Today was Country Day -- the kids did reports on India. Sarah originally was going to do Hindu mythology, but instead her report turned into a bit on the nature of mythology itself, and a bit on the variety of religions in India, and a bit of an overview of Hindu and Buddhist mythology and folklore. And I'm so proud of her I could bust -- until this month she'd been preparing the whole report on the computer every month (with a little technical help from me), doing a slideshow and recording her own voiceover. This month, though, she told me she didn't need my help with the computer, that she was just going to give the presentation herself, live. She got a little stage fright, at the last minute, but she totally overcame it, and she did an awesome job, even with all the unfamiliar names to read. She read clearly and steadily, and was utterly awesome.

I cooked dal and plain basmati rice, and there were some really delicious samosas and some excellent dairy-free khorma (also lots of other things, but those were the only ones I tried).

Then we swung by A's place so she and I could get in some banjo practice. We're going to be playing in a small open mic situation in, oh my *God*, less than 2 weeks. We're doing well, but the anticipatory stage fright's a real pain in the ass.

Recent highlights:
Friday was the wrap party for the science club. They rocked their presentation on thermometers, back in early December, and last week they celebrated with fun snacks, a couple hours of play, and a little bit of conversation about what they want to do together next. Friday night we had a few friends here for the first Sacred Song of the year. It was an experiment, to see how Friday nights would work, but I think we're gonna go back to Sundays -- it was just too stressful trying to get home in time to clean and cook for company, and rush hour complicates things for anyone coming from a distance.

Sarah and I are solidly back into our school schedule. Right now we're doing the third grade Social Studies from Oak Meadow (a Waldorfy homeschool curriculum) exploring myths of different ancient cultures (in preparation for getting back into Story of the World, a history of the world written in storytelling style), studying agriculture and various food systems, doing Living Math (history/anthropology of math), lots of practical math (creating and analyzing polls, making change, measuring things, etc.), studying the history and ecology of NYC/the lower Hudson Valley, and working on copywork (spelling, grammar, handwriting) and memorizing a poem. We had been focused on nature journaling, but we haven't been keeping that up since it got so cold that neither one of us wants to go outside. We'll start back up with a garden journal when our seeds arrive.

Starting in February, we're switching over to Story of the World, an Intellego unit study on the weather, and continuing with NYC, Living Math, and various kinds of practice work. Oh, and being food detectives, studying our favorite meals. Next year I think we may be buying a whole curriculum based around Geography. Sarah seems to like the idea, and I think as long as we both remember the curriculum is a collection of suggestions, not requirements, it'll make the homeschooling organization a hell of a lot easier.

We're also planning a Doll Festival party at the beginning of March.

Bad Mom morning -- well, early afternoon. Sarah was struggling with some homeschooling stuff, I got impatient, she got even more frustrated and tense and afraid of doing it wrong, we butted heads, she felt awful, I felt awful, the whole thing just sucked.

But I called a break so we could both get ready to go out (we were meeting Joe for dinner in Hoboken), and after a few minutes I asked if she wanted to talk about how she was feeling. She did, and she was so brave and so clear and well-spoken about what she was feeling, and I managed to stop being an impatient taskmistress long enough, and also managed to stop kicking myself for making her feel so bad long enough, and somehow managed to say enough of the right things to make it better. And then we rushed out into the cold to meet Joe and have a really nice, cozy, family evening out.

I hate that she takes it so hard when I get impatient or grouchy, but I'm so damn impressed with both of us, that we were able to stop in the middle of the conflict and fix it, and figure out what we can do differently next time.

The rest of our New Year stuff is going well -- I'm back on track for exercising and eating reasonably well (with the exception of last night's belated holiday visit with my grandparents -- I think I ate half of grandma's special potato salad myself!), we're making slow but steady progress on our ToDo lists, and on the family/household lifestyle changes we've been wanting to make, and my music's coming along nicely. I'm still dealing with some existential angst, and some frustration over how very domestic I've been feeling, though. I wish I was feeling more adventurous and bold and interesting than I am, right now, but when it comes down to it, I'm just... not. Instead I seem to want to spend my time crocheting and baking and decluttering and playing music and curling up under blankets with my dear ones. Maybe more of a sense of adventure will come with the Spring.

Happy New Year

We had a wonderfully cozy time over Joe's delightfully long Winter vacation, curled up reading our many new books and spending hours watching our new DVDs together (Leverage Seasons 1&2, Despicable Me, Karate Kid, Twister, Justice League Unlimited...).

Yesterday I was still fighting off some bug that'd been menacing me for the last few days of our vacation, and we had the pleasant surprise of having Joe home with us for an extra day, so we barely even dipped our toes into the waters of the New Year. Today, though, we're jumping in with both feet!

Sarah and I talked over the vacation and agreed that it works better for both of us to do a more extended play-school time in the morning and then just have the afternoons free for our afternoon adventures, instead of trying to stick to a daily rhythm all day long. We wind up either missing out on or rushing through the afternoon routines more often than not, or not being able to fully enjoy our afternoon adventures because there's the sense of Stuff To Do hanging over our heads. And, really, the shorter sessions were part of a daily rhythm that was aimed at the attention span of a much younger child, and we wind up missing out on one of the joys of homeschooling, the luxury of letting ourselves get lost in a book or a new pastime. I don't think we should have any problem shifting into a more intense morning followed by a totally free-flowing afternoon.

