Home School Life

It’s taken me a long time to figure out the importance of form in a child’s life. When I was a young, new mother my little one was the center of my universe and I felt that nothing was more important than his freedom to explore the world at will. Forget about the dirty laundry, the toy-strewn living room, and my son’s sometimes annoying habit of turning my turkey baster into a weapon — if he was happily exploring his world, I was happy, too. We were free and easy, unbeholden to anyone or anything.

As my children have gotten older, though, I’ve realized that the realities of the world really do need to step-in and impose their limitations. It started with chores (yes, you do have to pick up toys), regular bathtimes (with time limits, mind you) and regular mealtimes (at the table WITH silverware.) These days form reigns supreme. We get up (7:00). Eat breakfast (7:30). Get dressed (7:42). Pack lunches (8:01). Brush teeth (8:14). Walk out the door (8:24). In that order. Every morning. It’s not a rut. It’s not a routine. It’s a comfortable, regular rhythm. We like it.

I’ve realized that having this regular form and rhythm not only helps us make sure we’re doing what we need to be doing, but it also helps to provide discipline. Problems fall away because the form is holding us in check. We feel comforted knowing this and we don’t have to BE disciplined because in holding the form we ARE disciplined. Through this form my children are building a sense of responsibility and exercising within themselves the will forces to hold a task and carry it through. Just as great a gift as any free-wheeling discovery they might make.

It’s taken me a long time to realize that through this form comes the freedom to explore the world with the wild abandon I sometimes yearn for. Without having a comfortable, reliable form we cannot feel safe enough to explore the world with freedom. So everytime I require my children to do their dinnertime chores (without pay), ask to be excused from the table (with hands in lap and food swallowed, thank you very much), or write out thank you notes for their birthday gifts (ahem, Leo) I satisfy my free-thinking side by imagining all the fun they’re going to have with the freedom that will result from all of this form!

Yippee!

After fighting with my never-give-up side, I decided to pull my Danish Nattrojer off the needles. I am so glad I did. This thing is enormous!

So no starting-a-new-project guilt for me! If I was going to start a new project, though, I was at least going to require myself to use the same yarn. So I hunted around and found a great pattern.

This is the Katharine Hepburn sweater put out by Knitting Daily in their free e-book with 7 cardigan patterns. There are actually a few different patterns I like in that e-book, and most of them don’t use this teeny-tiny yarn. I love the cable and lace pattern of this sweater and it’s just perfect for the yarn I have. It will make a nice light-weight cardigan. If I ever finish it. 

I cast-on Thursday night and I’ve got about one pattern repeat finished. I’m really liking it so far — and it’s not ginormous. It’s not knit in the round, and there are cables, so it’s slower going than the Nattrojer was, but in the end it will be worth it.

Here’s a close up of the cable/lace detail.

Now if I could just find time to knit. Lots going on here — and this week is a big one for me. Wish me luck!

Just a few shots of my day on Friday. . .

This seems to be the most often asked question in so many different areas of my life right now. Yes, our family is in the midst of a transition, and there is a very BIG “what next” question waiting to be answered, but there are all kinds of little “what nexts” out there, too. Those little ones are so much more fun to try to answer.

Knitting

What’s next on the needles? Well, I’ve been steadily plugging along on my teeny, tiny needle giant sweater project and I’m making progress (through the first repeat, at least) but I’m starting to have questions. First, I’m not sure that I like the color. It is a very pretty lavender color, which I would ordinarily like, but I’m not sure I like it for this. I could imagine making a nice little sweater set (fitted shell and cardigan) with it, but it’s not quite right for this project. Also, I’m worried I’m making this way too big. This isn’t usually a problem I have, so I am quite reluctant to come to this conclustion, but it does seem pretty large. (I’d include a picture if I hadn’t gotten home so late tonight.) Anyway, there is a very big part of me that does not believe in giving up and ripping, but I also don’t want to end up with a sweater in my closet that I put a monumental amount of time into that I never wear. So, for now I’m just looking around and dreaming about my next project. This is what I’m leaning towards right now.

I love this sweater and I’m realizing that though I like the idea of making a pull-over, I’m much less likely to actually wear one. A cardigan seems a bit more versatile and a nice light cardigan in a neutral color could be the perfect thing for the spring days that have arrived so early here.

Weighing heavily on my mind right now are all the home-improvement projects that need doing around here. I’m feeling quite unmotivated about them, though, probably because of the state of flux I’m currently in. I figure once that gets resolved I’ll feel more motivated about the house.

I’m off to a parent evening at school.

This weekend my kids and I took a day trip to Vancouver to soak up some Olympic goodness. We didn’t have tickets to anything, but we just wanted to be in the city among all of that good feeling. It was an incredible experience. We were there late enough Saturday night to see all of the rowdies start to come out doing a little pre-partying before the big hockey game on Sunday. As we walked down the street at random moments the crowd would chant “Go Canada Go”  or “CAN-A-DA.” We had a great time and the kids really felt like they were a part of history. Here are some pics.

2.22.2002 — An auspicious date if ever there was one. For our family it was especially so as this date marked the arrival of our little Leo.

