Goodbyes

Today we said goodbye to Peter Mr. Beta Fish.  It became apparent yesterday morning that he was not long for this world when I saw him just lying on the rocks at the bottom of his bowl using all of his energy to gulp big breaths.  I prepared A by letting her know that Peter didn't look well, that he might be sick.  She thought he probably just needed a break.  By late afternoon, I knew he was gone.  She kept coming back to check and see if he had moved.  This morning, she noted that he hadn't moved all night long.

So after naps today we discussed funeral plans.  She suggested putting him in the trash; I countered with flushing him to the ocean.  Really, I knew that we wanted to do a little burial.  As hard as it would be to talk it through, I knew it was a good opportunity to introduce death and temporary goodbyes.  J agreed, so we talked about Peter's body being empty now and how he was with Jesus in heaven (I know...we bent the theology a bit to make it applicable.  I figure we can straighten that out later.)  She colored a pretty picture and wrote "Peter" on it.  Daddy folded it into a little box and we tromped outside in the drizzle to lay Peter to rest.

It wasn't until Daddy was covering the hole that the tears came.  "But what about Peter?!" she bawled.  I immediately followed suit.  It's not the goodbye to the fish that got to me, but the goodbye to a little bit of her innocence.  This was a baby step into the harsh reality that the world is not all fairies, rainbows and ballerinas.  I was so sad to see her sadness.  I am glad that we persevered and took the opportunity to have a tough conversation.  And I don't think she'll be upset for very long.  She was asking for a new fish before we made it back inside.

Again?!

Yes.  Again with the, "When did you do that?! And where was I?!  How on earth?!"

In case you can't tell, that's pencil scribbles all over the wall.  When I first saw it, I made her come and listen to my scolding about how we don't write on the walls, only on paper.  Then she peeked around the corner and showed me the other wall she had scribbled on.  I gasped in shock and she thought that was funny, so she pointed across the hall to yet another example of her artistic license.  I was speechless.

As I was supervising the scrubbing, A asked if she had ever written on the walls when she was little and I told her no, this was the first incident of misdirected art at our house.  (I'm so glad it was pencil.)  But I can say with a smile on my face that the writing's on the wall...baby #2 ain't like baby #1.

Tiny Dancer

Yesterday was our first dance lesson.  It was a fun experience, in spite of the tornado warning that went through town while we were at the studio.

Notice no ballet shoes in that picture?  I'd been scrounging all over town to find a pair in her size that I didn't have to pay full price for.  As I tell A, we "really didn't want to spend extra dollars that way."  Can I just say that God totally provided!  I had all of the other pieces of her outfit and had saved more than half what the studio was charging so far.  But I had resigned myself to paying their price for the shoes.  We went in early so we could do our shopping and God provided a pair in her size that were FREE in the used bin!!  Thank you, God!

All the mommies watching through the one-way window were very impressed that the teacher got the little dancers to all line up on tape spots on the floor on the first day.  I was also amazed at how quickly you can transform a little girl into a prima donna.  Apparently, all you need is wall-to-wall mirrors, head-to-toe pink, a ponytail, some noisy fun tap shoes and her hands on her hips.

As she came out of the room, I asked her if she had fun and she nodded a very approving yes while showing off the lollipop she got.  Nothing like a little sugar to keep 'em coming back for more.

We'll do one 45-minute lesson each week.  Part of the time is spent learning ballet and another part on tap.  It's a real shame we don't have one of those special black floors at our house to practice tap dancing on. 

Preschool Boredom Busters

WARNING! Super-long post!

My friend Jenny did a post today asking for ideas for things to do with your preschoolers when you run out of things to do.  By my very nature, I am not a spontaneous, come-up-with-something-fun free thinker.  My poor children suffer a great deal because of my apparent deficit in fun finding.  I can play along with something they think is fun or use existing toys as they are meant to be used, but I seriously lack in creative, out-of-the-box solutions to boredom.  Which means we usually all get grouchy with one another and start bickering, or perhaps worse yet, we go out into the world with our boredom and spend money.

