Guess who started t-ball last night?
Guess who just came home with a learner’s permit to drive?
Milestones, each one.
Bristly
Some days I can’t think of anything nice to say. But here’s a cactus for you to look at until I am in a more agreeable mood.
Listing all the good things that actually happened today will just make me feel worse for allowing myself to be in a funk. However, I would like to thank Masterpiece Theater for the excellent cry it helped facilitate and I’m grateful for the leftovers in the refrigerator which meant I didn’t have to cook dinner.
Thank you.
Remains of the day
There are 13 pairs of shoes in our entry hall. Just imagine what the rest of the house looks like after just 2 days of baseball season. I don’t know if we are going to make it. Not because it messes up the hallway, but because baseball murders our family dinners and evening routines for 3 1/2 months of the year.
I’m a vigorous supporter of the family meal, eaten together with all the benefits it delivers:
- nutrition
- routine
- conversation
- better bedtimes
My ideal evening is to have everyone home, reading or working on projects, playing piano or listening to music. It’s basically a Little House on the Prairie evening.
What’s a girl like me to do?
I’ll start by getting the kids to clean up their shoes.
A weekend of over and non
Preparing to teach a lesson for Sunday, the whirr of over-focused thinking distanced me from the life of the house.
In contrast, more mechanical thinking took over during the many car trips transporting kids from event to event. Driving and the occluded thought that accompanies it is a very big part of my life.
I come away from this weekend a little off-centered for all of the thinking and non-thinking that my tasks have required. I know this makes little sense.
How can a weekend of over-thinking and non-thinking be so exhausting?
I look forward to the regular routines of Monday for the balance and rest they provide.
Shakespeare study
It’s almost the end of third term and I am so excited to read Shakespeare next term. I found this series to be helpful for the young children. I’ve added a few more favorites to my Shakespeare how-to list.
1. The Oxford School Shakespeare Series: Wow. This series is excellent. Within each book, you’ll find introductory materials which cover relevant historical matters and some commentary about themes, as well as a detailed synopsis of the play. The play itself has excellent side notes and illustrations (which are easier to access than footnotes) and scene summaries. After the play, there are additional notes for further study and classroom discussion and projects. For secondary school years, this is very, very helpful.
A disciplined student who studied all of the introductory material could tackle Shakespeare’s plays on their own and be conversant about themes, characters, and history. I’m always looking for something which will require significant effort from the students but also make it possible to successfully navigate on their own. Of course we’ll probably read the plays aloud and we’ll definitely discuss themes and I will ask for essays, but excellent learning needn’t require constant lecturing from me.
2. William Shakespeare by Rosie Dickins: For elementary students, (and I admit I learned a lot, too) this illustrated history of Shakespeare’s life and times is just a joy. It’s accessible for young people, the illustrations are delightful, and it makes history fun. Timothy really loved this during his second grade year.
3. The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt: For the Shakespeare faint of heart. And most of us are. This Newbery Honor book takes place during the Vietnam War and follows a young man in Junior High who finds himself the only Protestant student in his homeroom, which means he and his teacher must find something to do when all of the Catholics and Jews leave school early for religious studies. His teacher decides that they will study Shakespeare. As told by this young man, the story is full of preteen angst and attitude, but through his study of Shakespeare (The Tempest, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet), he discovers that these plays help him better understand humanity and find his way through his problems. My older kids loved this book. It makes you excited to read Shakespeare for yourself and not just for your teacher. Thanks, Mom, for the recommendation.
Details, details
- watercolor by A.
Earlier this month, I set up my visiting teaching appointments but forgot to prepare the message. I did a quick skim of the magazine article I was to share and ran to the first appointment and taught a lovely lesson about women being guardians of the health of our families. We discussed ways we could help our families improve their emotional and physical health. I walked away feeling pretty good about the appointment.
But when I got home and set down the magazine on the counter, I finally noticed that the message was entitled, “Guardians of the HEARTH” (not health)! I was embarrassed and had a healthy laugh at myself. Apparently I need to be more involved in the details. Skimming isn’t adequate when it comes to important things. Some activities require deep, concerted, and detailed effort. And good job to those of you who saw my mistake before you read the second paragraph. Way to go, visiting teacher supreme!
I decided to read a book by Charles Dickins last week because he is a master of details. Each description is so rich and essential. I can’t skim through Dickins. It was a good exercise in focus. I also enjoy how he can moralize about the shady characters with sarcasm and characterize the good with idealism.
So hooray for effort in visiting teaching, flawed as it may be. And hooray for my first watercolor in years. And hooray for people such as Charles Dickins whose detailed efforts show me that I can navigate through experiences with humor and idealism.
