While riding in the car yesterday, Luke was playing a game on my phone. As I turned a corner Luke asked, "Mom, will you turn off the sun? I can't see this game."
Showing posts with label Luke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Luke. Show all posts
Friday, August 17, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Mother of One
While the homeschoolers are off to Disney with grandmom and Dad I am reliving the pleasure of mothering an only child.
...and what a pleasure it is! I often joke how active Luke can be. I think I speak more of his antics of jumping off the couch, scaling the posts of the 4 poster bed, jumping from the fifth step onto the landing, etc.
However, this week with everyone gone, dare I say, he seems...well...calmer. He really does. He is playing by himself and happily keeping himself entertained with the plethora of toys and activities that are available in his space.
I am relishing the quiet time playing with him.
Yesterday I took him to the small local zoo for an outing. I expected to be chasing him through the zoo and did not expect he would stop to notice the animals for more than a minute.
Though he really didn't stop and gaze at too many animals beyond the petting barn (my least favorite, by the way) he never veered too far from me and never engaged in the "chase me" nonsense that I had been geared up for.
It was nice just to follow him along and not have to split my attention amongst the masses.
Of course, the main attraction for Luke was the playground...I knew that going in. I chuckled to myself that I basically paid $21 for Luke to play on the swings and slide.
I delighted observing Luke follow the same route to the slide. I was impressed that he waited his turn on the tire swing without the "It's my turn" pout that is common at this age. In fact, I found it funny that while he waited he posed a stance against the pole of leaning with his arm crossed and attempted to cross his ankles, too, indicating the "I'm Waiting" body language that he must've picked up here at home.
I don't know why but I was surprised when he announced he was hungry and willingly left the playground to sit and eat lunch.
I know that must sound stupid. What kid doesn't leave and sit somewhere to eat when they're hungry?
Luke. I've seen him ignore hunger, nature-calls for potty, and exhaustion to continue to play outside or on playground equipment.
After lunch we visited the area with parrots and macaws. As Luke greeted every other animal behind the fences, he says, "Hello ________ (fill in name of animal)" The parrot answered, "Hello" clear as a bell. Luke turned to me with such a curious look and said, "That bird just talked to me." He said this with a tone that denoted disbelief and a "isn't that ridiculous" twinge.
I wish I had more pictures of Luke observing the animals. He was most interested in the eagles, koi and turtles.....and of course, the parrots and macaws. He liked the flamingos and the turkey vultures. Though little impressed with the active elk, timber wolf and big horns, he was really awed by the bison. I remember Jake being impressed in the same way when he was a little guy.
I enjoyed just having Luke with me yesterday. My observances of this "new" behavior are probably noticings of normal behavior that slips by me because it's so, well, normal. The outrageous stuff is what catches my attention.
I also particularly appreciated buying a cheap toy for Luke at the gift shop. I usually can't or won't do that when it's everyone else in tow. It'll cost more than the price of admission so unless everyone brings their own dollars, I bypass the gift shop altogether.
Getting Luke to the car was seamless.
I don't know why Luke's agreeable nature took me by surprise yesterday, but it did. I think he's, on the average, pretty agreeable. I guess I just don't notice it through the busyness of our family commotion.
Cassie, 19, will often reminisce, "Remember when it was just you and me, Mom?" I always chuckle to myself because it was only "you and me, Mom" for 3 years. But I guess with just a little sister for awhile it feels longer to her.
I remembered today, Cassie. I remembered today and relished it with you.
...and what a pleasure it is! I often joke how active Luke can be. I think I speak more of his antics of jumping off the couch, scaling the posts of the 4 poster bed, jumping from the fifth step onto the landing, etc.
However, this week with everyone gone, dare I say, he seems...well...calmer. He really does. He is playing by himself and happily keeping himself entertained with the plethora of toys and activities that are available in his space.
I am relishing the quiet time playing with him.
Yesterday I took him to the small local zoo for an outing. I expected to be chasing him through the zoo and did not expect he would stop to notice the animals for more than a minute.
Though he really didn't stop and gaze at too many animals beyond the petting barn (my least favorite, by the way) he never veered too far from me and never engaged in the "chase me" nonsense that I had been geared up for.
It was nice just to follow him along and not have to split my attention amongst the masses.
