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cornomama4
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| Posted: Sept 28 2007 at 11:32pm | IP Logged
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Does anyone else have this problem?
The boys (6&7) and I start reading Little House in the Big Woods which, to my utter surprise and delight, they are very in to. But then, ds6 wants to 1) peek in the attic (where they Ingalls store the food for winter) 2) draw with a charcol pencil like the illustrations in the book, 3) make maple syrup candy on snow (it's September) and d) learn the words to the songs Pa plays on the violin. I thought next he'd want to butcher a hog and play with the bladder.
Anyway, the point is while I love this interest and enthusiasm for the subject matter, I seem to be unable to carve out time to go deeper and satisfy these interests...I have a 22m.o. dd and 5 m.o. ds also. I keep saying "we'll peek in the attic at nap time" then "after dinner" then "it's too dark"...you get the idea.
How do we "carpe dieum" with this curiousity and nearly insatialbe hunger for knowledge when there is daily life to attend to. I tried to make a list of all the questions I intended to get to "when we have time", but I ran out of paper. I just never want to see the look of "yeah, right" when I say "oh, honey, we'll have to do that later". The Little House book is just one example, this happens with any subject of interest...their ideas and enthusiasm seem to get "postponed" way too much
On a more positive note, I did help to build the space shuttle and a super tank out of K'nex last night after I put the babies to bed. But since one cannot rest on one's laurels,....what do y'all do with the "gotta know, gotta see, gotta do it NOW" when you gotta cook, clean, nurse, drive, sleep (it's rumored to still happen) etc.??? TIA
cm4
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Tami
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| Posted: Sept 29 2007 at 9:34am | IP Logged
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cornomama4 wrote:
I thought next he'd want to butcher a hog and play with the bladder.
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Ok, I had to get that out of my system, first! What a great observation - esp about a boy!!
I've been where you are, and I sympathize with the amount of 'other demands' you have on you. It really can be hard and distracting and draining.
I would encourage you to think about this is in 2 ways: you don't have to do it all right now, and you might want to try to do something for him right away. How's that for dichotomy??
Seriously, what I mean by the former is you can revisit these books each year (or so) - I believe Elizabeth has done that with these books in particular (she'll have tons of ideas for you, I know). I know that I re-read them with my boys too. So you can cover different areas of interest as you do so. Some things can wait, like the maple sugaring (but you might want to make a mental, or writen note to yourself to look into it in Feb/Mar).
With the level of curiousity your sons are showing, they won't let you forget these ideas, anyway! 
On the other hand, if you can push yourself to do the more available things asap - like the peek in the attic, he'll feel satisfied, and you will too! I know that I procrastinate with things that seem overwhelming/difficult, but when I actually do them, they weren't that bad after all! For the attic visit, I would just do it! Drop what you're doing as soon as nap-time begins and head up there. You don't have to commit to a long time (he probably will be satisfied sooner than you realize) then you can talk about the experience afterward with him.
You needn't feel as if you have to do it all, now. Really, that wouldn't be possible. Please don't be too hard on yourself.
And enjoy, relish their enthusiasm and interest! It's such delightful thing, isn't it?
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God bless,
Tami
When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become. (Nouwen)
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Lori B
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| Posted: Sept 29 2007 at 4:44pm | IP Logged
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When I was homeschooling with toddlers and babies we saved the "can we mom???" things for the weekend when Daddy was around to help out. I had a little magnetic notepad on the fridge where I would jot down ideas to explore, and by Saturday Hubby was looking forward to everything he read on the list as much as the kids were
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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: Sept 29 2007 at 6:06pm | IP Logged
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Make a note of what he wants to do, and then tell him to pick one a week. Treat it like a cliffhanger. This has always worked with my younger kids and helped me to preserve a sense of sanity and order. I am just not a drop-everything-and-do-it-all kind of mom. I sometimes set aside a block of time on Fridays (mentally) for a neat activity, an educational video, a park day or whatever. That way its easy for me to say, "you know what, we are going to make maple sugar on Friday...I can't wait!"
Two other thoughts...maybe take a look at what you have planned for your oldest children (who are extremely young!). Maybe some of it can go by the wayside in favor of more hands on activities? Less is especially more with this age group.
And there's no getting around letting the laundry and cleaning standards drop for awhile when you have a houseful of littles. No guilt! Rock the baby, play with the toddler, read to the older children, and enjoy this time. Having a high schooler now, I have been known more than once to daydream about the stage you were at and wish I had enjoyed it more...02
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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SallyT
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| Posted: Oct 11 2007 at 4:06pm | IP Logged
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I'm always bad about follow-through on things like this, even without babies and toddlers, and I love the cliffhanger idea (and the idea of actually getting to the step of WRITING IT DOWN WHERE I'D SEE IT).
The only other thing I'd add to these excellent suggestions is that YOU don't always have to make these things happen. Yes, they would like for you to. But just leaving it all alone isn't always a bad thing. If a book has taken hold of a child's imagination, he will be "playing" it -- I read The Hobbit with my 5- and 3yos last month, and just today I found my 5yo "fighting goblins" on the backyard fort. That fort has been a cabin, a stockade, a castle, a pirate ship, a spaceship . . . you name it. When we read the Little House books, half our woodpile disappeared up into the fort, and for all I know, there was some imaginary hog-slaughtering going on, too.
All that to say that while taking these balls and running with them is great, if you have to leave it to your children sometimes, the balls will still get run with. The really important thing is that you gave them the idea for the game.
Sally
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mariB
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| Posted: Oct 13 2007 at 5:50am | IP Logged
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I don't have any advice because all these wonderful ladies have explained beautifully.
Your little boy's insight has just made my day. I'm going to read aloud Little House in the Big Woods to my two littles because he has inspired me. Can I use your boy's ideas...maybe he can come over and plan some unit studies? 
Truly, he is so CUTE!!!
Blessings to you and your family.
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marib-Mother to 22ds,21ds,18ds,15dd,11dd and wife to an amazing man for 23 years
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cornomama4
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| Posted: Oct 15 2007 at 10:52pm | IP Logged
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OK, Marianne, YOU just made my day! Thanks for your appreciation of my child...helps me to see it too!
And thank you to everyone else who replied. I am realizing that part of our problem is overscheduling (do I hear an AMEN) and being out of the house 6 days of the week for something. This year is an experimental year with mommy home most of the time, homeschooling "for real" and a (fairly) new baby(6m) in the mix, so I must accept that I don't know what too busy feels like until I'm there! I think I'm afraid of having days with nothing scheduled..this comes from years as a freelance musician, where if you didn't have a full datebook of gigs you didn't have any money coming!
So, as I maxed out this week, I am going through the activities and making some hard choices. However, the since the children don't even know about some of the choices that were coming up, they won't have any sadness when we skip "underwater basket weaving" or "taxidermy for tots" or any of the other wonderful choices out there.
All kidding aside, I think that's one thing so many of us struggle with is living the "less is more" motto. There are so many resources, activities, hobbies, etc. and we don't want our kiddos to miss out. But I think in the long run they will appreciate a calm mommy, a more organized lifestyle, and the time to "peek in the attic" etc. What's funny is their aunt and uncle in Kansas actually do raise their own hog each year and butcher it! And chickens too.
Anyway, thanks again to all!
cm4
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Falling short on follow through
