I took the bath because my sciatic pain was flaring up big time. Also, because a cold front has descended upon us and our apartment and my body were cold.
I love baths, Japanese style. Deep, deep tub, hot, hot water. In this country, clawfoot tubs provide a close second experience (although honestly, it's like comparing apples to oranges). I haven't had a clawfoot tub since Ben's and my place in SF.
So, despite things like Mare sending me bath bombs and my efforts to create wonderful aromatherapeutic bath times for the kids, I don't often take baths. I know they're good for me, but....
I'm so glad that I did tonight. Drops of grapefruit and rose geranium essential oils (the rg is from a precious, small, brown bottle from Wendy that is about to run out) set the stage. Grapefruit is my favorite eo. Rose is First's. Kinder favors vanilla. First hung out with me while the tub filled up. The three steps going down from their bedroom into the bathroom a convenient sitting place.
When I step into a hot bath, it feels like coming home. So comforting, so enlivening. It literally forces me back into my own skin. And this, was the valuable lesson I learned. With a hot bath, I can experience at home, a respite from the noise in my head. Even the various body parts poking out of the tub didn't bother me. Nor having to roll over occasionally to get an even heat.
I need to ask Mare to send me a bath bomb because I plan on doing this again soon.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Play
Kinder has been really into K-nex. He builds cars, machines, gadgets, and structures, some from exposure to stuff from "real" life, some drawn from his imagination. He usually spends 30-60 minutes across a day playing with these.
First has been into playing store. He usually is the proprietor of a comic book store, although his wares usually include dvds and computer games, too. He takes a lot of care to create his displays and then invites me to come and buy. He enjoys figuring out change for me.
Today Kinder made a store for the first time. First often builds with K-nex, too. There is overlap.
Today, together, they did some "experiments" at the bathroom sink (a regular activity for Kinder, but not for First). Mostly this seemed to involve slathering one of their baby dolls with toothpaste, soap and Aquaphor. After they had their way with him, they gave him a bath in the tub. Incidentally, soap, toothpaste and Aquaphor may be a magical solution to a semi-clogged sink. We'll see how the sink does, but it seems to be draining quicker.
After lunch they treated me to a puppet show. It was about three old ladies rolling down a hill. Again, an elaborate set-up was involved with attention to detail and the use of toys from many different categories. I didn't understand most of it, but enjoyed it immensely. First rarely "performs" for us and he flew through his rendition of this story. He explained later that part of it was inspired by an "Over The Hedge" preview he saw somewhere (which I missed).
Then, it was onto restaurant play. They created "Nauna's" and invited me to come in for a meal. Nauna's is the name of a local pizzeria/restaurant. The debate over how to pronounce the name continued as Kinder called it "nawnas" and First called it "nanas". I had some Eggplant Mash, Strawberry Dumplings, Hot Dog Pizza and Baby Food Pizza. For dessert I had white chocolate and Fruit Punch Dumplings.
In between play I've been responding to student e-mails, paying bills online, transferring credit card balances to a new 0% APR credit card, doing laundry, feeding, cleaning, figuring out our Friday plans (I'm taking the kids into NYC to see my parents) and baking French bread for dinner.
Soon I need to help them clean up so we can be ready to play with Lukas if he's up for it after his long day at school.
First has been into playing store. He usually is the proprietor of a comic book store, although his wares usually include dvds and computer games, too. He takes a lot of care to create his displays and then invites me to come and buy. He enjoys figuring out change for me.
Today Kinder made a store for the first time. First often builds with K-nex, too. There is overlap.
Today, together, they did some "experiments" at the bathroom sink (a regular activity for Kinder, but not for First). Mostly this seemed to involve slathering one of their baby dolls with toothpaste, soap and Aquaphor. After they had their way with him, they gave him a bath in the tub. Incidentally, soap, toothpaste and Aquaphor may be a magical solution to a semi-clogged sink. We'll see how the sink does, but it seems to be draining quicker.
After lunch they treated me to a puppet show. It was about three old ladies rolling down a hill. Again, an elaborate set-up was involved with attention to detail and the use of toys from many different categories. I didn't understand most of it, but enjoyed it immensely. First rarely "performs" for us and he flew through his rendition of this story. He explained later that part of it was inspired by an "Over The Hedge" preview he saw somewhere (which I missed).
