Soap It Up

I was trying to clean the bathroom – wash the floors, scrub the toilet, wipe down the sinks and such – but I was having a 3 ft. problem. Under my legs. In the drawers. “Please stop wiping that on the mirror.” I don’t really ask for much. But today I was sick, and I wanted a clean bathroom in the dreaded event that I…you know…spend more time there than usual.

I was about to lose it- yell, nag, or just give up the dream of clean- but I didn’t. In the split second between June Clever and crabby mother, I made the choice to honor the needs of my child. How often do we misread the hidden messages of children? My “helper” wasn’t acting naughty, she just wanted to be a part of what I was doing. Should she have taken the soap and written on the mirror? Probably not. But, there was brilliance cloaked in mischief, I just had to get beyond my own agenda to see it.  I quickly channeled June, took the mirror from the wall and sprinted for my camera.

Before I made it back, Laurel had shared the soap with her brother, and together, they were deep in activity. Sharing. Creating. Independent  play. I’m sure you’re wondering what “super toy” I discovered in that dirty bathroom of mine. Well, if a bar of soap and a full length mirror count as toys, then clean my house and call it Fisher Price. A wipe here, a swipe there, and a bit of sudsy mess and our new favorite boredom buster was born. We pulled soaping from the underbelly of Halloween’s wayward and brought it into the light of rainy day activities.

The soap was a perfect writing implement and the mirror an empty slate. When I propped the mirror next to my bed, the kids got right to work. Nolan grabbed the eraser from the chalkboard in his bedroom and ran it under water, his perfect solution for “erasing” soap marks, except it wasn’t quite so perfect. Unsatisfied with the results, my pint sized problem solver requested not one, but three wet wipes and systematically began to implement his multistep cleaning process. And if you’re curious, that cleaning process did not replace the need for me to later clean his “cleaning.” But that aside, this might just be one on my new frugal favorites.

Soap It Up

1. Get a bar of soap.

2. Grab a mirror.

3. Draw.

Pretty simple. I do think a sliding glass door might also prove an excellent canvas, but this theory remains untested. Be prepared for good “clean” fun. Oh, and have a bottle of windex on the ready for the clean up after the clean up.

Bumps, Bruises and Wreaths of Leaves

Autumn is such a glorious time. Crisp sunny mornings promise afternoons warm enough for short sleeves. Gold, and red and orange in the hills, and on the streets. A few last bits of color cling to branches. Fall is my favorite time of year, but for all it’s beauty, there is an underlying sadness. Things are always changing I know, but November feels more temporary than other months.

The colors, the weather, the smell in the air are too perfect to last. For days now,  I’ve been remembering Johnny quoting Robert Frost (As dawn goes down to day/Nothing gold can stay) to Ponyboy in a heart wrenching scene before he dies in The Outsiders, “stay gold, stay gold.”  It seems that as soon as I take time to notice the scene before me, it’s gone. I wish “gold” were longer. Other seasons don’t quite leave me with the same sense of awe and empty. Perhaps my perspective is obscured by the sheets of rain through which I observe the other times of year. That’s Oregon. But today, clear skies, warm weather and crafty children made for a truly golden afternoon. Or at least, after we moved past the morning storm.

Storm? Perfect weather, crummy circumstance. After fixing a breakfast that no one ate, I rounded up the troop and marched them to the car to go to school. Key in lock. Hit automatic unlock button. Nothing. Key in ignition. Nothing. Out of mommy’s mouth-something not to be repeated.

To make a long story short, I eventually found someone to jump-start my car, but it didn’t happen without flagging down strange men on the side of the road. Really, it  was safer than it sounds.

We made it to school, albeit late, but the routine had been disturbed. As you might remember in a previous post, I alluded to why I avoid altering our routine. But life it what it is and the stage was set.

Laurel was all out of sorts after dropping Nolan off and already in need of a nap which didn’t happen. When I picked Nolan up from school he was sitting out on the side while the other children played. When he saw me come through the gate, his lips quivered in the way people’s do right before totally losing it when someone asks if he/she is okay. While “walking the line” during class time, he fell and hit his head first on a chair and then the floor. He bit his tongue. The bruise at his temple told me he hit hard. While Laurel slept in the car, we cruised through a drive-thru. If you haven’t heard, chocolate milkshakes “feel me better” as Nolan says.

