Talking To Homeschoolers About Segregation

This year is the first year I've attempted to explain the history behind Martin Luther King Jr. Day to my homeschoolers. It was a tough subject for me to cover. In a way, I wish I could just never tell my children about segregation and race-driven hate crimes. I wish I didn't have to tell them because I wish it had never happened. I find it hard to talk about because it's still happening. They find it hard to understand because they are innocent and only know that people are people. I wish they could just stay that way.

I believe it is extremely important to talk to your kids about our history, even if it embarrasses you to share the atrocities of the past.

“Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.” 

― Edmund Burke

It hurts to tell my kids that this incredible man who helped accomplish so much was murdered. No happily ever after. But, on the other hand, I'd rather they heard it from me.

On a lighter note, if you're teaching your young kids about segregation and Martin Luther King Jr. this year, I recommend these two books:

Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport
This book has incredible illustrations. In fact, the illustrator received an award for his incredible work. The story follows MLK from childhood into activism, and includes a brief mention of his death. I read this one to my six-year-olds and my four-year-old, but it may have some concepts that are beyond the four-year-old's understanding. It does mention murder of black activists, and bluntly states that MLK was shot. I feel that it is just about as gritty as I'd be willing to share with my kids at this age, and the topic deserves at least this level of honesty.

Religion does play a fairly heavy role in this book. We are secular, but try to keep our kids' minds open enough to understand that some people believe other things. It is important to remember that, for many of the prominent figures, religion did play an important role in this time period. I think it would be rather difficult to dig up good resources on the subject that exclude God.

The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles
This story is less overwhelming for my four-year-old. It follows the struggle of Ruby Bridges as she attends school at William Frantz Elementary. No one is murdered. No one is hurt. The possibility of a scene escalating to violence is implied, but violence is avoided. It is an inspiring story, overall, and the afterword goes on to explain the outcome of desegregation in Louisiana, and what Ruby is up to, now.

Again, religion plays a serious role. Keep in mind that Ruby's family was very religious and religion helped empower Ruby to make it though such a difficult time. Although praying is an important theme in this book, the message is definitely not lost if you aren't religious.

Be Careful How You Use the Word "Silly"

S came out of the playroom with a pillow, without its pillowcase, hugged against her body. She looked a little upset and I had heard frustrated voices from the playroom before she opened the door. Then the following interaction began:

Me: "What happened?"

S: "We were playing a pillow game and I got mad because she wouldn't throw the pillow back to me. Then, she tried to make me happy and she got upset because she couldn't make me happy." 

-- C came out of the playroom, visibly upset, at this point. I think she thought she might be in trouble.

Me: "why couldn't she make you happy?"

-- I assumed it was because the only thing S really wanted was to have the pillow back, and she wasn't going to be happy until she got it. 

S: "Because she wasn't doing things that make me laugh."

-- I smiled, looked at C, and I said something before I thought it through.

Me: "That just sounds so silly."

-- S understood what I meant. She couldn't hold back a huge smile and a giggle. C, however, pouted her poutiest pout and hung her head to hide her face. I instantly realized my mistake as the words were hitting my ears. You should never make someone feel like you think their feelings are silly. But that's not what I meant.

Me: "I don't mean that it's silly for you to be upset. I mean it sounds like you were being silly, trying to make your sister happy..."

-- I teared up a bit and made sure to smile and put a little light and a hint of laughter in my voice so she would understand what I meant when I said...

Me: "And that's so sweet it makes me want to cry."

-- I couldn't see the smile, but I could hear it, and I could see the apples of her cheeks just well enough to know she was grinning. 

Me: "Seems like everyone's happy, now."

When this world got me feeling low
I don't need nowhere else to go
Cause I get all the love I need, from
Three little girls

We're in the garden collecting snails
On the bed reading fairy tales
I get all I'll ever need from
Three little girls 

-Eric Clapton-

The 2014 Memory Jar

On New Years Eve, as we were tucking the girls in for bed, we told them it would be a whole different year when they woke up. The previous night, we had talked about why New Years Eve is a special day. "It's the last day of the year," I said, "and we like to take time to remember all of the things we did this year and look forward to what we will do next year."

365 days is a lot of time for six or four-year-old to try to reflect on. They do a fine job recapping the last chapter we read in Charlotte's Web, or remembering what their gymnastics coach taught them last week. But when I say, "one year ago, I had just come home from the hospital with your baby brother." they remember that it happened, but have no sense of when. They might remember the carnival in the mall parking lot if I described it to them, but I doubt they would remember their first experience piping frosting. Of course, I'm sure the twins remember things more clearly than M.

