We've been spending this cold, blustery day inside building Lincoln Log forts and Lego cities while old episodes of "Tom and Jerry" were playing on the dvd player. Every once in a while Benjamin (our third born) would pause the dvd and all the kids would laugh at the funny "frozen scene" - usually Jerry beating up poor Tom. We finished our last chapter of "Henry Huggins." We ate beef stew. I'm not sure what the afternoon will bring, but I just heard Daddy may get off early - so I envision blanket forts and probably a couple good games of living room football.
This all sounds like a scene from some fairy tale family. So I must tell you, yesterday looked entirely different. By 10:30 a.m. I had already called the "principal" (aka Nolan/Daddy) in tears after one o my students rebelled - telling me he wanted a new teacher. All four of the kids spent a significant time in their rooms - and I think it was more for their protection than punishment. I was grumpy and couldn't be consoled. We all made it through the day. I apologized. They apologized. And we were all glad when Dad got home and let me retreat with a book and a hot bath.
The good days and the bad days all work together to build a family. But I prefer to talk about the good days - so here are a few "moments" that stand out in my mind of some fun times we've had lately.
Willow. She'll be two in a month. Wow! Her favorite activity is reading. I've always hoped to have a daughter who loved to read. I have favorite books that I wanted to help her discover and hopefully love as much as I do. Soon after I had her, I shared this dream with one of my friends and she wisely told me to lay down that dream as she may not take that path. And I made the hard decision to lay it down. I still don't know what she'll like as she gets older, but for now she loves books. She brings a stack of books to me. She'll back up to my lap and sit down for a good read.
Benjamin. He turned 3 in November. Such a sweet kid. His favorite thing right now are his cowboy boots with orange tops. They are hand-me-downs from Caleb, but Benjamin is sure he got them for his birthday. He wears them everyday with every outfit. Pretty darn cute, I must say! Especially when he gets them on the wrong feet.
Isaac. 6 1/2 years old. Full of fun and fire. He's been putting on "concerts" everyday at lunch. His stage is our Little Tykes picnic table that he pulled into the living room. His guitar is an ancient training guitar Nolan learned on years ago. He has a kids karaoke microphone and sings/plays all original music. He even hand-makes concert tickets and sets up the seating himself.
Caleb. Just a couple months away from 8 years old. My first-born is growing up. While he still loves to play, he also has quiet moments of reflection that show signs of maturity. He is also becoming a proficient reader, but views it as a necessity not a love. If you want to get him really excited, talk sports - especially football. He also loves facts...who's the tallest person on earth, what's the biggest animal on earth...we are always looking up questions on the computer.
Nolan is busy planning a mission trip to Nicaragua. It was a "youth trip" - but lots of adults have signed on and we are now taking 40 people for a week at the beginning of June. He is excited to help that many people experience the mission field first hand - but it also means a lot of work up front. All that in addition to his regular youth pastor duties and his commitment as a Kairos (prison ministry) team-member.
I am busy with home school, motherhood, and studying midwifery. Life is good. Even on the "bad days."
5 comments:
Our three kids all love to read, just like Willow, but it was our son, our firstborn, who did the "backing up to the lap with a book" thing! You've got a great bunch of kids, each one unique and chosen by God for great things!
Words of wisdom all - from a mom whose kids grew up to be themselves long ago - so, of course I would know. Signs of a successful family - I apologized.. They apologized.. a book and a bubble bath.. all followed by a good day. Oh yeah!
You as your mother are a inspiration. You have a beautiful family and things will only get better from here. Love ya!
Best way to raise readers is to be avid readers yourselves--both parents. Let them see the two of you reading--the newspaper, Kindle, paperbacks...anything. As they get older, have more than one spot in the house with readily accessible reading materials. Some people even have racks of books/magazines in the restrooms! I think girls generally get the reading bug a bit sooner than boys. Even if they reach adulthood and don't seem to be readers, give them time. Scott didn't really love reading until after he got out of school, but now it's one of his favorite things to do with his down time. Something I did when the kids were younger was to make Sundays TV/videogame free days, and Sunday afternoons, they had to either sleep or read. We also made a habit of listening to audiobooks while on the road. (when they had no choice!) I don't think it's an unrealistic dream to expect them all to be readers, but you may find that the kinds of things they choose to read will be different genres or in different formats than you have enjoyed. I have a son that avidly reads the daily comics (and sometimes other news articles), which might seem trivial, but I count it as another small reading success. It's very helpful to have a reading spouse on board with you, especially as an example to the boys, and even better if he will read TO them, and this doesn't have to stop once they learn to read. A few years back, Scott read an excerpt from The Hobbit to the boys every night at bedtime, even though they were old enough to read it for themselves. All of these little things are just small building blocks, but they add up over time. Blessings on all your endeavors!
Loved this post! Enjoyed reading about what you guys have been up to. Most of all thankful for your honesty regarding the previous "bad" day. Makes me feel so much better knowing I'm not the only one out there w/ days like that :) Ohhh, and the hot bath & book sounded wonderful. Much deserved!!
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