DNA -- the next step

Another example of the power of words and books comes from our discussions of DNA. Yes, I know, who discusses DNA with 4 and 8 year olds? The answer is 'Me'. Where did that discussion start? With a book, of course, and with the fears of a four year old.

Xander has always been concerned with death and abandonment -- I am not sure why. Where his older brother is fairly calm, 'Death is not the end, it is just a change.' Xander is VERY concerned that death is an end -- an end of the company of those he loves. Every now and again, the subject rears its ugly head and he dissolves into tears at the thought that those he loves will go away from him. So I, in my infinite wisdom, explained to him that he could never truly 'lose' us as we were in his DNA. 'Everywhere you go, every day of your life and even after it, we will be with you. We are in your blood and bone.' I explained. This intrigued himself. After all, he is also the child who is fascinated with human anatomy. 'DNA?' he chirped. 'Is that 'Star Stuff?' This is a direct reference to a series of books by Jennifer Morgan about the birth of the Universe. The series begins with Born With a Bang: The Universe Tells Our Cosmic Story : Book 1 (Sharing Nature With Children Book). The three book series traces our human connection to the Universe and does so with both beauty and power. Edward Glenn, Astronaut, is quoted as saying that he felt the connection described in this book while returning from the moon to earth... and it was that power of connection, that sense of continuous belonging that drew me to this book. What better to reassure a small boy who was scared of death than to tell him that, in a sense, one never dies. We are all made of star stuff, connected now and to eternity.

But, of course, I couldn't leave it there. No. I had to get clever and tell young mister that, in a sense, he would never be shed of ANY of his family. "I am in your blood" I explained. "Through your DNA you are linked forever to all the members of your family, those now living, those long dead, those yet to be born." He looked at me, quiet for a moment, but it was his brother -- who, of course, had been listening intently as well, who asked the next, and obvious question: "What is DNA?"

So we went to the library and found a book with a brief explanation of DNA and pictures of the chain... and while driving in the car the next day, Xander, who'd been examining this book closely said with great delight 'DNA really DOES look like a ladder -- a ladder of Evolution!' He was thrilled to bits, my little Darwin:>

Of course, Jason had his own take on it... he began dissecting the DNA of Pokemon and wondering how that could be used to create new ones...Just think, he may have yet another career in store, as a molecular biologist!

But no, maybe not. He was talking very seriously about creating games and legos and I promised, rashly I suspect, that if he wanted to, I would help him compose and send letters to nintendo and Legos asking that they offer advice as to what sort of training and skills were needed to get jobs with them... And he is only 8! I must be sleep deprived.

Summer Time boys

The summer days are here and life with little boys continues to be adventurous... and enlightening...

Beware of what you say -- it will come back to haunt you in the most unexpected ways: I was at the grocery store the other morning, rushing because I needed to get the shopping done before my 'third boy' arrived with his mother. We had made it, finally, to the check out and I was rushing to unload things (Mom, remember what you tell me, says Jason, SLOW DOWN!). I grabbed a Vitamin Water and swung to put it on the conveyor belt when, oops, I released too soon. (Can you tell that I have been coaching baseball?) The bottle fair flew from my hand, hit the ground and exploded. Orange vitamin water EVERYWHERE! Red faced, I apologize to the very patient clerk. Once it had been cleaned up, I moved the cart forward and was set to finish the transaction when a small voice piped confidingly to the clerk: "My Mom is a bit of a klutz." The clerk choked and I glared at my helpful tyke. He looked at me sweetly, big brown eyes open VERY wide, 'You are, Mommy." Sigh.

Perhaps it is such moments that lead complete strangers to say to me (in this case at the public library) 'Mothers of small boys are saints.' I was in the midst of sheperding three small boys, all with books clutched in hand, towards the check out (Again?). I smiled, albeit weakly, and responded 'No, mostly we are just tired!' She laughed as did the older man who'd been watching the proceedings... well, at least we brought smiles to someone's day.

