An obituary for a toy...

A great toy has finally bit the dust. 

 

 

This old workhorse faithfully served two generations. 

 

It has been used as a vacuum, witch's broom, horse, guitar, cello, oar, and even sledgehammer.  (It was probably the sledgehammer play that finally did her in.) 

 

Even though you were often confiscated, you will be missed.

"Mommy, Daddy love you!"

We've been in our house now for almost a year.  But I still haven't put pictures on the wall yet.  The only thing that's up is a collage of wedding photos above our fireplace. 

 

This afternoon totally out of nowhere, Tertius stared laughing and said, "Mommy, Daddy love you!"

 

I asked him how he knew that Daddy loved me.  He pointed to this picture

 

and said, "Daddy cuddling you!"  Then he laughed some more. 

I am so glad I got our wedding pictures hung up.  I think it's really important for children to know that their parents love each other.  I love that seeing this picture brought so much joy to my little boy!

Over in the Meadow

Remember this song?  For our Mommy-and-Me music class, we found this really cool version. 

Recently we spent a lot of time in the car one day and my girls had this song on their mind so they sang it a lot.  Good thing there are so many verses so it didn't get too annoying!

But the best part was when they started making up their own verses.  For each of the verses they figured out that they had to choose a habitat, describe something about the habitat, pick an animal that lives there, and choose an action for the animal to do.  It was nice that we had just finished studying habitats, so they had lots of material fresh on their minds.

Each verse also includes a number so admittedly, their verses didn't rhyme correctly, but I was super impressed at their creativity!

Here's a couple examples of what they came up with:

Over in the jungle
where the vines grow long,
Lived an old mother monkey
and her little monkeys 12.
Swing said the mother.
We swing said the 12.

Over in the dessert
where the sun is so hot,
Lived an old mother camel
and her little camels 15.
Walk said the mother.
We walk said the 15.

Evaporation Experiment: Ruined

Today we talked about evaporation and water turning from a liquid to a gas.  So we filled a glass with water, put it out in the sun, and planned to check on it in a couple of days to see what happened. 

The problem is, it rained this afternoon.  It didn't rain a whole lot, but still, it kind of defeated the purpose. 

It's a good thing we've done this same basic experiment before, so they already have seen this concept in action.  I guess now it's time to talk about the water cycle since the rain phase so rudely interrupted!

Being the Weird Aunt

Our nine year old niece spent a night with us over Spring Break.  I told her about when her father was in high school and that he did shot put and discus with the track and field team. 

When Primus heard this, she excitedly told us that they did discus in the "Ancient Greek games"  (aka Olympics.) 

Prompted by that comment, we found out that our niece had never heard of Ancient Greece, Athens, Zeus, or anything else related. 

She might as well have stuck a dagger in the heart of Hubby (or as I like to call him, Mr. History)!

I think I might just have to be the weird Aunt and host a history camp or something this summer.  :)  I'm already planning on giving the older kids a reading assignment during their vacation. 

Adding More Structure to Our School

Just thinking out loud here...

I tend to be a pretty "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of person.  That means the kids often don't know what the plan for the day for school is until the very moment I finally decide it.  They will often ask me if they can do "such-and-such" after our current task.  They hear a lot of "maybe" in response.  I sometimes think I need to introduce a little more structure and predictability to our day.

I think I'm going to start having Primus do a page of handwriting practice on Monday/Wednesday and a journal prompt on Tuesday/Thursday.  Maybe Fridays we will do art projects.  And I should put on some classical music (or Piano Guys) for times when I want them to be doing quiet independent work.

The Chipping Away of Parental Rights

Following are a couple things I've posted on my private Facebook page.  Because I feel so strongly about this issue, I've decided to share it here as well.

First, visit this article, "Glenn Beck Eviscerates MSNBC Promo Claiming Your Kids Belong to the ‘Whole Community’ — and Makes Some Scary Connections"

My original comment about that link:
This terrifies me! My kids don't belong to the collective. They belong to ME. The state does NOT know best in most cases. Have you heard of Common Core (new educational standards across the country)? It's related.

The following was posted the next day:
I posted yesterday a link to an article about kids belonging to the collective vs their parents. I guess my brother thought I was overreacting. :) In case anyone else cares, here was my response to him re: the chipping away of parental rights in this country:

Putting Glenn Beck's commentary/analysis aside, her words and the attitude/ideology they reflect are what worry me.

