A Few Things You Should Pass on to Other Mothers:
1.Your favorite recipes
2.Great deals at local stores
3.Homeschooling ideas (if you homeschool, of course)
4. Funny anecdotes about your kids
5. General support, a listening ear, a meal if needed, etc. etc.
Things You Should NOT Pass on to Other Mothers:
1. Unsolicited advice
2. Your family's stomach bug
Both of these you should keep AT HOME, especially the second one, because the effects last much longer. I can politely reject your advice, but there's nothing I can do with the blessing of a stomach bug - except, that is, alot of a laundry. It will also deprive me of sleep and will trap me in my home with sick and probably cranky children for at least a week. I can think of so many things I would rather endure than a stomach bug, so please, please, PLEASE...keep this one to yourself.
I should add, for one friend's sake - you know who you are! - that if I know the risks of helping you out during a stomach bug "epidemic" and accept them anyway, I don't hold you responsible if we happen to get it. ;-)
It's the surprise germ attack of which I currently moan and groan. *sigh*
Monday, October 19, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
First Language Lessons
I just noticed that Hannah wrote her own review of First Language Lessons, and she is probably quite right! As I commented on her post, we take what we need from FLL and leave the rest, because it can be quite repetitive. I just assume it's like any other teacher's manual, directed toward the lowest common demoninator,and by that I just mean it is written as if the teacher doesn't know a thing about grammar or how to teach it. Knowing something about grammar, and knowing that my kids pick up definitions without having to repeat them 3 times...and 3 more times...oh, and let's say that together 3 times AGAIN, I use the book as a "spine" and do not read the dialogue straight from it.
We also play games at dinnertime (not to be outdone!) like choosing a letter and then assigning parts of speech to each member of the family. We all think of an appropriate word starting with that letter, then put them together in a silly sentence. There are also fun books like, "If You Were a Verb," the author of which I can't remember but will post later if I do, that we have used at times.
We also play games at dinnertime (not to be outdone!) like choosing a letter and then assigning parts of speech to each member of the family. We all think of an appropriate word starting with that letter, then put them together in a silly sentence. There are also fun books like, "If You Were a Verb," the author of which I can't remember but will post later if I do, that we have used at times.
A Little About School, Part 2
I also wrote this in the pre-dawn hours, and dedided to break it off from the last post so that it would be slightly more readable and not so hopelessly long.
As for the rest of what we're doing academically, I've been meaning to post something about it, and now seems like as good a time as any.
Art - We are still officially using Drawing with Children, and when we do, the kids are extremely satisfied with their results, which are indeed pretty impressive. In reality, though
I just don't have the time to have drawing lessons consistently. If the little boys are occupied, if everything lines up just right and all is peaceful and harmonious, a drawing
hour is fantastic. Otherwise it can be rather stressful - kids end up yelling and each other, and a frazzled mom will end up just asking everyone to draw what they like.
We haven't done too many drawing lessons yet this year! But we have done a couple of projects from Discovering Great Artists, and that is a neat resource. I don't own it, though,
and have to get it from the library when we want to use it. For art appreciation, we are using Child-Sized Masterpieces, and even the little boys love to play matching games with
the postcards. I wish I could say we had a neatly planned rotation each week of drawing and art appreciation, but usually it's pretty haphazard.
Bible - We are reading from 2 Samuel each night, and a chapter in Proverbs daily (as close as we can to daily, at any rate). AWANA at church has been postponed until at
least after the first of the year, but the kids were so happy to be allowed to take their respective new books home anyway, and they're studying sections from them each day.
They may even be allowed to quote sections to their leaders on Sundays if they like. So this takes the edge of their dissapointment, as well as covers our Bible memory for the
year. I'm also having all of them, including the little ones, continue to learn the Catechism. The little boys are still in the first section, titled "God," Drew is in "The Fall of Man," and Aimee
is in "God's Plan of Salvation." This is just a series of questions and answers, but the kids actually enjoy it.
Crafts - This is by far my weakest subject! :-) Every once in awhile we do a project from the history book, or I'll do something from with the little boys from one of the craft
books we have. Usually we just resort to drawing, painting, and play dough. Actually my favorite kinds of hands-on projects are cooking and baking ones!
Geography - We still like "Geography Songs" and "States and Capitals" songs, both by Kathy Troxel. We look things up on the globe a good deal and sometimes check books
about countries that correspond to whatever we're studying in history. Again, we're going for simple exposure here, not yet any carefully planned studies.
Grammar - We use First Language Lessons at the appropriate age levels. It's a little dry, but thorough, and the lessons are fairly short, so it's not an hour's worth of boredom.
Handwriting - Aimee is working on cursive, using Classically Cursive, which I love because she copies things like books of the Bible, the Ten Commandments, and the Catechism.
