donuts – Have you ever made them? Nope. Would like to try someday...just never have.
Every day – One homemaking thing you do every day: Clean the bathroom sinks (actually, Maria does hers).
Freezer – Do you have a separate deep freeze? Yes, and old upright one my in-laws gave us. It sits unused in the laundry room. It needs a good scrub down before we attempt to use it. Another "someday" thing...it's not a necessity at this point, but will be with the addition of any more people to this family!
Garbage Disposal – Y/N? Oh yes.
Handbook?- I *love* Managers of Their Homes (titus2.com).
Ironing – Love it or hate it?- I don't iron. We have no need. My husband is a nurse, he wears scrubs to work. I don't mind ironing the occasional item, but it is rarely needed.
Junk drawer – Y/N? Where is it? - Ha! My dh has several...practically one in each room. I started off giving him one of his dresser drawers because I got tired of arguing with him over the stuff he would stash in there. He has since taken over a couple of more in other rooms of the house. Need to purge those and hold him to one drawer. He is a packrat, God love him.
Kitchen: Design & Decorating?- Just finished most of our remodeling. Natural wood cabinets with a coffee colored glaze, blue Corian countertops, buff-colored ceramic tile floor...pretty. Still needing to finish some trim work around the window, a bit of paint....
Love: What is your favorite part of homemaking? I love organizing stuff. I am an organization junkie. Big on plans, weak on follow through.
Mop - Y/N? Oh yeah. Mostly hardwood floors in this house. When we are done remodeling the living room the only carpet will be in the upstairs playroom.
Nylons - Wash by hand or in the washing machine?- Dear heavens, I don't wear nylons. What kind of establishment do you think this is! When I wear skirts, they are very long, and I wear sandles or some kind of slip on loafer. No nylons. They are evil. Last time I wore a pair was to my grandfather's funeral, and before that was probably at my wedding.
Oven - Do you use the window, or open the door to check?- Open the door.
Pizza - What do you put on yours? I love a little sausage or bacon and slices of tomatoes, fresh basil if we have it. Yummy. We make homemade pizza every Saturday now.
Quiet - What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment? Blog, or sit with a cup of coffee and a book.
Recipe card box - Y/N? Yes. I have one and use it regularly.
Style of house -1950's fixer upper, white siding with no trim...very plain outside,,,need to fix that up if we ever get the inside done. In theory 4 bedroom/3bath, but one of the baths is unfinished, and the 4th bedroom is really a finished attic space that we use as a homeschool room/play room. The kids are up there right now destroying it.
Tablecloths and napkins - Y/N?- Placemats and napkins. I don't care for tablecloths with kids. Somebody always seems to spill and drip...would never make it through one meal around here. I can replace a placemat quickly and easily.
Under the kitchen sink - Organized or toxic wasteland? Can of Barkeepers Friend, dishwasher soap, and a giant apple juice jug of dishwashing liquid (long story...I needed 9 empty dishwashing liquid bottles for something like 3 years ago...we are still using up the soap), and my giant stockpot is under there.
Vacuum - How many times per week? Twice a week in the living room.
Wash - How many loads of laundry do you do a week? About 8.
X's - Do you keep a daily list of things to do and cross them off? Oh yes. I'm a big list maker.
Yard - Who does what? John mows and weedwackers, I do the actual gardening. We both do some leaf raking. I enjoy that....like getting out on fall days.
Zzz's - What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?- When things are running smoothly, a quick pick up of any left out stuff. Not been that smooth lately....so lately has been a lick and a promise of more tomorrow....
Homemaking Meme----from A to Z
Aprons – Yes, I have one. If I wore it more often, my shirts would probably be in better shape.
Baking – What is your favorite thing to bake?- Bar cookies of some kind. Much easier and quicker than individual cookies. It's all about efficiency here, folks.
Clothesline – Y/N? Yes, we have one. I don't use it. John doesn't like "crunchy clothes". I have a retractable indoor one in my laundry room that I use to hang up stuff that shouldn't go in the drier. Right now it is holding wet gloves and pants. (snow yesterday!)
Donuts – Have you ever made them? Nope. Would like to try someday...just never have.
