Seven Quick Takes

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~1~

Why won't men go to the doctor? It's a mystery I'm hoping to solve before I die. Superman has his yearly bout of bronchitis, but refuses to go in for the medication that will help. Instead he insists on powering through, and hopes that it will fix itself. This happens EVERY YEAR. And every year he refuses to go until it's bad enough he's actually starting to worry about pneumonia. Why, why, why does he always wait til it gets this bad? I need a man manual.

 

~2~

I spent most of yesterday in bed. My mother came to take my healthy kids Wednesday night just before their bedtime, kept them all night for me and let me spend yesterday recovering. I slept straight through until 10 a.m.- can't remember the last time I did that! I slept most of the afternoon too. I was hoping I'd feel better than this by this morning, but no such luck. I'm just as achy and grima s before. Maybe the get well vibes will work tomorrow. Thank goodness for my mom and her willingness to jump in to care for my kids so I could get some sleep yesterday.

~3~

Little Bit has a little bit more ornery in him than his brother. Okay, okay- he's the very definition of ornery.  Earlier this week when I was making breakfast for myself and the boys I realized that Little Bit was *very* quiet. I thought he had surely made his way upstairs so I went to the base of the stairs to call for him. After saying his name I heard mad splashing in the downstairs bathroom, which is about 5 steps away from me.

 

"Great- he's playing in the toilet." I think to myself. I went in ready to wash hands and give a little "we don't play in the potty" speech for the gazillionth time. But no- he's not playing in the toilet, he's using a little toy spoon to scoop toilet water into his mouth!

 

I'm really stringent about cleaning my bathrooms. My dishes may not be caught up every single day and I know my laundry isn't, but my toilets are. I still almost threw up when I saw him drinking toilet water- it certainly didn't help that I was already feeling ill.

 

Later on I was telling my mom what he'd been doing. She laughed- laughed!- and said, "He'll probably be your healthiest kid." I have caught the child licking shoes, putting rocks in his mouth, and one time I fished part of a ladybug out of his mouth- another gag inducing moment. Now I have to add drinking toilet water to the list. Boy, his future wife is in for a handful.

 

~4~

We will find out in the next few weeks whether or not my mother-in-law will be laid off from the job she has held for almost 30 years. She is almost certain she will be. She has survived many other layoffs with the company, but she says this time is different and she' almost 100% certain that she's on the chopping block. She was going to retire in 2 more years. So now she is in her mid-50s, and looking for work that will be difficult to find as her company will be laying off thousands, many with the same credentials that she has.

 

Superman and I both work in service industries, so we are thankful that work has been steady for us. I've been warned by 3 families of probably layoffs or cutbacks, and that music lessons would have to be one of the first things to go. I completely understand (food before music and all that) and I know this wouldn't be an easy decision for any of those families. Superman takes as much overtime as he can right now- we're trying to take nothing for granted.

 

~5~

Need cheap entertainment for your kids while you moan and groan on the couch? Close the curtains, turn off the lights and hand them each a flashlight. For the price of 4 double A batteries you can keep them busy for 20 minutes.

 

~6~

Age-old question: How much t.v. is too much t.v.? I know the APA recommendation is none under 2 years old, and very limited viewing after that. The boys usually watch 1 show a day so that I can get something done- a shower on the days that I work, and on the days I'm off they watch while I make dinner. Over this week they have watched an obscene amount of television. When this bug first hit over the weekend it seemed like we watched an unending loop of Backyardigans and Wonderpets thanks to the magic of the DVR. All anyone could do was lay around, so t.v. it was. And as I started to feel really sick on Wednesday that's what they did much of the day because it was all I could manage to supervise. After feeling guilty about it for awhile last night, I'm okay with it. We rarely watch that much television, we did what we had to do to make it through.

 

~7~

I'm just getting into the facebook thing. I found a friend I haven't seen since 10th grade- we were best friends for 5 years before I moved away. It's also been a good way to keep up with my siblings who are starting to scatter all over and the college friends that I exchange emails with every 4 or 5 months to catch up.

 

I knew I had to get into facebook when my dad called and told me he had just set his own page up. My DAD. And then he told me he was helping my mom with hers... It's highly embarassing to have my parents be more technically advanced than I am, so I had to go for it. I may be the last 27-year-old in America to sign up for facebook, but I'm there now.

Yuck

My first sign that Big Kid is sick? He asks for a nap.

My first sign that Little Bit is sick? He falls asleep while playing.

The first sign the grown ups are sick? You don't even want to know.

We're sick here, of the gross variety. Superman and Little Bit have the congestion, cough and runny nose, I have this really fun GI thing, and poor Big Kid has both. We all spent the weekend laying around (except for Little Bit, who has the continuous energy of a hummingbird even when ill) and no one is any better today. I canceled my teaching day but Superman started a new trainee today so he had to go in at least for a half day.

Trying to care for the children while sick yourself? So not cool. Big Kid is pretty miserable and hanging out on the couch watching t.v., but Little Bit is still running around like his usual self, although he is whining a lot while he plays, and complaining a lot about having his nose wiped. You would think he wouldn't have the energy to scale the bookcase today, but apparently that kind of energy just stays with you. If he ever lays around on the couch I'm sure it will signal an ER visit.

Seven Quick Takes

 

 Go see Jen for more Quick Takes!

 

~1~

We've been working on a lot of Valentine's Day related things around here- heart collages, chocolate-y treats, and heart shaped sandwiches are just the beginning! Today's project? Stained Glass Hearts.

 

~2~


I'm trying to figure out a good way to hang and store the boys' art work. I want to be able to hang it for a little while but still switch it out every few weeks for new work, so I don't think I want to go with framing. I do want something that will look nice though, not something that looks like we just pinned it up on a bulletin board or something. Any thoughts on this? As far as storage, right now I have a rubbermaid box that stores under my bed, one for each boy. Is there a better way to store their artwork?

