Stuff My Girls Are Doing These Days
(As with my garden notes, I like to jot down these lists from time to time so I’ll remember what everyone was up to at this season or that.)
Jane, age 13 3/4—
• reading Agatha Christie until her eyes fall out
• crocheting (matching skirts for Rilla and herself—Rilla’s is finished; ain’t it sweet?)
• listening to Abba
• coloring in her Tesselights stained glass coloring book
• playing catch with her daddy
• reading Dragonsinger, lots of Josephine Tey, Homeless Bird
• exchanging smiles with “Somebaby,” as she calls him
• singing with Rilla
• picking lettuce for salad
• taking a watercolors class
• practicing for piano guild
• telling me cool stuff from Muse magazine
• figuring out the location of her Journey North mystery class
Rose, age 10 1/2—
• making spice cake
• rereading the Warriors books (first six)
• playing dolls with Rilla
• playing lots of piano, especially “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”
• picking peas (a few last stragglers)
• playing make-believe games with Beanie half the day
• writing letters
• painting
• letting Rilla and Wonderboy chase her around the house
Beanie, age 8—
• drawing pictures
• reading Warriors books more than anything else, but lots of other things too
• poring over the Nature Experiments books
• thinking about ways to get the monkeys in Zelda
• playing Hex Empire, or watching me play it
• with Rose, looking at optical illusions on my iPod (Eye Tricks is the name of the app)
• playing wolves
All the girls—
• lots and lots of Runescape
• reading As You Like It with me
• Wii Fit
• Wii Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
• playing catch with their daddy
• watching X-Men cartoons
• watching Empire Strikes Back
• running through the sprinklers
• playing with the balls their uncle sent—a whole big boxful!
sarah says:
Wow, what a great time they are having! This could be an advertisement for unschooling. And I’m very impressed with the lovely skirt Rilla is wearing – I’d love to see the one Jane made for herself.
You won’t let her read Dragonflight until she’s older, I hope!
On April 27, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Penny in VT says:
Sounds like a whole lotta good goin’ on – my oldest is getting ready for Guild too, it’s almost become a sign of Spring around here!
Rilla’s skirt is glorious – nice work!
On April 28, 2009 at 8:05 am
Sarah N. says:
Sounds like they are all having so much fun. And what a great idea to simply make a list of their favorite activities. I always want to record more of what my girls are doing but I start writing a narrative and then abandon it because it takes too long.
On April 28, 2009 at 10:29 am
Lisa says:
Sounds like purposeful, happy, busy kids! What’s “piano guild”??
On April 28, 2009 at 11:02 am
Eileen Smithdeal says:
Lissa,
In light of our recent conversations, you have absolutely nothing to worry about!!!(Not that you were worried!) Your children are so wonderful-I can just picture them in all of their pursuits throughout the day. Now, if everythig were planned, would they really be doing all these things on their own?(that’s supposed to be a rhetorical question 🙂 .)
On April 28, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Hannah says:
Melissa, it’s neat to see how wide-ranging your girls’ interests are, and what great readers they are.
Question for you: It looks like they also use the computer/Wii a good deal. How, if at all, do you regulate their screen time? How do you keep it from taking over their day, since those games are so addictive? (We’re struggling with this issue, can you tell?) Would love to hear your thoughts.
On April 29, 2009 at 11:31 am
Melissa Wiley says:
Sarah, yes, she has only read the Harper Hall series, which I loved too. 🙂
Hannah, re screen time–with three kids taking turns, balance seems to happen naturally. Bean and Rose like to watch each other play and then they’ll go play pretend games based on the computer/Wii games. They make up/act out stories for their Runescape characters, Zelda characters, etc. Wii games tend to draw in the whole family (whoever’s home) and that’s lots of fun. When a game is new to them (like Runescape, which they started playing not long ago), they spend more time at it, immersing for a while. I’m like that too. And then other interests crowd the screen games to the background. Some days Jane spends hours crocheting and listening to music. Some days she’s reading almost all day. Some days it’s a Runescape marathon. Kind of like the way toddlers sometimes eat, perhaps—all protein for a day or two, then the next day they want nothing but fruit, and the day after that they keep asking for slices of bread. 🙂
On April 29, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Yvonne says:
We’re in the midst of this struggle too; though our issue is the Boomberang channel included in our new cable package. The children love the old stuff–Pink Panther, Speed Buggy, Richie Rich, etc.–and their parents do too. Very hard to stop watching, esp. the marathons. I think you’re right about the ebbs and tides of viewing, non-viewing. I also find (leap on) comfort in seeing my 12 year old crochet or craft while she watches or my 9 year old sort his junk mail.
On April 30, 2009 at 8:11 am
Mimi says:
Oh,reading this made me smile. My boys do the same…wii marathons and then they will become the characters in long batches of pretend play. I love how you shared in your comment above about how children may be engrossed in one thing all day, another the next. That confirmed some things that I had been thinking about….in a good way:)
On April 30, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Kelly says:
I really enjoyed this list. 🙂 My daughter is 14 months, and it’s so hard to envision a time when she will be off doing her own thing on occasion so I will be able to do my own thing, y’know? So it’s good to be reminded that we’ll get there eventually!
On May 1, 2009 at 9:03 pm