Photo Friday

New Year's Resolution Update

I thought it would be fun to document my progress on my New Year's Resolutions. One of my resolutions was to declutter my house with the help of the book It's All Too Much. I decided to concentrate on four rooms first: kitchen, dinining room, living room and tv room. My husband sat down with me and we made a plan for each room, per the book's instructions. We decided what we wanted each room to be used for and what was standing in the way of our vision for those rooms. One big shift we made in our thinking was to realize that our living room is not a formal room even though our nice furniture is in there. It is the room we spend the most time in as a family and where the kids spend most of their time playing. We decided to buy a storage unit for that room for some of the kid's toys, books and games, as well as our books and magazines.

Now the coffee table is kept clear and ready for games or puzzles instead of being stacked with books and magazines.

By rearranging the furniture slightly we were also able to open up an area in our bay window which our son now calls the play corner.

We also emptied our china hutch of all the knick knacks and junk that was being stored in there and got rid of most of it. The hutch is now a place for all the kid's art and craft supplies, rather having them crammed into a big plastic tub.

The living room has had the most dramatic changes, but there have been small changes in the other rooms too. I feel like I've made a lot of good changes, but that I need to get re-energized and start the next phase.

Another resolution of mine was to decide what to get my master's degree in. One possibility of course is get a master's degree in education with an emphasis on some area that would make me more marketable (the area I live in is a very difficult place to get hired as a teacher). Recently I went to a meeting on Montessori teaching at the elementary level. The woman doing the presentation is a Montessori teacher in a magnet program within the public schools. She is trying to recruit more teachers to get their Montessori training so that they can expand the program. What I found so interesting about this program is that they do not change their curriculum with the latest trends in education, yet their students pass the state tests at over a 90% rate, compared with an average of 50% for the rest of the district (probably why the district wants to expand the program). Besides using the same tried and true curriculum, in a Montessori classroom the teacher plans for each child on an individual basis depending on their abilities and interests. In addition all the lessons are given in small groups--whole group instruction is rarely used. Learning about Montessori has gotten me excited about teaching again and thinking that this is a path that I want to explore more.

My third resolution was to watch less TV and have my son do the same. Since the writers' strike dragged on forever, this has not been a problem for me. I started giving my son three tickets worth 30 minutes of screen time. I am surprised by how quickly he has figured out the system and how well he handles it when he is out of tickets and I have to tell him no more screen time.

I feel like I am making good progress on my goals for the year and I would like to add one more: organize my digital pictures and buy a computer program that will allow me to create slide shows with them that can be played on a DVD player.

Hint, Hint!

We have been working at getting our packages ready for the Little People Care Package Swap this week. We actually have two partners, so I feel pretty safe that I am not giving too much away. I could have plenty of fun creating the packages all by myself, but I am trying to involve my son in the process as much as possible. I really like the idea of choosing themes, so I had him pick which ones we would use. I also took him shopping with me to the craft store and second- hand book store, but he didn't enjoy that part too much, and of course wanted one of everything we bought for himself too. He did have fun doing a test run of one of the projects that we are going to send one of our partners the materials to create.

We have one partner in Northern California and another in Washington, D.C. This has been a really good opportunity to learn a little bit more about maps. Two book we have found that do a good job teaching children about maps are Mapping Penny's World and Me On the Map. When I was teaching, my third grade students had a really difficult time understanding the concept of maps. They had difficulty understanding the difference between a state and a city and how a continent could be made up of many countries. I feel like part of the problem was just a lack of exposure to maps and how to use them.

Then last night I was doing some reading on play and its role in early childhood education and found a great article on the Waldorf Research Institute's website. The author, Joan Almon, says that children who have had ample time to play and develop their imaginations have an advantage in subjects like history, reading, geography and even mathematics, because all those areas ask children to conceptualize or to think abstractly. That statement was very eye-opening to me. I already knew play was an important part of childhood and that children could learn many things naturally through play, but I had never understood the implications it could have on future academics. In fact I recently attended a seminar on play and they didn't mention this point at all! I think I would like to do more reading on this subject and devote an entire post to play.

