Happy New Year!!!

Well, almost! It has been a terribly long time since my last entry - it's been a tad busy! What have we been doing since August.....hmmmm.....

We have had two Science Crates which were fun - one more for this year in the next few months. We've finished Mixed Preschool Gymnastics with some homeschooling friends which was also super fun. Rowan continues in Beavers and Music (piano). He had his first solo concert - was so fabulous. He played "Hot Cross Buns", complete with gentle-manly bows before and after. We were part of the taping of the Buck Shot show in November which will have aired three times on television by the end of the year. We saw a play at Storybook Theatre - "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". I'm sure there have been loads more but those are the highlights on my mind for now!

In the New Year we will try gymnastics again and participate a bit more in the Calgary Home Schoolers Association at the Jewish Centre. And we've turned one of the bedrooms in our house into an art studio so there should be lots of creating this year! Both Rowan and Poppy will also take a formal swimming class - we'll see how that goes. Here are a few shots from our adventures this Fall!

Baby Proof

When Rowan was a wee one he wouldn't leave my side. He wouldn't even go in another room in the house if I wasn't there. He would explore the house but wouldn't put things in his mouth and I didn't really worry much about him doing anything dangerous or having an accident since he was just not that kind of kid. Poppy..well...she's got an adventurous spirit. We still have the electrical outlets covered since that was the one thing Rowan did like to play with, but otherwise we haven't done any other 'baby-proofing' of the house. Some days we continually climbed up and down stairs with her because she loved the stairs. But usually after going up one or two we'd bring her back down and get her attention near us again. We've had a few things end up in the toilet and we've recently decided to keep the garbage can in the pantry because we've lost a few things in there...but that makes it easy when we go out since we put the garbage away for the dog anyway. But I'm in a bit of a dilemma because I love the idea of letting my kids explore their surroundings on their own terms. Yes, it makes for a HUGE mess ALL day long many days. And I have to be proactive and put the cleaners up out of reach and any other real dangers out of the way. But (see picture) I really think that kids learn when they have the freedom to do so - when their environment is safe enough but not sterile. Because toys are fine, but they do get boring. But a cupboard full of dish cloths, tea towels, table cloths, and place mats, now that's HOURS of entertainment! The dish of keys by the door - also far more interesting than other small symbols that adults think small children should be interested in. And they are real life materials. A basket of plastic food is.....a basket of plastic food. Who says that's what interests children? An adult who probably didn't want the kids emptying out the fridge and putting things back in repeatedly! Not saying that's wrong or bad - I do have days where I wonder if I should simplify my life and put a few cupboard locks up. But I can't go there yet. I don't really complain about being tired, but I do acknowledge that these choices I make for my kids do make more work for us as parents (and I am pretty darn tired!). And it's also partly how I think kids learn self-preservation. We sleep on mattresses on the floor so our small children can crawl up and down the bed easily. Rowan fell out of the bed twice and Poppy once. They learned the parameters of the bed by falling off and now even in their sleep they know where the edge is. Poppy can go up and down the stairs on her own at 14 months because she's had so much practice. We do have a dog who doesn't know that she can easily knock the baby down the stairs by accident so we can't let Poppy have free access unsupervised to the stairs. But for the most part our house is as much of a free learning environment as we can make it!

(These pictures are the kitchen floor after Poppy was in the tea towel cupboard and one after she found a bib she needed to wear and some rubber boots in the front closet!)

Kids Will Homeschool Themselves

Seriously. If I wasn't totally sure of this before, I am given more and more reason to be sure of it all the time. I had to go upstairs to put Poppy down for a nap - I told Rowan to be quiet downstairs and I would be back in a few minutes. As I was laying with Poppy I could hear some rustling around, doors opening, a little clanging here and there. About ten minutes passed and when I came downstairs, he was making his own papier-mache mixture. See picture. He had a huge bag of flour on the table, a measuring cup with water (he got water from the sink by standing on a kitchen chair), big metal bowl, and wooden spoon. "Can you just get me a bit more water please?" he said as he continued to stir his goop at the table. I had given him a brief verbal rundown of how we were going to make a papier-mache dragon whenever I got around to it but he got all the supplies and started to do it all on his own. Pretty cool. Now once the mixture was done he would not put his hands in it so I was able to be his Adult Assistant and did the messy work. Just going with those moments is what makes homeschooling (unschooling) so much fun in our house.