I generally let her go at this on her own, and her handwriting is turning out quite nicely. Drew is still printing, and needs more help than Aimee did or does, but I'm not too concerned with
this area at this stage with him. I have a handwriting practice book (we do the modern manuscript style) that I'll have him use very occasionally when it seems he needs practice
with a particular letter, but generally, I just have him do some grammar copywork a couple times a week, and I think his handwriting is at least adequate for his age.
History - We are still going through the Story of the World, but also planning to put a little more emphasis on the corresponding American History timeline as we go. How could
we spend just one week on pioneer history? I plan to keep our library basket stocked full of pioneer fiction and non-fiction for the next few week, as well as do lots of pioneer cooking
and a few pioneer crafts (catch the theme?). In general, the kids LOVE history, and will happily read and read and read and read and read about whatever we happening to be studying.
Latin - Aimee and I began Latina Christiana late in the school year last year, but it didn't go very well. When we started it again at the beginning of this school year, we had much
more success, and she enjoys, for the most part, learning new vocabulary. The other kids like to join in sometimes, too.
Math - Our Big Bad Subject. Well, only for some of us. Aimee is in Saxon 54, Drew is in Saxon 3, and after much begging, Ryan is dabbling in Saxon 1. Aimee and I struggle
with learning this together, although I believe she doesn't have as much trouble actually understanding it as she does getting past the fact that I have to be the one teaching it
to her. It's not that she doesn't like me personally, but we do have a tendency to butt heads over school. And she probably would do better with a different curriculum, I fully admit. I just on't know how well I would do teaching her some of the methods I've seen. We used Saxon growing up, but my mom did something different with my youngest sister, using Cuisenaire rods, and it didn't make much sense to me. I tend to see things much better in black-and-white, whatever the cost. And we all know Saxon can be tortuous at times, so sometimes the cost is rather high in frustration, but I do think it's worth it in the end, and Aimee has cleared a couple hurdles even recently that have made things a little smoother. Drew, meanwhile, is cruising along with little help (for which I'm very grateful). He's got to be the kind of kid Saxon math was designed for, the kind who actually asks for more fact sheets and enjoys every second of the counting exercises.
Memory - Most of this is incorporated into other subjects. We are, as I mentioned already, memorizing the Catechism and Bible verses. For history, the kids are memorizing the American
presidents right now as well as the Gettysburg Address. First Language Lessons (grammar) provides poems at regular intervals, and both Aimee and Drew have a handful each per year that they learn.
Music - I am giving Aimee piano lessons and Drew violin lessons. I think I can handle Aimee's lessons for a couple of years, after which she can decide she's had enough or wants to continue,
in which case we can get her an actual piano teacher. Drew's lessons I can handle for several years, since the violin is actually my instrument.
Reading - We do a great deal of it! I get recommendations from The Story of the World activity book, as well as from the age-appropriate Sonlight and Veritas Press lists, which I
recently spent some time putting into chronological order. Most of these are histoical fiction and are regarded by the kids as "fun reading." If they need any incentive, which they rarely do, we are doing the Pizza Hut Book It! program this year, and I use that toward Aimee and Drew's required reading. For actual "fun reading" - i.e. books other than those we officially use for school, but that usually still qualify as good literature - there are no end of choices, of course, and the older ones, both of whom are strong readers, always have a book (or two) that they're reading for their own enjoyement.Ryan is just learning to read this year, and is having fun with the Bob Books. I have the Veritas Press Phonics Museum, which I do love, but so far have used only on occasion with Ryan, as he seems to be doing just fine with the Bob Books at the moment.
Spelling - We use the Spelling Workout books, just to make sure we're officiallly going over the fundemental spelling rules, but my philosophy is that if they can spell...well then, they
can spell! I don't see a need to make a big deal about this, and spelling seems to come pretty naturally to the kids. Aimee likes to work in the workbook, so I let her, but Drew hates it, so
recently we skipped about 10 lessons in a day with an impromptu spelling bee that proved he already knew the words from those lessons.
Science - The subject is next to my weakest probably, but I hide behind the classical theory that serious science study is not necessary in the grammar stage. We do experiments now and then, continually observe nature, learn animal husbandry hands-on, etc., and when the kids are interesting in something, they check books out at the library on the subject. We do go through
stages that last a few weeks, in which we will reguarly do "science," and we follow the repeating four-year guideline in The Well-Trained Mind - biology, physical science, chemistry, and physics. Being on the physics year, we've done a little with electricity recently, and we'll be moving on to magnets next. As we start the cycle over next year, we'll probably be a little more
organized about it all, but since they're all so young, I haven't stressed over anything yet.
More than you ever needed to know?
As for the rest of what we're doing academically, I've been meaning to post something about it, and now seems like as good a time as any.
Art - We are still officially using Drawing with Children, and when we do, the kids are extremely satisfied with their results, which are indeed pretty impressive. In reality, though
I just don't have the time to have drawing lessons consistently. If the little boys are occupied, if everything lines up just right and all is peaceful and harmonious, a drawing
hour is fantastic. Otherwise it can be rather stressful - kids end up yelling and each other, and a frazzled mom will end up just asking everyone to draw what they like.