Then, it was onto restaurant play. They created "Nauna's" and invited me to come in for a meal. Nauna's is the name of a local pizzeria/restaurant. The debate over how to pronounce the name continued as Kinder called it "nawnas" and First called it "nanas". I had some Eggplant Mash, Strawberry Dumplings, Hot Dog Pizza and Baby Food Pizza. For dessert I had white chocolate and Fruit Punch Dumplings.
In between play I've been responding to student e-mails, paying bills online, transferring credit card balances to a new 0% APR credit card, doing laundry, feeding, cleaning, figuring out our Friday plans (I'm taking the kids into NYC to see my parents) and baking French bread for dinner.
Soon I need to help them clean up so we can be ready to play with Lukas if he's up for it after his long day at school.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Auntie Barbra
Barbra came to visit from Oakland and she was just the dose of grounding friendship that I needed.
First, life kind of paused. On Thursday we cleaned and prepared the room where Auntie Barbra would be sleeping. We had a nighttime adventure picking her up at Newark Airport (First loves to take drives at night.)
On Friday, we had a lovely oatmeal breakfast and just relaxed. In the late afternoon B and I drove out to her hometown and tripped down memory lane. Highlights for me were the bakery and the Magick Shop at the end of Main Street. And just being able to be with her for this special time. We ended with dinner at Greek Delight in Montclair, a chance stumblig upon which yielded much yummy food.
Over dinner B asked me about homeschooling. It was the catalyst for me to descend from the clattering, yet stagnated noise in my head. Over the next few days I became more and more grounded and by dinner last night, at Daikichi in Montclair (good sushi, not great), I felt l could conclude my conversation with her about how things are going and what I think. I am feeling much less rambly and more focused.
(In between, B went to Cass and Bob's for a couple of days. We had a lovely time with Cara, Ethan and Charlie on Saturday and a great family hike on Sunday. I made a to-die-for pot of soup and Erik's loaves of nisu - Finnish cardamom bread - were perfect.)
So, we're at a point where Cap and I need to sit down and map out our goals for the year. Now that I've tried out some things to establish what our days do and could look like, I need to flip over to the other side of things---where we want to end up (concretely, in terms of skills taught/learned).
Interestingly, I have the feeling that our system is going to be humming along nicely by the end of 2006/beginning of 2007. What's interesting about this is that many, many moons ago, I had proposed that we do a laid back extension of a Waldorfy Kindergarten with the kids from Sept-Dec. I felt this would give the kids and I time to acclimate to Montclair and discover who we are in this place, where we like to go, what we like to do, who we do it with. Knowing that homeschooled kids generally finish up their year's academic requirements in a much shorter time than their in-school peers, I thought we could do First's first grade work from Jan-June.
This would have given me Sept-Dec to work on and work out curriculum considerations and planning. Cap was resistant to this idea. And, at the time, I was okay with letting go. It seems like it's coming back full circle.
I read a quote on a magnet in Whole Foods today. It was an Abe Lincoln quote. I can't find it in a quick internet search. But, it reminded me of the kind of thing Dr. Li has said/would say. Don't worry, take it easy and slow. Eat three square meals, exercise, and sleep. Something along those lines. I feel like I've unhitched myself from a team of horses that served a purpose, perhaps, but for now, it's time to stable them. I'm switching course, continuing on the journey, more grounded, feeling much easier.
First, life kind of paused. On Thursday we cleaned and prepared the room where Auntie Barbra would be sleeping. We had a nighttime adventure picking her up at Newark Airport (First loves to take drives at night.)
On Friday, we had a lovely oatmeal breakfast and just relaxed. In the late afternoon B and I drove out to her hometown and tripped down memory lane. Highlights for me were the bakery and the Magick Shop at the end of Main Street. And just being able to be with her for this special time. We ended with dinner at Greek Delight in Montclair, a chance stumblig upon which yielded much yummy food.
