Claire went to a Sunday School class during our time in Stouffville.
On our way back to my parents' house, I asked her what her lesson was about.
"Skin" she replied.
"Oh" I said. I noticed that there were quite a few kids of color in the class when I picked Claire up at the end of the service.
A few seconds later Claire says, "Mom, I know why Jesus was borned."
"Yeah?" I said absentmindedly.
"Jesus came to die for our skin" she said.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
It's been quite a week
Saturday Dec 13 - Sunday Dec 14:
Sweet, sweet bliss for me, Sarah, Dan, Carolyn, and Mom. Bed and Breakfast in Coulburg, ON (for my mom's 60th bday). Out for coffee, lunch, supper. Massages. Lots of talking, laughing, relaxing. AND we didn't miss the kids (though we did talk about them and the hubbies a lot!).
*On the home front in Stouffville - quite a different story. 7 kids under the age of 5. My dad and Joel in charge. They didn't say too much about how it went but the mountain of dirty diapers and bottles said it all.
Sunday Dec 14:
Spent the afternoon away from the house in an attempt to give my parents a break. Ended up at a mall. 7 kids. 3 adults. We tried to take a grocery cart out of Walmat (how else do we transport all the kiddies?) but the wheels locked up on us. Quite a scene. We couldn't find a play area so we spent way too much time in a tiny pet store looking at the puppies. They looked as pathetic and desperate as we did. We ended up walking to McDonalds down the road because they had a playplace.
Monday:
Ikea with 7 kids. We told my parents that we'd buy a futon for them (they need more beds). Bad idea. 5 carts. 3 adults. 7 kids. To top it off, 5 million people seemed to be buying futons and candles as well. Ikea is indeed kid friendly, just not 7 kid friendly.
Tuesday:
Stouffville library with 7 kids. Yet another bad idea. The kids terrorized the children's section. The librarians high fived each other when we left. In the afternoon Sarah and I (with 5 kids) drove to Uncle Joey and Auntie Carol's house to help her celebrate her bday. We came. We saw. We left their house a complete mess. Joel and Carolyn definitely high fived each other when we left.
Wednesday:
Made playdough for the kids. That gave us 10 minutes of quiet. Then, we spent 20 minutes putting on the kids' coats and snowpants and mitts and hats and scarves. 10 minutes later they all came back inside. Then, we got out the legos. 10 more minutes of quiet. Then, we stopped trying and just accepted the chaos.
Thursday:
Took my kids to Dad's school and we played in the kindergarten classroom all morning. In the afternoon we went out for coffee with Dan, Ruby and Nana. Lesson learned - Jacob is too high maintenance to take to a coffee shop. He started gnawing the espresso machine.
Friday:
Skated at the local ice rink. Yet another crazy idea. 5 kids and 2 adults (Dan stayed home with Jacob and Ruby). I about broke my back trying to teach Claire and David how to skate...at the same time. What was I thinking?
Saturday and on:
The fun will continue!! Can't wait for the boys/hubbies to join in the fun. Paul comes tonight. Aron tomorrow. Jon on Sunday. Pete on Monday.
Sweet, sweet bliss for me, Sarah, Dan, Carolyn, and Mom. Bed and Breakfast in Coulburg, ON (for my mom's 60th bday). Out for coffee, lunch, supper. Massages. Lots of talking, laughing, relaxing. AND we didn't miss the kids (though we did talk about them and the hubbies a lot!).
*On the home front in Stouffville - quite a different story. 7 kids under the age of 5. My dad and Joel in charge. They didn't say too much about how it went but the mountain of dirty diapers and bottles said it all.
Sunday Dec 14:
Spent the afternoon away from the house in an attempt to give my parents a break. Ended up at a mall. 7 kids. 3 adults. We tried to take a grocery cart out of Walmat (how else do we transport all the kiddies?) but the wheels locked up on us. Quite a scene. We couldn't find a play area so we spent way too much time in a tiny pet store looking at the puppies. They looked as pathetic and desperate as we did. We ended up walking to McDonalds down the road because they had a playplace.
Monday:
Ikea with 7 kids. We told my parents that we'd buy a futon for them (they need more beds). Bad idea. 5 carts. 3 adults. 7 kids. To top it off, 5 million people seemed to be buying futons and candles as well. Ikea is indeed kid friendly, just not 7 kid friendly.