Over the past few years, I have compensated for this dearth of free-flowing fun with a skill that comes as naturally to me as breathing...making lists.  My mind makes lists in my sleep.  I make lists in the shower and have even been known to write notes to myself on the bathroom mirror lest I forget that important nugget before I walk the twenty steps to my kitchen, which we all know is the incubator of all great lists.  I shared my master list of boredom busters with Jenny and she said I had to do a post on it.  Et voila!

I have tried several different methods of incorporating the "idea list" into daily life (i.e., the idea jar from which a child gets to draw ideas written on slips of paper).  But the current method seems to be working really well.  I have a "Today" page posted on a bulletin board in our kitchen and it has a checklist of things we need to remember to do like get dressed, brush our teeth, feed the fish, look at the calendar together.  It has four blank lines for Mommy's to-do's.  I try to write in my most important tasks for the day so that A gets an idea that my "chores" are not nebulous, vague and ongoing; they will end and I can check one off and come play.  Then I have a row of four big squares where I tack activity ideas that the girls can do on their own; another four squares for ideas we can do together; and finally three squares for ideas that C can do while I do lessons with A.  I typed up all of my ideas into a table in Word and cut them apart.  Each evening, I pull off the ones we did or that we turned our noses up at, and put on fresh ideas.  I get to control a little bit what we do based on the other demands of our day or my capacity to crawl about on the floor like a baby turtle.  But A gets some choice in the matter and enjoys seeing the new ideas come up.  I get the benefit of not having to think of things she can go do on her own.  I just suggest the choices for the day and she can do one of those or find something else.  When I take down an idea we've done, it goes in a separate envelope.  I won't dig in the "used" envelope until we're done with the "new" one so that the ideas stay fresh and are fun when they come around again because we haven't done them in awhile.

All of that explanation is to cover my insecurity over being so incredibly Type-A about having fun with my children.  I really wish ideas came to me naturally and I could sit in imaginary worlds for long stretches of time and be a kid with them.  Instead, I make lists.

The following list has been compiled from blog posts, parenting sites, books, other mommies, etc.  None of these ideas are mine.  Remember?  I don't do original.  Some of these ideas may seem obvious to you, but I frequently need the reminders.  Brace yourself; it's a long list.

