The Daily Grind

Since school started I've been barely keeping my head above water.  Partially because my camera battery wouldn't charge, and partially because I'm lazy, I hardly took any pictures this month.  I feel like I live in the car the vast majority of the time, carting the kids to soccer practice, church activities, school, etc.  Several months ago I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in a long while.  She mentioned that I should go to some of the activities of the Mother's Club that I belong to.  I responded that I haven't been to anything in the last year because life is so hectic.  She said "Isn't life less busy now that you have more of your kids in school?"  You would think so right?  WRONG!  The older they get the more they have to do.  The days of our snack, homework, chores, afternoon routine seem to be gone, or lost at the moment.  We're regularly doing homework late in the evening these days, pushing back bedtime a bit.  And yet, the sacrifices are worth it.  I love that my kids enjoy being physical active, and the growth and learning they experience from their church groups is a blessing.  We'll keep pluggin' along. 

Sariah really wanted curly hair for school one day so I had her sleep in the old school foam rollers.  For a girl who's hair doesn't hold a curl, they sure worked.  She wasn't such a fan of the Shirley Temple look though, and wet her hair in favor of a pony tail before she left for school.  She said she wanted to have curly hair like her teacher...her teacher who has long hair with big soft luscious curls.  Sairah didn't like that her curls made her hair so short.  Ah, the plight of female hair.  We always want what we don't have.

On Labor Day we went up to the Oakland Temple with our ward (church congregation) for an activity.  Ben and I helped babysit 35 kids while the parents went and served in the temple.  We took the big kids (pictured above) on a little walking tour.

Seth is very eager to go potty.  He even peed once in the little toilet.  I on the other hand am quite resistant to the idea of potty training at this point.  I know with a new baby in the house he'll likely regress, and I'd rather not potty train him twice, so I'm just letting him "play" potty for now.

A typical afternoon, getting the homework done.  When Meilani was younger I used to pour over every single question or problem she completed for homework, making sure it was all correct.  I've surely relaxed over the years.  Now, homework is optional.  Well, sort of.  I've decided that the natural consequence the kids will receive at school for not completing their homework is motivation enough for them to get to work.  My nagging just adds a negative feeling in the house, so now, if they whine about homework, I say "It's okay, you don't have to do it."  Letting go and making them responsible has helped immensely!  I'm still there to help, and I sit with Sariah to help her a bit more than the others, but from a teaching prospective, homework  should be practice for what they've learned at school.  If they can't do the homework fairly independently, then something went wrong in the classroom and I want the teacher to see that my kid didn't understand the concept.  This new method has given me a great deal of freedom.  The kids and I aren't fighting over homework now...we save the fights for more important things like chores!