Another "winter advisory" day

School is cancelled tomorrow, again. Is it the fifth time this year? I've lost count.

Anyway, I'm not here to complain about it. There are things I really enjoy about these kinds of "free" days, and I've been thinking about how this will all feel in 5 years when everything is different. Not that I have anything earth-shattering to share, it's just the general "kids growing, mom maturing" stuff that will happen, and we'll be different people in 5 years.

Alice has a fever of 103. She woke up with it. Motrin knocks it down to an even 100 degrees, but it keeps creeping back up at the 6-hour mark. She's complaining of headaches, earaches, jaw pain, chest pain when she coughs, and the usual congestion and runny nose. It's a hot one, this virus.

At least with school cancelled tomorrow (and probably Tuesday), she'll still maintain her perfect attendance record (which means infinitely more to me than it ever has to her). Mwah ha ha haaaaaa.

Update on the Update on Alice's Piano Lessons :)

Much, much better! I found several free music theory primers, a couple online games that use a midi keyboard, and a neat set of worksheets for Alice to practice the theory she's now learning from her teacher. I spoke to her current teacher about my concerns, and it turns out that her teacher didn't want to squelch Alice's enthusiasm for learning new pieces by working through theory and basic technique. She figured Alice was doing fine as long as she could keep progressing through the songs. She's happy to work with my concerns, though, and get more technical with Alice.

The absolute best thing to come out of all of this, though, is confidence. I've emphasized naming notes and counting out measures for 5 days and now she beams with pride when she can figure out the song and get her hands in the right position by herself. She finally sees how much it's like reading! The notes, the rests, and the position changes are all spelled out to her on the page and NOW she can finally make sense of it. She's thrilled! I'm thrilled! Woo hoo! I'm not opposed to Alice "graduating" to a new instructor in the future, but it looks like we're on the right track for now. Yay!

Update on Alice's Piano Lessons

Alice has been taking piano lessons for 9 months. I've grown a little concerned lately that her loving, funny, and kind-hearted teacher has been too lenient on the theory side of things. I've never done this mother-of-a-piano-student thing before and I have no idea what to expect from a 6-year-old on the piano, so I decided to get a second opinion. I took Alice in for a free piano lesson at the Champaign School of Music. Did you know that they offer a free lesson?! We brought the books she was currently working in and the instructor just taught from those.

His approach was clearly more technical than Alice had ever heard. A couple times, he asked her to do something and she just stared at him like he was speaking a foreign language. Which he was, apparently, because she still couldn't tell a half note from a whole note. She was used to calling them "short" and "long" notes. He wasn't the warmest of teachers, but he was friendly and professional. He stopped her and corrected her appropriately. After 30 minutes with this man, Alice was finally playing the piece properly and able to perfectly sightread the rhythm of a new piece with relative ease. I was ecstatic!

I asked her what she thought about the experience and she said she didn't like it. She didn't ever want to go back.

*sigh* I wasn't entirely surprised at her assessment, since she's a relationship person and craves that loving, funny, kind-hearted type of interaction from everyone.

So, here's the sticky bit. I kind of feel like letting her lessons continue as they are would be fun in the short term, but harmful in the long term. At the same time, I'm debating how much I want to strong-arm the issue. Her practice sessions already involve plenty of tears, believe me. Gotta think about this a little more. I welcome your thoughts/input on the matter.

What do you remember from your childhood music instruction? What did you gain from it? Do you think it was worth it? Did your parents press the issue? How did you feel about that?

Robert's First Day as a "Sunbeam"

In our Sunday School, the 3-year-olds are in a class called "Sunbeams." It's the first step up from the toddler class, and Robert has been SO ready for it.

Last Sunday was Robert's first day as a Sunbeam. When Bobby and I came to pick him up at the end, he had a pair of scissors in one hand, a bottle of glue in the other, and a big grin on his face. The toddler class NEVER uses scissors or glue. On his first day as a Sunbeam, he got to do a craft. Wahoo!

Robert. Loves. Scissors.

Glue rocks his world, too.

