Thanksgiving was fun, but I think today was better. DH had the day off work, and we decided to spend it together as a family going out and doing things the kids would like. We had lunch together at a 50’s theme, but local and independent, diner, eating greasy burgers to the sounds of Elvis and Johnny Cash.
Then we visited a “Christmas Tree Forest”:
And then we all went to our local Children’s Museum and played for a couple hours:
And then we came home and watched Wall E, made a simple dinner out of leftovers, and enjoyed an evening of legos and working on some craft projects I need to get done before Christmas. Since we don’t see much of DH now that he has his new work schedule, this was a very special day to get this much of his time.
Original post by learningumbrella
I am so guilty of this! I mean, I make them go to bed at a certain time and keep a routine, and I limit their “screen time”, and I make them finish a reasonable amount of dinner before they have dessert, etc.
But I love to make and get them stuff. When we go into a store, I love the toys as much as they do. So tonight we were killing a little time while our carry-out order was prepared in a downtown restaurant, andwe saw a window display with all these adorable gnome and forest fairy toys. And we went inside the store. Cute, cute, cute!
But … I told the kids they couldn’t have any new toys until either Christmas or the third day in a row they had kept their room clean by themselves, whichever happens first.
So, they couldn’t have any new toys.
But … oh, look here! Such […]
Original post by learningumbrella
Carbon says: “do you wanna see a family portrait I made?”
Yeah! - but why do we all have those teeth? Carbon says “oh, we’re all vampires”. And then, he points out the eyes on the smallest faces - “Hypatia and I are also cyclops”.
And that is our family portrait. We are a happy vampire, cyclops family.
Original post by learningumbrella
Carbon had a cavity filled today. We were kind of dreading it - this is his first cavity visit. I hate the dentist, and I’m afraid my dentist-phobia doesn’t make the kids want to do it either. But the dentist prescribed a sedative medication that I gave Carbon this morning, so I was taking a pretty lethargic little boy into the office. DH is in town right now, so he was able to leave work and come to the office to watch Hypatia in the waiting room while I sat with Carbon and held his hand.
The poor little guy was really brave and good, but he found the water in his mouth ticklish and the drilling hurt him some. But he was good and brave, none the less. We let him choose a place for lunch afterward, and he picked a teriyaki restaurant. Miso soup and soft sushi rolls were […]
Original post by learningumbrella
Saturday I took the kids to a local “Family Farm” for their pumpkin patch madness. We were meeting up with folks from church (an open invitation for a Meet-Up to anyone interested), and some of our friends came. The weather was perfect and warm, we saw the geese go by overhead, we munched on crisp sweet apples, the kids snacked on corn throughout the corn maze, and we picked pumpkins for carving. It was so beautiful. I love Fall.
And Hypatia and her little friend were sure they could move the wheelbarrow if they just tried hard enough!
Original post by learningumbrella
NPR has an article up about child’s play that is worth the read.
Hat tip to my friend “Masasa”
Original post by learningumbrella
Today I had my preschool kids being the Greeters for the church service, and it made me think about the importance of being greeted, and how a “good morning” really matters to people. These kids were so excited to be doing this job, to be handing out programs and smiling at folks as they walked through our door. They were so excited they tried to give programs to people who already had them, or run up to the door to be the first to give a program to a newcomer as they walked in. What they lacked in coordination, as they frequently dropped the program or couldn’t separate a single program from their stack, they made up for in the joy they brought to the task.
How much skill does it take to make someone welcome? Isn’t it more in the attitude you bring to the task?
Original post by learningumbrella
Yesterday was just too much PE. I took our new bike and trailer out as our transportation for the day.
We had Music and Movement class in the morning. Both kids are signed up for the class, but Carbon isn’t super into it. All the other kids in the class are around Hypatia’s age, and the class consists of singing songs like “Wheels on the Bus” and “The Bunny Hop”. Hypatia loves it. Carbon sat on the side and did his schoolwork pages during most of the class.
Then we biked over to the YMCA, where the kids played in the playroom while I lifted weights. DH called while we were there, and we biked over to a restaurant to meet him for lunch. That left us with just over an hour until Carbon’s soccer class, which felt like too little time to bike home and back down again. So we went […]
Original post by learningumbrella
I went out for a Mom’s Night Out last night (my first ever - what a great concept!), and left DH with the kids. I usually have time to fix them dinner, but this time I did not, so he would have to feed them himself.
