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Riesling and Cashel are finally getting back into their regular sleep routine.  That means they were up right at 7 this morning and so was I.  I put my robe on, which Cashel immediately removed the pink belt from and began dragging it around the house.  They played with their trains while they sucked down their breakfasts and I fed the cats.

Riesling and Cashel have been talking about and doing gymnastics for a couple of months now.  Riesling has taught herself how to do a half-way decent cartwheel and Cashel loves to do “super flips” (basically a forward roll with so much momentum that it’s almost a handspring).  Yesterday Riesling directly asked me if she could take classes.  I headed to the computer to compile a spread sheet of the area’s gymnastics offerings.  After quite a few Google searches I found 2 places in Harrisonburg and one in Elkton.  I called them up and compared schedules and prices and decided on the Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation’s club.  Riesling and Cashel are both VERY excited to begin classes in January.

I also contacted Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir to see if they had any openings for the Winter/Spring program.  They did, so I signed Riesling up.  She really misses choir at church and has asked me many times about it so I figured that while I was scheduling ways to spend our money, I might as well add that to the agenda.

While I was doing all this Riesling and Cashel were cutting, taping, wrapping and writing.  Riesling came and asked me how to write “I am going to invite you to a Pump It Up party.”  I got a blank piece of paper and went word by word, writing as she sounded the sentence out.  I gave her the paper and off she went with Cashel following close behind.

A bit later she came back with a sealed envelope that said, “To Mommy, From Riesling.”  I opened the envelope and this is what I saw:

Cashel also had an envelope that he had taped shut, which he gave me.  Upon further investigation I found a “flag” that Riesling had made as well.

Their next project was to wrap “gifts”.

 

 

The kids wanted no part of lunch.  Instead Riesling sat and examined all 400 plus pages of The Complete Adventures of Curious George by H.A. Rey, while Cashel looked on.

Later Cashel lined up his trains and gave them a good smashing with one of his large remote control cars.  That boy is always, always singing to himself.  I wonder if he will want to join a choir too.

The day was a beautiful 60 degrees, so we ventured out into the sun.  The kids rode their bikes and swang on the swings while I cleaned up some of the items that have been laying around on our porches and in our yard, just getting on my nerves.

At one point Riesling and Cashel both went inside and Cashel hollered out that he wanted his milk.  I told him to ask Riesling to get it for him.  The next thing he yelled was a “pill”, a “pill”.  I stopped my fantastic progress on the yard and ran in.  His milk container was laying on its side in front of the fridge and milk had poured out under the fridge.  Ok, so here’s where all my working together, honoring the child, respect for everyone comes dangerously close to being thrown out the window.  After I quickly picked up the nearly empty container, I instructed him briskly to pick up something that is spilling immediately so that it doesn’t spill anymore.  Cashel replied with an, “Otay…”  His sister appeared on the scene and informed me that she had to go get another sock because one of hers got wet when the milk spilled on it.  I almost did a Linda Blair as I also informed her that her priority needed to be to first pick up something that is spilling immediately so that it doesn’t spill anymore and then to go get a new sock…grrrrrrr.  She replied with an, “Oh, I didn’t know because I forgot” which is her defense rebuttal to insensitive remarks made by her mother.  I practiced some deep breathing and counted wayyyyyy past 10 as I forced myself not to sound like the parents that make me cringe when they speak to and berate their kids.  HINDSIGHT–I think I should have quietly, calmly and most important, kindly, suggested that maybe they could pick up the milk as soon as they see that it is spilling.  Explaining gently that this would be helpful to me so that I didn’t have to struggle to get the milk out from under the refrigerator and that it might be meaningful to them, because if I’m not cleaning milk up from under the fridge, we can all do something that they like sooner, such as go to the park.

If you can give suggestions for me to improve on my plans for respectful communication with my children, comment away.

I calmed myself down, cleaned up the mess and asked the kids if they wanted a snack.  I made Riesling a peanut butter and jam cone (an ice cream cone with pb&j in it) and Cashel edible play dough.  I reserve this for times when he really hasn’t been eating much to boost his caloric intake.  My version consists of sunbutter, molasses and dry milk.  He eats it like a candy bar!

They stayed in the general area of the front porch while they ate their snacks.  At one point, Riesling said, “We’ve got a spill out here, Mom.”  When I came on to scene, she complied with a “I picked it right up.”   Crap!  How many steps backward did I take with my little outburst.  Yes, yes, I do want her to pick up the milk, but not because of the external motivation that Mom’s going to be pissed if she doesn’t, but because she is intrinsically motivated to for whatever reason she finds important.

Soon enough the yard and porches were looking great and we were off to do the recycling and to the park.

Riesling and Cashel love to go the the Recycling Center and sort out all of our containers into the various dumpsters.  Cashel is getting really good at flinging the plastic jugs up into the designated open door.  Riesling went and put the papers and cardboard into the trailers, while the woman who watches over the place helped her figure out which was which.

At the park the children tried out the modes of transportation on a spring, then hand held diggers and scoopers.  They went over to the huge structure that has at least 5 slides coming off of it and decided that I was a monster who was trying to get them.  I reached and jumped up to try to grab at them while they laughed and squealed.

It got dark and we went home.  They watched Boz: Thank God for Colors and Shapes and then an instructional video on how to properly shoot a basketball that came with an early birthday gift for Cashel.

After dinner, the children got readied for bed.  Cashel and I did The Three Billy Goats Gruff play using small hand puppets and looked at the Rube Goldberg machine in his I Spy Book.  He snuggled up with his airplane and passed out.

I came out of Cashel’s room and Riesling and Joe played String Games.  While I went to finish up the dishes, he read her The Magic School Bus: Inside the Human Body and when I came back Riesling was looking very sleepy in her bed and Joe was in dream land.

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