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!
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Morning has broken
Last night the facade cracked and my tears washed away the coats of denial and stiff upper lip and brought relief. Basically, I unmasked my sadness and let myself feel it. Wise Julia says it must have been time. Wise Barbra says being in touch with my feelings is a good place to start. Las tnight, in the throes of my despair, I could hear wise Judy saying if Momma ain't happy, then ain't no one happy.
As I lay in my bed, eyes wide open at 2:00 am this morning, I vowed to reconnect with my two boys and spend the day WITH them, not around them, not on the periphery.
We were out of bed before 7:00 (should help me stick to another vow, to start going to bed at 10:00. What's the point of being a grumpy, irritable, stay-at-home, homeschooling mom? I still love me my Jon Stewart, but I need more sleep!)
One of the first things First said this morning was that he wanted to be absent from homeschool.
We stuck to the getting dressed and making beds routine. I explained that we needed to have a loose deal of agreeing to each other's requests. His request was that he get to check out the rest of the Knex toys on Amazon (we had started that a couple of days ago).
They helped sort the laundry and I got the wash going.
Breakfast of Peanut Butter Panda Puffs and soy milk.
We went on a walk. I explained that I'd heard of a bakery that baked gluten-free items sometimes. We agreed to check it out. We ran into Danielle and checked out how the kitchen renovation is coming along. We walked to the Montclair Bread Company. It's about seven blocks away from the house. We saw where the stream from Rand Park (2 blocks from our house) ends up, a much stronger stream near the bakery.
The bakery was a revelation.
http://www.thebreadcompany.com/breadco/main.htm
First chose chocolate chip cookies, Kinder chose hot cross buns, I chose leek and lentil soup. On our way home, First suggested we sit in Rand Park and eat. Which we did. On our walk home, we noticed knots in trees which had been one of the answers to one of the riddles we read out of our riddle book at the end of breakfast.
"It's between heaven and earth and is not on a tree,
In this riddle I have told you, but you can't tell me."
Once home we continued with the wash. We made our Weather Tree (from the Christopherus First Grade Curriculum). The kids played some. We ate a lunch of leftovers and the yummy leek and lentil soup.
I talked to Jay.
The kids and I went out to the backyard for some time outside. I started flipping through Roots, Shoots, Bucket and Boots and loved what I saw. First climbed what he could of the Japanese Maple and then asked for help relocating the spider with the very ong, skinny legs. Kinder sent Ginger (his stuffed animal cat) up and down the slide. The mosquitoes and their bites became a distraction.
I talked to Sandy.
The kids' comforter covers arrived. I ripped open the boxes on the porch and tossed them into the wash. Yellow for First, rose for Kinder.
The kids played some more while I made some nikujaga (a Japanese meat and potatoes dish that is so simple and out of this world).
I talked to Julia while I cooked.
Today was a day that had me coming in and out the door frequently (the washing machine is in the basement, no access through the inside of the house). Every time I left, I worked on the traditional Japanese phrases: "ittekimasu" (I'm leaving) / "itterasshai" (Go) and "tadaima" (Just got back) / "okaerinasai" (Welcome back). It never fails to delight my ears to hear them say something in Japanese.
Kinder tonight at dinner: "oh, only one piece of nikujaga this time" (after eating the one piece of meat that came in his second helping and digging around the potatoes searching for more---the correct way would have been to say one piece of "niku" (meat) but I didn't care---it was so cute).
The day felt longer, it felt way more relaxed. The kids weren't getting into tiffs. I think part of that was that they weren't being left to their own "free" play for as long as usual. I actually kissed them good morning this morning. There was more eye contact, especially from First.
What a relief.
Now they're in bed snuggled under their new back-in-the-northeast down comforters. Chatting about the comics and movies they will write.
Late afternoon saw me at the computer doing work for my online course, Cap took the kids to the comic book store in Nutley (Kinder is into The Human Torch from Fantastic Four and Spiderman. First is into Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck's uncle). They picked up some groceries for our healing-from-surgery downstairs neighbor and then sprawled out on the livingroom couch reading today's purchases.
Cap's now at work till 11:00. I need to make some calls to coordinate whose coming over when to visit with Jay and Lily who will be here tomorrow for an overnight from Boston. Then, The Office and Grey's Anatomy.
As I lay in my bed, eyes wide open at 2:00 am this morning, I vowed to reconnect with my two boys and spend the day WITH them, not around them, not on the periphery.
We were out of bed before 7:00 (should help me stick to another vow, to start going to bed at 10:00. What's the point of being a grumpy, irritable, stay-at-home, homeschooling mom? I still love me my Jon Stewart, but I need more sleep!)
One of the first things First said this morning was that he wanted to be absent from homeschool.
We stuck to the getting dressed and making beds routine. I explained that we needed to have a loose deal of agreeing to each other's requests. His request was that he get to check out the rest of the Knex toys on Amazon (we had started that a couple of days ago).
They helped sort the laundry and I got the wash going.
Breakfast of Peanut Butter Panda Puffs and soy milk.
We went on a walk. I explained that I'd heard of a bakery that baked gluten-free items sometimes. We agreed to check it out. We ran into Danielle and checked out how the kitchen renovation is coming along. We walked to the Montclair Bread Company. It's about seven blocks away from the house. We saw where the stream from Rand Park (2 blocks from our house) ends up, a much stronger stream near the bakery.
The bakery was a revelation.
http://www.thebreadcompany.com/breadco/main.htm
First chose chocolate chip cookies, Kinder chose hot cross buns, I chose leek and lentil soup. On our way home, First suggested we sit in Rand Park and eat. Which we did. On our walk home, we noticed knots in trees which had been one of the answers to one of the riddles we read out of our riddle book at the end of breakfast.
"It's between heaven and earth and is not on a tree,
In this riddle I have told you, but you can't tell me."
