Letters from Home – Page 170 – A blog by Angela Ross

Summer Rules

Today I feel better because my kids are back in the house. I held a morning meeting to outline expectations for this awesome gift we have called summer. I told them that summer is a time that is easily wasted if we’re not careful. We have some rules:

1. Media time (anything with a screen) is restricted to one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening. The kids will determine when these hours will take place each morning, adapting for the needs of the day.

2. Before media can be used (regardless of the time), the following jobs must be completed: read scriptures, make bed, read, play piano, do one job around the house.

3. We have specific projects to work on: next week we finish painting the basement, help with the sprinkler system, and repair a scooter with our time. The week after, we paint all baseboards upstairs… etc.

I am following the rules, too. This means that I am breaking the media rule right now to write this post, so I will end.

I want this summer to be fun. I want the kids to make real progress in their music, reading, and work skills. I want to spend time with them, focused on their faces, not trying to interact by sharing the conversation with screens. I have found that the kids set higher goals for themselves than I do. Summer is a great time to capture their zeal and help them make specific plans for their goals to be completed.

It’s also a great time to spend the afternoon reading, which is what most of us did today. Hooray!

Let’s Dance

It’s the last day of school today. Paige is at “Senior Sunrise” this morning on the football field of her high school with friends to commemorate their first day as seniors.

The radio played the song, It’s a Beautiful Day as I looked up at the sunrise after saying goodbye. Yes, it’s a beautiful day for her. She was sustained as Laurel class president on Sunday at church. She has many exciting things to look forward to this summer and next year.

The little boys performed in a dance festival. The memory of all of those those kids dancing on that grassy stage keeps me smiling. Chivalrous Timothy delivered the umbrella from his backpack to me unexpectedly and this saved me from the intense sun. His teacher pulled me aside at the fifth grade party and told me that Timothy is a real gentleman.

The teacher gifts are wrapped. I chose jewelry this year because the teachers were extra special. We had a thank you note clinic at the kitchen table. So many people have been good to us.

I made the last lunches yesterday and I am ready to throw away the lunch totes. They are gross. Timothy’s shoes have so many holes that we may begin to receive donations from strangers on the street for our welfare.

The fifth grade slideshow is finished. Daniel helped me with it. Hooray for that helpful, smart kid. He was voted the Einstein of Class 2018 by his classmates.

We had fun hearing Daniel play in the year end concert. He played cello in the orchestra and the piano in the jazz band.

I am reading lots of fun writing from Mark. His teacher compiled a year’s worth of his weekend news. Mark wrote each Monday about the events of the weekend. Cousins, parties, ski trips, and any ice cream served were items he felt were important. The illustrations! They are brilliant!

Paige brought home her art projects from the year. What a treat it was to go through them! It will be a summer of painting for her as she works on her AP art portfolio.

Timothy’s best friend leaves today for a year long trip around the world. Tim and I have a date this afternoon to the Lego store. It’s a tender time.

I have been a volunteer in the classroom, driven carpool, chaperoned field trips and kept track of reading minutes. Richard has been Paige’s math teacher with many late night math sessions. We have all worked hard.

Now it’s time to dance and take a break.

Mark’s Baptism Day

This weekend Mark was baptized. It was a nice day with beautiful weather, lots of family and friends, talks by Daniel and Timothy, music by Paige and me, and cooking. Baptism days are always busy, but I tried really hard this last time to relax, even if it meant that the tent with bunting never got set up, my hair was not curled, and we didn’t get a proper family picture with all of the cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents who gathered. I think I got everyone photographed at dinner but three.

My sweetest memory of the day was when Richard had Mark in the font, ready for the ordinance, and Richard looked up at me. That exchange was simple, but sealed the moment. The work and joys of parenting, gospel preparation, and the new phase we are entering came into focus in a look, but none of those details of parenting were there; it mostly felt like love and joy.

