Almost every weekend, we seem to have a little home improvement project. A few weeks ago, it was replacing a bedroom window screen. (That actually took two weekends, since after Hubby made the first screen frame, cutting his finger in the process, he accidentally bent it trying to put it in.) A few months ago, it was clearing off a desk. Today, we were a bit more ambitious. We dismantled the crib in the kids' bedroom. It's been sitting there for more than a year now, taking up space in front of the closet. It was handy, because if Bub's clothes were wet, he'd hang them up on the rail for them to dry. (Of course, he'd never actually remember to put them away, but I digress.) The bottom of the crib had this gigantic pull-out drawer that I kept Princess' future clothes in. All of those clothes that are currently too big, they all went in there. Until today.
There's also a full-sized bed with drawers under it, and a dresser. The dresser has been full of my pre-baby things (computer things, music things, music with computer things, pre-baby clothing) until now, I'm getting rid of it all. More or less. So now, it's all Bub's clothes, Princess' clothes, and the clothes they're going to grow into. Which let us dismantle the crib. Sadly, it is now sitting in the garage and not out of the house, but baby steps. Listing and selling everything on Craigslist will have to be a separate, future endeavor.
But now, in addition to dismantling the crib, we're dismantling the full-sized bed set and taking that down as well (I definitely do NOT need to go to the gym tonight, working at home has been more than sufficient) and then setting up. . . bunk beds! Of course, for some reason we can only find one of the twin-sized beds, but Hubby wants to set up the whole thing and then get a mattress.
Since I was clearing out the dresser and all of the drawers in three different pieces of furniture, I also had the kids try things on and do some culling of their wardrobes, getting rid of things that have become too short or tight.
The only part of this that I've found upsetting has been when Hubby took the drawers out of the full-sized bed. Bub's been complaining for months that he doesn't have enough socks, his socks don't match, etc. Shoved behind that drawer were maybe six pairs of missing socks, as well as pants, shirts, underwear, and other things so dusty that we threw them directly into the washer. I thought he had enough socks!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
Beware, your children and those electronic gadgets.
I don't know whether I mentioned it here, but a few months back, we let Bub use Memrise for his multiplication tables and some Mandarin characters. It seemed great, until Hubby got a notice that Bub had signed up for a Twitter account. And apparently, Bub had started talking to another member, commenting on her "long, luxurious hair." Since Hubby hasn't had a time to reconfigure the router, and I cannot literally sit at Bub's side for every moment while he is on a computer, Bub hasn't had any online access, period.
Today, one of my friends told me that her daughter (who's about the same age as Princess, which is about three) bought a three thousand dollar vacation deal through one of those Groupon (or similar website) offers. Through her iPhone. She found said daughter hiding under a desk, with her phone. Luckily, she had three days to cancel, and now she has some sort of a lock on her phone, but wow.
I bring this up because that Patagonia sale started today, and I finally got some of the pieces I've been keeping an eye out for. Bub was sitting next to me though, and just as I was putting him to bed, he asked me "How do you buy things through the computer?" He'd graciously turned his head while I'd inputted my password, during which time I'd hurriedly rushed through the checkout process, so it's understandable that he's curious, since he didn't see me input the credit card information or anything. All the same, I didn't think it would be a good idea to tell him exactly how to do such a thing, I think it's bad enough that he knows it's possible. And I know, a little knowledge is dangerous. But if I gave him a step-by-step guide, I'm also afraid he'd want to try. And perhaps I should have a private conversation with Hubby first.
Today, one of my friends told me that her daughter (who's about the same age as Princess, which is about three) bought a three thousand dollar vacation deal through one of those Groupon (or similar website) offers. Through her iPhone. She found said daughter hiding under a desk, with her phone. Luckily, she had three days to cancel, and now she has some sort of a lock on her phone, but wow.
I bring this up because that Patagonia sale started today, and I finally got some of the pieces I've been keeping an eye out for. Bub was sitting next to me though, and just as I was putting him to bed, he asked me "How do you buy things through the computer?" He'd graciously turned his head while I'd inputted my password, during which time I'd hurriedly rushed through the checkout process, so it's understandable that he's curious, since he didn't see me input the credit card information or anything. All the same, I didn't think it would be a good idea to tell him exactly how to do such a thing, I think it's bad enough that he knows it's possible. And I know, a little knowledge is dangerous. But if I gave him a step-by-step guide, I'm also afraid he'd want to try. And perhaps I should have a private conversation with Hubby first.
Homeschooling how-tos
Today I'm meeting a friend to show her how I homeschool. Without the actual sitting the Bub down and assigning him stuff and waiting around for him to finish. We're meeting at the library, where I will be bringing his curriculum and calendar (where I write in everything that we do, which I feel keeps me accountable), and answer any of said friend's questions.
My friend started her son off in the local public school, which is where the son's best friend from preschool was also going. But then she thought that perhaps there was something better, and enrolled him in the private school we had just pulled Bub from. Like us, she also had problems with the administration, so it seems they won't be continuing there next fall and she's looking into what her options are.
I really love home schooling for the most part. It's so much more flexible and low stress. The only points of stress are: 1) how does Bub learn the foreign languages he wants to learn when we aren't speakers of said languages, and 2) is he getting enough "socialization"? He doesn't seem to want much. In fact, he wants less. Princess, on the other hand, wants more, and I'm trying to find a way to accommodate her needs without driving everyone else (me) insane. I'm not that social. And it's hard, having your kids being of the age where you have to make friends with the kids' parents* so that your kids can socialize.
