Mommy, Ph.D.

Wednesday

I know I need to have more routine in our day. I’m pretty lousy about that. I tried to institute “circle time” for reading, but my darling Mr. Preschooler redefined that for us as lying down to make circles. I think I’ll call it “Sassafrass Time” or something.

We played outside in the hot-hot and found THREE Orb spiders! THREE! And I overheard Isaac saying to a Fisher-Price Little People Baby, “I’m going to help you feel better. Let’s go out and play in the pool. And then we’ll go on a nature walk. After that, we’ll read a book. And then we’ll have lunch.” Huh. Maybe he DOES see some sort of routine.

We did pretty well with play-acting Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. That was fun for everybody.

Monday

Wow. What a day! We went outside to play, and Daddy inadvertently locked us out! And the whole neighborhood is at work. I tied up the dog, told the preschooler that he was in charge, and ran to the nearest retiree. She was kind enough to let me use her phone to call my very kind parents.

The kids never missed me, and I decided to use the abandoned wagon we adopted for our first “nature walk.” We had already found a zebra spider whom Isaac named “Possipicky.” We ventured over to a grey lizard that became “Dirty.” Around to the front where we found Buddy’s brother on another jasmine vine. Hmmmm . . . . we didn’t warn him about the bug next door.

Off we went down the road. We found a yellow butterfly and a lady cardinal. I took a new route where there were morning glories and dandelions. And fire ants. . . . Sigh! Thankfully, I was the one who got bit, and I said, “Isaac, God made dog’s spit to soothe things like this.” And I stuck my fingers in Sugar’s mouth and rubbed the bite with the puppy salve. And it worked pretty well. We traveled a little farther until we found the lily pond after which our street is named.

By this time, I heard a gentle grandmotherly voice up the road, and our knights-in-shining-armor rescued us. Not too bad.

We colored pictures of butterflies and morning glories later, and I’m surprised that Isaac is starting to stay in the lines. I also overheard Isaac explain the whole adventure to Grandma over dinner:

Zebra spiders don’t build webs. They just jump on their bugs. And we saw purple morning glories. And lilies. And Mommy got bit by a red ant.

Overall, a success in spite of the obstacles.

This Week

Well, we did the chore chart. Now Mommy has to remember to use it. And we didn’t get to practice answering the phone, but we did call Grandma and Grandpa.

I found some living books on our shelves, and I’d like to make a more concerted effort to read them this week. We’re going to have the ‘rents over for a vintage meal tomorrow, and I think Isaac can help me with that. We’re visiting Daddy’s class on Thursday for an example of preschool music education. Play date on Tuesday, shopping on Wednesday. Monday outside play.

Thursday

It didn’t seem as hot today, so we had our outside time. I started by picking up dog poo while Isaac the Fire-Fighter put out our burning house. We discovered a very green spider on our very sorry sunflower house. I thought that was going to be so cool, and it just looks so sad. The ants love it. The bees. And we had a gold finch, so that’s cool!

We ate possipickles and found a new bug which Isaac named, “Grassy.” We got out the bug house and put in a sunflower, leaves, and grass (of course). Isaac tried to drown Grassy in the pool twice, and I saved him.

Mommy discovered something new about bugs. You need to check what they are before bringing them into the house! Thankfully, Insectclopedia is a pretty cool resource for identifying bugs. And uh . . . I think Grassy is either a wasp or a hornet. So we opened the bug house and let her fly home!

Tuesday

So Charlotte Mason says that “social studies” for wee ones can be knowing everyone’s name in the family. We did pretty well with that this morning, except he thinks that Daddy and he share the same middle name. The dog’s middle name is “Dough.”

We did our Chore Chart. At the very least, it makes him feel like a significant member of the household. And that’s cool.

We had a “play date” today with our friends in an air-conditioned playground. Good for everyone — especially since a Starbucks is nearby! Isaac “narrated” David and Goliath to a friendly lady at the playground. “And Goliath was five inches tall!” he said enthusiastically.

Monday

Hey! We did pretty well today. We listened to “the Man music” (Beethoven again) while we picked up after b-fast. Isaac didn’t feel like “raging” over it this time, but he wanted me to. We decided to play hide-n-seek which was honestly really fun! What amazed me about that was that Gavin actually started to count with me. I think he got up to “2.” Not bad. . . .

After waving good-bye to Daddy, we discovered a new friend on our storm door whom Isaac promptly named “Buddy.” We watched him for awhile and decided we needed to color him. I found a perfect pic, and Gavin and I colored our own while Isaac turned the page over and drew one (along with a spider, a sunshine, Beethoven, Beethoven’s hair — several inches away from his head — and dots). We read that mantises are proof of a healthy garden and the big ones will even eat birds! And some people will keep them as pets. Buddy left the door eventually, and Isaac said, “Yes, he went home to his family, Mommy. He’s not a Daddy. He’s a son.” And sure enough, we saw him on the Jasmine there with a larger female mantis.

We then built a train track out of dominoes and played a quick game of Boggle, Jr. We also raced around on brooms while listening to “new cowboy music” (aka, Billy the Kid by Copeland) and a little Mozart. Gavin got the groove on no matter what we played. That boy’s got rhythm!

