4/14/2019 0 Comments magical ideasSometimes I have these magical ideas on how to help my kids that I think will redefine Pinterest and have everyone asking me why I'm not a teacher.
And then I do them in real life and realize very quickly why I'm not. Jackson and Shiloh are learning to read in both English and French at the same time while also trying to just understand how reading works. It's been frustrating, and a little heartbreaking, watching them try to wrestle it through. So I had this idea of using painter's tape to label everything around their room. You know, 'bed', 'ceiling', 'floor', 'wall', etc. Genius right? Wrong. Instead if anyone asks Jackson what the words are there for he will often explain, "sometimes people walk into our house and forget what things are... like the walls. So we write 'wall' on it so they will know. It helps mom too". You know when you decide to take advantage of the gorgeous weather, go for a walk along the river, everything is picture perfect (minus the maniacal dog who you use a ratchet strap for because she's so freaking insane she breaks leashes) and then you have a kid who melts down in the most epic fashion while you are a good 20 minute walk from the van? Well my genius idea was to distract her with a walnut and make a funny joke how it looks like a butt. Guys I know I know, poor parenting move. Yeah.. Walnuts have been renamed ''butt nuts'' here much to my never ending joy. Especially when Jackson races around our yard for all of Caledonia to hear screaming, "Mom I found another butt nut! Another one!! This one's huge and really gross!" I am a genius.
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4/14/2019 0 Comments dinner timeMy kids have been making one a meal a week for the last couple months. And before you think I've gone all domestic homeschool mom on my kids, it started because of something far far... simpler. My kids love to help out and let's be honest. Some days it's absolutely unhelpful, chaotic and annoying. Yes, I said it. Annoying. And the amount of fighting and "mom I don't liiiiiike it" made me just about settle for bread every day.
But instead ('m collecting all the mom brownie points here) each kid has a night where they get to choose the meal, make sure we have the ingredients, make the entire meal and set the table. I think their favourite part is having everyone say thank you to them after the meal but hey, it's working. They wash and cut all the vegetables (in Jackson's case, none). Prepare any noodles, sauces, etc and set the table. Nepotism is rampant when it comes to who gets what plate, fork, etc. And yes, we've eaten basic macaroni noodles with parmesan cheese very Monday since February. Buuuuuut. It's working! My kids don't complain as much about the other meals through the week, they know the day they cook they get to help with everything, and they take a tremendous amount of pride in making dinner. Plus I'm more organized with meal plans now because I'm more likely to win the lottery than have one of them forget what day is theirs to cook. Monday - noodles with parmesan cheese (Jackson) Tuesday- stir fry variations that HAVE to contain rice (Shiloh) Wednesday - anything I can convince Harper is magic (aka veggies) (Harper) Thursday - Pizza night (Reuben and I) Friday - leftovers or cereal. Or anything really. It's Friday. I love watching them learn to use a knife properly, figure out measuring cups, temperatures, etc. I love their crazy pride when setting the table, serving the rest of the family and Shiloh telling Jackson he has to eat his vegetables because she worked hard making it for him. I love getting to work with them while they explore. I realized that my kids are capable of so much more than I often give them credit for. And I love that somehow my attempt at having my kids help me less in the kitchen because I'm a horrible mom has turned into having them help almost every day. And I think I look forward to it as much as they do. So if you ever come for dinner I hope you like plain noodles and a ton of soy sauce. |
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