Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
I'm tired. We're cleaning out the hotel. Amazing how much stuff was in that small space.
Right now we're pretty much furnitureless. We have a twin bed someone gave us and a king sized foam top the mister bought. Several people have offered furniture after the storm and I need to call them and ask for the furniture. The mister wants to go out and buy furniture. I want free hand me downs.
Right now we're pretty much furnitureless. We have a twin bed someone gave us and a king sized foam top the mister bought. Several people have offered furniture after the storm and I need to call them and ask for the furniture. The mister wants to go out and buy furniture. I want free hand me downs.
Friday, November 21, 2008
sweet
Or not so sweet. This is a tale of tv woe
As most of you know I hate tv (total lie - I love tv with all my being and will even watch infomercials if there is a tv close by - which is why I decided to stop watching tv cold turkey) and the mister got cable (it was only 4 dollars more!)at the apartment.
The mister was bringing over the computers, tv, toys and stuff and as he was lifting the tv out of the truck we heard a loud CRASH.
Tv totally ate it. The mister had to throw it away as there was no way to salvage.
Had a test today and another on monday and tuesday we have internship orientation clinic. If I pass the test on monday then I can start my internship after tuesday.
As most of you know I hate tv (total lie - I love tv with all my being and will even watch infomercials if there is a tv close by - which is why I decided to stop watching tv cold turkey) and the mister got cable (it was only 4 dollars more!)at the apartment.
The mister was bringing over the computers, tv, toys and stuff and as he was lifting the tv out of the truck we heard a loud CRASH.
Tv totally ate it. The mister had to throw it away as there was no way to salvage.
Had a test today and another on monday and tuesday we have internship orientation clinic. If I pass the test on monday then I can start my internship after tuesday.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
moving day!
we're moving into our apartment. kidlets are packing up their stuff and we're heading over. they are so so excited!! and i am so so excited that there is a washer and dryer in the unit. yay!!
starting to blog again
just made the youngest cry i had lots of words in this box and she climbed in my lap and pushed a button and it all disappeared. i made her get off my lap.
let's see if i can keep this up. life is stressful and i need some type of journal to help keep my thoughts. i want to get back into rc so if you spambots know of any sessions in my area let me know. :)
let's see if i can keep this up. life is stressful and i need some type of journal to help keep my thoughts. i want to get back into rc so if you spambots know of any sessions in my area let me know. :)
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
girlies today
Lou debut the Penis Song when a friend dropped by. About an hour after said friend left.
"Mom, here's my song dedicated to the penis.
Penis. Penis. Penispenispe-eeenis. Vulva. Vulva. Vulvavulvavu-ulva. Crack. Crack. Everybody has a buttcrack."
Penelope - brought her Radio Flyer sit down scooter into the house yesterday. Was looking for scooter today.
"Where my cooter? I ride my cooter, syes?"
"Mom, here's my song dedicated to the penis.
Penis. Penis. Penispenispe-eeenis. Vulva. Vulva. Vulvavulvavu-ulva. Crack. Crack. Everybody has a buttcrack."
Penelope - brought her Radio Flyer sit down scooter into the house yesterday. Was looking for scooter today.
"Where my cooter? I ride my cooter, syes?"
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
So so jealous. I tried getting people to fund my Led Zeppelin at the O2 Arena November of last year. No one was down with that cause. And here they are again, well half, playing with some scruffy, smelly looking "where the hell did I put my bowl it must be under all these Coors cans and Funyun bags and, oh shit! last night we put a whole egg up K's girlfriend's vagina and she had to go to the ER to get it removed, man we were so fecking wasted, then we rocked out to KISS, passed out and Mom made us breakfast in the morning"* kind of guys.
If only Pat Smear and I would have become BFF in '95 I would have been there!! Pat, if you read this, call me!
*true story.
If only Pat Smear and I would have become BFF in '95 I would have been there!! Pat, if you read this, call me!
*true story.
Monday, June 9, 2008
christmas music
Mom, is this a Christmas song?
ummmmmm
Yeah, yeah it is. He says "Under the mistletoe is where I give my love."
He can be a royal pain but I love that sweet boy.
ummmmmm
Yeah, yeah it is. He says "Under the mistletoe is where I give my love."
He can be a royal pain but I love that sweet boy.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
boychik sez. . .
Dad, can black people sense the future?
No.
Well, R is black and he can sense the future. He says the future is in trouble.
R isn't black.
Then what is he?
A person.
Oh, well, he can still sense the future.
No.
Well, R is black and he can sense the future. He says the future is in trouble.
R isn't black.
Then what is he?
A person.
Oh, well, he can still sense the future.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
My baby is 2!!
Happy Birthday Penelope! No recent pictures - third child-itis.
She's passed out on the couch wearing a girlie skeleton shirt, sans pants, with pen marks all over her legs. A sleeping angel. If you look closely you can see her horns peeking through her hair. Kinda look like mine. :)
She's passed out on the couch wearing a girlie skeleton shirt, sans pants, with pen marks all over her legs. A sleeping angel. If you look closely you can see her horns peeking through her hair. Kinda look like mine. :)
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
one time
before we had boychik, maybe i was pregnant at the time, the mister and i were at the library. we were on the same aisle and i let out this huge loud-ass fart. "Man, dh go to the bathroom to do that!" and i'm laugh laugh laughing without making a sound. i looked like "Crazy Woman" in a silent feature film.
the mister was mad because other people heard and thought that was him.
and i wonder why my littles get such a kick out of passing gas in public and proclaiming loudly, "Mom has stinky farts!". they are their mother's children.
the mister was mad because other people heard and thought that was him.
and i wonder why my littles get such a kick out of passing gas in public and proclaiming loudly, "Mom has stinky farts!". they are their mother's children.
rip maisy
we had to put the dog down today. we got her in january(?) and she has been sick the whole time.
she was 3 and lived a crappy life. her original owners had her chained to a tree because she kept chasing cars. when her rescuer found her she was bad off but he nursed her back to health. he had her for a couple months and then we adopted her.
poor mate.
she was 3 and lived a crappy life. her original owners had her chained to a tree because she kept chasing cars. when her rescuer found her she was bad off but he nursed her back to health. he had her for a couple months and then we adopted her.
poor mate.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
chafing is bad m'kay
it's like crotch carpet burn. well, more like inner thigh carpet burn. Body Glide to the rescue!
Friday, May 30, 2008
how timely
"Blocking Thoughts" to good relaionships
by David Lake, MD
Hi All,
I know of a sure way to ruin your relationship. Be a critic. Of all the relationship poisons, this is the deadliest. Over time, it is guaranteed never to improve the quality of your life. I suggest that EFT is the most useful antidote to this poison. Using EFT initially doesn't solve the problem. Instead, it helps you to get straight emotionally first. When you can be more neutral, both parties can confront and negotiate the truths of the situation more evenly.
The urge to criticise and blame comes from deeply-felt ideas about the world and how it should be. There are two kinds of people in the world, those that can tolerate crumbs in the bed, and those who can’t (actually, it’s those who think there are two kinds of people in the world and those who don’t). As such, the hurt feelings are your own, and are triggered off by others—not caused.
Criticism can’t work because of the world of hurt feelings that it stirs up in both participants. The price for being a critic is often the appreciation, acceptance and friendship inherent in a good relationship.