We haven't done too many drawing lessons yet this year! But we have done a couple of projects from Discovering Great Artists, and that is a neat resource. I don't own it, though,
and have to get it from the library when we want to use it. For art appreciation, we are using Child-Sized Masterpieces, and even the little boys love to play matching games with
the postcards. I wish I could say we had a neatly planned rotation each week of drawing and art appreciation, but usually it's pretty haphazard.
Bible - We are reading from 2 Samuel each night, and a chapter in Proverbs daily (as close as we can to daily, at any rate). AWANA at church has been postponed until at
least after the first of the year, but the kids were so happy to be allowed to take their respective new books home anyway, and they're studying sections from them each day.
They may even be allowed to quote sections to their leaders on Sundays if they like. So this takes the edge of their dissapointment, as well as covers our Bible memory for the
year. I'm also having all of them, including the little ones, continue to learn the Catechism. The little boys are still in the first section, titled "God," Drew is in "The Fall of Man," and Aimee
is in "God's Plan of Salvation." This is just a series of questions and answers, but the kids actually enjoy it.
Crafts - This is by far my weakest subject! :-) Every once in awhile we do a project from the history book, or I'll do something from with the little boys from one of the craft
books we have. Usually we just resort to drawing, painting, and play dough. Actually my favorite kinds of hands-on projects are cooking and baking ones!
Geography - We still like "Geography Songs" and "States and Capitals" songs, both by Kathy Troxel. We look things up on the globe a good deal and sometimes check books
about countries that correspond to whatever we're studying in history. Again, we're going for simple exposure here, not yet any carefully planned studies.
Grammar - We use First Language Lessons at the appropriate age levels. It's a little dry, but thorough, and the lessons are fairly short, so it's not an hour's worth of boredom.
Handwriting - Aimee is working on cursive, using Classically Cursive, which I love because she copies things like books of the Bible, the Ten Commandments, and the Catechism.
I generally let her go at this on her own, and her handwriting is turning out quite nicely. Drew is still printing, and needs more help than Aimee did or does, but I'm not too concerned with
this area at this stage with him. I have a handwriting practice book (we do the modern manuscript style) that I'll have him use very occasionally when it seems he needs practice
with a particular letter, but generally, I just have him do some grammar copywork a couple times a week, and I think his handwriting is at least adequate for his age.
History - We are still going through the Story of the World, but also planning to put a little more emphasis on the corresponding American History timeline as we go. How could
we spend just one week on pioneer history? I plan to keep our library basket stocked full of pioneer fiction and non-fiction for the next few week, as well as do lots of pioneer cooking
and a few pioneer crafts (catch the theme?). In general, the kids LOVE history, and will happily read and read and read and read and read about whatever we happening to be studying.
Latin - Aimee and I began Latina Christiana late in the school year last year, but it didn't go very well. When we started it again at the beginning of this school year, we had much
more success, and she enjoys, for the most part, learning new vocabulary. The other kids like to join in sometimes, too.
Math - Our Big Bad Subject. Well, only for some of us. Aimee is in Saxon 54, Drew is in Saxon 3, and after much begging, Ryan is dabbling in Saxon 1. Aimee and I struggle
with learning this together, although I believe she doesn't have as much trouble actually understanding it as she does getting past the fact that I have to be the one teaching it
to her. It's not that she doesn't like me personally, but we do have a tendency to butt heads over school. And she probably would do better with a different curriculum, I fully admit. I just on't know how well I would do teaching her some of the methods I've seen. We used Saxon growing up, but my mom did something different with my youngest sister, using Cuisenaire rods, and it didn't make much sense to me. I tend to see things much better in black-and-white, whatever the cost. And we all know Saxon can be tortuous at times, so sometimes the cost is rather high in frustration, but I do think it's worth it in the end, and Aimee has cleared a couple hurdles even recently that have made things a little smoother. Drew, meanwhile, is cruising along with little help (for which I'm very grateful). He's got to be the kind of kid Saxon math was designed for, the kind who actually asks for more fact sheets and enjoys every second of the counting exercises.
Memory - Most of this is incorporated into other subjects. We are, as I mentioned already, memorizing the Catechism and Bible verses. For history, the kids are memorizing the American
presidents right now as well as the Gettysburg Address. First Language Lessons (grammar) provides poems at regular intervals, and both Aimee and Drew have a handful each per year that they learn.
Music - I am giving Aimee piano lessons and Drew violin lessons. I think I can handle Aimee's lessons for a couple of years, after which she can decide she's had enough or wants to continue,
in which case we can get her an actual piano teacher. Drew's lessons I can handle for several years, since the violin is actually my instrument.
