Category Archives: National Blog Posting Month

Family matters, National Blog Posting Month

Failure to launch. But it’s mostly OK.

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I alluded the other day to my plans for the weekend. I was supposed to be doing something like this:

Photo courtesy WomenOfFaith.com
Photo courtesy WomenOfFaith.com

Instead, I am doing this:

That's me, sick in my bed. With awesome sheets.
That's me, sick in my bed. With awesome sheets.

My new friend Cintia, whom I met at the Type-A Mom Conference, invited me to go with her to a Women of Faith event. I went to one quite a lot of years ago — eight or nine, maybe — with a group of women I hardly knew NaBloPoMo 2010at the time. I don’t remember much of the event itself, but I do remember the very emotional prayer- and tear-a-thon we had in the hotel room. It may not sound all that lovely, but it really was.

I was looking forward to sharing that sort of thing again. But then I woke up this morning feeling like a flaming bowling ball had lodged itself in my midsection. I’m not sure if it was nerves or something I ate or a bug. (I’m leaning toward Something I Ate. Rockford thinks I might be lactose intolerant. He’s usually right.)

Whatever caused the problem, though, I spent most of my morning laying in bed, shaking my fist at my bad luck and being angry at myself for being too weak to power through it. Then my daughter came in to bring me a drink, pat my head and tell me she hoped I was feeling better. And I realized this: If I couldn’t be there, at least I am here with my sweet family.

Music, National Blog Posting Month

Songs for my sleepy children

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Poppy finally wore out her bedtime CD quite NaBloPoMo 2010awhile ago, and I finally made a new one. But now, of course, her CD player has stopped working. So I guess this is Pete’s Sleepytime Songs until Christmas, at least, when Poppy may be getting a new CD player.

SleepyBoy

  1. Peace Behind the Bridge, Carolina Chocolate Drops
  2. Please Be Patient with Me, Wilco
  3. Falling From Sleeves, Calexico
  4. Heaven and Earth, Blitzen Trapper
  5. Hey There Delilah, Plain White Ts
  6. Night Sight, Air
  7. Head Full of Doubt / Road Full of Promise, The Avett Brothers
  8. The Dress Looks Nice on You, Sufjan Stevens
  9. Flowers of Edinburgh, Dan Zanes and Friends
  10. Almost Home, Hem
  11. La Manita, Lisa Loeb and Elizabeth Mitchell
  12. Lovers Lane, Elizabeth Mitchell
  13. Holland, Sufjan Stevens
  14. Slowness, Calexico
  15. Oh My Sweet Carolina, Ryan Adams

I made myself some oatmeal about an hour ago. I set it aside to cool and thicken a little. And then I forgot about it. I’ll bet it’s cool now.

Family matters, National Blog Posting Month

How my daughter learned to read

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This morning my 5-year-old daughter sat down with my 3-year-old son and read “Walt Disney’s ‘Cinderella’ ” to him. It was, of course, an entirely heart-melting moment. But beyond the cuteness, I was also so, so proud of my little girl. She’s been reading words here and there for Works-for-Me Wednesdayquite awhile, and I’ve known for some time that she could read. Until recently, though, she hasn’t been confident enough to pick up a book and read it. Here’s what we’ve done to get to this point:

  • Read, read, read and then read some more. I’ve been reading to Poppy since way back in her pre-crawling days. (I haven’t done as well at NaBloPoMo 2010this with Pete.)
  • I love to read, so the kids see me reading frequently. I think this plays a big role in showing them that reading is important and can be fun.
  • Poppy started her “official” reading lessons with the Bob Books. It’s a graduated system that very slowly builds reading skills. We used the first three sets last year for preschool.
  • We haven’t used any sort of reading curriculum this year. It’s been a lot of reading out loud and trying to encourage her to read on her own. And here’s what I credit for her recent leap into independent reading: Pizza Hut. Seriously. Their BookIt reading incentive program is available to homeschoolers, so I signed Poppy up. The promise of a free pizza all her own? It’s motivated her more than my cheerleading ever could have.

    • So. Reading and pizza. They work for me and for my daughter!