I know nothing about Ms. Perry, so I have no way of knowing what her true intent was. But the fact is that there are plenty of people in power in this country who really do believe that children should belong to the community instead of their parents. The idea that the state knows best.

Even the old saying, "It takes a village to raise a child" sounds good and usually probably isn't meant in any menacing way. But some will take it to mean that the village knows best and that everyone around you (your neighbors, teachers, government, random stranger at the grocery store, etc) has a right to tell you how to raise your child. In rebuttal I say, "It may take a village, but *I*, as the parent, get to decide who is in that village (grandparents, uncles/aunts, close friends, church leaders, etc)"
 
The fact is that parental rights are being chipped away all the time in this country. In California, your child's school can take your child to get an abortion during the school day and never inform you about it. It doesn’t matter what your beliefs are about abortion. The fact is, an abortion is a major medical procedure and as a parent, you should have a right to know what is going on.
 
Another example: There have been cases where school children have brought bagged lunch to school and then been told to throw it in the garbage and eat school lunch instead because it is “healthier.” I remember one particular case where a little girl was told to throw out the lunch her mom packed (which included a juice box and ham sandwich along with a fruit and/or veggie) and was given chicken nuggets and milk (with fruit and/or veggie.) The justification was that she should have a serving of dairy with her lunch. How ridiculous! The school has no idea what her eating habits are like at home (and it’s none of their business anyway.) Maybe she had a glass of milk at breakfast, always has a glass at dinner, always has string cheese after school, and has another glass of milk before bed.

Some schools are bypassing the above situation all together by outright banning bagged lunch from home because they believe they can do a better job of ensuring that kids eat healthy.
I also read about a case where a teenage boy complained to his school counselor (which encouraged him to call CPS) that his parents took him to church “too often.” CPS removed him and put him in foster care. The parents only got custody back when they promised the judge that they would require less church attendance from him.

The horror stories go on and on and there are new ones being reported all the time. This is the world we live in, and I don’t like it. I am the parent, these children belong to me. And barring abuse or serious neglect, the state has no business getting in my way.

Again, I don’t know what this woman’s true intent is. But her words sound too close for comfort to the dangerous things I wrote about. Yes, the school system is broken and as a society we need to figure out how to fix it. If that is what she meant, then she needed to explain it in a better way. (And as a tangent, I don’t think throwing more money at the problem is the solution.)

18 Reasons Why Doctors and Lawyers Homeschool Their Children

I love this post!
18 Reasons Why Doctors and Lawyers Homeschool Their Children
by Kathleen Berchelmann, M.D.

What do you do to spoil yourself?

I read magazine articles, blog posts, and Facebook posts all the time that talk about the importance of "Me Time."  And they always suggest going to get a manicure or pedicure. 

Does anyone actually do that?  I don't understand the appeal of getting a mani/pedi.  It seems to me that if I'm going to spend money on myself, going to a nail salon is just about the biggest waste of money and least practical thing I could do.

 But I guess I've always let being practical get in the way of fun things.  For better or worse.

I'm also the type of person who thinks about everyone else before myself.  A couple years ago, when Hubby was given some birthday money by my parents, he didn't hesitate for a second to buy himself  a video game.  But when we were walking around Target together after I received my birthday money, I let him talk me into using it for a slushy machine. 

I don't regret buying that slushy machine; I do love slushies.  But my present was something that the whole family benefits from.  His was purely for himself.  Makes sense, though, right?  I mean, it was his birthday money.  I guess I wish that he would also think as unselfishly and practically as me.  I'm jealous.

It's even worse now that our financial situation sucks so bad.  I need new tennis shoes; but Secundus needs socks.  Secundus wins.  I need new nursing bras; but Primus needs underwear.  Primus wins. 

So, how much would a pedicure cost?  Thirty dollars?  If I had 30 extra dollars, it would never occur to me to use it to pay some stranger to touch my feet.  I would much rather spend it on a basic black skirt that fits my postpartum body so I have something other than my stained khaki maternity skirt to wear every Sunday. 

But I guess the real question is, if I really did have all my basic personal needs met and truly had some disposable income, what would I spend it on?  I still don't think I would spend it at a nail salon.  I think I would put it away and save up to take the whole family to Disneyland. 

Yep; once again, I would spend it on others and not just spoil myself.  For better or worse.