Once home we continued with the wash. We made our Weather Tree (from the Christopherus First Grade Curriculum). The kids played some. We ate a lunch of leftovers and the yummy leek and lentil soup.
I talked to Jay.
The kids and I went out to the backyard for some time outside. I started flipping through Roots, Shoots, Bucket and Boots and loved what I saw. First climbed what he could of the Japanese Maple and then asked for help relocating the spider with the very ong, skinny legs. Kinder sent Ginger (his stuffed animal cat) up and down the slide. The mosquitoes and their bites became a distraction.
I talked to Sandy.
The kids' comforter covers arrived. I ripped open the boxes on the porch and tossed them into the wash. Yellow for First, rose for Kinder.
The kids played some more while I made some nikujaga (a Japanese meat and potatoes dish that is so simple and out of this world).
I talked to Julia while I cooked.
Today was a day that had me coming in and out the door frequently (the washing machine is in the basement, no access through the inside of the house). Every time I left, I worked on the traditional Japanese phrases: "ittekimasu" (I'm leaving) / "itterasshai" (Go) and "tadaima" (Just got back) / "okaerinasai" (Welcome back). It never fails to delight my ears to hear them say something in Japanese.
Kinder tonight at dinner: "oh, only one piece of nikujaga this time" (after eating the one piece of meat that came in his second helping and digging around the potatoes searching for more---the correct way would have been to say one piece of "niku" (meat) but I didn't care---it was so cute).
The day felt longer, it felt way more relaxed. The kids weren't getting into tiffs. I think part of that was that they weren't being left to their own "free" play for as long as usual. I actually kissed them good morning this morning. There was more eye contact, especially from First.
What a relief.
Now they're in bed snuggled under their new back-in-the-northeast down comforters. Chatting about the comics and movies they will write.
Late afternoon saw me at the computer doing work for my online course, Cap took the kids to the comic book store in Nutley (Kinder is into The Human Torch from Fantastic Four and Spiderman. First is into Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck's uncle). They picked up some groceries for our healing-from-surgery downstairs neighbor and then sprawled out on the livingroom couch reading today's purchases.
Cap's now at work till 11:00. I need to make some calls to coordinate whose coming over when to visit with Jay and Lily who will be here tomorrow for an overnight from Boston. Then, The Office and Grey's Anatomy.
Monday, September 25, 2006
It's a start
Sometime over the weekend I realized I would start up the "Happy Little Homeschool" on Monday (today). A small, rosy, interior light just went on and I was ready. Were my verses memorized? No. Do we have a blackboard yet? No. Did any of the scissors other than the kitchen scissors make the move to NJ with us? Don't know, but it's looking unlikely.
What was so obvious hadn't quite hit me the right way (I guess). The kids need to start. They need a sense of closure to the summer, our big summer of chaos and transition.
Yesterday I drafted a schedule, which First really wanted. He was surprised and a bit dismayed that he didn't get any Free Play until late afternoon. Well, that's first grade for you.
Here's the schedule:
• Wake Up
• Get dressed.
• Make beds.
• Breakfast.
• Brush teeth.
• Take walk (we walked to Edgemont Park for the first time---there's a pond, playground, geese, ducks and what appeared to be a cormorant-like bird, a monument to Montclair war dead, two baseball fields....).
• Circle (this was lots of fun---the highlight for me was singing a Japanese song, "Ookina taiko/chiisana taiko" [Big drum/little drum], and banging on the big and small taiko that Cap made in Sacramento.
• Form Drawing/Drawing (First began a Form Drawing block and Kinder worked on filling his whole picture with color).
• Snack (apple sauce and peanuts---First wanted to know if this would be the regular snack on Mondays, this kind of consistent "rhythm" being something which they are used to from their time in Waldorf settings).
• Wash Snack Dishes.
• Recorder/Free Play (First and I did some warm-up clapping exercises and then explored making different sounds with our recorders---Kinder had Free Play in his room).
• Read Aloud (I had wanted Cap to pick the book, so that he'd be with us in spirit, but he didn't get around to choosing one, so I ended up picking Finn Family Moomintroll on the fly).
• Make Lunch (I ended up letting them play and made lunch by myself---I gave First the option to help with lunch, but he went with Free Play :-)
• Lunch.
• Quiet Time (they were a bit wild after lunch---unusually quiet during lunch---so I had Kinder choose a book and we read on the couch---Appelmando's Dream by Patricia Polacco. Then they brought quiet toys and books into their beds for Quiet Time---this is where we are in the schedule as I type. First came out at about the 30 minute mark but has settled back after a couple of pleas to stay with me).
• Errands (library to renew some books and the craft stores for scissors, among other things :-)
• Snack.
• Craft Activity (cut leaves for Weather Tree).
• Outdoor Play (the backyard today).
• Free Play/Clean Up Toys (while I make dinner).
• Dinner.
• Bath.
• Bedtime Stories.
• Brush Teeth.
• Bedtime.
Now, for some pleasure reading time for myself. Oh, I'm distracted by the sound of the UPS truck pulling away. I think we have a package!
What was so obvious hadn't quite hit me the right way (I guess). The kids need to start. They need a sense of closure to the summer, our big summer of chaos and transition.
Yesterday I drafted a schedule, which First really wanted. He was surprised and a bit dismayed that he didn't get any Free Play until late afternoon. Well, that's first grade for you.
Here's the schedule:
• Wake Up
• Get dressed.
• Make beds.
• Breakfast.
• Brush teeth.
• Take walk (we walked to Edgemont Park for the first time---there's a pond, playground, geese, ducks and what appeared to be a cormorant-like bird, a monument to Montclair war dead, two baseball fields....).
• Circle (this was lots of fun---the highlight for me was singing a Japanese song, "Ookina taiko/chiisana taiko" [Big drum/little drum], and banging on the big and small taiko that Cap made in Sacramento.
• Form Drawing/Drawing (First began a Form Drawing block and Kinder worked on filling his whole picture with color).
