Magic and Mayhem

Attachment Parenting International is hosting a Carnival of Presence all month long.  I had already blogged about being present before finding out but I think it’s a good theme to revisit.  Here’s a poem that always reminds me of how important it is to be there for my kids now while I can.  I have been unable to find out the author.  If you know, please let me know and I’ll give the author credit.

                          To My Grown-up Son

                          My hands were busy through the day
                          I didn’t have much time to play
                          The little games you asked me to.
                          I didn’t have much time for you.

                          I’d wash your clothes, I’d sew and cook,
                          But when you’d bring your picture book
                          And ask me, please, to share your fun,
                          I’d say, ‘A little later, son.’

                          I’d tuck you in all safe at night,
                          And hear your prayers, turn out the light,
                          Then tiptoe softly to the door.
                          I wish I’d stayed a minute more.

                          For life is short, and years rush past,
                          A little boy grows up so fast.
                          No longer is he at your side.
                          His precious secrets to confide.

                          The picture books are put away,
                          There are no children’s games to play,
                          No good night kiss, no prayers to hear.
                          That all belongs to yesteryear.

                          My hands once busy, now lie still
                          The days are long and hard to fill.
                          I wish I might go back and do
                          The little things you asked me to.

                                 - Author unknown

From yesterday and today!

We’re back just for the night and then heading out again tomorrow!

We had a great little trip. Daryl taught lots of people lots of stuff about the atlatl — so much so that he nearly lost his voice by the end of the session today. He also really wrecked his legs from standing too long and is in pretty extreme pain, poor guy. I know he enjoyed helping out though, and he taught so many people so much fascinating stuff.

The kids and I did some exploring while Daddy did that and managed to have some fun, learn some things and enjoy some wonderful weather (and some dreary weather!).

Stops included: the St. Peter Pearly Gates and Chamber of Commerce, a lovely natural food coop with a hot deli (we loaded up with plates of hot, homemade cuisine from around the world), the Sioux Treaty Site, the St. Peter library, The Tree-mendous Park, McDonalds playland, a Chinese-Japanese buffet run by a lovely family with a brand new baby, the Minnesota River and a few stops at parks and such along the way.

Tomorrow Daryl is teaching 70 middle schoolers about the atlatl, by special request of a teacher bringing his students on a field trip to the Petroglyphs. After that we’re heading to Grandma and Grandpa’s again to take part in History Fest. Daryl and the girls are dressing up in period clothes for the Betsy-Tacy Society again and they’ve made up period games and all sorts of good stuff.

Grandma wants to go shopping with me and the boys. I like the sounds of that!

We’ll be back Saturday night but I may be able to check in from the in-laws’.

Now I have to unpack and pack again. So much for this school-at-home thing the kids keep pushing for. We have to be home to pull it off!

The other day I joked with Victoria “What, I have to give you life AND feed you?”. That’s not all I have to do, it turns out! I have to school these people too.

Real school. No more of that relaxed, fun, child-led business. Oh no. They want school, and lots of it.

Starting at 8 a.m.

With homework.

And pop quizzes.

Oy.

Today we did our first full day of an honest-to-goodness math curriculum. I had a complete, like-new set of A Beka 5th grade, which just happens to be Victoria’s grade. I asked her last night if she’d like to use it and she surprised me by saying heck yes.

We are really not A Beka kinda people. I am the kind of homeschool mom who does math by tossing chocolate chips into my children’s mouths when they get the right answer, the kind to write out story problems involving six-legged cats who wear hats, the kind who give the kids a giant tub of change and let them play store and develop a banking system with it.

So of course my kids have to show their independece by wanting to do a full-on, conventional math curriculum.

Shrug.

I got the thing for basically free from the used bookstore where I traded a bajillion books a week. It’s kind of fun to use this foreign, scripted, teacher kinda thing. It’s like playing dress-up! Maybe I’ll call roll tomorrow or buy a name plate…

Anyway, today Victoria did lesson 2 of A Beka, the first half of a Krampf science experiment (drat, no rubbing alcohol) and PE (thanks Mr. President for that fitness challenge thing). Meanwhile, Anna did 3 pages in her generic math workbook, wrote a paragraph about fairies and then corrected her spelling and grammar errors, did PE, practiced cursive, slipped me a sweet letter in cursive about what a great teacher I am, and greatly annoyed her sister. Jack and Alex went off with Daddy to gather supplies for Daddy’s Big Important Conference tomorrow.

Oh yeah, Daryl has been asked to help teach people about the atlatl at the “Who Were the First Humans?” Nobel Conference.

Did you catch the Nobel part???! Isn’t that cool?!

We’re going to explore St. Peter and fawn over Daddy for a couple of days.

I wonder if the kids are going to throw a fit about missing school.

This week’s Unplug Your Kids challenge is white.  So here’s the art project we did…

Isn’t it lovely? 

Okay, there was a bit more to it!

1.  Give each child a piece of watercolor paper (or any white paper) and a white crayon.  Explain that they’re making invisible art and have the kids draw elaborate drawings all in white.

