The Wise Man and the Foolish Man

9 February 2012

My kids and I spent the night at my sister's house last night and so there is not a whole lot on the agenda today. My mom had asked to be involved with the homeschooling I am doing as so I asked her if she would mind doing a singing time with the kids.

We decided on the song "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man" from the Children's Songbook of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. My mom prepared a whole lesson around this song that started with the scripture passage the song is about and an explanation and discussion with the kids about what the sand and the rock and the house represents. Then she put a pile of dirt and a rock in her bathtub, each with a plastic cup balanced on top. She turned on "the rain" and we watched the effects of the water on the earth. We sang the song several times and watched some YouTube videos people had made with the song. It was very fun and the kids enjoyed it a lot.

I finally finished The Chosen by Chaim Potok. A very good book with an extremely meaningful ending. The remainder of the day was spent playing with cousins until 6:30pm when we drove home. We read two more chapters in The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and then I settled the kids in bed and soaked in a much deserved hot shower. I am now going to settle down for the night and start reading Laddie: A True Blue Story by Gene Stratton Porter.

The Wild Garden

8 February 2012

Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday! I always (or nearly always) forget to take our garbage dumpster out to the curb on Wednesday! Good thing we have two dumpsters or perhaps that is a bad thing. Maybe if we only had one dumpster remembering to take it to the curb would climb higher on my priority "to remember" list.

We ran a few errands in the morning. I had to take Em in to get some of her immunizations and since we were across the street from the used bookstore I stopped in and bought a few more books.

My sister-in-law's sister asked me if I could give her a ride to a friends house so she could go searching for a car with him. She offered to pay my gas money and so I consented and also decided that since I had been planning on driving that direction tomorrow anyways I called my sister to see if we could just spend the night. I am very accustomed to the hour drive down there, but I will avoid it if I can. She said that would be fine so long as I helped her maintain the younger kids because she had some teenage girls coming over for a cupcake decorating activity. Before going to her house I stopped by the local thrift store to see what books they had and I was able to get a dozen books I have on my list at $0.50 a piece!

When the activity started I herded the kids downstairs (four of mine and three of hers). I knew there wasn't a whole lot for such rambunctious kids to do down there so I came prepared with The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I told them all that they could play and didn't have to listen to the story, but it would be nice if they could keep quiet so those who did want to listen would be able to hear. At the end on the first chapter I had asked everyone to be quieter a few dozen times. By the end of the second chapter I was essentially reading to myself so I stopped reading and just maintained the kids from getting into things they weren't allowed in. Ten minutes after I stopped reading A couple of the kids asked why I stopped. I explained that no one was listening and a few of them defended themselves saying that they had been listening. Perhaps I should have picked up the book again and continued reading at the chance that someone would actually have sat down and enjoyed it, but I felt I had been thoroughly ignored so I didn't.

After the girls left the younger kids were allowed upstairs to decorate the leftover cupcakes with the leftover frosting. We cleaned up and my kids helped my sister's kids with their homework. (I know! I was surprised too!) Usually I worry about my kids being a distraction to their cousins but my sister commented that tonight it was easier to get them to sit down and do their work than it regularly was. After they were caught up with their homework we all sat to read scriptures and have a family prayer.

I read my kids The Secret Garden, from the beginning. When they were all asleep I talked with my brother a bit about homeschooling. He loves to hear about it and wishes his wife would be willing to homeschool but she does not feel adequate to be able to teach them herself. He did buy A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille in e-book format while we were talking. Maybe then my sister-in-law will be a little bit more comfortable with the idea. Maybe not. Who but God knows?

P.S. I didn't have a chance all day to read The Chosen by Chaim Potok. I didn't finish it last night but I only have a few chapters left! Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Religious Devotion

7 February 2012

I started reading The Chosen by Chaim Potok this morning and by the end of the day I was nearly all the way through it. Of course, that meant I didn't do anything else all day.  It was computer day for the kids and they were happy that I didn't restrict the amount of time they were allowed to play. Ah well, I will finish the book tomorrow and get the house fully cleaned then.