And then there was the shower incident: As I mentioned, I am watching a friend's child three days a week -- a challenge in many ways too numerous to list here. In a desperate attempt to take advantage of the warmer weather while maintaining peace, I had dressed the three Muskeeters in bathing trunks, set up a water slide and turned them out. They had a wonderful time and got thouroughly coated in grass. When our summer friend's father arrived, I ushered the boys in and told both Jason and Xander that I would take them to the bathroom and shower them off to get rid of the grass itch. Then I turned to speak with our friend's father for a moment. But moments are hours to the small folk, and Xander announced that he was going to shower himself 'in privacy!' I said, without really paying enough attention, 'No honey. Wait for me and I will help you.' "I want to shower myself... in PRIVACY!" I replied, with a bit of impatience, 'Wait and I will help you shower yourself.' At this point, Larry was smiling a bit. There was silence from the back room and I, mistaking silence for compliance, turned to tell Larry about the day. Suddenly a whoosh of water was heard. Larry started to grin and I, with a yelp, dived towards the bathroom. There in the doorway, with water running down his back, was Xander. Triumphant grin in place, he told me 'And I dried myself too!' Amazingly enough, there was only a small lake on the bathroom floor.

Of course, independence comes in many forms: Jason is now makes his own breakfast and lunch (if I am not quick enough), unbuckles his brother and unlocks the front door -- sometimes before I am ready for him to do so. He reads books to his little brother on a regular basis and the two of them go into hysterics. And then there is the creative urge. These days, I have only to mention something and he is off and running with it. For example...

One of our 'summer' projects is to work through The Dangerous Book for Boys(I am posting the program in my Public Blog http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mapleshakes/ [Shakespeare Amongst the Maples]). As a part of the project, we have been working on creating 'The Explorers Club.' Loosely based on the Boy scout model, we are going to have badges and segments and achievements. Jason, fired up by the idea, sat down and began drawing badges and creating achievements. One of the badges that he created was 'NHFAW' -- the 'No Hitting for a week' badge -- specifically for his little brother. He was quick to tell our summer friend that EVERYONE had to work on this achievement -- not wanting his 'BOO BOO' to feel picked on, I expect.



And then there is the computer: Jason had tried repeatedly to create a user account on something called 'Peeron' -- a website that publishes old Lego building instructions. When he continued to fail at this objective, he decided to create his OWN website where he would publish HIS building instructions. (Smile) He has also started his own blog -- an online journal mostly. Though I am wary of too much computer time, having read the research on how this affects children's' brains, I cannot deny that this 'journal' of his does encourage writing -- as good a way as any to learn English grammar. And learning HTML is not a bad idea either... in this day and technological age, the more computer savy you are, the better. Which is why I have encouraged his work at Eastshore Unitarian Church... cataloging the Children's Library in the Excel Database.



Actually, whenever I sit down and start listing out the various subjects that the boys are studying, I get overwhelmed. There is just SO MUCH -- they, however, swim effortlessly through the material, absorbing and learning at the speed of light.



For one thing, Xander has fallen in love with numbers and addition. He is forever throwing out number equations. This morning it was 2+2=4, 4+4=8, 8+8=16... And his very favorite movie is Donald in Mathmagic Land . I have to admit, it is one of my favorites as well:> And whenever we go to the library, he immediately heads to the math section to select his 'school work' for the day.

Sunshine and Roses

Well, the sun is gone and the rain has returned. Seattlites are grateful -- 25 days with no rain was a bit much. The plants were all beginning to fade into that gray colour which is more characteristic of the Sonoran Desert than of the Emerald City.

As for the people? I have been laid low with allergies and both boys have been suffering consequently -- when Mom gets sick just by going out the door, the boys go out in the yard alone and that is just not satisfactory -- they would much rather have Mom there:>

But, as I said, the rains have returned so we have been out. My rose garden is exploding with color and scent these days and the job of dead heading seems endless. The Cherry trees are putting out fruit, though Tom has no doubts that the squirrels and birds will beat us to the ripened fruits. But the boys did beat the critters to a few treasures. On a recent walk around the neighborhood, they found a patch of wild Salmonberries and proceeded to clean the bush. The best moment was when Jason, his mouth full of Salmon berries, told me that we needed to pick them in order to make a pie. LOL. Silly child. I pointed at the bush and asked 'What berries?' He was surprised. ' Where'd they go?' I pointed at his mouth. Sigh.