Apparently, both kids told him they were not hungry, so he didn’t cook dinner. Then, right before bedtime, suddenly Carbon is starving. I think this is totally predictable - that’s why I make people eat dinner when I put it on the table whether or not they feel hungry. But DH just said “No” to food and let Carbon cry and have a “fit” and sent him to bed. So this morning the first thing Carbon told me was that “Daddy didn’t feed me at all and I was soooo hungry without you Mommy!”
But then he still hasn’t eaten all of his oatmeal I made […]
Original post by learningumbrella
Last evening DH and Hypatia were hanging out in the front yard, and she was trying to ID all of his native plants out there. She calls Kinnikinnick “nicky nick”, but she can point it out. He asked her where the lupine were, and she went and pointed to one. He pointed out the deer fern, and then she went and examined a sword fern. She wasn’t sure, so she asked him: “ear earn?”, so then he explained it was a fern, but a different kind, a sword fern. She seemed really excited about that, and jumped back and forth between them chanting “ear earn” and “ord earn”.
I watched this unfold from the porch, and it was an awfully cute moment between them.
Original post by learningumbrella
It’s funny, but several people have expressed concern that my kids won’t “get any socialization” since I shut down my home daycare. As if seeing the same 4 kids every day in our house was any different from just having lots of siblings!
So, let’s see here. What have we done since we stopped daycare? Last week Carbon was camping for the whole week with his dad and grandfather, and I hear reports that he built a fort on the beach with other children he encountered there. But yes, for most of that week he was deprived, as he fished and camped and had time with his dad and Poppy, but no planned playtime with same-age peers. Just nature and adventure and family - poor boy. Hypatia had a playgroup last week, and I took her to the playground twice where she played with other kids. She also had her nanny […]
Original post by learningumbrella
He looks older this way. My baby boy is becoming a - well - just Boy. He is asking for stronger hair gel, to make his spikes even spikier. And he chose to dress himself in a T shirt of a flaming soccer ball, because that “went with his hair”.
Original post by learningumbrella
He’s so happy to have his own fishing pole!
Original post by learningumbrella
As Free Range Kids recently posted, skateboarding can seem way too dangerous to us adults. Even when we want to give our kids a free and adventerous childhood, I think it’s easier to picture “old-fashioned” adventures. Much easier to accept building a raft and floating it out on the pond, climbing trees, or even racing homemade go-carts. But are those things any safer or better than skateboarding? Does skateboarding just have a bad image because we automatically picture delinquents and graffitti going with it?
Well, while I was in the hospital, DH purchased a skateboard for Carbon’s birthday. We had discussed this idea, and decided to wait a year and give him a fishing pole this year instead. The plan changed when he went shopping by himself. It’s OK, though, because he also got all the safety gear and a fishing pole also! (I am not the only one who can […]
Original post by learningumbrella
There hasn’t been any homework done around here while I’ve been sick and recovering. But there really is learning in everything, so here’s a sample of what has filled our time:
1. Too much TV. Probably not educational in the least, but we have caught a bit of interesting news coverage and some good stuff on PBS and Discovery. I’ve reached my quota of old episodes of CSI and Law & Order.
2. Movies: The Last Mimzy, Becoming Jane, The Bee Movie, and Juno.
3. Cooking with other people. Carbon’s new ambition is to be a chef when he grows up (inspired by watching Top Chef with me). He’s been practicing with his aunts and his dad - although they aren’t as sanguine as Mom and won’t let him use the sharp knives. But he’s had fun seeing how other people do things in the kitchen.
4. Reading: The River of Green Knowe and […]
Original post by learningumbrella
Yesterday Carbon and I walked for an event called Crop Walk, which raises money for world hunger causes. It is a 6 mile walk, along a really lovely route, with lots of good people and a real community spirit. And we raised money from our family and friends (Thanks everyone!). But I had some real doubts about our ability to finish the walk. I have been having so much trouble with my hernia lately that I’ve hardly been exercising at all. And Carbon is a little guy who doesn’t walk all the time. He’s always been more comfortable riding or being carried than walking for long distances, and it wasn’t until he was waaaayyyy too heavy for the stroller that he was evicted finally.
He did great! He didn’t make the entire walk, and we were the very last people to finish, but he walked about 4 1/2 - 5 miles […]
Original post by learningumbrella
I’ve been surprised at how well it has gone this week to just say No to TV. DH and I haven’t stuck to the rules at night after the kids have gone to bed, but the kids have not watched anything but two videos this week (the movie that came in on Monday, and a documentary that went with our study of South America).