I hope the packages that we create for our partners can spark some imaginations and create some new opportunities for playing!

Borrowed or Bought: We Love Books!

My son sometimes goes through periods where he is not as interested in reading as he is at other times. When this happen I know it is time for some new books to rekindle his love of reading. Right now we have lots of new books at our house because our Scholastic book order came in and we went to the library to exchange our old library books for new ones. I personally love good children's books and thought I would share a handful of my current favorites.

An Egg is Quiet
The illustrations and layout of this book are absolutely beautiful. I also like it because you can choose to read only the main points and still have a cohesive story for younger children, or you can read the more detailed information if your audience has a longer attention span or has questions.

Come On, Rain!
When reading this story you can easily put yourself in the main character's shoes and feel how desperate she is for rain. It is also has a fun ending and I like the watercolor illustrations--very fitting for a story about rain.

This is the Sunflower
I am not a big fan of books with cumulative rhymes, but my son really enjoys this book and it does a nice job of showing what flowers need to grow, as well as how birds help to spread seeds around.

Living Color
This is a non-fiction book that shows children the variety of color that animals can be and teaches them about many exotic animals. This is not a book you would want to read in one sitting, but rather take your time looking at over a couple days.

Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!
My son loves the silly and off-beat humor in this book. It is part of a series and I believe we have checked them all out at the library at one time or another. He was extremely excited to find out I had bought this one for him. When it come to books, I don't mind spoiling my children at all.

Little Pea
I have saved the best for last. This is the funniest and most creative children's book I have read in a long time. I am tempted to give a hint as to what makes it so funny, but I don't want to ruin the element of surprise. It is by the same author that wrote the OK Book, another very entertaining story.

If you have an recommendations for children's books, I would love to hear them.

Creating Little Consumers

A few nights ago, my husband and I attended a seminar at the co-op preschool our children attend. Our guest speaker was a financial planner and she spoke mainly about how to teach your children to use money responsibly and instill in them a sense that they need to work for the things they want. Her recommendation was to start a comission based allowance program when your children are very young, beginning with a few simple chores that they are paid daily for completing, and then modify it as your children get older.

I have wavered back and forth on the idea of giving my children an allowance that is attached to chores. Part of me thinks that they should do chores just because they are part of our family and it is their responsibility as a member of our family to help out. Another part of me wants them to know what it is like to work and save for something that they really want. One thing that my husband and I have considered doing is requiring our son to be responsible for picking up his own toys and clothes without receiving a monetary reward, but giving him an allowance for doing other things like feeding the cat or stocking the cupboards after we return from Costco. Then there is the part of me that doesn't want them to worry about money at all until they are teenagers. I know it is central to our way of life, but I don't want them to grow up too fast and think too much about what they can buy.

The speaker also touched on consumerism and commericialism. Then today, our co-op preschool went on a trip to a locally based company that produces children's dishware. You know, the kind plastered with cartoon characters. I thought the juxtaposition of the two events was interesting.

I thought they were going to let the kids meet the designers and see the process of how the dishware is created. I think it would have been valuable for them to see what goes into making a product. Instead, they had the kids participate in a focus group and asked them to name each of the characters on the dishes and tell who was their favorite and least favorite. I guess I just didn't see the value in that, I already feel like it is hard enough to shield my kids from all the advertising everyone in our society is bombarded with. My husband and I record most everything we watch and fast forward through the commercials, and our son mostly watches PBS or videos from the libarary or Netflix. We also don't buy many products for our children with characters on them.

I'm curious to know what others' thoughts are on allowance for children and consumerism/commericialism aimed at children, so leave me a comment! Two different topics, but definitely related in my opinion.

Little People Care Package Swap

Sign-ups are now closed!

If you didn't sign-up in time for this swap, send an us an e-mail anyway saying that you would like to be notified next time we host a swap. Thanks to all 35 of our participants for making this a swap a successs!