And with the first day of summer comes the end of Baseball season, at least for the boys. I can't pretend that I am not grateful. The kids were fun to watch but coaching a motley collection of 4-6 year olds of varying skill and developmental levels through the wilds of baseball was demanding. Jason's final game was quite good. He got hits every time at bat, doubles and triples mostly. And even Xander did fairly well, though he did have a tendency to look at the airplanes as they went overhead rather than at the ball.... For some reason that completely escapes me, both of my sons want to be catchers. I really think that it must be the gear rather than the position. That is especially true for my youngest who is always careful to select his 'hat of the day.' No, I am not kidding. The child wakes up, takes a look at the clothes I have set out, decides whether they suit his mood. If they do, then he dresses and marches off to choose hat and shoes/boots. It is nearly impossible to predict what choices he will make on this so I just watch. Jason is so much easier in this: the only potential issue with him is textures and at this point, most of his clothes are cotton, his prefered fabric.

It is very strange, looking at the boys. They have grown so much and so fast. Jason is as tall as his dad's shoulder and Xander is at Jason's shoulder. When I look back at films of them as babies, something clenches in my heart. They have come so far. Ah, but occasionally I miss those baby days. Xander is torn about it. He wants to be bigger but... he dreads the day when everyone will be living in different places. Near tears the other night, he demanded to know whether his older brother would always live in the same state as he did. He is not one to let go easily. Jason soothed him and they both fell asleep fairly quickly.

They do well together, my sons, except when they are tired and then the usual sibling spats arise. Hmmm... Jason accused Xander of hitting him the other night and when I asked him if Xander (who denied having raised a hand) had actually hit him, Jason's response was 'He hit me with WORDS!' Argg...

Both boys are becoming frighteningly skilled with language. They are both very attentive to what is said and can nitpick statements with the best of them. And both have a large vocabulary -- picked up to a great extent fromt the books that they read/have read to them. Xander surprised his Nonna at the ball fields this past weekend when, having dragged her off on a treasure hunt (complete with a map that he had drawn himself), he responded to her question about getting lost with 'Don't worry Nonna, we will check the map periodically.' She asked me 'Periodically? Where does he get this?' Hmmm... really, that is not one of his bigger words.

And then there was his phone call to his gran in Arizona. He had asked me 'Do womens' butts stick together?' (This was a follow on question: he had commented that his penis tended to stick to his bottom in the mornings and was curious about whether such things happened with women. I said 'no' since women were missing one of the pieces in the equation...) I said 'That is a question you could ask your Grandma Pat.' Opps... Moms really should be careful what they say! He immediately marched off, grabbed the cell phone, called Gran and as soon as he heard her voice, asked the question. Grin. You should've heard her sputter!! I heard it from clear across the room, which was when I realized what had happened...

I guess that is where the expression 'out of the mouths of babes' comes from, hmmm? And Xander is not alone in the flabbergasting department. Jason has his moments as well: the most recent was when he decided to start laying out his life goals. He has done something similar every year since he could first talk -- first his decision to be an astronaut (after he'd been a professional athlete and scientist). His next 'Life Choice' was to become a lego designer -- and that one still peeks out occasionally. Recently, though, he has decided that there are two possible routes he would like to follow -- web designer (he is trying to create his own lego building web site where he plans to publish building instructions for his various creations. Xander, of course, wants to do what his brother is doing which gets challenging for Mom on occasion) and oceanographer. "I really love the ocean" he sighed the other night and began quizzing me on all the fields he would need to study in order to achieve this aim. Then 'So, when do I start High School?' popped out. I blinked, taken aback, and said 'Well, I don't know... there is no need to rush it.' He just shook his head. He is like me in that his interests are many and varied and he wants to study all of them NOW! Korean, Latin, Chess etc.