Every day – One homemaking thing you do every day: Clean the bathroom sinks (actually, Maria does hers).
Freezer – Do you have a separate deep freeze? Yes, and old upright one my in-laws gave us. It sits unused in the laundry room. It needs a good scrub down before we attempt to use it. Another "someday" thing...it's not a necessity at this point, but will be with the addition of any more people to this family!
Garbage Disposal – Y/N? Oh yes.
Handbook?- I *love* Managers of Their Homes (titus2.com).
Ironing – Love it or hate it?- I don't iron. We have no need. My husband is a nurse, he wears scrubs to work. I don't mind ironing the occasional item, but it is rarely needed.
Junk drawer – Y/N? Where is it? - Ha! My dh has several...practically one in each room. I started off giving him one of his dresser drawers because I got tired of arguing with him over the stuff he would stash in there. He has since taken over a couple of more in other rooms of the house. Need to purge those and hold him to one drawer. He is a packrat, God love him.
Kitchen: Design & Decorating?- Just finished most of our remodeling. Natural wood cabinets with a coffee colored glaze, blue Corian countertops, buff-colored ceramic tile floor...pretty. Still needing to finish some trim work around the window, a bit of paint....
Love: What is your favorite part of homemaking? I love organizing stuff. I am an organization junkie. Big on plans, weak on follow through.
Mop - Y/N? Oh yeah. Mostly hardwood floors in this house. When we are done remodeling the living room the only carpet will be in the upstairs playroom.
Nylons - Wash by hand or in the washing machine?- Dear heavens, I don't wear nylons. What kind of establishment do you think this is! When I wear skirts, they are very long, and I wear sandles or some kind of slip on loafer. No nylons. They are evil. Last time I wore a pair was to my grandfather's funeral, and before that was probably at my wedding.
Oven - Do you use the window, or open the door to check?- Open the door.
Pizza - What do you put on yours? I love a little sausage or bacon and slices of tomatoes, fresh basil if we have it. Yummy. We make homemade pizza every Saturday now.
Quiet - What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment? Blog, or sit with a cup of coffee and a book.
Recipe card box - Y/N? Yes. I have one and use it regularly.
Style of house -1950's fixer upper, white siding with no trim...very plain outside,,,need to fix that up if we ever get the inside done. In theory 4 bedroom/3bath, but one of the baths is unfinished, and the 4th bedroom is really a finished attic space that we use as a homeschool room/play room. The kids are up there right now destroying it.
Tablecloths and napkins - Y/N?- Placemats and napkins. I don't care for tablecloths with kids. Somebody always seems to spill and drip...would never make it through one meal around here. I can replace a placemat quickly and easily.
Under the kitchen sink - Organized or toxic wasteland? Can of Barkeepers Friend, dishwasher soap, and a giant apple juice jug of dishwashing liquid (long story...I needed 9 empty dishwashing liquid bottles for something like 3 years ago...we are still using up the soap), and my giant stockpot is under there.
Vacuum - How many times per week? Twice a week in the living room.
Wash - How many loads of laundry do you do a week? About 8.
X's - Do you keep a daily list of things to do and cross them off? Oh yes. I'm a big list maker.
Yard - Who does what? John mows and weedwackers, I do the actual gardening. We both do some leaf raking. I enjoy that....like getting out on fall days.
Zzz's - What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?- When things are running smoothly, a quick pick up of any left out stuff. Not been that smooth lately....so lately has been a lick and a promise of more tomorrow....
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Stylin'
My daughter....the fashion plate. Maria has always been such a "girly girl". If she were going to high school, she would be the social butterfly cheerleader type at every social event,,,,praise GOD she is not going to high school. Haha! Seriously, homeschooling is often seen as a good thing for kids that are a bit socially awkward, and that's surely true. But it also is a blessing for a child that tends to be a little *too* peer-oriented. At least with homeschooling, I have a little more control over who those peers are! Maria loves clothes, loves to look "cool",,,and loves pink, as evidenced by this picture. I have no idea where she gets this. I am the exact opposite of a clothes-horse and disdain "wasting" money on buying clothing for myself when the money could be put to much better use buying books or something for our home. I don't recall ever caring much about clothing, even as a teenager. But Maria loves to dress up, and she definitely has a style all her own. Now that I can appreciate. The things she chooses to wear are things that *she* likes, not things that the kids at school will accept. I am always tickled when I see her wearing something a bit...unusual. I'm glad she has the space to develop her own tastes with minimal influence from others opinions. And as long as her clothing is modest and reasonable for the occasion, I try to keep even my own opinion to myself. :)
Monday, January 29, 2007
quick Monday post
quick Monday post
Oooooh...Mondays are so long. We had co-op today. Intro to Life Science, Fear Factor Fun (math), Spanish, Cooking, Knitting, and Art for Maria. Running errands, helping out in the preschool, the afternoon freeplay class for 2 hours....we are all wiped out. Maria feels bad this evening...wondering if she is coming down with something or just tired.