Over dinner B asked me about homeschooling. It was the catalyst for me to descend from the clattering, yet stagnated noise in my head. Over the next few days I became more and more grounded and by dinner last night, at Daikichi in Montclair (good sushi, not great), I felt l could conclude my conversation with her about how things are going and what I think. I am feeling much less rambly and more focused.
(In between, B went to Cass and Bob's for a couple of days. We had a lovely time with Cara, Ethan and Charlie on Saturday and a great family hike on Sunday. I made a to-die-for pot of soup and Erik's loaves of nisu - Finnish cardamom bread - were perfect.)
So, we're at a point where Cap and I need to sit down and map out our goals for the year. Now that I've tried out some things to establish what our days do and could look like, I need to flip over to the other side of things---where we want to end up (concretely, in terms of skills taught/learned).
Interestingly, I have the feeling that our system is going to be humming along nicely by the end of 2006/beginning of 2007. What's interesting about this is that many, many moons ago, I had proposed that we do a laid back extension of a Waldorfy Kindergarten with the kids from Sept-Dec. I felt this would give the kids and I time to acclimate to Montclair and discover who we are in this place, where we like to go, what we like to do, who we do it with. Knowing that homeschooled kids generally finish up their year's academic requirements in a much shorter time than their in-school peers, I thought we could do First's first grade work from Jan-June.
This would have given me Sept-Dec to work on and work out curriculum considerations and planning. Cap was resistant to this idea. And, at the time, I was okay with letting go. It seems like it's coming back full circle.
I read a quote on a magnet in Whole Foods today. It was an Abe Lincoln quote. I can't find it in a quick internet search. But, it reminded me of the kind of thing Dr. Li has said/would say. Don't worry, take it easy and slow. Eat three square meals, exercise, and sleep. Something along those lines. I feel like I've unhitched myself from a team of horses that served a purpose, perhaps, but for now, it's time to stable them. I'm switching course, continuing on the journey, more grounded, feeling much easier.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Kinder
Today I took the kids out around 3:00 pm. It had been a lethargic day and a gloomy one weather-wise. Both kids had low grade temps and I had canceled a playground date. But, there was a lull that felt like it could teeter into unproductive ennui and so I announced a walk to a nearby store.
We walked to Dem Two Hands, a funky boutiquey kind of place. The autumn colored leaves were in stark contrast to the greyness of the day. As we walked, Kinder expressed his desire to grab some of the leaves from the trees. He wished that he could climb up into a tree or somehow just get some in his hands. I didn't quite get it yet.
The kids were patient in the store as I looked for something for Danielle. She turns forty on Friday and I wanted to see f I could find a little something. They leave Friday for a weekend in Maine and I wanted to try to give her something before they depart. Success was had---Kinder helped me make some selections.
On the walk home, we approached a stand of trees near the Rand School. The ground on one side of the sidewalk sloped up and the lowest branches of the trees on the other side of the sidewalk hung down to meet the slope. Kinder crowed out, "I can reach those leaves!", and off he went.
I realized today, in a quiet, but visceral way, how much Kinder is like me, and how much I want to return to "being" in the way that he is. We take walks nearly every day and we've been looking at trees and leaves a lot. But, it has not been enough for him to pick up leaves off the ground. He has been wanting to experience the leaves in the trees, the leaves in their original form.
As he has grown familiar with our walks and comfortable with the routine (left out onto Chestnut, left onto Midland, left onto the street whose name I still don't know, left onto Central and left onto Chestnut again---around the block, no crossing of streets), he has been walking slower and slower.
Today, I really saw him when I turned to check on him. I asked him to "catch up" less and less. I saw how absorbed he was with his experience. I saw him so clearly as his own person, with his own thoughts and his own pace.
Today he worked for a long time on a K-nex piece. He told First and me that it was Doc Ock. I wish I had taken a picture of it. I wish I had made more of a fuss over it. He has been interested in Spiderman and the villains of his world since this summer. Lisa's mom, Sara, gave the kids a book about Spiderman and he's been hooked ever since. I love that he was working out his visualization of Doc Ock using these abstract 3-D materials.