Reading - We do a great deal of it! I get recommendations from The Story of the World activity book, as well as from the age-appropriate Sonlight and Veritas Press lists, which I
recently spent some time putting into chronological order. Most of these are histoical fiction and are regarded by the kids as "fun reading." If they need any incentive, which they rarely do, we are doing the Pizza Hut Book It! program this year, and I use that toward Aimee and Drew's required reading. For actual "fun reading" - i.e. books other than those we officially use for school, but that usually still qualify as good literature - there are no end of choices, of course, and the older ones, both of whom are strong readers, always have a book (or two) that they're reading for their own enjoyement.Ryan is just learning to read this year, and is having fun with the Bob Books. I have the Veritas Press Phonics Museum, which I do love, but so far have used only on occasion with Ryan, as he seems to be doing just fine with the Bob Books at the moment.
Spelling - We use the Spelling Workout books, just to make sure we're officiallly going over the fundemental spelling rules, but my philosophy is that if they can spell...well then, they
can spell! I don't see a need to make a big deal about this, and spelling seems to come pretty naturally to the kids. Aimee likes to work in the workbook, so I let her, but Drew hates it, so
recently we skipped about 10 lessons in a day with an impromptu spelling bee that proved he already knew the words from those lessons.
Science - The subject is next to my weakest probably, but I hide behind the classical theory that serious science study is not necessary in the grammar stage. We do experiments now and then, continually observe nature, learn animal husbandry hands-on, etc., and when the kids are interesting in something, they check books out at the library on the subject. We do go through
stages that last a few weeks, in which we will reguarly do "science," and we follow the repeating four-year guideline in The Well-Trained Mind - biology, physical science, chemistry, and physics. Being on the physics year, we've done a little with electricity recently, and we'll be moving on to magnets next. As we start the cycle over next year, we'll probably be a little more
organized about it all, but since they're all so young, I haven't stressed over anything yet.
More than you ever needed to know?
A Little About School, Part 1
I wrote this pretty early this morning - posting it this afternoon after ironing out a computer problem.)
It's been ages (again) since my last post. I really wish I could be keeping up with things better. Once upon a time I used to write during the "quiet time" hour - back when we had such a thing.
Every once in awhile we go through phases in which it is more work trying to get everyone quietly occupied with something than is worth the small amount of time I might be able to eke out of it, and here we are. Chase isn't napping anymore, but he isn't quite old enough to be trustworthy in quiet moments by himself. Actually I wonder if in his case that will EVER happen. Just now it seems like I could be stuck forever in this nerve-wracking vortex, anticipating the next "surprise" - "Why is there a battery in the toilet?!" or, "WHO drew with a SHARPIE all over the wall?!", or better yet, "Why did you take your clothes off AGAIN in the backyard?".
And those are pretty mild examples. I have the chance to write now only because I have been up since the wee hours of the morning with a sick Chase, who is now sleeping after
a rough couple of hours (while I am left awake and will probably be half-dead by lunchtime - oh, if only he could remember this kind of thing by the time he is a teenager and thinks
I am hopelessly uncool!)
Somewhere in the midst of this happy chaos (because he is awfully cute) we are trying to maintain some semblance of order in the schoolroom. (The what?) Right now we
are working mostly on a Civil War project for an Academic Presentation day our home school group is having next Friday. We're putting together a display board that's going to be pretty good for our first go at this sort of thing, and Aimee is working on an oral presentation. I thought it would be a no-brainer to have her recite the Gettysburg Address, but I quite forgot
to suggest strongly that she NOT recite it, as, naturally, she strenuously rejected that idea and insisted on writing her own essay. I admit I've struggled just a little with how much input and direction to give here, especially since we haven't done any essay writing, per se, yet. We've done narration and dictation, but I've only just begun to consider purchasing a formal writing course. However, I agreed to the essay, because Aimee does have a long and (and fairly sophisticated for her age) story going that she and a friend are writing together, and I've also seen book reviews (for a box she saw at the library) that she's written on some of her favorite books. I don't think I was supposed to see the latter, probably because they were very good and I don't think she would want me to know that she possesses this kind of skill, should I ever dare to think of asking her to write a book report, which I'm not sure I would actually ever do. It's my opinion, both out of real philosophy as well as out of a certain amount of laziness, that immersion - that's not even a strong enough word - in good literature will do most of the job of teaching most of the language arts, and that good writing skills will emerge in the proper time during this kind of exposure. I exult in this "grammar stage," in which the goal IS simply to let kids wallow around in interesting facts and well-woven tales of imagination and adventure. I really do believe that the result of this is at least a good foundation of good grammar, spelling, reading, and even writing skills. So back to the paper Aimee is writing - it's not exactly how an essay ought to be put together, but there are some glimmers of savvy writing in it. I'm looking forward to her presenting it next week and enjoying the satisfaction of having done it herself.
It's been ages (again) since my last post. I really wish I could be keeping up with things better. Once upon a time I used to write during the "quiet time" hour - back when we had such a thing.
