But first, since this is also about foods...last night's dinner was great. Roasted a boneless turkey breast with fresh herbs, saw it was getting dry, so I poured white wine over it...YaHooooo was that good! Roasted squash, peas, rice, and some sliced cucumbers. Instead of having the rice...I went with the apple cake I made in the morning -- for dessert:) It was a very handy cake to have lying on the counter top...too handy, as it ate itself up very quickly. I used quinoa flour, but didn't think about the xanthan gum until it was too late, so the texture was a bit crumbly...it was in the lesson learned category, Oh Well! It still tasted good.
I've quickly gobbled my way through a book as well: the Happiness Project, by Gretchen Ruben--and I'm recommending everyone read it. It really reinforced a lot of what we have chosen to do as a family, how we've "gone with our gut" instincts in the pursuit of growth, experiences and trying to challenge ourselves. It's full of tidbits too...and she did, and agreed with, much of what I've tried to do with my approach to life and my own happiness.
She started with fitness, I did that-it helped me, it helped her...She focused on food-it helped-another "ditto". She worked to find the good in situations, to choose how she would view her circumstances, to keep others in mind, to extend a generous attitude to her family, and to go with the notion that much of one's happiness is a choice...ditto, ditto, ditto...So I feel assured that my efforts are not in vain, and likely why I enjoy myself quite often. I'm making that extra effort now, with our middle man, who we've kept out of school because he's too young for his grade. He still jumps everywhere instead of walking...
Today, we're baking a cake, and doing BeyBlades experiments to see which one is best. It's giving me a few giggles, because we can actually do an experiment. Trials, controls, averages, consistency, predictions, data collection and recording...etc. The years-ago science teacher in me is giggling too, and I'm glad that he's into it! The biggest thing we'd like to accomplish in having him learn at home is regaining the positive disposition toward school that was polarized while he was in second grade. I'm reinforcing lots of little things too...holding pencil correctly (prevents hand cramps and an unwillingness to write!), working without making noises and popping out of chair (should help him in his next classroom), and getting at the work (task attack is an important work habit, throughout life!), and sticking with the work until it's done (which m-i-g-h-t also be relevant to the rest of his life).
I'm seeing lots of positive changes in his approach, so my job will be the consistent reinforcer...which I'll do when we're not at the pool...which is where we're heading after we get the cake baked. Just added that Gravity isn't capitalized, but that was my bad...the BeyBlade's name is Gravity Destroyer! I gasp-he laughs. The key pursuit for me is doing it all positively...which I admit is a challenge because I have a couple of perfectionist tendencies that I work at moderating-but if I let my awareness slip and go with a reflex--there they are! Being this way is sometimes a positive...and sometimes it is not. Some of my tricks? Find four or five positives for each fix, not saying it's wrong, just asking what can be changed...unless it's math, then I'm fine with right/wrong! And, we're taking a couple of minutes after each task, to see what skills he used, reinforcing those every time and way I can think of...
It's a lot, and it feels like a lot, but since I'm not sure how long we're going to be anywhere, it seems like the best pursuit for now. And we're having fun, which I was thinking might make others a bit wishful-but then I thought about it...first kids gets years of one-on-one, middle kid-limited, third kid gets even less time, until the older two fly off, then they get one-on-one (probably when it won't be so high on her list!). A little extra one-on-one seems alright for the middle man, and I don't feel like I'm shorting the other two when I put it in a longer term time frame.
Chao!
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