Here’s how I would use EFT personally, both for the criticiser and criticisee. I think it has more leverage if you focus on the negative and “hot” aspects of a problem, especially the irrational and awful/terrible/horrible ones. I use a light touch with the affirmations because I find this helps. Make these personal for your situation.
If you are the doer, you might feel the need to right a “wrong”, and to restore your sense of order in your inner world about excess chaos—typically caused by another (often someone you “love”).You could say:
"Even if I feel like I can’t let this go…I’m going to do the best I can."
"Although I can’t put up with this any more….and I shouldn’t have to anyway…and he/she should know better by now…I am going to find a way to deal with this."
"Even though I know I’m right about this…so he/she must be wrong, I’d rather be happy than completely correct."
"Despite this personal insult…I won’t let it get in the way of our friendship."
"Even though I’m so upset about this I don’t even want to tap, I’ll do it anyway to keep the faith."
"Although this is the last straw…and homicide is against the law…I suppose we both make mistakes."
"Even though this makes life harder/more work for me, which I don’t need, I will work hard for our friendship."
"Although this reminds me of a whole lot of other bad stuff, it’s only Monday; I’m going to handle this."
"Even if this is proof that I live with a criminal/fool/idiot/dolt/hopeless case, he/she is my idiot—and I love him/her dearly, the last time I checked."
"Although he/she promised to love, honour and cherish, so did I—and I’m going to do it right now."
Blocking thoughts to treating the frustration about the “crime” include the following: I would say “I accept myself deeply and completely, even if…”
Nothing will ever change around here
I could become a doormat/martyr if I don’t speak up
Things have to be done correctly…the right way (my way)
They don’t do it, and they don’t care…so I don’t matter to them
They will never learn
I do things better
It’s deliberate on his/her part
It’s serious/important to me and I must prevail
I’m with the wrong person
I can’t respect someone who does this
If he/she loved me they wouldn’t do this
I feel/am helpless
Very often we lose sight of the awful fact that we are just as much a bother to our partner. Naturally they will remind us in due course. You become the criticisee, the receiver. When you cop the lot (Australian for receiving criticism) you could use EFT like this:
"Although I’m really hurt and upset…and he/she shouldn’t have said those things, I’ll settle myself the best I can."
"Even if he/she is really angry, soon we’ll discuss this like friends."
"Although I don’t think this is so bad, I’ll fix it if I can, just for her/him."
"Even if this is a storm in a teacup…it’s our teacup, and I can help out here."
"He/she obviously hates me…and two can play that game, but I’ll do the tapping and prevent World War 3."
"Although it’s ridiculous for him/her to get so upset…and upset me as well, I’m going to hang in there, despite everything."
"Although I’m guilty until proven innocent…the trial is today and the hanging tomorrow, I can weather this storm."
"Even if technically it’s not my fault, I’ll stay calm and apologise if I’m part of the problem."
"Although he/she’s not blameless, I’ll find the useful reaction here."
Blocking thoughts: “I accept myself deeply and completely even if…”
My good deeds have gone unnoticed
I can’t live up to his/her standards
I am a bad person to him/her
Here we go again
His/her crimes are worse than mine
This whole thing is useless
He/she hates me
This is just too much/over the top/the end of the line
I can’t help it if I’m not perfect
One objection to using EFT for these common hurts is that it could lead to feeling relaxed about a legitimate issue of abuse or bad boundaries. This is possible, but in my opinion only if there are severe personal problems to begin with; this would manifest as a poor sense of self in a damaged person.
I would still use EFT in this situation as it is very likely to lead to greatly increased self-esteem over time. Here the relational aspects of good therapy are as important as Energy techniques. When EFT does it’s magic to our dysfunctional feeling-reactions, there’s little danger that we will become too saintly or forgiving for the wrong reasons; we lose neither our common sense nor our time-tested ability to say or do the wrong thing from time to time.
Persistence and more persistence is the key in treating the deep anxieties and fears underlying our critical actions.
Of course there is much to do in negotiating the compromises of partnership. Some habits and faults are never going to change. If we criticise, in essence we have forgotten the Golden Rule with respect to forgiveness. My daughter once said to me “I know I did the wrong thing, but why are you so upset?” Exactly.
If you can imagine a world where you are treated so well, so kindly, so graciously, by someone who thinks the best of you, then naturally you will reciprocate. Nelson Mandela said in Sydney last week “If you treat people with impeccable integrity and honesty, then that is how they will treat you”. Do we really have the right to criticise others?
Use EFT to help yourself and others to move beyond our limiting negative beliefs about the world. Start at home.
by David Lake, MD
Hi All,
I know of a sure way to ruin your relationship. Be a critic. Of all the relationship poisons, this is the deadliest. Over time, it is guaranteed never to improve the quality of your life. I suggest that EFT is the most useful antidote to this poison. Using EFT initially doesn't solve the problem. Instead, it helps you to get straight emotionally first. When you can be more neutral, both parties can confront and negotiate the truths of the situation more evenly.
The urge to criticise and blame comes from deeply-felt ideas about the world and how it should be. There are two kinds of people in the world, those that can tolerate crumbs in the bed, and those who can’t (actually, it’s those who think there are two kinds of people in the world and those who don’t). As such, the hurt feelings are your own, and are triggered off by others—not caused.
Criticism can’t work because of the world of hurt feelings that it stirs up in both participants. The price for being a critic is often the appreciation, acceptance and friendship inherent in a good relationship.
Here’s how I would use EFT personally, both for the criticiser and criticisee. I think it has more leverage if you focus on the negative and “hot” aspects of a problem, especially the irrational and awful/terrible/horrible ones. I use a light touch with the affirmations because I find this helps. Make these personal for your situation.
If you are the doer, you might feel the need to right a “wrong”, and to restore your sense of order in your inner world about excess chaos—typically caused by another (often someone you “love”).You could say:
"Even if I feel like I can’t let this go…I’m going to do the best I can."
"Although I can’t put up with this any more….and I shouldn’t have to anyway…and he/she should know better by now…I am going to find a way to deal with this."
"Even though I know I’m right about this…so he/she must be wrong, I’d rather be happy than completely correct."
"Despite this personal insult…I won’t let it get in the way of our friendship."
"Even though I’m so upset about this I don’t even want to tap, I’ll do it anyway to keep the faith."
"Although this is the last straw…and homicide is against the law…I suppose we both make mistakes."
"Even though this makes life harder/more work for me, which I don’t need, I will work hard for our friendship."
"Although this reminds me of a whole lot of other bad stuff, it’s only Monday; I’m going to handle this."
"Even if this is proof that I live with a criminal/fool/idiot/dolt/hopeless case, he/she is my idiot—and I love him/her dearly, the last time I checked."
"Although he/she promised to love, honour and cherish, so did I—and I’m going to do it right now."
Blocking thoughts to treating the frustration about the “crime” include the following: I would say “I accept myself deeply and completely, even if…”
Nothing will ever change around here
I could become a doormat/martyr if I don’t speak up
Things have to be done correctly…the right way (my way)
They don’t do it, and they don’t care…so I don’t matter to them
They will never learn
I do things better
It’s deliberate on his/her part
It’s serious/important to me and I must prevail
I’m with the wrong person
I can’t respect someone who does this
If he/she loved me they wouldn’t do this
I feel/am helpless
Very often we lose sight of the awful fact that we are just as much a bother to our partner. Naturally they will remind us in due course. You become the criticisee, the receiver. When you cop the lot (Australian for receiving criticism) you could use EFT like this:
"Although I’m really hurt and upset…and he/she shouldn’t have said those things, I’ll settle myself the best I can."
