yellowperch
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Posts posted by yellowperch
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I like the simplifiying toys, clothes and schedule parts of the book. It was helpful that I read it right before Christmas so I could stay true to my idea of cutting way back on Christmas toys.
We don't have tv or watch more than 2 or 3 hours a month of media, and don't do video computer games, so that chapter made me feel great!
I loved the food discussion. Really, since when is food a source of daily thrills and entertainment? I'm all for a return to simple hearty meals, especially since that is what I really do anyway, except with considerable guilt that I'm not more adventurous. I just need to get the remaining 3/5 of my non-soup eaters to convert.
What I took away from the book that was new and unique, IMO, is the idea that we need to simplify what and how much we say, and the emotional tempo of our lives. I've been spending some time pondering that, and would lov eto hear what others think and do in that regard.
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Okay, so what about the Russian tutor? A small gift (hat and gloves, for example). The piano teacher? The newpaper deliverer? (I'm thinking of a small $5 gift card to a local coffee spot) The UPS guy(the same one is here often), the Fed Ex guy (changes), post office guy (very nice). Is a $5 gift card nice or kind of why bother? ( I think it is nice but I'm not sure they will think so)
This is a perfectly timed thread. I have no idea what to do for some of these. Makes me glad I'm not in NYC where we more or less "had" to tip the super and the elevator guys. Some of them were really nice, but it was a real burden, and awkward to boot.
I like showing genuine appreciation, and many of the folks above deserve a little extra sunshine. But I don't know where it ends, and who I've neglected and who I've oversteped with. KWIM?
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Sounds like you are off to a great start. Well done.
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I offered my larger boxes and packing material (because I had the porch thing going) on my local freecycle and some lovely woman who was moving came and took them away!
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Thank you. I did watch a movie--Duchess--while I edited photo, toggling between screens. I uploaded everything I need onto shutterfly and tomorrow and Tuesday I make the book. Free shipping deadline is 12/16 so I just might make it.
These books are worth the effort.
Sitting by the lit Christmas tree listening to the rain (we had thunder earlier). As Scarlett said, tomorrow is another day.
Thanks again for being here. Life can be weird sometimes. But we all know these funks end. We just need reminding sometimes.
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My birthay is 12/27. I like Laura's idea. I'm sick of "stuff" right now, but in June a paddle board of my own would be lovely!
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So swim it is! I think you are going to like it.
Can you join the closer fitness club, just for yourself? I know it might seem like a waste of money if your family is already paying for the Y, but it isn't as long as you use it.
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Argh.
I've been in a low-grade funk and I need to get out of it.
Dh is away, the baby is into everything, my dd is getting a little bratty again and I've been so busy getting ready for xmas that I've been sleeping about 5 hours a night, not doing any of my own fun stuff (running, working out, reading). Dh comes home on the weekend so change is on its way, but I don't want to be crabby until he gets here.
I need to turn this around.
I've been spending too much time on the computer, shopping, making my photo books, etc and not connecting with my wonderful kids. My kids are under my skin, which means I'm crabby with them, which means they are acting out a little, which means I'm crabbier. And so it goes.
I don't have time for a warm bath and some candles. I just want to get everything done. I wanted Christmas all in the bag when Dh gets home--even the wrapping--so we could just enjoy having him here (he leaves again 1/12.)
The gloomy, cold, rainy day today didn't help.
Thanks for listening.;)
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Today--rainy, cold and no fun outside--is a good test case. Here's what they played with:
Kapla blocks
Legos
Watercolors
play silks with beanbags (torpedoes)
deck of cards (poker)
chess (I played a game and won, which is rare)
DD an DS4 play with dolls a lot but not today.
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I think swimming lessons are a great idea. I've been thinking of doing this for a while myself. I am a good swimmer--I competed as a child an worked as a lifeguard and taught swimming as a college student. I've tried to swim for fitness from time to time but it always seemed like a whole lot of work (getting to the pool, getting dressed, swimming, showering, dealing with wet hair, etc.) for what didn't feel like a great work out.