One of his teachers said a little apologetically, "Robert did great today! Except, um, he didn't want to put anything in the right place." And then she handed me his craft:

I laughed out loud and just wanted to smother that silly boy in hugs and kisses, "Of course! That's my Buddy. I wouldn't expect anything different."

 He saw his work and giggled again, "I did it silly, see?"

Why do I like this so much? Why do I want to share it on the blog? Perhaps because it is a perfect snapshot of Robert...who he is, not what he looks like, per se :) The intricate scissor work, the determination to do something exactly wrong, and the joy in getting people to say, "Huh?!" That's Robert. It's perfectly intentional, and it makes him SO happy. I love that he's finding funny, non-confrontational ways to express himself and do things his own way. His giggly delight in such a benign trick just makes me laugh.

I do wonder, however, how this will play out when he goes to kindergarten. Will he still be silly on serious assignments? Or will he learn to discern serious/focused activities from the lighter/freer ones. Will he be able to follow any assignment's instructions exactly?

Bobby's Sunday Summary

I haven't written in a while.  We survived the massive snow storm and the polar vortex that followed mostly unscathed.  Not too much new to report, besides that life is starting to return to our normal routine.  With one big exception, Robert is now in primary.  He is officially a Sunbeam and could not be happier about it.  He was done with Nursery and did not want to go back any more.  Today Alice took him to Primary.  Susan checked in on him and at the beginning he was sitting in his row, but after a little bit he moved back to sit next to Alice.  It is nice to know that even though he is an annoying little brother on purpose so much, he still loves and trusts Alice to help him. 

Pencil erasers and sneaky snacks

James isn't all joy and cuteness, though. He does have a couple bad habits:

He destroys pencil erasers. He just takes a bite and spits it out on the floor with a big smile. And he's usually so fast about it that there's no time to rescue the pencil. We have a mountain of eraserless pencils.

James also has an excellent sense for sneaked snacks. He's crimping our style, man. You can't sneak so much as an M&M without that boy getting up close and whiny about it. I have to share everything. Grrrrrr.

Just Three Words?!

I'm trying not to freak out, here. I had to go through my old blog entries to confirm that yes, in fact, James' verbal skills are developing on par with my other two kids. He's just not keeping up with several of his peers (this comparison thing gets me in trouble EVERY time).

He's 15 months old and speaks three words: hi, uh-oh, and ow. That's it. No 'mama' or 'dada' or 'more' or anything else.

He understands a lot more than I give him credit for, though, and he has other verbal and nonverbal ways of expressing himself quite clearly. Pointing is his favorite tool so far.

As we round the bend towards 18 months, I'm starting to see some of my favorite developments come into play. Play, for one :) He's expressive enough and experienced enough with his siblings that he can start to play cooperative games like "chase" and "scream contest" and "keep away" with them. Up until now, he's pretty much been a big galoot that ruins anything Alice and Robert are doing. Not so much anymore. My favorite kid stage so far, hands down, has been the 18 months to 4 years window. Big window, lots of fun. 

At his 15-month appointment, James weighed in at 27 pounds (75th percentile) and measured at 2'8" (75th percentile). For comparison, Alice hangs out at the 50th percentile, and Buddy hangs out at the 90th percentile.
He likes being tickled, unlike anyone else in the family. I'm used to using tickles as a distractive deterrent (i.e. tickling the kid just as he/she gets the idea to climb onto the table or ruin someone else's game). Tickling usually distracts small kids enough to deter future attempts, but it only encourages James. He will lunge at the forbidden task again and again and again just to get tickled more. He baffles me! Sheesh.

Remember how Alice and Robert reacted to the "I'm gonna getcha" game? Alice would run away giggling for a few seconds, but if I got anywhere close to her with the growling, she'd burst into tears. Robert would run away, turn around, and then run right back and attack me. James actually runs away laughing and likes getting caught and running off again. He plays the game like it's supposed to be played! And he loves it. Imagine that. This kid shows me again and again that he's not a junior Alice or a junior Robert. He's his own little man. 

James enjoying part of his Grandma Poulson's Christmas gift: two toothbrushes at once.