Of course, the main attraction for Luke was the playground...I knew that going in. I chuckled to myself that I basically paid $21 for Luke to play on the swings and slide.
I delighted observing Luke follow the same route to the slide. I was impressed that he waited his turn on the tire swing without the "It's my turn" pout that is common at this age. In fact, I found it funny that while he waited he posed a stance against the pole of leaning with his arm crossed and attempted to cross his ankles, too, indicating the "I'm Waiting" body language that he must've picked up here at home.
I don't know why but I was surprised when he announced he was hungry and willingly left the playground to sit and eat lunch.
I know that must sound stupid. What kid doesn't leave and sit somewhere to eat when they're hungry?
Luke. I've seen him ignore hunger, nature-calls for potty, and exhaustion to continue to play outside or on playground equipment.
After lunch we visited the area with parrots and macaws. As Luke greeted every other animal behind the fences, he says, "Hello ________ (fill in name of animal)" The parrot answered, "Hello" clear as a bell. Luke turned to me with such a curious look and said, "That bird just talked to me." He said this with a tone that denoted disbelief and a "isn't that ridiculous" twinge.
I wish I had more pictures of Luke observing the animals. He was most interested in the eagles, koi and turtles.....and of course, the parrots and macaws. He liked the flamingos and the turkey vultures. Though little impressed with the active elk, timber wolf and big horns, he was really awed by the bison. I remember Jake being impressed in the same way when he was a little guy.
I enjoyed just having Luke with me yesterday. My observances of this "new" behavior are probably noticings of normal behavior that slips by me because it's so, well, normal. The outrageous stuff is what catches my attention.
I also particularly appreciated buying a cheap toy for Luke at the gift shop. I usually can't or won't do that when it's everyone else in tow. It'll cost more than the price of admission so unless everyone brings their own dollars, I bypass the gift shop altogether.
Getting Luke to the car was seamless.
I don't know why Luke's agreeable nature took me by surprise yesterday, but it did. I think he's, on the average, pretty agreeable. I guess I just don't notice it through the busyness of our family commotion.
Cassie, 19, will often reminisce, "Remember when it was just you and me, Mom?" I always chuckle to myself because it was only "you and me, Mom" for 3 years. But I guess with just a little sister for awhile it feels longer to her.
I remembered today, Cassie. I remembered today and relished it with you.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
What We've Been Up To
Our daily rhythym has shifted with an underlying hint of anxiety from withing myself.
Luke just celebrated his 3rd birthday recently. Three. It really hit me like a fist! I swear he just got here last year! But....the pack of diapers seems to last for weeks because he's really wearing underwear most of the day now. And he laughs out loud with intention to people, happenings and things that strike him funny. His communication is developing so that he says things like, "uh...maybe not!" and "...well, let's see...." and "stop! That's annoying!"
He also needs his own time for learning and play with me. He stands at the little chalkboard hanging in the kitchen and tells me it's time to do math. Then he draws lines and circles on the board and tells me there's lots of 4's and 5's. His brain is begging for new things to see and do and that requires the time from me.
So we shifted our school schedule to just the afternoons leaving mornings to go outside, play with Luke, read together, do chores, etc. At first this schedule just came about in a natural way and I would worry that the older kids weren't getting what they needed, or I would worry about Jake or Tara slacking off of stuff or not getting something done at all.
But that hasn't happened. It helped that I formally "announced" this was how it was going to go down here for awhile. This formality was really for myself. Doing that somehow gave me permission to school that way.
I'm surprised at how consistent we've been with things; religion everyday, math everyday, spelling everyday, reading. I'll be reinstituting our Friday fun writing projects tomorrow. I am also still keeping to alternating weeks with science and history...they've both been so, so much better studying these subjects on that schedule. This week and last has been history. I've even managed to work in the composer/music study I've had forever.
The kids have enjoyed reconnecting and working at the table together and I feel relieved that if Luke takes a nap, then am getting uninterrupted time with the older kids, if he doesn't, than he will either sit with us and be a manageable nudge, watch a movie, play with Tara's iTouch, or sit in the classroom and play with his trucks and trains...in other words, he's easier to deal with and distract because he's had a morning of appropriate stimulation and attention.