Xander, of course, follows his brother faithfully. Since Jason is excited about starting up the new school year ('I really think we should do some school work this summer, Mommy," says Jason, 'I need to be ready for the fall!') Xander is equally concerned. "What grade will I be in, Mommy?' he demands. 'Kindergarten' I respond. 'Is that a HIGH grade?' he asks. 'What is a HIGH grade?' I query. 'As HIGH as Jason.' 'It is the right grade.' I parry. He thinks about that... then, when we stop at the library, he starts bringing me 'School' books -- 'We should read THIS ONE for school,' he tells me, handing me a book on Numbers and another on Volcanos.... and mind you, these books were taken from the adult non-fiction area. (We were there because Jason was looking for something.) I agree that we can read them and pluck a book on Plate Techtonics as well, since they'd been asking about earthquakes and volcanos.

Then, last night, in the car on the way home, Xander asks about printing his own money... oh, heavens! That, of course, led into an entire discussion about the Treasury and the government and the process of creating and controlling money which then devolved into a give and take on the issues of Inflation versus Recession etc etc etc. How much did either boy understand? I don't know for sure but I do know that it is going to come back at me sometime this week. It always does.

And now I must run. Boys will be waking soon and we have to take Jason to the church so that he can continue with his book cataloging job:>

Excitement and fear

Oh but the days run on!

The weather has turned hot -- 90+ degrees yesterday -- and the trees, especially the cottonwoods and the oaks, are having a WONDERFUL time. I know this two ways: one, I get an alert that lets me know which pollinator is hard at work and two, I have been sneezing and coughing for no better reason than that I breathe! This has added to my daily challenges in a simple but dramatic way -- because I have been out working in the yard daily, trying to clean up the weeds, trim back the bushes and general create an air of tidy contentment about the house.

Why? You may well ask this. What insane person would do such a thing when she KNOWS that it is going to result in sneezing, wheezing and runny eyes? The answer: A person who needs to get the house in order so that it can be listed to sell.

Have I stunned you into silence? Hmmm... perhaps not. But it is nonetheless true that we are going through the painful process of cleaning/packing etc so that this little house can go on the ***cold*** market. It does seem like an unlikely time to sell, except for two factors: (1)mortgage prices are quite low, though rising and (2)home prices are low. Fact of the matter is -- we have found the place that we want. We saw it yesterday. It is a wonderful place -- and we were greeted when we arrived by a small thin calico kitten who looked remarkably like a little girl cat that we recently lost in death... She charged up to us, purring and, when the boys sat down, climbed in and parked herself firmly on Jason's lap. When we walked about the yard, she galloped after us, demanding attention. I had to explain to the boys that I doubted that she would come with the house, that she belonged to the owners... Sigh.

The trick of it is: the house is a short-sale, set to go to auction in August. Somehow we need to get the funding and put in an offer. This little house has to be packed and cleaned and prepped for sale as well. That mightn't be so hard but with Tom now working two full time projects and one half time project at Boeing, I am left to do most of the work -- both outside and in. I have decided that the packing part can be a training tool for the boys. I will teach them how to box books etc and then Xander can color code the boxes (using a chart) and Jason can label them. The boys are also getting a first hand education in the mathematics of house buying/selling and prepping. We will be working up a budget here in a few days and they will be helping with that as well.

Suffice it to say, I am a bit stressed. I will be glad when baseball season is over as it eats up a lot of time in the evenings and on the weekends.

Precious moments

"The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself." -- Edward Bulwer-Lytton


There are times when all I can do is smile: When a little boy designates himself as 'The Earthworm Rescue Squad' and carries off all the little creatures to the compost area so that they can 'Make the world a better place' or when, at a School district surplus sale, a 4.5 year old finds an ENORMOUS Geography textbook and half drags/half carries it to me saying 'I want this book. It has maps. I want you to show me how to read this book!' These are the moments that make homeschooling worth it. These are those precious, never to be recaptured experiences that I selfishly want for myself and not for some nameless, faceless other who, burdened with dozens of children, does not always fully appreciate the wonder of the individual.

