This Sunday we went out to eat for the first time since JG turned 12, which means that he was finally able to order from the adult menu. JG was so sick of children's menu items that he had even written a web page about it: Why are kids menu foods all the same?
He celebrated his liberation from the kids menu by ordering a Chicken Fried Steak breakfast plate.
At least in 1950 they weren't.
For Veterans Day today, my boys and I looked a little information about the Korean War (they were interested in that because some of their great-uncles served in Korea). We followed the action of the invasion by North Korea, the Allies coming in to help, and their successful recapture of South Korea. When we reached the point of the US/UN decision to cross the 38th Parallel, JG declared that that was a terrible idea.
Only after countless more lives were lost did President Truman conclude that they never should have crossed the line. Too bad they hadn't applied some fifth-grader logic before they did it.
Now that I'm phasing out my extra job, I'm at home more in the evenings. This means that I can take charge of my house again and that includes enforcement of limits on the amount of TV that the kids watch (it never happens when they're at home with Daddy).
So after I announced that television and computer game time were over for the day, JG and BT were suddenly at a loss for something to do. After Mommy's suggested activity, some room cleaning, BT promptly fell asleep.
That left JG alone with his own thoughts. After laying around saying nothing for a while, he asked me, "What's the actual purpose of smoking?". So I got to explain to him what nicotine is and a bit about the physiology of drug addiction.
Next came a discussion of a TV show that he's seen called Total Drama Island, which apparently is a parody of Survivor. We talked about the meaning of parody and satire and also about the way people act in real reality shows and how people in real life can be equally cutthroat.
Next question: What is a guru? This takes us to www.dictionary.com ("Wow! They have EVERYTHING on the internet!!") and an examination of how JG himself is a guru to BT at times.
I doubt that any of this conversation would have happened tonight if the TV had still been on.
BT (age 5), looking at the remaining portion of my half-eaten quesadilla, said "It looks like a state that's bigger than Texas!" "You mean Alaska?", I queried. "Yeah!"
He was right. Viewing it from a certain angle, it did somewhat resemble the shape of Alaska.
BT has been very visually oriented ever since he was a toddler (probably before that as well, but it's hard to know since he couldn't talk then). He especially seems to show an affinity for geography. He can identify major countries just by seeing a portion of them, and since the age of four, he has surprised people by seeing a globe or world map and being able to immediately point to Los Angeles and proclaim, "That's where we live!"
JG is just the opposite; he's the classic kinesthetic type, the one who can't sit still, the one who might be labeled with an attention-span problem if he were in school. Loves working with his hands, makes really creative Lego constructions, but can't find things when they're right in front of him.
Which means that Mommy has to be prepared to work with each kid's individual learning style. One of things I love about homeschooling is that each one can do things that are designed just for him. And a lot of their learning progress can be assessed just by observing them instead of giving them tests. BT definitely passed his geography test today.
Right now I'm sitting at the computer with my kids less than 10 feet away from me. The only available place for me to put my office was in a little cubby adjoining their room.
This is one of the things I really like about being back in a smaller house. It's easy for us to be close to each other and stay involved with each other. The other house was huge. There was a much greater distance between everyone's rooms. One of the things BT disliked the most about that place was that sometimes he would call for me and I couldn't even hear him. For a little 4-then-5-year-old, it can be distressing to call repeatedly for your parents and get no response. And the prospect of walking from his room all the way to the kitchen was so intimidating that he would ask someone to go with him so he wouldn't be scared. In this house, he can be heard by anyone from anywhere and he feels comfortable exploring his own home.
Also, my parental responsibility to know what my kids are watching on TV has gotten much easier; their shows are inescapable now! (Miss Spider is on at the moment.) Sometimes things get loud, but this is what we're used to and we like it.
Yesterday was my father's birthday. My mother and I were conferring about what we might give Dad as a gift. Since he loves classic plays, I got the inspiration to perform some pseudo-Shakespeare with my kids. JG has a very low tolerance for bloodshed and would have no interest in anything that's about pursuing romance, so I knew I would have to do some rewriting of whatever play I chose. So here's what we ended up with, a modernized and VERY cleaned-up kids' version of Hamlet -- no death, no bad parents, and nothing spooky:
Prince Hamlet, his mother Gertrude, and his best friend Horatio are in the palace watching TV when a news report comes on saying that the King has died in a car accident. They are all distraught. Claudius arrives at the palace and offers his condolences. He then proposes that Queen Gertrude marry him so that she will have help running the country. Gertrude tearfully decides that while King Hamlet will always be the love of her life, it might be best for the country if she remarries. Gertrude tries to comfort Prince Hamlet and suggests that he and Horatio play on his computer for a while to help them forget the sad events of the day. Gertrude and Claudius then leave to hold a press conference to tell the nation their plans.
Hamlet and Horatio go to Hamlet's computer, where Hamlet discovers that he has a new email. It is from his father! The email says that Claudius is evil and has kidnapped the king and told everyone that he was dead. The email urges Hamlet to help him, to defeat Claudius and force Claudius to set the king free. Hamlet and Horatio devise a plan to scare Claudius, prove his guilt, and then subdue him.
