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!

Dracula and Cinderella

23 January 2012

Today was our second day in our new homeschooling routine. Ra and I discussed the book we read yesterday, Cinderella by Henry W Hewet. Ra was quick to point out that their were differences between the book and the Disney movie. I explained to her that the movie was based on the story; the story was written first, then Disney made their own version of it. I explained to her that there are a lot of stories and movies that were originally written a long time ago and because it was such a well loved story, other people rewrite it and make it their own by changing little things. I will list the differences we came up with here.

• Cinderella's father was still alive in the book.
• The Step Mother did not play as big of a role in the book as she does in the Disney movie.
• Cinderella does not have friend mice in the book, she collects mice and rats and lizards from around the estate at her Faery Godmother's request.
• Cinderella goes to the ball on two different nights, not just one. 
• There is no backstory for the Prince in the book.
• In the book, Cinderella's Step Sisters begged for forgiveness when they found out it was her at the ball.
• Cinderella invites the Step Sisters to live in the palace and arranges for them to be married to dukes in the book. 
• The biggest difference we found was that Cinderella was extremely patient and loving in the book, even more so than the movie. Cinderella did not even so much as sigh at the tasks she was given to do. She happily helped her Step Sisters get ready for the ball and even showed them great kindness and went out of her way to be generous with them at the ball when they did not know who she was. An ultimate example of "turn the other cheek" and forgiveness.

The discussion that many stories we have now are adaptations of great literary works started Ra thinking. She loves the kids series Monster High, which if you don't know has a cast of adapted familiar characters. Some of them are Draculaura, Frankie Stein, Cleo DeNile, Deuce Gorgon, etc. She asked about them and I told her that they are all based on stories of monsters. Some are myths, some are novels, and some (Cleo and Nefra) are based on real historical figures. She asked if we could read Dracula and so, after warning her that it will get scary she sat next to me and we began reading.

• We made a map in Google Maps "My Maps" program that showed all of the cities Jonathon Harker stopped at on his was to Romania. 
• We talked about which geographic direction Harker was travelling. 
• We located the Danube River and the Carpathian Mountains on a map. 
• We talked about the difference in how long it takes to travel between the time this story was set in compared to modern days.
• We discussed the difference between dinner and supper because he makes a point of correcting himself in the journal entry.  
• We talked about what he meant when he said that the meal "was very good but thirsty."  
• We noted that "Mina" is probably his wife.
• We looked up the recipe for Paprika Hendl and Dumplings and made them for dinner.

All of that in the first three paragraphs of the book! I am extremely excited for this new approach to teaching. I will have to read ahead tomorrow before reading it with the children so that I can be a little better prepared. Other than these activities I had fun spending more time with the kids than I usually do. I decided that I would play with them and not tell them "no" unless there was something that I MUST do. It was an extremely fun day today.