*This is hard mostly when you find you don't have anything in common with the other kids' parents, or when you find that the relationship is one-sided and you are constantly having to ask for play dates and the other parent doesn't seem to care for your presence, but your kid really, really likes his/her kid (and the kid also seems to like your kid), so you suffer through being the supplicant in the relationship. Or, as one of my other friends put it, I'm the guy in the relationship. That did not make me feel better.
Another gripe on socialization--even when you make friends with the parent and the child, some people are flaky. I have a flaky friend. I don't know what to do. Princess loves her little friend, and the little friend's mother is very friendly and always reciprocates invitations. The problem is that she's flaky and seems to cancel on half of the things we plan. It's annoying. We obviously come from different places, but when I make a commitment to something, be it a play date, a class or whatever, we go unless someone is sick or there's an emergency. Whereas for my flaky friend, if her husband suddenly decides to come home for lunch, or her mother-in-law wants to see her grandchild, or my flaky friend just doesn't feel like going out, whatever class or play date we've arranged becomes yet another cancellation.
So the friend I'm meeting today I like. She's not flaky. And her kids are the relative corresponding ages of my kids AND her kids are easy going (Bub is not) so if this is something they choose to do, I hope our friends become good homeschooling friends so that we have positive social interactions.
My friend started her son off in the local public school, which is where the son's best friend from preschool was also going. But then she thought that perhaps there was something better, and enrolled him in the private school we had just pulled Bub from. Like us, she also had problems with the administration, so it seems they won't be continuing there next fall and she's looking into what her options are.
I really love home schooling for the most part. It's so much more flexible and low stress. The only points of stress are: 1) how does Bub learn the foreign languages he wants to learn when we aren't speakers of said languages, and 2) is he getting enough "socialization"? He doesn't seem to want much. In fact, he wants less. Princess, on the other hand, wants more, and I'm trying to find a way to accommodate her needs without driving everyone else (me) insane. I'm not that social. And it's hard, having your kids being of the age where you have to make friends with the kids' parents* so that your kids can socialize.
*This is hard mostly when you find you don't have anything in common with the other kids' parents, or when you find that the relationship is one-sided and you are constantly having to ask for play dates and the other parent doesn't seem to care for your presence, but your kid really, really likes his/her kid (and the kid also seems to like your kid), so you suffer through being the supplicant in the relationship. Or, as one of my other friends put it, I'm the guy in the relationship. That did not make me feel better.
Another gripe on socialization--even when you make friends with the parent and the child, some people are flaky. I have a flaky friend. I don't know what to do. Princess loves her little friend, and the little friend's mother is very friendly and always reciprocates invitations. The problem is that she's flaky and seems to cancel on half of the things we plan. It's annoying. We obviously come from different places, but when I make a commitment to something, be it a play date, a class or whatever, we go unless someone is sick or there's an emergency. Whereas for my flaky friend, if her husband suddenly decides to come home for lunch, or her mother-in-law wants to see her grandchild, or my flaky friend just doesn't feel like going out, whatever class or play date we've arranged becomes yet another cancellation.
So the friend I'm meeting today I like. She's not flaky. And her kids are the relative corresponding ages of my kids AND her kids are easy going (Bub is not) so if this is something they choose to do, I hope our friends become good homeschooling friends so that we have positive social interactions.
July is not sweater weather
A couple weeks ago I finally finished a merino/linen-blend cardigan. For some reason, I thought knitting a wool sweater next (in July!!!) would be a good idea. I think my original line of thought was that if I started now, I'd be able to wear it this fall. Which makes sense, since it takes me so long to finish a project. (Who knows, it might not be done until next fall.) So I'm knitting Owls, again, in the summer. And today seems to be hot--almost 80 degrees (which I realize is not very hot for most of the country)-- and yet I find myself trying on my sweater:
The short rows in the back (I was unable to contort my body so that I could get a picture of that) kind of bulge out, hopefully it uh, fits better when it's longer. The color, I love. I think my Vine Yoke Cardigan is the same color (but this is Madelinetosh and that was Malabrigo) so perhaps I should venture out of my comfort zone. But I love grey.
The sweater is coming along well, all of the exciting stuff is done, I think. All that remains is knitting swaths and swaths of stockinette (and ribbing for the very ends). Of my last three skeins, one is noticeable darker, so I have to make sure I try to alternate in such a way that it's kind of even. Other than that, I'm really looking forward to wearing this in the fall, hopefully when the cooler weather warrants a wool sweater.
The short rows in the back (I was unable to contort my body so that I could get a picture of that) kind of bulge out, hopefully it uh, fits better when it's longer. The color, I love. I think my Vine Yoke Cardigan is the same color (but this is Madelinetosh and that was Malabrigo) so perhaps I should venture out of my comfort zone. But I love grey.
The sweater is coming along well, all of the exciting stuff is done, I think. All that remains is knitting swaths and swaths of stockinette (and ribbing for the very ends). Of my last three skeins, one is noticeable darker, so I have to make sure I try to alternate in such a way that it's kind of even. Other than that, I'm really looking forward to wearing this in the fall, hopefully when the cooler weather warrants a wool sweater.
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