Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Liam's first day Post-K



my first pickles


Jennifer cutting the wall between the "re-addition" and the main house - with a chainsaw.


Mike, Ella & Liam checking the set-net.


First day back get-up.

Liam started grade 1 today. It's amazing how mellow he was about the whole thing. When pressed, he described subtle differences, but said his teacher was wonderful, played some game where the boys all ran away from the girls, learned that Grade 1 was pretty much like Kindergarten, only not as much playing, but in general, my impression is that he was thrilled to be back because it 1. gave him something structured to do and 2. gave him a break from his sister.

Looking back a year ago at what a big deal his first day was, it is amazing to think of how far both kids have come. The complexity of the car-ride conversation this time around, well, it was pretty interesting. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed that time in the car driving to McNeil. It takes about 40 minutes to get there, which is a lot of time to discuss whatever comes up. This morning, it was mostly pre-school jitters, but Thea launched into a refresher on the higher points of the previous evening, which included blueberry picking, swinging on a buoy, and eating noodles.

It's also funny how much more relaxed I've gotten about this parenting thing. Where before I would have been adamant about getting home and getting everyone in bed early, last night Jennifer and the kids and I went over to our friend Mike's house, and his daughter Ella and Liam got to go pick his set net together. We didn't get out of there until 8:30 or so, didn't get home until 9, didn't get in bed till 9:30, and Thea was still thrashing about at 10. Needless to say, no one woke voluntarily this morning, and Liam had that puffy-eyed look of a lad who could have stayed in bed a good bit longer. Sure was easy to put them to bed tonight, though!

Today was one of those beautiful Alaska days. 65 degrees, sunshine blasting, daybreeze keeping the bugs at bay - sort of. After school, we all hit the garden with gusto - weeding for two hours solid. Liam enjoyed harvesting the broccoli, cauliflower, some carrots (the sweetest ever, we decided), a couple of turnips, and some lettuce. He's allowed to use a sharp knife now, under supervision, which certainly adds to the allure. And Thea had fun digging for worms and cutting down fireweed with scissors. Good stuff. To me, watching them enjoying the garden, sampling the wares, and just being comfortable in this space of earth and green, is huge. They are part of their own self-sufficiency. It's magic.

1 comment:

MJ said...

Awesome writing Carey these blogs will be cherished by your children someday . Thanks for letting me have a peak into your life now.:) I love to hear the thoughts of children. You should be so proud for how you are inspiring such a wonderful confidence and independence in your children as your parents did with you . Nothing can be more valuable than to teach them to be aware of their own footprint on this earth and in such being self sufficient. I look forward to reading more
MJ :)