Just a picture

Quotable Sunday

And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

{Joni Mitchel}

Happy 69th to you, Daddy!

Sock Knitting

I make one pair of socks every year and they are always for my brother. I don't know of anyone else that would appreciate a pair of handknit wool socks like my brother, in the same way that I don't know of anyone but my husband who loves his handmade hats more. The thing is knitting socks takes so long and I just feel as though the returns are not that grand. I mean knitting a prayer shawl takes a long time too, but wow! in the end is it worth it.

So for the third year in a row I have made my brother a pair of socks. I use patterns that are simple repetitions as this is the kind of knitting that is portable and needs to be mindless--much of one sock this year was knit waiting in car line to either pick up or drop off my daughter. I did try a lace pattern last year and it did. not.work.at.all.

This time around, I made him the blueberry waffle socks out of a Koigu Painter's Pallette green. One sock is slightly bigger than the other and I guess that is what makes them homemade.

Candlelight and The Kiddos

We had one of those days a few weeks ago--Dada was out of town and had been out of town for days, it was rainy, we were sick, we were tired, we were grumpy and we had the evening ahead of us. I had a flash of brilliance (motivated by sheer desperation and a dining room table that was doubling as a sewing station!)--a candlelight dinner for three (+1 on a play mat and several dollies) in the playroom. We dined on leftover pasta, drank wine (water with lemon and ice), and amused ourselves quite nicely.

It was actually just what we needed on this particular day--a jolt to our system, a slight change in our routine but in keeping with our rhythm. There are times when it is so clear to me how to "save the day." There are other times when it is clear to me but I simply do not have the energy or the patience or the stamina to turn around a day that is headed south. And there are still other times when I truly have no idea except to hold me breath until bed time and look forward to a better tomorrow. Here's to more candlelight dinners and kiddos.

Thankful

Today I am thankful for
{cornbread dressing}
{little plastic pets--25 of them}
{champagne}
{the snortling of our infant}
{Texas in November}
{flat land and running}
and {acorns} of course

Getting OUT

With the winter months coming up, we are beginning to hunker down. Darkness is coming earlier these days and much of our activity is centered in and around the home. I have to constantly remind myself (unless of course I am reminded by the kids--their tantrums or their general grumpiness) how important it is to get outside each and every day if even for just a few minutes. It is harder now on this other side of the country where nature walks are just a bit further away and not as breathtaking. But there is beauty still. The seasons on the east coast are a real wonder to behold. I am looking forward to exploring the woods around us in the winter. Kyrie's post was just the inspiration that I needed to take the kids out over the next few days while we are here in the warmth of Texas.

Good Reads

Ahhh, the pleasure of reading. I had almost forgotten it. Two babies in nearly one year, a move across the country, some sadness, a move back and another baby--nearly three years spent not doing one of the things I love doing the most. Oh books of mine, don't ever let me leave you for such a long time again.

I finished Elkind's book Miseducation a few days agoa dn found it to be very informative--another angle on the importance of play in early childhood. This book was written in the 80's and some of it is irrelevant today. For instance, nearly all of the preschools these days are play-based rather than driven by a "curriculum." However, just Sunday, the NY Times featured an article on test prep for nursery schoolers. David Elkind would certainly classify this as "miseducation." The book helped give me a language for suspicions I already had. Very glad to have read it.

I have just recently picked up The Happiness Trap. My therapists recommended this book to me over a year ago; I was a bit scared off by the "self-helpiness" of the cover. However, recent events and a fundamental trust in what the books espouses (ACT-Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) have led me back to it. I love the book so far.

And many more book reviews to come...

H's Birthday Crown

We have a couple of birthdays headed our way in the new year and I am starting to do some thinking about them now. I want their celebrations to be both simple and memorable at the same time. I made Harvey's birthday crown a few weeks ago (it doubled as part of his Halloween costume) and over the summer each child got their own birthday banner. This post made me also think about how the celebration can and should be unique to the child. More on this in the weeks to follow...

Quotable Sunday

It's not a matter of letting go—you would if you could. Instead of "Let it go," we should probably say "Let it be."


Jon Kabat-Zinn

B's Mojo Hat

It has been years since I have made my husband a hat. Don't ask me why I have waited so long because he is the perfect hat recipient. I mean, he loves, loves, loves the hats that I make for him. He wears them indoors and outdoors, in the morning and at night. He talks about his hand-knitted hats, shows them to people he barely knows and loved ones alike. The only quality of my favorite hat getter that isn't so perfect is that he loses them-he loses all of them. The first one he lost at a truck stop, the second also lost (at a restaurant?). We'll see how long this one makes it.