• Snack (apple sauce and peanuts---First wanted to know if this would be the regular snack on Mondays, this kind of consistent "rhythm" being something which they are used to from their time in Waldorf settings).
• Wash Snack Dishes.
• Recorder/Free Play (First and I did some warm-up clapping exercises and then explored making different sounds with our recorders---Kinder had Free Play in his room).
• Read Aloud (I had wanted Cap to pick the book, so that he'd be with us in spirit, but he didn't get around to choosing one, so I ended up picking Finn Family Moomintroll on the fly).
• Make Lunch (I ended up letting them play and made lunch by myself---I gave First the option to help with lunch, but he went with Free Play :-)
• Lunch.
• Quiet Time (they were a bit wild after lunch---unusually quiet during lunch---so I had Kinder choose a book and we read on the couch---Appelmando's Dream by Patricia Polacco. Then they brought quiet toys and books into their beds for Quiet Time---this is where we are in the schedule as I type. First came out at about the 30 minute mark but has settled back after a couple of pleas to stay with me).
• Errands (library to renew some books and the craft stores for scissors, among other things :-)
• Snack.
• Craft Activity (cut leaves for Weather Tree).
• Outdoor Play (the backyard today).
• Free Play/Clean Up Toys (while I make dinner).
• Dinner.
• Bath.
• Bedtime Stories.
• Brush Teeth.
• Bedtime.
Now, for some pleasure reading time for myself. Oh, I'm distracted by the sound of the UPS truck pulling away. I think we have a package!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Oh boy
Things came to an abrupt halt today. I was making a shopping list, organizing my larger list into three smaller ones by store: the craft store, the art supply store and Target. Cap asked a question about money and things got tense. But, then, it became evident that it was time to push aside the algae and really look at ourselves in the waters of reality. And we were able to do that, which was good. Because, oh boy, money has historically been a big trigger of stress for us.
The transition and chaos of moving trumped absolute financial attention, for two months. So today, instead of going out and getting my things to continue to plan and prepare our space and activities, I took over the pile of paperwork that Cap had been working with since I left Sacramento. Reacclimated myself to our online banking site, revisited and updated my household money worksheets, and paid some bills.
So, what does one do when one feels like there is nothing "extra" to spend on something as basic as homeschooling supplies? Well, for one, I think as the next months roll by, I'll be able to figure out how to better economize (use online resources and books from the library, start a new collection of reusable items for arts and crafts, etc.) I'll also have a better idea of how much is coming in and how much is going out. Knowing the bottom line is important.
I don't know. I had my ideas of how to try to be as fiscally responsible with our move and transition. But, I wasn't able to bring Cap onto my "page". If you're in a couple, you have to work through things like this together, and come up with solutions that work for you, as a couple. But, it's so hard sometimes to deal with the outcome compared to what I feel the outcome could have been and I just wish I could do it all my way.
So, what to do with the piles of shoes without a shoe shelf? It's all I can do to not clench internally every time I walk by them....many, many times a day.
For the first time, today, I wondered if for my emotional health, I should put First in school. It is hard to continue to deflect my feelings of guilt that I haven't started "school" yet. It's actually more than that, the guilt I feel is because I am giving them so little concentated attention around learning. Between setting up the apartment (we're not done yet), starting up my online course (I always forget how much time that takes) and the fact that they are happy to play with each other and without much supervision and intervention, the three of us haven't been spending much time really together the last four weeks.
Of course, putting him in school wouldn't deal with the root of the problem, I still would not be giving him the time and attention I want to be if he was in school and I was at home. But, it would provide me with what I really need right now, which is a free babysitter! If I could have a babysitter for five days, six hours each day, I can't even imagine how much progress I would make, how much ground I could cover...
The transition and chaos of moving trumped absolute financial attention, for two months. So today, instead of going out and getting my things to continue to plan and prepare our space and activities, I took over the pile of paperwork that Cap had been working with since I left Sacramento. Reacclimated myself to our online banking site, revisited and updated my household money worksheets, and paid some bills.
So, what does one do when one feels like there is nothing "extra" to spend on something as basic as homeschooling supplies? Well, for one, I think as the next months roll by, I'll be able to figure out how to better economize (use online resources and books from the library, start a new collection of reusable items for arts and crafts, etc.) I'll also have a better idea of how much is coming in and how much is going out. Knowing the bottom line is important.
I don't know. I had my ideas of how to try to be as fiscally responsible with our move and transition. But, I wasn't able to bring Cap onto my "page". If you're in a couple, you have to work through things like this together, and come up with solutions that work for you, as a couple. But, it's so hard sometimes to deal with the outcome compared to what I feel the outcome could have been and I just wish I could do it all my way.
So, what to do with the piles of shoes without a shoe shelf? It's all I can do to not clench internally every time I walk by them....many, many times a day.
For the first time, today, I wondered if for my emotional health, I should put First in school. It is hard to continue to deflect my feelings of guilt that I haven't started "school" yet. It's actually more than that, the guilt I feel is because I am giving them so little concentated attention around learning. Between setting up the apartment (we're not done yet), starting up my online course (I always forget how much time that takes) and the fact that they are happy to play with each other and without much supervision and intervention, the three of us haven't been spending much time really together the last four weeks.
Of course, putting him in school wouldn't deal with the root of the problem, I still would not be giving him the time and attention I want to be if he was in school and I was at home. But, it would provide me with what I really need right now, which is a free babysitter! If I could have a babysitter for five days, six hours each day, I can't even imagine how much progress I would make, how much ground I could cover...
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Hum
There's been a hum in my head, in my atmosphere. A busy-ness, an anticipation, a storm before the calm (I hope).
The kids have been spending all sorts of time on their own since we moved in about four (already?!) weeks ago. I've been wrapped up in getting our home somewhat settled, and getting my online course and students somewhat settled. The nuts and bolts of starting to homeschool were truly left for the last minute.
