Hike

We hiked on a local trail in the morning; the kids liked it so much we went home and packed up and did the hike we had planned for this day.  The mountains were cool and green and beautiful.   We were passed by friendly mountain bikers who smelled of fresh dirt and sweat, arms glistening in the sun.  Littlest girl looking for bugs and air soft pellets and fool's gold.  :)  Even the baby wanted to hold my hand with this tiny one, walking haltingly over roots and jutting gray rocks.  We stopped and sat in the brown dirt and ate sticky granola bars and drank water from an old gray plastic water bottle.

At the end, we played in a trickling stream that was low from the dry season.  Six year-old said "thank you for bringing us here!"

Had In-N-Out in our wet clothes and squishy shoes and inhaled the conversation.

That night, the little girls recounted all the day's adventures to their dad while he, bent over, planted ground cover between bare flagstone rocks.  As I pulled the door closed, I heard a breathless "it was like a mini bacation!"  (pronounced buh-cation)

It felt so good to be together and be outside and doing something active (note to self!).  We really could do better about doing things like this!   It's too easy to get stuck in a rut sitting around inside.

Could be dreaming, but the kids have hardly mentioned the TV this week.  And I think we're closer too. 

How the Hard Work's Workin'

The night was dark blue, bugs flitting around, our friends were lifting tired kids into their car, with only a yellow porch light, kids chattering, doors  clumping closed, and last goodbyes ringing through the warm summer night.  My two oldest decided right then was a good time to practice their maniacal laughs, which was making the rest of us laugh.

If I could do a good imitation, now would be a good time for a maniacal laugh.  It was a good week (a great week), but practically nothing went the way I envisioned (in good and bad ways).

The funny part was that we had a birthday, a holiday, and company here this week, so keeping to a schedule was not happening.

In other areas, things went well.  I started checking off my six year-old's jobs (part of accountability), and there was some push-back, but also a good opportunity for reinforcing lessons about how work will help her in her future life.  She was so cute-- huge hazel eyes so serious.  And there was more push-back later, and we talked about it some more. 

On day three, she actually got up and did all her jobs so quickly that I gave her a "mystery motivator" out of my jar (I was hoping after Mon's lesson they'd be jumping to work hard and earn one of these...it took a few days).  I read it to her and she just stood there, the smile melting from her face.  "That's it?" she asked me.  "Can I choose a different one?"  So much for the warm fuzzy moment I'd envisioned of her hugging me and thanking me for my great parenting. :)  I told her I'd give her the choice of two but she had to stick with one of those since the point was that they were a surprise.  She seemed a bit disappointed in the short run but later in the day she came to me and said "I want to help you!  I want to earn another one of those!" (this fizzled)  It also motivated the other kids to ask what they could do to get one (not happening either).  At least there is hope for next week.

On the TV goal (keeping TV to an hour), good results.  Until now, when a child finished his/her work, they could play computer/watch TV for their allotted time, but the bad thing was that then the TV time strung out over a long period of time as staggered kids finished jobs.  When one's jobs are not finished, they are tempted to watch what one of the other kids is watching and it requires a lot of policing on my part.  So I announced that we have a new TV time-- after lunch.  Again, a little push back, but they accepted it much easier than I thought they would.

When my six finished her jobs early the one day, I was worried about the TV thing, and it was hard for a minute, but we thought of some things to do and it ended up being a wonderful morning.  Quiet with no TV, kids went to play outside, did puzzles, and played together.  I think this is going to be good.

I got this off Craigslist for Christmas and its been in the basement, so we took it outside and they had a great time.