The Overscheduled Child

Mine? Not yet. But I have to admit as the kids get older, I am noticing that more and more of their classmates and friends are becoming skilled at something. Whether it be piano, gymnastics or karate, I am starting to feel the pressure.

In my perfect scenario, my kids would play happily for hours, outside and inside with their educationally stimulating and non-toxic toys. We would bake, sing, read and sew together all the while completely enjoying each other's company. And of course we would live in that idyllic house in the country, with good neighbors not too far away.

And we do actually do a lot of this, just yesterday we made play dough and then constructed pirate ships for over an hour. Today, we told Christmas stories and made pipe cleaner candy canes. Pumpkin muffins are in our near future.

Something else I did today was to sign Drew up for soccer and Nora for gymnastics. The fact of the matter is, Drew is so ready to be a star, he is competitive and athletic and has an enormous appetite for all things sports related. He is his Daddy's son. Nora is a gymnast in the waiting. She hangs and climbs on everything and also has a large amount of grace. (Again, Daddy's genes.)

So as we head in to the "school years", I am dragging my the mud. I don't want to give away our family life to extras. And I have heard one too many times about the excessive homework.

How do I protect my kids and family from the rat race this early in life? How do I ensure that they have plenty of free time, outdoor time, and cozy family time? I am not sure, I think being aware of how quickly it can all spin out of control is the first step. I also think finding the division between my needs and my children's needs is key.

Because although I am dragging mine, their feet are ready for running and kicking and jumping and leaping, and becoming confident in the world around them. This crazy new world that is waiting for them.

Quote of the Day

Drew after a nice breakfast on Sunday,

"I feel like we are in a chapter book." He thinks, "You know, I always feel like that."

Not quite sure what this means but the sincerity is palpable!

To be or not to be...

Nora at our garage sale, we sold the baby stuff! So much work but it paid well. We have since cleaned and organized pretty much the entire house and painted the bathroom and kitchen, painted all the hardware, new curtains and decorations. All we have left to do is put in new light fixtures and the bathroom floor. That is unless we decide to paint all the wood white (which we both agree would be nice). But this has taken many weekends and we are definitely needing one off!

Tomorrow is Nora's first day of preschool and Drew will be in kindergarten until two. What does that mean for me? Two hours of my own time! Well, really and hour and a half but who's counting. I can't believe I am the mom saying that I will relish the fact that my kids are gone but heck, I have broken all expectations of being a perfect mother so far, why stop now. (It helps that the kids love school and I love our school too, it is a cooperative and a chance for me to meet some surprisingly hip mamas.) Here is what I have planned to do in my short time, eye doctor, garden (the eggplants and peppers are still coming in), make dinner (lentil loaf), read (Peace is Every Step- Thich Nhat Hahn and A Shooting Star- Stegner), walk Jake, pick up the house, go through my science stuff and clean up the heap that landed in the basement after cleaning out almost every closet/room in the house. What I really will do? Probably eye doctor, dinner and water the garden. Ahhh.



While having decluttered and painted the kitchen does feel great I am trying to remember that this order is only temporary. That our life is not very orderly and all I have is the present, a time to be with my 3 and 6 year old. Why do I have to work at that so much? After talking to many stay-at-homers through the years, I think it comes with the territory. Here we are, well educated, life-loving women who basically labor in repetitive tasks day in and out. And sometimes just want to sit down in a nice clean space! So much time to think, no time whatsoever to act on it. Think I'm whining? You try it.

So as my kids slowly break away from our nest, I am really relishing these years, and trying to be at peace with the clutter and the paycheck that never comes.

More Tride Pics

These are the last of the pictures including Drew's big camp out with Val. Drew went to camp for two weeks, a highlight was rockclimbing. When asked what he thought he could do after climbing so high, he said, "eat salad". There are also a few of my camp, BOOM! I had a great time doing all kinds of exploding science experiments with the kids and their instuctors, Jeremy and Emily Scott.(Not to be confussed with my sister)....

Around Town...

Trip to Telluride

This one was taken by Nora.


Party in the hotey! Happy Sixth Birthday Drew!

Drew's perfect dinner, pizza and a large chocolate chip cookie.

My little Diva, she really isn't flipping me off- yet.

Ready to roll.

He brings home the bacon then fries it up in a pan.

So many mama bloggers post (brag) about their husbands and I thought it was high time I did so here. Here is why I am entering Val into the best husband and father of all time competition.

If I am in bed, he will bring me a glass of water or tea without hesitation.

He is so trusting of people. He is always so transparent and non -judgemental and although that can get him into trouble with manipulative people, it is still a beautiful way to be.

He can let things go, and helps me to let things go all the time.

He does the laundry, all of it.

He pays the bills.

He plays baseball with Drew all of the time and tenderly tucks his hair under his cap when needed.

He monitors the kids "ouchies" with a doctors eye and a nurse's touch.

He encourages me to make new friends, spend time away and pursue my own interests.