Parade and Calgary Stampede - First Visit of 2010

Yes, we rounded everyone up except for poor Rand, who had to work, for the Annual Stampede Parade. Rowan's 5th parade and Poppy's 2nd. They have been every year since they were born - I have been to almost every one except for two of them that I recall - not sure how old I was when I started going but I was young enough to remember Dad barking, "If you're going to the parade then you'll dress western!" at 5:30 am or some crazy time of day. And so the tradition continues! So my kids aren't usually up before 8 am but I coaxed them both out of bed by 7:30 and we dressed as western as we could (or rather, I made the kids dress western - I wouldn't be caught dead in a western shirt and hat - I can't pull it off!). Mom stayed the night before and came as well. As is tradition, we parked in Inglewood and walked through the Fort Calgary field where we could see everyone getting ready for the parade. Poppy was not as excited about all the action as Rowan had been near her age - she was more interested in the people. We found a great spot on 7th avenue right near our neighbours and in the shade - thank God as it ended up being around 30 degrees by the time we left. The parade itself is always fun but the people watching has always been one of my favorite parts, just like Poppy. I find it so cool how small children choose people to be friendly toward. This couple sat near us for a few moments and Poppy kept walking up to them, looking them right in the eye, and 'talking' to them. They were clearly a homeless couple with dark tanned skin, a cart or bag of cans and bottles, having a smoke on the curb and Ya-hooing at the parade participants. And I assume they were just generally nice folks because Poppy's intuition hasn't been tainted by anyone else's judgement of who is nice and who is not - she just knows. Another fellow came and sat near us who looked just like my brother, Jeff, when he is dressed for work. Again Poppy thought he was pretty cool as she kept wandering down and chatting with him.



Rowan took more pictures than I have space allowed for on this blog - I think he snapped more than all the tourists together! By the time we left he was hot and tired.

We decided at the last minute to go to the Stampede on Saturday since it was cool. However we did run into some rain and had to hide out in the Big Four for a while. We attempted to see the Super Dogs but you need tickets now so that was out. Rand and Rowan went on lots of rides together and Poppy and I rode the carousel about 6 times. Poppy and I also went through the barns (Rand has really bad allergies to horses) where she squeaked at the horses, sheep, donkeys, and a few cows. Rowan won a stuffed dog which he has named Baby Rowan.

Both kids fell asleep on the way To the Stampede (it was a big day) - here is a shot of Rowan with $20 tightly held in his hand before we even got there! That kid likes money! We'll probably head back down to see more of the Stampede this week - Ya-hoo!

A Day at the Farm!

I have a friend who lives on a farm that her great-grandfather homesteaded on in the early 1900's and has been in her family ever since. She kindly invited us along with several other friends to spend the day and celebrate Summer Solstice! It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in Alberta. The kids had a ball. We drank local beer and ate mostly local food, visited and played for a few hours in the country. It was just lovely! They have two mules, several chickens, a gorgeous garden, and a gorgeous view.



Poppy squeaked at the mules - she was quite taken with them. She also squeaked at the chickens - I think it's her way of trying to communicate with non-humans. Rand took a pic of her and I surrounded by the orange and yellow poppies that happened to match the hand-me-down dress she wore to celebrate solstice! She wasn't into posing though. Rowan learned how to peel apart dandelion stems and was quite proud of himself. Our friend's mom made us some dandelion fritters as we were on our way out and they were DELICIOUS! Thanks for the fun, Lindsie and Denis! It was a lovely way to spend the day!

Happy Canada Day!

Canada Day started out rather quiet in our house...Poppy hollered at Rowan until he gave up his step chair so she could get up there and do workbooks with him. It's never too early to start - and she's a homeschooler too so why not?

When we finally got organized to leave the house we popped over to Fort Calgary for the Canada Day festivities! Poppy fell in love with several goats, a couple of pigs, and some bunnies. She made a loud squeak at each of them and was prepared to hold her ground if any other larger kids tried to step in between her and the animals! Rowan went down the blow up slide by himself a few times - a first for him!

Later on we went to celebrate a friend's little boy who turned 2 on Canada Day! Yay! A very full day for us! (Sorry for the mixed up content and photos - still learning!)

Super Important Business of Today

Rowan and Poppy had Super Important Business to take care of today. There were playgrounds to be played at, Prairie Dogs to be watched, rocks to be tasted, empty creek beds to be wandered through, rocks to be balanced on, dandelions to be picked and gathered up, and more playgrounds to be played at. Although we did get a few things ticked off the adult agenda, it was a mostly child-paced day. And lovely. This video of Poppy is, in the words of Great Grandma June Todd, "priceless!"

Weekend Fun

Rand found Rowan's Etch-a-Sketch thingie on the floor after Poppy had been chewing on the pen for a while and found this - so sweet. I Heart U Daddy - (heart melting).

And here's a video of Poppy walking - very short but cute.



