Weekend Reading

Just finishing a wonderful week of visiting with family. Looking forward to being back here next week; in the meantime, enjoy some (truly beautiful) weekend reading!

• Magic Mama @ API Speaks
• Being :: Curious @ Rhythm of the Home
• God of the Hubble Universe @ Internet Monk
• Let them tell this story: She was always being remade @ Mama Monk

Natural Parents Network: DIY, How-To's, Recipes, and More!

It's that time again! You may remember the post in December 2011 that highlighted the Natural Parents Network Volunteers' most popular or favorite posts from the year. Well, we're back! This time we are bringing you a collection of posts that focus on DIY projects, how-to's, tutorials, recipes, and anything related to a step-by-step guide or informational how-to.

With so many excellent resources here, I hope you will find something that strikes your interest. Enjoy!

Jorje of Momma Jorje.com shares her Family Cloth Tutorial in pictures. She includes step by step photos with some tips for making very neat family cloth. You can find Momma Jorje on Facebook, too!

Lani at Boobie Time Blog shares "How to Help a New Breastfeeding Mom." This post provides some tips on helping a new mom while she is learning to Breastfeed. You can also find Boobie Time Blog on Facebook and Twitter.

Amanda at Let's Take the Metro shares "How I Make Cloth Wipes." This post details how Amanda made all of her cloth wipes. You can also find Let's Take the Metro on Facebook.

Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy shares "Lessons in a Picture Book." A Lesson plan for pancakes and how to make your own butter! You can also find True Confessions of a Real Mommy on Facebook and Twitter.

Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction shares "Tips for Road Tripping with a Toddler." A long car trip with a young child can be a great way to make some wonderful memories if you are prepared to meet the challenges. You can also find Monkey Butt Junction on Facebook and Twitter.

Abbie at Farmer's Daughter shares "Maple Cinnamon Swirl Bread." This recipe tutorial shows you how to make a sweet whole wheat bread with beautiful cinnamon swirls in each slice. You can also find Farmer's Daughter on Facebook and Twitter.

Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares "How To Consume Coconut Oil Plus Coconut Oil Candy Recipes." This post provides some tips on how to get your daily dose of coconut oil down the hatch. It also provides some very tasty recipes for coconut oil candy! You can also find Hybrid Rasta Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.

Alicia at Lactation Narration gives some ideas for how to accomplish Partial Weaning for moms who would like to cut down on nursing without completely weaning. You can also find Lactation Narration on Facebook and Twitter.

Cynthia at The Hippie Housewife shares "A Learning-Rich Environment." This post provides a number of suggestions for creating a learning-rich environment and incorporating learning into everyday life, with a particular focus on the preschool age. You can also find The Hippie Housewife on Facebook, Pinterest, and Google +.

Kelly at Becoming Crunchy shares "Kale Chips = Awesome!" This post shares a super easy recipe for making a super easy (and surprisingly tasty) snack from one of the most healthful greens around. You can also find Becoming Crunchy on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Shannon at Pineapples & Artichokes shares "How to Move to California." A silly how-to she wrote while she and her then fiance were driving to their new home. You can also find Shannon on Pinterest, Flickr, and Google +.

Gretchen at That Mama Gretchen shares a recipe for "Homemade Fruit Leather." It's easier than you ever thought and the perfect snack for you and your family. You can also find That Mama Gretchen on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Julia at A Little Bit of All of It shares "How I Cloth Diaper (Part 1)." This post details the way Julia has cloth diapered her daughter along with the products she uses. You can also find A Little Bit of All of It on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.

Joella at Fine and Fair shares "Our First Sensory Bins." In this post, she shares how she made a "Scoop, Measure, and Pour" themed sensory bin, as well as an "In the Garden" themed bin. She also shares some tips for making your own sensory bins! Fine and Fair can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

For all of you breastfeeding mamas, Dionna at Code Name: Mama has the ultimate DIY experience with the main ingredient being your breastmilk! 58 Medical, Cosmetic, and Other Alternative Uses for Breastmilk includes a cradle cap remedy, an anti-itch salve, weaning jewelry, lotion, and more. You can also find Dionna on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Melissa at Vibrant Wanderings offers several ideas for "Keeping a Toddler Happily Busy on a Long Flight." The list includes handmade felt activities, among many other things. You can also find Melissa on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.

