{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soule Mama.
my daughter, the reader
When my daughter was younger, many of our afternoons were spent with a big stack of books on the living room floor. I’d read while crocheting and she’d turn the pages. As she began to read on her own, she’d spent hours in her room re-reading those books to herself. I knew the stories. I was familiar with the characters. Everything she knew, I knew.
Then she started kindergarten and the librarian introduced her to chapter books. In the beginning we read them together, first alternating pages and then alternating chapters. Then one day she sat down and read a Judy Moody from cover to cover by herself and that was it.
At one magical instant in your early childhood, the page of a book—that string of confused, alien ciphers—shivered into meaning. Words spoke to you, gave up their secrets; at that moment, whole universes opened. You became, irrevocably, a reader. — Alberto Manguel
Now I am officially out of the loop and it’s a little weird. I don’t know the names of the Zig Zag kids or about any of the Magic Treehouse adventures. Do Fashion Kitty and Bad Kitty have actual names? What about Judy Moody’s brother Stink? All the sudden, knowing the name of the Man in the Yellow Hat no longer seems impressive. (It’s Ted, by the way.)
I love that we still go to the library together. I love curling up with her on the couch while we both read our own stories. I love that she loves books. But I have to admit that when I watch her become completely absorbed, I imagine the characters and stories swirling around in her head, and I can’t help but feel a little left out.
kick like a girl
I’m working on some artwork for my daughter. We’ve talked about decorating her Tae Kwon Do tote bag. I figured an iron-on decal would be easiest. Thinking about a t-shirt, too.
a birth day book for the birthday girl
A few weeks before my daughter’s birthday she put three stacks of 8 1/2 x 11 paper — stapled journal style — on my desk. Two were 24 pages and one was 10 pages. “Mom, these are books for you to make for my birthday.” It wasn’t really a request, and it was too sweet to be a demand, but the message was clear. I tried hard to come up with something meaningful, but lets face it, there were a lot of pages to fill!
The day before her birthday she started asking all sorts of questions about the day she was born. When did I start labor? How long was I at the hospital? What exact time was she born? All those questions gave me an idea.
I wrote down the story of her birth when she was four weeks old. At one point I was planning to post it to the blog, which was the “mommy blog” trend at the time. However, it seemed too personal to share for some reason. Yes, I know that must sound odd from someone who has been sharing her life online since 2003.
The book turned out to be much smaller than she had requested — eight 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 pages. She was surprised when she saw it. I had hoped that she would read it immediately and we’d have a special mother/daughter bonding moment, but that was not the case. You see, we also gave her the game Brave. She was infinitely more interested in Merida and her mother than our story. Also, I think she was disappointed that my book had no pictures.
Oh, well. I’m sure she’ll read it eventually. In the meantime, I’ve still got those blank pages on my desk. Now that the pressure is off, maybe I’ll come up with a way to fill them. After I help Merida up and over the waterfall, of course. Seems I’m the only one in the house who can get her to do a triple jump.
first day of first grade
Tuesday was back to school for us. I’m not sure how it’s possible that my baby is now a first grader. Last Spring we started walking home in the afternoons and this year we’ve added morning walks. I love watching her skip down the sidewalk bubbling with excitement. I hope she never loses her enthusiasm for learning.
On a crafty note: I finished the green scrappy scarf and I’m ready to start another one. I also need to cast on a second Boheme. It will be the same yarn so I’ll have to mix up the pattern a bit to keep it interesting.
my daughter’s second art show
You may remember the excitement of my daughter’s first art show last year. Well, this summer she did the full-day elementary art camp and had a blast. Once again, the campers exhibited their artwork, but this year they did so at the Sheldon Museum of Art. She was pretty excited.
In addition to showing us all of her work, she took us on a tour of some of her favorite exhibits that she visited earlier in the week. She was so excited and proud. It was adorable.
I still need to write about the other camps she’s taken this summer. She came home from science camp exclaiming she wanted to be a scientist, or maybe an artist that draws science pictures. This week was insect camp. She brought home a jar of mealy worms, which I’ve been told are really dark winged beetle larvae, and tomorrow they are having cricket cookies for a snack. Oh, my!
a bookish kind of summer
There’s something special about a good book. The lines between fiction and real life get blurred. You feel like you really know the characters and miss their company when you’re finished reading. You almost don’t want their story to end because you hate saying goodbye.
A good book can take over your life. “Just one more chapter” becomes “is it really 2 am?” You abandon things like knitting, crochet, sewing, blogging — even laundry. You’ll be hunched over your book in the living room and hear grumbles from the kitchen that “there’s nothing in this house to eat.”
I’m not the only one in the house bitten by the book worm. The first day of summer vacation my daughter insisted we go to the library to sign up for the reading program. A librarian had visited school and my daughter knew exactly where to go and what to do. She picked out her books and announced that she was ready to get her own library card.
Once home, she quickly finished her picture books and picked up Judy Moody, Girl Detective. I should have seen it coming, but I was surprised on our next visit that she didn’t even want to look in the picture book section. One chapter book and my girl was hooked. We came home with another Judy Moody, a few Cam Jansens and a Little House.
And so it begins: reading at the table, in the car, before going to bed. “Just one more chapter, Mama!” “Can I just finish this page?”
I’ve finally come back to reality. The laundry is folded and the pantry has been restocked. I’ve got an untouched stack of craft books that need to be read before their due date. Friends are having babies this summer and I’ve got to start on gifts. Time to get back in the world of non-fiction and get some things done!
My daughter, on the other hand, is a lost cause. I’m so happy for her.
the house that giacometti and biedrzycki built
Last month my daughter studied the artist Alberto Giacometti. For her project, she chose to make a sculpture in the style of The Palace at 4 a.m.
Also during March, her school was learning about David Biedrzycki and reading the Ace Lacewing Bug Detective series. Although odd to some, it made perfect sense to me when she decided to fill her house with insects. We started calling them her Biedrzycki bugs.
Most of the materials are wood: bamboo skewers, dowels, beads, toothpicks and sticks. There’s also a bit of yarn, foil and clay. I’m not sure what the pink stuff is! I can tell you that one of the pink bugs is a bee and the other is a cocoon with a little green caterpillar sticking out. Also taking up residence is a walking stick and spider.
There’s a front and back door, a shelf for holding books, knitting and crochet (yes! she drew yarn, needles and hooks on the shelves!), a table and a painting hanging on the “wall.”
I’m constantly amazed by this girl of mine and can’t help but wonder where her interests will lead her in life.
christmas vacation
Wow. I didn’t mean to abandon the blog last week. Time just got away from me. No matter how hard I try to plan ahead, things always creep up that last week before Christmas and I get a little overwhelmed. I’ve been taking lots of pictures, though. Hope to get back into the blogging groove soon.
Hope you holidays were great!
a beautiful day at the park
When my daughter was in nature school, we were at Pioneers Park at least twice a week. It’s a gorgeous wildlife sanctuary with paths, an outdoor classroom, water, flowers, bison, elk, and even a bald eagle. When I saw the weather report for her first day off from school, I knew we had to go for a visit.
After a full morning of climbing, playing and eating lunch in the shade, we stopped by the Butterfly Garden and oh my, how it has blossomed!
It’s hard to believe that so much change can occur just in one season. I think of the changes in my daughter since then. Her long braid has been replaced with a short bob. She’s grown at least an inch, maybe more. She’s in elementary school now and at yesterday’s book fair we bought her first chapter book. Seems like just yesterday she was chewing on her board books.
Here’s a peak at the Butterfly Garden back in May (and that beautiful long braid).
flashback: Mother’s Tea in May
What changes have you noticed lately?