Letting Go: Early Lessons in the Circle of Life
A few weeks ago, my mom purchased a butterfly home and caterpillars for the boys. The boys were excited to watch the caterpillars grow larger and larger, then become chrysalises. We watched each and every day for any activity. After a week or so, the first butterfly emerged. The boys were excited to see the new life. Soon after the 4 other butterflies emerged. Carter slept through each new beginning (it so happened he took a nap that day). Evan on the other hand, was very upset of the timing of the 4 others. He was playing Mario and was quite upset that I interrupted his game so that he could watch the new butterflies emerge. Jeremy and I, on the other hand, were enthralled with the process. And sat waiting for at least 30 minutes until the very last butterfly entered the world.
We kept them in their home for a couple of days, when I finally explained to the boys that we needed to let them go. Evan, of course, did not want to let them go! After a brief explanation of why it would be better for the butterflies to be free to do what God intended, Evan agreed it was the best option.
So we headed out to our butterfly bush and unzipped the temporary home. There was one butterfly READY to escape. She had been hanging on to the zipper all morning. It didn’t take her long to get those wings fluttering and off she went. Evan, at this point, became very sad to see the butterfly go. He turned to me and asked to zip the rest of the butterflies back in the home.
I asked him how he thought that first butterfly felt as she flew away excitedly. He dropped his head and gave me the, “I know she was happy to fly away but I want them to stay.” But he knew what he needed to do and opened the zippered ceiling and rooted each butterfly to take flight, until the very last one headed off into the sky. Surprisingly, NONE of the butterflies were interested in the bush. They flitted and fluttered around the back yard all afternoon, much more interested in flying then anything else.
Carter explained, “they are now looking for their mommy and daddy so they can be happy.” Melt my heart!!
Can’t wait to do this again next year! Evan immediately asked if we could get some more caterpillars.
But the learning of new life isn’t over yet. A Robin has nested in our Rose of Sharon tree and we have watched her build her nest, lay 3 eggs and now there are 3 hairless babies she is tending too (I’ve taken a bunch a pictures since they boys can’t see inside the nest). Can’t wait to watch them grow and take their first flights.
I’m just curious…do you do anything special during the spring/summer with your kids to allow them the experience of watching new life around us? Please share your experiences 
!
Local Museum (and Pizza) Love
Having two children that are under the age of four and living in Ohio, where weather is always changing, a mom needs an arsenal of “go to” places. Because let’s face, I’ve said it before, I CAN NOT handle being cooped up with the boys all day long. And the boys rather get out and go anyway. We all know what can happen when those two are confined to the house!
Fortunately for us, we have an arsenal of wonderful, educational, explorational (okay you get my drift) children friendly places to go. Not one too just drop your kids off and think you have some time to relax. But really use to get down and involved in your child’s learning. But the rant associated with that statement is for another time and another post.
One of our very favorite places to go is the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. I have been to a lot of children’s museums (you know, in my “teaching” days and I’m one of those weird people that like to visit children’s museums when we travel, even before kids). And Boonshoft rivals any of the ones I have been too.
Last year, my mother-in-law purchased a family membership for us, which we decided to upgrade to the “Adventurer” membership. The family membership pays for itself in about 3 visits. So it was a no-brainer when she asked to purchase it for us. But with the Adventurer membership, I can get in free at the Cincinnati Museum Center and half off at the Columbus Zoo. Plus many other museums and zoos within the state AND out of state. Last year, we must have saved couple hundred dollars, at least, with our membership. So when it was time to renew our membership, there was no second guessing!
I told you, I keep those boys busy outside the home !!
{In my “teacher” voice} If you are a parent, I would urge you to check out your local museums. And if you are a Miami Valley parent, you definitely need to get yourself an Adventurer Membership from the Boonshoft.
As I mentioned above, we go to Boonshoft quite frequently. About once a month. I would go more often, but I don’t want the kids to get “burned out”. This way, each time we go, they have some what forgotten about all the different activities.
So when we were invited to come and play at the new Cassanos Pizza exhibit, I was game. But actually we were there just a week before and the kids LOVED it! But this time, the boys got to hang out with some of their friends and eat Cassanos Pizza. YUMMY!!! Who could say no??
What I love about Boonshoft, is that they are always implementing new exhibits and updating old ones. And the Cassanos Pizza exhibit is a perfect exploration of a LOCAL business.