"Even if he/she is really angry, soon we’ll discuss this like friends."
"Although I don’t think this is so bad, I’ll fix it if I can, just for her/him."
"Even if this is a storm in a teacup…it’s our teacup, and I can help out here."
"He/she obviously hates me…and two can play that game, but I’ll do the tapping and prevent World War 3."
"Although it’s ridiculous for him/her to get so upset…and upset me as well, I’m going to hang in there, despite everything."
"Although I’m guilty until proven innocent…the trial is today and the hanging tomorrow, I can weather this storm."
"Even if technically it’s not my fault, I’ll stay calm and apologise if I’m part of the problem."
"Although he/she’s not blameless, I’ll find the useful reaction here."
Blocking thoughts: “I accept myself deeply and completely even if…”
My good deeds have gone unnoticed
I can’t live up to his/her standards
I am a bad person to him/her
Here we go again
His/her crimes are worse than mine
This whole thing is useless
He/she hates me
This is just too much/over the top/the end of the line
I can’t help it if I’m not perfect
One objection to using EFT for these common hurts is that it could lead to feeling relaxed about a legitimate issue of abuse or bad boundaries. This is possible, but in my opinion only if there are severe personal problems to begin with; this would manifest as a poor sense of self in a damaged person.
I would still use EFT in this situation as it is very likely to lead to greatly increased self-esteem over time. Here the relational aspects of good therapy are as important as Energy techniques. When EFT does it’s magic to our dysfunctional feeling-reactions, there’s little danger that we will become too saintly or forgiving for the wrong reasons; we lose neither our common sense nor our time-tested ability to say or do the wrong thing from time to time.
Persistence and more persistence is the key in treating the deep anxieties and fears underlying our critical actions.
Of course there is much to do in negotiating the compromises of partnership. Some habits and faults are never going to change. If we criticise, in essence we have forgotten the Golden Rule with respect to forgiveness. My daughter once said to me “I know I did the wrong thing, but why are you so upset?” Exactly.
If you can imagine a world where you are treated so well, so kindly, so graciously, by someone who thinks the best of you, then naturally you will reciprocate. Nelson Mandela said in Sydney last week “If you treat people with impeccable integrity and honesty, then that is how they will treat you”. Do we really have the right to criticise others?
Use EFT to help yourself and others to move beyond our limiting negative beliefs about the world. Start at home.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
lou and boychik
yesterday
boychik was picking on lou
"You're stupid."
"NO! I am not stupid. I am WILD and if you can't handle that then go back to bed."
today
Bad Company's Feel Like Makin Love came on the radio. listen a bit. boychik pipes up
"ugh, i don't feel like making love. i feel like making pannycakes."
i was watching live concert footage on youtube and lou digs drummers. especially the 'crazy animal drummers'
my lou
boychik was picking on lou
"You're stupid."
"NO! I am not stupid. I am WILD and if you can't handle that then go back to bed."
today
Bad Company's Feel Like Makin Love came on the radio. listen a bit. boychik pipes up
"ugh, i don't feel like making love. i feel like making pannycakes."
i was watching live concert footage on youtube and lou digs drummers. especially the 'crazy animal drummers'
my lou
Saturday, May 24, 2008
tooth and tattoo
my tooth hurts. i went to the dentist in march? and i had an abscess and a fracture in the root? I don't remember, but the tooth needed to be pulled, bone graft done and then an implant. The dentist would do all the insurance prep first and then call to set up appointment.
I got a call back asking for my health insurance info - the dental insurance wanted to make sure they couldn't pawn off the expense to someone else. Gave that info and dentist lady said she'd give me a call when she knows something.
No call.
Other things have been going on so it slipped my mind. But my tooth started to hurt again. And I want it out. I'll call next week to see what's up. Since I am not pregnant they can knock my ass out to extract the tooth. They originally planned on local only.
**********
The mister HATES tattoos. He really does not like them. He's okay with boychik wearing nail polish but temporary tattoos usually illicit an eye twitch.
I'm thinking, cause I am such a supportive and caring wife, of coming back form San Francisco with a tattoo. Temporary but play it off like a real one. I wonder if a local shop will help me out with my marital subterfuge.
And it would have to be something meaningful to me to play it off. I think he would suspect if I came home with a unicorn making it with a dolphin.
I got a call back asking for my health insurance info - the dental insurance wanted to make sure they couldn't pawn off the expense to someone else. Gave that info and dentist lady said she'd give me a call when she knows something.
No call.
Other things have been going on so it slipped my mind. But my tooth started to hurt again. And I want it out. I'll call next week to see what's up. Since I am not pregnant they can knock my ass out to extract the tooth. They originally planned on local only.
**********
The mister HATES tattoos. He really does not like them. He's okay with boychik wearing nail polish but temporary tattoos usually illicit an eye twitch.
I'm thinking, cause I am such a supportive and caring wife, of coming back form San Francisco with a tattoo. Temporary but play it off like a real one. I wonder if a local shop will help me out with my marital subterfuge.
And it would have to be something meaningful to me to play it off. I think he would suspect if I came home with a unicorn making it with a dolphin.
one of those parents
A few nights ago the littles and I met with a friend and her two at Burger King. Said friend and I were going over our fundraising plans and let the kids go wild in the play area.
Lou went a little too wild and puked in the slide. When she says she threw up that could mean anything from "I had to spit" to "totally puking guts out". She had a little wetness on her foot, but still couldn't tell.
Asked boychik to check it out and he climbed to the top and slid down. Cool! No vomit otherwise he wouldn't have slid down, right? Wrong. There wasn't much and what was there he wiped up with his butt and back.
Friend wanted to leave. We hustled the kids out of there and left. Without telling anyone.
yep.
Lou went a little too wild and puked in the slide. When she says she threw up that could mean anything from "I had to spit" to "totally puking guts out". She had a little wetness on her foot, but still couldn't tell.
Asked boychik to check it out and he climbed to the top and slid down. Cool! No vomit otherwise he wouldn't have slid down, right? Wrong. There wasn't much and what was there he wiped up with his butt and back.
Friend wanted to leave. We hustled the kids out of there and left. Without telling anyone.
yep.