He cuddles up with Nora and takes long naps with her on the weekends.

He tells Nora she is beautiful, just like her mama.

He fixes Nora's hair and gets her dressed even in the face of doing it all wrong.

He makes very good pancakes on Saturday mornings.

He has amazing friends and shares them all with me.

He helps me see the humor in our chaotic life.

He moved across the country for me.

He reads endless amounts of chapters with Drew even if he is completely exhausted.

He is passionate about sports, he makes them fun for even non-sports people.

My favorite thing is to hear DADDY! at the end of a long day because I know it his favorite thing to hear too.

He is loyal.

He loves music and starts dance parties at our house all the time.

He is coming home during his lunch break so I can get some work done.

I could go on and on but I just wanted to let you know val/daddy, we love you and are completely blessed to have you in our lives.

June 2009

Strawberry picking with our friends Natalie and Beatrice

Summer is in full swing. Val and I were lucky enough to get away to see Phish for a weekend with lots of old friends, such a great time and great way to recharge the batteries from the daily grind. Now we are gearing up to drive to Telluride. Drew will be turning six in the car and hotel (with pool we hope!). I will be teaching science at Emily's camp (Telluride Acadamy) and Val will be the stay at home parent for two weeks! I look forward to the car trip even though I think we may be crazy, even with the kids this young, we don't get as much family time as I would like. Here are some pics from June...

The Good Life

Well, these pictures are not the best but I wanted to get something up on the blog. It has been a really hectic time of late but now that it is summer I am hoping things will slow down. (After I plan Science Camp for Telluride Acadamy and packing us all up for a two week trip!)

I have taken on a lot latley, Mad Science, Forest Boys, a Master Naturalist Class, a summer camp and a garden. And while I do enjoy all of these things (and the paycheck that comes with a few), it is a good reminder for me of what is really important here. Which of course is Drew and Nora. It is really easy to loose sight of this as the kids get older and I start thinking I can do more, but I miss the rythem we used to have, and the time I used to spend with them (not just planning, running, cooking, cleaning, but playing, crafting, reading, baking, ect.).

As I look at our busy summer (my busy summer), I am trying to remember that everyday counts, every moment counts. Tommorow we plan to make chef masks and pretzels. Ah, the good life.

Easter 2009

Drew and Nora after finding their baskets.


Jen and the kids post easter egg hunt.

Nora, Mona and Drew


Mmmm. Candy, Nora was stealing it from Willow's basket. So proud:).

American Idol's Blake Lewis version of Bon Jovi

Nora in the kitchen

Nora has really become quite handy in the kitchen and likes to experiment with new food combinations like mashed sweet potatoes mixed with popcorn and green beans on pizza. She has talent I tell you. The hot pink sprinkles on this very chocolate Valentine's Day cake were all her idea and I thought it looked great.

She actually dredged all the eggplant for Eggplant Parmesan, and then enjoyed a huge piece of it. I am so glad she has this love, I really enjoy her company while preparing relaxed, weekend meals.

The Kids

This outfit has become very familiar this year.

Fun in the 10 inches!

Dragon Masks


Sue at the Chicago Science and Industry Museum

Val and Nora have the beat.

Spiderpig, spiderpig, does whatever a spider pig does.

The reason the blog is neglected...

I recently started working at Mad Science and Waldkindergaten Inc. Mad Science is a fun job, easy and pays well enough. I am really excited about Waldkindergarten Inc. It is an outdoor (all outdoor) preschool program started by my friend Amy Farmer. We meet in Arcadia, IN on the Goss Family Farm. They are organic farmers and also friends and it is great that they share there healthy land with us. They have a big garden and raise sheep and chickens. Our Waldkindergarten is modeled after the movement in Germany and other parts of Europe that is slowly springing up in our country. It's all about connecting, with nature, all of the senses, each other and individually. The boys hike, engage in pretend play (which is so fun to watch), picnic, have journal/circle time, explore natural phenomena, help take care of farm animals, and do extreme sports such as huge log pile climbing and icy creek bank sliding. As the group of boys gets older, (they are almost all five or half way to six), we are able to read books together and plan outdoor based projects (shelter building and gardening for example). The boys have grown so much in the last couple years, and it is evident that Forest Boys(the boys group name) has had a great influence on them(a lamb was born last night and Drew said "it's all starting again mom!" remembering the lamb we witnessed being born last spring). Amy is now leading group of younger kids(girls and boys) and it is really neat to get that 3 year old age group out there because they are still so in awe of it all. Nora has been once and I will enroll her is spring. This winter has been brutal! Our blog (and website)is linked on this blog under check me out:).

Indiana State Museum

A couple of weeks ago Drew, Nora, Lily and I attended the Indiana State Museum. We actually had a lot of fun after we ran into the building nearly escaping frostbite and waited in an hour line to ride on a tiny train. (The kids didn't seem disappointed in the train at all so I hid mine- I think)