I still can't take him to the library, though. Maybe when he's four ; )
Luke just celebrated his 3rd birthday recently. Three. It really hit me like a fist! I swear he just got here last year! But....the pack of diapers seems to last for weeks because he's really wearing underwear most of the day now. And he laughs out loud with intention to people, happenings and things that strike him funny. His communication is developing so that he says things like, "uh...maybe not!" and "...well, let's see...." and "stop! That's annoying!"
He also needs his own time for learning and play with me. He stands at the little chalkboard hanging in the kitchen and tells me it's time to do math. Then he draws lines and circles on the board and tells me there's lots of 4's and 5's. His brain is begging for new things to see and do and that requires the time from me.
So we shifted our school schedule to just the afternoons leaving mornings to go outside, play with Luke, read together, do chores, etc. At first this schedule just came about in a natural way and I would worry that the older kids weren't getting what they needed, or I would worry about Jake or Tara slacking off of stuff or not getting something done at all.
But that hasn't happened. It helped that I formally "announced" this was how it was going to go down here for awhile. This formality was really for myself. Doing that somehow gave me permission to school that way.
I'm surprised at how consistent we've been with things; religion everyday, math everyday, spelling everyday, reading. I'll be reinstituting our Friday fun writing projects tomorrow. I am also still keeping to alternating weeks with science and history...they've both been so, so much better studying these subjects on that schedule. This week and last has been history. I've even managed to work in the composer/music study I've had forever.
The kids have enjoyed reconnecting and working at the table together and I feel relieved that if Luke takes a nap, then am getting uninterrupted time with the older kids, if he doesn't, than he will either sit with us and be a manageable nudge, watch a movie, play with Tara's iTouch, or sit in the classroom and play with his trucks and trains...in other words, he's easier to deal with and distract because he's had a morning of appropriate stimulation and attention.
I still can't take him to the library, though. Maybe when he's four ; )
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Pssst....Let's Keep This on the Down Low.....
Before I homeschooled, had teenagers, read blogs, or recovered my faith I used to know everything. I felt sorry for the other mom's who didn't have the awarenesses of how children develop like I did. Poor suckers. Surely when their kids were unruly, misbehaved, fresh or otherwise succombing to the sinful nature that is inherent in being human they had no one to blame but themselves...Oh! The ignorance!
So I'm in the library with a hood and sunglasses checking out "Toddler Time, 150 Easy Ways to Keep Them Busy, Sare & Happy" and "Year 'Round Activities for Three-Year-Old Children." On the cover of these books are images of calm, toddlers playing contentedly. I wanted something in the line of "What the Heck Can I Play with This Kid When His Brothers and Sisters are Gone for the Day?" or "Acitivities that Engage a Three-Year-Old for More Than 45 Seconds." I'm hoping the librarian doesn't comment on the reading material and strike up a conversation forcing me to deny the 5 other children I have and lying that this is my first child.
Seriously.
I have no idea how to parent an only child.
There is a 7 year gap between my last two children. Bill jokingly refers to the first five children as the "first family."
I am feeling as terrified as a new mother. On the upside the terror has smothered any residual smug that I had lingering.
I'm really unsure if it's my lack of experience with hanging out with just one toddler all day or if I'm trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Either way, I am trying to recover that "go with the flow of the child" thing with my dear Luke. What holds me back is "going with the flow" with Luke might mean taking that giant parachute most toddlers use as a fun circle game and pitching ourselves off the roof with it. I'm just not up for that, you know?
I was whining to my sister that I just don't recall the other kids being so.....busy. so.....daring. so......dangerous to themselves and others.
My sister said I sounded like Mom with selective memory loss.
Mom? SHE'S A GRANDMOTHER! She's allowed to have selective memory loss based on being out of the game for so long!!!!!!!
Yeah, Mom, she says.
Don't you remember Jake climbing to the top of the refrigerator in the middle of the night? Don't you remember when he used to climb on top of Bill's truck and pee off the side? Don't you remember when he snuck out of the house and was found running down the train tracks? Or the stitches in the eye three weeks after stitches on the outside of the other eye? Don't you remember......stop.....please.....I beg you.....just. stop.
What did I do? Was I freaking out? I don't remember freaking out? I don't remember not knowing what to do with him? And it's not that I don't know what to do with Luke, either. I've done lots with him. All the regular toddler stuff. Playdoh, cutting (one of his favorite things to do which is why I've purchased three wired mouses for the computer last year before wising up and getting a wireless mouse.), puzzles, blocks, (but prove to be dangerous as he mostly enjoys chucking them as those heavy things have a better feel in his throw than a silly old ball), reading books to him, trucks, cars, trains, etc.