And if anyone wonders why my house looks so messy when it's a weekend and we've both been home, here's a poem to help you understand our parenting philosphy found on another blog:

My dishes went unwashed today,
I didn’t make the bed,
I took his hand and followed
Where his eager footsteps led.
Oh yes, we went adventuring,
My little son and I,
Exploring all the great outdoors
Beneath the summer sky.
We waded in a crystal stream,
We wandered through a wood.
My kitchen wasn’t swept today,
But life was sweet and good.
We found a cool sun-dappled glade
And now my small son knows
How Mother Bunny hides her nest
Where fern and larkspur grow.
We watched a robin feed her young,
We climbed a sunlit hill,
Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky;
We plucked a daffodil.
That my house was neglected,
That I didn’t sweep the stair,
In twenty years no one on earth
Will know or even care.
But that I’ve helped a little boy
To noble manhood grow,
In twenty years the whole wide world
May look and see and know.
-Anonymous



Happy Weekend!!

Poopy Pee Pee Fart in a Diaper.

I can't find my cord for the camera to put up some great video of Poppy walking across the living room (hollering at me for some reason or other) so I will attempt to write about the deep conversations in our house of late.

Ahhhh....Four. Four year old boy. I just didn't know it was possible to talk about pee poo farts and diapers in so many ways....I wish I had written down some of the eloquent conversations being had in our house and van these days. This one was great:

I was laying with Rowan in bed while he was trying to fall asleep. We had some philosophical conversation earlier in the day about feelings - can't recall exactly what but he asked why you can't see love - but if you could what exactly would love look like, etc. Part of this was due (I think) to Poppy's greatest trick of sitting in her seat at dinner, tilting her head back slightly, closing her eyes, holding her arms waaayyy out and sounding like she is sucking air in her lungs at a high pitched sound - hard to describe but I will import video soon. I think I should make a video of it for people who are feeling down because you cannot be anything BUT happy when you watch her do this. I think when she does that she is sucking up all the love she has to shoot out in to the universe to share with everyone. I am guessing that's where this conversation started. But oh, not how it ended.

So back to trying to sleep. Rowan is chatting away about this and that and I remembered the earlier what would love look like conversation. I asked, "If love was a colour, what colour do you think it would be?" I think he answered 'red' - his favorite colour. Thinking I am such a great parent, because look, my 4 yr old and I can have these totally deep phisosophical conversations man, I decide to go further. Then I asked, "If love had a flavour, what would it taste like?". And he said "Hmmm....cookies. Mom? If love was poo, what would it smell like?" INSANE giggles (from both of us). Laughter, crazy can't stop laughing giggles. THen, "If poo was on your diaper what would it smell like? If you farted in a diaper and peed on your head what colour would it be?" And on for about ten minutes. I laugh along because shit, this IS funny stuff. God I wish people would just lighten up and have a good pee poo fart diaper laugh once in a while. But, ok, ten minutes has passed. Let's go to sleep already. Rowan is giggling constantly. Like he is totally killing himself with his own jokes. "Ok. That's good. Time to go to sleep, Rowan." "Mom. I JUST can't STOP! Like, I have all these words in my head about pee and poo, you know? I can't sleep, Mom." Three minutes later he was out. I can only guess what the little cherub was dreaming about.

Yesterday, we're listening to a great song by Elizabeth Mitchell, and then she starts singing Jingle Bells. Do you know the other lyrics that are not as widely known? Rowan so kindly taught them to me. Here you go - they may just take around our house:

Poopy Pants
Poopy Pants
Poopy poopy pants
Poopy pee pee pee pee pee poo poo pee pee pee pee poo
OH!
Poopy pants
poopy pants

You get the picture.

I'm sorry to say this will not be the last blog about pee poo fart in a diaper because these are very important subjects around here and there is much more laughter to be had!

Science for Dummy Mommies #1

I did not like science at all when I was younger. I should say I did not like science CLASS. The way things were formalized in school was not appealing to me at all. I preferred the arts where things were flowing and creative. So I have been following a friend's blog and checking out great library books on science experiments for kids because Rowan totally digs science - formal process or not.

So here is the first in this series of Science for Dummy Mommies. And yes, we've done the volcano with the vinegar and baking soda explosions (and lots of other containers with vinegar and baking soda explosions) but I didn't have a camera at that time so I guess I didn't even qualify for the Dummy Mommy category then!



This experiment was on emulsification. We took a bowl of water and put some cooking oil into it. We wrote down our observations (because that's what Sid the Science Kid does, and I'm pretty sure I remember something about observations in science class) - I should say Rowan drew a picture of his observations. Then we added a few drops of dish soap and watched the oil quickly move out to the side of the bowl. Or as Rowan described, "the oil bubbles in the middle broke". So again he wrote down his observations. This time he was intent on spelling the observations accurately so he did. See pics. Then some chitter chatter about how and why the liquids separated, what would happen next, etc. etc. What I love about this whole process was Rowan was totally into it - like this was magic or something - and then it turned into printing and some sort of art project that he came up with. So it didn't start out as his idea but he was so into it and it turned into a bunch of other activities. Dummy Mommy. Hm!

