January 17, 2010
I thought Lucy was still in bed yesterday morning. And I went to put away come clean paintbrushes, and was surprised to see her standing at the table in the learning room. I was even more surprised by what I noticed next:
Do you see it? The little pile there under the scissors. That’s right, Lucy reached that milestone every little girl reaches at some point in her life: her first self-imposed, clandestine haircut.
I almost cried.
But instead I laughed, and yelled, “Craig, come quick! Bring the camera!”
Read more...
November 4, 2009
Sorry, everyone, for the long silence. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks, and I promised myself I wouldn’t write until I could be reasonably sure I wouldn’t be immediately interrupted. We spent most of last week in Texas, because on October 21 my father passed away. Even though we knew he had cancer and this was possible, it was not expected at the time or in the way that it happened, so it has still been a bit of a shock. Read more...
October 7, 2009
There is an amazing article in this week’s America magazine. (The Oct. 5, 2009 issue.) It’s called “A Fiery Gift: A spiritual case for natural childbirth.” Susan Windley-Daoust has a deeper perspective on the issue, one I hadn’t considered, and I think everyone (female, or otherwise, and likely to give birth sometime soon or otherwise!) ought to read this. I think she is absolutely right-on. Read more...
July 27, 2009
Lucy gave us the synopsis of Samantha’s birth this morning. It went more or less like this:
“We drove to that house, and Mommy pooped in the bathtub. You (Mommy) did a good job. And that was Samantha!”
And we laughed.
Later, I heard Craig doctoring Lucy’s scraped knees while I was feeding Samantha. He said, among other things, and over her screams,
“You know, a lot of your pain is psychological.”
And I laughed. Hard. Never a dull moment here!
May 22, 2009
Elizabeth Foss uses this quote from Edith Stein in her book:
“The soul of a woman must therefore be expansive and open to all human beings; it must be quiet so that no small weak flame will be extinguished by stormy winds; warm so as not to benumb fragile buds; clear, so that no vermin will settle in dark corners and recesses; self contained, so that no invasions from without can impede the inner life; empty of itself, in order that extraeneous life may have room in it; finally, mistress of itself and also of its body, so that the entire person is readily at the disposal of every call.” Read more...
April 23, 2009
Just in case anyone was unsure.
Sometimes NPR makes me sad. These two stories ran back to back on Monday, and I’m trying to decide which part to focus my angry/disappointed/how can people really think this way?! letter on. (The text on the page is not the same as the story that you’ll hear if you click the “Listen Now” button at the top – they cut whole paragraphs, but actually come out as two significantly different stories.)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103211630
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103270766 Read more...
March 31, 2009
So, rather than folding laundry, I thought I would spend a few minutes updating you on the goings-on around here, other than my haphazard reading, which is taking up disproportionate amounts of blog space.
Samantha has a tooth, on the bottom in the front. I have not seen it yet, as she guards it jealously with a strange tongue-curling manoeuvre which makes her look like a turtle. She is happy to chomp on anything near her mouth, however, so we have established that it is sharp. Read more...
March 11, 2009
There are schools of thought which encourage children be fed by having several different foods (including dessert!) set before them at the beginning of a meal, and the child will naturally choose the foods which his body happens to need at the moment (and not necessarily dessert). The thought is that a small child, not yet driven by mere routine, not having been taught simply to finish his plate, is still connected to voice of her body. We haven’t implemented this totally into Lucy’s world, but we don’t force her to make a “happy plate” either. Read more...
February 27, 2009
[Warning: This is graphic. If you don't like a little potty humor, do not read on!]
I am now, after two years, almost used to poop. I am used to spit-up. These rarely phase me. I am not, however, used to chocolate throw-up in a car seat. Read more...
February 18, 2009
Allow me a lenghty quote, and a few (less lenghty) comments. ? Is it me, or does anyone else wonder why it is taking so many Americans so long to realize some of the things Montessori mentions below? ? (More on this later – I think I can combine some of my readings!)
“But let us think, for a moment, of the many peoples of the world who live at different cultural levels from our own. ? In the matter of child rearing, almost all of these seem to be more enlightened than ourselves–with all our Western ultramodern ideals. ? Read more...