In what areas of your life do you choose to be gentle in your self evaluations, while still maintaining an ideal for yourself? Tell me, dear reader. I am curious to hear your thoughts.
The Birthday list
I’ve heard it said that true love is when you care for a person for who he is and not for what he does for you. However, when I take the time to look at all the good things that Richard does for our family and for me, his actions and his identity are inseparable. I appreciate him because he does so much, but I love him because of the person he has become through these acts of sacrifice.
Here are a few of the good things that I have observed Richard do over the past 8 days:
He was a merit badge counselor at a Scout event on Saturday and prepared an awesome activity with lasers.
He drove Daniel and another boy to piano rehearsals during his lunch break at the Scout event.
He prepared a talk and was a Stake high council speaker for another congregation on Sunday.
He made dinner for us on Sunday because I was busy feeling devastated about something.
He babysat while I attended a new member fireside.
He went to work each day and one night he stayed up to midnight working from home.
He drove Paige to seminary at 6:40 a.m. each school day.
He conducted Family Home Evening and gathered us for family prayers.
He attended a district Scout meeting before picking up Paige from ballet.
He attended a baseball parent meeting with Daniel.
He ate my brownies and remembered to compliment them.
He babysat while I went to youth activities on Wednesday night.
He washed the windows of the house and enlisted the help of his sons so they could learn to work.
He mowed the lawn.
He organized the garage.
He sprayed the weeds and sprayed for bugs.
He cleaned the back patio.
He chopped up branches from our thorny trees for disposal, also enlisting the sons for help.
He made a movie to show at the youth fundraiser on Friday night.
He helped set up for the youth fundraiser and donated generously.
He helped clean up the fundraiser and mopped the church cultural hall.
He tutored Paige in math for four hours on his day off and smiled about it.
He watched a romantic comedy with me for our date night.
On another night, he took me out to dinner.
He was the first to get up when he heard one of our kids vomiting in the middle of the night.
He went to church meetings which began at 6 a.m. even though he’d been up in the middle of the night with sick children.
He drove a new member to church.
He’s on his way home to take care of the sick kids so I can attend Young Women meeting.
Dear Birthday boy, I know it's not an ideal day, but I'm sure glad you are here to share it with me. Happy birthday, Rich. I love you. -A
Golfing in February
The boys are finishing up another round of golf lessons. The setting of their class and the pleasant temperatures make for a great way to spend an afternoon. We take classes from volunteers who charge $5 for a 6 week session. These retirees are such a positive group of people. I like to watch them interact with the kids and build them up.
Daniel has invited his favorite coach to our big concert in March because he tells Daniel often how he wishes he could hear him play the piano.
This is Timothy’s first session of golf lessons. He seems to be doing well and he is always talking to a friend of the week.
These classes have been so good for the boys.
Post #600
The writer must be in it; he can't be to one side of it, ever.
He has to be endangered by it. His own attitudes have to be tested
in it. The best work that anybody ever writes is the work that is
on the verge of embarrassing him, always.--Arthur Miller
It’s my 600th post. Richard says that I have essentially written a book. I married him because he says such things.
It was Richard who encouraged me to write a blog. He knows that I have things to say, but I don’t often share. I wanted this blog to be a place where people didn’t obligated to make a comment. I also wanted to remain free from dependence on the comments of others.
For a change today, though, I have decided to allow comments on this post.
Thank you for choosing to read despite my flaws as a person and as a writer. And thank you to those of you who have written me an email when I’ve needed some comments.
Which posts have brought the most feedback and had the most views? They are my Paige posts and the curriculum posts. My hats and sunglasses have also drawn comments, as well as my aversion to everyone’s propensity to call me “Sister Ross.”
When I read old posts, I am usually very gentle with myself and try to remember the circumstances which prompted the writing.Some posts are efforts to feel validation. Some posts still make me cry just as I did when I wrote them.
Each post is in some way a celebration… of an accomplishment, an idea, a child, or my husband. I’ve tried not to show anger or negativity, not because I don’t feel these things, but because I believe that positive thinking is healthier. Writing in celebration has enhanced my enjoyment of life and my awareness of all that I have been given.
I hope you feel my gratitude for reading. Thank you.
Some of my favorite posts:
I cried the most while writing this one
Order
- Salt Lake Temple
- Oakland Temple
When I’m thinking hard about something, I’ll set out to do menial tasks. I’ll clean out a drawer or fold laundry, organize a closet or throw things away. Really big problems are best sorted with a paint roller in my hand. After some challenges this week (certainly nothing horrific!), I spent two evenings creating temples from the chaos of my thoughts and little bags of chipped tile.
I can’t say that it helped. My problems are still here, but I have two cute little temples to grout and frame so it’s not all bad.