1. Point and make unintelligible noises at the computer till mommy turns on the Christmas music.
2. Dance a little to get in the mood.
3. Climb up on the chair mommy pulled up the the counter.
4. Pull carrots out of the bag so mommy can peel them.
5. Take the chopped carrots out of the bowl and put them into the crock pot (which already has lentils and water in it) one fistfull at a time.
6. Wait after each fistfull for mommy to gratefully and exuberantly thank me for my helpfulness.
7. Remind mommy every minute or two that the crock pot is "hot."
8. Take a few bites of raw carrot before throwing it in the crock pot.
9. Drop a carrot on the floor, climb down off the chair, pick it up, climb back on the chair, and put it directly into the crockpot. (mommy's insert: don't worry... if we are having visitors mommy will omit this step).
10. Now add fistfulls of celery to the crockpot. (repeat step 9 as needed)
11. Now add fistfulls of onion to the crockpot. (repeat step 9 as needed)
12. Every so often, stir with a wooden spoon.
13. Take a big bite of raw onion, make a face, and spit it out.
14. Hold the measuring spoon while mommy measures the oregano, basil, salt, celery salt, and paprika. Then dump it in the crock pot.
15. Hold each seasoning one by one as mommy lifts me up to put it away in the cupboard.
16. Put each vegetable back in the refrigerator.
17. Dance some more to the Christmas music
18. Get my blankie to go down for a nap.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
The New World of Imagination
I have been wondering when kids begin to develop an imagination. I have been watching for signs of Emery playing "pretend." And recently I finally saw the first glimmers of it.
She was holding a small wooden zebra that comes from a Noah's Ark set of animals that my mom gave her last time we went to visit. And it was like for the very first time in her life she recognized it as the representation of an animal instead of an irregularly shaped object. She turned it the correct way, so its little zebra feet were facing down, and then she moved it across the couch, forward, the way a zebra might walk.
It was a small thing. The kind of thing only a mother would get excited about, or even notice. But it was exciting to me. And I know as her brain continues to develop she will open up into the world of "pretend" and imagination. And I love it!
It is so fun watching her grow and change. And she does it so unobtrusively, so unconsciously, that if you weren't paying attention, you might not even notice.
She was holding a small wooden zebra that comes from a Noah's Ark set of animals that my mom gave her last time we went to visit. And it was like for the very first time in her life she recognized it as the representation of an animal instead of an irregularly shaped object. She turned it the correct way, so its little zebra feet were facing down, and then she moved it across the couch, forward, the way a zebra might walk.
It was a small thing. The kind of thing only a mother would get excited about, or even notice. But it was exciting to me. And I know as her brain continues to develop she will open up into the world of "pretend" and imagination. And I love it!
It is so fun watching her grow and change. And she does it so unobtrusively, so unconsciously, that if you weren't paying attention, you might not even notice.
Monday, November 8, 2010
My Little Helper
So in the past couple of days Emery and I have started doing one of the things I was most looking forward to about motherhood... doing things around the house together!
Of course, this means that it takes twice as long to do anything... sometimes three times longer, but it's worth it. Now I can do housework and spend quality time with my daughter at the same time!
Take laundry for example. When I go around the house to collect the laundry, Emery helps me pick up any clothes that got left on the floor, empty the laundry hamper, get the wash cloths, towels, and dish cloths from their various places, and load them into the washing machine. And she loves to push the button to start the washer. Then she "helps" move the clothes from the washer into the dryer. This consists of me handing her each wet item of clothing so she can shove them individually into the dryer. As you can imagine, this takes WAY longer then if I just did it myself. But it's also way more fun!
The folding and putting things away is even more fun! I fold one item, say a pair of underwear. And before I can grab another item to fold, Emery grabs the folded item and races into the bedroom to put it away. So I pick her up and open the correct drawer and she throws it in (usually its previously folded state is unrecognizable by this time) and then we go back out into the living room to fold one more thing. One pair of socks... put away in the bedroom. One dish cloth... put away in the kitchen. One shirt... hung in the closet (for this I pick her up so she can hang it on the rack). One towel... rushed to the bathroom. Etc...
Doing it this way takes FOREVER but it brings joy to my mama's heart.
And we do dishes this way, and pick up toys, and cook meals (Emery loves to help stir), and dust, and even sweep the floor!
And I love every minute.
Of course, this means that it takes twice as long to do anything... sometimes three times longer, but it's worth it. Now I can do housework and spend quality time with my daughter at the same time!