Every once in awhile we go through phases in which it is more work trying to get everyone quietly occupied with something than is worth the small amount of time I might be able to eke out of it, and here we are. Chase isn't napping anymore, but he isn't quite old enough to be trustworthy in quiet moments by himself. Actually I wonder if in his case that will EVER happen. Just now it seems like I could be stuck forever in this nerve-wracking vortex, anticipating the next "surprise" - "Why is there a battery in the toilet?!" or, "WHO drew with a SHARPIE all over the wall?!", or better yet, "Why did you take your clothes off AGAIN in the backyard?".
And those are pretty mild examples. I have the chance to write now only because I have been up since the wee hours of the morning with a sick Chase, who is now sleeping after
a rough couple of hours (while I am left awake and will probably be half-dead by lunchtime - oh, if only he could remember this kind of thing by the time he is a teenager and thinks
I am hopelessly uncool!)
Somewhere in the midst of this happy chaos (because he is awfully cute) we are trying to maintain some semblance of order in the schoolroom. (The what?) Right now we
are working mostly on a Civil War project for an Academic Presentation day our home school group is having next Friday. We're putting together a display board that's going to be pretty good for our first go at this sort of thing, and Aimee is working on an oral presentation. I thought it would be a no-brainer to have her recite the Gettysburg Address, but I quite forgot
to suggest strongly that she NOT recite it, as, naturally, she strenuously rejected that idea and insisted on writing her own essay. I admit I've struggled just a little with how much input and direction to give here, especially since we haven't done any essay writing, per se, yet. We've done narration and dictation, but I've only just begun to consider purchasing a formal writing course. However, I agreed to the essay, because Aimee does have a long and (and fairly sophisticated for her age) story going that she and a friend are writing together, and I've also seen book reviews (for a box she saw at the library) that she's written on some of her favorite books. I don't think I was supposed to see the latter, probably because they were very good and I don't think she would want me to know that she possesses this kind of skill, should I ever dare to think of asking her to write a book report, which I'm not sure I would actually ever do. It's my opinion, both out of real philosophy as well as out of a certain amount of laziness, that immersion - that's not even a strong enough word - in good literature will do most of the job of teaching most of the language arts, and that good writing skills will emerge in the proper time during this kind of exposure. I exult in this "grammar stage," in which the goal IS simply to let kids wallow around in interesting facts and well-woven tales of imagination and adventure. I really do believe that the result of this is at least a good foundation of good grammar, spelling, reading, and even writing skills. So back to the paper Aimee is writing - it's not exactly how an essay ought to be put together, but there are some glimmers of savvy writing in it. I'm looking forward to her presenting it next week and enjoying the satisfaction of having done it herself.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Happenings
I think I've used this completely unimaginative title before.
At any rate, there's really not a better way to sum up what's been going on around here, other than to say that there's been a lot happening!
First, there have been some pretty significant milestones reached in the last six weeks. We had a weaning, and I wasn't going to say who it was that accomplished this, but I think I will. We didn't widely publish the fact that we had a nursing preschooler, but it doesn't matter what anyone thinks of it now that he's done, so I'll admit that yes, Ryan was still nursing up until a few weeks ago. I know that some of you may be shocked to know this (while you fellow "unconventional" parents aren't in the least), but we didn't consider this out of the ordinary in the grand scheme of things. At the time of his weaning, he was almost off the charts of the American cultural weaning age range, but quite in the middle of the "normal" age range for the human race, when factors of history, culture, and biology are taken into consideration. So this is my opportunity to say that Ryan's experience is actually more normal than that of most of his peers, as well as a chance to say how much I cherished that experience, and everything it meant - ok, well sometimes I was far ahead of his readiness to wean, and would have been happy if he had decided to do so earlier. But Ryan is a sensitive little soul, one we try to handle very carefully. Intelligent and perceptive, he often requires "more" - if you have one of these kind of children, you don't need any more explanation - and we try to let him take things at his own pace, because to rush him is to risk more than his own unhappiness but often ours as well. His weaning process, therefore, was very, very slow and gradual. By this summer, we had managed to get him back to weekend bedtime nursing sessions only, and when soccer season I signed him up for approached, I told him that maybe soccer players were grown up enough to say good-bye to nursing. He agreed, and he made his final nursing session into a rather big production, which was cut short when I noticed he didn't seem to be into it, and I explained that he didn't have to nurse for the length of a song if he didn't want to. He seemed relieved, and made some comment about something else entirely - and that was that.
His younger brother is "still" nursing - although there are times I have thought he might actually wean before Ryan - but he reached his own milestone when he potty-trained himself recently. I think almost all of my readers have done this already, but if you haven't attempted potty-training a little one before, letting them do it themselves is far and away the best tactic. I'm sorry to say I really bungled the job with my oldest, and only did slightly less horrible with the next one, until finally figuring it out with the last tw0, who enjoyed the uninhibited freedom of running around clad in only a t-shirt on warm days when their respective times came. Minus all the cajoling, bribing, fretting, fussing, the task was therefore accomplished in very short order For Ryan it was sometime after he turned three, which was fine, but we were hopeful that Chase, who already has a decided preference for going naked, would be diaper-free this year. Sure enough, one weekend he just decided that diapers were history for him, and he began using the appropriate facilities. Usually he is intensely private about this, but for some reason he likes to display his new skills in a very public way at times - such as at soccer practice, or, like yesterday, in the church parking lot right as soon as church was out. I can only guess it's some kind of male territory-marking thing, but who knows!