Over the break we also all sat down together and wrote up 5 year goals, 1 year goals, and immediate More/Less lists (more board games, less time on the computer, etc.) for the whole family, and I'm hoping to start implementing our plans this week.

I've been working for the last few weeks on my intentions for the New Year, and I had a pretty clear sense of what I want to welcome into my life this year, the transformations I want to cultivate. Last night or the night before, though, I realized that I've been leaving something out.

So for 2011 I intend to welcome Boldness, Health and Fitness, Increased Competence at Getting Things Done, Music... and a more intentional, consistent Spiritual Practice. I like having 5 intentions. Not a round number, but a good one.

I also have a wonderful, slightly ambitious list of projects for Winter 2010/2011. A nice mix of crafts, home improvement, self-improvement, and long-overdue chores.

This week we're reading through The Bill of Rights together, finishing up _River of Dreams_ (a book on the Hudson river), a book on Shakespeare (_Shakespeare For Kids_, I think it is), and _The MixedUp Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler_. I'm finishing up reading _Getting Things Done_). And Joe and Sarah are reading _Ivy and Bean Break The Fossil Record_.

Happy Solstice, folks!

I don't post here as often as I'd like to, because I keep waiting until I have the time or energy or motivation to write something profound or philosophical, and less like a laundry list of what we've been up to, this week.

But, frankly, I don't think I'm looking for this journal to be particularly philosophical. I like being able to look back and see what we were up to, last week, last month, last year...

So, this past month:

We hosted Country Day, the geography group Sarah belongs to. The host chooses the month's theme, and she chose Slovenia (the country my grandfather's parents came from). It was an awesome day. She did her presentation on Slovenian folklore and mythology, and we both learned so much. I made ricet (barley soup) and made a failed attempt at apple potica (a rolled cakey dessert), people brought so many delicious foods and the kids gave so many interesting presentations. That night I went out and got myself some peach schnapps, which I had with the delightfully Slavic leftovers, and relished the sense of connection with so many of my foremothers.

The lego league team finished up their research on thermometers (the focus they chose, within the biomedical engineering theme chosen by the organization), put together their presentation, and presented to the judges at the local Lego League science fair.

We had another Country Day, with the theme of Japan, and I brought cold summer noodles (rice noodles with a really tasty, simple dipping sauce and some quick cucumber pickles) and Sarah gave a presentation on hinamatsuri, the Japanese doll festival. Aside from the usual computer presentation she puts together, she also did a little diorama example of what the traditional doll displays look like at the festival.

On our own, Sarah's working on typing, spelling, math, and drawing, and we're exploring ear training exercises, to pursue her musical goals. And we're continuing to read about NYC, the Hudson River, and Shakespeare (she was very taken by the adaptation of Midsummer Night's Dream we went to see last Spring, and we've been reading children's book versions of a few of his plays), and slowly filling in the Inventions timeline on our wall.

Joe wrote an awesome adventure for us, and is leading Sarah and me through it. She's a math mage, and I get to be a kickass monster hunter. She and Joe are also working their way through many books together -- the Bunnicula series, The Mouse and The Motorcycle, and the three of us are starting _The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler_.

Last night, during our Solstice celebration, we had the chance to explore how wax candles work, how flames work, how solstices work, and how lunar eclipses work, while staying up all night, singing, reading aloud from Pratchett's Hogfather, watching movies, watching the eclipse, crafting, making pizza together, eating brownies, and weathering the long night together.

I'm looking forward to a relatively quite couple weeks, just getting ready for Christmas in a laidback fashion, visiting with friends, and finishing up reading the books we currently have out of the library.

We had a really good visit with my parents, the other week. We drove to look at the wind turbines being put up nearby, Sarah got to enjoy her new treehouse, there was singing and baking together, and a funny little Family Olympics my dad put together -- a course around their front yard, combining acrobatics, basketball, archery, soccer, the little trampoline, and followed up by a badminton game and a soccer match. My mom and I went to see a local open mic night, but we wound up being the only ones there. I'm almost disappointed I didn't bring my banjo with me (I'd brought it to the North Country with me, but not to the coffee shop) -- it might have been nice to just experience playing on a little stage, in front of a microphone. But a little too weird to play in front of just my mom and the coffee shop owner (and her two kids). But I'll be prepared for next time we're there over a Monday night, now that I've seen the place.

My mom lent us pictures from her recent trip to Slovenia, as well as a flag, some Slovenian art, and the recipes my great aunt used to make Struklji and Potica. (it was Sarah's turn to choose the theme for the geography group she belongs to, this month, and she chose Slovenia)

Sarah and I are starting to shift into our Winter homeschooling -- homeschool soccer finished up already, lego league's finishing up in a few weeks, and we've opted out of a few social possibilities and are starting to focus more on quiet afternoons at home or at small gatherings with friends or family. A little more of an academic focus, after a fairly unschooly Fall (we'd meant to be a little more focused all along, but it just doesn't work that well when we're out of the house every day doing one homeschool activity or another). I'm looking for a philosophy or Great Books discussion to work our way through together or maybe with a few friends -- either a book or a curriculum, or even just an article with suggestions. I have a few to check out, when I have my next Homeschooling Prep afternoon.