Shannon at The Artful Mama shares "Preparing Toddlers for Birth." This post features MamAmor dolls and shows some alternative ways to talk to toddlers about pregnancy and birth. You can also find The Artful Mama on Facebook and Twitter.

Kym at Our Crazy Corner of the World shares her "Family Binder DIY." This post shows how to put together a family binder, to help organize cleaning, meal planning, shopping and budgeting all in one convenient location!

Charise at I Thought I Knew Mama shares "5 Green Living, Spring Cleaning Tips." This post provides easy ways to keep the toxins out of your home and to freshen up your home for spring. You can also find I Thought I Knew Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.

Kristin at Intrepid Murmurings shares "Daily Bread: My Favorite Whole Grain Bread Machine Recipe." This recipe is easy, highly adaptable, and a great starting point for creating your own daily (or almost daily!) homemade bread. You can also find Intrepid Murmurings on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.

Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children shares "10 Tips for Toddler Carseat Woes." Check out these ideas of dealing with toddler carseat issues without resorting to punishments. You can also find Living Peacefully with Children on Facebook.

Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment shares "DIY Mom's Night In." A somewhat humorous solution, this post provides exhausted Mamas the recipe for the perfect way to recharge!

Stacy at Sweet Sky shares “Ways to Bring More Mindfulness Into Your Days.” This post provides tips and tricks to bring yourself back to the present moment, so you can be the parent you want to be. You can also find Stacy on Facebook.

Amy at Anktangle shows us how to make your own popsicle stick puzzles, a fun and simple "busy bag" activity for toddlers and preschool aged children. You can also find Amy on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.

Lauren at Hobo Mama shares "How to sew a mei tai baby carrier." The mei tai is Lauren and Sam's favorite carrier for baby Alrik: as comfortable and simple as it is beautiful. You can also find Hobo Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.

Christine at African Babies Don't Cry shares "How to Make Rainbow Coloured Rice (Without Alcohol) for a Toddler Sensory Bin." This post provides a step by step tutorial for making vibrantly coloured rainbow rice for sensory play, includes a printable PDF. You can also find African Babies Don't Cry on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.

Luschka of Diary of a First Child shares How To Send A Hug In An Envelope. This post is a creative way to send more than just the standard card to love ones. It literally is a hug in an envelope! You can also find Diary of a First Child on Facebook, and Twitter.

Weekend Reading

• My heart wasn't made for this @ A Deeper Story
• In which I have an Evangelical Hero Complex @ Sarah Bessey
• The 10 Commandments for Parents: Remember the Sabbath @ Dulce de leche
• Blog positivity week: A letter to the blogger that lives in my imagination @ The Dubious Hausfrau

Wordless Wednesday: Hermies

I had spent several years raising hermit crabs before the husband forgot to water them while I was out of town for a couple of weeks. After a very sad crab-less year, I recently decided to repopulate our tank with four new hermit crabs. (Megan made me do it. Thank you, Megan.) The husband is appropriately apologetic and has promised me that these crabs will not suffer the same fate. I'm considering forgiving him. Tomorrow. Maybe.


Oh, those adorable little eyes! I once had a certain friend-who-shall-remain-nameless (*coughcough*) warn me that if I continued with my hermit crab obsession, I'd end up being the crazy old cat lady, only with hermit crabs instead of cats. (She might not remember saying it, but I can assure you she did. I would still have proof if not for the great crash of 2008 that destroyed the evidence.)


I choose to take her words as a compliment. Bring on the hermit crabs. Besides, now I can totally use the "my homeschooled kids are doing a life-based project on hermit crabs" excuse. Oh, the sacrifices us mothers must make. But I do it for them. Because I love them.

One-on-one time

I'm pretty bad at the whole "one-on-one time" with my kids. It sounds so nice in theory, but in practice it tends to involve a lot of sobbing on the part of the child left behind. And then I feel guilty and I let them both come and so much for one-on-one time. Again.