Breakfast- leftover pancakes and fruit bowl
Lunch- roast beef sandwiches, clementines, pretzles
Snack- granola bars on the run
Dinner- Burger King (yum...more junk)
What we read- Maria- nothing so far. Will read some of The Secret Garden tonight. Kain- Make Way for Ducklings. Jack- Curious George, some little puppy board book Maria picked out from the library.
GOing to go chase Kain into bed and crash now....
Oooooh...Mondays are so long. We had co-op today. Intro to Life Science, Fear Factor Fun (math), Spanish, Cooking, Knitting, and Art for Maria. Running errands, helping out in the preschool, the afternoon freeplay class for 2 hours....we are all wiped out. Maria feels bad this evening...wondering if she is coming down with something or just tired.
Breakfast- leftover pancakes and fruit bowl
Lunch- roast beef sandwiches, clementines, pretzles
Snack- granola bars on the run
Dinner- Burger King (yum...more junk)
What we read- Maria- nothing so far. Will read some of The Secret Garden tonight. Kain- Make Way for Ducklings. Jack- Curious George, some little puppy board book Maria picked out from the library.
GOing to go chase Kain into bed and crash now....
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Sunday
Sunday
-PSR this morning. I co-teach a preschool class, Maria and Kain go off to their respective classes. Jack usually goes to the nursery. Maria says they learned "more about Confirmation, and a bunch of different stuff I can't remember." Kain says they learned about "families".
-Mass after PSR. Kain did very well today. Jack was a wildman. Things to work on for next mass- Maria- attention to prayer after communion instead of looking for friends to walk by. Kain- kneeling without complaining and sitting on his ankles.
-Today was Kain's name day, so we went to pick up some donuts after mass. He also got out of chores for the day, but had to tell him later that this did not give him license to do whatever he wanted to do, i.e. not bathe or go to bed.
-Then the kids played outside while I attempted (and failed) to get Jack to nap. He's been resisting naps the last couple of days. Disturbing trend. I read some, channel flipped some, and generally made an effort to relax. Still had to wash dishes by hand, so that took some time this afternoon. Kids played outside and Kain fought often with the other kids. They try to leave him out, skip his turns, that kind of thing, and then he acts out.
- Jack watched a Thomas video, we read some books and played with his new nesting blocks. Didn't go outside with him. Too cold for me!
-Now Jack's in bed, Kain is on his way after bedtime prayers, and I will wash some more dishes and get ready for co-op day tomorrow. Should be a good day, because John is off, so either he can
A. come with us and get in some nice Daddy time, or
B. stay here and pick up Kain from school so I don't have to make the mad dash back to town in time to get him.
His choice will probably depend on what time he gets home tonight!
On the menu----
Breakfast- cereal, not a great choice, but I overslept a bit.
Snack- Donuts
Lunch- Mac and cheese (Kain's choice)
Tea time- Just tea for me. The kids were playing and had a late lunch due to the donuts.
Dinner- pancakes, eggs, sausage and bacon (we always have brinner (breakfast for dinner) on Sundays)
Dessert- Sundaes for Sunday.
Lots of junk...but hey, it's Sunday.
-PSR this morning. I co-teach a preschool class, Maria and Kain go off to their respective classes. Jack usually goes to the nursery. Maria says they learned "more about Confirmation, and a bunch of different stuff I can't remember." Kain says they learned about "families".