• Plastic (or cardboard) coins and a piggy bank- bought or home-made.(Pringles can, slit cut in top)
• Chalk or light color crayons on dark construction paper.
• Scissors and paper (no other objective in mind!)
• Easy-to-use paper punch and strips of paper.
• Shallow bucket on a towel on the floor. Add water, boats, plastic fish, measuring cups, etc.
• Bucket of water and a paintbrush for outside painting. Works best on wood or concrete.
• Chalk on sidewalk or steps.
• Let them "wash" a few plastic dishes. Put an egg beater, measuring cup and baster in the water.
• A cup with non-toxic soapy water and a straw to blow bubbles. You may put it on a sheet of paper and add food coloring to the water.
• Make a necklace or snack chain with yarn (masking tape on end) and any cereal with holes; Fruit loops, Cheerios, etc.
• A plastic bottle (clean milk jug, well rinsed detergent bottle, etc.) and items such as clothes pin, straw, penny, etc., to drop in and then shake out again.
• Ice cube on a sidewalk. Works like sidewalk chalk, but requires no cleaning. (Also useful for cooling down.)
• Tape a sheet of freezer paper or newsprint to the floor and trace around the child (have them lie still on it with their arms and legs a little outstretched) and then let them color their self portrait.
• Cut (or tear) out fun pics from old magazines.  Use clippings to decorate a shoe box house, zoo, farm, city, school, park, etc.  Or make a theme collage (people, cars, letters, numbers, animals, etc.)
• Go through the house or yard or neighborhood and collect items to make a texture book/wall/gallery (focusing on touch...).
• Fill one side of the sink with water and add dish soap to create a place for objects to hide under. Give you toddler a pair of tongs and let them "fish" for the objects and drop them in a bowl on the other side of the sink. You could use all kinds of things as the treasures to be found: army men (could it be a rescue mission?), dice, canning jar rings, large legos, etc.
• Cut out some circles from cardboard and cover them in foil. Them put them in a bag to make a coin purse.
• Build with big cardboard blocks or boxes (city, roads, tallest towers, castle, etc.)
• Pull each other around the house on a thick blanket
• Play with beanbags – toss into boxes, toss to each other; “ring toss” – set up three different size boxes/cans at greater distances from the standing line.  Try to toss bean bags into each of the goals.  Outside, draw a “target” with chalk.  Toss bean bags into different sections of the target (can be bulls-eye or pie-shaped).
• Balloon basketball – take turns trying to throw a balloon into a pop-up hamper
• Play hide and seek
• Play duck, duck, goose
• Play Simon Says
• Play Mother, May I?
• Play foursquare outside
• Laundry basket boats – sail around the house collecting crew and treasure
• Play computer games – pbskids.org
• Button box, dry beans – sort, count, trade; in/out of different size boxes/buckets
• Beads, noodles – sort, count, trade, lace
• Poker chip money – sort, count, trade; in/out of different size boxes/buckets
• Play restaurant
• Play grocery store, toy store, book store, department store
• Play with play-dough
• Make art with stamps
• Work a few pages in a preschool workbook
• Rice bucket – pour colored rice into large empty plastic bin; put toddler in bin with scoops and cups
• Throw a party for a stuffed animal
• Throw a party for Daddy
• Play dress-up
• Play house/family – take the different roles of each family member
• Play doctor
• Make a tent indoors
• Music time – every one gets an instrument and take turns picking songs to sing and play along with
• Easel art
• Ball/car ramp –lean a long board onto a stack of books or table to make a ramp for cars and/or balls
• Draw a city on butcher paper (or on the sidewalk outside), then let cars and people play in the city
• Make lacing cards together by gluing pictures from magazines to card stock.  Laminate and punch holes.  Lace with yarn or shoe strings.
• Make a paper chain from strips of construction paper.
• Put on a puppet show.  Use curtain rod to drape a sheet across a doorway. 
• Make family puppets.  Use old photos of family members; glue to popsicle sticks.
• Make a puzzle out of front picture on cereal box.
• Cotton balls to play with – in buckets and cups, pinch with tongs, carry on spoon
• Hide puzzle pieces around the room and let the other person find and finish the puzzle.  Use hot/cold to give clues.
• Sew with yarn on plastic canvas
• Make a marble maze in a box lid or shallow box (or use a small ball)
• Work puzzles together
• Play a card or board game
• Go on a magazine scavenger hunt, finding the listed items in an old magazine.
• Use rope or long sticks to mark the two sides of a “brook”.  Have kids run and jump the brook.  Widen the brook with each successful attempt.
• Play follow the leader.
• Build and complete an obstacle course
• Play “monkey in the middle” trying to pass the ball to a friend while the friend in the middle tries to get it.
• Make shapes on sandpaper with various lengths of yarn
• Use different colors of felt to make faces – cut out eyes, ears, noses, mouths, jewelry, hair, bows; like Mr. Potato Head with felt
• Make a felt board by covering scrap wood with felt.  Cut out felt shapes to stick to the board.
• Scavenger hunt - Give children verbal instructions to collect a list of items (something smaller than your hand, something red, something soft, something longer than your arm, etc.).  Have them collect their items in a plastic bag or on-hand basket.  When enough items are collected, the children can compare their items, then return the items to their homes when finished.
• Flashlight tag – try to catch the other’s light with your own
• Tie a jump rope or long ribbon between two chairs; make a clothesline for doll clothes
• Big magnet – explore what is magnetic, what’s not (paper clips, washers, nails, etc.)
• Save a few paper towel and toilet paper rolls to make ball and car tunnels
• Color on sandpaper
• String together several empty boxes of various sizes for a stuffed animal train
• Stick rough side of Velcro to scrap board and attach soft side of Velcro to cast-off small toys (think Happy Meal toys)
• Wash the windows with a squirt bottle full of water
• Indoor tetherball (foam ball or balloon hung from a doorway; cardboard tube to bat at it)
• Paper cup pyramids
• Skate around the house in shoe boxes
• Make and climb a pillow mountain
• Use a toothpick to punch holes in black construction paper (put a dishrag under the paper).  Do a freeform design or trace a simple line drawing torn out of a coloring book.  Hold up to the light for a sparkling picture.