Monday, May 19, 2008
running a marathon!
october 19 in san francisco. the nike women's marathon. i'm training with the leukemia and lymphoma society's team in training. i have to raise $4,100 by september.
link to my training blog. now with comments! further down is the link to my team in training page. i'd post here, but this laptop isn't letting me access my site. oy, i was wrong. here is my fundraising site. :)
please pimp out my fundraising page - i need all the help i can get in raising the money for this awesome organization.
link to my training blog. now with comments! further down is the link to my team in training page. i'd post here, but this laptop isn't letting me access my site. oy, i was wrong. here is my fundraising site. :)
please pimp out my fundraising page - i need all the help i can get in raising the money for this awesome organization.
quick update
bah - i keep meaning to come and pot on this blog but i don't think about it until after i am in bed.
ireally want to use this as a journal and just spew out all my dysfunction. i think that will help a lot. in the mean time bach flower remedies rock!!
i passed the babe april 15 and after all was said and done i was 11 weeks along (or 10 weeks 6 days but 11 weeks is easier to say) and it was a boy. i'll have to dig up the link but there was genital shots of 11 week fetus on line and our, uh fetus? baby? how does one refer to one that young? definitely looked like boy.
i wanted to name him. the mister didn't really want to but was fine if i did. he gave very little input for the name but i did get an okay. he said it made him to sd to think about.
oliver is the first name. a name i've liked for a long time. i suggested the name when we were pregnant with boychik but dh said it would be better for a subsequent boy. fine with me.
then i started calling my cat oliver. this is the best cat evah in the whole entire world. her given name was tsume renshu but i called her renny. i started saying 'i love her' in a stupid lovey voice reserved for favorite animals or small babies. and the 'i love her' morphed into oliver. when i saw her i would just say oliver in a regular voice and mean 'i love her'. we had to put renny down when i was pregnant with little miss crazy p - (feb 27 06 if you wanted a date).
i figured this would be the perfect opportunity to name a child with a name that i love and has a special meaning to me. cause the mister is adamant about no olivers cause of the cat.
middle name i was stuck with. finally chose daniel. heard danny boy at the kids concert which made me think of the name. cheesy predictable? yeah, but who cares.
i FINALLY stopped bleeding a week and a half ago. it got really bad. then get a little better and back to really bad. sucked big time.
ireally want to use this as a journal and just spew out all my dysfunction. i think that will help a lot. in the mean time bach flower remedies rock!!
i passed the babe april 15 and after all was said and done i was 11 weeks along (or 10 weeks 6 days but 11 weeks is easier to say) and it was a boy. i'll have to dig up the link but there was genital shots of 11 week fetus on line and our, uh fetus? baby? how does one refer to one that young? definitely looked like boy.
i wanted to name him. the mister didn't really want to but was fine if i did. he gave very little input for the name but i did get an okay. he said it made him to sd to think about.
oliver is the first name. a name i've liked for a long time. i suggested the name when we were pregnant with boychik but dh said it would be better for a subsequent boy. fine with me.
then i started calling my cat oliver. this is the best cat evah in the whole entire world. her given name was tsume renshu but i called her renny. i started saying 'i love her' in a stupid lovey voice reserved for favorite animals or small babies. and the 'i love her' morphed into oliver. when i saw her i would just say oliver in a regular voice and mean 'i love her'. we had to put renny down when i was pregnant with little miss crazy p - (feb 27 06 if you wanted a date).
i figured this would be the perfect opportunity to name a child with a name that i love and has a special meaning to me. cause the mister is adamant about no olivers cause of the cat.
middle name i was stuck with. finally chose daniel. heard danny boy at the kids concert which made me think of the name. cheesy predictable? yeah, but who cares.
i FINALLY stopped bleeding a week and a half ago. it got really bad. then get a little better and back to really bad. sucked big time.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Happy Tax Day - it's done
I passed the baby/fetus/whatever you want to call it tonight. Last night I felt some really weird flutterkicking in the uterine area and some slight cramping. This morning I started spotting and went through about 7 or 8 pads. Cramping on and off most of the day.
Took a long bath around 6ish. Got out and was setting up a nice comfy spot in the bed with a laptop (yay we have one now! It belongs to dh for his business, but I play on it until he needs it). Right when I was getting to lay down I felt a pop and fluid started to come out. It was the water breaking. Very sweet smelling. I'm always amazed at the smell of birth fluids. It's sweet. You wouldn't think that though.
Went to the bathtub, stripped, passed the baby (it didn't look like a fetus. It's probably been 3 weeks since it died so it disintegrated? Body reabsorbed? It looked like greyish blob with a spine. translucent live a live shrimp) and then squatted over a bowl and passed the placenta (with what looks like a cord??) and loads of blood clots.
All in all from the pop to cleaning up it was a little over 2 hours. The worst of the cramps felt like bad period cramps but not in the league of labor cramps.
Jeff was outside with the kids for the beginning part and then they came in played and he realized what was going on and then did his best to keep them away.
It feels like after birth. Some crampiness and still some bleeding. Not sure about after miscarriage. Will this bleeding lead into a period or will there be bleeding for a couple of days and then nothing until the next period.
I do question why this happened. This was something we were avoiding and then it happened and then it didn't happen. I am one of those annoying people that want to know WHY. But there is no answer. bah.
Took a long bath around 6ish. Got out and was setting up a nice comfy spot in the bed with a laptop (yay we have one now! It belongs to dh for his business, but I play on it until he needs it). Right when I was getting to lay down I felt a pop and fluid started to come out. It was the water breaking. Very sweet smelling. I'm always amazed at the smell of birth fluids. It's sweet. You wouldn't think that though.
Went to the bathtub, stripped, passed the baby (it didn't look like a fetus. It's probably been 3 weeks since it died so it disintegrated? Body reabsorbed? It looked like greyish blob with a spine. translucent live a live shrimp) and then squatted over a bowl and passed the placenta (with what looks like a cord??) and loads of blood clots.
All in all from the pop to cleaning up it was a little over 2 hours. The worst of the cramps felt like bad period cramps but not in the league of labor cramps.
Jeff was outside with the kids for the beginning part and then they came in played and he realized what was going on and then did his best to keep them away.
It feels like after birth. Some crampiness and still some bleeding. Not sure about after miscarriage. Will this bleeding lead into a period or will there be bleeding for a couple of days and then nothing until the next period.
I do question why this happened. This was something we were avoiding and then it happened and then it didn't happen. I am one of those annoying people that want to know WHY. But there is no answer. bah.
Friday, March 28, 2008
sike
not pregnant. went to a scan yesterday and baby measured 8 week 6 day and no heartbeat. no way to know when baby stopped. psycho doc said that fetus had a genetic abnormality (thickened nuchal fold and some large pockets of fluid along the spine). he was very nice in the scan room. in his office a different story. i swear i was in some bizarro world. black funerals, irish funerals, his uncle's funeral, pastors who are buttholes.
i saw him one time before. he's our midwife's back up ob and we met him during t's pregnancy. he seemed like a perfectly sane person then.
the mister is having a hard time. i was thinking blighted ovum so it's not too much of a surprise. it was sad to see the weeness. we've opted to let nature take it's course.
i saw him one time before. he's our midwife's back up ob and we met him during t's pregnancy. he seemed like a perfectly sane person then.
the mister is having a hard time. i was thinking blighted ovum so it's not too much of a surprise. it was sad to see the weeness. we've opted to let nature take it's course.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
2/3 Little Free
I & T went with their grandmother and great-grandfather to a cousin's first birthday party 3 hours away. They are spending the night at a hotel! get to swim! watch tv! eat whatever they want! They are beyond excited.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
still sleeping in their beds
yay!!!
Must be the universe's way of keeping balance in teh force cause *coughwearepregnantagaincough*
The 5K is in a week and a half. Day before Easter. The dog is a big pain in the butt. Remind me why we have her again? I am seriously thinking of giving the dog back. She's had diarrhea since we got her (7 weeks ago? 8?). We took her in to the vet and she took her antibiotics and parasite treatment (the kind that can pass to people and dangerous to littles) and she's still poops rank-ass water poo.
And she bit Penelope. Didn't break the skin. P unintentionally woke the dog up from a sleep. I was sitting RIGHTTHERE too.
Our house smells like sick dog butt. And Bonus!!! She has heartworms.