-Mass after PSR. Kain did very well today. Jack was a wildman. Things to work on for next mass- Maria- attention to prayer after communion instead of looking for friends to walk by. Kain- kneeling without complaining and sitting on his ankles.
-Today was Kain's name day, so we went to pick up some donuts after mass. He also got out of chores for the day, but had to tell him later that this did not give him license to do whatever he wanted to do, i.e. not bathe or go to bed.
-Then the kids played outside while I attempted (and failed) to get Jack to nap. He's been resisting naps the last couple of days. Disturbing trend. I read some, channel flipped some, and generally made an effort to relax. Still had to wash dishes by hand, so that took some time this afternoon. Kids played outside and Kain fought often with the other kids. They try to leave him out, skip his turns, that kind of thing, and then he acts out.
- Jack watched a Thomas video, we read some books and played with his new nesting blocks. Didn't go outside with him. Too cold for me!
-Now Jack's in bed, Kain is on his way after bedtime prayers, and I will wash some more dishes and get ready for co-op day tomorrow. Should be a good day, because John is off, so either he can
A. come with us and get in some nice Daddy time, or
B. stay here and pick up Kain from school so I don't have to make the mad dash back to town in time to get him.
His choice will probably depend on what time he gets home tonight!
On the menu----
Breakfast- cereal, not a great choice, but I overslept a bit.
Snack- Donuts
Lunch- Mac and cheese (Kain's choice)
Tea time- Just tea for me. The kids were playing and had a late lunch due to the donuts.
Dinner- pancakes, eggs, sausage and bacon (we always have brinner (breakfast for dinner) on Sundays)
Dessert- Sundaes for Sunday.
Lots of junk...but hey, it's Sunday.
St. Amadeus
"The son of Blessed Amadeus of Clermont, Saint Amadeus of Lausanne (a.k.a. Amadeus von Lausanne) was born in 1110 in the castle Chatte of Dauphine, in what is now France. In his early years, St. Amadeus lived a life of privilege, a member of the Royal family of Franconia. Like many members of the nobililty, he was sent to the famous Benedictine monastery of Cluny for an education. But the influence of his monastic teachers led him to discover a call to the religious life. Rather than embracing the rather comfortable life of Cluny, however, he joined the new reformed Benedictine movement known as the Cistercians and became a disciple of St. Bernard at the monastery of Clairvaux. He went on to become abbott and then, over his protestations, bishop of Lausanne in 1144. He was also selected as chancellor of Burgundy by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. St. Amadeus died on August 24, 1159. His liturgical memorial in the Roman calendar occurs on January 28. "
St. Amadeus is Kain's patron Saint. Kain's middle name is Amadeus, and St. Amadeus' feast day is just a few days before Kain's birthday, something I'm sure Kain's parents were completely unaware of. When we had Kain baptised, I wanted to make sure he had a patron, so I started doing some research and I found the above info and picture. We picked up donuts to celebrate after mass and Kain gets a chore-free day. He also got to pick a meal today, macaroni and cheese for lunch. :)
St. Amadeus, pray for us!
Saturday, January 27, 2007
and a (not so )quick catch up
and a (not so )quick catch up
How neglectful I have already been of my new blog! We have tweaked our daily schedule around here to make room for some regular afternoons socialization with our homeschooling friends, and also to respect mom's natural biorhythm of being a morning person who is pretty much out of steam by the time lunchtime comes. Most homeschooling moms, I know, do all their school early in the day and do chores in the late afternoon/evening hours. We have been doing that basic plan too. However, it takes way more energy for me to clean than to sit down with a history read aloud, and the cleaning is just not happening far too often. So, we are trying something new. Maria is doing her independent work in the morning while I work on some daily chores, including getting meals for the day pre-prepped as much as possible. Then, after lunch we will either go to a homeschool group activity or I will catch up on some far behind purging and organization around here. And in the late afternoon, I will work on school work with Maria. I'm hoping that by our Easter break the house will be in shape again. Then we can spend some of those after-lunch afternoons working on rabbit trails together. So far it is working nicely. I'm not sure what we will end up doing next year though....then I'll have to get in school with Kain somewhere. It always amazes me that every school year I think, "Well, that's it. We can't possibly work anything else into the schedule." But we do. It always works out, and there always seems to be just enough time to do what we need to do.