My boys LOVED taking orders:
They loved making the pizzas:
They loved delivering the Pizzas:
The loved “eating” the pizzas:
They really LOVED eating the pizza that was brought for us for the special occasion (pizza not included at Boonshoft) ! Hello, all that playing made these preschoolers HUNGRY!
You can tell, that a lot of thought and planning went into this exhibit. Educationally speaking two things stood out to me.
- It teaches children processes and order.
- HELLO – look at these AWESOME pizzas with FRACTIONS- you know I couldn’t resist putting in a math plug. And yes, everyone there heard me rave about these . It’s just the little things:
As you can see, we had a great time! Thank you to Boonshoft and Cassanos for putting on such a fun and yummy event!
Are you taking advantage of your local museums??
Disclaimer: We were invited to attend this exhibit free of charge (but you know I ALREADY have a membership because I LOVE Boonshoft) and were treated to some yummy Cassanos pizza after some hard playing. ALL views and opinions are my own.
Preying Memories
One of my favorite childhood memories:
I was young, not quite sure how old I was. My dad found a preying mantis who was about to lay her eggs. He brought her home and made a box for her to live in and lay her eggs. The box was about the size of an old-school cardboard pencil box – he made her new home out of wood. The roof of the house was made out of plexi-glass and you could slide it in and out to open the house up.
She did her last deed as a mom and laid her egg sack securely in that box. I remember watching that box all winter long!
Once spring approached, the egg sack hatched and hundred of little preying mantises were running wild through that box. My dad and I released them into our garden.
Every time I see a preying mantis, I am thrown back to childhood and filed with warm memories of that project with my dad!
This weekend, we were hanging out at one of our AWESOME metro parks when I looked up to see a massive preying mantis making a trek across the fabric awning.
I immediately had the kids look up and watch the beautiful little creature. But that just would not do because those memories flooded back into my mind. I asked myself, what would my dad do?
I grabbed a chair and a wooden rolling pin that the boys were playing with in the sand box. I climbed up and seduced the preying mantis onto the rolling pin.
I was successful.
I brought it down to the level of the boys, but they weren’t too comfortable in watching it. So they stayed distant.
Unacceptable. I knew what I had to do.
Ewww!!!! Having creepy crawlies on me isn’t my thing, but I attempted it for the boys so that they would come close.
I succeeded and the boys came near. They were enthralled. I encouraged them to touch gently and explained why these creatures are so cool.
All was well, until Evan poked slightly too hard and the little guy dug all six feet into my hand. It obviously didn’t hurt but it scared me and I squealed. It was all over then!! I freaked Evan out and he would no longer be a part of it!
Evan would not come near the thing and finally I let it go in a neighboring bush. Carter on the other hand – was furious to see it go!!
What memories do you try to recreate with your kiddos?
The Tale of a Candy Corn
Last night, I had a date night with Evan. His preschool has a special evening where moms are invited to share time with their preschooler and do some of the daily activities with them (dad’s get their chance in the spring).
I am the first to admit some of my downfalls as a mom. For instance, I don’t like the kids making messes so I rarely do any type of crafts with them – hey I said I would admit it . Fortunately the boys have their father who lets them paint and get messy. I also have the bad habit, by some chance they are doing something messy, of doing the work for them so they won’t make a mess. It’s a little weird, because it doesn’t bother me if the boys get down and dirty outside. Afterall they are boys, but the thought of glitter, glue, paint or beads all over the dining room just makes me have a panic attack. Besides, I will also be the first to admit that I am not an artsy, creative, designing type. So maybe that has something to do with it. It is too much of a chore to do art projects with the boys especially if I don’t enjoy it.
Okay so let’s get back to the story at hand. Last night we were given two art projects to do with the kids while we were at school with them. I kinda was stressing out about it all day long, knowing that I was going to have to do art with Evan. I know, I know!
So when it came time to do the first art project, I was super worried. It involved cutting straight lines and gluing beads – AGHHH!!!! But to my amazement, Evan sat down, immediately took his scissors and started cutting. “Mom, you need to cut along the lines.” And when I say “cutting”, he was actually cutting out the proper shapes. What? I have tried to show him how to use scissors and I know that his Babci has tried too. He won’t do it correctly for either one of us.
I also noticed that most of the moms there were doing the art project for the kids. I didn’t know what I should do, so I sat back and watched in sheer AMAZEMENT of my big boy! After he cut out the shapes, he took the glue and began spotting it to attach the beads. No mess, no hurry to complete it just a pure intense creative spirit emerging in front of my eyes. I watched as he placed each bead in its’ proper place, his tiny fingers holding each bead, his lip bit in concentration.
