The Fine Print

One of the hopes and dreams that parents have for their children is that their kids will be good readers and will love the written word. At this house, we surround the kids with books (We go so far as to risk them being lost in the maze of their father's theology books (ahem), but that is another topic for another time.). We read aloud, we buy books on cd and mp3 because Mommy's voice give out too quickly, and they see us reading. Even as I type, Bams is rolling around in a big pile of board books. He picks them up, turns them over, pats them, turns the pages and studies them intently. He also chews on them, trying to fully digest their content, but he will learn and board books are chocked full of fiber.

The only problem with books is that they contain IDEAS which are pass on to susceptible little minds. And IDEAS have CONSEQUENCES, like stopped up toilet. But I am getting ahead of myself. My children have a flair for the dramatic. Where they got that from, I have no idea, but it is there in large quantities. They read something, then they must draw it, then they must. act. it. out. We have had numerous productions of Frog and Toad, Little Bear and the like. Richard Scarry is a favorite, but it has only gotten to the "draw teeny-tiny picture and have Mommy cut them out for magnets" stage.

Help, Mommy's hand has a cramp.

Keeping Boo interested in a book that does not involve trains can be a bit tricky. So we have turned to comic books much to the chagrin of my Charlotte Mason loving soul. I am pretty sure Calvin and Hobbes is not on the Ambleside 3rd grade reading list, but high interest it is. When the books came in the mail, immediately all activity stopped and the books were poured over. Giggles were heard, snatches were read aloud with great expression and questions were asked. Days later I heard a great commotion coming from downstairs. Boo was standing outside the bathroom door, pounding on it and yelling out threatenings to Snoo inside who, in turn, was giving it right back to him. When asked what was going on, they explained that they were playing "Revenged of the Babysat" where Rosalynn, the babysitter, is trying to get her study notes back from Calvin who is locked in the bathroom threatening to flush them down the toilet. You see where this is going, right? It seems hilarious and entertaining, but I just recently had to unclogged a toilet. So now it is ex nay on the Calvin and Hobbes productions.

Now some Garfield books are on the way. To the best of my recollection, there are no toilets involved in these books, just lasagna, sleep (maybe it will give them ideas) and spider splatting (which would be very helpful seeing as I hate spiders). Win-win-win. Oh, but there is the drop kicking of Odie. Foiled again. I wonder which one is going to be Odie.

Citizens of the World

My children have always been a bit confused geographically speaking. They are confused in other ways as well, but that is another topic for another day. Today it's all about geography.

I have always wanted geography to be an organic part of the kids' life. To that end maps of the world and of the United States were placed at eye level for them to explore and find locations that we would talk about. Now this is all well and good, and even, dare I say it, brilliant. We started out identifying Italy because it is shaped like a boot, and kids find that fact to be wonderful. But somehow along the way the kids have forgotten where they are from or have started not to care. Instead, they have just started picking out places where they claim to be citizens.

For Boo it started out to be, not surprisingly, Italy. He would claim that he and his father were it fact from Italy. And he could point to it on the map. Now, his father is German. Boo knows this. He knows that Daddy, Oma and Opa speak German. But he was, for a time, convinced that they were Italian. Maybe it came about because of their mutual love of all things spaghetti. Now he wants to live in Chicago because he is "a city kid, not a country kid" and, of course, Chicago has every kind of train imaginable. He is also in love with California because Lightening McQueen goes there to race. Greece is high on his list, but I think this is because he believes it to be overrun with colorful Mini Coopers, thanks to a history dvd in which the host zooms all over the place in the jaunty Coopers.

They also are a little shaky on the time and space thing. When we go on a trip to visit Grandnanny in Louisiana, they always want to know where we are. If you tell them Alabama, they will shout out "No, this is Atlanta, GA." They get themselves so confused, and it provides them with hours of material to argue about. Not that they need any help in that department.

This geographical oddity has spilled over into their language. Snoo is convinced that she can speak German. They are learning the language and will, no doubt, in the near future be able to carry on conversations that I cannot understand. But, as of now, the skill is limited. That does not stop the Snoo. She told her father one day that she knew how to say "volcano" in German. It sounded something like "Vaaaalcaaaanoooooo". They love the books "Frog and Toad" and were delighted to learn that "frog" in German was "Frosch". Then they wanted to know how to say "toad". I told them that I didn't know so Snoo decided to educate us all. "Mommy, it's 'Frosch and Toasch'." (It is actually "Kroete" but once she has set her mind upon something, she cannot be dissuaded.) Now they can't be faulted for this language complication. It's hereditary. As a child I believed that if I added an extra "a" or "o" sound to the end of every word, it amounted to being bilingual on my part. Ia hava skillza. Voila! That's French.

To further complicate matters, my children can speak with perfect British accents and vocabulary should the situation call for it, which they frequently think it does. I blame this all on Winnie the Pooh, Kipper, Frances and Dame Edna Everage. They have expansive memories so books and programs full of British dialogue has been committed to memory. Flashlights are torches. Vacations are holidays. Lollipops are lollies. Many the sideways glance we have received while they hold forth in character.

I hope to travel abroad with these characters some day, to explore new places together. We will see if the world at large knows how to deal with these AmeriGermItaltish children.

That's How We Role

This has been a doozy of a week. We have had multitudinous meltdowns, people. Bodies have flailed. Voices have wailed. And pitying glances have been cast in my general direction. Calls have been placed to Daddy with queries of "what do I do now? what are these people on?" Time Outs have been taken by mommy. Chocolate and caffeine have been consumed it large quantities.

But there have also been some real sweet times. We have a reward system set up for the kids so that when we catch them loving their neighbor, they get to climb up Big Hill. Getting to the top of Big Hill results in a treat. Boo made it to the top one morning. This distressed Snoo who views all such things as a competition. Boo comforted her by saying "Don't worry, Snoo. I will wait for you." Later when he had a treat for something else, he wanted to share it with Snoo so she wouldn't be upset. It melts a mommy's heart. And, tonight, all three kiddos were rolling on the floor together playing with fractions.

We have also had some decent school days. Part of my homeschooling strategy involves making school not seem like school. I believe this is so much easier with the younger grades. Though I have to admit, there is a part of me that desires to just sit down and force the Boo through workbook page after workbook page because that is measurable and gives me something to point to and say "yes, we did school and accomplished something".

Now I could write a whole post about how I could home school with just the iTouch, but let it suffice to say that technology has come up with some good stuff. As we drive every day to pick up Snoo from K-5, Boo does math cleverly disguised as pizza. He practices building sentences and answering questions with some awesome autism apps that I have found.

Then, today, I found a 3-d magnetic fraction set. Boo set out following the instructions on the box "1/2 + 1/4 +2/8 = 1 whole". He did that twice and then held up the shapes and declared "now I have two wholes". And his siblings are there as well, taking it all in. Oh, I am such a sneaky mommy.

So that's how it goes. There are ups and downs, and we role with it. Highly caffeinated, of course.