What's been nice is my lack, for the most part, of guilt, that unhelpful state of mind which can be so paralyzing.
Here's what my "To do and get" list looks like:
• wooden mop
• feather duster
• choose read aloud book
• learn songs for: dusting, mopping, washing (from the Mary Thienes-Schunemann cds)
• choose verses, songs, fingerplays for Movement and Beginning Our Day (I made my intial choices this afternoon)
Good Morning: Seasonal Treasury p. 13
Movement game: ST p. 16
Quieting verse: ST p. 15
Michael Row Your Boat Ashore: Joyful Movement p. 70
Counting verse: ST p. 21
Riddle: ST p. 20 (The kids are very into riddles and jokes right now.)
Five Little Leaves: ST p. 48
Okina taiko (Japanese song)
• sand/water tray (sand for form drawing; water for wet-on-wet painting)
• learn some jumprope chants
• sidewalk chalk
• t-shirts
• plastic sheet? cedar chips?
• non-toxic poison ivy control
• Day of the Dead (a festival I am thinking I'd like to incorporate into our yearly rhythmn)
• new mealtime blessing: ST p. 10
• learn handwork warm-up verse: Five Little Bells from JM p. 52
• recorder warm-up: clapping game from JM p. 78
• candied apples recipe: ST p. 61
• leaf banners nature craft activity from Earthways
• Festivals, Family and Food: craft ideas with found items from nature and wool
• porch sweeping verse: Autumn p. 54
• First day of fall ceremony (in lieu of the Waldorf/Celtic festival, Michaelmas)
verse
a family story telling of an act of bravery
presentation of wooden swords with a verse
song: This Little Light of Mine
• Halloween Lantern Walk @ Sunbridge College
• make a schedule to be posted/visually accessible for kids
• black board
• Sheep and Fiber festival
• apple picking (I located an organic orchard 2 hours away after too many minutes of scrolling through the New York NOFA site---my eyes are still burning)
The kids are asleep, worn out by our pizza and movie night last night with Danielle, Owen and Lukas. My kids get really ramped up and unnerved by movies. It was Toy Story. We watched about 30 minutes of it and boy were they a mess for most of the morning. So, tonight they sleep, Cap and I are about to veg out to Elf. Tomorrow, the Sheep and Fiber festival.
The kids have been spending all sorts of time on their own since we moved in about four (already?!) weeks ago. I've been wrapped up in getting our home somewhat settled, and getting my online course and students somewhat settled. The nuts and bolts of starting to homeschool were truly left for the last minute.
What's been nice is my lack, for the most part, of guilt, that unhelpful state of mind which can be so paralyzing.
Here's what my "To do and get" list looks like:
• wooden mop
• feather duster
• choose read aloud book
• learn songs for: dusting, mopping, washing (from the Mary Thienes-Schunemann cds)
• choose verses, songs, fingerplays for Movement and Beginning Our Day (I made my intial choices this afternoon)
Good Morning: Seasonal Treasury p. 13
Movement game: ST p. 16
Quieting verse: ST p. 15
Michael Row Your Boat Ashore: Joyful Movement p. 70
Counting verse: ST p. 21
Riddle: ST p. 20 (The kids are very into riddles and jokes right now.)
Five Little Leaves: ST p. 48
Okina taiko (Japanese song)
• sand/water tray (sand for form drawing; water for wet-on-wet painting)
• learn some jumprope chants
• sidewalk chalk
• t-shirts
• plastic sheet? cedar chips?
• non-toxic poison ivy control
• Day of the Dead (a festival I am thinking I'd like to incorporate into our yearly rhythmn)
• new mealtime blessing: ST p. 10
• learn handwork warm-up verse: Five Little Bells from JM p. 52
• recorder warm-up: clapping game from JM p. 78
• candied apples recipe: ST p. 61
• leaf banners nature craft activity from Earthways
• Festivals, Family and Food: craft ideas with found items from nature and wool
• porch sweeping verse: Autumn p. 54
• First day of fall ceremony (in lieu of the Waldorf/Celtic festival, Michaelmas)
verse
a family story telling of an act of bravery
presentation of wooden swords with a verse
song: This Little Light of Mine
• Halloween Lantern Walk @ Sunbridge College
• make a schedule to be posted/visually accessible for kids
• black board
• Sheep and Fiber festival
• apple picking (I located an organic orchard 2 hours away after too many minutes of scrolling through the New York NOFA site---my eyes are still burning)
The kids are asleep, worn out by our pizza and movie night last night with Danielle, Owen and Lukas. My kids get really ramped up and unnerved by movies. It was Toy Story. We watched about 30 minutes of it and boy were they a mess for most of the morning. So, tonight they sleep, Cap and I are about to veg out to Elf. Tomorrow, the Sheep and Fiber festival.
Friday, September 15, 2006
I'm back
I'm in a new town, in a new climate, in a new time zone. The Happy Little Homeschool will open for business on Monday. I can't wait for everything to be just right, because it ain't gonna be, anytime soon. Things are definitely good enough, though. Piles, schmiles.
I bought Donna Simmons' First Grade Curriculum for Waldorf homeschoolers. In a short time it has helped me focus my concentration and attention. Kinder has become First. He decided a couple of weeks ago he was going to do first grade, and the short and happy of it is that his clarity and will have prevailed.
I also bought Donna's Form Drawing book and we'll be starting with a two week block (unit) of making straight lines and curves. In the air, in sand, in mud, with fingers, with toes, on paper, with block crayon. We walked Baxter this afternoon (Takai and Lisa's dog who we're dogsitting for a week) and found straight lines and curves amongst the trees, signs, stream, etc.
We'll also start recorder and working with wool (which will lead up to learning how to knit). We picked out our recorders at Montclair Music the other day. Evergreen for him, apple green for me. Kinder was bummed that he wasn't getting one and then decided that I should get him an electric guitar instead. He longs to rock out.
Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will head down to the Garden State Sheep Breeders' 12th Annual Sheep and Fiber Festival. Here's a link to their website:
http://www.quintillion.com/gssb/festival/index.html
I'm hoping that we'll be able to touch some sheep, feel some raw wool, watch some spinning and maybe buy some wool that we can dye at home. This is one of the things I love about Waldorf, the emphasis on the whole. Let's look at some sheep before we start learning to knit. See where it all begins.
I bought Donna Simmons' First Grade Curriculum for Waldorf homeschoolers. In a short time it has helped me focus my concentration and attention. Kinder has become First. He decided a couple of weeks ago he was going to do first grade, and the short and happy of it is that his clarity and will have prevailed.
I also bought Donna's Form Drawing book and we'll be starting with a two week block (unit) of making straight lines and curves. In the air, in sand, in mud, with fingers, with toes, on paper, with block crayon. We walked Baxter this afternoon (Takai and Lisa's dog who we're dogsitting for a week) and found straight lines and curves amongst the trees, signs, stream, etc.
We'll also start recorder and working with wool (which will lead up to learning how to knit). We picked out our recorders at Montclair Music the other day. Evergreen for him, apple green for me. Kinder was bummed that he wasn't getting one and then decided that I should get him an electric guitar instead. He longs to rock out.
Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will head down to the Garden State Sheep Breeders' 12th Annual Sheep and Fiber Festival. Here's a link to their website:
http://www.quintillion.com/gssb/festival/index.html
I'm hoping that we'll be able to touch some sheep, feel some raw wool, watch some spinning and maybe buy some wool that we can dye at home. This is one of the things I love about Waldorf, the emphasis on the whole. Let's look at some sheep before we start learning to knit. See where it all begins.
Friday, June 30, 2006
A moment in Walnut Creek
The kids and I went to Walnut Creek for an overnight visit with Jiji. It was a gift in many ways:
• the hour the boys spent in the pool with their grandfather with those shrieks that shift subtly and quickly from joy to terror to joy again.
• the yummy meal at P.F. Chang's. It still warms my cockles to see Kinder down a GF meal with gusto at a restaurant where he's ordered off the menu.
• the kids tackling the 60 piece puzzles I brought with us.
• having some time to do what finally felt like actual (rather than virtual) planning for the month of September.
Here's what I did:
• chose four cooking activities (one per week).
• chose four craft activities (ditto).
• outlined the format I'll try out for fairytales (one per month with associated activities---drawing, puppet shows, etc.)
• decided to sing one selected Japanese song per month.
• chose verses, songs, finger plays, movement games for Circle.
• chose the theme for graph of the month.
• chose the contents for the month's estimation jar.
I also made a list of things to do for the month of August---it's a long list:
• clean apartment with essential oils.
• unpack.
• gather, organize and set up learning materials and area(s).
• Cape Cod holiday: collect sand/seashell pieces; seaweed.
• Raymonds' visit.
• Martells' visit.
• prepare for Lesley.
• housewarming.
• clear ground for living tipi next summer (pending okay from landlord/other tenants).
• discover good hikes, hiking areas.
• establish rhythm: in/out, quiet/active.
• join CSA.
• check out pediatrician, dentist, pediatric GI, cranial sacral, chiropractic, homeopath and/or naturopath.
• new mealtime blessing.
• math/fine motor collections: buttons, beans, glass beads.
I used Betty Jones' A Child's Seasonal Treasury (thanks Toni) and Donna Simmons' Joyful Movement and From Nature Stories to Natural Science to get me started. I will be supplementing with An overview of the Waldorf Kindergarten and A Deeper Understanding of the Waldorf Kindergarten, both published by the Waldorf Kindergarten Association (thanks Sandy), and Let Us Form A Ring, an Acorn Hill Anthology. I may not get to these books until I'm in NYC.
We have two weeks left here in sunny, DRY, Sacramento.
• the hour the boys spent in the pool with their grandfather with those shrieks that shift subtly and quickly from joy to terror to joy again.
• the yummy meal at P.F. Chang's. It still warms my cockles to see Kinder down a GF meal with gusto at a restaurant where he's ordered off the menu.
• the kids tackling the 60 piece puzzles I brought with us.
• having some time to do what finally felt like actual (rather than virtual) planning for the month of September.
Here's what I did:
• chose four cooking activities (one per week).
• chose four craft activities (ditto).
• outlined the format I'll try out for fairytales (one per month with associated activities---drawing, puppet shows, etc.)
• decided to sing one selected Japanese song per month.
• chose verses, songs, finger plays, movement games for Circle.
• chose the theme for graph of the month.
• chose the contents for the month's estimation jar.
I also made a list of things to do for the month of August---it's a long list:
• clean apartment with essential oils.
• unpack.
• gather, organize and set up learning materials and area(s).
• Cape Cod holiday: collect sand/seashell pieces; seaweed.
• Raymonds' visit.
• Martells' visit.
• prepare for Lesley.
• housewarming.
• clear ground for living tipi next summer (pending okay from landlord/other tenants).
• discover good hikes, hiking areas.
• establish rhythm: in/out, quiet/active.
• join CSA.
• check out pediatrician, dentist, pediatric GI, cranial sacral, chiropractic, homeopath and/or naturopath.
• new mealtime blessing.
• math/fine motor collections: buttons, beans, glass beads.
I used Betty Jones' A Child's Seasonal Treasury (thanks Toni) and Donna Simmons' Joyful Movement and From Nature Stories to Natural Science to get me started. I will be supplementing with An overview of the Waldorf Kindergarten and A Deeper Understanding of the Waldorf Kindergarten, both published by the Waldorf Kindergarten Association (thanks Sandy), and Let Us Form A Ring, an Acorn Hill Anthology. I may not get to these books until I'm in NYC.
We have two weeks left here in sunny, DRY, Sacramento.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Doldrums...the next day
It's quiet with Cap not here. Well, maybe not quiet as much as empty.