Today my little star boy is eight years old. I love his birthday for the opportunity it gives me to remember what a gift he is. This little one has helped me to realize my confidence in parenting. On the quiet, beautiful morning of his birth I discovered what a wonderful, intimate experience childbirth can be. I felt like I finally had it figured out. That morning was the first of the many gifts of this type that Leo has brought me. I’m finally confident in my parenting and this little one has been the one to help me realize it.

Thank you my little light. Happy Birthday.

I was at school today making tomorrow’s soup. While it cooked I walked around with my new camera and took some photos.

Sweet.

So, after months of agonizing, I did finally purchase a camera, and I’m so pleased with it.

For the longest time I debated between going with a DSLR or a simpler premium point and shoot. I decided that because I really do want to be able to achieve some beautiful effects in the photos I take of my family, a DSLR was the way to go. I knew, though, that I could not afford a brand new DSLR, so I started shopping craigslist. This is what I ended up with:

It’s a Nikon d70s. It’s an older camera (made in 2006 or so) and because of that it only has 6.2 megapixels. Today’s cameras have 10-12 but I decided that if there was one feature I was going to compromise on it would be megapixels. I don’t plan on blowing any pictures up or anything (most of my pictures end up being viewed on a computer screen), so I think I’ll be fine.

I think I got a really good deal. I got the body, the 18-55 kit lens, an extra battery pack/vertical grip, and all the cords, manuals, and chargers for $300. The guy I bought it from had upgraded and was driving a BMW, so I don’t think money was a big deal to him. Nice.

I’ve spent a little bit of time playing with it and figuring it out, but more work definitely needs to be done there. I’m already realizing the next couple of things I want to get. First, I want to get a prime lens with a larger aperture so I can take photos with that beautiful bokeh effect. That is where the main subject of the photo is in focus while the background is blurred. I figure I have enough mess in my life that blurring backgrounds is probably a good idea. I also want to figure something out for flash photos. I just hate the pop-up flash. Nobody ever looks good in photos with a pop-up flash. Right now I suppose I’ll either resort to not taking pictures at night or just having dark photos.

Other happenings here?

This week I’m going to visit another school to teach a block on the geography of Africa. I love these guest teaching spots — all of the fun, none of the hard parts. It’ll be a little hard, I suppose, in that I’ll be driving the hour and a half between home and school every day. I just have too much going on at home to be away for the whole week.  The block is going to be a lot of fun.

Hear the Voice of the Griot by Betty Staley is my primary resource for this block and it is full of the feeling of Africa. It’s got everything I need — music, poems, factual content, stories — it’s just perfect. I’m going to have a tough time trying to fit everything in — I only have this week, then a 3 week break, and then one more week, to try to build the feeling of Africa — definitely not ideal.

I’ve also got a mother of a knitting project on the needles.

This is called the Danish Nattrojer from the Winter 2004 issue of Interweave Knits. This particular issue of IK is amazing — I could imagine myself making almost everything in it. But I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this one. It is a full-size sweater knit in fingering weight yarn. I am working on this thing tirelessly and I’m not even through the first pattern repeat (5 more to go!). It is knit in the round, which is part of the reason I chose it, but when I think that I could have chosen a nice, simple Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern instead, I groan a little. It is at least pleasant to work on and definitely something I can do while watching the Olympics (which I’ve been doing a LOT of.) Here’s my progress so far:

Hopefully I’ll get a bit more done watching ice dancing tonight (if I get all my block prep done, that is.)

There’s lots more going on here — the push is on to figure out what I’m doing next year — and I’ll update on that soon. I’m struggling a bit with keeping this space somewhat anonymous, while still sharing all I want to share. Right now it doesn’t seem terribly important, but next year I’m looking forward to sharing all of my adventures in the classroom on this space. I’m thinking then it would be important to be as anonymous as possible. Well, off to plan my block.

Hello everyone. Yes, a long sabbatical from this little space, but greater attentiveness will soon be inspired by the brilliant photographs I will soon be taking with my as-yet undecided-upon camera. Opinions on a digital camera? I’d love to hear them. My major question? DSLR vs. megazoom. Will I use the extra features enough to make the extra bulk worth it? The jury’s still out.

Until then, I thought I’d share some of the places I’ve been exploring lately. I have been dabbling in a gluten-free diet and I have found myself feeling so much better on the days I go without. I went gluten-free for about 8 days recently and when I couldn’t resist my mom’s homemade mac n’ cheese I definitely felt repurcussions. So, I went on the hunt for new recipes and found some great blogs to sub to.

Gluten-Free Girl – I’ve been watching this one for awhile now. She has some great recipes and I love her main dish section.

Gluten-Free Goddess – More great recipes. Check out her post on How to Start Living Gluten-Free.

Elana’s Pantry – Gluten. Free. Desserts. Lots of them. Yum.

Gluten-Free Blog – Not just recipes, but reviews of commercially made foods, too. Good, but not the best if you’re looking for recipes (which I usually am.)

I’m feeling quite inspired to cook up a storm this evening, so I’m off to the grocery. Have a great day!