I've been worried that I haven't been paying as much attention to Kinder as I've been planning "homeschool" recently. Well, the last two days have been an interesting time of germination. I've been using the schedule I developed to help guide our rhythm in terms of household chores and meals, but a lot of the "learning" has come about more organically and spontaneously (ie. not according to the schedule).
Tonight we snuggled in the big bed for Read Aloud. Finn Family Moomintroll is our "official" read aloud book, but we also read a Donald Duck comic (First's choice) and a Backyardigans book (Kinder's choice). It was a nice way to end our day. We also decided to make pacakes for breakfast because the pancakes the Moomin family were eating for breakfast sounded really yummy.
We walked to Dem Two Hands, a funky boutiquey kind of place. The autumn colored leaves were in stark contrast to the greyness of the day. As we walked, Kinder expressed his desire to grab some of the leaves from the trees. He wished that he could climb up into a tree or somehow just get some in his hands. I didn't quite get it yet.
The kids were patient in the store as I looked for something for Danielle. She turns forty on Friday and I wanted to see f I could find a little something. They leave Friday for a weekend in Maine and I wanted to try to give her something before they depart. Success was had---Kinder helped me make some selections.
On the walk home, we approached a stand of trees near the Rand School. The ground on one side of the sidewalk sloped up and the lowest branches of the trees on the other side of the sidewalk hung down to meet the slope. Kinder crowed out, "I can reach those leaves!", and off he went.
I realized today, in a quiet, but visceral way, how much Kinder is like me, and how much I want to return to "being" in the way that he is. We take walks nearly every day and we've been looking at trees and leaves a lot. But, it has not been enough for him to pick up leaves off the ground. He has been wanting to experience the leaves in the trees, the leaves in their original form.
As he has grown familiar with our walks and comfortable with the routine (left out onto Chestnut, left onto Midland, left onto the street whose name I still don't know, left onto Central and left onto Chestnut again---around the block, no crossing of streets), he has been walking slower and slower.
Today, I really saw him when I turned to check on him. I asked him to "catch up" less and less. I saw how absorbed he was with his experience. I saw him so clearly as his own person, with his own thoughts and his own pace.
Today he worked for a long time on a K-nex piece. He told First and me that it was Doc Ock. I wish I had taken a picture of it. I wish I had made more of a fuss over it. He has been interested in Spiderman and the villains of his world since this summer. Lisa's mom, Sara, gave the kids a book about Spiderman and he's been hooked ever since. I love that he was working out his visualization of Doc Ock using these abstract 3-D materials.
I've been worried that I haven't been paying as much attention to Kinder as I've been planning "homeschool" recently. Well, the last two days have been an interesting time of germination. I've been using the schedule I developed to help guide our rhythm in terms of household chores and meals, but a lot of the "learning" has come about more organically and spontaneously (ie. not according to the schedule).
Tonight we snuggled in the big bed for Read Aloud. Finn Family Moomintroll is our "official" read aloud book, but we also read a Donald Duck comic (First's choice) and a Backyardigans book (Kinder's choice). It was a nice way to end our day. We also decided to make pacakes for breakfast because the pancakes the Moomin family were eating for breakfast sounded really yummy.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Not school at home
This thought wandered into my head as I lay in the dark waiting for First to fall asleep. Not school at home.
And I took a deep out breath. I've been pushing it a bit, trying to make things school at home.
Let me just say that pushing First's bedtime to 7:30 has worked out wonderfully. Now each boy gets some one-on-one attention while they drift off, which is nice for them, and for us. While one of us is in with Kinder, First has been hanging out on the couch in the livingroom reading his comics. (We are pretty much operating on a one parent-two kids/one parent working system most of the time.) By the time we come out to be with First, it's usually 7:20 or 7:25. We read with him for a few minutes and then he gets in bed at 7:30. By this time, he is yawning and fuzzy and quite ready for bed.
The comforters have been working out well, too. Worth the money. Whether it's snuggling in for the night or making their beds in the morning, the one layer is much easier for them to manage than the three of sheet-blanket-quilted cover.
Back to daytime.