So, briefly....
Tuesday- this is a blur to me already. I know we did a full day of school. I think I worked on our new schedule plan this day quite a bit.
Wednesday- Also a full day of school. Had to pick up Kain and take him to his first therapy appointment. It seemed to go well. I talked to the therapist for a bit first, and then she took Kain back. When she came back out with him she told me that she needed to speak to me first again next week. She had this really meaningful look on her face, like he told her something she wants to talk to me about already...kind of freaked me out a little! Kain likes going a lot. Having someone's attention solely focused on him for a hour....he loves that! He doesn't get a lot of that here, I know...but he's in school all day, and spends half the weekend with his Dad!
Thursday- Fun day, and also recent enough that I can recall a bit more detail. This was our first day on our new schedule. I sent Maria off to do some work on her own,,,reading a catechism chapter on the Eucharist, a worksheet from Let's Learn Music, a narration to copy and illustrate from Bible History, a saxon DIVE lesson on the computer, and some science reading to do that I found out the following day she "forgot". In the afternoon we went roller skating with one of our homeschool groups. John was off of work and came with us. It was Jack's second time roller skating, and he had a ball! We made this a half day of school, because I needed to get dinner on early and everything organized for John so that I could leave in the evening to go to Mom's Share with my Catholic homeschool group. First time out in weeks and weeks. It was very nice to get away for a bit!
Friday- Maria and I both had dental appointments in the morning, so I made this another half day of school. After our appointments I took her to Target to spend a gift card she received for Christmas. $30 is a lot to a 10 year old...until she is in the toy section and has to actually narrow her choices to $30. Jack had one as well and I had fun spending that on him. Maria bought a little electronic keyboard and a "Littlest Pet Shop" addition to the menagerie that lives upstairs. Jack got a colorful set of wooden stacking/nesting blocks. I like Target's toy section. They have far less in the way of trashy toys than Walmart does. Everything at Walmart seems to be battery operated and/or a knock off from some movie or tv show. At home, John and I worked out the details of our new budget (yesterday was the first payday on the new budget). I also gave up on our dishwasher and threw a wrench in the new budget by telling John we were going to have to call a repair guy on Monday. Our dishwasher is three years old and a piece of junk. This is the third repair, and of course now the warrantly is expired. The dishes have been coming out looking questionably clean for a bit now,,,,(one of those is something really wrong or is this just my imagination? things) but this morning's load was not clean in the slightest. I ran an empty load and realized that the spinning/spraying water thingies are now not spinning at all. I spent the rest of the afternoon washing dishes by hand and using the dishwasher as a drying rack. After we picked up Kain from school, Maria and I went upstairs to wrap up her work. We discussed the catechism chapter she had read yesterday, went over her independent work from yesterday, gave a diagnostic spelling test from WRTR (list K this year, woohoo!), drilled catechism for 5 minutes. I gave a fact drill sheet from her math lesson and pulled teeth to get her to work the new lesson problems with me. It was painful and tearful and took forever. By the time she was done with math our time was up. After we got Jack in bed (Kain was spending the night with his Dad), we quickly worked on her current poem (CHristmas Everywhere ...told you we were behind, haha!), recited the Our Father in Latin, and filled in a blank map with the southern states and capitals. So, in spite of the math delays, we managed to get everything done except for drawing.
And today- Saturday- grocery shopping and a library trip. I know, Walmart on a Saturday, right? Not too bad...Kain is not here, so that makes shopping a lot easier! Need to move the childproof latch on the pantry higher up...Jack smashed a giant jar of applesauce on the kitchen floor this morning (sigh).
On the menu for later today- Quesadillas for lunch, and Saturday evening is pizza and popcorn night (homemade,,,very, very easy, much cheaper and quicker than waiting on delivery on a Saturday night!).
