Preserving childhood

Recently, a very deliberate homeschooling mother, and friend, told me that she does everything possible to preserve childhood for her only daughter. Her daughter (almost 14-years-old) who is absolutely delightful, mature beyond her age, very bright, and extremely well-rounded is teaching our girls how to knit once a week. She is not boy crazy, she doesn't have a poster of teen movie stars on her wall, and she is not hankering for her own cell phone. Instead her room still has a full-size dollhouse, and she has an American Girl Doll collection that is very distracting to the girls! Her mother told me, "I tell Kylie that she has her whole life to watch movies, to have a cell phone, and to have boy relationships; she only has ONE chance at childhood".

I've thought about that comment all week. The culture around us tries to rob our children of a long and rich childhood. A childhood free from care and worry. A childhood of exploration and imagination. A childhood of discovery and fascination. A childhood of innocence.

My brother recently quoted Finding Neverland where Johnny Depp's character says to the mother of young boys jumping from bed to bed, "It's such a shame to send little boys to bed, for they wake up a day older". If my perspective is to preserve childhood an occasional bed jumping (or running through fountains with your clothes on while yelling like maniacs, or making wonderful creations in the kitchen without a care) is not only allowed, it's encouraged!

So my new phrase to the girls will be, "You will have a whole life with this or that...but you only have one chance at childhood". I really hope they listen because it goes by fast!

Playdough

Yesterday Geoff's sister Emily made play dough with Ceci, Bailey and Adele while I was checking out a writing co-op with Tennie. They all measured, stirred and created the colors for their new creation. Someone took a picture of them using the play dough toys. Fun enough.

Later in the day Geoff was in charge while Emily and I were gone from the house for a couple hours. These same girls asked if they could make play dough again. They assured Geoff they remembered the recipe from making it that morning, so with the agreement that they would clean up the mess he went upstairs to study myocardial infarction in the quiet of the study.

Tennie came to Geoff to report that things were getting messy. Geoff calmed her and said they had promised to clean it up. When he went down a short time later to check in he discovered what three girls left to themselves in the kitchen could create...

By the time we got home the kitchen was clean as a whistle, but apparently the pictures here don't do the mess justice. Several boxes of food coloring were emptied, along with bottles of sprinkles and other cake decorations. It spread from the table to the floor and beyond. Adele kept saying, "This is so fun! This is so much fun!"


When Geoff showed me the pictures I looked at the nice and tidy picture taken in the morning (the adult-directed activity) compared to the afternoon pictures (child-directed activity) and realized that without knowing it I often set limits/parameters for them to function in, but their creativity and bounds are so much broader than mine. And they kept their word, they cleaned it up every whit. Lesson learned: get out of the way!

Ceci is SIX!

I absolutely love this kid. She brings large amounts of joy into my life. I relish her smallness knowing that it won't last much longer! And I appreciate that she promised that even when she is a grandma she'll be my "cuddlebug".

This morning the birthday girl slept in (much to the dismay of the other girls waiting for all the day's hoopla). When she finally woke up I told her to come for her requested birthday breakfast of french toast, everyone was waiting. She said she had to get dressed first. I told her she looked great and she could come right down. She insisted she wanted to get dressed before coming down. I went down to finish breakfast preparations when suddenly she came around the corner in...her birthday suit!

Ceci has been wanting glasses, real glasses, for many months. I found some funky glasses at the $1 store and we all had them on intermittently throughout the day in honor of her obsession with glasses.

Saturday Ceci got a package in the mail from my mom. Like any normal kid, she wanted to open it immediately. Geoff, wanting to encourage self-discipline, told her she wasn't allowed to open it until her actual birthday. She wasn't comfortable with that idea. She begged, pleaded, and came up with all sorts of reasons why it was ok to open it early. Finally Geoff said she could open the package if she took a big bite of a raw onion, chewed it up and swallowed it. With minimal hesitation she grabbed an onion and took a big bite! Goodness. What determination!

She wanted her traditional treasure hunt for her presents first thing in the morning this morning, and boy did she ever hit the jackpot! Tennie had decided she wanted to get her some Groovy Girls on EBay (so she could get more for her money). With Geoff's help they put in some bids but lost. So they put in bids on three more sets and lo and behold they won all three! So Ceci is the proud new owner of EIGHTEEN Groovy Girls!