Somewhere amid the discussion, I heard one of the twins grumble, "A year is a really long time!" When you've only lived through six of them, the scale must be vastly different than after twenty-six. Besides, their world is so full of excitement and fun that I imagine it's hard to retrieve all of the little pieces by the end of the year. So, I resolved to make a memory jar this year. Using a clean spaghetti sauce jar (I saved a bunch of them a year or so ago) with a new label I made myself, I created a sort of time capsule we'll use all year. At the end of the year, we'll look at all of the pictures and notes in the jar and then close it and save it for the kids to look back on when they're older.

Our first memory went into the jar on the first day of the year. I took a picture of all of the kids with Papa's mom and step-dad (who visited for New Years), printed it, cut it out, and wrote the date and a one-line description on the back. I decided to fold it so the date showed and the picture was inside. Now, when we sort through the memories at the end of the year, we can set them out in order by date before reading and opening them. We can revisit the year as it happened.

I wish I had been doing this all along. Better late than never, I suppose.

2013 in Review

Happy New Year!

In 2013:

• We got a new dining set that accommodates our family visiting, with chairs that are easy to wash and cheap to replace.
• The twins got new, big-kid beds from our friend, Jesse.
• The twins turned six and had piñata cookies and banana splits for their birthday treat.
• The twins each lost two teeth.
• We made a snowman with a tiny head.
• A large group of Papa’s family visited during the first week of March.
• S played a season of soccer.
• C Took community center guitar lessons.

• 

  At the museum

  We grew carrots, miniature pumpkins, egg squash and wild flowers.
• The girls all changed their hairstyles.
• We went to the museum of nature and science a lot. Papa and I got to see the mammoths and mastodons temporary exhibit and we took the kids to the mythbusters one. We attended a planetarium show and watched a lung dissection.
• A robin built a nest and laid eggs on our back patio and we witnessed bird parenting.
• The girls helped me make several different recipes.
• We went to a little carnival in the mall parking lot. It was surprisingly a lot of fun.

• 

  Winter Park - the dresses I made

  The girls and Papa tried to camp in the back yard, but wound up coming inside to sleep.
• The twins started riding bikes without training wheels, and M started learning just before it got cold.
• I made pillowcase dresses for all three girls for our fourth of july trip, blankets for M, the Cub and my niece, play dough, a dollhouse from an entertainment center, a jewelry rack, lots of hats, two pairs of pants, and lots of dinners and desserts, including multiple Christmas cookie recipes.
• My mom, sister and niece visited for a week in June. During that time, we all visited the zoo and (unrelated) C got quite sick. We took her to the hospital and she wound up on antibiotics.
• Jesse loaned us Tsuro, and the girls all love it.
• We chalkboard painted a huge swath of wall in the playroom.

• 

  Using the miter saw

  The Cub got an eleventh doctor costume, including sonic screwdriver.
• We vacationed in Winter Park with almost all of Papa’s family in July.
• We watched our street being dug up to fix a water leak.
• The twins became avid readers who read themselves to sleep at night.
• The girls got to use a random orbital sander, a belt sander and a compound miter saw.
• We had solar panels installed, but are still waiting for the power company to install the net meter.
• I finally got a Colorado Driver License, my car title switched to my name, and finalized my divorce.
• We went to the zoo a lot. We saw a baby snow leopard, Grevy’s zebra, Przewalski’s horse, gerenuk, and three lions. We also met two new elephants, Kimbo and Billy, at our zoo.
• We started remodeling the girls’ closet to make room for a reading nook.
• Both twins started taking private guitar lessons and gymnastics classes. M joined gymnastics shortly after.
• The twins started learning to crochet.

• 

  at the Gateway Arch

  We built a pallet playhouse.
• We tried to grow apple trees, but failed.
• Papa’s dad visited in November.
• We spent Thanksgiving in St. Louis.
• Papa picked and cut our Christmas tree from a slope on his friend’s parents’ property.
• Papa made hobby horses for the girls for Christmas.
• Papa’s mom visited for the New Year. We saw the Christmas lights at the zoo and danced with the Kwanza dancers.

Of course, the Cub also had his first birthday on December 26th. He’s one year old and there are lots of milestones that lead up to that. He's been right on track at all of his checkups and is the happiest, most curious baby I've ever known. He has eight teeth in his larger-than-average head and he’s so close to walking and saying real words that either could happen any day now. He loves baths and hates pants. He can eat basically all of the same foods we eat, and he loves my chili.