How neglectful I have already been of my new blog! We have tweaked our daily schedule around here to make room for some regular afternoons socialization with our homeschooling friends, and also to respect mom's natural biorhythm of being a morning person who is pretty much out of steam by the time lunchtime comes. Most homeschooling moms, I know, do all their school early in the day and do chores in the late afternoon/evening hours. We have been doing that basic plan too. However, it takes way more energy for me to clean than to sit down with a history read aloud, and the cleaning is just not happening far too often. So, we are trying something new. Maria is doing her independent work in the morning while I work on some daily chores, including getting meals for the day pre-prepped as much as possible. Then, after lunch we will either go to a homeschool group activity or I will catch up on some far behind purging and organization around here. And in the late afternoon, I will work on school work with Maria. I'm hoping that by our Easter break the house will be in shape again. Then we can spend some of those after-lunch afternoons working on rabbit trails together. So far it is working nicely. I'm not sure what we will end up doing next year though....then I'll have to get in school with Kain somewhere. It always amazes me that every school year I think, "Well, that's it. We can't possibly work anything else into the schedule." But we do. It always works out, and there always seems to be just enough time to do what we need to do.
So, briefly....
Tuesday- this is a blur to me already. I know we did a full day of school. I think I worked on our new schedule plan this day quite a bit.
Wednesday- Also a full day of school. Had to pick up Kain and take him to his first therapy appointment. It seemed to go well. I talked to the therapist for a bit first, and then she took Kain back. When she came back out with him she told me that she needed to speak to me first again next week. She had this really meaningful look on her face, like he told her something she wants to talk to me about already...kind of freaked me out a little! Kain likes going a lot. Having someone's attention solely focused on him for a hour....he loves that! He doesn't get a lot of that here, I know...but he's in school all day, and spends half the weekend with his Dad!
Thursday- Fun day, and also recent enough that I can recall a bit more detail. This was our first day on our new schedule. I sent Maria off to do some work on her own,,,reading a catechism chapter on the Eucharist, a worksheet from Let's Learn Music, a narration to copy and illustrate from Bible History, a saxon DIVE lesson on the computer, and some science reading to do that I found out the following day she "forgot". In the afternoon we went roller skating with one of our homeschool groups. John was off of work and came with us. It was Jack's second time roller skating, and he had a ball! We made this a half day of school, because I needed to get dinner on early and everything organized for John so that I could leave in the evening to go to Mom's Share with my Catholic homeschool group. First time out in weeks and weeks. It was very nice to get away for a bit!
Friday- Maria and I both had dental appointments in the morning, so I made this another half day of school. After our appointments I took her to Target to spend a gift card she received for Christmas. $30 is a lot to a 10 year old...until she is in the toy section and has to actually narrow her choices to $30. Jack had one as well and I had fun spending that on him. Maria bought a little electronic keyboard and a "Littlest Pet Shop" addition to the menagerie that lives upstairs. Jack got a colorful set of wooden stacking/nesting blocks. I like Target's toy section. They have far less in the way of trashy toys than Walmart does. Everything at Walmart seems to be battery operated and/or a knock off from some movie or tv show. At home, John and I worked out the details of our new budget (yesterday was the first payday on the new budget). I also gave up on our dishwasher and threw a wrench in the new budget by telling John we were going to have to call a repair guy on Monday. Our dishwasher is three years old and a piece of junk. This is the third repair, and of course now the warrantly is expired. The dishes have been coming out looking questionably clean for a bit now,,,,(one of those is something really wrong or is this just my imagination? things) but this morning's load was not clean in the slightest. I ran an empty load and realized that the spinning/spraying water thingies are now not spinning at all. I spent the rest of the afternoon washing dishes by hand and using the dishwasher as a drying rack. After we picked up Kain from school, Maria and I went upstairs to wrap up her work. We discussed the catechism chapter she had read yesterday, went over her independent work from yesterday, gave a diagnostic spelling test from WRTR (list K this year, woohoo!), drilled catechism for 5 minutes. I gave a fact drill sheet from her math lesson and pulled teeth to get her to work the new lesson problems with me. It was painful and tearful and took forever. By the time she was done with math our time was up. After we got Jack in bed (Kain was spending the night with his Dad), we quickly worked on her current poem (CHristmas Everywhere ...told you we were behind, haha!), recited the Our Father in Latin, and filled in a blank map with the southern states and capitals. So, in spite of the math delays, we managed to get everything done except for drawing.