Hamlet announces that a storytelling contest will be held at the palace for everyone in the land to attend. Among the attendees are Gertrude and Claudius. At the storytelling contest, Horatio starts off by telling an innocuous fairy tale. Hamlet is next and tells a story in which a good king is kidnapped by an evil person, but the king's son finds out about it and feeds the evil person a poisoned cookie. During the telling of the story, Claudius becomes visibly nervous. Hamlet and Horatio then pass out cookies for everyone to eat during intermission, themselves included. Hamlet, Horatio, and Gertrude exit to the kitchen to make tea to go with the cookies. While they are out, Claudius nervously switches his cookie with Hamlet's. This is just what Hamlet had expected he would do. Hamlet had put the sabotaged cookie on his own plate. It is not actually poisoned, but contains a sleeping potion.
Everyone returns from the kitchen and they all eat cookies and drink tea. Claudius falls over asleep. Gertrude is concerned and wonders if he is dead. Hamlet explains what he had done and shows Gertrude the email from the king. Gertrude rejoices in knowing that her husband is still alive and expresses disgust at the thought that she almost married the evil Claudius. Hamlet, Horatio, and Gertrude tie Claudius up while he is sleeping. When he awakes, he is told that they know the king is alive and they will not untie Claudius until the king is found. Claudius breaks down and tells them where the king is being held captive. Hamlet takes the keys from Claudius's pocket and he and Horatio rescue the king. Claudius is sent to prison for 20 years. By the time he gets out, the king will have completed his reign and retired, and prince Hamlet will have ascended to the throne. Hamlet says that when he grows up to be king, he wants Horatio to be his chief assistant. Horatio agrees. Hamlet and Horatio are praised by the king and queen for their intelligence and courage.
More squeaky clean than a Disney movie, isn't it? It was our first time putting on a play. JG and BT had a ball being the stars of the show, and my dad loved it. Getting the props together was also fun for them. Plus, they will have the pleasure, at some point in the future, of realizing what a silly goose their Mommy is when they discover the real Hamlet.
Last Sunday night, our church's Facilities Team was having their meeting. JG (who just turned seven over the weekend!) suddenly raised his hand. When the Pastor (my dad) called on him, he said, "You know what we need to do? Wash the bus." None of us adults had noticed that the church bus was in need of a washing, so we showed sincere appreciation for his input. A few minutes later he contributed again. "And when are we going to change those light bulbs?" What light bulbs? "That one there, and that one there, and that one right there." He was right. There were three bulbs blown out among the 27 bulbs that populate our ceiling lights. He also told me later that he had discovered, while crawling around on the church floor, that some small child had scribbled on the underside of one of the pews.
So JG is now an official member of the Facilities Team. And, of course, Mommy is using this as a homeschooling activity. Under my tutelage, he sat down in WordPad and typed up the following report. Today he's going to turn it in to his team leader.
Just Visit the Tree is the title of a song that JG wrote back when he was 4 or 5. I adore the song. To me it sounds like a portrait of an idyllic childhood.
Now it seems like he's living it out. Our neighbor's loquat tree is really fruiting now, and every chance JG gets, he's in the backyard picking loquats. Any time we can't find him in the house, we check the tree and that's where he is.
I remember the first time he performed the song for me. He accompanied himself on the guitar (just strumming the open strings, he doesn't actually know any chords):
If you're looking for me, I'll be right at the tree
If you're looking for me, I'll be right at the tree
And if you need me, I'll jump off
And if you don't need me, I'll stay on
And if you need me, I'll be right at the tree
If you need me, I'll be right at the tree
I'll be right at the tree
I'll be right at the tree
I wish I could play the tape for you.
Wow. A cute little neighborhood park with no one in it.
Yesterday the little dudes and I had a lunch picnic at Mills Park, which is right by my parents' house in Carson. Overall, Carson is a very diverse city, but the Del Amo neighborhood is a stronghold of the demographic that some call the Black Bourgeoisie.
The park is right in the middle of a residential tract. It's pretty and well-kept, and it was completely empty when we arrived. BT announced, "I can hear my echo!" He ran up and down the grassy hills, listening to the reverberations of his voice and his clapping hands. In the lower-income area where we live, we have never been able to hear echoes at our local parks. Lynwood and South Gate Parks are always filled with the sounds of other people whenever we visit. Not only was there no one at Mills Park, the surrounding residential streets also seemed desolate. There wasn't a soul to be seen except for a couple of guys mowing lawns (I doubt that either of them were the actual owners of the lawns they were mowing).
I'm often struck by this irony in affluent neighborhoods. Picture-perfect houses with no one in them. In my neighborhood, the houses are older and the lawns get weedy, but they are inhabited. In Lynwood, it appears that many more homes have mothers who don't work full-time, and/or have extended families living in one house together, so there are people at home while other people are working. I'm grateful to inhabit one of those "lived-in" (both in appearance and in fact) homes.
Anyway, the picnic was fun. BT seems to share my love for plants. He correctly identified clover flowers, after having been told their name only once in the past! He picked clover, dandelion, and wood sorrel flowers for me, and he and JG played in the sand. After over an hour, some young adult men came to the park to play basketball. They appeared to be on their lunch hour from work. So at least the park wasn't completely uninhabited when we left.
Homeschooling mom, midwife, and Christian pro-life liberal in Los Angeles.
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