More than Adrift

I grew up in a culture where confidence was valued, the mantras often being repeated...."be yourself," and "never change who you are." I went to a private all girls school, where you would think that uniforms, strict schedules and rules would increase conformity, but it did the opposite.  We struggled to increase our uniqueness, to stand out, to be different, to be remembered.  We prided ourselves on being strong women who knew who we were, who weren't afraid to stand up in what we believed in. But here I am, 10 years later, struggling with the juxtaposition between a culture that says "Be yourself" but also the deep desire to be well liked, to fit in, to have harmony and unity within all of my relationships. I watch girly girl movies, read girly girl books.... often that have the theme of being true to yourself.  Don't be afraid to be who you are!  I pump my fist in the air and defiantly think.. that's right!  I don't need to...

I'm a laundry washer, folder, and put away-er.  I am an unprofessional chef, a personal shopper, and a maid. I'm a personal attendant in the bathroom, a dog walker, and a best friend. As a mom, one of my strengths is being able to to multi-task.  It's one of the great divides between my husband and me. I think that if you are a wife and a mother, it's a necessity to be able to do more than one thing at a time. Yet recently I'm wondering if my strength isn't also one of my flaws as a mom. So often, I begin playing with the kids, just to "be back in a minute" to check dinner just as we have started.  Or my phone rings, and I rush off to check if it's important, or I hear the laundry bell ding, or I hear my computer alert me to a new email. I tell myself I can multi-task.  After all, I am playing with the kids, throwing a load in the dishwasher, baking dinner in the oven, while balancing my computer on my arm to double check the recipe with my...

I have a flare for the dramatic, so it's no surprise to me that my children also love drama :-) Last night, I was putting D to bed and at his request for one more story, I chose to retell the Christmas story, but in a rather detailed fashion.... It included details that are not included in the Gospel accounts of Jesus' birth, but I don't think God would mind overly much. Tonight, for the very last challenge, I encourage you to retell the Christmas story. But not just by the book, REALLY re tell it.  Use puppets, or dolls, or better yet, use your FAMILY to act it out.  Encourage the kids to have natural responses by asking questions.... As an example.... last night I said to D... Look, there's a hotel!  It's so fancy, and has a pool and a hot tub.  Mary, wouldn't you like to rest there?  (no room, on to next hotel)  Oh well, this hotel still has a pool even if there is no hot tub... would you like to stay here? (no room....)  Well.... maybe th...

As I presented my kids with this play time, K & D both asked me "What is a sculpture?"    I guess I haven't exposed them to real art very frequently!! Oat Dough is so easy: 1 cup of Rolled Oats 2 cups of Flour 1 cup of water.  Mix it up until it's nice and doughy but not too sticky. This was a fun part for the kids.  They love measuring, pouring, and mixing.  Although D was worried that his hands were getting too sticky.  Go figure. Then I asked them what they wanted to add to decorate their sculptures.  I had a list of options for them and they chose to cut up pieces of straws (other ideas: googly eyes, gemstones, toothpicks) This was really quite a fun project.  It has a different consistency than other things we've tried, and it actually DRIES out and hardens!  So on Saturday they will have a sculpture to paint! I let them take the lead on what they wanted to make.  C was making a birthday cake, using the straws as ...

Tomorrow's activity is a little more involved but I really challenge you to DO this one.  I think this is the most fun activity we've done in quite awhile, and can be adapted in a hundred different ways. It's a great activity to teach kids some beginning physics language, and start building their skeletal knowledge of pendulums. Materials we used: A Tennis Ball Nylons A bar of some sort (we used an old wooden beam) Two chairs to balance the bar on  (the other way I've seen this activity done is hung by the beams on the ceiling if you have a ceiling that has tiles, we don't unfortunately!) Recycling boxes/cardboard tubes/any recycling material or light blocks So I helped D build this, but here is my word of caution: if you have younger children, set up a separate activity for them while the older ones build their towers.  When D built his tower, C continued to knock it down with his hands, throwing balls at it, etc.  It was quite frustrating for D. It w...

This activity is designed to keep your kids busy for a little bit while you finish wrapping/cleaning/packing for Christmas :-) It's so easy, and the most entertaining part of preschool for almost every kid I've ever met.  Sensory Bins! All you need is a rubber maid container.  Any size works, though one with a little depth and not too long is usually best.  Kids like being able to "dig in"  Currently we're using a large storage tote that Gibbs had his CD's stored in previously.....  I think they work just fine in a box though :-) Add flour, spices, measuring cups, spoons, maybe a cake tin or two, and that's it! Variations:  We currently have "cloud dough" in our bin.  It's 8 cups of flour, 1 cup of oil (baby oil for scent, but any oil works)  It is sort of like moon sand.  It is sifty like flour, but can pack together also. Noodles.  ANY noodles work.  If you have cheap spaghetti noodles on hand, put them in!  If you cook...

Only a few days left until Christmas!  I'll post the next few days' challenges all tonight, so you can choose which ones you want to do, and discard the rest. Just another note on why I'm doing this...  I really believe that families that play together strengthen relationships. Not only will the kids benefit from one on one (or one-on-five attention) but parents really gain appreciation of their kids through play. I recently visited a cute store in town and saw that they are selling "I Spy" Jars for 20 dollars!!!  I cannot believe this because all you need to do this at home is a recycling bin, some old rice/water/shampoo/anything really and some tiny toys that you no longer have use for! I have been saving up (read: hoarding) old spice containers, washed spaghetti jars, baby food containers for awhile now.  So there were lots of options for my kids to choose from. Then you can allow your kids to choose if they'd like a transparent material or an ...