Each wrapped individually, of course...

After lunch we went for gelato (our second time in 3 days!) and then the girls had the childhood pleasure of running through the fountain in their clothes.

Photo by Mesha Davis

Photo by Mesha Davis

Photo by Mesha Davis

Ceci in her new prescription-free glasses (her wish had already come true!)
Thanks for the glasses Bailey and Em!

Photo by Mesha Davis

And a game of Pin-the-Glasses-on-the-Kangaroo to finish off a great birthday

Happy Birthday to Geoff...

39 things I love about Geoff:

1. He gets a lot of upgrades and free stuff everywhere we go just because he asks...and because he is so darn likable.
2. He does a mean Downward Dog which didn't come because of natural flexibility but because of stick-to-itiveness.
3. He puts the toilet seat down after using it! Always has.
4. He gives me a lot of really nice rubs nearly every time he passes me.
5. He's handy, and actually loves to figure out how things work.
6. He eats really well and takes good care of his body.
   
7. He is a voracious learner and always has a stack of books next to his bed about all sorts of things.
8. He appreciates beauty in all forms: architecture, music, art, nature, etc.
9. He cleans up after himself!
10. He is a great, inventive chef.
11. He's helpful around the house, with the girl's schooling, or taking over when my to-do list is overwhelming for me.
12. Female friends love him because he is genuinely interested in how they are, what they are doing (even if it is something seemingly ordinary), and notices a new haircut or sweater.
13. He is a great teacher of anything from how to tie a shoe or determine the perimeter of a shape to how to use a computer program or understand a profound gospel principle.
14. He is incredibly resourceful.
15. His creativity is boundless.
16. He is affectionate.
17. He is incredibly smart.
18. Most of the time he is in the moment with whomever he is with or whatever he is doing.
19. He is very courageous.
20. He is hard-working and will do what it takes to get a job done.
21. He willingly listens to my "emoting" (the phrase he made up for my emotional spewing) without any response other than, "Hmmm", or "Mmmm, that's hard".
22. He takes command of my ship when I'm exhausted.
23. He is unbelievably patient with small and big things alike.
24. He is an open, honest, fair and eager communicator.
25. He doesn't allow any distractions in his life.
26. He wants to change the world.
27. He is endlessly optimistic (which helps in #26!)
28. He is aware, and lifts up, those that are down and out.
29. He has a great desire to become like the Savior.
30. He has a deep and open relationship with God.
31. He is faithful.
32. He is obedient.
33. He is diligent.
34. He has the most admirable amount of self-discipline and self-control.
35. He is selfless.
36. He is humble.
37. He takes his priesthood responsibilities very seriously and his presiding, protecting and providing influence is felt strongly in our family.
38. He is a dedicated and adoring dad to three very lucky little girls.
39. He is my dearest, most loyal friend.

And YES, I think I am the luckiest woman in the world!

If you happen to read this, even a month from now, please leave a little comment with something YOU love or admire about Geoff.

We had a birthday dinner for Geoff last night since his parents, Emily and Bailey are leaving town today. The tissue wear is his bluffing excitement over getting tissue in the girl's gift bags. What he really got were some of their favorite treasures. Here is opening Adele's snow globe of small forest creatures.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GEOFF!

Dad's home!

An afternoon with Mormor

Last Friday Mormor (Geoff's mom) wanted to take her four granddaughters-in-residence on an outing. After lunch Beethoven was turned on and the girls began to dance. Dance led to leotards. Leotards led to hair in buns. And that is how their outing to search for bun hairnets and bright lipstick evolved. Of course, a Jamba Juice was thrown in, too.

After they returned home Beethoven resumed and the ballet began. Oh the efforts by these little ballerinas to look as graceful as the images in their imaginations! It was priceless.

And we're off...

On Labor Day we had our Back-to-School Bonfire to kick off the new school year. I thought we would have a rough transition back into a more academic routine after taking over 6 months off to work on our bodies and brains (I'll back-track and write more about that later) but the girls have eased in with better focus and discipline than ever before!


Tennie and Adele are already in to a nice and steady routine, and Geoff's sister has taken over the kindergartners, Ceci and Bailey, and their activities. Things seems to be working better than before...thank goodness! Homeschooling, like mothering, requires a lot of regular fine-tuning to make things work smoothly.