Form Drawing has been interesting. First is particularly interested in making his own pictures/images out of the forms. So far, he's made a butterflies and a sun. For our purposes, for now, I've decided to let him. He has to follow certain rules about using only block crayons and making his forms from top to bottom and using one, fluid motion, as much as possible. But, once he's practiced the forms we're working on, I'm letting him make his pictures, even in his Main Lesson Book.
Today, after making banana muffins for snack and doing Form Drawing, we drove Cap to the Uni and from there, took a field trip. We drove back roads to Millburn, to visit the Whole Foods there. It was a nice drive. The leaves are starting their autumn change and although it wasn't a New England back roads drive in fall, it was very pretty.
We're going apple and pumpkin picking this weekend and our extended family on my side will be joining us. We're going here: http://www.peacefulvalleyorchards.com/ We've invited them over for an early dinner afterwards. I'll be making braised pork with scallions, ginger and garlic, teriyaki chicken, a salad (we'll be picking up our Purple Dragon share Saturday morning), rice, and a chocolate cake for dessert.
For the last few nights, I've been going back through our old copies of Living Without and dogearing recipes. I came across one for chocolate cake and frosting that sounds really good and chocolate chip cookies, too. I thought the family gathering was the perfect reason to bake the cake sooner than later. (They'll be my guinea pigs.) Hence, the field trip to the Whole Foods. We have a WF in town, not a five minute drive away, but it is a small one and their GF selection is correspondingly small.
I found everything I needed except for sweet rice flour. I'm going to substitute white rice flour and hope for the best.
By this afternoon I was feeling crappy. As if I had PMS again, like I did last week. Except I got my period on Sunday and so should not be feeling this way. Pre-menopausal loop-de-loop maybe? Inexplicable rage, short fuse, big yawns...Cap took the kids to the comic book store. They love going. I did a bit of Lesley work and then delved into cooking/the kitchen which is what I did just before getting my period. Whipped up a chahan (Japanese style fried rice) for dinner, re/labeled our pantry storage containers, and after dinner, mixed up and threw in the ingredients for a GF loaf in the bread machine. It's starting to smell like fresh, baked bread :-)
After a shower, I am feeling human again. Bedtime was smooth and cozy (see above :-)
Look at me, I'm all smiles!
And I took a deep out breath. I've been pushing it a bit, trying to make things school at home.
Let me just say that pushing First's bedtime to 7:30 has worked out wonderfully. Now each boy gets some one-on-one attention while they drift off, which is nice for them, and for us. While one of us is in with Kinder, First has been hanging out on the couch in the livingroom reading his comics. (We are pretty much operating on a one parent-two kids/one parent working system most of the time.) By the time we come out to be with First, it's usually 7:20 or 7:25. We read with him for a few minutes and then he gets in bed at 7:30. By this time, he is yawning and fuzzy and quite ready for bed.
The comforters have been working out well, too. Worth the money. Whether it's snuggling in for the night or making their beds in the morning, the one layer is much easier for them to manage than the three of sheet-blanket-quilted cover.
Back to daytime.
Form Drawing has been interesting. First is particularly interested in making his own pictures/images out of the forms. So far, he's made a butterflies and a sun. For our purposes, for now, I've decided to let him. He has to follow certain rules about using only block crayons and making his forms from top to bottom and using one, fluid motion, as much as possible. But, once he's practiced the forms we're working on, I'm letting him make his pictures, even in his Main Lesson Book.
Today, after making banana muffins for snack and doing Form Drawing, we drove Cap to the Uni and from there, took a field trip. We drove back roads to Millburn, to visit the Whole Foods there. It was a nice drive. The leaves are starting their autumn change and although it wasn't a New England back roads drive in fall, it was very pretty.
We're going apple and pumpkin picking this weekend and our extended family on my side will be joining us. We're going here: http://www.peacefulvalleyorchards.com/ We've invited them over for an early dinner afterwards. I'll be making braised pork with scallions, ginger and garlic, teriyaki chicken, a salad (we'll be picking up our Purple Dragon share Saturday morning), rice, and a chocolate cake for dessert.