And today- Saturday- grocery shopping and a library trip. I know, Walmart on a Saturday, right? Not too bad...Kain is not here, so that makes shopping a lot easier! Need to move the childproof latch on the pantry higher up...Jack smashed a giant jar of applesauce on the kitchen floor this morning (sigh).
On the menu for later today- Quesadillas for lunch, and Saturday evening is pizza and popcorn night (homemade,,,very, very easy, much cheaper and quicker than waiting on delivery on a Saturday night!).
standardized testing
How Kain's school prepares for standardized testing-
-making curriculum choices that will maximize test performance
-doing practice tests at school
-sending home packets of practice worksheets every week so that he can practice at home
- giving us a website where we can print off even *more* practice tests
-dangling carrots in front of the teachers- there's been talk in the papers of giving teachers financial rewards for good scores from their classrooms.
How we prepare for standardized testing-
-"Hey Maria, you remember how to fill in those little bubbles on that test you took last year, right?" "Uh-huh."
Homeschoolers in Arkansas are required to take the ITBS in 3rd-10th grades. Last year, since it was her first time taking such a test, we did a couple of "dry runs" so that she would be comfortable. By mid-first grade, she'd had enough experience with "real school" tests to be pretty darn nervous about it. I really did plan to do more that first year, but didn't get to it. I was a little concerned because she was struggled with reading and spelling. She still scored better than the state average. I think this will only improve as she goes on too. Our curriculum is pretty gentle in the early years and slower to progress in certain subjects than the public school's. But it's a well thought out curriculum and starts to pick up the pace right around 3rd-4th grade, and by the junior high years it is pretty darn tough....as good a college prep program as I've ever seen. I like the balance. I *want* the early years to be fun and enjoyable with lots of time for learning through play, and I *want* the curriculum to also be solid enough that my kids go on and do whatever they want in life. I know I could raise her test scores in this "in between" time by teaching to the test the way the public schools do, but I refuse to do that. I refuse to waste one iota of my precious school time by worrying about these silly tests. It's just one of my many prerogatives as a homeschooler. I tell Maria that the test is made for public schoolers and the books that they use, that different books teach things in different grades, and to just do the best she can and not worry about it. I make sure she knows how to actually take the test so that she doesn't miss problems for not coloring the circles properly or something like that. I give her a good night's sleep and a good breakfast. And then I let it go.
-making curriculum choices that will maximize test performance
-doing practice tests at school
-sending home packets of practice worksheets every week so that he can practice at home
- giving us a website where we can print off even *more* practice tests
-dangling carrots in front of the teachers- there's been talk in the papers of giving teachers financial rewards for good scores from their classrooms.
How we prepare for standardized testing-
-"Hey Maria, you remember how to fill in those little bubbles on that test you took last year, right?" "Uh-huh."
Homeschoolers in Arkansas are required to take the ITBS in 3rd-10th grades. Last year, since it was her first time taking such a test, we did a couple of "dry runs" so that she would be comfortable. By mid-first grade, she'd had enough experience with "real school" tests to be pretty darn nervous about it. I really did plan to do more that first year, but didn't get to it. I was a little concerned because she was struggled with reading and spelling. She still scored better than the state average. I think this will only improve as she goes on too. Our curriculum is pretty gentle in the early years and slower to progress in certain subjects than the public school's. But it's a well thought out curriculum and starts to pick up the pace right around 3rd-4th grade, and by the junior high years it is pretty darn tough....as good a college prep program as I've ever seen. I like the balance. I *want* the early years to be fun and enjoyable with lots of time for learning through play, and I *want* the curriculum to also be solid enough that my kids go on and do whatever they want in life. I know I could raise her test scores in this "in between" time by teaching to the test the way the public schools do, but I refuse to do that. I refuse to waste one iota of my precious school time by worrying about these silly tests. It's just one of my many prerogatives as a homeschooler. I tell Maria that the test is made for public schoolers and the books that they use, that different books teach things in different grades, and to just do the best she can and not worry about it. I make sure she knows how to actually take the test so that she doesn't miss problems for not coloring the circles properly or something like that. I give her a good night's sleep and a good breakfast. And then I let it go.
