Birthdays… Birthdays… Birthdays

April is a birthday filled month for us. My mother, Cadie, and Graham have their birthdays all within the same week. We keep birthdays small around here, a family party, maybe a friend or two to sleep over.

This year Graham wanted to go skating with Dad for his birthday. Lucky for us the local homeschool skate was on his birthday. So skating we went. All during skating Graham was worried he would fall and knock out his loose tooth. He never did fall and after repeated assurances he relaxed and enjoyed skating. Of course he did lose that tooth. Ron, Graham, and Rowan, went to softball practice while Cadie and I stayed home to bake birthday cake and clean up from the party we’d had the night before. Graham had a head on collision with one of the kids he was playing with and  knocked out his tooth - on to gravel. They spent a long time looking for it to no avail. He was heart broken but we assured him that the tooth fairy knows and understands, and that he should leave her a note and see if she brings him a coin anyway. 

She did, but boy was she sad not to have that memento of her boy growing up. 

Oh, the silly things we keep and the silly things that sneak up and remind us that our children are little for so short a time.  We’ve left babyhood and toddlerhood and now even preschoolerhood behind. Believe me there are perks; no toddler to chase, (almost) no night wakings, and everyone can tie their own shoes. But on the other hand; no baby to sling, no more laughing toddler gallop, and no new words (we still call shorts – short-sleeved pants). Isn’t it always bittersweet? It’s wonderful and awe inspiring to watch them grow but oh, so heartbreaking too.

 I’m off to snuggle my birthday boy. And birthday girl. And her big sister, too.

April’s …Of the Month

Every month we choose an artist, a poet, a composer and a picture book author to study. We don’t actually study the picture book author we just read a lot of their books. I used to worry about not giving my youngest the same immersion in wonderful picture books that the olders had gotten and this has soothed my worried soul.

This month’s author is Joanna Ryder. She is one of my favorite nature writers for children. I discovered her along time ago when looking for a book on cicadas; When the Woods Hum is an absolutely fabulous book on periodical cicadas. I proceeded from there to scour our library and used books sales for every one of her books. She often asks the reader to imagine themselves as the animal and this never misses in firing the imaginations of my children.

This month’s artist is Van Gogh. I love the energy of Van Gogh’s paintings, and I must admit was completely taken by surprise at the shear volume of his work – over 900 paintings in 10 short years. We’re all looking forward to pulling out the acrylics and putting the paint on thick as we paint our sunflowers.

This month’s poet is Rudyard Kipling. This means not only some fun and interesting poetry but also a revisit to Just So Stories and a first visit with the Jungle Book. It’s always fun to hear the girls reminisce about the first time they heard a story and to do a snake voice.

Finally, our composer is Prokofiev. Obviously we’re enjoying Peter and the Wolf, and a dear friend of the girls is dancing in Cinderella next month, so we’re listening to that as well. The story The Love of Three Oranges is on our list, and though my family is notorious for their dislike of opera, we’ll of course give it a listen. An interesting aside Prokofiev once lost his lease because he played the same chord over 200 times in a row. The kids just loved that and had to be discouraged vehemently against trying it themselves.

 

In which I give up trying to attain perfect sidebars and just write something.

I’ve struggled with what I should write about in my first real post, but finally decided that since this really is just a record of what’s been bouncing around my head, I’d just jump in. No introductions, just what I’ve been thinking about lately.

And lately I’ve been thinking about Melissa’s post at the Lilting House . She spoke much more eloquently than I ever have about what she loves about Waldorf Education. And well, it got me thinking. I read a great deal about Waldorf Education early on in our homeschooling adventure. As an educational philosophy, it really didn’t work for me but as a parenting style it did. I loved the emphasis on daily, weekly, and seasonal rhythm. I loved the celebration of the changing seasons and the simple rituals that infused even the most mundane tasks. Rhythm and ritual speak to my soul in a big way. I think that’s why I love the liturgical church and why I’m drawn to the nature tables and the seasonal poems of the Waldorf philosophy.

 I truly believe it is through ritual that we remind ourselves to see the mundane as sacred. Whether it be lighting candles, sharing a special bedtime blessing, a morning greeting, or the same book visited every spring; each of these (and all the others) call us to pay attention, to see with heart wide open. However, the pace of our world and the disdain our culture exhibits toward tradition undermines our search for reverence.  Waldorf parenting spoke to the fact that I could choose the pace – the rhythm – of our lives and really helped me to envision a home life filled with tradition and ritual. And moreover that ritual didn’t have to be lavish or grand to point out - Hey! This very simple moment is holy.

The first day of the rest of your …

 blogging career?

After reading many a blog I decided to jump on the band wagon. We’ll see if I can figure this all out.