Must be the universe's way of keeping balance in teh force cause *coughwearepregnantagaincough*
The 5K is in a week and a half. Day before Easter. The dog is a big pain in the butt. Remind me why we have her again? I am seriously thinking of giving the dog back. She's had diarrhea since we got her (7 weeks ago? 8?). We took her in to the vet and she took her antibiotics and parasite treatment (the kind that can pass to people and dangerous to littles) and she's still poops rank-ass water poo.
And she bit Penelope. Didn't break the skin. P unintentionally woke the dog up from a sleep. I was sitting RIGHTTHERE too.
Our house smells like sick dog butt. And Bonus!!! She has heartworms.
Monday, March 3, 2008
growing up
THe older two (6 & 4) slept in their own beds last night. We set the bunk beds up and they snuggled happily and went to sleep. This is the first time ever they have slept without us. pleasepleaseplease stay this way!!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Coach J
Yesterday, we had a lot of errands and then T's appointment. I stopped at Sonic (yeah yeah I know) and let the kids sit at the picnic tables. Their sitting looked more like running around so back into the van.
boychik saw his gymnastics coach at Sonic. Sweety pea didn't want me to say hi to Coach J and I kept playing like I was going to. "Mom, stop that! Moooom!"
Mom, can I tell my friends I saw Coach J smoking at Sonic.
Um, that's private. You can tell your friends that you saw Coach J at Sonic though.
Oh. okay. Can I tell them that Coach J met a guy and when the guy came then they left together.
!!! What about you just say you saw Coach J at Sonic.
okay Mom.
boychik saw his gymnastics coach at Sonic. Sweety pea didn't want me to say hi to Coach J and I kept playing like I was going to. "Mom, stop that! Moooom!"
Mom, can I tell my friends I saw Coach J smoking at Sonic.
Um, that's private. You can tell your friends that you saw Coach J at Sonic though.
Oh. okay. Can I tell them that Coach J met a guy and when the guy came then they left together.
!!! What about you just say you saw Coach J at Sonic.
okay Mom.
Friday, February 22, 2008
week 4 completed
and my knees are killing me. I wussed out on my last run. I walked some when I was supposed to run. So, I'm redoing today on Sunday. Tuesday we start week 5.
Day 1
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Day 2
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
Day 3
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then
Jog two miles (or 20 minutes) with no walking.
:whimper:
Day 1
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Day 2
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
Day 3
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then
Jog two miles (or 20 minutes) with no walking.
:whimper:
Monday, February 4, 2008
When I run I feel His pleasure
erm, not today. Probably not tomorrow. All I feel is nap's pleasure.
Sorry Eric Liddell.
Sorry Eric Liddell.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Carrot Honey Cake
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups honey
1 cup oil
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup walnuts (optional)
powdered sugar
Beat eggs. Add honey and oil and mix well. Add dry ingredients. Stir
in carrots and nuts if used.
Grease and flour a 9 inch by 13 inch pan. Pour batter into pan and smooth it out.
Bake at 350F for 45 to 50 minutes.
CUPCAKES - (in liners) Bake at 350F for 25 minutes. Cool.
Just before serving, sprinkle liberally with sifted powdered sugar.
YIELD: 3 1/2 dozen cupcakes
*********************
I halved the recipe and it made 12 cupcakes.
Intead of egg I subbed milled flax seed. (1 T milled flaxseed to 3 T water)
I was going to use applesauce instead of oil but didn't want to experiment with what the right amount would have been. This is breakfast tomorrow.
Tallulah really liked the cupcake. She had one tonight. I think next time I'll use half applesauce and coconut oil.
1 1/2 cups honey
1 cup oil
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup walnuts (optional)
powdered sugar
Beat eggs. Add honey and oil and mix well. Add dry ingredients. Stir
in carrots and nuts if used.
Grease and flour a 9 inch by 13 inch pan. Pour batter into pan and smooth it out.
Bake at 350F for 45 to 50 minutes.
CUPCAKES - (in liners) Bake at 350F for 25 minutes. Cool.
Just before serving, sprinkle liberally with sifted powdered sugar.
YIELD: 3 1/2 dozen cupcakes
*********************
I halved the recipe and it made 12 cupcakes.
Intead of egg I subbed milled flax seed. (1 T milled flaxseed to 3 T water)
I was going to use applesauce instead of oil but didn't want to experiment with what the right amount would have been. This is breakfast tomorrow.
Tallulah really liked the cupcake. She had one tonight. I think next time I'll use half applesauce and coconut oil.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
training
this new dog is pretty cool. she is super smart and no potty accidents!
we started with raw feeding and the turkey is not taking to the new food. she is super excited when i put the food in her dish, licks the bowl and even the chicken. but that's all.
she does well with 'sit', okay with 'stay'. she hasn't pulled as much on her leash. i wrap the leash around my arm to shorten the length and she stays pretty close by without pulling.
kitten doesn't pay her any mind. she walks by the dog like she hasn't a care in the world and the dog leaves her alone. little cat (20 pounds of duh) growls and runs and the dog thinks it's fun to chase. the littles thinks that is fun, too.
we started with raw feeding and the turkey is not taking to the new food. she is super excited when i put the food in her dish, licks the bowl and even the chicken. but that's all.
she does well with 'sit', okay with 'stay'. she hasn't pulled as much on her leash. i wrap the leash around my arm to shorten the length and she stays pretty close by without pulling.
kitten doesn't pay her any mind. she walks by the dog like she hasn't a care in the world and the dog leaves her alone. little cat (20 pounds of duh) growls and runs and the dog thinks it's fun to chase. the littles thinks that is fun, too.
Nothing much going on here. Isaac wants to start triathlon training again. He can compete in races this year since he turns 7 in October.
We went to the park on Friday and Isaac ran around the track (1K) while the dog walked me. He did that twice.
Tallulah is another runner. I love that my littles love to run, bike, be active so much. I am one of the laziest people I know and would much rather lay on the couch and read a book than play/exercise.
Maybe that's why I gained 30 pounds this past year.
We went to the park on Friday and Isaac ran around the track (1K) while the dog walked me. He did that twice.
Tallulah is another runner. I love that my littles love to run, bike, be active so much. I am one of the laziest people I know and would much rather lay on the couch and read a book than play/exercise.
Maybe that's why I gained 30 pounds this past year.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
a new family member
we adopted a 2.5 year old Border Collie rescue. The Tallulah of dogs. She is nameless. Foster dad named her but I don't like the name AND she doesn't recognize the name.
This is my first real dog. The dog whisperer and I are becoming fast friends.
This is my first real dog. The dog whisperer and I are becoming fast friends.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
*Please Do Not "Home School" Your Kindergarten Child!
By Marsha Johnson
Recently I have read quite a few letters from parents who are 'home school'
their children, ages four to six, and who have questions and concerns about
what to 'teach', what to do, how to be, what rhythm to use, and what
materials or resources to buy for this task! Often parents are asking if
they can move their young child 'ahead' to a grades program as the child
seems to be 'ready' to move on! Each time I receive or read one of these
letters, written by very well meaning adults, I cringe!
This is why: being at HOME with your children is the HOME SCHOOL of the
Waldorf world! Just being at home, following your daily routines, including
the children, is the HOME SCHOOL of the child who has not yet experienced
seven springs (or Easters).
