Just don't seem to be getting to this virtual typing page as often as I'd enjoy.
Today I tried doing a writing afternoon--really a short amount of time, approximately two hours total--and approached it with the notion that if something got written, that would be pleasant, and if not, it would be two hours of not entertaining a three-year-old and an-almost-eight-month-old. Then I went off on a story-tangent and had a blast. Felt all revived and did not stress about getting everyone ready for the walk to school, or the after-school mayhem. I encouraged the kids to stay outside and play in the snow when we got home, and set baby CJ in the snow, too, with his little sock-mittens. He was enchanted. What is this stuff? What are the big kids up to? Loved it. Then we got cold, so came in for hot chocolate. I had done prep work for supper earlier in the day (turkey broth with noodles, and cornbread and baked squash), so just waited till Kevin got home to do the rest. It felt easier, more pleasant, though we ate a bit later than usual. More civilized. Mama hanging with the kids. I could focus better on their demands and issues and remarks. And Albus even studied for his French dictee tomorrow, which he'd been resistent to doing. I don't know whether this is good mothering or bad, but I've been trying to encourage him to work a little bit in advance--to learn good study habits--and showing him how that little bit of extra effort pays off. Which it has. But the kid has this inborn confidence that he knows everything. I don't want to shave that off of him; yet also want him to appreciate that hard work can be rewarding. Heck, not even hard work. Just a smidgen of labour. Just copy the darn words a couple of times.
I also got out for a haircut tonight. So it was a day of pampering and luxury, all-around. Then I raced home and washed the rest of the dishes with my fancy new haircut smelling pleasantly salon-ish, and put a tantrum-inclined Fooey into her bed (she was planning for a birthday party for her Pooh Bear tomorrow and had covered the bed in tea cups and plates; and I must mention that Pooh Bear is Poor Bear in name only; it's a pink filthy stuffed bear with a stocking cap). We had to clear the bed, and I made promises about tomorrow's party. After we'd kissed goodnight (a kiss-fest with CJ joining in), I heard her whispering to her bear: "Tomorrow's your birthday!"
Then I hung the laundry that I'd washed first thing this morning. Funny thing, walking to school this aft, I walked with a mom I'd never met before, we ended up talking laundry--and it turns out she's at least as obsessive as I am about not using the drier. She uses dowling tacked up to doorways, and hangers. I use ugly cheap racks and banister railings. We both have a constant never-ending flow of dampish clothes in progress. It was nice to find unexpected company in this particular domestic peculiarity.Labels: homework, laundry, supper, writing day