Category: homeschooling

Surviving Materialism

My eyes have been opened to materialism and silent materialism all around me lately. And with the Christmas season, materialism seems to be amped up almost as loudly as the selfishness bug. You know what I’m talking about, it’s that “buy this for yourself for Christmas because you’re only going to get lame gifts” message that seems to be attached to every “higher priced” item on the commercials these days.

Actually, to be honest with you, I block out the commercials. We rarely watch any “live” TV these days, and no we don’t have some cool dish network stuff to record things on live TV. Quite honestly, we just don’t find the need to pay for that in our list of priorities. I have also discovered with exposure that my kids become more whiney, demanding, and selfish with television added to their daily repetior. It’s like a cancer, they only want to watch more and have major meltdowns about who gets to have control over the TV. So we skip the coma-like experience and find our joy in playing together instead.

That being said, there seems to be a greater and greater need to choose to focus on Jesus and family during the holidays over the constant materialistic message coming from all directions.

It starts out subtly, relating happiness to an object and later flourishes into happiness only being tied in objects. Fisher Price ran an add line this year that models it so clearly. Their focus is on a parent’s interaction with a child, capturing that cute moment of discovery and squealing and delight. And while I find it sweet how they have highlighted on the innocence of a child, I find it a bit distracting that the honkin’ obnoxious toy is in the way. 😉 The funniest one I saw was the toy kitchen that tells the child when it’s time to clean up. Good… now take the parent’s authority right out of the equation – one less time to have to listen to Mom’s direction.

Am I being overly critical? Maybe. But maybe it just makes me yearn for a parent’s interaction and teaching of their child not to be linked to some $40 learning toy, but instead to be fueled by their desire to just absorb the moment with their delightful child. Who cares what the kid’s doing… unabated joy can come from a pile of rocks… or sticks… or a box. Do we really need a toy to teach us how to interact with our children?

Beyond the commercials is the constant breathing of dissatisfaction with what you have. Sure this fuels the economy. Basic economics: If I can convince you that your life is terrible without my product, then you buy my product… and a shelving unit for all my other products.

This is part of the reason that we usually skip the previews before watching a movie. No need to encourage “I need that” to fall from our sinful lips. No need to hunger for more, more, more, losing track of all that we have.

We’ve been simplifying around here. I find that less toys = more creative play. I find that less options forces sharing situations. I find that a few community-oriented toys and open space fosters more giggles than “think for me” toys and “good for only one” toys. Don’t get me wrong, there is certainly a time and a place for alone, individual play. But too often I find the toys on the market pushing distance between kids and “only for me” interactions.

I guess it’s just when you start looking at the messages that are all around you it gets you thinking, “is that something I want to teach?”

Each of us in this home will always need to make a conscious effort to be thankful for what we have – otherwise we will find themselves always unsatisfied and creating an unnecessary state of inferiority. It’s a crippling spiral of selfishness.
It’s so easy to get lost in the “but we need that” mentality to the detriment of true relationship interaction.

All this to say, materialism is just one more challenge to rise above in repeating, no matter what we hold or don’t hold in our hands, that we are a blessed and grateful child of God for one reason alone: we have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

Is He really more than enough? Or are we storing up treasures that will be scattered to the wind?

It’s when I stop seeking more material gain that I realize You really are more than enough, Lord.

*This image is shocking, but let it remind us that many times we forget the definition of true need in our comforts of blessing.

– please help us stay focused, Lord.

2

Ninepence’s Less

I sat down to read the usual Adventure Missionary reading while the girls fell asleep. Hannah, who had waited patiently for her lunch, snuggled in for her feeding as I rocked, read and fed. Rachael and Abi laid silently in their beds, initially twiddling a finger here and there and later fast asleep.

I love reading the Christian Heroes: Then & Now series to the girls. I love that in one effort my little ones get to fall asleep to my voice, have a specific and daily set-aside time to hear the testimony of heroes of the faith, and that I get the privilege to soak in some “beyond picture books” reading.

I read this today and it really resounded in my heart:

Gladys realized that she could not leave the little girl to possibly die in the hands of such a heartless person. She stopped and turned and stared at the woman. “I don’t have that much cash, but I will give you what I have in my pocket.”

The woman smiled slyly. “And how much would that be?” she asked.

Gladys fished around in her jacket pocket and pulled out a few copper cash coins, equal to ninepence in English money. She held the coins out on her open palm for the woman to see.

“Done,” the woman declared, grasping for the money. “Take her away.”

Gladys took the hand of the little girl, who she decided must be about four or five years old. Together they continued on down the street. By the time Gladys reached the inn, the enormity of what she had just done began to dawn on her. She had just bought, or adopted, as she preferred to think of it, a little girl. Just like that, she had become a mother. 

Ninepence, as the girl quickly became known, gulped down every scrap of food she was given. Within weeks she had turned into a healthy, happy little girl. She loved living at the inn, and Gladys never had a moment of regret that she’d followed her heart and not the mandarin’s command. 