Both of these happy and important events took place at the start of probably the busiest school year we've every had. In addition to the usual school load, we have Girl Scouts, 4th-grade girls' club, and American Girl club for Aimee, 2nd-grade boys' club, soccer, and chess club for Drew, and soccer for Ryan, all of which started up in this past month. Then of course we still have the usual rotation of church (except I've also accepted a position on the church board - a little intimidating and humbling), La Leche League meetings, playgroup, horse riding lessons, etc, etc. My house bears evidence that all this has kept us more than busy, and in fact, I've had moments in which I've held down the panic as I've wondered how on earth we're supposed to get everything done. Now, I should say that it could be this a normal kind of schedule for many people, but for me, with a tendency toward hermiting, this is rather new. It was the reprieve from many of my anxiety issues (mentioned in previous posts) that enabled me to sign up for everything, and that allows me now to take everyone all over town, so that's a good thing, certainly - now I just have to be sure we don't get overwhelmed and burned out!
It was also at the start of all this that Dave hurt his knee at work, sending us into a flurry of trying to figure out if he could work, and how much he could work, and how long he might be out, or not be out at all, and how in the world would the bills get paid, and oh yes, thank you, Lord, for being faithful and steady even when we allow ourselves to be tossed around by the wind. I admit I don't handle these things with the kind of faith I would so love to have, but I'm thankful that God never fails. At any rate, Dave finally had the necessary surgery last Friday, and it looks like he will be back to normal relatively soon (not the months of recovery we anticipated).
So that's where I've been and what's been going on. Oh, I forgot to mention a lovely week at Edisto Island in the middle of everything, and that turned out to be an indispensable time of refreshment. I don't know if I'll have a chance to post pictures here, but they'll be on Facebook. For now, I'm off to start another busy week!
At any rate, there's really not a better way to sum up what's been going on around here, other than to say that there's been a lot happening!
First, there have been some pretty significant milestones reached in the last six weeks. We had a weaning, and I wasn't going to say who it was that accomplished this, but I think I will. We didn't widely publish the fact that we had a nursing preschooler, but it doesn't matter what anyone thinks of it now that he's done, so I'll admit that yes, Ryan was still nursing up until a few weeks ago. I know that some of you may be shocked to know this (while you fellow "unconventional" parents aren't in the least), but we didn't consider this out of the ordinary in the grand scheme of things. At the time of his weaning, he was almost off the charts of the American cultural weaning age range, but quite in the middle of the "normal" age range for the human race, when factors of history, culture, and biology are taken into consideration. So this is my opportunity to say that Ryan's experience is actually more normal than that of most of his peers, as well as a chance to say how much I cherished that experience, and everything it meant - ok, well sometimes I was far ahead of his readiness to wean, and would have been happy if he had decided to do so earlier. But Ryan is a sensitive little soul, one we try to handle very carefully. Intelligent and perceptive, he often requires "more" - if you have one of these kind of children, you don't need any more explanation - and we try to let him take things at his own pace, because to rush him is to risk more than his own unhappiness but often ours as well. His weaning process, therefore, was very, very slow and gradual. By this summer, we had managed to get him back to weekend bedtime nursing sessions only, and when soccer season I signed him up for approached, I told him that maybe soccer players were grown up enough to say good-bye to nursing. He agreed, and he made his final nursing session into a rather big production, which was cut short when I noticed he didn't seem to be into it, and I explained that he didn't have to nurse for the length of a song if he didn't want to. He seemed relieved, and made some comment about something else entirely - and that was that.
His younger brother is "still" nursing - although there are times I have thought he might actually wean before Ryan - but he reached his own milestone when he potty-trained himself recently. I think almost all of my readers have done this already, but if you haven't attempted potty-training a little one before, letting them do it themselves is far and away the best tactic. I'm sorry to say I really bungled the job with my oldest, and only did slightly less horrible with the next one, until finally figuring it out with the last tw0, who enjoyed the uninhibited freedom of running around clad in only a t-shirt on warm days when their respective times came. Minus all the cajoling, bribing, fretting, fussing, the task was therefore accomplished in very short order For Ryan it was sometime after he turned three, which was fine, but we were hopeful that Chase, who already has a decided preference for going naked, would be diaper-free this year. Sure enough, one weekend he just decided that diapers were history for him, and he began using the appropriate facilities. Usually he is intensely private about this, but for some reason he likes to display his new skills in a very public way at times - such as at soccer practice, or, like yesterday, in the church parking lot right as soon as church was out. I can only guess it's some kind of male territory-marking thing, but who knows!