2.  Hand out thick paintbrushes, watercolor paints and water.  Have the kids  paint over their drawings with the paint (either one color or many) to magically reveal their masterpieces.

That’s it!

Victoria did an undersea picture:

She liked it so much she did another page:

Anna drew a flower with long underground roots:

And Jack did a design and then made the paint into a dog:

It was quick, easy and fun!

The kids and I are all going to get serious about daily physical exercise and we’re using The President’s Challenge to give us a kick start.  The goal is 60 minutes a day of activity (30 for adults), at least 5 days a week, for 6 weeks.  We can also use pedometers some days, and log steps instead (minimum 11,000 steps for the girls or 8,500 for me).

Activities include walking, skateboarding, swimming, jumping on the trampoline, biking, yoga, gardening, playing children’s games and many more.

We can track our progress online or print out their charts.  The kids’ computer is down at the moment so we’ll probably go for the paper trail at least now.

At the end of the challenge, we can order (for a small fee!) certificates, badges and such.  I think it will be well worth it.

Anyone else up for a challenge?

We’ve learned and done the past couple of days…

1.  Victoria bought a skateboard and has been learning to ride.  She’s letting Jack and Anna try too.

2.  We went to Marshall and visited some homeschool friends.  The kids played baseball, made marble runs, pretended to cook and about 104 other things until we finally dragged them away.

3.  We did math shapes.  It was really cool and we realized that there are only 5 patterns for all multiples in the universe.  I lost the link where I got the printouts, though, and will have to search before I can share it. 

4.  We’re still reading Story of the World.

5.  Victoria got a Cricket magazine and has been devouring it, as usual.

6.  Jack has been reading tons of things in his environment.  For example, he asked me why something on the computer said “save now” and read a long, complicated brand name on something that he recognized from an ad.

7.  We went to homeschool swimming.

8.  We watched a spider wrap a ladybug he caught for later.  Even Alex was mesmerized by his work, as he dangled by a thin silk and waved his “arms” around and around to wrap his supper.

9.  The kids have been playing Uno and Jack won his first game ever without help.

10. Daryl got an old fashioned “hoops” game and taught Jack how to play.

It seems like we have been driving somewhere every day this week and I’ve refused to budge for at least a day.  It’s a bit chilly in the house so I may have to at least go outside with the kids to warm up though! 

On the agenda:  cool science, SOTW, some sort of art project and getting organized.  Oh yes, and some reading or poetry, and maybe that word game I keep meaning to get to…

We went on a field trip Wednesday to see “Challenger” No. 3985, the world’s largest operating steam locomotive.

It’s on a publicity tour from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to St. Paul, Minnesota, and back.  Along the way it’s stopping at tiny cities all along the route, including a couple near us.

There was already a crowd when we got to the old train station so we parked in a gravel lot a block before the station, facing the tracks.  Then we waited.  And waited.  And waited.

The kids scoured the rocks for treasures and found several railroad spikes.  They banged them together and sang “I’ve been working on the railroad.”  Daryl talked to them about trains and he even let the kids put pennies on the tracks.  He almost felt guilty until he noticed every man on either side of us doing the same thing. 

An elderly couple was parked next to us and the woman smiled and said “When I was little we used to lay our ears on the tracks to tell if the train was coming.”  I laughed and told my own kids “Don’t you ever do that!”.  Ack!

The train was due at 10 a.m. but it was nearly 11 before we finally caught sight of the puffs of steam way off in the distance.

We stood far back from the tracks as the giant machine thundered by and slowed down.  Uniformed men on the train smiled and waved as it went by.  The noise was exciting and a wee bit scary, especially for the unsuspecting one year-old in my arms!  He decided he liked it too, though.

After the train came to a stop, the kids ran up to see their pennies.  They were impressively squashed, one with a faint imprint of Lincoln still visible.  At over a million pounds, Challenger No. 3985 will do a number on a penny!

We walked up to the station and stood in line for an impressive amount of time for our shot to go up onto the train.  I didn’t know what to expect, but was not expecting a little train tourist shop!  Clever, I must say.  The car was filled with railroad memorabilia, hats, magnets, DVDs, puzzles and such for sale and a long counter where ladies worked the cash register and answered questions.  There was also a cooler of snacks and coffee.  We grabbed some free handouts and made our way back down the giant stairs.

All in all, it was a neat experience.  I kept thinking back to the days when people relied on the railroad to bring back loved ones, take trips and transport goods.  It’s impossible to watch a train approach a station and not get caught up in the excitement.  Maybe it’s the noise or the size or the way the ground shakes just a bit beneath you, but it’s awfully cool stuff.

This week, of course, we’re working trains into our homeschool.  Thanks Union Pacific!

Tonight I played computer games with a very heavy 5 year old on my lap.  It was the most important work I could be doing.

I was looking something up on the computer and Jack came in and asked if I’d earn him money on Webkinz.  Jack feels loved when you do rather odd things for him, and this is one of them.  I can do that!

So he crawled onto my lap and I wrapped one arm around him while using my free hand to play “Smoothie Moves” to level 9.

