2011 July

Jul 19, 2011

Kids’ Picks: A Read-Aloud Update

Back on June 6, I mentioned that I had just begun a lunchtime read-aloud with my two sons (ages 12 & 5). We were reading The Wind in the Willows, a book I’d heard of but never read, and I was hoping that both kids could enjoy it (and that I could, too!).

Well. Last Thursday, we finally finished The Wind in the Willows. Yes, finally! It took us almost six weeks to finish it!

We basically took the entire week of VBS off. And we had gone away for a few days, and didn’t take it with us. And then there were other days when reading just didn’t fit into our lunch routine, for one reason or another.

But honestly, six weeks? I didn’t expect it to take us that long.

Our final verdict on The Wind in the Willows?

Well, C.(12) enjoyed it. He was old enough to get the subtle humor, follow the overarching storyline, and interpret some of the more complicated language.

L.(5) says he enjoyed it too. While he didn’t absorb quite as much as his older brother, he still laughed at Mr. Toad’s silly antics and listened attentively every time I read.

As for me? I liked it, for the most part. But I have to admit, I tired of some of the wordiness. Some of the chapters could have been significantly shorter while still telling the story and engaging the reader. But keep in mind that I’m someone who loves a fast-paced mystery. I sometimes have little tolerance for flowery, descriptive language.

Also, there were about 20 instances of a word we don’t use in our house, where I substituted the word “fool.” This didn’t really bother me; I just knew that if I read the other word, my five-year-old would likely repeat it in Sunday School, an incident I didn’t particularly want to deal with.

What I loved most of all was the whole process of reading together at lunchtime. It’s easy for me to sneak away from the lunch table to check my email or read blogs, but maintaining a read-aloud routine keeps me engaged, and keeps us connecting.

So with one read-aloud down and approximately half of our summer break still stretching before us, I think it’s time to pick another book. I’m leaning heavily toward the first book in Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga: On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness.

(I listen to Andrew Peterson’s music, I follow him on Twitter, I read his blog…it seems only fitting that we finally start his kid’s series.)

I’ve heard many good reviews of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. And besides, with a subtitle like “Adventure Peril, Lost Jewels, and the Fearsome Toothy Cows of Skree,” how can I resist?

***

I’ve included this post with 5 Minutes for Books’ monthly carnival, Kids’ Picks. Click over to see what other kids have been reading.

Filed Under: Books/Reading, Kids' Picks 7 Comments

Jul 18, 2011

Forgiveness from a five-year-old

written by katrina · 5 Comments

I got L.(5) settled into bed Friday night, following the usual routine.

Jammies were on, teeth were brushed, and Daddy got his hugs and kisses. Then the two of us climbed into L.’s bed and read one of my personal favorites, Calvin Can’t Fly.

We talked about starlings and flying and books, and we giggled a bit.

But before L. started his bedtime prayer, I had to tell him something.

“L.,” I said. “Can you look at me?”

“Yeah, mom?” he asked, turning so his blue eyes took in my gaze.

“I need to tell you that I’m really sorry for yelling at you earlier today. Remember when I did that?”

“Yeah. When you were putting the bikes on the car.”

***

Earlier in the day, I’d had the bright idea to take both boys to the local bike trail, so the three of us could enjoy a little ride. The idea itself wasn’t bad, but perhaps the spontaneity wasn’t ideal.

I had never put the bike rack on the car before (Chad always does that). I had never put bikes onto the bike rack before (Chad always does that too). It was hot. And my bike is heavy and shaped in such a way that it has to be put on the rack in a really weird way (and yes, Chad always handles that part, too).

C.(12) was incredibly helpful, but still, at one point I found myself sweaty, frustrated, and holding a heavy bike up in the air while realizing that my current approach to bike-rack-loading was simply not working.

L.(5) — not wanting me to forget his bike — pushed his bicycle over just then and stood with it, right next to me, right under the bike I was holding in the air.

And…I’m sure you can see it coming. Instead of responding with grace and kind concern, I yelled at him. I snapped at him. I ordered him to get back in the garage and just. wait. right. there.

He did. Patiently, he sat in the garage and waited until I finished loading bikes.

Ugh. I’m embarrassed to even recall it. It wasn’t a pretty moment. Yes, I was concerned that I would drop a bike on him. But was my response the right one? Far from it.

***

“That’s right, buddy,” I continued, smoothing his bed quilt where it lay on his shoulder. “When I was putting the bikes on the car. I yelled at you to get back in the garage and that wasn’t very nice of me. I should have spoken to you more kindly, and I should have let you know that I was concerned, instead of just sounding angry. I’m really sorry, L.”

“Mom?” he said. “I really, really forgive you.”

And that was that. As far as he was concerned, it was over.

***

I wish I could say that this incident was 100% out of character for me. I wish I could say that I never, ever yell at my kids, and that I always speak to them with just the right amount of gentleness mixed with just the right amount of firmness, surrounded with just the right amount of love.

But I can’t. I don’t think of myself as a “screamer,” but there are days, there are moments, when I respond out of frustration rather than love, when I’m quick to yell instead of quick to communicate. When I over-react. When I snap at my kids.

There have been other nights like last Friday, where we get to bedtime and I once again look one of my sons in the eye and apologize for my behavior.

And time after time, I’m amazed at their response. Yes, they remember the moments I’m apologizing for, but they don’t hesitate to forgive me. They don’t tell me that they’ll “try” to forgive me.