Both of these happy and important events took place at the start of probably the busiest school year we've every had. In addition to the usual school load, we have Girl Scouts, 4th-grade girls' club, and American Girl club for Aimee, 2nd-grade boys' club, soccer, and chess club for Drew, and soccer for Ryan, all of which started up in this past month. Then of course we still have the usual rotation of church (except I've also accepted a position on the church board - a little intimidating and humbling), La Leche League meetings, playgroup, horse riding lessons, etc, etc. My house bears evidence that all this has kept us more than busy, and in fact, I've had moments in which I've held down the panic as I've wondered how on earth we're supposed to get everything done. Now, I should say that it could be this a normal kind of schedule for many people, but for me, with a tendency toward hermiting, this is rather new. It was the reprieve from many of my anxiety issues (mentioned in previous posts) that enabled me to sign up for everything, and that allows me now to take everyone all over town, so that's a good thing, certainly - now I just have to be sure we don't get overwhelmed and burned out!
It was also at the start of all this that Dave hurt his knee at work, sending us into a flurry of trying to figure out if he could work, and how much he could work, and how long he might be out, or not be out at all, and how in the world would the bills get paid, and oh yes, thank you, Lord, for being faithful and steady even when we allow ourselves to be tossed around by the wind. I admit I don't handle these things with the kind of faith I would so love to have, but I'm thankful that God never fails. At any rate, Dave finally had the necessary surgery last Friday, and it looks like he will be back to normal relatively soon (not the months of recovery we anticipated).
So that's where I've been and what's been going on. Oh, I forgot to mention a lovely week at Edisto Island in the middle of everything, and that turned out to be an indispensable time of refreshment. I don't know if I'll have a chance to post pictures here, but they'll be on Facebook. For now, I'm off to start another busy week!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Happy Birthday, Drew!
At this time exactly 7 years ago, I was eating a baked potato from Outback (why do I always remember the meal from each birth so vividly?) and looking at my first baby boy. He was tired from a long day of labor, and so was I! Drew spent a much happier day today, playing with friends at his totally relaxed birthday party. Some of those friends he's known since he was a baby, and every once in awhile I would look at them and think about their much smaller selves, and all the growing up together that they've done.
Drew is smart - really, really smart, with a memory that blows our minds sometimes. He has one of the best laughs I've ever heard, and he loves with all of his being. He cares about even the smallest creature, and that's not exaggerating. At the same time, he is the most boy-ish kind of boy. We're so glad he's ours. Happy birthday, Drew!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Back to the Present (or something like that...)
I've been feeling nostalgic lately. Since the springtime, I had been looking forward to the wedding of my friend Carrie, who was in fact my very best friend during our preteen years, and then recently I reconnected (somewhat - it was just on Facebook) with some old friends from around the same time, all of which has stirred memories of being about 14, when my biggest concerns were who liked who - and, more to the point, who didn't. Of course, back then , those were some pretty intense concerns, and since achieving adulthood, I haven't often wished to replay those years full of girlhood drama, unless it were to take with me some common sense to my younger self. (How many movies have been based on that same premise?) But recently I have been feeling perhaps a little wistful about my preteen and teen days, days that were good and exciting and full of cherishable memories for me, with few (real) cares. And -sniff, sniff - I have been thinking about how much I miss having a true best friend.
So on Saturday, I was thrilled that everything had actually worked out for me to drive down to Charleston (Dave rented a car for me, and he and the kids went up to his brother's wedding - what a great husband!), but as soon as I entered the chapel and saw her brothers - her now grown brothers who didn't know me anymore, and I thought of all the years that have passed, and I felt a twinge of sadness. Perhaps that was a slightly ridiculous way to feel at the moment, as I haven't exactly been robbed of anything in those years, except maybe of the time itself. How could it have gone so fast, and how could Carrie and I be 30 now, both with busy, grown-up lives? I remembered, as I watched her tall, red-headed twin brothers usher the guests, when Carrie and I were just 13 and were both praying desperately for her then-pregnant mother to give her a sister. Carrie had three younger brothers already, and she loved them - but a sister was what she was hoping for, and as her best friend, I hoped passionately with her. Her mom went into labor while were at our monthly homeschool roller-skating day, and I fell asleep that night still waiting to hear. I remember waking up the next morning to the sound of my mom talking on the phone to someone and exclaiming, "Twin boys!" I remember hoping it was just a dream, but there it was. (They turned out to be pretty cute anyway, and two years later, Carrie was in fact gifted with twin sisters!) At any rate, there were those boys, now - gulp - around 17. And the older boys! I remember when the one, the more serious (and thus more tolerable to his older sister and friend), gave the famous Patrick Henry speech at a homeschool end of-the-year-program, and I remembered how another brother used to hide behind chairs and under tables to listen in on our phone calls, and how all her brothers used to tease her good-naturedly about how the funny ways we ended said phone calls and how completely swept away we were by all things romantic. Ah, the days, the days! By the time the ceremony started, I was feeling almost bereft, and my tears when I saw Carrie were mixed. I could have been channeling some of my dramatic former self, of course...
