Motherhood and lessons from picture books

Robert McCloskey wrote some of the best children's books of all time I think, and the last time I read "Make Way for Ducklings" I was really struck by Mrs. Mallard.

After a long flight, she and Mr. Mallard chose a spot to next- "And only just in time, for now they were beginning to molt.  All their old wing feathers started to drop out, and they would not be able to fly until the new ones grew in."

Being a stay at home mom with little children is like voluntarily losing my flight feathers.  In this time of life, I am not out and and about all the time.  I can't run around town, making new friends and learning a new language.  I have given up the flying abilities of starting a big project to help women here, but one day my flight feathers will grow in again.  My little ducklings will grow, and we'll all go flying.

After the ducklings hatched, "It was a great responsibility taking care of so many ducklings, and it kept them very busy... 'Don't you worry,' said Mrs. Mallard, 'I know all about bringing up children.' and she did. She taught them how to swim and dive. She taught them to walk in line, to come when they called, and to keep a safe distance from bikes and scooters and other things with wheels."

I am so busy with my little ducklings.  I have so much to teach them, and they are learning so fast.  Life with little ones is busy, important, and a delightful season of life.  I am enjoying this season, not going far from my nest, just investing all that I can in my children.

Ian is on the move!!

The month of January was a big one for Ian.  He started army crawling/scooting all over the place, and   he got 4 teeth!  Isn't that nuts?  Big month for my baby boy!

Politics

I recently decided that I should start actually writing more on my blog.  Sharing my thoughts and ideas is important for me, and I don't get to do that in person very often anymore.

SO, I've been thinking about politics for a while now.  If you know me very well, you know that I hate political debates.  I avoid conversations about the government like the plague.  But, right now, facebook is flooded with "anti" posts- anti gun control, or anti guns, anti socialism, anti public health care, etc., etc., etc.  All those posts eat me up, and I've been trying to figure out why.  I think I know why. And, what follows will be my opinion on gun control.

People want to feel safe.  People don't want to fear for themselves or their children.  Some people want to feel safe by having guns to defend themselves.  Some people want their government to step in and make it harder to for "bad guys" to get hold of a gun.  Both sets of people want to be safe and secure.  Will either of these situations keep everyone safe and happy and fearless?  NO.  Will either of these situations change the "bad guys" minds about doing horrible things?  Maybe sometimes, but not always.

So, what can?  What would a place look like where people wouldn't live in fear?  Where people wouldn't even need weapons?  Where people could be happy, and could live in love for all other people?  An upside down place.  A kingdom; yes I know what you are thinking... heaven.  And, yes, heaven will be perfectly like that.  But when Jesus came to earth he brought his kingdom with him.  When he ascended back to heaven, he left some of his kingdom behind.  I am a friend of Jesus, and I can experience part of that kingdom now. We can.

We could invest in people.  If we want there to be less crime, we could reach out to criminals.  We could tell them Jesus loves them.  (After all, it is his love and kindness that bring about real repentance, not fear of punishment). I want his kingdom.  I will pray for it.  I will engage in the things Father puts in front of me and watch how it unfolds.

Okay, next topic: Welfare

This one bothers me even more than gun control debates.  Some people want the government to take care of the poor, and some people don't want them to.  But the people who don't want them to, talk about the poor with words like "have-nots"and "lazy", while the middle class is referred to as "working hard", "upstanding citizens", people who "take care of their families".  What is it that I don't like about that kind of talk?  I don't like the classing of people.  I don't like the us against them kind of talk.

Jesus was compassionate towards the poor.  He healed them, he loved them, and he taught them with stories they could understand.  If we feel that welfare is harming people and keeping them stuck in the place that they are in, then how about if we help someone personally.  How about if we let them know that they are loved; that they can change; and that we are their brothers and sisters here to help them along the way.

In conclusion if a perfect law system and government could eliminate sin, then Jesus would not have come.  There was already an extreme law in place, and extreme measures were to be taken to ensure it was upheld; but it didn't work.  Jesus coming did work, and is working.  He is changing hearts, lives, and communities.  He is forgiving sins, cleansing evil, and putting things right.  If those are the things we long for, perhaps we could ask him how we could join him in his work.

Ian's 2012

Well Ian went from this

to this

to this

to this 

 He learned to smile, to roll over, to grab things, and got his first 2 teeth

2012 for Hope

beginning of 2012

Hope's year had quite a few milestones as well!
She turned 2 years old
Increased her vocab and her story telling skills
Overcame her fear, and jumped on a trampoline by herself

December of 2012

Took care of baby dolls
Was a flower girl in a wedding (as was Jubilee, I forgot to add that to her list though)
Became a big sister
Started remembering and telling me things from Bible stories that I've told her.
Went to the Calgary Stampede for the first time
Played in the snow for the first time

2012 for Jubilee

What a big year 2012 was for this little girl!
She turned 5
Learned to go across the monkey bars
Learned to swim (with arm floats, and a wee bit of practice without them)
Lost her first 2 teeth
Started Kindergarden
Lost a lot of her timidity and made some new friends
Excelled in drawing, pretending, singing, dancing, and everything else she set her mind on doing!

Kindergarten

This year I started K with jubilee! It is going so well, with only one hiccup so far.
For reading/phonics instruction, I started with the pathway reading series. I had heard such fabulous things about their early readers that I decided to use their whole learning to read program- big mistake.  It was so busy work and drilling focused, that Jubilee was getting frustrated and bored after a few weeks of doing that.

  I decided to make a quick change to doing things the Charlotte mason way.  I am using the methods described on joyfulshepherdess.blogspot.com. You can check out her posts on reading if you want more details.  Big differences are that we are not going over and over letter sounds that J already knows, but are using letter tiles to build words! She is delighted to be reading actual words. I will still use the pathway early readers when Jubilee is ready for them, but not the workbooks.

For handwriting, we are using "Delightful Handwriting" from simplycharlottemason.com. I just started that today, and the first day was Fabulous! We practiced the first letter stroke in a pan of rice, in the air, on a chalkboard, and on her practice page.  I think she will enjoy the handwriting, as writing is a big interest to her.

For math, I am using a pre-miquon book found here: www.nurturedbylove.ca/resources/cuisenairebook.pdf
We will move on to Miquon orange and Life of Fred elementary after we finish that.

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we read a story and do an activity to go with it.  I get ideas for activities from "Picture Book Activities, Fun and Games for Preschoolers Based on 50 Favorite Children's Books", by Trish Kuffner.  Hope always joins us for this part.  I cannot recommend this book enough! Fabulous book recommendations and full of fun things for us to do together.

Tuesdays I practice sewing with Jubilee- she is loving sewing lessons.  Our first project is a tooth  bag, as her first loose tooth could fall out any time now.

Thursdays we have painting day- Hope's Favorite time of the week!

I hope to initiate a once a week nature study time where we go on a walk or head to the beach, but we are not quite there yet.  Hopefully that will become a part of our weekly rhythm soon.

So that is my usual week in homeschooling. We've gotten off to a great start.  Hopefully it will continue that way.