But this weekend I was determined. One-on-one time is important. Good moms spend one-on-one time with their kids. I want to be a good mom. This is going to happen, sobbing be damned. Stay strong, Mama. You can do this.

Saturday afternoon rolls around and I've got some errands lined up. Since one of the errand involves buying (sugar-free! xylitol-based!) chewing gum in an effort to get a certain four-year-old to stop constantly chewing on his clothing and blankets, I decide to take that one along.

The waterworks! The sobbing! The two-year-old is absolutely heartbroken, clinging to my neck like a little monkey. Oh yes. This is good for my kids. Mm-hmm.

I peel him off and leave him crying in his daddy's arms while the boy dances around the front yard waiting for me to hurry up and say my good-byes. I get him buckled in his car seat and we are on our way. Just us! One on one! Success!

(The child left behind, meanwhile, continues to cry for a while, then moves on to angrily muttering my name every few seconds, and eventually falls asleep on his daddy's lap. Great. There goes bedtime.)

The boy and I do our errands. He chooses two gum flavours. I pick up a package. He buys a toy car off a homeless man. I mail some cheques. He runs along the sidewalk, stopping to wait for me at the roads. I huff and puff along behind him. He talks. And talks. And talks and talks and talks. I answers his questions. Somehow the subject ends up on domestic abuse. I'm pretty sure that's an automatic mom-fail right there.

On the way home, I give him the option of stopping at one more place. It's not an urgent stop, though, so I leave it up to him. He tells me he wants to get home because his brother might be sad and lonely. Great! He misses his brother too. And I insisted on one-on-one time why?

But no. This is what Good Moms do, so the next day it's little brother's turn. Big brother, fortunately, knew to expect this, and the toddler and I leave with no waterworks and almost no whining. This is going better! I'm a great mom!

We start at the library to pick up some books I had on hold. Pregnancy-bladder insists that I use the washroom twice during our visit. Fortunately, the toddler only opens the stall door mid-pee on me once, so that's something.

It's only slightly chilly out, so I decide we can walk the two blocks to our other destinations. After all, what's two blocks?

Yeah. Turns out two blocks feels more like ten blocks when your toddler is as slow as molasses. He keeps up a steady stream of chatter the whole way, pointing out every little thing that catches his eye. Fortunately, his chatter requires mostly echos and short responses. We manage to avoid discussing domestic abuse. This is good.

But then it starts.

"Where's [big brother]?"
"At home with Daddy."
"Where's Daddy?"
"At home with your brother."

And repeat. Over and over. For the rest of the trip. Oh yes, this one-on-one stuff is going swimmingly. All they want is each other!

Anyway. We make it to the grocery store and pick up what we need. I manage to prevent him from poking holes in the plastic-wrapped meat, knocking over jars of spaghetti sauce as he walks by with his arm outstretched, and throwing everything that catches his eye into our basket. Whew. The four-year-old was a lot easier the day before. I'm ready for a nap.

But then he bags the groceries for me at the self-checkout and I'm melting all over myself again because gosh, he's just so dang cute. We head to my favourite tea house to share an iced honey jasmine green tea (so heavenly). He squirms all over his chair for a while, then snuggles with me for the rest of the time. The snuggles are nice. I relax.

We make the looooong slooooow two-block walk back to the car ("Where's brother? Where's Daddy?"), which looks positively luxurious when we finally arrive. We're back home a few short minutes later and the brothers are reunited at last.

But I did it. I had one-on-one time with each of them.

And it really was worth it after all.

Weekend Reading

• Actually, it is religion @ mashena
• Discipline — 4 “Must-Ask Questions” @ Essential Parenting
• Scattered thoughts on my life in the Christian “industry” @ Rachel Held Evans
• Get Your Kids to Learn Things Easier, Faster and Better @ Real Child Development

Welcome to Kindergarten

I have this poster hanging on our fridge, and it is blowing my mind.

Oh, I knew this was coming up, this whole "technical start to schooling" thing. I've been looking at our options for a long time now. I expected that we'd flow into it smoothly, without any fanfare, with life-learning simply continuing to be part of our everyday.