5th Grade Field trip

Memories:
1. Tim asked me to come.
2. We spent just as much time in the gift shop as the exhibits. Tim hoped to talk me into buying an electronic bug that could climb upwards through a tunnel.
3. The boys have discovered food. They kept going back for more. After three orders of fast food I realized that we were running late to get to the fountains before the busses arrived.
4. They weigh 89, 79, and 69 pounds on earth. On a neutron star, they would each weigh about 400 billion pounds. On the moon they would weigh in the teens.
5. Girls flirted with Timothy. Help us.
6. These boys were good company, polite, and obedient.
7. Tim said thank you as I walked away and that made it all worth it…even the motion sickness from the IMAX movie.
8. Timothy’s knees, elbow, and hands are scabby from a bad fall on a scout hike last night. I asked one of the boys if they had seen Tim’s wounds and he said, “Unfortunately, yes.”

Timothy has a unique way of turning my heart. Can I ever explore all the reasons I love this boy?

Weekend Recap

We went out for breakfast one morning and discovered that we were wearing rainbow colors. Wow, that photo looks awkward. We really were enjoying being together.

Here are a few things we did together this weekend:

We planted our garden.

We delivered 200 fliers for a neighborhood social activity.

We placed flags in our neighborhood for Memorial Day.

We enjoyed homemade cookies one night when Daniel had his friends over for a movie.

I threw a birthday party for Mark but sadly only one boy that we invited was able to attend. Timothy joined the party to make things less lonely for Mark. It turned out to be a good time. I think it’s another reminder to me that I am not good at “friend” birthday parties. I will be keeping only family parties from now on. Let’s see if I can keep that resolution…

We enjoyed a neighborhood social activity where we walked among three homes where the families hosted refreshments. We met several new people and visited with many friends. The boys rode scooters and bikes.

We had a scooter repair shop on Saturday in the garage.

We attended church, 3 of us sang in the choir, and Richard was a substitute teacher in Timothy’s class.

We had fun meals, including a very colorful salad bar one night and fajitas from the grill the next night.

Mark and I made pretzels for family night. Speaking of family night, we decided to gather out beneath the trees. Things were going fine, but then Sparky lost a fight with a cat that wandered into our yard. He limped, bleeding back to the house and cowered in corners the rest of the evening. We gathered again under the trees and the neighbors’ sprinkler system came on, soaking those who were relaxing in the hammocks. Ha! That was the end of family night.

Hammocks

Come, summer!

We’re sheltered by a mantle of cool, rustling leaves, enjoying companionship of birds, breeze-tempered sunshine, and good books. It’s a Sunday afternoon reverie with Richard that I’m hoping to create again tomorrow on Memorial Day.

This yard is a perfect spot to relax.

Photographer

I’ve taken on the role of photographer and videographer for the year-end slideshow. This means that I get to focus my lenses on the life of fifth graders.

I’ve observed many things. I am NOT a fan of the new curriculum with evidence-based grading, no great literature or history, endless testing, grouping children only according to their vintage, and classrooms without windows.

I AM a fan of Timothy and his friends who are resilient and kind. I am a fan of teachers who care more than they need to. I am a fan of times like today when they get to spend the day outside. I am a fan of good friends that we wouldn’t have met outside of school.

Time to play

Mark asked to stay after school on the playground and explore the areas that are off-limits to second graders. The day was sunny and the playground was empty. I watched the boys swing and climb and then take off running up the grassy hill. I watched them play on the verdant hill on our lovely mountain frosted with snow, and it looked like we could be in Austria. Mountain air is a blessing. The green of the hills and the intensity of the blue sky make me think that the Creator must love the colors green and blue. We live in a beautiful place.

Three more Wednesdays

Reader — “Pink Note: The Novelette” James McNeill Whistler, 1884

Only three more Wednesdays until school gets out. Each Wednesday I don’t have carpool or volunteer responsibilities at the school. It’s a day for “myself” but I usually spend it cleaning the house, and rarely move beyond cleaning to creative projects.

I’m not good at having a day to myself. I feel guilty if I indulge in a day of reading; I don’t enjoy shopping; I have less creativity when I have too much silence. Cleaning and other maintenance work is what gets me though each Wednesday.

The other night I found the list of house projects I was going to accomplish during the school year. I was going to paint the whole house, decorate every room, and landscape the yard. Ha! I sheepishly checked off the handful of projects I had completed and resolved to check off more things in the coming weeks after school gets out.

I work much better when the family is around. They would probably say that it’s because I enlist them to help me. And they would be right, but they might not realize how a house full of my little people enlivens me.