Yes, we went to a Surplus sale yesterday. We ended up with two big boxes of books -- not something that we needed since we are in the process of packing up our house but nonetheless, a worthwhile investment since, for 1$ per book we got texts that usually retail for 25$ and up. My sons had a field day. Maps, Books, Games and even -- HA -- a test tube rack. They were also the ones who, looking at the load that their mother was packing, decided that we should leave. In the words of my eldest 'Mom, if you can't carry anymore, maybe we should stop -- before the car can't carry anymore!' The haul included that HUGE geography text -- my 4.5 year old HAD to have it. He was enamoured of the maps and the illustrations and quite firmly stated his intention to learn to read it. I was agreeable as I am firmly of the conviction that we learn to read when we are motivated to do so, and the best motivation is insatiable curiousity. So we stood in line to buy our tons of books and an older lady behind me said 'How many of you here are Homeschoolers?' The woman in front of me raised her hand as did a number of folks around the room and I laughed 'I guess you could say 'a lot of us!'' She just shook her head.

We had fun and as we were lugging the load back to the car, Jason said to me -- 'Thanks for bringing us, Mom. I liked that.' Xander, arms wrapped firmly about his precious book, nodded and said 'Me too!' The hardest part of the whole trip was getting them strapped into their seats since they both wanted to read...


Having spent the morning immersed in books (we stopped at the library on our way home from the sale and the boys found a few more friends with whom to converse), we spent the bulk of the day outside, me on my knees, digging up sod and planting tulip bulbs, the boys in their underwear running through the sprinkler and hunting up bugs for their bug zoo. At one point, noticing how hot and muddy I was becoming, the boys went and found some styrafoam which they filled with water and rose petals. They then came out and got me and brought me back to my 'own personal washing up station.' Smiling, they indicated their makeshift sinks and told me, 'You can use that to wash up -- the water is cool and it smells nice.' Hmmm... I do love the creativity of their souls.

Learning something every day

You learn something every day if you pay attention. ~Ray LeBlond

And sometimes the world MAKES us pay attention: Such was the case this past Thursday. Xander and I went to what was supposed to be a make-up baseball game. Unfortunately, the coach for the other team had confused his times (He coaches two teams back to back and had given us the time slot in which his 3/4 team plays) and so there was no game. We 'rolled with the punchs' and divided our players into two teams. They scrimmaged against themselves. It was an interesting, and for me, a learning experience.

What happened? Well the first 'ah ha' moment occurred when Xander STRODE up to the plate. (We had recently watched a Video Biography of Babe Ruth. I hadn't thought that Xander had been paying much attention...) He took his stance ("NO MOMMY, DON'T CHECK MY STANCE! I'M GONNA DO IT MYSELF!!!") and, having made it quite clear that he wanted pitched balls, not the tee, got ready for action. The pitch came and by derned it, he STEPPED into his swing and swung with all his might -- Quite a bit of might, it turns out, because he spun completely around! Glowing with pride, he looked at the crowd and said 'Did you see THAT! I STEPPED INTO THE PITCH!' There was general agreement from the watchers. After several unsuccessful attempts at hitting the pitched ball (Funny thing, you gotta look AT the ball...) he slammed one off the tee. Now the hard part: Having hit the ball, what do you do next? He stood, staring at the ball while behind him the parents all roared 'RUN RUN RUN!!!' The hysteria was palpable. He looked over his shoulder, smiled sweetly and went trotting off to take his base, never any hurry about him. Sigh.

That should've been my cue. He tried to tell me later, when I asked what was going on (He declared that he didn't want to play), saying 'I can't run.' Now here is where I failed Parenting 101. Instead of asking 'why', I said 'Of course you can. You are faster than lightening!' Near tears he repeated 'I CAN'T RUN!' I was distracted, trying to coach 11 4/5/6 year olds so I didn't pay attention...

When the game was over, we began loading gear into the car. On the final trip back to the field to collect the batting tee, I noticed that Xander wasn't with me. I turned to yell and saw him struggling along manfully, his pants down around his ankles. I went back, 'Xander, what happened?' He looked up, smiled his brown eyed smile and said gently 'I tried to tell you. I can't run. When I run, my pants fall down.' Ah ha.