However, it is not being at HOME in the way we do in this modern century or
modern times with all of our entertainment gadgets and inventions. The task
of the parent with children under seven springs is to create and sustain a
home rhythm that would have been very strongly present before the 1960s. I
say the 1960s because that is when almost every household had acquired a TV,
a dishwasher, and dryers�.not to mention all the other boxes and machines
that have come along since. In addition, at that time, almost all
households had only 1 car, not two, and Daddy usually took it to work, or on
the farm, shared a car with all the relatives living around the farm.
Imagine, if you could, that you go around your home and unplug all those
cords! Imagine that you have unplugged those cords, and disabled the
outlets, except for the refrigerator and the freezer, and you have no access
to a vehicle for most of the day. Now you are back in the 1950s�..ok, you
can keep the washing machine (they came with wringers by the way I can still
recall turning my grandma's for her�.). Now you have the ideal setting for
a Waldorf Home Kindergarten Experience.
Waldorf education in the schools for the younger children is an attempt to
re-create the HOME in the school��you ARE at home, so make it a HOME�.not a
storage place for all the grown up toys that have been collected��create a
home where breakfast is cooked and served, dishes are set on a table with a
cloth and some flowers or beautiful arrangement in the middle of the table,
where please and thank you are heard, where food is passed around in pretty
dishes���..where butter has its own tiny knife, where the smells of the soup
pot fill the house, where the garden is tended each day, where the floors
are swept, and the closets are tidy, and the children have 'work' to do each
day, with you or with Daddy, and the rhythms are in place!
Home rhythm is what is missing in our culture: it went away with the
electric light, and now has nearly vanished with instant gratification and
instant entertainment and 24 hour stores and literally the loss of a strong
connection with nature! Hardly anyone observes sunset or sunrises any
more��our homes are curtained and shut off from the seasons, and our eyes
are glued to the SCREEN in front of us. Home rhythm is the critical piece
for home schooling the young child, and we must revive this knowledge and
provide a platform for parents to use as an anchor, which literally does not
cost anything, not even one dime!
Using a curriculum for a young child at home takes the activity out of the
daily rhythm that should be in the home already, makes it artificial, sets
it aside, makes it too conscious-raising! Now we will learn! That bringing
of 'now' awakens the child, hardens the nerve sense system, forces them out
of the dream-time that surrounds them with beauty and grace, and clips off
part of their childhood���.Now we will color, Now we will do a poem, Now we
will sing this song and so on���the singing and the poems should arise
naturally, out of the rhythm of the day!
When you make the bread on a particular day, you knead and knead, and out of
the rhythm of that motion, your voice emerges and you sing��.Blow wind blow
and Go mill go, so the miller can crack the corn, and the baker can take it
and into bread bake it, and bring us a loaf in the morn! You sing about
bread and grain and bakers and millers because you ARE making bread or
muffins or biscuits����it makes sense to you and to the child! You sing
about washing, you sing about cleaning, you sing about angels at bedtime,
you bring integrity and rhythm to the day in your home, with your children!
You say a poem about chickens when you feed them! You bring the table
blessings when you eat. You have a song about the wind when are outside,
taking a walk, working in the garden, and so on��what you bring in your home
is rich and repeated and steady and the children know that when the leaves
begin to fall, mama sings that song! Every year! They count on it and they
count on you, and this beautiful stability enters their thinking and their
bodies and gives them strength and wisdom and prepares them to enter the
world as free human beings.
In a daily rhythm, you can examine your life and think of how to order the
tasks and chores: mostly they fall into several distinct categories: taking
care of our clothing, our homes, our gardens, our food, someone else, and
creating what is needed��.in those general areas, we can begin to build a
daily rhythm for the children and ourselves���we clean our clothes on this
day: including bed clothes and human clothes and dolls' clothes, and so on.
We wash and fold and hang out to dry and iron�..another day we take care of
our home: we sweep and polish and dust and shine, we wash the porch, the
surfaces, and we beautify the nature table��.on another day, we prepare our
weekly foods, we garden, we harvest, we grind, we bake, we can, we dry, we
glean, and organize our cupboards or bake a pie or cookies for the
jar�����..on another day, we go visiting! We share what we prepared, we
bring a small gift, we perform a small chore, we help our neighbor or
parents or friends to construct or fix something, we trim and rake, we
prepare lunch together, and enjoy the company of others���.these daily
rhythms are so strongly needed for the whole family and the art of
economizing and using our resources wisely is needed by everyone on this
planet.
For the daily feeling, for me at least, the mornings are busy, lots of
physical activities, lots of movement, lots of energy, and a mid morning
break with snack and tea, is good, followed by an out breathing time with a
walk outside for fresh air or play��..then perhaps a quieter period after
lunch with reading aloud, looking at picture books, telling stories, working
on the handwork by the cozy hearth, singing some quiet songs as fingers work
the yarn or needles, then a resting time, followed by a slower pace towards
the evening meal preparation, then the familiar comfort of warm bath, cozy
bed time, story, candle, singing, and so on��drifting into sleep with a
feeling of a day well spent, well balanced, well brought.
Provide for the young child a box of art items, that can be brought out
when requested, with beeswax stick crayons, in red, yellow, blue, green,
gold, brown, and violet. Have at hand, nice thick paper with rounded
corners, in various sizes, for using when requested. Do not allow the
children to just scribble a bit on many pages, keep a reverence for the
clean white paper and the box of crayons, care for them, store them
carefully away, and write on the paper the date and name of the child and
honor the work that has been brought. Often the parent must sit right at
the table, perhaps handwork at hand, being there, while the child
colors�..also the same for painting, once a week or so, bring out one color
of Stockmar Watercolor paint, premixed, in a small jar, and have ready a
sheet of thick water color paper, rounded at the corners, lay it on a board,
bring the rag, and the brush and the water jar, and allow this young child
to paint carefully, while you sit nearby, with your handwork or mending, and
just be there�..children 3 and 4, can paint with 1 color, age 5 and 6 can
learn to use 2 colors��.keep it simple, and save the paints and they will
last for years! Have at hand, Lemon Yellow, Prussian Blue, and Karminrot.
You can order these directing from Mercurious.com as a homeschooler. Later,
add Golden Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, and Rotviolet�..
Children and adults need more sleep than we allow in our time. Early
bedtimes and rising with the sun are good habits for everyone and leave us
feeling healthy and well. I have a natural feeling that if we leave our
windows uncovered, the child will rise with the sun and be refreshed and
ready for the day��bedtime for children up to seven springs should be at 7
pm. This is quite unusual to see families aware of this need: I see
chronically fatigued and sleep deprived children and adults
everywhere! Children
up to seven springs need 12-14 hours of sleep per day�..if they cannot rest
easily, examine the amount of brain stimulation they are receiving in the
form of screens! For some children, screens can produce a brain activity
like that of a person who just took several shots of espresso! Remove the
screens in your home, from your child's access, and you will find, over
several months, a gradual and welcome return to natural sleep rhythms.
