7 Quick Takes

Okay, I’ll give this a try”

1. Natural Consequences: If you get toothpaste in someone’s hair, you have to keep them company while they shower.

2. Multi-Tasking: We will make constuction paper mosaics as a hands on history lesson. We are reading “The Story of the World 2” and have just read about the mosaics in the Hagia Sophia. I was unsure of a subject for the simple mosaics, and then it came to me: PUMPKINS. Now, this fits our fall theme as well!

3. Book Baskets: I just realized that in my Ancient Times book basket I have a book on St Valentine that is illustrated with mosaics. I will pull it out for some inspiration.

4. How quickly they forget: I tried to get the kids to talk about the (amazing) mosaics at my parents parish in Manhattan, but they had no idea. Peter even visited it with his kindergarten class and “studied” the mosaics. I have had a few other incidents lately that make me realize that my children remember very little of what happened before age 6. Another example was when the twins asked me “what is water color.” I almost cried. We did a montessori water color work almost every day when we lived in the city. This makes me realize (again) that THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IS HABITS.

5. Natural Consequences 2: So tired, these playoffs are killing our routine! I asked Peter why he didn’t set the breakfast table this morning and he said “I’m just so tired!” I felt the same way, so I couldn’t hold it against him.

6. Natural Consequences 3: AWOL Mommy tells us that she is ready to go for a military-hippie childbirth, in a German hospital which is more friendly to going natural. I can’t wait to hear all about it. Red had her baby at a birthing center, K had hers at home, B-Mama went natural by accident because the hospital didn’t have a room for her! Once AWOL has her son (goodbye Tummy, hello Mummy — I saw that on a shower cake, how awful!), there will still be one pregnant builder, so the rest of us can relax for a while.

7. Is only one more than the number of children I have, which is probably why my writing is so disjointed. Sometimes it seems so normal, and then sometimes I sit back and think — six children! We haven’t left the house for three days, runny noses and rainy weather, and we are all a bit crazy, but I feel so blessed. When they read to me, or call me to come and see the train tracks they have built, or smother the babies with hugs, I am so glad, especially for the luxury– and it is a luxury — of being home with them all day. I don’t want to miss a thing!