Port Angeles Adventures

Memorial Day weekend, 2009

Tom and I took the boys off on adventure for the weekend -- though in some ways it turned out to be more of an adventure than we had planned:<

I was careful, I thought. I printed up the directions to the place we were going and, according to the directions, the drive would take 2.5 hours. We had a leisurely morning and left around 9 am, stopping briefly at a nearby mall to buy the boys new bathing suits. We stopped again, briefly, for lunch... we finally arrived at our destination at 4:30 pm. Does the math look odd to you? If so, it should. See, when we got the directions, there was no mention of the fact that the Hood Canal Bridge was closed... So we drove to within 4 miles of it, following the detour directions and then had to turn around and drive all the way back and then some. But the round about route was longer yet because one small town along the route was having a fair... so they backed traffic up for hours to allow the fair to progress. Tom was, of course, cool, calm and collected. He was so calm that I was afraid he might burst a blood vessel.

We did make it and the boys were quite delighted to find that the place we were staying had both a pool and a hot tub. After a short nap (for the parents' sake) we investigated and, as it was getting windy and later, spent most of our time in the hot tub. I do like hot tubs:>

The next day was better. Everyone slept and slept and when we awoke we decided to go to a place called 'Hurricaine Ridge'. It was close by and none of us had ever seen it. We drove up and up and up... and when we got to the ridge, there was snow! The boys were over the top thrilled. It was remarkable -- the air was warm and quite pleasant and yet, there was the snow. Tom took picture after picture, happily toting his tripod while the boys climbed and kicked and explored the snow. I took a few photos myself (deprecating smile). The boys also took a few photos -- we had bought them small digital cameras, palm sized. Jason took nature photos.. Xander? He took embarrassing people pictures. The kid has a future as a photo journalist for a yellow rag....

On the mountain we saw a wide variety of wildlife, not including little boys: we saw a raven, a rosy breasted finch, a chipmunk, a rabbit, quite a large number of deer and a bear. Actually, Tom was the only one who saw the bear and he decided that it was the better part of valor NOT to try to get close enough for a photo. Wise man.

When we finally came down from the mountain, we took another rest. The boys, of course, were not particularly interested in resting so they played and drew and read... My favorite moment came when Jason was busily playing his Didj, a handheld educational computer game. In this case, he was playing 'Indiana Jones' and had to solve math problems before he could proceed to the next level. He had been throwing out math equations for his father on a regular basis.. 'Dad, what is ... plus....?' Then came THE question: 'Dad, what is 64 - 7?' Before Tom could answer him, I heard a small voice pipe up '57'... seconds later, Tom, who had been working in Photoshop on his collection of pictures, tossed out '57' and that same small voice chirped triumphantly, 'I TOLD YOU SO!!! 57!" Hmmm...

Rest period finished, we took another dip in the pool and then headed off to the beach -- imagine, snow and beach all in the same day! The beach to which we went was a wildlife sanctuary. Xander was quite unhappy with his mom when she told him that he had to leave his shells behind but I made up for it by snapping a few photos -- told him that I would make him his own 'shell' book that he could share with other people. And while we were there, the boys discovered aliens! Myself, I think that the first one looks an awful lot like a carbon atom...

The next 'interesting' moment came the following day: Remember, Xander was thoroughly unhappy that he had not been able to keep his shells so on our journey home, we stopped at not one but two public beaches and BOY! Did we collect shells... and rocks... and, in the end, without meaning to do so, one small crab.

While we were wandering around the second beach, a beach made up primarily of razor clam shells, mussel shells and barnacles (talk about crunchy!), I heard Jason give a yell 'MOM! I HAVE FOUND AN EEL! COME, RESCUE IT!!' I sighed, straightened up and turned to go help. And what did I see? My youngest, the future world conqueror, happily crunching his way across the beach, holding something carefully between his fingers. His brother had seen it and wanted it rescued so Xander, being Xander, rescued it. We deposited the little critter into the water and it burrowed its way rapidly away. It was not an eel but some sort of long thin fish -- rather like the blennies that I used to see on the rocks in Hawaii.

That second beach was very interesting: as I said, it was composed of shells and more shells and... star fish. I was instantly reminded of an old story told me by a friend -- about walking along a beach and seeing a man throwing Star Fish seaward. When asked what he was doing, he responded simply 'Saving them.' When it was pointed out that he couldn't save them all, he said 'No, but I can save one at a time.'