For the last few nights, I've been going back through our old copies of Living Without and dogearing recipes. I came across one for chocolate cake and frosting that sounds really good and chocolate chip cookies, too. I thought the family gathering was the perfect reason to bake the cake sooner than later. (They'll be my guinea pigs.) Hence, the field trip to the Whole Foods. We have a WF in town, not a five minute drive away, but it is a small one and their GF selection is correspondingly small.
I found everything I needed except for sweet rice flour. I'm going to substitute white rice flour and hope for the best.
By this afternoon I was feeling crappy. As if I had PMS again, like I did last week. Except I got my period on Sunday and so should not be feeling this way. Pre-menopausal loop-de-loop maybe? Inexplicable rage, short fuse, big yawns...Cap took the kids to the comic book store. They love going. I did a bit of Lesley work and then delved into cooking/the kitchen which is what I did just before getting my period. Whipped up a chahan (Japanese style fried rice) for dinner, re/labeled our pantry storage containers, and after dinner, mixed up and threw in the ingredients for a GF loaf in the bread machine. It's starting to smell like fresh, baked bread :-)
After a shower, I am feeling human again. Bedtime was smooth and cozy (see above :-)
Look at me, I'm all smiles!
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
A better day
Yesterday sucked.
But, I'm not going to get into it now. I am starting to feel like a broken record lately. Just ask my sister who unforutnately has been getting the brunt of my venting, I fear.
Last night, Cap came home around 7:30, the kids were in bed (though First came out periodically unable to fall asleep), and I was agitated, almost paralyzed. Luckily, I was able to spit out my problems. Cap is a great problem solver. His objective eye, caring soul and giving heart have helped me repeatedly over the last weeks.
This morning, I whipped up a new schedule and discussed it with the kids after our walk. I asked for their input for certain sections. I could see that, especially for First, things were clearer to him in terms of what the expectations were in terms of a rhythm that each day would have. Kinder lost interest/couldn't keep up with too much of the details.
I wish I could upload it here...maybe I can cut and paste it. Nope, it gets all wibbly AND you don't get the nice table effect. I love making tables.
Here's the gist:
• Morning Routine
• Breakfast
• House Work
• Walk
• Circle
• School Work
• Snack
• School Work
• Read Aloud
• Lunch
• Quiet Time
• School Work
• Snack
• Outdoor Play
• Quiet/Indoor Play
• Clean Up
• Dinner
• Games/Bath
• Night Routine
On Mondays and Fridays we will have regular outings with our local homeschoolers group: "gecho" (Greater Essex County homeschoolers organization).
On Mondays we will join a Fiber Arts Circle that rotates through people's homes three Mondays a month. Parents and kids can work on knitting and the such, kids can also play. One Monday a month is the gathering at the library. This was a bit of a bust last time we went. The room was crowded and pretty nosiy. The kids were soon overwhelmed and we ended up in the Children's library upstairs.
On Fridays, folks gather at a park in Montclair for outdoor play. Our Fridays have been pretty loose, but Cap and I tightened up our schedules last night which will allow me to take the kids to the park regularly.
I have definitely been noticing our lack of time with other kids. Part of it has been trying to tame the chaos, but part of it is my own shyness. So, it's time to change that. It occurred to me a few days ago that we need to meet some more kids because Kinder's birthday is in November and we need to have friends to invite!
I'm hoping that we might have a regular, weekly playdate with Owen and Lukas. Like we did with Bennett and Malachi. We'll see.
The kids chose house work tasks to assign to certain days and they helped me draw up a list of snacks and we assigned those to days too, for the morning snack. I also mapped out breakfasts for the weekdays. This was something I did last year, before we were homeschooling and it helped a lot not to have to think of what to make at a given mealtime.
During Quiet Time, I will be doing yoga, some aerobic exercise and stretching. I caught sight of myself in a picture that Dave, Jodie's boyfriend took at our house last weekend when Jay and Lily were visiting and nearly had a heart attack. It was one of those freakish angles, but oh my goodness, it was a wake up call. That and the fact that I get out of breath climbing up a flight of stairs.
I'm changing the old diet, too. It's so hard, last night when I was relating my stress to Cap, I was dying for chocolate, something sweet and stimulating. I settled for a cup of peppermint tea with honey, which ended up being great (our talking really helped, too).