Just before I arrived at the reception not too long after, however, Dave sent me a text about what Chase had just done on the potty, and my mood was instantly and almost magically lifted. Before I walked into the reception, I sent him my enthusiastic response, and I thought about how funny it was that this kind of thing is now what makes my world go round - and I that I like it and don't care if it makes me the stereotypical and Hollywood-mocked mother of young children. Thus happily brought back to the beauty of my present (by Chase's bathroom habits, of all things), I was therefore feeling fairly content at the reception, and it was especially lovely to talk privately with Carrie for a few moments. Even though we only touch base every so often, and aren't part of each other's daily lives anymore, we still love each other dearly, and that's enough. Her new husband seems marvelous, and it was a joy, instead of a rather selfish sadness, to see the rest of her family, grown and happy, even if it was still a little disconcerting to see her little brothers with children of their own!). All is as it should be.
I arrived home hours later to an empty house, since the other wedding was much later in the day, and I had some time to rest and then to tackle some laundry (more of the hum-drum of my current life), but as the evening wore on, I was truly eager to see my darlings. It was late, for them, when they finally arrived, and all remaining traces of yearning for days of yore were erased when I saw Dave and the kids, and the latter threw themselves at me as if we had been separated for a week. Then I lifted a sleeping Chase out of his car seat, and as I held him, I felt him squeeze my neck tightly, and that sealed the deal. I could say that my present truly is a gift, or that there's no place like home...but let's just say that here - and now - is where I really want to be.
So on Saturday, I was thrilled that everything had actually worked out for me to drive down to Charleston (Dave rented a car for me, and he and the kids went up to his brother's wedding - what a great husband!), but as soon as I entered the chapel and saw her brothers - her now grown brothers who didn't know me anymore, and I thought of all the years that have passed, and I felt a twinge of sadness. Perhaps that was a slightly ridiculous way to feel at the moment, as I haven't exactly been robbed of anything in those years, except maybe of the time itself. How could it have gone so fast, and how could Carrie and I be 30 now, both with busy, grown-up lives? I remembered, as I watched her tall, red-headed twin brothers usher the guests, when Carrie and I were just 13 and were both praying desperately for her then-pregnant mother to give her a sister. Carrie had three younger brothers already, and she loved them - but a sister was what she was hoping for, and as her best friend, I hoped passionately with her. Her mom went into labor while were at our monthly homeschool roller-skating day, and I fell asleep that night still waiting to hear. I remember waking up the next morning to the sound of my mom talking on the phone to someone and exclaiming, "Twin boys!" I remember hoping it was just a dream, but there it was. (They turned out to be pretty cute anyway, and two years later, Carrie was in fact gifted with twin sisters!) At any rate, there were those boys, now - gulp - around 17. And the older boys! I remember when the one, the more serious (and thus more tolerable to his older sister and friend), gave the famous Patrick Henry speech at a homeschool end of-the-year-program, and I remembered how another brother used to hide behind chairs and under tables to listen in on our phone calls, and how all her brothers used to tease her good-naturedly about how the funny ways we ended said phone calls and how completely swept away we were by all things romantic. Ah, the days, the days! By the time the ceremony started, I was feeling almost bereft, and my tears when I saw Carrie were mixed. I could have been channeling some of my dramatic former self, of course...
Just before I arrived at the reception not too long after, however, Dave sent me a text about what Chase had just done on the potty, and my mood was instantly and almost magically lifted. Before I walked into the reception, I sent him my enthusiastic response, and I thought about how funny it was that this kind of thing is now what makes my world go round - and I that I like it and don't care if it makes me the stereotypical and Hollywood-mocked mother of young children. Thus happily brought back to the beauty of my present (by Chase's bathroom habits, of all things), I was therefore feeling fairly content at the reception, and it was especially lovely to talk privately with Carrie for a few moments. Even though we only touch base every so often, and aren't part of each other's daily lives anymore, we still love each other dearly, and that's enough. Her new husband seems marvelous, and it was a joy, instead of a rather selfish sadness, to see the rest of her family, grown and happy, even if it was still a little disconcerting to see her little brothers with children of their own!). All is as it should be.
I arrived home hours later to an empty house, since the other wedding was much later in the day, and I had some time to rest and then to tackle some laundry (more of the hum-drum of my current life), but as the evening wore on, I was truly eager to see my darlings. It was late, for them, when they finally arrived, and all remaining traces of yearning for days of yore were erased when I saw Dave and the kids, and the latter threw themselves at me as if we had been separated for a week. Then I lifted a sleeping Chase out of his car seat, and as I held him, I felt him squeeze my neck tightly, and that sealed the deal. I could say that my present truly is a gift, or that there's no place like home...but let's just say that here - and now - is where I really want to be.
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