Monday, January 22, 2007
A quick post
A quick post
because I'm running out of steam fast. Today was our first day back at our homeschool co-op...so we have been gone alllll day. Dropped Kain off at school, then off we went to the church our co-op uses, spent the day, drove back to pick up Kain from school, then back to pick up Maria from her last co-op class. She is taking a life science class, a math class (fun stuff), spanish, cooking, knitting, and art. I dropped her off and then Jack and I ran an errand to the grocery store and gassed up the car. We came back in time for me to help out in the preschool room for an hour. Then we had our sack lunch together, and then Jack and I went on to teach "free play" for 2 hours. Free play is pretty much a class for the kids that are too young to take regular afternoon classes and is pretty much a place for parents to bring their little kids while they are teaching a class. It's informal...I put out a couple of activities, and they can choose to do them or to just play with friends. Jack had a lot of fun today. The second free play hour there was just Jack and another little boy his age. I blew bubbles for what had to be a good half an hour. They would shriek with surprise every single time I blew on the wand, then run around like crazy trying to catch and stomp the bubbles. Maria also had a good time. She *loves* going to Treehouse, and anytime I feel like it's gotten to be too much trouble I reconsider for her sake. I haven't done anything at home this evening. I am so, so tired! First day fully back on "schedule", so I've been up since 5am an
because I'm running out of steam fast. Today was our first day back at our homeschool co-op...so we have been gone alllll day. Dropped Kain off at school, then off we went to the church our co-op uses, spent the day, drove back to pick up Kain from school, then back to pick up Maria from her last co-op class. She is taking a life science class, a math class (fun stuff), spanish, cooking, knitting, and art. I dropped her off and then Jack and I ran an errand to the grocery store and gassed up the car. We came back in time for me to help out in the preschool room for an hour. Then we had our sack lunch together, and then Jack and I went on to teach "free play" for 2 hours. Free play is pretty much a class for the kids that are too young to take regular afternoon classes and is pretty much a place for parents to bring their little kids while they are teaching a class. It's informal...I put out a couple of activities, and they can choose to do them or to just play with friends. Jack had a lot of fun today. The second free play hour there was just Jack and another little boy his age. I blew bubbles for what had to be a good half an hour. They would shriek with surprise every single time I blew on the wand, then run around like crazy trying to catch and stomp the bubbles. Maria also had a good time. She *loves* going to Treehouse, and anytime I feel like it's gotten to be too much trouble I reconsider for her sake. I haven't done anything at home this evening. I am so, so tired! First day fully back on "schedule", so I've been up since 5am an
Sunday, January 21, 2007
a lazy weekend for blogging
So I'll just post this sweet picture of my Jack instead. This is the "safari hat" from our dress up trunk upstairs.
Friday, January 19, 2007
a new blog
Check out my dashboard. I have a secondary blog, smallthingswithgreatlove.blogspot.com. It's a list of our daily homeschool/homemaking doings. I started it for my own reference, realizing that that level of detail is not something everyone wants to read, but it may be of some use to those interested in seeing the nuts and bolts of someone else's day once in a while. I plan to start posting there on Sunday (that's right. Every day is a school day here! :))
A pause for math
Sometimes I really need to be reigned in. Yesterday we had a rough go at school. Jack has taken a liking to pitching toys down the stairs, and was just generally clingy and whiny. Maria was just *not* getting the math. I was getting really frustrated. We are quite behind on our syllabus and I was anxious to check off another day's worth of boxes. I sure didn't want to get any more behind. Not a great attitude to have, for sure. We had been working up to this since Christmas break. Maria was just not getting the concept of borrowing in subtraction. I had been plowing ahead anyway, and she was getting more and more problems wrong with each assignment. And I was getting more and more impatient with her for causing us to fall "behind". I finally realized what I was doing to us all, and that trying to do anything that required concentration with Jack in the mood he was in was futile anyway. I closed the books and we all went downstairs. I fed everyone an early lunch and put Jack to sleep, then sent Maria to lay down in her room with Charlotte's Web for 30 minutes. Then we both sat down with her math book in the quiet house. I printed another set of answer sheets off for myself, and we slowly worked through each problem together. She seemed to make some progress and by the end of the lesson she was solving borrowing problems correctly on her own. Afterwards, we hung up school for the day. What's another half day lost in the grand scheme of things?
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