You are invited to participate in a swap for the wee ones. The emphasis here is on the little ones (ages 2-10) and the idea is to send out a care package to help get through the end of winter blahs. Hopefully it will also help our kids make friends with someone far away while creatively constructing a fun package for someone they have never met.
You do not have to pick out a theme but that would probably be helpful as you pick items to send. It would be best to stay away from commercialized themes like Elmo, Barbie, and such. Instead a good theme might be make believe, mail, library, art, etc. You can make, buy, or send gently used items. If you choose to spend money then the upper end should be about 10 dollars plus shipping (this does not include the value you have of anything you choose to send from your home or the value of your time.) The swaps will be organized by family groups. So you may have 2 children and swap with a family that has 1 or more children.

Things that should definitely be included in your package:
A picture of your family or at least the kids
A postcard or map of where you are from or photograph of your city/ house
A note, either written or dictated and transcribed by an adult

The commitment for this swap is :
1) email your partner introducing your family and answering a few provided questions
2) one package shipped by April 1
3) either an email thank you or send a thank you card in response.
If you choose to do any more that is up to you. But this is the minimum.

To join in send an email to megandmag(at)gmail(dot)com In your email include your name, the names of your children, their ages and genders, your location, and how you heard about the swap. The deadline to sign up is March 10 or when we reach 50 participants, which ever comes first. Hurry, it is filling up fast! My co-conspirator and I will try to match up similar age families, but can not make any promises. If you are from outside the US, you must be willing to ship internationally. If you are inside the US, it is not required that you are willing to ship internationally, as we already have many families willing to do so.

Some ideas are:

Art: You could send a smock and art supplies, along with some art from your child. You could include a portfolio case and some gently read books that have some of your favorite art. You could also send instructions for your family's favorite art projects along with the necessary materials.

Mail: You could sew a mail bag, make some stationary by drawing or stamping designs on paper, buy a bunch of 1 cent stamps, envelopes and other mail related items.

Games/Puzzles/Riddles: You could send some puzzles that your children have already put together (make sure all the pieces are there), send a deck of cards with instructions for different games, sew a checkerboard and have your children help you find a creative way to make the game pieces. You could also help your child write and illustrate a book of riddles to include.

Building: You could send some Legos or other type of building blocks, then include pictures of structures that your children have made for the recipient to try and replicate.

Playdough: You could make playdough and send some utensils and cookie cutters to use with it. You could have your child decorate disposable tupperware to store it in. (Check with the shipping company to make sure they will allow this to be shipped).

Gardening: You could send some pots and seeds (you could even focus on plants native to your area if you want), along with some books about plants or spring. You could also sew a gardening apron or tool belt.

Reading: You could make a book tote for going to the library, have your child choose some of their own books to put in it, then either make or purchase some bookmarks.

You could do a grab bag of unrelated items.

You can also have your child select some of their gently used toys, games or books to give to their new friends.

These are just suggestions so feel free to be creative. Remember to keep in mind the ages of the recipients. It is also a good idea to wrap up the things being sent so that the kids can enjoy opening up packages. Just keep in mind that this is supposed to be fun and every child that sends a gift will be expectantly watching the post for something in return. It is fun to swap between kids because they are so excited by the little things and notice all the subtleties. Whatever you end up sending make sure your children have a lot of the input.

Feel free to leave a comment with any questions. I will check back and post replies.*If this swap sounds a lot like the mini swap hosted by Mommy Coddles it is because that swap inspired us but we were too late to get involved.* Also, please feel free to post this info on your blog as well--we would like to get people involved from as many different places as possible. Also, we have created a blog for the swap--check it out, as well as the blogs of some of our participants!

Book Review: The Appeal by John Grisham

I finished this book over a week ago, but haven't been that excited to write a review, probably because the book itself was somewhat of a disappointment. I have been a John Grisham fan since high school and have read nearly every book he has ever written, but The Appeal has to be my least favorite. If I could describe this book in one word it would be SOAPBOX.

