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don’t call my son the man of the house
Please don’t call my ten-year-old son “the man of the house”. He is not. Currently – we simply have no man of the house. And that’s terrible. Tragic. Not right. Wrong. Not the plan. Incorrect. Broken. But all of those truths do not make my ten-year-old son anything except a ten-year-old boy. He is not more a man now. He is not a grown up. He is not capable of bearing the weight of being the “man of the house”. I don’t want that for him. I want him to be a ten-year-old boy. I want him to think about starting fires outside at the fire pit. I want him…
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I Don’t Keep Teeth (and other parenting truths)
“Mommy – hold out your hand,” the little man asked me. It was early. I was still lying in bed. I held out my hand. In it he placed a very small object. His tooth. “Oh. Well. Uh. Thanks son.” He grinned – two teeth down on my Last Boy To Lose Teeth. “Is it still bleeding? Is there blood on my lip? I don’t care for the taste of blood.” He said all of these sentences in rapid succession and ran out of the room to continue whatever he had been doing before his tooth popped right out of his tiny mouth. I was still lying…
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Studying Longfellow: A Poetry Study Tutorial
We tend to choose a poet to study for a term (or a season, or a few weeks or month – whatever fits your routine). During that time I basically repeat this same general format, substituting a new poem for each session together. Generally – this style of poetry study would be done a few times each month – weekly or bi-weekly. I do this routine with my own kids individually, but it also the format I use to teach a small co-op of sorts that Jo and I do together weekly. Step One: Choose your poet. I chose Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Step Two: Gather your biographical information. (I used…
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night …
And then there are some nights. Nights so long you’re nearly certain the dawn will never come. (Your only assurance being the fact that, thus far in your experience, it always has.) Nights filled with sick kids offering a play by play of their stomach aching misery from the bathroom. Nights when you are only certain of one thing – there will not be adequate sleep gained for you to operate as The Responsible Human life is guaranteed to expect of you the next morning. Nights when the dreams that greet your restless soul are so violently vivid and unexpected that your brain is literally reeling with the images come…
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Five Finds Friday (twenty) (a video you have to click to watch & beef stew)
FUNNY I love having a lot of kids. Seriously – I think I would have another two or three if circumstances were, you know, different than they are. Today we had friends over and Otto came careening into the house full force, grabbing my hand and saying I just HAD to see what was happening in the field. I left the dishes (that was an easy task to abandon) and careened right back outside behind him. He was right. I just HAD to see this: You actually have to take the time to click the link to watch the twelve second video. I understand if that requires too much effort.…
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give a good word
It’s wild what a good word can do. The power of positive pouring out of your mouth. I’ve unexpectedly teared up before (well, lots of times, alright) at the sound of kind words I didn’t know I needed to hear. Text messages with encouragement. A hand on the shoulder at a social function, a direct look into the eyes and a couple of sentences about something you’re doing right, instead of the stack of things your brain says you are doing wrong. A letter that arrives in the mail with a hand written word expressing how a friend sees you with eyes you would never use to see yourself. It’s…
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The Dollar Shave Club: A Review
Obviously I love when stuff I need comes to my door. (Amazon. ePantry.) In case if it isn’t already self-explanatory, here’s why I love stuff coming directly to my door: I get to stay home. (Duh.) It’s kind of hard to homeschool if you are NEVER home. (Sure, I like homeschooling at our favorite restaurants and taking school to the mountains and I think RV schooling would actually be fabulous for a season, but you know what I mean. If I am running errands all day, then I have no time to oversee math or writing or read great novels together. I spend LESS money. In a store when I…
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Thanksgiving Tables …
WWII Graphic Novels: A Timberdoodle Review
Five Finds Friday.
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sunshine and a trail
Today was full of sunshine. Aren’t days like that just a gift? My buddy Carl Sandburg’s gloriously beautiful home site partnered with breezy sunshine and companionable hiking friends. Today was about slow conversations and walking through the woods. Eating lunch on a giant rock with a stellar view that made cold leftover ham taste delicious. Listening to the kids chat about novels they enjoy and favorite films and book titles they should read next and “have you ever read Agatha Christie?” I loved watching Bergen lead and chat with two younger little buddies as they held his hand and walked a mile or…
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what a Saturday night looks like …. sometimes
Once upon a time I told the kids we were watching Maleficent at our next Family Movie Night. It seemed like a pretty easy promise to make and to keep. (What is not easy, on the other hand, is pronouncing the movie Maleficent. Why is it so hard?) Movie Night rolls in. I have Mosely check Netflix. Maleficnnt is not available. Fine. We check iTunes. Malefichtyy is available. For purchasing. For $19.99. No thanks. I text Amanda. “Where did you guys get your copy of Maelficnntyihk? Do you own it?” “The library,” she responds. Like a true planner. A person prepared. Fine. “Guys – let’s just go to a Redbox…
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Five Finds Friday (nineteen)
FUNNY The kids and I “adopted” a section of our local biking/walking trail. We pick up trash on the path several times each month. This volunteer opportunity has proven to completely curb all littering from the kids and has been a great time to chat as we wander the trail with our gloves and our grabby sticks. Bergen has always been literal. It’s often amusing. (I did not say always.) Last week during our pick up time, he was extra funny. While grabbing a discarded water bottle he commented, “You know – it’s not really water if it has to have an ingredient list.” Also. We observed a lady allowing…
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pockets of beauty & grace
“I hope you are finding pockets of beauty and grace.” That’s what the text message from a friend said this week. There are days and moments that weigh heavy on my heart. News that breaks and bends. Realities that burden and ache. And. There of moments of shared laughter and genuine joy. Hope that soars and restores. Pockets of beauty and grace. Yesterday my oldest son and I had a date. (We are still working our way through their Christmas gifts – a one on one date with Mom to some fun event.) He was DJ in the car so it was all Okee Dokee Brothers and The Hunts for…
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it’s here, if I look ….
I stayed up too late trying to meet a writing deadline. And filling out paperwork for insurance. (I do not heart paperwork.) I tried to get up early to knock out the rest of the article because my brain quit on me last night halfway through the research for the article. I’m running a little on empty and I keep trying to cut out the non-essentials. (Is showering essential? The jury is still out.) I started to write a post about a couple of different topics. I scanned through the photos on my phone for inspiration. And what I found was this: A friend who popped over late at night…
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sometimes a mom needs to not speak.
Motherhood involves a lot of words. A lot of daily decisions and the answering of a lot of questions about a myriad of subjects. (Oh my word. So many questions about SO many tricky topics. I need to write a book listing the Questions Asked and the Answers Given. An anonymous book. Anonymous to protect both my children and me – because sometimes I hear my own answers and they sound kind of weird.) So, yeah – as moms we give a lot of answers and offer a lot of instructions and say a lot of sentences. But sometimes, as a Mom, what I mostly need to do is to…
