Winter Nature Table

Our Seasons Round Exchange package has been sent and received. My partner Nicole made us the loveliest gifts.

We got a beautiful felt angel. She is so etherial. In order to keep her on our nature table, I stripped branch of its dried leaves and hung her from it along with our window star (also from Nicole).

In addition, we got a perfect felt dove, a beeswax ornament and a postcard, all of which are residing on our new winter nature table which is, as always, a work in progress.

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

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

Reading Again

Ahhhh, to be reading again. Don't ask me why I have chosen to pick up reading again just after having my third baby because this hardly seems like the time, but maybe it is just the perfect time after all.

I have some good fiction books on the shelf--I have been waiting for what seems like forever for this one, and I started and really liked this one last spring, and a good friend has recommended this one. The latest books that I have read, however, have been nonfiction and the ones that are queued up next are all nonfiction as well.

Currently, I am in the middle of Children at Play. I picked this up at Powell's last year, started it and then put it down for a variety of reasons not related to the book, now it is on my bedside table again. One reviewer of the book stated that the chapter on dolls alone made the book worth the purchase. I have to say that I completely agree. Much of the material in the book was not new for me, but the suggestions the author makes about dolls being an embodiment of the child (how, for instance, dolls should be put to bed, rather than in a basket or toy box out of respect for what they represent) were thought-provoking.

Before this book, I read Seven Times the Sun. I loved the practicality of this book- the examples of daily "rhythms" at the end were particularly useful for me. Although the literal application of much of the material to our own family life would simply not work for us, we could mold them to make them our own.

I also read Beyond the Rainbow Bridge. For me, this book was the easiest to digest. Her writing style is casual and the FAQ section at the end of each chapter answered many of my own questions.

All in all, I am having a ball of a time working my way through my Amazon purchases from last year. More on this in a few weeks...

Our Fall Nature Table

While her brothers were sleeping, Norah and I set up our Autumnal Nature Table this afternoon. Along with some "pretty natural things," like acorns and pine cones, we gathered the beautiful items that we got from Kelly, a couple candles (a beeswax one that we bought at the farmer's market this year and one that Norah decorated last year), a framed picture of a tree in autumn, and our growing collection of seasonal books. Our table is rather sparse--it needs a pumpkin and perhaps some brightly colored leaves to finish it off but in the meantime, it is still giving us a lot of pleasure

Autumn Days: 10

Last week, we participated in a lantern walk with the Shining Star Waldorf play group. The walk took place at 5:30, when it is nearly completely dark in this northern corner of the planet. There is a particular significance to the festival in the Christian Waldorf tradition, but, for me, it was about Stormy, holding a little lantern for her and for the light she gave us for 12 years. I carved a couple of holes into turnips that were going to go bad in my kitchen, put a votive candle inside each of them, and made a handle. The candles would not stay lit and neither Norah or Harvey would hold their lantern. We left the walk half way through it--literally bolted for our car, frozen and hungry. A nice idea...

Preschool

It turns out that my little preschooler is not really a preschooler on the West Coast. Out here, the majority of preschools admit only children who are three by September 1 and rarely before that. AND even if Norah was going to be three, we would not have made it here in time. Many schools start accepting applications in October or November for the following year. For preschool?! Wow. So, little Norah is going to get one more year of her Mama before braving the treacheries of nursery school here in Portland.

I did find one preschool in the Waldorf model that will accept two and a half year olds, and I have decided to send her there one day a week for a couple of reasons. One, we want her to get some social interaction--she is desperate for it. Right now, she is screaming to young passers-by on the street, "What's your name?" "Wanna come over?" "Can I come to your house?" with abandon. She needs friends and she needs them fast. Beyond that, I need friends and I am hoping that this might be a place for me to meet some. Also, Harvey needs some one on one attention right now and this will be give the chance to give it to him.

So Norah is going to be attending the Blossom House Preschool every Thursday morning. Sending her to a Waldorf-inspired preschool is a pretty big step for us--we are taking an ideological stance on the education of our children. There is so much that I love about Waldorf methods--the emphasis on creative play with young children and the de-emphasis on academics until later, the focus on a daily rhythm, the natural play materials, and even the healthy food. There is also some of it that makes me uncomfortable--anthroposophy (I am unclear still as to what this is), the spiritual component, and, yes, the gnomes. In regards to The Blossom House, it is not a strictly "Waldorf" school and I am quite comfortable that Norah is going to be surrounded by real beauty and light in her preschool classroom one morning a week, and, after all, it is one morning a week.

Florida Bound

We are headed out of the house by 4:30 tomorrow morning on a 6 am flight to Daytona. I have never been a real fan of Florida, but we are going to be with family in a couple of condos by the beach. Harvey has never been to the ocean, and I can't wait for the two of them to feel the sand pushing through their toes. We will be back on Saturday, and then we are in the final stretch (6 days) before our house officially goes on the market. I have to say, I am kind of sad to leave New Jersey right now--everything is in bloom and the sun is coming out.

My mom found out that she was going to get laid off today. She made it through 40 years in the workforce and countless lay-offs and, well, they finally got her. I can remember holding my breath on nights before big lay-offs and then hearing the laughing sound of my mom's voice through the telephone each time explaining that, nope, they didn't get her this time, but there would always be a next time. And at 62 her time finally came. It's ok, Mama, it's all for a reason. Maybe we will all meet up in the Pacific Northwest just a little sooner than we were planning on it. I love you.

On an unrealted, but happier note, I have been doing some Waldorf-related reading about the early childhood years and it is really coming in handy. One of the ways that Rahima Baldwin suggests in her book, You Are Your Child's First Teacher to get your children's engaged in their toys is to set them up in unique and interesting ways after they go to bed at night so their attention will be drawn to those toys in the morning. Well, Brian has been doing this with Norah's blocks and it has worked. On Sunday morning, she built an intricate city and was so proud of herself.

Back to Basics

I have been doing all of this reading of crafty blogs lately that has inspired me. I am not sure why I have not done many crafts with Norah (and Harvey) but I haven't. I have been stuck doing a few things--reading, going to parks, visiting friends, etc.. Yesterday morning I got out some old magazines, markers, crayons and stamps and we had some fun in the kitchen. Norah drew Dr. Yerovi and I made a collage featuring Brian a gay fashion designer and myself as a rather homely blond.

We also spent some time at the library (you can't take pictures there!!??!). There were just so many books that they both wanted to read and so little time before a meltdown. While we were there, I picked up a copy of Rahima Baldwin's You are Your Child' First Teacherr. I am pretty interested in the Waldorf model of education, but I don't know enough about it to consider sending either Norah or Harvey to a Waldorf School. This book, while focused on the early years, should give me a better idea of what they are about.




We spent some time outdoors this afternoon after the kids woke. I finally planted those paper whites that have been sitting in a bag on our window sill for the past few months. The likelihood that they will actually bloom is not in our favor but it was a nice afternoon activity after all.