Bradley lost his first tooth today. I'm so sad because he swallowed it with his chicken nuggets! I found him crawling on the floor in a strange way, as if inspecting the carpet, from the direction of the bathroom. I asked him what he was looking for, and he looked at me, gave a dramatic pause, then showed me his missing tooth! He had been scared to death of loosing it (which is why I'm so sad that he swallowed it and didn't get to see it or keep it), but he actually looked really proud. Oh, my goodness, he's getting so incredibly big. I had just noticed that yesterday and said it out loud. Almost 6 years old. Just two and a half more periods of time equal to what I've already had with him, and he'll be grown up and gone. It's staggering.
Today, at swimming lessons (at 11am), we met another homeschool family. They were delightful, as most homeschool families I run into are. It was really encouraging to see another mother like me, with three kids like mine (only, in her case, they were all girls) who homeschool and are happy-looking. The mother seemed so relaxed and happy. It really does help me, every time I see another family like this; it's good for me to see a variety of people who homeschool. We talked for a short period of time and she mentioned that one of the reasons she homeschools is the freedom, which resonates with me. I'm looking forward to gaining insight from her. Of course the kids got along great, neither of ours refusing to play with the others because they were the opposite sex.
I love interesting people.
Interesting people group #1: my arabic friends. Here's just three reasons I love having friendship with them:
(1) The mom of the family, who is my age or a little younger, calls me "Charlie." No matter how many times she tries to practice saying, "Ashley," she always goes back to "Charlie." I kind of love it.
(2) They make me talk like a caveperson. "You good?" "Yes, me good." "You eat?" "Me no eat." "Me bring food here? Yes. Ok. Good." (all with big hand motions)
(3) To explain why we couldn't come over for dinner because the kids were sick, I had to act out "diarrhea".... not something you normally do every day. Very character building.
Interesting people group #2: homeless dudes and dudettes. If you give them food, you get one of two reactions: (1) extreme gratefulness, which makes the effort worth it; (2) pickiness or other behavior indicative that they really aren't all that hungry after all, which makes the effort worth it as well (because you don't have to feel as sorry for them anymore)... win-win! For example, I gave a man on the street whose sign said, "Need help with food," a granola bar. He had the cutest personality and said, "I thank you and my cat thanks you. She looks at me like this [demonstrates a sad, begging look] and I tell her, 'tomorrow, tomorrow,'" Then he checks out the granola bar and puts it in his pocket.....to feed to his cat, I guess! ???????? I then say, "Aw, poor little cat," and he says, "Poor! She ain't poor, she's spoiled!" Hilarious!
So, this week marks the first week (beginning of the third) that Bradley has automatically done all of his school work without being told and only asking for help when needed. It has been so encouraging. Mikey is doing the beginning of his work with enthusiasm, but he burns out quickly, so I'm cutting out some of the least important stuff (calendar time and journal), which can be done and caught up on in a whim. Now, all he does is color the letter of the day and practice writing it. He has, for some unknown reason, lost interest in drawing which is disheartening. I'm trying to encourage it, but he seems dead set on not drawing. I'm thinking of adding some sort of manipulative math activity (like Cuisinaire Rods) for him to do instead of drawing until he comes back around.
Speaking of Mikey, he is turning into a little four year old. He is as precious and delightful as can be, and there's really not much else to say about him or I would go on and on all day. Natalee is turning into a toddler before my eyes. As it turns out, she is early with the verbal skills (which is new for me, as the boys didn't talk early) and quite brainy in the same way as Bradley was (already knowing her letters, colors, and numbers up to 10, out of order and solidly). Her personality is coming out as sweet and sassy. It's really cute, and she and I are developing a "mother-daughter relationship" which is so cool. Bradley and Natalee enjoy data, much like their daddy and his side of the family. Mikey's EIQ (emotional intelligence) is through the roof, like my side. He's just now getting into letters and numbers and such at age four, which seems so late to me, but I think it's probably relatively average. Like I was saying, though, Mikey's empathy level is crazy. More times than one, he has foregone food so that someone else (like me) may have their fill, even though I know he is hungry and wants more. When I tell him that I (or whoever else) can have something else and it's okay for him to go ahead and eat it, he then pretends to all of a sudden have a "tummy that feels full" in order for the person to have their share of it. What four year old does that? I'm just so proud of my healthy, beautiful, neat kids. Pardon me if I have to brag on how awesome they are at times. I know I'm completely biased. Anyway, moving on...
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