Giving
Posted: December 4, 2012 Filed under: Great Expectations Leave a commentNow that Evan is old enough to really understand birthdays, and he’s suffered through June’s birthday without being the center of attention, he is very excited for Christmas. He seems quite clear on the concept of Christmas = presents. I’ve been trying to talk to him about why we have Christmas (simplified: Jesus’ birthday), and why we have presents (simplified: the Wise Men brought presents to baby Jesus). I emphasized that we give gifts to the people we love, so maybe he would enjoy thinking of something to give to June, Jarom, cousins, and friends. This talk went well, but as I’ve done almost no Christmas preparation yet, nothing has really come of it without an example of what Evan should be doing. At church we signed up to provide a stocking for a 2-year-old boy in the neighborhood, and I hope that will be a good chance to let Evan (and June!) help give some small things to someone else.
We have plenty of toys, clothes, and books. (Well, so far as you can ever really have “plenty of books.”) We have a nice house, steady income, two semi-working cars. Friends and family live nearby. We even got a dog. With all of that, it’s been hard for me to think of what to give the kids for Christmas. June just had a birthday, and Evan’s is just around the corner – he’ll be 4! – do they need more toys? Will they be disappointed if I give them practical things, like clothes? (Surely yes.) I’ve settled on getting a large wall map and a few fold-up maps for Evan, who is currently obsessed with anything that vaguely resembles a map. But I’m still stumped about June. Any ideas?
Then there was the issue of what to do for Jarom. We talked a while ago about doing a much smaller Christmas budget this year, and then about doing a joint present. We tossed a few ideas around – a nice evening out, season tickets to the theater or ballet, a new painting. Yesterday we decided on a nice new mattress pad. It’s not very exciting, in terms of a Christmas gift, but now is an especially good time to make the bed more comfortable, for reasons I’ll get into later. It will be a good, practical joint present. We’ll be ok without a big surprise.
Tomorrow I’ll show you our Extremely Crooked Christmas Tree.
Training
Posted: December 3, 2012 Filed under: Little Women 2 CommentsJune has hit the magic age where she wants to use the toilet and she’s old enough to learn. I’d love to get her out of diapers, soon – but I have no idea how to potty train her! Any suggestions? Remember that I’m low on energy lately, so if you have a method that requires very little involvement on my part, you’re the winner. (Let me clarify: an effective method.)
Yardwork
Posted: November 30, 2012 Filed under: War and Peace 4 CommentsA few weeks ago, most of the leaves were still on our big chestnut tree. Then there was a big windstorm, which knocked about half of them off, followed by a foot of snow, which made raking impossible. The other half of the leaves fell on top of the snow a day or two before we left for vacation.
Of course, by the time we got back, the lawn was completely covered in leaves. I mean, really, the chestnut tree is huge. But it’s been tricky to find a time to rake, since I have no fence to contain two kids and a dog. I had to leave them to their own devices for a while.
Yesterday brought beautiful weather and June went down for a nap without any diaper incidents, so I sat Evan (and the dog) down with some Netflix and headed out to rake. It went more quickly than I expected, but the sheer number of leaves and size of my yard (not to mention my inexperience with raking leaves) meant it was a 2-hour endeavor. And then what to do with all those leaf piles? I generously let the kids jump in one to their hearts’ content, and a neighbor came by offering to park his trailer by the tree so I could dump all the leaves in – and he’d take them to the city facility when I was done. Maybe that was the generous thing. Jarom took over when he got home, and now the lawn just needs a good mowing.
If only I had a lawnmower.
P.S. I had a book club last night, so Jarom’s friend came over to keep him company. Many kids together = no sleep, and when I got home at 11:30, Evan had just barely passed out on the couch, and June fought sleep for another half hour. Then she got up at 7 this morning. Is there a refund or something I’m eligible for today?
Jarom
Mika
hilleries 