I made the hat with Kureyon out of this pattern. Instead of casting on 95 stitches, I cast on 85 for the pea-sized head I was knitting it for and finished it in under five days. Very satisfying project. And as I said, it is well loved.

Child Work

Harvey and Norah have recently both taken a leap of independence. Harvey now puts on his own coat ("flip it, Harv!"), Norah has begun cleaning, and both of them have learned to clear the table after dinner (ok, so I bribe them with Halloween candy, but still...). All of this has significantly lightened my load--we get out of the house that much smoother when there is one less jacket to put on and it is amazing how much better I feel when I come downstairs after bedtime to a cleared and cleaned table.

In general, I have been inviting the kids into my daily work more than ever. Instead of trying to find things to entertain them while I am cleaning, I got them a broom. Cleaning up the playroom can be about tidying up their "home." A rearranging of some ideas in my head had to take place, though, for this to happen. When my kids are involved cooking dinner is not about quickly getting it on the table; rather it becomes an activity that we start together an hour or so before we eat.

Some great reading on involving your kids in household tasks::
Heaven on Earth
Work and Play in Early Childhood

Quotable Sunday

Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age / The child is grown, and puts away childish things. / Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies. / Nobody that matters, that is.
Edna St. Vincent Millay

More Good Reading

Every night around 9:30 my husband and I trek upstairs after watching our nightly Netflix documentary (right now we are watching this one) to enjoy a half hours worth of reading time together underneath a cozy down comforter. For over three years I nearly stopped reading. The challenges of mothering just made extinct my formerly voracious appetite for books. Funnily, though my book reading stopped, my book buying did not. Consequently I have an almost full bookshelf of never been read and barely even been touched books just waiting for me. I get so excited when I finish one book and get to go "shopping" on my shelf for another one. Really. I do so little shopping any more that this is sheer joy for me.
My latest "purchase" is David Elkind's Preschoolers At Risk.
. The book is a bit outdated (I believe it was published in the late eighties) but there is still much value in the author's argument. He thinks that in our efforts to create "superkids" (by sending our kids to skill-driven preschool programs, for example) that we are depriving them of their childhood, asking them to be too grown up too fast. Before reading this, I had thought much about how to ensure that my kids get to stay kids--now I am thinking about it even more.

Reorganizing Our Play Space

I have been doing some thinking lately about how to best organize the play area for the kids. We have so many toys that get forgotten--lost at the bottom of a basket or hidden in a corner. Our sunroom which serves as a playroom is a long narrow space where toys seem to spread out uncontrollably. In Sharifa Oppenheimer's book Heaven on Earth, she describes a number of essential elements for indoor play spaces, including having "homes" for all play things--baskets for doll clothes, for example. Children then know where to go when they want to dress their dolls, rather than sifting through an enormous basket filled with miscellaneous junk.
I decided to break up the room by dividing it with our long, low shelf. We now have two play spaces--one focused on "homey" play with a kitchen, table, doll bedroom, potty, etc.. and one focused more on "school" play with our books, games, an easel, a train set and other toys. I was worried that this might be too directive and limiting, but so far we have really enjoyed it. Not only have we seen a renaissance of the train set and the dollhouse, but we also have two "rooms"--one for each child when there is strife. A little more playing and a little less yelling--this makes for one happy mama.

Autumn in the Northeast

Before having children, I did not pay much attention to the seasons. I am sure part of this had something to do with growing up in Texas (where the seasons change less dramatically) and spending a great deal of time in California (where all of the seasons are mild). Pre-kiddos, many of my wakeful hours were spent indoors--in a classroom or an apartment building.

Much of my time is spent outdoors these days and I am quite literally astonished at the beauty of this season. Last weekend must have been peek foliage for Northern New Jersey and what a sight it was to behold. I saw yellows so luminescent that I quite literally felt as though I was closer to Heaven surrounded by their light.

Quotable Sunday

To raise children who, as young adults, can freely create their life as they envision it-- this is our task. We do this by fashioning a space in which, with a delicate balance of guidance and freedom, our children can discover who they really are.

Sharifa Oppenheimer
Heaven on Earth