It was a wonderful year full of new traditions and experiences. I wonder what this year will bring.

The Same But Different

I have twins who will be seven in a couple of months. They're technically identical, and some people have trouble telling them apart. To me, they couldn't be more different. C's favorite color is, and has always been pink. S used to love green; now she prefers purple. C is more helpful around the house and with the Cub. If I ask someone to fetch a diaper, it's usually C who jumps to action. S is much quieter and more agreeable most of the time. She listens and rarely argues, while C often challenges my assertions and wants to know why.

They've been this way for as long as I've been able to tell, and their differences affect everything. Homeschooling is no different. In fact, my desire to see that they are given individual attention based on their unique personalities was a huge factor in deciding to homeschool. Still, it can be quite a challenge to shepherd two children, at different paces, through the same lessons.

1. Allow time for the slower child to complete the task. She's capable, she's just not in a hurry. Sometimes she takes longer to complete a lesson because she wants to carefully consider her answers. She also writes slower and more carefully. If the goal of the assignment is to show that she understands something, time is not important.

2. Find tasks that are more suited to each child's speed. One of the twins loves to knock out math problems on Khan Academy, the other finds her pace with crafts. Of course, both must do some math, and both do crafts. The important thing is that they each have their moment to shine and feel talented.

3. Encourage them to keep trying. I'm currently trying to emphasize the importance of the word, "yet". My faster twin is intensely discouraged if she tries something new a few times and repeatedly fails. I tell her instead of, "I can't do it." she should try remind herself, "I haven't been able to do it yet." If she keeps trying she'll probably get better, just like when she learned to do a cartwheel.

4. Remind them to help each other. I actually try not to always be available when they're trying to learn to do something. I may be cooking in the kitchen while they're in the front room trying out back limbers. I can offer helpful words like, "remember, we don't always get it the first time or even a hundred times after that. That's why we keep trying." and "It was hard for you to learn a cartwheel and she helped you. Now you can help her with this. Everyone struggles sometimes. It's important that we help each other and keep trying."

5. Separate them sometimes. When I introduce a task that requires creativity, I often separate them so they don't use each other's ideas. I helped them write their own stories and took them, one at a time, into a separate room. Once,
I had them each write a list of reasons they like their sister (they were fighting a lot that day) and put them at separate tables in separate rooms. I sat with each of them for a few minutes at a time to offer spelling assistance.

My goal is to raise girls who are unique and independent people, but who understand that the occasional (sometimes repeated) failure is inevitable, we learn from our mistakes, everyone needs a little help sometimes, and asking for help is much better than quitting.

What's the Cloth Diaper Deal?

Cub in his first cloth diaper

A lot of people use cloth diapers these days. A lot of people don't. You don't have to justify yourself in either case. Disposables can cause allergic reactions, if your baby is allergic to latex. The thought of washing poopy diapers can be disgusting. Cloth diapers cost a lot, up-front, but they're cheaper in the long run, especially since you can reuse them if you have another baby.

I wanted to cloth diaper the twins, but I was definitely at a financial low point in my life at the time. Most of their clothes, their crib and sheets, and a lot of their toys were hand-me-downs from other moms. At the time, I was determined to do the environment a favor. I was bringing two new diaper-users into the world, and I wanted to make the right choice.

It turns out that the "green" question is a complicated one. I can't find a solid answer. A study sponsored by Pampers suggests that cloth diapers aren't really better because of all of the washing and the manufacturing process. Thanks, Pampers, but don't be surprised if I don't take your word for that.

Here's why I chose cloth diapers:

You can buy them once and you're done. M had G Diapers when she was a toddler. The G Diaper pieces come in a couple of different sizes because the design doesn't allow for the same diaper to fit a newborn and a potty trainer. The outer layer comes in four sizes, the inserts only have two. That wasn't a problem because she didn't start using cloth until she was in the larger sizes anyway. The Cub uses Bum Genius diapers. He started wearing them when he was about six weeks old, and he still wears them now, at 11 months old. He even has room to grow.

Cub - 11 months

I'd rather throw poopy diapers in the wash than have to figure out how to get to the store if I'm running out of disposables. This was especially true when the Cub was small. I had three other kids to look after and I hate taking newborns out in public anyway. Besides, baby poop is really no big deal until they start eating solids. Even then, most of it will just fall out of the diaper if you shake it gently over the toilet... and the rest can seriously just go in the laundry.