""Good Morning!" said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat.
"What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"
"All of them at once," said Bilbo. "And a very fine morning for a pipe of tobacco out of doors, into the bargain. ... "Good morning!" he said at last. "We don't want any adventures here, thank you! You might try over The Hill or across The Water." By this he meant that the conversation was at an end.
"What a lot of things you do use Good morning for!" said Gandalf. "Now you mean that you want to get rid of me, and that it won't be good till I move off.""
--JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit

I am reminded how much I loved this book. There is an elegance to the writing that one sees so rarely these days. I think perhaps I shall have to re-read it, when Jason is through with it, of course. He decided, and truth to tell, I am not sure why, that he wanted to read 'The Hobbit' and the Rings Trilogy. I am a little leery of this -- the books have some darkness to them and he is a creature of light but he is unconcerned. So I will, as Eliza says 'Save my breath to cool my porridge' and watch. I cannot complain, however, as regards the quality of his choice. If he must read, then reading something that is well written with graceful prose would seem to me to be the best way to go. I remember noticing, in grad school, that I often wrote in much the same style as the authors I was reading at the moment... osmosis, perhaps? It will be interesting to see how Tolkien affects Jason's writing/thinking.

Ah well, off to 'defend the day' -- may all of you have a wonderful one.

Shakespeare Redux

Okay, the truth will out. Shakespeare wrote for children -- or at least, he wrote his humor for the younger crowd. And, as Beatrice was wont to say 'And I am sunburned'

What? You don't understand? Let me explain. I told you earlier, I think, that we had been watching 'A Midsummer's Night's Dream' in the mornings. The boys loved it... though Xander, who for reasons unexplained became attached to Bottom, was a little worried that Tatianna might harm him. At any rate, the boys laughed and laughed through the movie. At the end of it, Xander, wicked imp, sparkle in his eye, looked at me and said 'And my Bottom's my ASS!' Chortling he went dancing off while I stood stunned. DO you know -- in all the years that I have read and watched the play, I never clicked on that particular pun? And it is not as if it were a subtle one either but no, it took a four year old to pick up on it... and pick up on it he did. He was absolutely delighted with all of the puns that poured like water from Bottom's mouth (YECK!).

Other deep insights from the play -- Xander decided that he prefered Tatianna to Kate(Taming of the Shrew) because, and I am quoting here 'Tatianna is stronger and I like strong women!' Jason was quite firm in his decision that Oberon was the baddest of the bad guys in Shakespeare to date -- and that includes Prince John. Quite a condemnation. Xander, after momentary thought, agreed with his brother. 'Oberon is just plain bad.' said the pint sized Socrates. Both boys felt great sympathy for Bottom, interestingly enough and worried how he would take waking from his fairy dream. They were relieved that he suffered no ill effects. They were not impressed at all with Hermia's father nor yet with the Duke, though they forgave him somewhat when he supported the lovers' marriages in the end.

It has been truly educational watching them watch and listen to Shakespeare. As I said, they are quicker to pick up on the puns -- and they laugh harder and longer at them than most adults. They also seem to have a clearer vision of the rights/wrongs/goods/bads of the whole thing. I am truly impressed -- and reminded, of course, that a great deal of the plays were written for the pit, not for the highbrows. It is only our warp understanding of the production of the plays that makes them something to be reserved for the 'highly educated.' It will be interesting to see what they make of Twelfth Night... LOL

Sunshine, Pussywillows, Soft Rain and Roses

The sun has returned to Seattle and not before times either! Everyone here in the Pacific Northwest was beginning to fuss and fret at the insanity of the weather. One day 70 degrees and sunny then weeks of hail, sleet and 40 degrees. Not pretty. As might be expected of such temperatures, illness has struck anew -- Jason, who is almost never ill these days, came down with a bad cold and Xander developed dueling ear infections. His cough was horrible -- is horrible -- a choking mess that denied him sleep unless I sat up (literally) holding him upright through out the night. That meant, of course, that I was denied sleep. Then inspiration struck. I checked and we had some Axid. Axis is a reflux medication. Last night I gave him Axid, along with lathering his feet in Vicks Baby Rub, and for the first time in several nights, he slept the whole night through with nary a cough. Hallelujah!