Hope it's helpful!  And if you have go-to ideas that work at your house, please, please share.  I need all the help I can get!  Obviously.

First Day of School

Today was A's first official day of homeschool!  We've been looking forward to it for a while now.  Here's the excited girl in her first-day-of-school dress.

We did art and reading today.  For art, she practiced drawing rectangles so she could make stick people with "muscles."  We also made a first day of school time capsule and filled it with a sample of her handwriting, her painted handprint, a piece of yarn as tall as she is, and a drawing she made.  If I remember where I put it, we'll take it back out in the spring to marvel at her progress.  Here's our little art student...

And our eager tag-along

C decided today that she wanted to try sitting on the potty.  I was amazed that we managed to accomplish any goals for the day in spite of 3-5 trips to the bathroom so she could sit on the potty and play with the toilet paper.  Hopefully, she'll forget all about it for a few more months.

We've been doing reading all summer, so it was nothing new.  Even though I know A has a big capacity for words, I'm still impressed at her progress and how quickly she is catching on to each new phonics rule.  Today, I introduced the "nch" and "tch" endings.  She read with confidence, "Tex will clench his drink in his left hand.  Tex will crunch his thin chips and sip his soft drink."

Throw in the usual dishes and laundry, some time playing baby turtles on the floor, giving "swimming" lessons in the ball pit, and letting the little mommy put her big kiddo to bed and you have a very full day.

It's no trite thing to say that God gets all the glory for the success of this day.  I absolutely cannot do this in my own strength.  To God be the glory for the things HE has done!!

Overwhelmed

I've been feeling really overwhelmed lately.  Lots of transition and new beginnings at our house.  I've been putting together a sketchy lesson plan for our first year of homeschool and trying to pull together some activities to keep C busy while I do lessons with A.  That has taken up a lot of my personal bandwidth this summer.  (That's how nerds communicate their capacity to process information.  I try to speak geek with my hubby whenever I can and sometimes it overflows into meat space.  That's where nerds have to interact with real people in real space instead of over the interwebs.)

We're also in the midst of changing our guest room/office into a playroom/guestroom.  We've moved the bedroom suite out and brought in a sleeper sofa, thereby insuring that no one will ever sleep overnight at my house again.  I'm trying to clear the room of it's old purpose and figure out it's new purpose without spending any money.  For now, that means a mountain of papers that need to be shredded or filed.  The encouraging thing is that if you wait two years to file your paperwork, a lot of it will be obsolete by the time you file and you can just throw it away.

Once the paper is clear, I'm wrestling with what I really want to put in the room so that A can enjoy it vs. not wanting C to decorate my walls with said enjoyment.  I enjoy these kinds of dilemmas and the energy that comes with a new configuration, but it's been keeping me up at night and that's not cool.

The reason we're changing the room around is to accommodate a new home group that we'll be leading this year.  I found out last week that we don't start the new group until mid-September, so that has helped me breathe a little bit.  I was thinking we only had two weeks to figure out the new room, what our group is going to study, our schedule for the fall, find a sitter for the group's kids, etc.  Two extra weeks helps a lot.

But I don't handle transition very well.  I sleep better when everything is settled.  I want the decisions to be made, the schedule mapped out, duties delegated, prep work done.  I want to have a great beginning for our new school year and our new home group, and I want to think it through enough that we finish well, too.  Until we're off and running, I'll be fidgeting with ideas and questions, wondering what the optimal solution is to each scenario.

I've been listening to podcasts from our previous church and have been reminded that unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain (Psalm 127:1).  I don't like spinning my wheels, so I pray we've heard rightly, that we'll keep our ears tuned to His voice and that God will be glorified in our home, through our family.  And if God is building it, it seems much less overwhelming.

Sense of Style

I can't handle heels, but C's got it down.  Leopard print, no less.  Maybe it's the low-slung diaper with no pants that improves her balance.

And if I can't do leopard print shoes, I'm certainly not bold enough to try a wild animal print skirt.  But I think she looks like a million bucks.

I've been a headband girl for years now, but the bright, sparkly ones seem a little young for me.

She's got quite the sense of style, no thanks to me.  Maybe she gets it from her dad.