One day, after Ninepence had been living at the inn about six months, Gladys was standing on the upstairs balcony. Suddenly, she saw Ninepence come running through the gate into the courtyard.

“Ai-weh-deh [name given to Gladys by the Chinese and translated: “virtuous one”],” Ninepence yelled, “are you hungry tonight?”

Gladys thought the question rather odd, but she answered it. “Yes, I am, and Yang is making us a delicious millet stew.”

Ninepence looked up at her. “I’m going to eat a little less at dinner. If I eat a little less, would you eat a little less, too?” she asked. 

“Why would we do that?” inquired Gladys. 

“I found a boy out here, and he is hungry,” Ninepence said, pointing to the gate. “If I eat less, and you eat less, and we put those two lesses together, we would have enough to feed him, too.”

Gladys smiled to herself. Ninepence was always on the lookout for children in need. “Yes, I will eat less with you, and the boy can eat with us. Bring him in,” she said.

 And so it was, that an eight-year-old orphan boy also became part of the family. 

 – excerpt from “Gladys Aylward: The Adventure of a Lifetime” by Janet & Geoff Benge

It just got me to thinking and praying…

Lord, that I would eat less.

Lord, that more would eat less. Then we could put our lesses together to feed others and bring them into the family. 

… Amen.

– To God be the glory.

0

Maybe…

Maybe it’s in pulling out the winter blankets for the girls’ beds.

Maybe it’s in realizing how much Rachael has learned in last year’s homeschooling as I flip through this year’s homeschooling outline.

Maybe it’s in the realization that Abi no longer fits pants I got out last month.

Maybe it’s in hearing her add “certainly” and “presumably” to her 3 year old vocabulary.

Maybe it’s in watching Hannah’s eyes now open daily and soaking in her world.

Maybe it’s in overhearing Abi use words, “it’s ridiculous!” instead of screaming every time she’s frustrated (evidence of growing self-control).

Maybe it’s in the realization that Rachael will be 4 years old in just a few months.

Maybe it’s in noticing Abi’s face elongating and planning for potty training in just a few weeks.

Maybe it’s in the realization that Hannah’s 5 weeks old already.

Maybe it’s in contemplating bunking the beds after Rachael’s birthday.

Maybe it’s in looking into the “new kid room” and wondering who will be joining us
… and when
… and feeling like it is so soon
… and that I need to redress the beds in there sooner than later.

Maybe it’s a combination of all these things, but today they all just feel so big… so old… so “growing like weeds”.

Rubbing my hand through Hannah’s soft red-tinted hair takes me back to Rachael’s newness
 … like it was just yesterday.

And then I see her, Ms. Long-legs, dancing down the hallway with Abi squealing and chasing her. Free and so alive.

– In the blink of an eye…


– Snuggling a little extra today.

0

Rachael’s Tea Party

Don’t let the silence on the blog two weeks ago fool you. It’s not silent over here. 😉

While Daddy was gone on the youth mission trip two weeks ago, Rachael hosted her first Tea Party. =)

She started out writing the invitations (obviously with some help):


Then came the welcome sign for the door:

Then she made the place cards:

With the help of Aunt Jes, we made the Tea Party treats and some teacup decorations. The menu was lemonade poured from the teapot, heart-shaped PBJ or Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches, applesauce, trail mix (PB/chocolate chips, pretzels, animal crackers, and raisins), and of course cookies (meringues, homemade chocolate chip, and sugar cookies with the puffed frosting from the store – mmmmmm, yes). 

Aunt Jes also helped in setting the table, even loaning us some of her extra teacups and her tea set.

Here’s Rachael’s tea party:

Each place setting had a piece of jewelry that all the guests could wear and a special cup:

 Yes, that’s a plastic ring for my two year old. 😉

 I didn’t have a tea cup at first. 

 Rachael’s Sunday School teacher who was unable to make it (hence Mommy stole her cup. hehe). 
[Actually this cup was given to my by my great grandmother.]

 Danielle’s Mom (to Rachael) and a dear friend (to me).
[She likes coffee.]
 Rachael’s Sunday School playmate and, for the longest, the only child in her age bracket/nursery at the church. 

 Aunt Jes brought a special teapot/spoon necklace for our little hostess.

 A new friend in Rachael’s Sunday School class whom we have welcomed with open arms. 

 Ava’s Mom, who’s in my Sunday School class and a new wonderful friend. 
 Here Vicki pours the lemonade form the teapot as Danielle (top), Rachael (middle) and Ava (bottom) enjoy their tea party treats. All the girls wore frilly, beautiful dresses to the party (most raided from their drees-up bins at home). 

Little Abi sports the “cover all” bib since her gorgeous frilly dress was a light/stainable pink.

The little girls had a blast and so did the Moms. And each party guest got to bring home a teacup picture to color and remind them of the fun at Rachael’s Tea Party. 