We're looking in to joining a charter school to benefit from some state funding ($1600 per student) to help with extracurricular activities. While I'll have to meet with a teacher monthly and show samples of the girl's work (which I don't necessarily want to do), it will be nice to have some money to pursue the girl's interests. Once that process gets rolling we'll decide just how booked up we want to get.

Geoff is taking an EMT course this semester at the local community college which is pretty intense! It is a 5-hour class and requires at least 10 hours of study a week. There is a test every week and if you don't pass with an 80% you are kicked out. He's currently at a conference in China which will require him to double up for a make-up class, so when he gets home we won't see him much as he'll be holed up memorizing body parts for two tests in a week. He has wanted to learn these skills for a few years so it is good to finally be taking the course. Needless to say he has a busy fall ahead.

I'm still trying to adjust to the much more demanding pace of the school year...summer was a nice break! But we are all ready to jump back in to a more rigorous year, and so far things are looking like they are going to be great.

The girls on a nature scavenger hunt

Deep learning

After we got home from our visit to 1849 last weekend I told the girls I wanted them to show me what they had learned. It could be a story, a song, a picture, a play, etc. The costume box was immediately seized upon...a play it would be.

A few days later there were some signs around the house:

(There are some fun details on this poster if you take the time to look closely. My favorite is the picture of Geoff's dad, Poppop, who has lost some weight recently...)

They sold some flowers to give to the actresses after the show, and petals to throw at their feet as the bowed.

The play was about a teacher who was distressed because she couldn't get married.

She went on with her duties but continued to fret over her strict rules.

The next scene the teacher sang a solo that began, "Rules, rules, rules...too many rules..." She was really getting sick and tired of it.

In a low moment she went to the saloon in town (which was against the rules, of course).


A wild cowboy came in and slammed his fist on the table demanding, "Redbull!"

The police came and gave the teacher a ticket, and suspended her from her teaching position. She then sang a song that began, "I'm free, I'm free!"

The end.

Kids learn the darnedest things...

1849

This fall we are diving into the Gold Rush since we live right in the middle of where it all happened. Last week we went to Sutter's Fort, and this weekend is Gold Rush Days in Old Town Sacramento. Dirt is brought in to cover the streets, a makeshift tent city is set up with everything the real deal would have had, and there are dozens and dozens of volunteers dressed up in period costume talking to each passerby as if they were in 1849. There were carriage rides, cannonball fire, a Pony Express ride-by, and even a currency of fool's gold that children could buy things with in the little shops around town. Despite the 100+ temperatures the girls and I had a great experience stepping back in time.

Tennie and Ceci panning for gold

Ceci learning how to milk a cow with the help of a hanging toy

We watched a re-enactment of a shootout.
After it was over Adele wouldn't even go near these actors for a picture.

Adele loving the Pony Express ponies

Don't come aroun' these parts agin...

One last summer hoorah...

Geoff's sister Emily and her daughter Bailey are here for an extended visit. Emily really wanted to go to the coast and suggested a short trip south. Once again we packed up our well-worn minivan with beach and camping paraphernalia and took Highway 1 down the coast. Geoff and I hadn't ever driven highway 1 and we were sorry we didn't have more daylight to enjoy it. We pulled into Pismo Beach around 11:00PM to find our campground was...the beach!

Adele with our tent in the background

We were lulled by the waves to sleep just past midnight and woke up to a cloudless day. There was an interesting dune buggy crowd around us...always interesting to discover new subcultures, but it was more amusing than a nuisance.

The weather was cool but felt warm with the sun. It was a long, perfect day. It ended around a beach fire at sunset with surprisingly delicious tinfoil dinners.

Kipper met the ocean

Geoff skim-boarding

Ceci wanted a go

We found hundreds of sand dollars

Behind the beach were miles and miles of sand dunes. This was the highlight for the girls, although we all shared in the fun.

Sand surfing

I love Adele's little jig in this picture

This hill was a main attraction

(This is a different hill...)

We stayed through noon the next day then headed six hours home. On our way out of the campsite/beach we saw this sign...

It is true that most of the vehicles on the beach looked like this...

But our van stops at nothing...


Great end to a great summer.