At the end of my night last night, after an hour of putting digital pics in labeled folders, I read a chapter of The Historian and then picked up my planning notebook for the first time in a month or so. (I cannot remember the last time I have taken so long to read a book. Usually, my pace is frantic and if it isn't, whether because I'm not into the book or I get busy, I put the book down. There must be something about this book that lends itself to a leisurely read of a chapter here, a chapter there.)
I made lists of what to pack for NYC. One list for the kids and one list for me. Then I made a list of things to do before leaving Sac. Then I listed the days I have left and began filling in things happening on specific days. Then I began to fill in what I'd like to happen on some of those days.
I need to get to a bit of Lesley work and tackle the home office/my papers---organizing, purging, and getting into boxes. Those are my goals for this week, a week that has six scheduled appointments between the kids and I, and a visit from Barb today and JR and Pam Thursday-Monday.
No news on the NJ housing front yet.
The roasted asparagus sure smells good. We'll have that and homemade sushi rolls for lunch with B.
Flew through Entourage Season 2. It was good.
At the end of my night last night, after an hour of putting digital pics in labeled folders, I read a chapter of The Historian and then picked up my planning notebook for the first time in a month or so. (I cannot remember the last time I have taken so long to read a book. Usually, my pace is frantic and if it isn't, whether because I'm not into the book or I get busy, I put the book down. There must be something about this book that lends itself to a leisurely read of a chapter here, a chapter there.)
I made lists of what to pack for NYC. One list for the kids and one list for me. Then I made a list of things to do before leaving Sac. Then I listed the days I have left and began filling in things happening on specific days. Then I began to fill in what I'd like to happen on some of those days.
I need to get to a bit of Lesley work and tackle the home office/my papers---organizing, purging, and getting into boxes. Those are my goals for this week, a week that has six scheduled appointments between the kids and I, and a visit from Barb today and JR and Pam Thursday-Monday.
No news on the NJ housing front yet.
The roasted asparagus sure smells good. We'll have that and homemade sushi rolls for lunch with B.
Flew through Entourage Season 2. It was good.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Doldrums
There's an episode of The Backyardigans that finds the group of friends on a Viking ship. They encounter a whirlpool and doldrums. I feel as if I've been tossed, finally, and safely, from the spinning waters of the whirlpool and into placid waters. Doldrums. A pocket of time and space where all is relatively still. From whence I may plot my next course of action.
Rhythm sounds good. But, we have a week of doctor and dentist appointments coming up, as well as, a visit from JR and Pam. So, nothing too rigid/formal. Just in and out, in and out.
Cap is in NJ this weekend. I'm holding my breath in as we wait to hear if we got a place. Need to let it out at some point soon since we won't be hearing until Monday. We're up against a single male who earns 150K a year and has two dogs. It sounds small, but is in a great neighborhood where I think we would feel comfortable.
Yosemite has been canceled for this weekend, so I am planning on registering for a one day course at Steiner College on Saturday on Waldorf Fundamentals for parents. My professional development for my non-professional occupation.
In four weeks, at this time, I will be in NYC, in the bosom of my family. I'll have said good-bye to this home we've created here. Wow. I guess at this point I just need to gather up the materials I think I'll find useful for planning and pack them in my travel suitcase. I don't think I'll be doing much planning here. I gotta pack!
Rhythm sounds good. But, we have a week of doctor and dentist appointments coming up, as well as, a visit from JR and Pam. So, nothing too rigid/formal. Just in and out, in and out.
Cap is in NJ this weekend. I'm holding my breath in as we wait to hear if we got a place. Need to let it out at some point soon since we won't be hearing until Monday. We're up against a single male who earns 150K a year and has two dogs. It sounds small, but is in a great neighborhood where I think we would feel comfortable.
Yosemite has been canceled for this weekend, so I am planning on registering for a one day course at Steiner College on Saturday on Waldorf Fundamentals for parents. My professional development for my non-professional occupation.
In four weeks, at this time, I will be in NYC, in the bosom of my family. I'll have said good-bye to this home we've created here. Wow. I guess at this point I just need to gather up the materials I think I'll find useful for planning and pack them in my travel suitcase. I don't think I'll be doing much planning here. I gotta pack!
Friday, June 02, 2006
Active planning grinds to a halt
Real life has taken over in a major way (six weeks from tomorrow we leave!, we don't have a place to live!, Kinder turns six a week from tomorrow!, we have so much stuff!, we will accrue more debt by moving!) and I have been watching a lot of movies at night. Esacpe, escape.
Homeschooling ideas floating in my consciousness:
• Take a trip to Smart and Final to check out their selection of wholesale kitchen items: ie. "washing sticks", glass juicer with cup.
• Now that Cap is open to delaying the start of first grade for Kinder, we need to decide what we're going to do so that I can plan accordingly.
• Julia dropped off some resources about temperaments in children and education. I need to flip through them. I just double checked. I already have the one that I think she liked: Roy Wilkenson's The Temperaments in Education. The other one is Children and Their Temperaments by Marieke Anschütz.
• Doing a Kindergarten year with Pre and Kinder (Kinder 1 and Kinder 2) would be a nice way to start homeschooling, for me. Less complex.
• T-shirts! On one of my lists, someone shared that she makes each of her children a "homeschool" t-shirt through Café Press using clip art images. Each child chooses a name for the school year and the shirt represents the school year. I liked that idea. Their school has a name too, but is not on the t-shirt. Every year she makes them a new shirt.
• Pre's last day of preschool is next Thursday, Kinder's last day is the Thursday after that. We'll have about four weeks together before we leave for NYC. I could consider establishing some rhythm...I'd been thinking of just throwing the towel in to chaos. We haven't used our painting boards yet! We should paint.