A home kindergarten is a beautiful adventure based on real life with real
people and a house or apartment, and a dedication to rhythm, beauty, warmth,
and health! Too often I hear young parents say, well, I have to do
something with the kids to keep them busy while I get stuff done! So we
train our children, then, to immerse themselves in an electronic virtual
world of 'mind numbing entertainment' while we rush about to load the
dishwasher, reheat an already cooked product in the microwave, download the
latest computer program��.talk on the telephone��try to shovel in the
mountain of plastic toys and parts into a closet or toy box�.wish for a
dryer that also folded the clothes��and so on���.and so on���this in itself
divorces the child from her own world, his own work, her ability to feel
confident about being competent, capable, and proud of what has been
accomplished in this day. The child needs the full period of time of seven
springs to play, to imagine with a few objects, to be quiet and to be busy,
to rest and to run, to help others and to wonder. After the seventh spring,
the life forces are freed up for memory work, for learning the letters, for
directed academic projects and activities. Forcing or even enabling a young
child into more directed educational activities is like forcing a tulip to
bloom in winter: you can do it, but that bulb will never be as healthy
again, it has spent its forces, it has weakened its natural state of
development, for a temporary benefit. Be patient and rest in the knowledge
that you are on the right path.
Please do not buy expensive K teaching manuals or curriculums. Buy a few
books on how to knit, how to grow a bio dynamic garden, how to cook simple
whole foods (Nourishing Traditions is a great one), a song book if you don't
know any songs, learn to play an instrument (I highly recommend a Choroi
Pentatonic Flute and books at prometheanpress.com), a wonderful broom and
dustpan, some lovely bowls for baking and mixing���.and sit down to examine
your lives and see how you can bring daily rhythm into your home. The
parents must work together on this effort, and support one another, and it
is very good to gather once a week with likeminded families for play and
social activities and outings, and sharing. If you can commit to spending
2 hours in the morning on the day's activity, 1 hour outside each day in
play and exercise, 1 hour each day in resting, story telling, and
handwork��you will have a home rhythm that is satisfying and better than any
kindergarten anywhere! This is the ideal for the school life, later, those
first six years at home, with mama or papa, spent in a useful healthy rhythm
and time for the inner forces of imagination to develop and flower. In
time, the academic portion of the learning begins either in a more formal
home school in the Autumn after seven springs, or in a school setting.**
By Marsha Johnson
Recently I have read quite a few letters from parents who are 'home school'
their children, ages four to six, and who have questions and concerns about
what to 'teach', what to do, how to be, what rhythm to use, and what
materials or resources to buy for this task! Often parents are asking if
they can move their young child 'ahead' to a grades program as the child
seems to be 'ready' to move on! Each time I receive or read one of these
letters, written by very well meaning adults, I cringe!
This is why: being at HOME with your children is the HOME SCHOOL of the
Waldorf world! Just being at home, following your daily routines, including
the children, is the HOME SCHOOL of the child who has not yet experienced
seven springs (or Easters).
However, it is not being at HOME in the way we do in this modern century or
modern times with all of our entertainment gadgets and inventions. The task
of the parent with children under seven springs is to create and sustain a
home rhythm that would have been very strongly present before the 1960s. I
say the 1960s because that is when almost every household had acquired a TV,
a dishwasher, and dryers�.not to mention all the other boxes and machines
that have come along since. In addition, at that time, almost all
households had only 1 car, not two, and Daddy usually took it to work, or on
the farm, shared a car with all the relatives living around the farm.
Imagine, if you could, that you go around your home and unplug all those
cords! Imagine that you have unplugged those cords, and disabled the
outlets, except for the refrigerator and the freezer, and you have no access
to a vehicle for most of the day. Now you are back in the 1950s�..ok, you
can keep the washing machine (they came with wringers by the way I can still
recall turning my grandma's for her�.). Now you have the ideal setting for
a Waldorf Home Kindergarten Experience.
Waldorf education in the schools for the younger children is an attempt to
re-create the HOME in the school��you ARE at home, so make it a HOME�.not a
storage place for all the grown up toys that have been collected��create a
home where breakfast is cooked and served, dishes are set on a table with a
cloth and some flowers or beautiful arrangement in the middle of the table,
where please and thank you are heard, where food is passed around in pretty
dishes���..where butter has its own tiny knife, where the smells of the soup
pot fill the house, where the garden is tended each day, where the floors
are swept, and the closets are tidy, and the children have 'work' to do each
day, with you or with Daddy, and the rhythms are in place!
Home rhythm is what is missing in our culture: it went away with the
electric light, and now has nearly vanished with instant gratification and
instant entertainment and 24 hour stores and literally the loss of a strong
connection with nature! Hardly anyone observes sunset or sunrises any
more��our homes are curtained and shut off from the seasons, and our eyes
are glued to the SCREEN in front of us. Home rhythm is the critical piece
for home schooling the young child, and we must revive this knowledge and
provide a platform for parents to use as an anchor, which literally does not
cost anything, not even one dime!
Using a curriculum for a young child at home takes the activity out of the
daily rhythm that should be in the home already, makes it artificial, sets
it aside, makes it too conscious-raising! Now we will learn! That bringing
of 'now' awakens the child, hardens the nerve sense system, forces them out
of the dream-time that surrounds them with beauty and grace, and clips off
part of their childhood���.Now we will color, Now we will do a poem, Now we
will sing this song and so on���the singing and the poems should arise
naturally, out of the rhythm of the day!
When you make the bread on a particular day, you knead and knead, and out of
the rhythm of that motion, your voice emerges and you sing��.Blow wind blow
and Go mill go, so the miller can crack the corn, and the baker can take it
and into bread bake it, and bring us a loaf in the morn! You sing about
bread and grain and bakers and millers because you ARE making bread or
muffins or biscuits����it makes sense to you and to the child! You sing
about washing, you sing about cleaning, you sing about angels at bedtime,
you bring integrity and rhythm to the day in your home, with your children!
You say a poem about chickens when you feed them! You bring the table
blessings when you eat. You have a song about the wind when are outside,
taking a walk, working in the garden, and so on��what you bring in your home
is rich and repeated and steady and the children know that when the leaves
begin to fall, mama sings that song! Every year! They count on it and they
count on you, and this beautiful stability enters their thinking and their
bodies and gives them strength and wisdom and prepares them to enter the
world as free human beings.
In a daily rhythm, you can examine your life and think of how to order the
tasks and chores: mostly they fall into several distinct categories: taking
care of our clothing, our homes, our gardens, our food, someone else, and
creating what is needed��.in those general areas, we can begin to build a
daily rhythm for the children and ourselves���we clean our clothes on this
day: including bed clothes and human clothes and dolls' clothes, and so on.
We wash and fold and hang out to dry and iron�..another day we take care of
our home: we sweep and polish and dust and shine, we wash the porch, the
surfaces, and we beautify the nature table��.on another day, we prepare our
weekly foods, we garden, we harvest, we grind, we bake, we can, we dry, we
glean, and organize our cupboards or bake a pie or cookies for the
jar�����..on another day, we go visiting! We share what we prepared, we
bring a small gift, we perform a small chore, we help our neighbor or
parents or friends to construct or fix something, we trim and rake, we
prepare lunch together, and enjoy the company of others���.these daily
rhythms are so strongly needed for the whole family and the art of
economizing and using our resources wisely is needed by everyone on this
planet.
For the daily feeling, for me at least, the mornings are busy, lots of
physical activities, lots of movement, lots of energy, and a mid morning
break with snack and tea, is good, followed by an out breathing time with a
walk outside for fresh air or play��..then perhaps a quieter period after
lunch with reading aloud, looking at picture books, telling stories, working
on the handwork by the cozy hearth, singing some quiet songs as fingers work
the yarn or needles, then a resting time, followed by a slower pace towards
the evening meal preparation, then the familiar comfort of warm bath, cozy
bed time, story, candle, singing, and so on��drifting into sleep with a
feeling of a day well spent, well balanced, well brought.
