This weekend we OD'ed on family. The extended kind that, as I get older, I can only take in small, infrequent portions. Like lactose. We got together with my mom's side two days in a row to see Grandma one day and Grampa the other. I was very crabby by the second day and only went because the kids already knew there would be a jumper. I was way out of my comfort zone at a church, in the heat, and with too many uncles around. After that, we drove out to my dad's for his birthday, which was nice. We ate at our favorite Chinese restaurant and got together with his side of the family, who I don't often see. I love Pa.
Saturday my sitter called and basicaly told me she couldn't do it anymore, a week into the semester. This stressed me out. This week my mother in law and sister in law have the girls, but that is not permanent, so I have the dreaded task of finding another sitter. The last two years they went to a different sitter each day of the week. I felt guilty about the inconsistency and felt terrible that I only saw Eleanor in passing. That was a big motivation for homeschooling this year. I heard a public service announcement on the radio today that kids who eat dinner with their parents 5 or more times a week are half as likely to smoke and do drugs as kids who eat with their parents 2 or less times a week. We never eat dinner together because of work schedules, so I am trying to make up for that during the day. I let a kid go from my class today because he came high. Because it's only the second week of school and I haven't turned the roster in, I'm wondering if I should fail him as it states in my syllabus, or just pass him off as a no-show. No show. We drew outside today and there were some thug teenagers pacing back and forth by my students and I almost called the police, but my phone was dying.
Everything I did felt like a failure today. Chris thinks this homeschooling is like a useless extension of summer vacation, and somedays it does feel like that. I considered sending Eleanor back to school today because she has been biting and kicking and hitting Charlotte and has been very out of control with her feelings. I told her she couldn't have something in the kitchen and was able to physically restrict her from getting it anyway, so she looked at me explosively and grabbed everything she could on the table and slammed it on the floor. She bit Charlotte almost to bleeding because Charlotte was looking at her funny. I asked her why she did that and she laughed. Sometimes I'm afraid she is not capable of considering other people's feelings. I tried to talk to her after I sent her to her room and she told me she isn't bad at school because she doesn't want to go to the principal's office, but at homeschool she is naughty.
We started the day with some painting and drawing and listening to classical music. Eleanor wouldn't put pants on because she said she couldn't find any. This was sort of true because of the clothes carpet- which makes me feel awful. The girls have started reading independently. Tonight I kept telling them it was time to shower but they wouldn't put their books down. So that is somewhat successful, but other than that, after the mess making, the taking care of Gracie, and cleaning up half of each mess all day, running to work for four hours, then the downer of coming back home to the mess of all those half not cleaned messes - we have done very little. There's still a lot of Cheerios on the floor.
I think I can. I have enough energy to plod along making small steps forward, but I don't have anything left to explain to Chris why unschooling isn't a terrible idea.
We started a new bedtime book this week, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler. It's pretty unschooling, actually. The kids run away to stay at the Met and embark on their own research project.
Since I've started reading them chapter books to put them to sleep, about a week after Gracie was born, we've read
every Little House on the Prairie Book except the last one
Charlotte's Web
Stuart Little
A Wrinkle in Time
Charlotte's Rose
some garden prose book
where the sidewalk ends, a few times
Anne of Green Gables
The Melendy Family book of Saturdays
Pippi Longstocking (which I liked as a kid but not as an adult)
Meet Kirsten - thinking we'd get into the american girl series, but it was sort of weak
This weekend I made blueberry cobbler with a whole gallon of the organic berries we picked this summer, which I am eating now and which turn my teeth blue. And a chili from the beans and corn emptied from cans to accomodate the 'knock the cans down' carnival game we brought to the first party this weekend. And the rest of the bean salad which nobody really liked this time. I don't know why. Bad limes? And ancho chiles I toasted and pureed as inspired by Rick Bayless last week. The chili is OK. We had it again today but this time I served muffins. What didn't fit into the first baking, I added serranos from my cousin's garden, and some of the mozzarella I made for the party this weekend (that I was openly annoyed that some people would not try.) eh, whatever. This pepper cheese loaf was good, and not really hot, considering how it made my nose burn and run when I cut open the serranos.
Squash Muffins
Acquire too much patty pan from your CSA over the summer
Cut into large chunks and roast with a little olive oil, salt, and pinch sugar.
Let this sit in the fridge for a few days because nobody but you wants to eat it.
Puree this half gallon of squash in vita mix.
Add enough flour to fold into a muffin batter consistency, kind of a lot.
Add a palm each of baking powder and soda. I think.
Add a little salt and whatever was left in the sugar container - maybe scant 1/2 cup.
Mix till moistened and bake at 350 till they look done.
Realy good.
No comments:
Post a Comment