It's not that I don't agree with what he is saying, we do need campaign finance reform in this country. It would be nice to know that our elected officials are not being bought by special interest groups and were only are representing the interests of their constituents. However, if an author is going to use a fictional story as a way to express thier political beliefs, I think it should be done much more subtely. This book could have been so much better if he had only focused on the story and not the message he wanted to send. It did pick up in the last section of the book and there were some twists that I didn't see coming, but in the end Grisham just couldn't get off his soapbox and give his readers the kind of story we are used to getting from him.

Oh Happy Day!

Last night was a good night and today is looking pretty good, too. First, we have started getting lots of people signing up for the swap. Thank you to Melanie at Mommy Doodles and Lori at Camp Creek Press. They were both generous enough to do posts announcing the swap and it has helped tremendously.

Second, the sun is shining and it was warm enough to take the kids by the park after preschool today! Yay!! There are still patches of snow on the ground, but the slides and swings were dry. We spent a full half hour there before the kids started thinking about lunch.

Also, I finally finished my series of cut paper illustrations last night. I still need to mount them onto a black background that will provide a border around each one. Then I plan to laminate and bind them.

One of my goals with this project was to not get too caught up in being a perfectionist. I tried to just go with my first attempt, and if I felt myself getting too fussy about anything, I would put it aside and come back to it later. Here are a few of my favorites from the series (some you might have seen in an earlier post):

And here are the ones that I struggled with the most:

Did I mention the title?


I have trouble photographing art, so if anyone has any tips, I would appreciate them. Anyway, I had fun with this project, and I hope my kids enjoy the end result.

In Search of Balance

Recently a friend of mine told me she was worried about me. At first I was like, why would she be worried about me? But this friend is very intuitive and much more in touch with her own feelings than I am, so I decided to take a little time for self-reflection. And I had to admit that 1) the last couple of years there have been so many changes in my life, it has been hard to feel stable and 2) I have been struggling for a long time with the fact that no matter what I do as a mother, a wife, an individual, I feel like I am letting someone else in the equation down. This leads to a tremendous amount of guilt (I've blogged about this before), which can at times leave me feeling depressed.

This friend also pointed out that I do a very good job of supporting what my husband wants or decides to pursue, but that maybe I'm putting my own desires on the back burner in the process. That is a fair statement. However, I do know that my husband would support me also, if I could just figure out what it is I really want to pursue and stick to a decision. I sometimes feel lost in motherhood, but this conversation made me realize that not only is it a gift to be with my children, but it is also a gift to have this time to do some exploring and find out who I truly am, who I want to become and be confident in showing that person to the world.

That leads me back to my original struggle: how do I find the time to experiment with writing and art yet still feel like I am being a good mother (i.e. not ignoring my children) and a good wife (i.e. keeping the house decent, not ignoring my spouse once the kids are in bed)? Well, I have actually had the answer for a long time, the trouble is I am not a morning person. Never have been, ask my mom. I didn't even want her to speak to me when I was getting ready for school in the morning, and she could forget about getting me to eat breakfast. Maybe it is time for that to change. There is one thing I could give up (or at least cut way back on) in my life that would not make me feel like I am sacrificing some essential part of myself: TV. If I wasn't staying up late to watch all my shows on DVR after my hubby has gone to sleep, I could probably get up at the same time as him. That would give me two whole hours before the kids get up! Part of the reason I writing about this is that I hope by putting it out into the blogosphere, I will feel more committed to following through. That is why people share their new year's resolutions or tell everyone they know about their weight loss plans--making it public makes it harder to give up.

This may seem like a small thing, but I think having balance in your life can lead to true happiness. And speaking of happiness, that same friend that was worried about me, also sent me the link to a great blog, a good + happy day. It is all about activities to do with your children and the simple joys of parenthood. When I visited this blog I was instantly struck by how much that is how I want to embrace life, like each day is going to be a good and happy day. I want my children to feel my excitement for life, my joy at being with them. I want to smile more and stress less! I hope everyone has a good + happy day, and I hope you all have friends who care enough to know when you just need someone to worry about you a little.