Hmmm, Safari unexpectedly quit on me just as I was about to publish my new post. Not good. Let's see if I can recapture what was a profound and brilliant post that no one will ever have the sweet pleasure to rest their eyes upon.
It went something like this. I haven't blogged since the election. I feel very guilty especially since I have an upgraded version of Typepad that charges me $8 bucks a month. Having a blog account and not using it makes me feel lazy. I have many legitimate (ahem) excuses for not blogging. Here's a few:
- i've been busy retraining my brain not to habitually, obsessively check political blogs like Five Thirty Eight . Doing that is a real drain on those creative juices required to keep up with the quirky and unforgettable blog entries.
- been busy working. Not much fun stuff going on here. No good stories or pictures to upload.
- thinking, instead of acting upon, all those Christmas gifts I told myself I'd make since here in this household we do it up old school. Yall ain't gettin' no gift cards from us. Under pressure, I don't perform, I freeze.
- online thrift shopping - super time sucker. Try searching for your most desired object on Ebay and see how long it takes you to find one seller you're willing to take a chance on and bid with. Think ebay is bad - Etsy's sight is designed to specifically to reduce productive output of your life. How can anyone get on Etsy's sight with the intention of spending a reasonable amount of time.
- adoption application. It's very hard for Byron and I to buckle down and to answer the questions and chase forms. We're not very good with information that requires being timely. Tax returns, insurance claim disputes, cancelling consumer reports web reviews after we're done researching. All of those kinds of things - we are not real good at. The ramifications of being tardy are abstract. Lower credit rating, being saught after by the IRS, spending an unnecessary $5/month on a subscription we no longer need. Well, somethings have to fall through the cracks sometimes, I tell ya. But with this adoption application everything is so much more pertinent. No answering of questions related to discipline, morals, expectations, spirituality, no baby - it's that simple. I've learned that I am much better at shopping for a baby (picking out things for the baby) than applying for one. Ha!
- reading back entries of All Buttoned Up's blog . I've had my eyes out for a blog like hers. So fitting for me. I have to email her to say hi and wish her and her family well in their unexpected yet wonderful surprise.
Brainstorming...daydreaming...I've been doing a lot of that too lately. About what? Oh, let me see. Our house is "cozy". It's been for sale for a while. We hope it sells one day because we need a bigger house. We want to start a family soon. I'd like to figure out a way to work from home.
Here's my plan (this week): create a space within the home or integrate a home so that certain spaces have multiple, yet practical and functional uses. Establish a Montessori in the home atmosphere (you can take the girl out of Montessori but you can't take the Montessori out of the girl). I'm not looking to create a full fledge Montessori classroom filled with $30000 of Neinhuis materials. Instead, I'd like to have lots of practical life materials (sewing, washing, art mediums, prelimary exercises, seasonal crafts, manipulatives) and of course as the children show sensitive periods to language and math, I'd get those out too. So much of the environment can be hand made preserving concepts yet providing the experience in a way that is affordable for someone interested in having a more home type atmosphere.
Invite five children or so from the ages of 2 to 4.5 (give or take) to spend the morning and/or early afternoon with me and my family. Our home could be a special learning environment where we'd spend time cooking, gardening, having fun with music and movement, poetry, and literature, and of course an independent work cycle. Simple, simple, simple. Wholesome and nurturing. All with a natural rhythm and a steady and constant pulse. I really think it could work out. I have thought about doing this off and on for several years now. I love Montessori and working with children, but to me, having a class of 30 children, running it well and raising a family is a HARD job. From the guide's point of view, there's a lot of giving going on there. Sure, the children give back in important ways, but you know, it's time consuming. While I was a Primary guide for the past 5 years, I always found it so difficult to have the energy and motivation to keep my own private life interesting and invigorating. So many days, I'd come home and feel wiped out.
So if any of you out there are Montessorians and are pulling off something similar - please feel free to drop me a line. I'd love to hear about the pro's and con's of your gig.
Our family life goal is to eventually have Byron work from home as well. Everyday, he sacrafices and goes off to work in cubicle land. He says he doesn't mind, but I know he wants more. I count my lucky stars for him. He's a rock and he deserves the same kinds of options that I have.
So that's all about us for now. I'm officially done procrastinating on holiday gifts. My secret crew of elves have arrived and are ready to get to work. Off I go.