• Thinking of buying a kinder lyre. A Waldorf thing---for puppet shows, quiet times, to instill peacefulness...
http://www.novanatural.com/product.phtml?pr=4783&sec=433
• Thinking of giving Kinder the sword he's expressed a desire for in the fall instead of for his birthday. There's a Waldorf celebration in the fall, Michaelmas, which is all about bravely and resolutely bringing light into darkness and slaying the dragons that threaten to undermine us. Seems like an opportune time to "knight" him. He has already said he wants a metal one, but alas for him, it will be wooden.
• Saw some Main Lesson Books at Kinder's school today and am reconsidering using them for first grade. I'd decided against it thinking that we could make our own, which many homeschoolers do. But, seeing them, so simple, so clearly unlike any other paper/notebook the kids have ever seen/used, they appealed to a certain aesthetic and methodology in me.
Homeschooling ideas floating in my consciousness:
• Take a trip to Smart and Final to check out their selection of wholesale kitchen items: ie. "washing sticks", glass juicer with cup.
• Now that Cap is open to delaying the start of first grade for Kinder, we need to decide what we're going to do so that I can plan accordingly.
• Julia dropped off some resources about temperaments in children and education. I need to flip through them. I just double checked. I already have the one that I think she liked: Roy Wilkenson's The Temperaments in Education. The other one is Children and Their Temperaments by Marieke Anschütz.
• Doing a Kindergarten year with Pre and Kinder (Kinder 1 and Kinder 2) would be a nice way to start homeschooling, for me. Less complex.
• T-shirts! On one of my lists, someone shared that she makes each of her children a "homeschool" t-shirt through Café Press using clip art images. Each child chooses a name for the school year and the shirt represents the school year. I liked that idea. Their school has a name too, but is not on the t-shirt. Every year she makes them a new shirt.
• Pre's last day of preschool is next Thursday, Kinder's last day is the Thursday after that. We'll have about four weeks together before we leave for NYC. I could consider establishing some rhythm...I'd been thinking of just throwing the towel in to chaos. We haven't used our painting boards yet! We should paint.
• Thinking of buying a kinder lyre. A Waldorf thing---for puppet shows, quiet times, to instill peacefulness...
http://www.novanatural.com/product.phtml?pr=4783&sec=433
• Thinking of giving Kinder the sword he's expressed a desire for in the fall instead of for his birthday. There's a Waldorf celebration in the fall, Michaelmas, which is all about bravely and resolutely bringing light into darkness and slaying the dragons that threaten to undermine us. Seems like an opportune time to "knight" him. He has already said he wants a metal one, but alas for him, it will be wooden.
• Saw some Main Lesson Books at Kinder's school today and am reconsidering using them for first grade. I'd decided against it thinking that we could make our own, which many homeschoolers do. But, seeing them, so simple, so clearly unlike any other paper/notebook the kids have ever seen/used, they appealed to a certain aesthetic and methodology in me.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
You don't look forty
Yesterday, at our "usher in summer" potluck, a new co-worker of Cap's made the above comment to me. She was pretty astounded. There have been more than enough times, though less and less so recently, that I've focused on the embarrassment, shame, sheepishness of feeling like I've wasted so much time, or that I should have "grown up" much longer ago.
When I was in my twenties:
• I finished college.
• I lived by myself for the first and only time, in Hiroshima while employed by the JET Program and loved it.
• I was told I was beautiful by someone and truly believed it, for the first time.
• Cap and I got together and we whirled through a courtship that spanned the East Bay, Nara, Plympton, before we settled down in Cambridge.
When I was in my thirties:
• We tried to get pregnant for four years and then I popped Kinder out at 34 and Pre at 35.
• We weathered a two year soujourn in Plympton (living with Cap's dad and partner), so Cap could finish his doctoral program while being the primary wage earner for the family.
• We discovered Kinder's severe milk allergy and Celiac diagnosis.
• I held it together while Cap was shut out of an academic position and we moved to Sacramento.
• I ended extended nursing with Pre at age 38.
Lately, I am enjoying a newfound sense of self at age forty. So, even if I don't look forty, I feel forty, and I mean that in the best of ways.
When I was in my twenties:
• I finished college.
• I lived by myself for the first and only time, in Hiroshima while employed by the JET Program and loved it.
• I was told I was beautiful by someone and truly believed it, for the first time.
• Cap and I got together and we whirled through a courtship that spanned the East Bay, Nara, Plympton, before we settled down in Cambridge.
When I was in my thirties:
• We tried to get pregnant for four years and then I popped Kinder out at 34 and Pre at 35.
• We weathered a two year soujourn in Plympton (living with Cap's dad and partner), so Cap could finish his doctoral program while being the primary wage earner for the family.
• We discovered Kinder's severe milk allergy and Celiac diagnosis.
• I held it together while Cap was shut out of an academic position and we moved to Sacramento.
• I ended extended nursing with Pre at age 38.
Lately, I am enjoying a newfound sense of self at age forty. So, even if I don't look forty, I feel forty, and I mean that in the best of ways.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Tidbits
• octopus with kim chee, lumpias, and Korean bbq at Pre's classmate's birthday party---mmm
• Cap open to delaying start of first grade for Kinder!
• pale yellow lily blooms in backyard
• The Ringer---thoroughly enjoyed it, we both did
• amazing breezy high of 70º weather continues
• making banana muffins for B for our picnic blanket Belle Cooledge playdate
• feeling so lucky and happy
• Kinder and Pre swinging in the front yard as "Tarzan" (a shoulder and arm pulled out of the tops of their shirts on one side)
• Pre's roars and sobs of frustration and fury which punctuate our days
• no luck with NJ housing search so far
• drive to Roseville yields an incredible landscape, up 5 and then onto 99...big sky, flat land, mountains in the distance in three directions
• Keanu Reeve's new movie out June 16, need to lasso someone to accompany me...reminds me that I saw Constantine on the big screen with my brother!
• Cap open to delaying start of first grade for Kinder!