I'm continuing to work with the Simple Living Guide and the Getting Things Done book -- paring life down to the essentials and dealing with the necessary nonsense as efficiently as possible -- and they're working really well for me. I've opted out of a few tempting but unnecessarily complicated activities/social commitments, recently, and every time I pare my life down a little more I can feel the wave of relief that passes through me. We're challenging ourselves to see how much we can declutter in the next 4 weeks.

Yesterday was gorgeous and lovely and crisp -- outdoors at the park with many-many homeschool friends, sitting under a tree with my Simple Living book, watching Sarah play with old friends and make new ones.

The first chapter of the book is on Time. How am I using my time? Does it match up with my underlying values and priorities? How do I want to have spent my time, when I look back over my life? Who do I want to spend more time with?

I sat particularly long with this advice: when you find yourself tempted to buy something, or do something, or commit to something, look deeply into your motivation. Why do you want to have this or do this? And then look deeply into the consequences and opportunity costs of buying or doing this thing. How many hours would you have to work to pay for this thing? How many evenings with your family would you have to give up for this commitment? How much more rushed would your weekends become if you take this class? Maybe it's worth it anyway. But maybe not. Really look at it, from every angle. And consider this: you don't have to read everything that flies in your door. You don't have to do every neat thing that comes to your notice. You don't have to do everything. Learn to be discriminating.

She also has a lovely couple paragraphs on intimacy. Arguing that our time crunch is actually an intimacy crunch. It's so much easier to keep rushing along, adding more things and more commitments, than to sit quietly, getting to know ourselves, and then opening ourselves to others. She points out our tendency to have fewer, larger get-togethers, instead of smaller, more intimate dinners. I've noticed this, myself -- I often leave large gatherings feeling less connected, not more. But smaller gatherings are harder, more embarrassing -- it feels more vulnerable to say "hey, do you want to come over for dinner on Friday?" Like I'm putting more of myself on the line. Something to consider.

She also talks about the practice of the Sabbath, even for those of us who are not religious, and about the idea of siestas (not necessarily a nap, but a period of enforced downtime in the midst of the day -- turn off the phone, step away from the computer and TV, and just dawdle, on your own or with your family).

Could I X out my Sundays, starting with my open Sundays in November, and keep them sacrosanct for time with my family? Not just time with family, but unhurried, Sunday-drive type time with my family (like grandma and grandpa did when their kids were little. Sundays they would pack a huge picnic lunch and take their 3 kids for drives out the Island or upstate, stopping at park where grandpa would take the kids swimming or skating or playing baseball and grandma would read under a tree)? We already try to make Sunday a family field trip day, when we can manage it. Could we make it a commitment, barring extremely rare exceptions (weddings, and the like)?

I think, maybe, once we fix the laundry situation, we could do that. Saturdays could be our days for errands and seeing people and Friday and Saturday nights could be free time for going out on our own or together, and Sundays could be held for lowkey picnics or field trips.

"... take control of your life and time. Create your own inner law and then follow it."

Our weeks are going to be even a little more full than I'd thought, as Sarah's decided to join both Lego League and another class/club/activity being organized by a new friend to explore different world cultures together. I'm delighted by all the activities she's interested in, and happy to make room in our week for them. But...

I've gotten so used to having all the time in the world to sit at home together, doing crafts, reading books, making music... And having the option of multiple field trips or spontaneous playdates in a week. We're suddenly looking at, at best, one free afternoon a week. It's a little intimidating.

This week Sarah had a great time at our local Not Back To School day at the zoo, seeing a few old friends and making a new one. We also got in a few days of playing school, finishing up the last bits of our most recent themes -- history of math, building/engineering/architecture, history of books and libraries -- and getting ready to jump into all our new ones. The timeline on our livingroom wall is getting awfully full...

On Friday, at Fairy Scouts, we did Alien of the Week club, read a few more chapters of _The Girl Who Could Fly_, and watched Pippi Longstocking together. This was our last Fairy Scouts meeting, at least for awhile, as our two fellow scouts are starting school on Monday. Sarah and I love them both, and I think we're feeling both sad for ourselves and excited for them at this new adventure of theirs. They're both such fierce, independent, thoughtful young ladies, and their new school sounds wonderful -- I'm looking forward to hearing all about it. I'm... envious of their new teachers a little, I think -- I butted heads with both of them so very often at TMcAFS, oh my God, but the school, and my own experience, was so much richer for their presence.

L suggested the same thing Sarah and I had discussed when I first told her about their plans -- that after they settle into their new schedule, perhaps we can start meeting once a week after school, as scout troops often do. I certainly hope we can do something along those lines. We're filling up the spaces in our schedule, but new friends certainly can't replace such dear old ones.