"mommy - pick me up"
"tank you mommy tank you"
"i lovf you forever and forever"
favorite songs: john jacob jingleheimersmidt, on grandpa's farm, hokey pokey, jesus loves me,
favorite TV show: kippur
Friday, September 3, 2010
the year of focused calling
it has begun.
i started calling this year of dissertation writing my year of saying no (to everything except to my family and to my dissertation).
my wise sister Sarah encouraged me to reframe that as my year of focused calling. it's my year to focus specifically on my dissertation, to my calling as a scholar, researcher, writer.
i vacillate between feeling overwhelmed, feeling extremely blessed and fortunate (so few people in this world get the luxury of having the time/opportunity/job to thinking/writing/reading), feeling resentful of the demands of this work (for me, for Jon, for my kids), feeling excited about what i'm researching, and on and on.
i remember in my guidance committee meeting a few years back, one of my committee members asked me about the affordances that motherhood provides for my life as a scholar. the question took me off guard. i hadn't even considered having space in that meeting to discuss such an issue.
years later, i'm still reflecting on that question. and, i'm thinking about the interrelated one: how my scholarship helps me with motherhood/parenting.
more to come.
i started calling this year of dissertation writing my year of saying no (to everything except to my family and to my dissertation).
my wise sister Sarah encouraged me to reframe that as my year of focused calling. it's my year to focus specifically on my dissertation, to my calling as a scholar, researcher, writer.
i vacillate between feeling overwhelmed, feeling extremely blessed and fortunate (so few people in this world get the luxury of having the time/opportunity/job to thinking/writing/reading), feeling resentful of the demands of this work (for me, for Jon, for my kids), feeling excited about what i'm researching, and on and on.
i remember in my guidance committee meeting a few years back, one of my committee members asked me about the affordances that motherhood provides for my life as a scholar. the question took me off guard. i hadn't even considered having space in that meeting to discuss such an issue.
years later, i'm still reflecting on that question. and, i'm thinking about the interrelated one: how my scholarship helps me with motherhood/parenting.
more to come.
he is a gift to us
eli has 7 teeth. he sits up. he eats finger foods. he brightens up a room with his smile. he, like all of them, is a gift to us.
someone asked me how old he was a few days ago. i told them that he was 6 months old. jon reminded me later that eli is actually nearing 8 months.
oops.
i think i'll be doing that to him for the rest of his life.
someone asked me how old he was a few days ago. i told them that he was 6 months old. jon reminded me later that eli is actually nearing 8 months.
oops.
i think i'll be doing that to him for the rest of his life.
steps away from us
claire was itching to go to school this morning. "when can we go?" she kept asking as i was trying to feed eli, clean up the breakfast dishes, get jacob and david dressed, pack claire's lunch and put a few dabs of makeup on my face.
when we got there, we put her stuff in her locker and then went to her desk. as i was leaving, claire started hanging on my arm really tightly. and then, the tears came. "don't go mama" she said. "i want to stay with you"
her kind teacher gave her a hug and gently led her into the classroom. i waved good-bye and watched her enter the world of her first grade year, a world she's ready to enter, but a world that's new and different for her, for all of us.
i stood there waving, and then, my tears came.
parenting is about letting go - i know that. it's about letting go and blessing our children in the new steps they take. i think that this morning i had the realization, in the depths of my heart, that those steps are often steps away from us.
when we got there, we put her stuff in her locker and then went to her desk. as i was leaving, claire started hanging on my arm really tightly. and then, the tears came. "don't go mama" she said. "i want to stay with you"
her kind teacher gave her a hug and gently led her into the classroom. i waved good-bye and watched her enter the world of her first grade year, a world she's ready to enter, but a world that's new and different for her, for all of us.
i stood there waving, and then, my tears came.
parenting is about letting go - i know that. it's about letting go and blessing our children in the new steps they take. i think that this morning i had the realization, in the depths of my heart, that those steps are often steps away from us.
The Trumpet of the Swan
E B White comes through once again.
This time David, Claire and I are reading about Louis. He's delightful. And, we're all caught up in the drama. Should he have taken the trumpet? What will happen to him?
We came across the word "cygnet" in another book we were reading. "Mom!" Claire said with a big smile. "We know what that means!"
I think that's one of the biggest reason that I enjoy reading to my kids - the shared experience, the learning of new names, places, people together. In my grad school speak, I'd describe it something like: "the social purposes of literacy, the literacy practices embedded in relations, in home life, in parent child relationships". In my life at home, it's much more simple. It's one of the few times in my day when we all sit down together - they sit on my lap or close enough for our shoulders to touch. We talk, we read, we ask questions, we offer ideas, we laugh, we gulp in the story and always want more.
This past summer, we went to 3 HSRT children's performances: The Brand New Kid, Busy Town and Frog and Toad. Wonderful. All of them. Jacob still runs around and acts out the snail mail carrier from Frog and Toad. I catch David singing the "Cookies, cookies, cookies" song when he thinks no one is listening.
This time David, Claire and I are reading about Louis. He's delightful. And, we're all caught up in the drama. Should he have taken the trumpet? What will happen to him?
We came across the word "cygnet" in another book we were reading. "Mom!" Claire said with a big smile. "We know what that means!"
I think that's one of the biggest reason that I enjoy reading to my kids - the shared experience, the learning of new names, places, people together. In my grad school speak, I'd describe it something like: "the social purposes of literacy, the literacy practices embedded in relations, in home life, in parent child relationships". In my life at home, it's much more simple. It's one of the few times in my day when we all sit down together - they sit on my lap or close enough for our shoulders to touch. We talk, we read, we ask questions, we offer ideas, we laugh, we gulp in the story and always want more.
This past summer, we went to 3 HSRT children's performances: The Brand New Kid, Busy Town and Frog and Toad. Wonderful. All of them. Jacob still runs around and acts out the snail mail carrier from Frog and Toad. I catch David singing the "Cookies, cookies, cookies" song when he thinks no one is listening.
the boys and dress-up
with claire away at school, it's been fun to watch david and jacob at play together.
and, dress up seems to be the hot activity as of late.
in a 15 minute span, they had dressed up as "workers", as "surfers", as "sledders", and as "scary tigers".
they made me laugh. it would, however, have been more enjoyable for me had i not needed to assist them with just about every clothing change.
and, dress up seems to be the hot activity as of late.
in a 15 minute span, they had dressed up as "workers", as "surfers", as "sledders", and as "scary tigers".
they made me laugh. it would, however, have been more enjoyable for me had i not needed to assist them with just about every clothing change.
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