• pale yellow lily blooms in backyard
• The Ringer---thoroughly enjoyed it, we both did
• amazing breezy high of 70º weather continues
• making banana muffins for B for our picnic blanket Belle Cooledge playdate
• feeling so lucky and happy
• Kinder and Pre swinging in the front yard as "Tarzan" (a shoulder and arm pulled out of the tops of their shirts on one side)
• Pre's roars and sobs of frustration and fury which punctuate our days
• no luck with NJ housing search so far
• drive to Roseville yields an incredible landscape, up 5 and then onto 99...big sky, flat land, mountains in the distance in three directions
• Keanu Reeve's new movie out June 16, need to lasso someone to accompany me...reminds me that I saw Constantine on the big screen with my brother!
Thursday, May 25, 2006
See-saw
Yesterday and the day before were nice days. The kids seemed happier, there was definitely less whining. We saw B on Tuesday and M on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Kinder and B were swinging on the swings out front, very rhythmically and with good force, and talking. There was such a calmness and clarity to their conversation. I wondered what the effect of the rhythmic exercise was, I'm pretty certain there was a relationship there. The snippet I overheard was of them relating to each other when they feel "very shy". Pre and I were reading, snuggled up in the glider and papasan chair, facing the front windows, thrown open to let in a wonderful breeze.
There has been a great breeze the last few days.
Yesterday, Pre, Kinder and M thoroughly enjoyed the sprinkler and water for about an hour. Erika showed me their Costa Rica pictures and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I wanted to visit a place I was hearing about.
Where am I going with all of this. See-saw.
One of the basic concepts in Waldorf philosophy with young kids is rhythm. And at its foundation, the rhythm of in and out. Like breath. This has been something of a challenge for me.
I'm an in person. I like being inside. There was a time, pre-kids, when I was perfectly content to read a good book cover to cover, leaving my bed only for a snack or drink, if that. When I have a hard time with something I tend to hold it in. All my hobbies can be done indoors.
On days like yesterday and the day before, I am struck by the beauty of the effect being out has on the kids. So, how to balance? How to bring more out into my/our daily life? The kids have naturally adapted to my "in"-heavy lifestyle. I want to give them more "out" before it's too late.
Don't feel guilty, don't feel guilty, don't feel guilty.
Breathe out.
I love the way a day feels when I don't multi-task, when meals get prepared and made from the ingredients that are in the kitchen, when I spontaneously invite friends over, and when there is a flow between me and the kids that is warm, energetic, and smooth. These types of days feel organic. Emotionally, we all get what we want for the most part.
Yet, many days, I feel behind the eight ball. I feel if I could only be more organized, if I could only have more of a plan to follow, I'd be getting more done.
Or, I am placid during the day with the kids, but then once they go to bed, feel completely devoid of energy or initiative. It feels as if, literally, I am shutting "off".
More see-sawing.
Gotta remember to breathe out, to get out. Trust in balance...believe in balance.
On Tuesday, Kinder and B were swinging on the swings out front, very rhythmically and with good force, and talking. There was such a calmness and clarity to their conversation. I wondered what the effect of the rhythmic exercise was, I'm pretty certain there was a relationship there. The snippet I overheard was of them relating to each other when they feel "very shy". Pre and I were reading, snuggled up in the glider and papasan chair, facing the front windows, thrown open to let in a wonderful breeze.
There has been a great breeze the last few days.
Yesterday, Pre, Kinder and M thoroughly enjoyed the sprinkler and water for about an hour. Erika showed me their Costa Rica pictures and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I wanted to visit a place I was hearing about.
Where am I going with all of this. See-saw.
One of the basic concepts in Waldorf philosophy with young kids is rhythm. And at its foundation, the rhythm of in and out. Like breath. This has been something of a challenge for me.
I'm an in person. I like being inside. There was a time, pre-kids, when I was perfectly content to read a good book cover to cover, leaving my bed only for a snack or drink, if that. When I have a hard time with something I tend to hold it in. All my hobbies can be done indoors.
On days like yesterday and the day before, I am struck by the beauty of the effect being out has on the kids. So, how to balance? How to bring more out into my/our daily life? The kids have naturally adapted to my "in"-heavy lifestyle. I want to give them more "out" before it's too late.
Don't feel guilty, don't feel guilty, don't feel guilty.
Breathe out.
I love the way a day feels when I don't multi-task, when meals get prepared and made from the ingredients that are in the kitchen, when I spontaneously invite friends over, and when there is a flow between me and the kids that is warm, energetic, and smooth. These types of days feel organic. Emotionally, we all get what we want for the most part.
Yet, many days, I feel behind the eight ball. I feel if I could only be more organized, if I could only have more of a plan to follow, I'd be getting more done.
Or, I am placid during the day with the kids, but then once they go to bed, feel completely devoid of energy or initiative. It feels as if, literally, I am shutting "off".
More see-sawing.
Gotta remember to breathe out, to get out. Trust in balance...believe in balance.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Harmony
5:15 pm.
Cap in the kitchen whipping up not only dinner (Spanish rice, pinto beans, corn bread, broccoli), but a surprise dessert (carrot cake with coconut frosting), clinking, whirring, and bobbing to his Indian music.
Pre and Kinder in the front room playing mellowly building cityscapes and train tracks.
Me cross-legged on the floor of the home office folding laundry, listening to tunes and chatting with my sister about her tough day at work, House and Michael's recent transformation to a complete American Idol-head.
Not bad at all for a day that started off with a throbbing headache and eyes that just didn't want to open.
Cap in the kitchen whipping up not only dinner (Spanish rice, pinto beans, corn bread, broccoli), but a surprise dessert (carrot cake with coconut frosting), clinking, whirring, and bobbing to his Indian music.
Pre and Kinder in the front room playing mellowly building cityscapes and train tracks.
Me cross-legged on the floor of the home office folding laundry, listening to tunes and chatting with my sister about her tough day at work, House and Michael's recent transformation to a complete American Idol-head.
Not bad at all for a day that started off with a throbbing headache and eyes that just didn't want to open.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)