Take laundry for example. When I go around the house to collect the laundry, Emery helps me pick up any clothes that got left on the floor, empty the laundry hamper, get the wash cloths, towels, and dish cloths from their various places, and load them into the washing machine. And she loves to push the button to start the washer. Then she "helps" move the clothes from the washer into the dryer. This consists of me handing her each wet item of clothing so she can shove them individually into the dryer. As you can imagine, this takes WAY longer then if I just did it myself. But it's also way more fun!
The folding and putting things away is even more fun! I fold one item, say a pair of underwear. And before I can grab another item to fold, Emery grabs the folded item and races into the bedroom to put it away. So I pick her up and open the correct drawer and she throws it in (usually its previously folded state is unrecognizable by this time) and then we go back out into the living room to fold one more thing. One pair of socks... put away in the bedroom. One dish cloth... put away in the kitchen. One shirt... hung in the closet (for this I pick her up so she can hang it on the rack). One towel... rushed to the bathroom. Etc...
Doing it this way takes FOREVER but it brings joy to my mama's heart.
And we do dishes this way, and pick up toys, and cook meals (Emery loves to help stir), and dust, and even sweep the floor!
And I love every minute.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Spending fast
Jimmy and I went to a financial seminar last week and decided that we really need to rethink our spending. So last night we decided that we're going on a spending fast that will last at least three or four months because we need to save for the birth of this baby. But it's only 10:00 in the morning and I've already thought of dozens of ways to spend money today!
The car needs gas, and it is very overdue for an oil change.
I was late to work this morning so I wanted to run through Starbucks for breakfast (which is actually much quicker then making something at home.)
On the way by the grocery store I was remembering some things I would like to make for lunch.
On my way past the co-op I was thinking of some "natural remedies" that my midwife was recommending to ease some of the discomfort of pregnancy.
On my way past home depot I was remembering that I wanted to buy rat poison for our garage intruder, and fly paper for our recent invasion of fruit flies.
I also remembered that my mom's birthday is coming up and I haven't bought her a card yet.
These things don't include the drive past Big Lots and JCPenny and Kohls where I could easily spend LOTS more money.
So I had a bagel with cream cheese from my own toaster this morning... no Starbucks.
And I'll make something for lunch that we already have in the house.
And the natural remedies will have to wait... and so will the fly paper and rat poison (although the rat poison will have to be purchased sometime before the spending fast is over because I can't stand to have that guy in there all that time!)
And I got some construction paper from the teacher's lounge and Emery and I will make a birthday card for my mom.
Obviously I'll still have to fill the tank with gas and get the oil changed.
but this is going to be harder then I thought!
The car needs gas, and it is very overdue for an oil change.
I was late to work this morning so I wanted to run through Starbucks for breakfast (which is actually much quicker then making something at home.)
On the way by the grocery store I was remembering some things I would like to make for lunch.
On my way past the co-op I was thinking of some "natural remedies" that my midwife was recommending to ease some of the discomfort of pregnancy.
On my way past home depot I was remembering that I wanted to buy rat poison for our garage intruder, and fly paper for our recent invasion of fruit flies.
I also remembered that my mom's birthday is coming up and I haven't bought her a card yet.
These things don't include the drive past Big Lots and JCPenny and Kohls where I could easily spend LOTS more money.
So I had a bagel with cream cheese from my own toaster this morning... no Starbucks.
And I'll make something for lunch that we already have in the house.
And the natural remedies will have to wait... and so will the fly paper and rat poison (although the rat poison will have to be purchased sometime before the spending fast is over because I can't stand to have that guy in there all that time!)
And I got some construction paper from the teacher's lounge and Emery and I will make a birthday card for my mom.
Obviously I'll still have to fill the tank with gas and get the oil changed.
but this is going to be harder then I thought!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Chess: the random-move strategy
I've been trying to find new and interesting ways to teach spelling words to my 7-8th graders. Spelling is unfortunately kind of a boring subject so i'm always trying to find new ways to make it more interesting to practice our spelling words for the week.
This week I decided to have the students do some game modification. We have played games before using our spelling words, one of our old favorite standards is Hangman, of course. Today We had several board games and card games and the students were supposed to modify the games to incorporate the spelling words. It was much more of a success then I was expecting!
One team modified the game "Sorry" so that every time you got out onto the board, every time you entered the home base, and every time you got a "sorry" card you had to correctly spell a word before moving on.