Tuesday:
Stouffville library with 7 kids. Yet another bad idea. The kids terrorized the children's section. The librarians high fived each other when we left. In the afternoon Sarah and I (with 5 kids) drove to Uncle Joey and Auntie Carol's house to help her celebrate her bday. We came. We saw. We left their house a complete mess. Joel and Carolyn definitely high fived each other when we left.
Wednesday:
Made playdough for the kids. That gave us 10 minutes of quiet. Then, we spent 20 minutes putting on the kids' coats and snowpants and mitts and hats and scarves. 10 minutes later they all came back inside. Then, we got out the legos. 10 more minutes of quiet. Then, we stopped trying and just accepted the chaos.
Thursday:
Took my kids to Dad's school and we played in the kindergarten classroom all morning. In the afternoon we went out for coffee with Dan, Ruby and Nana. Lesson learned - Jacob is too high maintenance to take to a coffee shop. He started gnawing the espresso machine.
Friday:
Skated at the local ice rink. Yet another crazy idea. 5 kids and 2 adults (Dan stayed home with Jacob and Ruby). I about broke my back trying to teach Claire and David how to skate...at the same time. What was I thinking?
Saturday and on:
The fun will continue!! Can't wait for the boys/hubbies to join in the fun. Paul comes tonight. Aron tomorrow. Jon on Sunday. Pete on Monday.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Today Claire, David and I went to our local civic theater and watched a performance of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
This was a brand new experience for both of them. I had fun teaching them about the stage, about what to do when the lights go out, about how to applaud at the end and so on.
It was my first time seeing this play. I have to admit that I had tears in my eyes at the end. I'm not quite sure what it was but I think it was the reminder that all too often, it's the people we'd least expect who are the ones who really get the Christmas/Christian message.
David kept quiet the whole play (probably due to the fact that he was chewing on a piece of gum). I wasn't sure how much of the play he understood.
Right before the play ended though, one of the characters took baby Jesus (a doll) off the stage. Immediately, David blurted out in the most angry sounding tone that his rather high pitched little boy's voice could muster (small theater + we had front row seats = everyone heard), "Where is baby Jesus going?"
I think he got it.
This was a brand new experience for both of them. I had fun teaching them about the stage, about what to do when the lights go out, about how to applaud at the end and so on.
It was my first time seeing this play. I have to admit that I had tears in my eyes at the end. I'm not quite sure what it was but I think it was the reminder that all too often, it's the people we'd least expect who are the ones who really get the Christmas/Christian message.
David kept quiet the whole play (probably due to the fact that he was chewing on a piece of gum). I wasn't sure how much of the play he understood.
Right before the play ended though, one of the characters took baby Jesus (a doll) off the stage. Immediately, David blurted out in the most angry sounding tone that his rather high pitched little boy's voice could muster (small theater + we had front row seats = everyone heard), "Where is baby Jesus going?"
I think he got it.
"Mom - is this true?"
"Is this a true story Mom? Did it really happen?"
Lately Claire has been asking these kinds of questions. It seems important to her to find out which stories we read are ones that really happened or are ones that are "made up". It makes me laugh when I see her smugly decide it on her own, especially when it's a story that's any bit scary. "I know that didn't really happen" she says as I turn the page of Kimmel's Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins and we gaze upon a spooky and mean looking goblin. "Goblins aren't real".
These kinds of conversations have me thinking about truth and Truth. The Narnia Chronicles, for example, didn't really happen but I think they're True. Same with The Lord of the Rings. I resist notions of truth being boiled down to historical fact because it posits history as neutral.
It strikes me that as an almost 5 year old, Claire's quest for "truth" is something that happened so naturally, so readily.
Lately Claire has been asking these kinds of questions. It seems important to her to find out which stories we read are ones that really happened or are ones that are "made up". It makes me laugh when I see her smugly decide it on her own, especially when it's a story that's any bit scary. "I know that didn't really happen" she says as I turn the page of Kimmel's Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins and we gaze upon a spooky and mean looking goblin. "Goblins aren't real".
These kinds of conversations have me thinking about truth and Truth. The Narnia Chronicles, for example, didn't really happen but I think they're True. Same with The Lord of the Rings. I resist notions of truth being boiled down to historical fact because it posits history as neutral.
It strikes me that as an almost 5 year old, Claire's quest for "truth" is something that happened so naturally, so readily.
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