But he really wants to jump, run, move, jump, jump, jump.
We went to the ice skating rink last week. His main interest was the upper level, about 15 feet up, and asking if he could jump. Uh, no. Another parent with three children under the age of 5, all sitting calmly on the bleachers watching their older brother skate watched in judgement at my son scaling the bleachers for over an hour. His baby girl, looked to be about 1, sat in her stroller the entire 2 hours we were there.
Sheer amazement. No WAY would Luke have EVER sat that long. In fact, I've passed that stroller along because he just won't sit in it at all...he prefers to be moving. No sitting.
Meanwhile, I am flipping through the pages of these reads shaking my head. No, that won't work. Already did that. We'll try again.
I'm going back to the library to find a toddler activity book with a title like, "Activities for Three-Year-Olds That Can Only Be Done While Moving Large Muscles."
Any recommendations?
So I'm in the library with a hood and sunglasses checking out "Toddler Time, 150 Easy Ways to Keep Them Busy, Sare & Happy" and "Year 'Round Activities for Three-Year-Old Children." On the cover of these books are images of calm, toddlers playing contentedly. I wanted something in the line of "What the Heck Can I Play with This Kid When His Brothers and Sisters are Gone for the Day?" or "Acitivities that Engage a Three-Year-Old for More Than 45 Seconds." I'm hoping the librarian doesn't comment on the reading material and strike up a conversation forcing me to deny the 5 other children I have and lying that this is my first child.
Seriously.
I have no idea how to parent an only child.
There is a 7 year gap between my last two children. Bill jokingly refers to the first five children as the "first family."
I am feeling as terrified as a new mother. On the upside the terror has smothered any residual smug that I had lingering.
I'm really unsure if it's my lack of experience with hanging out with just one toddler all day or if I'm trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Either way, I am trying to recover that "go with the flow of the child" thing with my dear Luke. What holds me back is "going with the flow" with Luke might mean taking that giant parachute most toddlers use as a fun circle game and pitching ourselves off the roof with it. I'm just not up for that, you know?
I was whining to my sister that I just don't recall the other kids being so.....busy. so.....daring. so......dangerous to themselves and others.
My sister said I sounded like Mom with selective memory loss.
Mom? SHE'S A GRANDMOTHER! She's allowed to have selective memory loss based on being out of the game for so long!!!!!!!
Yeah, Mom, she says.
Don't you remember Jake climbing to the top of the refrigerator in the middle of the night? Don't you remember when he used to climb on top of Bill's truck and pee off the side? Don't you remember when he snuck out of the house and was found running down the train tracks? Or the stitches in the eye three weeks after stitches on the outside of the other eye? Don't you remember......stop.....please.....I beg you.....just. stop.
What did I do? Was I freaking out? I don't remember freaking out? I don't remember not knowing what to do with him? And it's not that I don't know what to do with Luke, either. I've done lots with him. All the regular toddler stuff. Playdoh, cutting (one of his favorite things to do which is why I've purchased three wired mouses for the computer last year before wising up and getting a wireless mouse.), puzzles, blocks, (but prove to be dangerous as he mostly enjoys chucking them as those heavy things have a better feel in his throw than a silly old ball), reading books to him, trucks, cars, trains, etc.
But he really wants to jump, run, move, jump, jump, jump.
We went to the ice skating rink last week. His main interest was the upper level, about 15 feet up, and asking if he could jump. Uh, no. Another parent with three children under the age of 5, all sitting calmly on the bleachers watching their older brother skate watched in judgement at my son scaling the bleachers for over an hour. His baby girl, looked to be about 1, sat in her stroller the entire 2 hours we were there.
Sheer amazement. No WAY would Luke have EVER sat that long. In fact, I've passed that stroller along because he just won't sit in it at all...he prefers to be moving. No sitting.
Meanwhile, I am flipping through the pages of these reads shaking my head. No, that won't work. Already did that. We'll try again.
I'm going back to the library to find a toddler activity book with a title like, "Activities for Three-Year-Olds That Can Only Be Done While Moving Large Muscles."
Any recommendations?
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