Another team changed the game "Skip-Bo" so that every time you wanted to play a card from your deck you had to correctly spell a word, or lose your turn!
But the one I remember the best was the game I was involved in. One of my students is excellent at chess so he challenged me to a game. We decided that anytime you want to take another player's piece, you have to correctly spell a word.
Now you have to understand that playing chess with me is a frustrating experience for good chess players... or so I'm told. This is because I have a very unique strategy (and also because I am TERRIBLE at chess). My strategy in chess is to move my pieces around the board, blocking or protecting my pieces as I see them in danger. But the part of my strategy that drives people nuts is that when I don't know what to do I make some kind of illogical but bold move with one of my key pieces. For example, let's say that we're part-way into the game, the pieces are moved around the board in such a way that if anyone makes the first move taking pieces it will cause a chain reaction that will wipe out half the pieces on the board. So instead of focusing on that, I will take my queen and move her randomly to the other side of the board. or my rook. or my bishop. Or I'll move my king up one space. Now, good chess players, since they have a long-term strategy, assume that I also have some kind of strategy. So when I make a bold move like that they try to figure out what I'm thinking. But my brilliant secret is:
I'm not thinking anything!
So chess master playing opposite me is sitting there scratching his head and replanning his whole strategy to incorporate my random move. This is very satisfying to me. It's the only reason I play chess. Because losing a game over and over and over is MUCH more amusing if you can at least succeed in puzzling and confounding the other player.
And since I'm going to lose anyway... I might as well enjoy myself right?
So today I was playing against 7th grade chess master and employing my random move strategy when to my great surprise (and his) I found myself in a position to take one of his important pieces. Of course, that would mean sacrificing my queen, but oh well. It would be exciting wouldn't it? So after he confusedly replanned his strategy around this new move, he made the move that would wipe out my queen. And to my great delight... he spelled his spelling word wrong! Allowing me to put him in checkmate... And so I won a game of chess... possibly for the first and last time in my life. He declared good-naturedly that it wasn't a real game and I shouldn't be able to congratulate myself.
But I'm going to count it.
This week I decided to have the students do some game modification. We have played games before using our spelling words, one of our old favorite standards is Hangman, of course. Today We had several board games and card games and the students were supposed to modify the games to incorporate the spelling words. It was much more of a success then I was expecting!
One team modified the game "Sorry" so that every time you got out onto the board, every time you entered the home base, and every time you got a "sorry" card you had to correctly spell a word before moving on.
Another team changed the game "Skip-Bo" so that every time you wanted to play a card from your deck you had to correctly spell a word, or lose your turn!
But the one I remember the best was the game I was involved in. One of my students is excellent at chess so he challenged me to a game. We decided that anytime you want to take another player's piece, you have to correctly spell a word.
Now you have to understand that playing chess with me is a frustrating experience for good chess players... or so I'm told. This is because I have a very unique strategy (and also because I am TERRIBLE at chess). My strategy in chess is to move my pieces around the board, blocking or protecting my pieces as I see them in danger. But the part of my strategy that drives people nuts is that when I don't know what to do I make some kind of illogical but bold move with one of my key pieces. For example, let's say that we're part-way into the game, the pieces are moved around the board in such a way that if anyone makes the first move taking pieces it will cause a chain reaction that will wipe out half the pieces on the board. So instead of focusing on that, I will take my queen and move her randomly to the other side of the board. or my rook. or my bishop. Or I'll move my king up one space. Now, good chess players, since they have a long-term strategy, assume that I also have some kind of strategy. So when I make a bold move like that they try to figure out what I'm thinking. But my brilliant secret is:
I'm not thinking anything!
So chess master playing opposite me is sitting there scratching his head and replanning his whole strategy to incorporate my random move. This is very satisfying to me. It's the only reason I play chess. Because losing a game over and over and over is MUCH more amusing if you can at least succeed in puzzling and confounding the other player.
And since I'm going to lose anyway... I might as well enjoy myself right?
So today I was playing against 7th grade chess master and employing my random move strategy when to my great surprise (and his) I found myself in a position to take one of his important pieces. Of course, that would mean sacrificing my queen, but oh well. It would be exciting wouldn't it? So after he confusedly replanned his strategy around this new move, he made the move that would wipe out my queen. And to my great delight... he spelled his spelling word wrong! Allowing me to put him in checkmate... And so I won a game of chess... possibly for the first and last time in my life. He declared good-naturedly that it wasn't a real game and I shouldn't be able to congratulate myself.
But I'm going to count it.
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