This Week at Our House #4
- John is the same old same old. We went to his parents house for his dad's birthday yesterday. (That's why the day late on the blog) John enjoyed hanging out with his dad and his brother a ton. I am truly married to a great guy, by the way. I didn't deserve him.
- Me, well, see the blog post below about being cynical. I have spent the week trying hard on the exercising front, and feeling frustrated with: exercise, weight loss, disobedient little kids, my lack of nice furniture and decor, and my kids breaking things without a thought. I guess I need an attitude adjustment. Life is better than all of these complainy feelings.
- Ruth did not enjoy her back to full on everyday life. She had a few days off the previous week and was just not into going to school, doing homework, going to Young Women's, going to musical practice, studying, doing chores, etc. But she did it all anyway and didn't really complain.
- Kate talked Anya into liking a different Samurai. She drew some pictures of herself and Heihatchi. Ahhh, young love. Hopefully someday she will love more than a cartoon character.
- Johnny never ceases to amaze me at what a good boy he is. He is honest and true and truly tries to be good and to do better. I am very glad Adam, Joseph, and Josh get to have such a good example.
- I am trying to get Adam to learn to love reading. He is so unconvinced that reading can be fun. I hate forcing him to read because that seems counterproductive, but how in the world can he learn to love reading if he never reads?! Everyday, I tell Adam to read, and everyday, Adam tells me he hates to read.
- I am pleased to announce that Rachel is finally doing bigger and harder chores without a lot of nagging. That has been a long time coming. I had parent/teacher conferences this past week. Rachel has been a slow reader and I talked to her teacher pretty extensively about that. I asked if there were other kids at Rachel's level. Her teacher told me that most of the kids are at Rachel's level. I think that means Rachel and her classmates are probably developmentally right on and it is the curriculum that is off. Anyway, that is good to know. Rachel's teacher did rave about Rachel's imagination. Apparently Rachel brought her teacher a tardy slip with the excuse "I am late because I was halucinating in my dreams".
- Anya is actually making leaps and bounds in reading and writing and I have done very little with her. I am looking forward to homeschooling kindergarten with Anya next year. She really wants to go to school, but I think she needs that one on one time with me everyday before I send her out into the world. With this many kids, I just can't always do things the conventional way.
- Joseph is driving me nuts. He is breaking things, ignoring everything I say, hitting and biting and fighting. I can hardly stand him at all right now. I am trying to think of some good things to say about him. I think I better spend the next few days finding everything he does right and letting him know. I would hate to be stuck with him acting this way much longer. It is time for some serious positive reinforcement.
- Josh is still just the cutest toddler. He calls all round fruit "ballbulls". I love it.
- Last week Arwen started fake coughing and sneezing. This week she growled at us and begged for our food.
This week's Pictures
3 comments:
Diane.... one of the things Joseph is doing right is loving his mother. He goes to the toilet on his own. He most likely is good at taking the Sacrament weekly. He is a real pal for Josh. He is good at solving puzzles so therefore has great spatial abilities. He gives the best hugs....and is typical for 3 ... that is a wonderful boy and I miss him. Sounds like you could use some time out of the pool!!!! love you MOM
For those that don't like to read, try reading aloud as a family. Find a book that most of the kids (mainly the one who hates reading) can get into and read a little bit every evening before bed-- or whenever you have time.
I have seen it work miracles in the lives of many "book haters." ;-)
Have fun!
Let's see I think I am happy to be out of the child rearing stage. This sounded all too familiar. In the years to come you will laugh with your children about all of this.
I loved the pictures and I do think you are right on track with your children. There is a book that gave me great comfort when I was raising children. It was "So You Want To Raise Boys". Most of the stages of growth for boys was the same for the girls. It just made me feel better that my children were normal.
Blessings and hugs to you. You are such an awesome mother and I hope you know that.
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