I hate diaper trash. It's heavy and gross and attracts flies if you move it to the dumpster too long before trash day. I don't want to put diapers in the regular trash because then I have to smell poop in the kitchen whenever I have kitchen garbage to throw away.

There is one important note: We aren't strict about our diapering.

When the Cub needed diaper cream, we used disposables because store-bought diaper cream doesn't wash out of cloth diapers very well. You can make your own, cloth-friendly diaper cream. I just didn't want to order a lot of weird ingredients I would probably never use again. Apparently, if you're not shopping at Target, there are cloth-friendly creams you can buy. Check this chart.

We also had to abandon cloth diapers all together recently because the Cub was soaking through them, without warning, every night and sometimes during the day. We tried stripping the detergent from his diapers with bleach. We tried using multiple absorbent inserts in one diaper shell. Disposable diapers didn't even last through the night sometimes, but they were more likely to survive than his cloth ones.

In conjunction with the soaking troubles, Cub's diapers acquired a nasty smell. We stopped using them over-night and in public when the soaking started. As a result, we weren't going through our inventory as quickly, and I wasn't washing them as often. That was my mistake. They got moldy and I had a heck of a time getting the smell out.

If that happens to you:

Try sunning them. It gets stains out and it can help kill bacteria. I sun my diapers every couple of weeks just to get them looking new again. When it's nice out, I dry them on the clothes line.

Try turning up your water heater and washing them as hot as you can. This also helps kill the bacteria and clean out any build up. This is what wound up working for me. Remember to give your water heater time to heat up after you've changed the settings and before you start your diaper load.

If you have to, try bleaching. Again, it kills bacteria and works the build-up out. I did this before resorting to turning the water heater up, because I didn't want to risk scalding the other kids. It did help, but didn't get the smell out entirely.

The Cub is back in cloth-diaper-mode and doesn't seem to know the difference. He's too busy flushing the toilet, exploring the dog crate, and trying to climb in the dishwasher when my back is turned. I've started calling him Curiosity Rover.

to-do lists

Last week, I finally started a to-do list. Before anyone sends a well-deserved "I told you so"... I know. A huge number of people have suggested I use a to-do list over the years, and for good reason. I just never wanted to bother. It seemed like a hassle.

Unfortunately, I'd lay in bed every night and suddenly remember something I forgot to do, or start running through a list of things I needed to remember to do tomorrow. That actually kept me awake at night.

The day I decided to try it, my list looked like this:

Guitar Practice (twins)
Spanish (me)
Three workouts
Vacuum entire house
Clean off dog crate
Workbooks (girls)
Unload dishwasher
Clean craft closet
Make flu shot appointment (girls)
Pay student loans
Clean dining table
Swiffer kitchen 

And this list doesn't include the things I do every day. I had to work all of this in around my regularly scheduled household programming. Without the list, I'm not sure I would have accomplished even half of it, because I would have wasted a lot of time trying to remember what needed to be done, and figuring out when it would fit in.

With the list, I completed all but one of my chores. I didn't clean the craft closet. That place is a mess and is going to require a bit more motivation and time.

Once I made the list, I no longer had to waste time thinking about what needed to be done. And, when something got done, I got the satisfaction of crossing an item off of the list. The main drawback was knowing I'd have to make a new list every morning. So, it wasn't going to keep me from going to bed thinking about chores. Plus, sitting at the kitchen table and coming up with a list is a bit of a waste of time and a great crutch for procrastinating.

So I did a little research and found a free-to-use to-do list app called todoist.

Todoist in my browser

Todoist is on my iPad and I can access my list through their website. It allows me to create categories for my chores like "clean", "exercise", and "guitar". In those categories, I can create tasks. In my "clean" category, my tasks include, "vacuum", "unload dishwasher", and "clean dining table".

One very important feature of Todoist is the ability to repeat tasks as often as needed. "clean dining table" and "unload dishwasher" repeat every day. "Vacuum" repeats ever three days. I do laundry, and clean each bathroom and the kitchen once per week on different days. I could even schedule tasks to repeat once per month, once every few months, or once per year.

Every day, a new list is generated for me based on what needs to be done. If I missed a task today, I can postpone it and it will show up again tomorrow. If I finish all of my tasks for the day, I can look at what is on tomorrow's list and start working ahead. And I never have to waste time making a list for myself. I only have to add tasks when something new or unique comes up, like "make flue shot appointment".

I can do all of this with a free account. There are additional features you get with a paid account, like making notes for yourself and mobile and email reminders.

I've been using it for about a week. So far, I love it.