I'm pushing First's bedtime back to 7:30. Kinder's will stay at 7:00 (bearing in mind that day light savings will be coming to an end in less than a month). First is ready for recognition that he is older. We had played around with shifting his bedtime while still in Sac, but it fell by the wayside. They both sleep well, but are not getting eleven hours consistently.
First is also feeling the effects of always being with Kinder. He and I talked about it before he finally fell asleep last night, tearily. He really wants his own room. I suggested we could rig a sheet to create a wall for his bottom bunk. He said Sandy had mentioned something similar. Cap and I have talked about wanting to have some one kid only time with them. We need to revisit this.
I'll end with a highlight. Yesterday, recorder time went horribly. First was resistant to trying and just wanting to blow "as hard as he could". I abandoned it and was wondering if we should drop recorder till January, whether it was a fine motor issue, whether it was a performance anxiety issue, whether I was being too unsturctured and exploratory and what he needed was more structure, etc.
Well, today, I pushed through my own doubts and we had recorder time and it went well! He was able to cover all the holes with his fingers and he was willing and motivated to try the first few notes of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". It was very sweet and fun (maybe not auditorily recognizable yet...)
But, I'm not going to get into it now. I am starting to feel like a broken record lately. Just ask my sister who unforutnately has been getting the brunt of my venting, I fear.
Last night, Cap came home around 7:30, the kids were in bed (though First came out periodically unable to fall asleep), and I was agitated, almost paralyzed. Luckily, I was able to spit out my problems. Cap is a great problem solver. His objective eye, caring soul and giving heart have helped me repeatedly over the last weeks.
This morning, I whipped up a new schedule and discussed it with the kids after our walk. I asked for their input for certain sections. I could see that, especially for First, things were clearer to him in terms of what the expectations were in terms of a rhythm that each day would have. Kinder lost interest/couldn't keep up with too much of the details.
I wish I could upload it here...maybe I can cut and paste it. Nope, it gets all wibbly AND you don't get the nice table effect. I love making tables.
Here's the gist:
• Morning Routine
• Breakfast
• House Work
• Walk
• Circle
• School Work
• Snack
• School Work
• Read Aloud
• Lunch
• Quiet Time
• School Work
• Snack
• Outdoor Play
• Quiet/Indoor Play
• Clean Up
• Dinner
• Games/Bath
• Night Routine
On Mondays and Fridays we will have regular outings with our local homeschoolers group: "gecho" (Greater Essex County homeschoolers organization).
On Mondays we will join a Fiber Arts Circle that rotates through people's homes three Mondays a month. Parents and kids can work on knitting and the such, kids can also play. One Monday a month is the gathering at the library. This was a bit of a bust last time we went. The room was crowded and pretty nosiy. The kids were soon overwhelmed and we ended up in the Children's library upstairs.
On Fridays, folks gather at a park in Montclair for outdoor play. Our Fridays have been pretty loose, but Cap and I tightened up our schedules last night which will allow me to take the kids to the park regularly.
I have definitely been noticing our lack of time with other kids. Part of it has been trying to tame the chaos, but part of it is my own shyness. So, it's time to change that. It occurred to me a few days ago that we need to meet some more kids because Kinder's birthday is in November and we need to have friends to invite!
I'm hoping that we might have a regular, weekly playdate with Owen and Lukas. Like we did with Bennett and Malachi. We'll see.
The kids chose house work tasks to assign to certain days and they helped me draw up a list of snacks and we assigned those to days too, for the morning snack. I also mapped out breakfasts for the weekdays. This was something I did last year, before we were homeschooling and it helped a lot not to have to think of what to make at a given mealtime.
During Quiet Time, I will be doing yoga, some aerobic exercise and stretching. I caught sight of myself in a picture that Dave, Jodie's boyfriend took at our house last weekend when Jay and Lily were visiting and nearly had a heart attack. It was one of those freakish angles, but oh my goodness, it was a wake up call. That and the fact that I get out of breath climbing up a flight of stairs.
I'm changing the old diet, too. It's so hard, last night when I was relating my stress to Cap, I was dying for chocolate, something sweet and stimulating. I settled for a cup of peppermint tea with honey, which ended up being great (our talking really helped, too).