It was especially surprising to discover that when they started to get fussy, they would calm down in a few minutes without TV to distract them. Sometimes it required that I pause what I was doing and read someone a book, and sometimes it just required that I withdraw and let them sort their mood out for themselves. But we haven’t had any huge melt-downs at all.
I also realized that Hypatia just wasn’t getting enough sleep. She stopped taking naps, even though she really still needs them. […]
Original post by learningumbrella
If you have little ones using sippy cups, you have to think about what is in the plastic of those cups. I hadn’t thought about until I ran across a post today, but luckily a little research shows that the brand I’m using is “OK”. I still may look for a greener option for Hypatia, but for now we’re “OK”.
If you want to learn more about BPA-free sippy cups, see Live Green or Die
If you want to enter a give-away and maybe win a BPA-free sippy cup, go to Green and Clean Mom
Original post by learningumbrella
Original post by learningumbrella
There may be other ways to spoil your children besides buying them anything they want. You could also try to sew them anything they want! Carbon just started asking for a panda stuffie out-of-the-blue one day, and he didn’t forget after several weeks had gone by. I’ve been sewing and crafting a lot more, and with each project I worked on he’d ask if that was his panda, and when I said “no” he’d ask if I’d forgotten his panda.
So two weekends ago I sat down with him and sketched out what he wanted (or I thought we were in agreement, but more about that in a minute).
After we had the sketch, I cut it out of felt and hand-sewed a little feltie for him.
He seemed excited, at first, and he took it to church the next morning and showed it to everyone. But then he started to note the […]
Original post by learningumbrella
Just when you get a really good set up put together, and Mom goes to take a picture of it:
See the look on her face?
Original post by learningumbrella
My son is going through a phase. He’s a bit jealous of all the “oh, isn’t she cute!” comments his sister gets, and he’s actively trying to be cute himself. With his trademark logic, he seems to have boiled down the recipe for “cuteness” to jewelry and hair accessories.
My husband and I really don’t like gender boxes, so when he asks me to do his hair I just go ahead and do it. His hair is just the right length to wear it in a little top knot like a samurai, and he likes the feel of it waving around on top of his head. If he wants to wear it like that out of the house, I’m not going to tell him he can’t. So far, the hair has only led to some older women thinking he was a girl, and we’ve just let it go and not corrected […]
Original post by learningumbrella
I’ve known that plastic toys had problems for a long time. Even before this recent batch of recalls and toxic toy panic, there have been warnings about plastics contributing to altered hormones in kids. I’ve heard that they can effect brain development, contribute to the lowering age for the onset of puberty, and depress children’s immune systems.
But, it seems so difficult and expensive to avoid them. And I just haven’t felt like it was that important. So I end up with a house full of plastic toys and all sorts of weird junk. The only rule I’ve actually stuck to is the “no violent” toy rule.
Yesterday at church a couple approached me about the idea of taking all the plastic toys out of our nursery and replacing them with fair trade, environmentally friendly toys. Of course we should do that - it’s living our values in every sense of the […]
Original post by learningumbrella
The workshop that I went to last weekend was simply Fabulous! I wasn’t thrilled to “have” to go, but it turned out to be run by a wonderful woman who was one of the original creators of the curriculum (SpiritPlay), and filled with wonderful folks (1 token male participant) who spend their time and energy dedicated to children. There’s something about having a chance to talk to other educators or care providers that recharges my batteries.
I left with a page of ideas I wrote down during the workshop, and I’m going to try and implement them at home and at church.
One of the things that really struck me is that I’m not giving the proper character to meal times. The scenario as it has been: I start cooking a meal, and I have to turn the TV on so they’ll all let me go do that, then I call them […]
Original post by learningumbrella
I am getting a huge stack of toy catalogs in the mail. It’s that time of year, of course.
As we’ve been doing daycare for a year now, we’ve acquired A LOT of toys, and I’ve also gone through a few times and made drastic reductions. I feel like I’m starting to get a grip on what is worth having and what is not, and we can get rid of the toys that just take up space without really being worth it. Even after we do that, however, we still have A LOT of toys!
Toys we couldn’t live without:
For babies: a few rattles, a “gym” with a variety of hanging items to clip onto plastic chains.
For toddlers: an activity table to stand at, a push car, big “easy grip” balls, big cars to push around, a shape sorter, the chatter box phone, big stacking toys.
For the 2-5 year olds:
Wooden blocks, duplos, […]
Original post by learningumbrella
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