They just do.

Right away.

Completely.

And it’s over. No hard feelings. No grudges.

Just forgiveness. And love.

The forgiveness my children offer me is a grace that overwhelms me. It reminds me of the sure and complete forgiveness God offers us when we confess our sins to Him. It is more than I deserve.

And it spurs me on, makes me want to be a better mom, drives me to prayer, asking God for the grace and help to love my children better today than I did yesterday, and to love them better tomorrow than I do today.

Filed Under: Faith, Family 5 Comments

Jul 15, 2011

Beginning our CSA adventure

written by katrina · 11 Comments

We’re trying something different this year when it comes to produce.

Last March, we received a flyer in our mailbox. A local farm was beginning a CSA…and would we like to join? Why yes, yes we would.

In case you are unfamiliar with CSAs (as I was until fairly recently), here’s how a typical CSA works. You purchase a “share” in a farm’s yield for the season. You pay the farm up-front, in exchange for the promise of a weekly (more or less) supply of produce throughout the upcoming season. Then you sit back and wait for the fruits and vegetables to start rolling in. And also hope for enough rain and favorable weather to create a bountiful harvest.

We signed up in April with our local CSA and today — finally! — I picked up our first box of fresh produce.

I’m not the kind of person to get overly-excited about vegetables. I generally save that kind of exuberance for foods of the chocolate variety. But, still, I couldn’t wait to get home to see what awaited me in the white box of farm-fresh goodies.

Here’s what I found:

My first thought was: How in the world are we going to eat this much produce every week? We are going to have to get very serious about consuming our veggies.

My second thought was: What in the world are some of those things?

For example, in my apparently sheltered 30-some years of life, I’d never purchased or eaten things that looked like this:

Turns out they are Patty Pan Squash (I think…if my internet skills were reliable), and I can treat them pretty much like zucchini. UFO-shaped, thicker-skinned zucchini, that is.

My third thought was: What am I supposed to do with all those chiles?

I foresee salsa in our near future.

My fourth thought was: 12 ears of corn?? Good thing L.(5) is a huge fan of buttered corn-on-the-cob.

My fifth thought was — wait, I’ll stop there. I’ll spare you the play-by-play of my produce-ridden thoughts.

We really are looking forward to this adventure in vegetables. To be honest, we’re very good fruit-eaters, but tend to be boring and half-hearted vegetable-eaters, so this will stretch us, introduce us to new vegetable types and dishes, and in the process, help us to eat more healthily.

All without having to weed a garden. I’d say that’s a win.

Filed Under: Food 11 Comments

Jul 5, 2011

Gift Certificate Winners

written by katrina · 1 Comment

The winners of the gift certificates from Spring Reading Thing 2011 are:

$20 gift certificate winner: Lisa notes…

$10 gift certificate winner: Katherine @ KatenRead

Congratulations to both of you!

Hope to see everyone back here in September for Fall Into Reading 2011!

Filed Under: Spring Reading Thing 2011 1 Comment

Jul 5, 2011

A VBS-induced absence

written by katrina · 5 Comments

Multiple Choice Quiz

One week of Vacation Bible School is enough to:

a. Render me practically incapable of blogging, and of most communication with the outside world.
b. Cause me to nap every day; and not just light naps, but out-cold for-real-sleep naps.
c. Make me forget about the fact that I have not yet given away the gift certificates from Spring Reading Thing 2011 (ugh- sorry!).
d. Prevent me from noticing that a cup of milk has been sitting out all day…until my 5-year-old mentions that he drank his “breakfast milk” at 3:30 in the afternoon.
e. All of the above.

Correct Answer: e

Yes, last week was VBS week at our church. One week of Pandamania craziness. More than 600 kids and more than 300 volunteers. Singing, Bible stories, crafts, games. Getting up early, taking afternoon naps.

It was a great week. I loved working with a fantastic group of volunteers and seeing all the kids having such fun learning about God. But my favorite part of VBS is when I catch a glimpse of one of my kids thoroughly caught up in the moment, singing his heart out.

L.(5), singing during the "Rowdy Wrap-Up."

C.(12) was officially too old for VBS this year, so he spent last week volunteering (and he did a great job, by the way). But L.(5) was in a preschool “Bamboo Crew” and loved every minute of Pandamania. At one point, he asked if we could go to VBS twice each day.

[I told him that while that would be fun, and I would support him doing so, I had a feeling that all the grown-ups needed to go home and take naps, and would be unable to pull double VBS shifts all week.]

So while last week was really amazing, it was also really exhausting. Each day, we’d stumble into our house sometime before 1 p.m., I’d make lunch for the boys, sit bleary-eyed while they ate, and then announce the start of Nap Time.

Neither of them napped, because my kids are apparently blessed with some kind of freakish Neverending Energy, but I crashed every day into much-needed slumber.

And then it took me about 2.7 days to start feeling normal again, after VBS was over.

Here it is, Tuesday, and I think I’m mostly recovered. Well, to be honest, I still haven’t unpacked the backpack I used to carry all my VBS supplies and materials last week, and I have a VBS follow-up meeting later this week, but other than that, I think I’m mostly recovered.

So before something else comes along and completely distracts me, I’m going to draw the winners of the SRT ’11 gift certificates. And then tackle the piles of laundry that are waiting for me.

Filed Under: Everyday Life, Family 5 Comments