School's Out For...Ever!!!

I think Tamzin's done with Kindergarten! (Read...Stephanie jumping wildly up and down for joy because she's sick and tired of getting up at 6:15 in the morning to get Tamzin off to the bus!).

Tamzin has regularly skipped a day of school every few weeks since starting last fall. Some days she just didn't want to go, and I was ok with that. The school didn't seem to care. I got no nasty notes when she missed 9 or 10 days the first quarter.

On Valentine's Day I think I permanently tipped the scales. I bought the girls a new GameCube game. Tamzin was adament that she wanted to play the game first thing the next morning, which resulted in her missing kindergarten. She ended up missing the whole week.

I thought she might change her mind once she realized the older girls and I read for a few hours together 3 mornings or so a week. I figured she would find life at home boring with no one available to play. But she's been keeping busy. She plays GameCube or computer, or watches cartoons, or colors. She doesn't stick around to listen, but she's happy, which is all I'm interested in.

She and I had some great times alone together in the early mornings getting ready for the bus, and on the way home from school. From these moments I realized I was not focusing enough of myself on her, and she has not been as close to me as the other girls were/are. It is so easy to be so busy that you miss out on spending time with your children individually. At least, it is with four.

So now I'm working on that, thinking about what little things I can do just with Tamzin. We made paper hearts together. Made soup and Jello together. She's asked me to help her "practice reading" (she likes working on letter sounds). Today she asked me to play GameCube with her. It's the first time she's ever chosen me...usually she asks a sister. I'm doing lots more tickling and piggyback riding. I want her to know she's made the right choice. Home is better... lot's better.

God Is Too Big To Fit Inside One Religion

Bumper sticker on the back of an SUV at Tamzin's school. I love it. It's my favorite bumper sticker ever!

On Time

"Try to think about time not as a finite resource that is always draining away, or as a bully to be feared or conquered, but as the benign element we live in."

from In Praise of Slowness by Carl Honore'


"The whole struggle of life is to some extent a struggle about how slowly or how quickly to do each thing."

from The Discovery of Slowness by Sten Nadolny


"Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it."

Soren Kierkegaardd

"Rescuing the next generation from the cult of speed means reinventing our whole philosophy of childhood...More freedom and fluidity in education, more emphasis on learning as a pleasure, more room for unstructured play, less obsession with making every second count, less pressure to mimic adult mores."

from In Praise of Slowness by Carl Honore'

What a Headache

I had the worst migrane headache all day yesterday. After forcing myself through my normal morning tasks, I finally went to bed in the early afternoon. My objective was to get rid of the headache so I could go to Book Group. It didn't happen.

I tried everything; Ibuprofen, lots of water, a good meal, a nap, resting in the dark, destressing with a book, decongestant. Nothing helped. I felt very sorry for myself that I was missing book group, but my head hurt so bad I couldn't even focus.

This morning I am cautiously optimistic. The headache is mostly gone, but it's like my head still aches with the memory of the hurting yesterday. Or maybe I'm just paranoid. I'm trying not to make any fast moves, because I'm afraid it will come back.

And I'm feeling sorry for myself because I've lost a whole day, and I had things I wanted to do!