Provide for the young child a box of art items, that can be brought out
when requested, with beeswax stick crayons, in red, yellow, blue, green,
gold, brown, and violet. Have at hand, nice thick paper with rounded
corners, in various sizes, for using when requested. Do not allow the
children to just scribble a bit on many pages, keep a reverence for the
clean white paper and the box of crayons, care for them, store them
carefully away, and write on the paper the date and name of the child and
honor the work that has been brought. Often the parent must sit right at
the table, perhaps handwork at hand, being there, while the child
colors�..also the same for painting, once a week or so, bring out one color
of Stockmar Watercolor paint, premixed, in a small jar, and have ready a
sheet of thick water color paper, rounded at the corners, lay it on a board,
bring the rag, and the brush and the water jar, and allow this young child
to paint carefully, while you sit nearby, with your handwork or mending, and
just be there�..children 3 and 4, can paint with 1 color, age 5 and 6 can
learn to use 2 colors��.keep it simple, and save the paints and they will
last for years! Have at hand, Lemon Yellow, Prussian Blue, and Karminrot.
You can order these directing from Mercurious.com as a homeschooler. Later,
add Golden Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, and Rotviolet�..
Children and adults need more sleep than we allow in our time. Early
bedtimes and rising with the sun are good habits for everyone and leave us
feeling healthy and well. I have a natural feeling that if we leave our
windows uncovered, the child will rise with the sun and be refreshed and
ready for the day��bedtime for children up to seven springs should be at 7
pm. This is quite unusual to see families aware of this need: I see
chronically fatigued and sleep deprived children and adults
everywhere! Children
up to seven springs need 12-14 hours of sleep per day�..if they cannot rest
easily, examine the amount of brain stimulation they are receiving in the
form of screens! For some children, screens can produce a brain activity
like that of a person who just took several shots of espresso! Remove the
screens in your home, from your child's access, and you will find, over
several months, a gradual and welcome return to natural sleep rhythms.
A home kindergarten is a beautiful adventure based on real life with real
people and a house or apartment, and a dedication to rhythm, beauty, warmth,
and health! Too often I hear young parents say, well, I have to do
something with the kids to keep them busy while I get stuff done! So we
train our children, then, to immerse themselves in an electronic virtual
world of 'mind numbing entertainment' while we rush about to load the
dishwasher, reheat an already cooked product in the microwave, download the
latest computer program��.talk on the telephone��try to shovel in the
mountain of plastic toys and parts into a closet or toy box�.wish for a
dryer that also folded the clothes��and so on���.and so on���this in itself
divorces the child from her own world, his own work, her ability to feel
confident about being competent, capable, and proud of what has been
accomplished in this day. The child needs the full period of time of seven
springs to play, to imagine with a few objects, to be quiet and to be busy,
to rest and to run, to help others and to wonder. After the seventh spring,
the life forces are freed up for memory work, for learning the letters, for
directed academic projects and activities. Forcing or even enabling a young
child into more directed educational activities is like forcing a tulip to
bloom in winter: you can do it, but that bulb will never be as healthy
again, it has spent its forces, it has weakened its natural state of
development, for a temporary benefit. Be patient and rest in the knowledge
that you are on the right path.
Please do not buy expensive K teaching manuals or curriculums. Buy a few
books on how to knit, how to grow a bio dynamic garden, how to cook simple
whole foods (Nourishing Traditions is a great one), a song book if you don't
know any songs, learn to play an instrument (I highly recommend a Choroi
Pentatonic Flute and books at prometheanpress.com), a wonderful broom and
dustpan, some lovely bowls for baking and mixing���.and sit down to examine
your lives and see how you can bring daily rhythm into your home. The
parents must work together on this effort, and support one another, and it
is very good to gather once a week with likeminded families for play and
social activities and outings, and sharing. If you can commit to spending
2 hours in the morning on the day's activity, 1 hour outside each day in
play and exercise, 1 hour each day in resting, story telling, and
handwork��you will have a home rhythm that is satisfying and better than any
kindergarten anywhere! This is the ideal for the school life, later, those
first six years at home, with mama or papa, spent in a useful healthy rhythm
and time for the inner forces of imagination to develop and flower. In
time, the academic portion of the learning begins either in a more formal
home school in the Autumn after seven springs, or in a school setting.**
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
diagnosis, duh
Tallou's diagnosis after yesterday's vist: BEHAVIOR DISORDER, DISRUPTIVE
There is also "hyperactivity" and "frequent temper tantrums" on the sheet.
And we paid for this??
I do have a problem with this though. I could understand if the behaviour recently started how this diagnosis might be true but this has been going on since she was BORN.
And temper tantrums imply that the one having the feelings is doing this in a manipulative manner and is able to stop the behaviour. Tallulah is not able to stop at all. She is quite helpless and looks frightened at how out of control she is.
There is also "hyperactivity" and "frequent temper tantrums" on the sheet.
And we paid for this??
I do have a problem with this though. I could understand if the behaviour recently started how this diagnosis might be true but this has been going on since she was BORN.
And temper tantrums imply that the one having the feelings is doing this in a manipulative manner and is able to stop the behaviour. Tallulah is not able to stop at all. She is quite helpless and looks frightened at how out of control she is.
appointments
We had an appointment for Tallulah yesterday. We suspect she might have SPD, and while it was something we could deal with before it's becoming harder to handle now. She's wanting to do things that we don't feel comfortable letting her do and (ie - grandparent visit) in case she has her feelings.
We found the name of a developmental neurologist doc with great recs. and went to make an appointment. But he doesn't take our new insurace (our ins changed 1/1/08). They said call Texas Children's Hospital neurology department.
I called, told them my story and made appointment and saw the doc yesterday. She is a regular pediatric neurologist. After the eval she said that she doesn't normally see people like Tallou but a developmental neurologist does.
How am I supposed to know that? If I had known that before then I woldn't have made the appointment. She gave us a referral to the main TCH Meyer place and I called to make an appointment today. Afterr being booted to a voice mail every single time I pressed 2 to make an appointment I pressed 0 for the physician line.
Rude answer lady said to fax the referral, insurance card, our contact info and they will send us out a package. We fill that out, mail it in and are put on a 6-12 month wait list. oy.
We found the name of a developmental neurologist doc with great recs. and went to make an appointment. But he doesn't take our new insurace (our ins changed 1/1/08). They said call Texas Children's Hospital neurology department.
I called, told them my story and made appointment and saw the doc yesterday. She is a regular pediatric neurologist. After the eval she said that she doesn't normally see people like Tallou but a developmental neurologist does.
How am I supposed to know that? If I had known that before then I woldn't have made the appointment. She gave us a referral to the main TCH Meyer place and I called to make an appointment today. Afterr being booted to a voice mail every single time I pressed 2 to make an appointment I pressed 0 for the physician line.
Rude answer lady said to fax the referral, insurance card, our contact info and they will send us out a package. We fill that out, mail it in and are put on a 6-12 month wait list. oy.
Rock Star
boychik is playing Pat Benetar on Guitar Hero and Tallou is playing (real-live kid size) drums. Penelope is eating soap.
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