What would I write in a Christmas letter?

I'm putting Christmas stuff away and re-reading the Christmas letters from some friends and family. I like those, by the way, so please keep sending them to me, even if I don't ever write back or call or acknowledge their receipt in any way :) I love them. I find them fascinating. They always raise more questions than they answer for me, which is fun. Each one is sooooooo different.

Do you like them?

If you write one, which voice do you use?

How do you summarize a year of your life?

When you read them, which information is the most interesting to you?

The great thing about barfing sickness is...

...it's usually short-lived. It seems to burn itself out before the body can develop a proper immune response to it.

I'll spare you the unpleasant details, but Robert and Bobby aren't feeling well on either end of their digestive tracts today :( No fever, just lots of bodily fluids.

I'm glad I only have to clean up the child's messes...two loads of laundry today just for him.

*sigh*

I'm keeping a tight quarantine on Bobby and my hands are chapped and sore from all the handwashing going on. Alice and James and I are unaffected so far. Robert was generally happy and normal most of the day. I gave everyone haircuts this morning, we watched a movie, and then we took down the Christmas decorations. It was a great way to start the new year...I'm tempted to make it a tradition :)

It was nice when Robert fell asleep on the couch at 6:00 tonight. I put him in bed and Alice, James, and I had a little one-on-one-on-one time. Alice LOVES getting so much of my attention. I LOVE being with less than all of my kids. It's a special treat to focus on one or two at a time. James dinked around and played with stuff quietly while I focused on Alice. A quiet, comfortable, and connecting kind of evening. I guess that's another great thing about barfing sickness.

In other news, I drilled a hole in our kitchen floor this week. Yeah, well, I was working on Part 2 of the climbing wall exhibit (drilling indoors instead of in the freezing, dirty, dark garage...can you blame me?!) and I got a little enthusiastic with the power drill. It's a shallow hole, and quite pretty now, but I was absolutely horrified when I saw what I had done. The kids sensed my dread and fell completely silent. After looking over the hole a bit, Robert said in all solemnity, "Mommy, I sure love you, but I do NOT love that hole in the floor."

Well said.

Bobby and I have also finally gotten around to starting some savings for college. I don't like the idea of giving a kid everything, but I don't like the idea of leaving a kid completely on his/her own, either. We'll put enough away to reap a few state tax benefits now (we certainly need that in Illinois!) and hopefully the funds will help our kids keep going in the future. We haven't decided yet how to frame this opportunity for our kids...is it a gift or a scholarship? It's a 529 plan, so only "qualified educational expenses" are covered, but is that amount ALL the help we will offer? What if the kid goes somewhere reeeeeeeally pricey and "needs" more than we had allotted for him/her? Or what if the kid earns a scholarship and doesn't use everything we had planned to give? Does the excess money go to the graduate, or does it remain in our custody for the next student? We still have to discuss the ground rules as a couple and decide where to stand. It's a good problem to have. I'm excited at the prospect, actually.

I wonder if our kids will even accept the help. I remember applying to colleges and not thinking much about the cost involved. I did eventually chose a fiscally sensible university that offered a full scholarship. My dad showed me how to apply for a student loan to pay for room and board. I also worked part-time as an undergraduate research assistant to pay for everything else. I was worried my dependence would be a burden to them. Then again, I did use one of their cars for a very, very long time, and I was incredibly grateful for their dental and health and car insurance that saw me through to graduation. My mom even paid for piano lessons while I was still a freshman in college. And I'm pretty sure they helped in other ways. They must have...food, gas, furniture and appliances. So maybe I was more dependent on them than I thought.

If I had needed to work harder to support myself (i.e. no scholarship or research assistantship), would I have sacrificed my education to stubbornly pay my own way? It's hard to tell. If I had known that my parents had set aside an amount of money to help with my future education, though, I would have counted on it. Hmmm. Gotta think about this a bit more. I'm just relieved and happy that I get to think about this at all. It's a great problem to have.

Now I'm off to bed. If there's more laundry to be done tonight, I want to be well rested for it.