I prayed fervently that the good of the week would outweigh the bad. But I could not imagine how that could possibly come to pass! Oh ye of little faith.
This week has been one of the best of my life. I have been "off the grid"--almost no phone or computer use, no TV or electronics.
I spent the week looking into my children's eyes, having real conversations. At first, they were so unused to real conversations that I had to work on it! One child could only make one sentence, and then another one was interjecting his or her thoughts on the topic. So I said, "Please leave the room for five minutes while I finish my conversation with so and so." The other three would stand at the door and listen to every syllable. But at least they were silent! Interrupting, they learned, is not just in the middle of a sentence--it can be in the middle of a paragraph, too.
So a couple of days later, these four children are standing more erect, smiling a little brighter, carrying the sense that their mother has heard them and understands what they are feeling and thinking.
But that is just the beginning!
Mary and Jacob learned to crochet! Our homeschooling group hosted a crochet workshop. Jake and Mary have taken off!
I walked up the staircase last night to put Annie down, and Mary and Jake's long limbs were draped over the arms of our armchairs, as they concentrated on their next stitch. How grown up they looked! Twice and long and four times as capable as the little munchkins I still think they are!
Clare and Leigh, Mary and Jake have all started latch hook projects.
We have been reading Pollyanna aloud as well as William Blake poems (thanks for the Blake for Children book, Uncle Joe!).
And thanks to Martha's feast day, all four children have been wearing aprons and whipping up salads, toasting and buttering bagels and Ezekiel bread, making bean and cheese nachos and mixing yogurt with different flavors. Four cooks in the kitchen!
We have become a true Charlotte Mason family! Hooray!
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