Here's what we have done on a Saturday earlier this summer:
Picnic lunch c/o food delivered to the house, hammock time, gardening game, police game, fireman game, digging with trucks, tag, swings, slides, Play-Doh, playing house, collecting maple keys, bug examination, trying on sunglasses, pulling grass, watching 7 year old neighbour with butterfly net, taking pictures, chasing birds away from the flowerbed, plane-spotting, leaping off rocks, transporting bricks, snacking on fruit, tricyling on the deck, singing, foot races...
Friday, August 15, 2014
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Monday, July 14, 2014
Questions
Things my 4 year old son wants to know, in no particular order:
"Is there only one God?"
"Can we eat dessert first?"
"Why do we die?"
"Why don't you pee standing up, mommy?"
"Did you bring candy?"
"Is lightning going to hit our other tree?"
"Is there only one God?"
"Can we eat dessert first?"
"Why do we die?"
"Why don't you pee standing up, mommy?"
"Did you bring candy?"
"Is lightning going to hit our other tree?"
The big game
I had said ahead of time that I wanted to be able to watch the World Cup final, uninterrupted...but it turns out the kids weren't otherwise engaged, and the other grown-ups were busy, so they ended up with me.
Here's how to make the best of things (with kids) when you really wanted to be alone. You involve them, with enthusiasm! I prepared my 4 year old, telling him we would be watching the big game!
Kids get right into the spirit of things, so he quickly chose his team: "the blue ones! I love them!" He fetched snacks for all, included everyone's favorite drink: 2% milk for little sis, soy milk for him, ginger ale for mommy.
He gathered together all our assorted soccer balls, including the small replica FIFA World Cup ball I'd bought. He set up a net, and then settled in to watch.
The 2 year old woke up from her nap, found us, and jumped on the bandwagon. Still sleepy, she selected and clutched a soccer ball to her, and started in on the snacks.
It was nice while it lasted, but kids don't appreciate a stalemate in which there aren't a lot of replays of goals bring scored. The 4 year old's attention lasted into the second half. The 2 year old enjoyed the extra snuggling time on the couch but grew restless by the end.
And so, I did get to see the whole game, into the extra time, not exactly as planned, but life unfolds just as it should on a Sunday afternoon. A few distractions, a few tweets, but then something momentous, the thing that changes everything from the meausured and the practiced to the epiphany, the fulfillment, the culmination of things, light streaming through the clouds, lightning striking, the ball crossing the invisible line into the net's embrace.
I will tell my kids in four years that they did watch the big game in 2014.
Here's how to make the best of things (with kids) when you really wanted to be alone. You involve them, with enthusiasm! I prepared my 4 year old, telling him we would be watching the big game!
Kids get right into the spirit of things, so he quickly chose his team: "the blue ones! I love them!" He fetched snacks for all, included everyone's favorite drink: 2% milk for little sis, soy milk for him, ginger ale for mommy.
He gathered together all our assorted soccer balls, including the small replica FIFA World Cup ball I'd bought. He set up a net, and then settled in to watch.
The 2 year old woke up from her nap, found us, and jumped on the bandwagon. Still sleepy, she selected and clutched a soccer ball to her, and started in on the snacks.
It was nice while it lasted, but kids don't appreciate a stalemate in which there aren't a lot of replays of goals bring scored. The 4 year old's attention lasted into the second half. The 2 year old enjoyed the extra snuggling time on the couch but grew restless by the end.
And so, I did get to see the whole game, into the extra time, not exactly as planned, but life unfolds just as it should on a Sunday afternoon. A few distractions, a few tweets, but then something momentous, the thing that changes everything from the meausured and the practiced to the epiphany, the fulfillment, the culmination of things, light streaming through the clouds, lightning striking, the ball crossing the invisible line into the net's embrace.
I will tell my kids in four years that they did watch the big game in 2014.
Monday, June 2, 2014
June
It was such a long winter it's hard to believe it might actually be...summer? Yet the ocassional threat of hail seems to remind us not to become too comfortable.
If we list all the activities we do, it would seem like we are having a grand time. However, we are sick, so that clouds the circumstances, and is the backdrop against which everything plays out.
I've enrolled Tyler in two consecutive weeks of summer day camp, and it will be a test run for full-day junior kindergarten. Even the logistics can be worked out: the wake-up and get-ready routine, packing and handling of snacks and lunch, and labelling of clothes and personal items.
Immediately after JK open house, I think my expectations were set higher for Tyler to display more independent behaviour. I do need to remember he's just turned 4.
Meanwhile, Ashley is becoming a bigger presence every day, shadowing and sometimes overpowering her more laid-back big brother. Who made her the boss? I think she assumed the role.
Our world of three adults and two kids makes for a busy house, but not a full one - we are off-balance in places where we previously had an anchor, a steadying presence.
If we list all the activities we do, it would seem like we are having a grand time. However, we are sick, so that clouds the circumstances, and is the backdrop against which everything plays out.
I've enrolled Tyler in two consecutive weeks of summer day camp, and it will be a test run for full-day junior kindergarten. Even the logistics can be worked out: the wake-up and get-ready routine, packing and handling of snacks and lunch, and labelling of clothes and personal items.
Immediately after JK open house, I think my expectations were set higher for Tyler to display more independent behaviour. I do need to remember he's just turned 4.
Meanwhile, Ashley is becoming a bigger presence every day, shadowing and sometimes overpowering her more laid-back big brother. Who made her the boss? I think she assumed the role.
Our world of three adults and two kids makes for a busy house, but not a full one - we are off-balance in places where we previously had an anchor, a steadying presence.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
April showers
Yes, it's Spring, and I suppose it is cold...
Here at home, we have faced some tremendous loss, one that Tyler seeks to understand, and that Ashley may only feel. How do you explain death to a couple of toddlers, when life is all they've known? One way is to talk about life cycles of living things. Another way is to answer their questions as they observe proceedings. And, during the process, you guard their hearts.
It is a divine design and mercy that keeps Tyler from dwelling in sadness, and that keeps him from understanding that death is permanent.
Ashley looks at pictures and names him, her grandfather. "Don't forget," I whisper to her.
Here at home, we have faced some tremendous loss, one that Tyler seeks to understand, and that Ashley may only feel. How do you explain death to a couple of toddlers, when life is all they've known? One way is to talk about life cycles of living things. Another way is to answer their questions as they observe proceedings. And, during the process, you guard their hearts.
It is a divine design and mercy that keeps Tyler from dwelling in sadness, and that keeps him from understanding that death is permanent.
Ashley looks at pictures and names him, her grandfather. "Don't forget," I whisper to her.
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