Every day is complicated, messy, and full of friction. And every day has glorious or cozy moments worth celebrating. I seldom bother to chronicle the friction and the mess because writing time is fleeting and precious—and childhood even more so. I’d rather capture the small joys that I might forget—or take for granted—if I don’t take time to set them down in words.
(Excerpt from
this post about Real Life, quoted here because I don't want anyone to be under the impression that things are always perfect around here! Heaven knows we are anything but. Perfect, frictionless, orderly? Nope. Happy? Most of the time!)
- Kathy: Darling babes & halo hair. Worth the waddle!
- regan: my 14yo used to lock himself in the bathroom and paint indian “war paint” all over his face using...
- Activities Coordinator: My sister had that hair. My husband had that hair. Why, oh why didn’t my children get...
- Kathryn: Oh my! Rilla is a miniature Beanie!
- angela: A couple years ago, I spotted someone signing at a Living Stones retreat (back when K and I were newbies in...
Be like the bird
Who, pausing in flight
On limb too slight,
Feels it give way beneath her,
Yet sings,
Knowing she has wings.
—Victor Hugo
Six Things to Include in Your Child's Day:
meaningful work
imaginative play
good books
beauty (art, music, nature)
ideas to ponder and discuss
prayer
Whence It Came
Subscribe in a reader
My father-in-law made a bow and arrow set for my oldest son, and the youngest has tried making his own.
The question I had recently (from older son) at the farm supply co-op was, “Mom, may I please have a hatchet?”
My first thought was “Eek”. My second was that it would probably be educational lol.
Hope they have fun with the bow and arrow!
Posted on October 12th, 2007 at 1:43 pmTo play Robin Hood?
Posted on October 12th, 2007 at 1:56 pmMy son never asked for a bow and arrow set because he figured out that a thick plastic hanger and wooden spoons perform the same function . . .
Posted on October 12th, 2007 at 6:35 pmMy older boys were told no so many timnes when they were little. Then we bought a house in Vermont surrounded by woods and lakes and all of a sudden I had three little Huckleberry Finns on my hands. They never asked again because they spent hours and hours making their own! Just recently hubby and number six, Johnny age 11, made one together in Vermont. Horrors of horrors, daddy even got him a pocketknife to help the task along. Daddy and Johnny spent a long time together. “Heaven” was all over Johnny’s face. He listened intently to all the safety intructions as if they were precious secrets of manhood. It was quite obvious they were in their own man world. I peeked now and then from my window and dared to step out to listen now and then …unnoticed! I think it’s all a matter of perpective. When the grils and I were reading the Little House books we baked bread, made mollasses candy, picked blueberries, wore a lot of long skirts, and built fires! When boys and woods and nature are all put together you get adventurous spirits and pioneers and hunters and Indians. And to some degree it’s all just very beautiful.
Posted on October 13th, 2007 at 4:12 amDd still wants a bow so badly, she’s carving one out of a mangrove stick this Fall. I don’t think it is a boy only thing at all. I think she just might have been inspired by a few Jane Austen movies and perhaps the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe too.
Posted on October 13th, 2007 at 6:02 amWe’re in the bow and arrow stage too - in fact quite a few have been fashioned by Dad just this weekend. Full quiver fascination began with the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which we recently read. Also overhead from the bathroom today, “quick, shut the door, we don’t want Edmund to get our fire flower cordial!”
Posted on October 13th, 2007 at 7:34 pmBoth kids have a bow and arrow set that is real–no suction cups on the ends! We have a styrofoam target from a sporting goods store for them to aim at, and have reviewed the safety rules that *all* who participate in the sport follow, not just for kids. We just keep losing the arrows!
Posted on October 21st, 2007 at 11:03 am