My eyes teared up and I was repeating “DO NOT start crying” over and over again in my mind.
He is growing up quickly and it took a candy corn to make me realize it all over again!
This post is part of Wordful Wednesday by Parenting by Dummies
New iPhone App that Your Kids Will Love: Speak, Piggy
Okay parents, if you have an iPhone you most likely have several apps on it for your toddlers to play with for those moments, lets say when you are waiting in a forever long line with a cranky kid. No? Your children never act like that?
Anyway, if you haven’t heard already the crew at A Modern Eden have just launched their first iPhone App: Speak, Piggy, and it is totally for our kids. And it is totally cool. And of course educational – which you know makes my ol’ teacher’s heart jump a beat.
We downloaded it last night when it first became available and played with it without the kids around – ha. But this morning Jeremy busted it out to get the real review of it! Needless to say, the boys were fighting over who’s turn it was. They loved it! And for $.99 you can’t beat it!
So grab your iPhones and download this awesome app. Your kids will thank you and maybe let you have a few moments of silence while waiting in line 
!
What Do You Make?
Although this isn’t a Tuesday, I am posting something about teaching. You see, I truly believe teachers are the back bone of this country (and not because that was my chosen field). And unfortunately they rarely get the respect that they truly deserve!
A friend of mine, Allison, posted this video on her Facebook page today, and after I was done watching it, I have to admit, it made me miss the classroom at little bit. Allison is a Title 1 Reading Teacher. A position that truly takes patience, creativity and always thinking outside the box! I am trying to get her to guest post for me for Ask the Teacher Tuesday, because I know she has some amazing insight to share with all of us!
So, if you get a chance in the next couple of days, thank a teacher for me! Okay??
A Teacher in the Works?
So, Evan and I have been working a lot with puzzles lately. The teacher in me, started to worry, when I noticed that he was having a hard time understanding how puzzles worked. Not that I expect him to be perfect in all things, by any means, just want to make sure I give him as much opportunities as possible to learn.
So everyday, for a few weeks now, during Carter’s morning naps, we have been working on puzzles, threading shoe laces through beads (and similar fine motor skills work) and matching games. I have tried to show him different ways of approaching puzzles such as looking at the puzzle first before breaking it apart to get an idea of what the whole should look like, noticing colors of the nubby parts to matching pieces, noticing shapes, animals etc that look like they would go together and so on.
He really is starting to get the hang of it, that or we have done the same puzzles over and over again that he has the pieces memorized. But either way, he is really starting to enjoy working on puzzles with me.
It is said that the best way a child can learn is by teaching someone else. The other day, I was checking my email, while Evan was on the floor threading beads onto a lace when I heard him talking to the cat. I turn around and he was explaining to the cat how to put the puzzle together. I fortunately had my camera charging at the computer so I could document his first teaching experience. He started by showing her all the animals on the puzzle, then explained how to find matching colors on the pieces and how to match up the bodies of the animals He was the cutest thing.
A funny side note is that the cat really hates him. When he comes around her, she immediately starts to growl and hiss. I don’t blame her, he is a very active little boy and even though we have shown him how to “pet” her and to “love” on her, he doesn’t quite understand that the cat doesn’t like it when he gets in her face and yells at her! He loves to get her hissing and will proclaim, “I’m picking on the cat, I’m picking on the cat!”
So, here he is, standing beside her with the puzzle, teaching her how to do it. As if cats do puzzles. But apparently in his mind Maya must play with puzzles in her free time. And the best part, was that Maya was laying there quiet and gentle and allowing him to be in her face. As if she knew that he was genuinely being nice to her!
Here Evan is Explaining what each animal is and the sound it makes
Here Evan is Explaining how to match the colors up.
Here Evan is Praising her for Paying attention during Instructional Time
Evan has developed some other teaching qualities also. He loves to boss people around, show Carter how to do things the “right” way, he loves being the center of attention and he thinks he knows it all. But, wait a second, those are all first born tendencies and German tendencies (I’m German I can say things like that!) so we will see what comes of these teaching moments!
But for right now, I will sit back and enjoy watching him teach the cat some new tricks!! Who knows, maybe Evan knows something we don’t. We think cats sleep all day, but instead they work on puzzles in their free time!