Edited to add: We were so eager to show Daddy our new friend, Buddy, and we learned another part of praying mantis life. There was Mrs. Buddy munching on Buddy’s head. And before the hour was up, Buddy was completely gone. So our little pictures we colored of him are his eulogy. Alas, poor Buddy. We hardly knew ye.

Isaac related the event to me over dinner, “Mommy. Praying mantiseseseseseses eat the boys. Buddy is in the girl praying mantiseseses’s tummy. They made babies. Then the girl praying mantiseseses ate Buddy. EW!”

Well, this last week, not so good.

We all got a cold virus and Gavin was cutting I-don’t-know-how-many teeth. :p We FAILED on that. All the way around. Poo.

And that rock candy thing was a no-go. I waited the one week, and then poured the whole thing down the drain. Maybe if I used skinny test tubes or something. It was not working.

This week, I’m feeling better, so maybe we can make this. Our schedule is all thrown off by my lack of sleep. But now Daddy’s in his groove, and so can we be. One thing I did learn — going grocery shopping with Gma and Gpa is COOL! for all of us. It’s a win-win-win situation. Gpa pushes the cart with Gavin. And Isaac sings and chatters with Gma. And I throw things in. And, of course, Gpa is constantly re-engineering how I put things in the cart. Once an engineer, always an engineer.

I’ve got a stack of new recipes and I should be back to my normal sleep pattern. We’ve got a play date planned on Tuesday. So tomorrow — a new day. This week, I’d like to get us to learn how to:

• Answer the phone.
• NOT answer the door.
• Spell “Isaac.”
• Make our chore chart.

That’s all I can think of for now. . . .

First Day of School

Isaac asked me last night when he was going to school. I said, “Well, honey. We’re going to do something different from now on. We’ll see our friends at the park and at the library and at the store.”

So today was our first official day. After having a good breakfast and cleaning up (and emptying the vacuum cleaner filter all over the kitchen), we played chase around and around the downstairs. That was “gym.” It’s too HOT to go outside, so we had to run, run, run inside. Then I got the bright idea that we could listen to Beethoven’s “Rage over a Lost Penny” while acting it out. Good ol’ Daddy had told Isaac the story behind the song so vividly. We found a penny in the washing machine and hid it. Then we turned up the stereo really loud and “raged” while we looked for our penny. That was just too much fun: preschooler, toddler, terrier, and Mommy all raging over that “lost” penny.

Our Beethoven or Bust album portrays the No. 7 in A-flat Major; Presto as a car nearly colliding with a moving train. Out came the toy steering wheel and more pretending. Gavin had gotten a little frenetic after his up-at-5:30 morning, so he was ready for a morning snooze. And the Moonlight Sonata was the next track — a perfect respite for all of us. We listened and snuggled and looked at the wiki picture of Beethoven.

In putting Gavin to sleep, I realized I needed to teach Mr. Isaac how to NOT answer the door without Mommy. Doh! The Scotts man arrived, and I don’t know how long my undressed 3yo filled him in on all the details of our morning.

Then rock candy. 4 cups sugar & 2 cups water, a string, a washer, a pencil, and a Ball glass jar. We talked about liquid and solids and measuring (1/4 cup vs. 1 cup). So that’s cool. The flavor is orange, but the color is brown. That’s what happens when you mix blue into the orange color we already had. Also Mommy learned that clothes for the preschooler are mandatory when cooking. Lots of lessons for all there.

After Gavin’s waking, we read Runny Babbit poems and McDuff. We played with a toy clock so that it mimicked the real one. Now for lunch while they play Scooby Doo (Gavin) and Fred (Isaac). Sugar’s the Creeper. I’m Daphne.

Not bad for a start.

Mommy’s Goals

Some dear friends advised me to find some of my own projects that I enjoy to make this transition from college prof to PAHMom less startling. So being the horribly goal-oriented person that I am, here goes:

• I would really, really, really love to install the electricity in my doll house. I’ve got all the supplies. This is a huge move outside of my comfort zone. Me? Electricity? That means I have to:
  • Buy a display table that makes the thing out of reach of the Hotwheels.
  • Fix the stuff that has broken since I brought it in here. The whole thing has already weathered the storm, so I don’t think this’ll be too hard.
  • Re-read the manual.
  • Map it out.
  • Install.
• Make a Happy Birthday outfit for my dear friend’s upcoming arrival. I know what the gender is, but her hubby doesn’t, so that’ll have to be a secret.
• Catch up on making a dress for Elise’s sixth birthday. And her fifth. <blush> Didn’t get to do either, I was too busy.
• Make Gavin some kind of handmade outfit. 
• Make Christmas stocking for Gavin.
• Knit something small and lacey just for me. I should do a purse.

This Year’s Goals

Technically, Isaac wouldn’t be starting K4 until next year anyway, so this is a free year to test the homeschool waters. It’s also my first year for being a SAHMom — a new and slightly scary endeavor. So I have a list of goals for now until December. I’d like to:

• Read A Well-Trained Mind.
• Cover some of the Westminster Confession. Maybe the first five questions.
• Play outside daily (after this infernal heat passes).
• Cover one fun learning thing a day.
• Have a regular “circle time.”
• Have play dates.
• Check out library reading hours.
• Get up and showered and dressed daily.
• Try freezer cooking again.