Causatum

As promised, i have a couple classics...but first...the news.

The genesis of homeschooling has been interesting, sometimes frustrating, yet always rewarding. I've discovered during this vast undertaking that either the Princess is really wanting to do school...or just avoiding the inevitable nap. Case in point, today Princess #1 wanted to do some school instead of the unthinkable (nap). Princess #2 had already tearfully retired and i assured her that she could do school with the Queen when she came home. I had let them play way over their normal nap time and its about 3 p.m. (my fault). We sat down, and started the assignment for the day. She is learning to read, so we began by rehearsing some recognizable sounds and then a new sound for the day. She blew through everything and was having fun. She amused both of us on a group of words to rhyme...it went something like "Moo", "Too", and "Doo"...well when she got to the last word to sound out she said "dude", and we both cracked. After a few giggles we reacquired vector and proceeded. Rolling along nicely and then it was like a marathon runner at mile 17, she hit "the wall". The phoneme was "th" which she knows, and had blown through it like it was nothing just minutes before. Now, it was completely unrecognizable and she was throwing out guesses of other phonemes she knows. We went back to the previous page, recaptured the lost phoneme and went back to the story...gone. I knew she had hit the wall at that point, so i quietly closed the book and sent her off to bed. In the past we've struggled over something like this frustrating us both, sometimes to tears in her case. I've learned that its just not worth the stress for either of us and that she is just tired. Realizing that it will come and not to get frustrated...best thing to do now is just let it, and her, rest. She is four years old and doing fantastic anyway, no need to impede progress through frustrative force.

Anyway, its good to learn such things now. The attendant collaborator's will have a much smoother road.

Today at lunch, we had a breakthrough of sorts. We've been working on the Prince with some sign language to help us understand what exactly it is that he wants. Namely, "more" and "done" at the dinnertable. So he's sitting there at lunch looks at me and does the sign for "more" and says "MO" i was pretty excited. He ended up eating half of my bowl of stir fried rice, two hot dogs, and some Funyuns.

Speaking of eating, i had told the girls that when i grow up i want to be a a chef and cook ratatouille. We bought the movie "Ratatouille" the other night (BUT OF COURSE it was for THEM), and i told them that i was going to make some. While at the store the other day, i bought the makings, and they weren't so sure. I made it two nights ago, and i must say, its pretty damn good. Princess #2 and the Prince tore it up, Princess #1 would have nothing to do with it. C'est la vie. She'll get it one day.

OK, OK the pictures. Lemme frame this up for you. Saturday, after leaf diving (for you slackers,see previous post) i heard in the distance the infamous "Jack-in-the-box" tune, yup, the ICEcreamMAN cometh! I decided it was time and raided my personal stash. When he rounded the corner at the end of the block, i headed out the door. All three were still in the driveway playing so i didn't have to call them. I did see one comical, almost illusory picture while walking out to flag him down. Two little fat kids from down the street were waddling as fast as they could to catch him. When i flagged him, he stopped and we gathered around, and here they came huffing and sweating, from the almost 50 yards they had covered in as many seconds..."OHHH...(pant)...HEY...(whew)...THANKS!!!" It was a priceless moment i didn't get a picture of. Their dad, who is a really nice guy, walked up leisurely, smiling, and waited for the kids to make their selections. This really is a cool neighborhood for the most part. So here is the aftermath of the close encounter with "The Icecream Man"... Oh, and just so you know, P1 chose the Spongebob, P2-Dora the Explora, and the Prince battled with Spiderman (as if you couldn't tell).