Today, well... today it is I who is the slug. I finally got around to checking the medication that the doctor gave me for my headaches. Turns out that the painkiller she proscribed is not to be used more than three times a week or it will create backlash headaches. Would've been nice if someone had told me that. So today I am suffering the headaches again. Good news is that I managed to get an appointment with a headache specialist for tomorrow. Maybe he can help. I do hope so. These headaches have been plaguing me for almost two months and everyone is suffering as a result. Even Tom commented that my energy levels have dropped markedly. Now is not the time for that!

But wait! This is a schooling blog is it not? So what about school? Well, let me see... Today Jason began learning Microsoft Excel. Yeah, I know. He is 8. Why is he learning Excel? Simple, really. He wanted to do something to help out at the Church we attend (and that is a whole OTHER story!) so I asked the Religious Education coordinator what jobs he might do. She answered promptly that there were two that she knew of right off: weeding around the buildings and organizing the library. Jason, ever the bibliofiend, volunteered immediately and vocally for the second. So yesterday, after Church, we went to meet with her. She explained that what she needed him to do was to log all the books into her Excel database. She wants to be able to search Author and Title when she needs a book. Jason was, of course, thrilled. Not only does he get to look through books but he gets to work on computers! As we were leaving he expounded on what he planned to do: Once he has mastered Excel he wants to learn computer programming with an aim to, what else?, creating computer games of his own! Myself, I think just mastering Excel will be enough of a challenge to keep him occupied for awhile. But then, I may be wrong. He certainly taught himself to read fast enough!

And speaking of reading, his reading these days is eclectic. He badgered his father until Tom dug up his old copy of 'The Hobbit' -- that is Jason's latest rabbit trail. In addition to the Hobbit, he is also reading through the "Horrible Histories" by Terry Deary as well as every Garfield, Peanuts, Asterix and Obelix comics books he can find. He reads voraciously and one of the most common refrains in our house these days is 'Jason, don't read while walking down steps' or 'Jason, please, close the book and eat' or 'Jason, mark your book and go to the restroom!' LOL.

Another recent, and to my mind hysterical, development is the 'adding' phenomenon. It began with Xander, really. One day, for no apparent reason, Xander started adding two to everything. Indeed, one day while we were in the grocery store I came in on the end of an apparent argument between the boys when Xander demanded of me 'MOMMY! Two plus Two IS FOUR, ISN'T IT?!' Puzzled I said 'Yes, I believe, under most circumstances it is.' Xander turned to Jason and said fiercely 'SEE!' Jason said 'I wasn't arguing.' Xander said 'And 1 + 1 +1 +1 = 4' and Jason responded 'and 3+1=4' and off they went, still coming up with ways to get to four. A woman walking past starred at them and then at me as if we had all sprouted horns. I just shrugged. A short time later, Jason came to me and said 'Mom, there sure are a lot of ways to get to 10, aren't there?' Uh, yeah? Jason has also picked up on his father's dreaming habits: he wakes up on occasion and spouts mathematical equations at me.

Then there is the zoo... I found an interesting book called 'How to build a miniature zoo' by Vinson Brown. The boys and I have been reading it and, of course, the boys are intrigued and ambitious. Now I admit, I sort of set this up. Months and months ago I introduced the boys to the writings of Gerald Durrell through his book 'My family and other animals.' The boys were delighted with that book and fascinated with Durrell's mini zoo of bugs and birds and beasties. Now here we have a 'how to' manual. It really is a nice book, I must say, and I am myself inclined to think that if we do end up in a place with sufficient space, a mini zoo of the type suggested by Brown would be a wonderful introduction to science.

So far as science goes, the boys' favorite subjects to date are: biology, astronomy, and chemistry. We haven't really done that much in the way of chemistry mostly because Mom has been lagging. The boys would be more than willing to do 'experiements' of all sorts if only I would let them... Again, space and my energy are the issues at hand.

Hmmm... what else? Well, soccer is over and done and baseball is upon us. I have found myself in the position of coaching Xander's tee ball team. That is interesting. I am rather frustrated with Jason's team and so do my best to stay far away for fear that I will open my mouth and make unwelcomed comments. I leave Tom to help out. He is, in this case, the more diplomatic of the two of us. I blame it all on these headaches.