I think this is for the reasons you describe--I don't really have the breathing/coordination down anymore. So I'm thinking that lessons will help me get my strokes to a point where I can really push myself in the water and get a great workout.
Swimming is a great excersize for all kinds of people--pregnant women, overweight people, people with injuries. There isn't the usually strain on joints, etc that you risk with running or working with weights.
The trick for both of us is finding a good teacher--we need someone who can coach adults and can really help us with not just swiming but with developing a personal regime so that we can build fitness. This isn't the same kind of teaching that a coach would do with kids. So you don't just want the teenager at the local Y who teaches the 5 year olds.
Pools are rife with all kinds of quirky folks who would be able to help you find the right teacher or coach. Start asking around.
I'd also suggest that you reconsider the Y fitness classes. I've never been a fan of public gyms, but I recently took a series of bootcap classes that were great. Some of the women were very fit ladies with pony tails and fancy workout clothes. Some were, like me, fairly fit but also very laid back about the whole weird gym scene. And there were a couple of women who probably considered themselves overweight. I really don't think anyone looked at them as anything other than members of the group. We developed a real commraderie and I have to say I was very impressed with how hard everyone worked and how dedicated to doing somehthing important for ourselves we all were. We were all out there doing it, and we all know how hard it can be to start and stick with something like this, and so I bet most of those women would never judge.
Good luck!
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Caboose on the Loose by Bill Peet
Choo Choo by Virginia Lee Burto
The Little Train by Graham Greene
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I think I'm jinxed--at least when it comes to Legos. I can't seem to find BOBO on Amazon legos, an BN won't take the 30% off my cart--I don't think Lego items are eligible, but I hope I'm wrong. Any advice?
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In our neighborhood. Sports (swim, soccer, basketball). I have a group of friends with similarly aged children. We go to the beach together all summer and the children are really close to those children. We have one family of homeschoolers we are close with (we love them!!!) and the rest of the kids are in school.
What really makes a difference is when kids show up in different settings over time. Two families that became our beach buddies were pool friends we saw at chess club a few times and so the friendships deepened. Likewise when a child from a soccer team ends up living a few blocks over and has the same piano teacher there is a better chance for real friendship to take hold.
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Yoghurt and fruit--not exciting but it's almost enough. Add some popcorn and a batch of cookies or muffings here and there and you are good.
Also, dried fruit with nuts and fresh apples.
I do put out combinations of raw baby carrots, sliced red peppers, cukes, celery, grape tomatoes, blanched green beans, and blanched brocolli almost everyday. Not everyone likes everything, but they all like some things and looove one or two things. We call it veggie party or kid salad. Usually they devour it mid-afternoon. I don't ask if they want it. I just put it out while they are doing quiet reading, etc. If they don't eat it, I stop them form foraging until it's gone, as in "you are welcome to get whatever you like out of the kitchen when the veggie party is gone." When it's gone they can have fruit or snack bar or pretzels or yoghut or (my oldest's favorite) the dreaded juice (appetite killer which is not great because I have skinny kids) Veggie party does sometimes make a second showing at dinner. On a movie night, it appears before the popcorn.
I like the frozen berry idea.
I would do just about anything if my children would eat hard boiled eggs (yellow part included) as a snack. I've heard tell of this, and witnessed it once, but I've only dreamed of it myself.
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Holy Moley! That's it. I loved that book. Now to find a copy....
Thank you!
How did you remember that?
Edited to add: just went to Amazon. the book was reprinted in in 91. Turns out we weren't the only ones who loved it. 45-plus reviews, many of them by adults remembering reaing the book as young teens. The New Yorker mentioned it in an article about teen fiction and dystopias the summer.
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I don't think this is going to work. Older non-tv kids may well be fascinated enough to watch a dvd for the first time, but children your dcs ages are not likely to be.