Usually my kids go a little wild when I spend the day reading (or listening to an audio book as it has been in the past), but this time they were well behaved. There was not fighting or arguing to speak of and the house was pretty well still intact by the end of the day. My little Em crawled around and played by my side while I read. She had a little bit of a fever and a runny nose; I'm pretty sure she is starting to cut her first teeth. The poor baby.

I am already looking forward to re-reading The Chosen as well and looking up all of the Hebrew and Yiddish words and phrases to find their meanings. The devotion the characters in this book have to their religious studies is astounding and impressive. I am going to try to incorporate at least ten minutes of scripture reading into our hour of reading time before bed. It will be a good thing not only for the kids, but for myself as well.

Happy Housework

6 February 2012

My husband, Chris had a day off work today so we spent it doing errands, much to the dismay of our children. They really don't like being in the car all day long and who can blame them? We managed to keep the house clean and keep up with laundry (While on errands I bought more hangers. I found that when I keep all of the clothes cleaned, I can't use the dirty laundry pile as clothing storage, lol).

I decided I needed to keep my house in order about a week ago. It has always been one of those, "but it always just gets dirty right after I clean it so why bother" things for me. I wouldn't do laundry until someone ran out of socks or underwear or pants. I wouldn't wash dishes until we were out of cups or forks or spoons. I wouldn't make the kids clean their rooms unless someone was coming over to visit and I would never make them make their beds. I used to tell my husband "Why make your bed in the morning? I straighten it out at night right before I climb in, that's when it's important."

For anyone familiar with Dave Ramsey, this idea of perpetual housework to me was like the idea of the perpetual car payment. "You will always have a car payment (housework), that's just the way it is (why worry about doing it)." 

Well, obviously I have been extremely stressed about housework just about every day of my life because of this attitude. When I read Charlotte Mason stress the importance of teaching our kids these good habits, it finally clicked. My poor husband has been patient with me for eight years while he tried to get me to do more housework and not let if pile up till I was so stressed about it I didn't want to do any of it. But the light finally turned on. My kids learn the most from me. If I want them to clean their rooms, I have to clean mine as well. I need to take charge and lead. I need to make sure they do the things that will help them be successful adults with healthy habits. If they grow up to be slobs or brats, it's MY FAULT. I guess that sorta scared me into straightening up.

I have been so much happier since I have been keeping my house clean. I don't do all the work myself, actually the kids do at least as much if not more than I do now. They clean the front room and their bedrooms, they make their beds, put away their laundry (all except what needs to be hung in the closet), put away dishes from the dishwasher, load the dishwasher, bring all the dirty laundry to the laundry room, and watch Em when I need them too. I basically keep my own room cleaned, sweep, mop, vacuum, wash the laundry, fold and hang up clothes and make meals. With the chores not completely on my shoulders anymore we have a lot more family time and the kids have a greater respect for the cleanliness of the house and aren't so quick to dirty it constantly.

We went out to Antelope Island again today to show Chris some of the trails we hiked around. We didn't stay long because it was close to supper time when we were done with our errands and the kids began whining about being hungry. After supper Chris let me read more of Little Britches by Ralph Moody while he played XBOX with the kids.  At 8:00 p m I read Hansel and Grethel from the Grimm Fairy Tales to Ra, since El and Ca were still playing games with Chris.

After the kids were in bed I finished reading Little Britches and I was very satisfied with the book. It was different from most every book that I have read because their was no defined "antagonist." It is written as a memoir and perhaps that is what I liked so much about it. When I read it again I want to write down all of the advice Ralph received from his pa. They were so brief, to the point and yet thought provoking. I loved the book.

Now to move on to book number three. The Chosen by Chaim Potok. But it is late and that will have to wait until tomorrow.

p.s. I don't know why all the pictures I chose for this post ended up being B&W, oh well!