But that? That poster up there? It makes it so official.

I didn't expect this to be so incomprehensible to my poor brain. I didn't expect to feel such a crazy burst of pride as we walked out of that school after enrolling in their homelearners program. I didn't expect the boy's bubbling excitement, his huge grin at the prospect. I didn't expect any of it and so I wasn't prepared.

He's growing up, and I am so stinkin' proud of him.

Technical stuff for those interested in BC's homeschooling options and why we made the choice we did (AKA me being slightly defensive because I am a sell-out):

Here in British Columbia, we enjoy what are arguably the most homeschooling freedoms in North America. There are two options for homeschoolers in the province:

• Register: Register as a homeschooler through any provincial school. Under this option, the parent is considered the sole teacher and no accountability is required in terms of reporting or meeting Provincial Learning Outcomes. No funding or resources are provided.
  
  
• Enroll: Enroll with a Distributed Learning Program approved by the Ministry of Education. Under this option, the child is overseen by a certified teacher, and the school is considered "in charge" of the student's educational program. The student must achieve the Provincial Learning Outcomes; evaluation is based on regular portfolio reviews that provide evidence of learning. Funding and resources are provided.

(More detailed explanations can be found at BC Homeschool Association, BC Home Learner's Association, and BC Minister of Education.)

We have chosen, for the time being, to enroll with a Distributed Learning center. We chose this option because while the reporting requirements are minimal at this level (more accurately stated, the learning objectives are easy to naturally obtain for the average child), the financial benefits are quite significant.

In other words, I am a sell-out.*

I want to be the noble person who turns her nose up at what is essentially the government's bribe to hold would-be homeschoolers accountable to the province's predetermined learning outcomes. I really want to be that person. We've gone around and around on this issue since moving here, but it always comes back to the same thing: turning down that amount of money to do what we'd be doing anyway doesn't seem like a logical move, especially right now with a student husband and a work-at-home wife.

We will continue with this option until such time as the reporting requirements become too stringent/specific (local popular opinion seems to be that this happens around the sixth grade). At that time, we will register as homeschoolers and forgo the extra funding. We are in complete agreement, my husband and I, that it will not even be a question; the additional funding is not at all worth having to force our children down one very specific educational path when the valid options are so incredibly vast.

The particular center we have enrolled with offers two days of optional classes per week (covering specialty programs such as gym, music, art, science, and French), which is advantageous in terms of increased opportunities. We will meet with our learning consultant thrice-yearly for a portfolio review. The program, from all accounts, is very relaxed and unschooling-friendly. It sounds like a very good fit for us at this point in our lives.

I know the government doesn't consider us official homeschoolers because we have chosen to enroll instead of register. I know a lot of homeschoolers don't consider us true homeschoolers either. But for now we're just shrugging our shoulders and doing what we'd be doing either way - only now we also get some funding to help purchase some of our homelearning resources.

I do feel like a sell-out for failing to support the path that grants homeschoolers the greatest freedom and least government intervention, all in the name of money. However, unlike some, I very much consider this path to be fully homeschooling, despite the reporting and accountability requirements. All classes are optional. All curriculum (or lack thereof) is determined by me. All instruction is provided by me. Specific goals are set by me. There are general requirements set forth by the learning outcomes, nearly all of which our soon-to-be kindergartner has already met for his upcoming year, but there is much room even there to allow those learning outcomes to met in a variety of relaxed and life-based ways. As soon as that is no longer the case, we will switch to registration rather than enrollment (provided, as some would quite fairly point out, that freedom is still available to homeschoolers despite the number of homeschooling families who are choosing enrollment over registration).

Well! All said, it will be interesting to see how this first year goes. I currently envision it being quite laid back, especially with the baby arriving mid-August. But most of all, we'll see. We'll see what works for us. We'll see what we think of our Distributed Learning program. We'll see where life takes us.

We'll see.


* Disclaimer: When I say that I am a sell-out, I mean that I feel like I am a sell-out. I do not in away way feel the same towards other homeschooling families who have chosen to enroll. Truly. What can I say, I'm a paradox that way.