 

~3~


I've been off most of this week. I gave 2 afternoons of makeup lessons and taught 2 large group classes, and it was a really nice break. We spent Wednesday in the kitchen, and today I plan to stay in the kitchen too. Can you believe I haven't baked any bread in a month? Big Kid loves to measure ingredients for me, and Little Bit is an excellent taste-tester, there just hasn't been much to measure or taste around here lately! I stocked up the pantry and the fridge on Wednesday in preparation for a big baking and cooking weekend. Mmmm...

 

~4~

I haven't sewn in a few weeks, but this post at Angry Chicken got me thinking in that direction again. Sew my own underwear? Make it fit however I please? Definitely intriguing.

 

~5~

I've been getting interested in embroidery lately. I know, I know- like I need another hobby, right? I can't help myself. Projects like this make me fall in love! I'm not even sure what exactly it is about those pillows that make me return again and again to the photos, but they are exciting to me.

 

~6~

Big Kid and I have been playing War a lot lately just with numbers 2-5.  It has helped him to better understand higher and lower numbers, and he loves it when our cards match and we get to have a war. The one difficult thing is that he's really disappointed if his card is lower than mine, so I suppose he's also having one of his first lessons on being a good sport, learning not to whine if his card is lower, but also not to gloat if his card is higher.

 

~7~

I had been doing really well with drinking water all week and keeping track of sugar and all that until Superman brought home a 12 pack of Coke. I've had 3 cans in the last 2 days. If it's in the house, I DRINK IT ALL! It's like it calls my name or something. I haven't even been drinking coffee in the morning! I asked him to take it in to work or something, or store it in his truck- anything to get it out of the house so I won't drink it all over the weekend.

Montessori in Our Home (Part Two)

I wrote here about the reasons I was drawn to Montessori and how I feel it fits our family and specifically the boys. I touched a bit on how it fits me, and I'd like to continue that today.



Routine

One of the things I like the most about Montessori is the sense of order and routine that it introduces to the child. The reason that appeals to me is that that is the way that Big Kid is built. He has a natural sense of routine that he relies on to make his world work. This is the way Superman works too, and frankly it's something I've had to get used to. My upbringing was the opposite of routine and organized so this is a skill I've had to learn throughout our marriage. I feel like Montessori's approach to routine, but still giving the choice is very important. Big Kid takes great comfort and satisfaction in the ordered portion of his work (always laying a mat to work on, putting things away before getting other things out), and the choices he has to make encourage him to reach out and take steps forward.



Organization

One of the things I've loved everytime I visit a Montessori classroom is the organization of the materials. Less on the shelves, very beautiful and inviting materials, always using a mat or carpet to work on- all these things organize not only the room but the child's thoughts and actions as well. The emphasis on using higher quality materials has been interesting. The idea is that the more beautiful the item the more irresistible it is to the child, but I wasn't sure that that would be true for my son. In fact, it is! It was a surprise to me, but we're making a big shift in the direction of investing in fewer items, but items of higher quality.

This kind of organization and reasoned placement of materials has affected how I organize all of my home. I've started organizing my own items with these ideas- having fewer things out, but more beautiful inviting things.

 

Practical Life

Presenting practical life skills to the child blew my mind a bit. The idea that you can show a child to wash a table with water and a sponge at 15 months old? I thought that was a little silly at first, but I tried with my youngest. He not only could do it, but he thought it was great fun and laughed much of the time. It's still one of his favorite works! Not only is it fun for him, but it improves his coordination and gets my table cleaner than it was before. I think that's a great combination!

For my 3-year-old some of the practical life skills are things we were working on anyway- dressing himself, working on buttons and zippers, and other kinds of personal care, so that part of seems to have fallen in place naturally for us. Some things, like pouring his own milk or water, had me a little nervous, but he does very well, and I can see the pride he has in being able to do it on his own. I was especially nervous about allowing a glass pitcher for him, but he treats it very carefully; I think if it was plastic he would not pour as accurately as he would treat the entire process a little more carelessly.

 

Montessori almost fills a need within myself in these areas, and that is admittedly part of the appeal. It has helped me to understand my older son a little better since he is so very ordered and structured in his personality. I'm understanding the whys behind his decisions in every day life now that I'm looking at it all from a more structured place. For my younger son, the "choices within limits" structure has been a good thing so far as well. He will learn to sit through an entire work  when he is able, but still to choose what interests him most.

I can't wait to see where Montessori takes us.

Inspiration

I'm working on some new work for the boys this week so I thought I'd share some of the inspiration I have for activities for Big Kid: 

 

Crystal posted about her day-of-the-week boxes at the end of this post. What an excellent suggestion for preschool quiet times!

 

I've been reading the coin activity posts over at Moveable Alphabet with interest. Big Kid is interested in money but not neccessarily math, so I'm thinking about extending the work he's done with money to include some of the suggestions listed here. Anything to get him started thinking about numbers!

 

I'm using this example of Valentine's Day Tic-Tac-Toe to make a more generic Tic-Tac-Toe board for Big Kid. Small bean bags are in the works, and we're off to the store for posterboard later this morning.

 

I'm also planning to teach Big Kid how to play the card game War. We're going to start with 2-5, then add cards as he gets to know the game better. We'll throw a couple of decks together to have a decent amount of cards, and see how it goes.

 

For Little Bit, I'm putting together a basket for tearing paper, a tub for washing dishes, and some new color matching materials. I also asked Superman to think about the possibility of making a low balance beam to walk on, but we have to consider storage for it first. I'm thinking it can hide out in the laundry room.