Sunday at the Symphony!

We had a "Downtown Day" last weekend because we had tickets to the last performance of the season with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra's series of Sundays and the Symphony for Kids. The show was Roald Dahl's version of Little Red Riding Hood where Little Red ends up taking care of the wolf on her own without the need for rescue by anyone else! Although still a little morbid in the typical style of old-time fairy tales (she marched around in her wolf-skin coat), changing the message of girls needing to be rescued to girls can figure it out on their own is a step in a better direction, in my opinion!

We had some fun downtown first before the show along with my 5 yr old niece, Kennedy, who preferred to ride the C-Train up and down as the highlight of the day! We also took Kennedy and Rowan to see one of my favorite downtown statues of the Famous Five http://www.heroines.ca/celebrate/statuepersons1.html - the women who were part of the Suffrage Movement and who helped women obtain the right to vote.

Here's a shot of us with Nellie McClung and Irene Parlby.

Once at the symphony the kids took part in the musical petting zoo where they held and played a violin! We ended with lunch on the patio and a trip to the park - a lovely way to spend a Spring day!

Packer Driver

Today we went to visit my brother, Jeff, at his job site. Jeff is a grader operator but operates a lot of the other machinery at times as well. He says it's like playing in a giant sand box like he did when he was a kid only larger scale! He took Rowan for a drive in a packer because his grader was being used. Rowan had to wear a safety vest which he got to take home. He was so excited - here is a little video from his adventure!



When we got home Rowan had to make several calls to tell people about driving a packer (he really did get to steer - Jeff just worked all the controls). He had that trying hard not to smile but I'm so excited I could die! kind of look on his face - it was awesome! Thanks, Uncle Jeff!

Boys and Girls

Ok...it's been months since I posted...I'll work on it!

Yesterday I hosted a Mother's Day lunch with a few of my friends and their children. When your child goes to preschool a lot of times they host a Mother's Day tea, so I thought as a homeschooler I would start a tradition. Anyway, I invited a few Moms who I love to be around and whose kids we love to play with. I also didn't want a huge amount of work for myself so it wasn't as big as it would have been if I'd invited ALL the women I love to hang out with, but it was just a lovely day of eating, visiting, and playing.

As for the title of this post....here's a bit of what evolved with the kiddies. My son's best, best, best friends E and I were there - both girls - the two friends he has adored above all since ever. And two of his good buds were there as well - who he has a ball playing with and who are very not girls. I have watched my son change over this past year from a super sensitive (sometimes ultra!) guy who cries and becomes upset a lot to being able to actually wrestle with other boys and laugh! I want to make sure I am not giving him the message "You should change to be this way or that way" because he is who he is and I want him to know I love him and accept him as he is. If he has a struggle or challenge I want to be there to help him with it but not necessarily fix it. The older he gets the more I want to take a step back and let him try and figure it out until he realizes he needs me, or I realize he doesn't have the tools or life experience to figure it out. So yesterday he was among his two favorite girl friends and his two favorite boy friends. A few times they were all tearing around being children - giggling, hollering, whispering, negotiating. At times the girls left the pack because of the yelling and chasing - could have been interpreted as the boys being insensitive and mean-spirited. Could have been interpreted as the girls tattle tailing. And each of us Moms would have given a different explanation based on how well we know each of the kids and how well we know our own. As time went on one of the boys began blocking kids from going into the basement, taking toys everyone wanted to play with, etc. If you watch him close enough, you see it is his way of drawing everyone back into connection with him as he was feeling left out by my son who he wants to claim as his best friend. He needed a little help (very little, in fact) to go in a different direction. The girls needed a little help, very little again, in understanding that some kids (in this case boys) are loud and wild and crazy.

In this day I think it is harder than every to be a parent - the gray just gets grayer. We have so many books, coaches, experts on this and that to tell us how to raise our kids. Right now I am reading Reclaiming Childhood by William Crain and Sharing Nature with Children by Joseph Cornell. I am looking to find ways of allowing my child to be who he is - a boy, sensitive, curious, insistent, persistent, and always, always in search of keeping his connection to others (right now that's me and his dad) even though it isn't always obvious that is what he is doing.

Day One.

Oh. My. God. I'm a blogger. Check off another box on my 'Never Say Never' list!

So, why am I now a blogger? Because some of the things we do as a homeschooling family are so fun and so neat that I want to keep a record of them. And one day I will need to when we are registered with a board so I decided to get a little practice. And because, you know, I need something else to do with my time!! Ha ha ha....not. I have learned so much from other people's super cool blogs that I thought I would give it a go. So, here we go.