**Well, Sasha just celebrated the first day of Advent by pooping on the Wandering Jew. (My brother's mother-in-law told me the name of this plant. She is one of those people who Knows Things. Anyway, I supposed that there might be a slightly more PC name. There are several: Purple Heart, Purple Queen, and Tradescantia pallida. Its pretty little purple flowers are, according to Wiki, sterile, which I don't entirely understand, but it makes me a little melancholy for the Purple Queen. I should also note that every morning I follow Sasha outside to watch her do her business so that I can have a visual on her piles, because they are impossible to spot otherwise. And then small children step in them. Which makes me think many bad words in my head. Incidentally, our Wandering Jew is completely ignored, unless you count the fact that it is covered with fresh-smelling dryer lint on a daily basis because it grows under the vent. In spite of the neglect, it has thrived. In fact, it seems to be even more abundant than before the drought began. Interesting.)
**The end of the Old Testament. The wait. (Using the Jesus Storybook Bible for Advent.)
**Helena is weeping, as far as I can decipher, because her play-doh is now in two pieces and she would like it to be just one. "How can I help you?" I ask, as calmly as I can muster. (She is going through some Moody Blues lately. She wept when her piece of pumpkin pie broke apart last night. She wept at the zoo on Wednesday when I wouldn't give her an almond. Then she wept when she had a mouthful of chewed up almond that she didn't want to swallow. Then she screamed when I suggested maybe she spit it out into a wipe. I remembered this week that when Harper was Helena's age, Hudson was a newly walking 14 month old, AND I had just discovered I was pregnant with Helena. I can't remember that phase at ALL. Birth order makes for vastly different parenting and perspective.)
**I bought a pair of Dearfoam slippers at Costco this weekend. Which, I'm fairly certain, signals the Beginning of the End.
**Helena is wailing, "I want to have a big big SMACK."(or a big big sNack.)
**There should be a patch for television withdrawal.(we got some free movies on cable and the husband recorded "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and decided to watch it with the big kids since they have been reading it. They loved it, but it seems to have triggered an obsession for more, more, more. We have several friends who've done away with t.v. entirely with their kids, and I really think that's the way to go.)
As for the rest of our week, it has been pretty busy. We went to the Natural Science Museum with the Whiles on Tuesday. The butterflies were more plentiful than I think I've ever seen them. Harper's favorite is the Blue "Mortho." Helena got really excited at the roach habitat, which disgusted me greatly. On Wednesday we went to the zoo with the Swanks. The siamangs were very noisy. Harper took this picture of a mandrill:
The Swank kids recited a poem titled "The Vulture" while we stood next to an actual vulture, which was adorable. (The recitation, NOT the vulture.It's disturbing.) Then yesterday, Bayou Bend had another home school day, so we went to go see the Ima Hogg manse in all its Christmas glory (I feel like there's a joke about pearls and swine in there somewhere, but I shall refrain.) There was a 45 minute lecture on the history of Christmas that was basically one of the sweet, elderly docents chatting quietly about how she liked making Christmas decorations from the different eras in history that are represented by the antiques in the house. You can imagine that the children found this to be riveting. Then we made some crafts (the highlight of this was the moment when a gust of wind blew our pieces of 3-D construction paper Christmas trees off the table at the very instant Helena decided to hurl a handful of gravel at the table of crafting children. Terrific parenting moment, all around), played in the gardens, and toured the house. Helena liked this little statue. She realized that she could "push her" and not get scolded. So, she did. Repeatedly.:
She was pleased to realize that statues do not push back or tattle. She did give the statue a nice hug when all the aggression had subsided. Note to self: remember to tell her that not all statues are for pushing before our next trip to the Museum of Fine Arts.
That's about it. We went to Hobby Lobby for some crafting supplies today. (il-advised) The sweet elderly man behind us in line complimented the kids and also schooled me in the Ancient Art of Pyrography. It seemed a rather risky hobby for someone dependent on oxygen. He said, at one point, "This line is INTERMINABLE," which endeared him to me even more.
Also, the kids were laughing uproariously while repeating, "ULRICH ZWINGLI AND THE ANABAPTISTS!" in silly voices just now during lunch. That, and the fact that Hudson has lately been saying "FUIT!" when he is confounded, are two of the reasons I like our memory work so much.
Whew. That is plenty.
5 comments:
Have you been studying "ULRICH ZWINGLI AND THE ANABAPTISTS"? Seems like quite a mouthful - not to mention, heavy topic - for a six-, four-, and two-year-old to be discussing over lunch. ;-)
As you might know, we're part of the no-TV bunch (for which I'm VERY grateful). However, we do let the boys watch movies on an old player, and they know the "more, more, more" chorus, too. The general policy is one movie per day. Some days they don't watch any, and on very rare occasions, they get to watch more than one. But as grateful as I am for the peace and quiet that comes while they're watching a movie, I feel like their general behavior goes downhill immediately afterwards. Ugh.
I have to admit that I'm a tiny bit jealous of all your zoo and museum trips. There are definite disadvantages to living out in the country like I do!
The first few years of Classical Conversations is pretty much straight memory work. If the kids ask for more information, I can look on the back of our Veritas timeline cards and read the blurb. They have only asked a few times (about which I am grateful--do I really want to explain The Black Death to a 4 year old??? I do NOT.)
I still can't decide if it is the content of the movie, or the sitting comatose for an hour and a half that results in the negative behavior. Both perhaps? I feel better that your boys react in a similar way.
I do love our easy access to museums and the zoo. I also long for some of the many advantages you have "out in the country" :)
We have our movie day once a week. Sundays we play a Jesus movie pre-church ("Gospel of John", the "Jesus" Film, or "Gospel of Matthew"). These are all films that are taken directly from 3 of the gospels. They don't watch the entire thing, but it is our pattern and they definitely have a thorough understanding of his life on earth. You'll laugh, Patti, b/c Abby always likes to fast forward the trial and crucifixion parts. No "bad" stuff. Later that day they watch a movie that we take turns choosing (I like having a turn b/c it means I can introduce new ones). Since it usually just happens on Sunday, there's little begging during the week. But with the movie, it's a bit more like a Sabbath for me b/c Gregg's with the kids and I'm freer than usual. Sometimes I watch, other times I do my own thing. But it's a nice break for me, I confess.
Oooh, I have been at hobby lobby every day for the past 3. Clearly they make all their $ in December. I actually just purchased a "versa-tool" for pyrography. Santa is making Adelaide a fairy house for Xmas and I saw one that had all these lovely wood burned designs in the supports. This will be my first attempt, so if you gained any insight please share!!
For TV, we have none during the week, a cartoon or NOVA on the weekend if we're at the beach, and lots of football on the weekend. But today A was terribly sick so we had several cartoons and at the end of each one was the terrible clamor for more and more. I do also find that there is a proportional relationship between the amount of tv watched and their behavior. It gets worse as the day wears on, morning tv seems to have less adverse consequences than afternoon. Don't have an answer for that!
I read this post along with Reagan and we both laughed out loud. The docent. The rock throwing. Too funny!
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