Upon getting home, Nolan wanted nothing but cuddles and mama very close by. On my lap close by. I had to bargain for a potty break. At this point, I had more or less written off our first “Wee Craft Wednesday.” And since I still hadn’t figured out a plan, I didn’t need a whole lot of convincing to call it off. But then I looked outside.

It was one of those amazing fall days I described above. I needed only to mention the word “wagon” and things started looking up. The healing power of Outside is something that can’t be denied. We doctored ourselves on sunshine, exercise and leaves. Yes, our mission was to fill our wagon with leaves for a project I hadn’t quite wrapped my brain around. It would, however, require leaves, I knew that and it was enough.  And that’s how our first “Wee Craft Wednesday” took shape.

Leaf Wreath

1. Using cardstock, cut out a donut wide enough for gluing leaves.

2. Glue leaves on cardstock.

3. Enjoy. That’s it!

Wonderful things really do happen when we least expect them. I’m glad we took a chance on fall today.

New Schedule Means Cookies in the Freezer

Things were heating up around here today…in the oven that is. The frost on my windshield this morning was the sort of thick that’s not quite frozen and not quite dew. My wipers made a crunching up ice sound as they promised visibility. The grass was white enough that Nolan wondered what had happened to our yard. Yes, it was cold outside, but we kept things toasty inside while embarking on a new adventure- Mix and Make Monday. That’s right, my “Parenting Unplugged” revival just grabbed itself a schedule and today was our first run at it. It was a hit with the Chadwicks big and small and I have a few ideas as to why.

Titles Are Fun

Instead of cleaning the car, call it Operation Rub and Scrub. Need to make dinner for a large group? Why not refer to the  job as Face Feed 500? Sounds silly? Of course, but sometimes a bit of fun makes it that much easier to get the job done. That, and titles feel official. “Mix and Make Monday” has the ring of something that might stick around.

Routine- A Parent’s Best Ally

Feel for the parents who tinker with “THE ROUTINE”- it makes for an ugly afternoon. Perhaps though, you were blessed with one of those mythical children who “just goes with the flow” and haven’t a clue what I mean. You probably get a full night’s sleep, meet up often with friends for coffee or happy hour, and have been to the theater more than two times in four years. You don’t need routines when you’ve birthed the child of light. Those of us in the shadows of reality, know well that predictable routines lead to mostly predictable children, in terms of crankiness that is. No matter her mood, I’m never quite sure what my little Laurel will do next; predictable she is not.

That aside, I know that everyone in the family will look forward to, count on and plan for “Mix and Make Monday,” “Wee Craft Wednesday,” and “Film Festival Friday.” Yep, that’s really what I have on our schedule. Today we couldn’t begin our baking project until we finished our housework and it really motivated us (ok me) to stay on track and focused.

Mindful Mindlessness

A little forethought goes a long way. I’m not writing many lesson plans these days, but my mommy life draws often from my teacher life. By thinking ahead and giving myself a few consistent themes, a bit of the in-the-moment pressure lifts away. I always have what seems like hundreds of things I want to do with my kids, but only manage a few. In my world, all that thinking gets lost without a plan for action. I don’t know what sort of craft we will do this Wednesday, but I know we will craft and I will come up with something, likely at the last minute. The beauty though, in my procrastination, is that the realm of activities from which to choose for Wednesday afternoon, is infinitely reduced. I’m no longer thinking- should we go to the park, have a puppet show or bake a cake- we will sew or crochet or make a gingerbread turkey house. I suppose mindlessness isn’t altogether the right word, but it sounds better than “Mindful Thinking Less” dontcha think?

So our very first “Mix and Make Monday” started like this:

We used the recipe for Old Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies found on this website. We followed it mostly, but made bars instead of cookies. Bars are so much easier. It looked a bit like this:

After we pulled our bars from the oven,they cooled while I waved off curious little fingers. Later, I cut them into bite sized morsels and stuck them in the freezer; if we are going to do this once a week we can’t blow through an entire batch in one night as is our regular sweet treat custom. Most of these bits of pumpkin yumminess await the visit of a hungry friend. But of course, we did sample our efforts after dinner. We “decorated” our plate, as Nolan called it and came up with this:

As though happy mama and content children weren’t enough, this new system is easy on the checkbook too. I didn’t buy anything special; we used what we already had in the pantry. But the financial benefits don’t end at flour sack.  As I think about grocery shopping and the occasional late night treat run in the weeks and months ahead, I foresee fewer stops on the cookie isle. That seems good right? Though I am wondering what a freezer stocked full of goodies will mean for my waistline.