I'm pushing First's bedtime back to 7:30. Kinder's will stay at 7:00 (bearing in mind that day light savings will be coming to an end in less than a month). First is ready for recognition that he is older. We had played around with shifting his bedtime while still in Sac, but it fell by the wayside. They both sleep well, but are not getting eleven hours consistently.
First is also feeling the effects of always being with Kinder. He and I talked about it before he finally fell asleep last night, tearily. He really wants his own room. I suggested we could rig a sheet to create a wall for his bottom bunk. He said Sandy had mentioned something similar. Cap and I have talked about wanting to have some one kid only time with them. We need to revisit this.
I'll end with a highlight. Yesterday, recorder time went horribly. First was resistant to trying and just wanting to blow "as hard as he could". I abandoned it and was wondering if we should drop recorder till January, whether it was a fine motor issue, whether it was a performance anxiety issue, whether I was being too unsturctured and exploratory and what he needed was more structure, etc.
Well, today, I pushed through my own doubts and we had recorder time and it went well! He was able to cover all the holes with his fingers and he was willing and motivated to try the first few notes of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". It was very sweet and fun (maybe not auditorily recognizable yet...)
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Sunday night speed blog
Kitchen shut down for the night. Love that feeling.
NJ highway signage is deficient and confusing. We were turned around all sorts of ways on an outing to the Elizabeth Toys R Us Kids' World and Ikea. Kinder and First showed impressive restraint. When they didn't have enough money for what they really wanted, they opted to save their money for what they wanted. They (unfortunately) sure didn't learn that from us.
The course is going well. Read a bunch of terrific discussion posts today.
Have some general plans for the week. I'll pick a fairytale tonight, though I won't have time to memorize it, between Amazing Race at 8:00 and The Wire at 10:00.
Must put Oz season 6 on my Netflix queue. I completely forgot about it!
Judy sent me a cyber kick in the pants, much needed. Tomorrow I start yoga and stretching during Quiet Time. Also changing the old fallback diet tomorrow. After a few weeks I'm hoping to add an aerobic component.
Had painting on the schedule for tomorrow, but the Mercurius order hasn't arrived yet, so I don't have watercolor paints yet.
Did buy the Yamaha recorder for First on Friday while driving around with Jay and Lily. The Candy Apple won't work for left handed players---beware!
More Form Drawing tomorrow. And may work on fingerknitting a long jumprope. I'm planning on jumping rope during Outdoor Play tomorrow. I have my period so I don't have to worry about leaks while jumping. Sorry, that's way too much information, but..."it's my blog and I'll tell if I want to, tell if I want to, tell if I want to..."
Time for the Race!
NJ highway signage is deficient and confusing. We were turned around all sorts of ways on an outing to the Elizabeth Toys R Us Kids' World and Ikea. Kinder and First showed impressive restraint. When they didn't have enough money for what they really wanted, they opted to save their money for what they wanted. They (unfortunately) sure didn't learn that from us.
The course is going well. Read a bunch of terrific discussion posts today.
Have some general plans for the week. I'll pick a fairytale tonight, though I won't have time to memorize it, between Amazing Race at 8:00 and The Wire at 10:00.
Must put Oz season 6 on my Netflix queue. I completely forgot about it!
Judy sent me a cyber kick in the pants, much needed. Tomorrow I start yoga and stretching during Quiet Time. Also changing the old fallback diet tomorrow. After a few weeks I'm hoping to add an aerobic component.
Had painting on the schedule for tomorrow, but the Mercurius order hasn't arrived yet, so I don't have watercolor paints yet.
Did buy the Yamaha recorder for First on Friday while driving around with Jay and Lily. The Candy Apple won't work for left handed players---beware!
More Form Drawing tomorrow. And may work on fingerknitting a long jumprope. I'm planning on jumping rope during Outdoor Play tomorrow. I have my period so I don't have to worry about leaks while jumping. Sorry, that's way too much information, but..."it's my blog and I'll tell if I want to, tell if I want to, tell if I want to..."
Time for the Race!
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