Your post brought to mind a long-anticipated trip to see a lovely spinster aunt. She had been hoping for us to come for years and had a fine collection of videos she had been picking up for the children. We had three at the time, 1,3,5 an they hated, hated, hated being force to watch tv. They had seen very little tv or movies.The first film was Lady and the Tramp (a shooting scene starts the movie). I really tried to get the kids to watch because this clearly was one of those things for this aunt--she really wanted to share these disney films with my children. She also wanted them to be calm and stay way from the nick-nacks, china, and toy poodle. Anyway, they wouldn't watch them, but the didn't mind an animal show one of the evenings. (The baby just was on my lap or DH's most of the time. That bugged my aunt. Why I do not know.)
Anyway, I wouln't worry overmuch about finding educational fare. It's a one shot deal, right? Go for pure entertainment--the weston woods/scholastic dvds are based on children's books and are not too flashhy, fast-paced, etc. You can borrow them from the NYPL so you aren't stuck with them forever.
How old are the other children?
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Think of one thing to do (the smaller the bettter) that will really make you happy (to do or have), then make it happen. Play chess with your child? Clean the fridge. Take a walk alone or with just one child or load everyone in the car to look at Christmas lights. Or read the paper. Or don't read the paper and take a nap. Call an old, old friend. Bring someone in your house a yummy snack and share it.
But going to bed early ALWAYS works.
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Reading the Hunger Games brought to mind a sci-fi book I read growing up. Some kids were trapped in some kind of artificial world/game and had to get out. There were lights the kids had to respond to by dancing in order to get food, I think.The hero refused to do this--or somehow circumvented the conditioning. The book ends with the characters outside the game, free in theory. The last scene has the hero watching the other kids dancing at a stop light.
Weird, I know. But I remember it all these years later. Does this ring a bell for anyone? (or flash a light?)
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Sibs bake and decorate cake. Boxed cake mix, disgusting frosting, lots of candy all over the cake. We are healthy eaters most of the time but 7 times a year (plus Halloween, Valentines and Christmas) we bust out!
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I missed the buy 1/get 1 at 50 percent off sale at ToysRus.com (well, I actually got the two things my lego man really wanted into my cart before I was distracted. When I went back a few hours later they were sold out.)
Is there any other way to get some nicely discounted legos?
PS--he likes power miners and space police.
TIA
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Thanks for the rec. From reaing the description on Amazon I'm wondering if there is a Santa spoiler aspect to the story. My older two are teetering on the edge of believing (thanks Judy Blume grumble grumble) so I don't think I want to open that line of discussion with the middle two.
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Yowzah! All I can say is your post is proof that the only difference between a disaster and a great story is time. But for me it would have taken a lot longer to spin this day into a shocking and amusing tale.
What impressed me most? You have a 2-year old who is toilet trained (almost).
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Chess. We love it. Chess and tea and talk.
We also like qorridor (sp). But we do our own things too. I also like my evenings when we are both doing what we want to be doing but near each other and talking.
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Well, I'd like to go to med school. My Alma Mater has one of those 1 year post bac programs and I live 40 minutes from campus. It also has a great med school. Of course, that would mean Dh would have to shelve his passport and we'd have to use the college tuition money saved for the kids for ME. Not realistic, but if $1 million landed in my lap I'd be prepping for the MCAT.
Have you read Simplicity Parenting?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
We have been talking about these issues all day--in fact, since Dh got home from Afghanistan two days ago.
We (I) tried so hard to buy less this Christmas, but I still think we already bought too much. Without opening a single gift we still have twice as much as we can use and keep orderly.
It's a weird problem to have, really. But I know we are not alone.
My friend is also feeling this particular pain. She has been posting pictures of the piles of stuff she has in storage and in her house. Stacks of unloved games. A pile of broken bikes, including two broken trikes. Her son is getting a new one for Christmas (from grandmother).
MAdness.