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.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
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 chipmun
k, 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.
k, 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...
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.'
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.'Thursday, May 21, 2009
""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.
"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.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
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
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
Monday, May 18, 2009
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.
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.
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