Rachael was quite the little hostess, tending to her guests and explaining where everyone would sit. Hehe. And Abi was thrilled to run after Rachael, Danielle, and Ava, as they squealed and played before/after our tea. It was a wonderful, frilly, girlie time indeed that ended with two little girls knocked out cold for an extended nap. 

– Successful indeed. 😉
0

Garage Sale Season

Don’t you just love it? Going to a garage sale and finding that “excessively marked down” newbie. It’s like getting a package in the mail, when you see it… sitting there amongst the junk.

Like these: There’s over 2 complete sets of these alphabet, magnetic pieces. And they cost me A DOLLAR total. (We already had the double-sided magnetic white board that I’ve been using for teaching – it cost me $12 on Amazon.)

Now I couldn’t find the exact same tiles online, but in the teacher store these guys were between $20-25 and in the online store they’re anywhere from $20 to (this almost made me cry) $55. FIFTY FIVE DOLLARS! (You can get the exact same set on Amazon for a sale price of $41, but even so FORTY ONE DOLLARS?!?!)

[Though I think ours are better than these tiles because ours click together, making the concept of a word being a combined set of letters more concrete.]

I’ll take our dollar find any day!

And Rachael’s already learned how to recognize Abi’s name through just playing with them for five minutes. No, the child can’t spell, but in our homeschooling she has just begun decoding words through their letters as I spell them and distinguishing them from other words. (We’ve been working on decoding color names to the completion of the word, not just recognizing by the first letter or two.)

So these little tiles will have much life in our household as the concept of reading and building words is, oddly, feeling closer on the horizon. Crazy to think that the child is only 3.5 years old and is beginning to show signs of beginning reading skills.

Nice to be able to keep up with her little brain with a dollar find. 😉

I’m looking forward to starting to have her build the color words next as I spell out the color aloud.

Yay for fun, cheap, effective and non-bulky materials!

0

The Creek

This morning I got up and felt the desire to “go away” from our house. We’d settled back in since vacation and now it was time for a little cabin-fever driven play. Today not being a homeschooling day meant we were free until nap time, while I still hoped to spend the lunch time with Matt.

At first the idea was a local park that has farm animals, play equipment and not too much walking. I gave a few friends a call, discovered their full plans, and then rethought about our original plan. If we were not partnering with anyone else, we were free to do whatever. Then the idea popped into my head: muddy water play. The level of grease in Rachael’s hair this morning sealed the deal, clearly bath time was in order for today so why not get the most out of the dirt before returning to the world of clean.

Rachael was all-in, my previous “ew-dirt” toddler now turned into a “dirty can be fun” preschooler. But Abi had her own plans of lying in a pile of play jewelry (can we say uncomfortable?) and wrapping her stuffed duckie in a blanket. VETOED! Abi got over it with a few minutes of consoling and then happily got into a swim diaper and bathing suit. With T-shirts (for extra sun protection), water shoes, a few bath toys, some towels and my camera we were out the door to our adventure.

The girls, having never play in a creek before (dude, they’re small), learned all kinds of things about creeks through hands-on experience. And boy can I tell you, we experienced the creek TO THE FULL. Short of drinking the water intentionally (sorry Abi), we did just about every other little sensory experiment imaginable.

Rachael learned about water currants, floating and sinking objects,

 Boat floating down-currant. Then whale’s turn to float in a bucket.

depth of water, mossy rocks being slimy,

and all kinds of other personal experiments like how much water can be splashed by jumping furiously in the water.

Abi enjoyed many dump and fill pleasures with her self-declared recycled cottage cheese container which was a HUGE “no no” in the sharing category. That container was an emotional attachment, a beloved friend not just a selfish moment of “I don’t want you to have it”. No, cottage cheese container was NEEDED  (funny how they attach to things randomly). Rachael was content to play with everything but Abi’s cottage cheese container so no wars were waged creekside. Abi also highly enjoyed kicking and splashing – a must for my mud-inspired baby.

 Dump and fill.                             Kick, splash, kick!
 Catch the small waterfall.

While the girls were a little hesitant at first about the shiftiness of creek rocks, they soon kicked into their regular selves, sitting in the cold water with squeals and ‘do it again’s. In a few minutes their limbs had gone numb in the creek’s shade-covered arctic waters and their focused turned to exploring the water.

 Explore. Discover. Delight. 
           Joy.                                         Catch and release.
      Exploration.                                Watering her hair. =)

We stayed for 45 minutes of bliss, soon-to-be lunch grumbling encouraging our departure. I wondered what people thought as two young children emerged from the “no swimming” lakeside entrance (we walked a little ways back to the creek) fully wrapped in towels and soaking. We looked like rebels, but there were no signs posted in the creek area regarding swimming (probably since the water was um ankle-deep), but my children very nearly swam in that very ankle-deep currant.

A quick towel-drying, change of clothes for the ride back, peanut butter sandwich lunch, bath time and redressing has produced two wonderfully exhausted children and a quiet napping house.

I’d say our adventure was a success for all. =)

2

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren.

Up ↑