My boy is heavy compared to his one year-old brother but for now he fits on my lap without too much discomfort on either of our parts.  We had to wiggle and shift and occasionally hurl ourselves in one direction or another but it was so worth it.

He fell asleep in my arms and I carried him to his bunk bed.  I had to wake him to get him up to the top, because I just can’t hoist him no matter how I try.  I talked him back to sleep right away and covered him with blankets.

I love this 5 year old boy.  I love this stage– this teetering between little and big kid, this almost-reading, always-learning, sweet and crazy-making age.  I love the way he’d love to marry me and live with me forever.  I love the way he nags me to do kindergarten with him.  I love the way he thanks me for the small things I do as his mother.

This is the only year in eternity that Jack will be 5 years old.  It will never come again and I don’t want to miss it.  Likewise, Alex will never again be 1.  Anna will never again be 8.  Victoria will never again be 10.

Every age of childhood introduces us to a new and different child whom we will never meet again.  I want to enjoy them, to savor knowing each of my children fully and celebrate each beautiful, bittersweet year.

They’re all asleep now and it’s easy to cherish them now that it’s quiet and calm.  Nobody is crying, fighting or snatching.  This is the time of night that I remind myself of how short our time is and how much I treasure these wild and wonderful little people we’ve created.

I love the feeling of a sweet, sleepy kindergartener on my lap.  I’ll miss this someday and I don’t want to waste it.

Now to just remember all this better during the heat of the day when there is all the crying, fighting and snatching…

We have a big hardcover book of facts about the 20th century that I got on sale somewhere.  Yesterday I grabbed it off the front porch bookshelf and left it out in the living room.  I heard once that there’s an unschooling term for that, strewing– leaving educational things out for kids to happen upon.  I do a lot of strewing.  It works well.

Last night at bedtime I sent Anna upstairs to get ready for bed.  We were planning on going to see a train today and needed to get up early, so I told her she should head up.  She saw the book on her way up, shrugged, and picked it up.

Later on when I went in to check on her, she was lying in bed reading 20th century facts.   I told her she really needed to put the book away and try to sleep.

“Okay Mom.  Can you remember 1905 to 1906?”.

What???  I indignantly replied that I wasn’t alive in 1905, that it was over a hundred years ago.

Anna burst out laughing and said, “No, I mean will you remember that’s where I am in the book!”.

Then she looked at me like I was so silly and went on, “Of course you weren’t alive in 1905!  If you were, you would have been alive when Teddy Roosevelt was president, but he wasn’t elected president.  He was vice president and he was only in office for 6 months before the president died so he became president.  The vice president automatically becomes president if the president dies, but I didn’t find that out from the book, I knew that already.”

Just when I think that kid is going to dedicate her life to nail polish, Hannah Montana and art projects, she goes and talks my ear off about 20th century presidents.

And since we’re on the subject, here’s 10 facts about Theodore Roosevelt:

1.  He was asthmatic and frequently sick as a child, which led to his being homeschooled by his parents and tutors for most of his childhood. Despite being sick for much of his childhood, he was known for being hyperactive and mischievous.

2.  He was the youngest person to ever become president, at age 42 (after President McKinley was assasinated).

3.  He was a Republican but also a member of the Progressive Movement.  He later formed the Progressive Party, also known as the Bull Moose Party, saying  “To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.” He was also the first president to call for universal health care and national health insurance.

4.  He was an outdoorsman and environmentalist.  He promoted conservationism and the responsible use of natural resources and put aside more land for national parks and reserves than all previous presidents combined.

5.  He was nicknamed “Teedie” as a child.  His first wife gave him the nickname “Teddie” and he later intensely disliked it.

6.  He had a photographic memory, loved books and had a lifelong fascination with zoology.

7.  He wrote a book called The Winning of the West where he made many racist statements about the importance of “civilized” (white) people winning the control of countries.

He wrote,

“.. it is of incalculable importance that America, Australia, and Siberia should pass out of the hands of their red, black, and yellow aboriginal owners, and become the heritage of the dominant world races”

and

“The most ultimately righteous of all wars is a war with savages.”

8.  He fought corruption in various offices he held throughout his life, including president of the NYC police commissioners.  He was credited with reforming that police department, which had been considered one of the most corrupt in the country.  His efforts to root out corruption and end “machine politics” while governor of New York led to his being chosen for McKinley’s running mate.

9.  He first said the famous line, “Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far” at the Minnesota State Fair in 1901.

10. His oldest daughter, Alice, was known for being a bit of trouble at the White House.  When someone asked if he couldn’t do a better job of disciplining her, he reportedly replied,

“I can be President of the United States, or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both.” 

She, in turn, once said that he wanted to be…

“the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral.”

Want to find out more about Theodore Roosevelt, from the Panama Canal to Rough Riders to how he first said “Good to the last drop” while drinking Maxwell House coffee?  Wikipedia has quite a bit of info– the good, the bad and the just plain interesting.

Turns out that Anna did a bit of strewing with her comment and it worked on me!