Odds and Ends: March Edition

Spring

Spring is in the air even if this week will be colder than last week. We've been keeping a family Calendar of Firsts since 2018 and even though we forget to put a million things we see into it, it keeps us on our toes to notice all the firsts of the year.

This year, we've noted our first skunk cabbage, robins, grackles, geese flying north, daffodil shoots, tulips emerging, rhubarb tips, crocuses, red-spotted newt, tadpole, spring peepers, and wood frogs. 

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I use a $1 calendar from Target. Somehow it is easier for me to make mistakes, draw beginner watercolor drawings, and try to remember the exact dates we saw something when I know that the value and specialness of the calendar only comes from how the process of keeping it changes us. I learned that idea from Charlotte Mason via Laura Bestvater in her book The Living Page. I need a very powerful idea to fuel my keeping practices during this busy season of motherhood or else I just wouldn't make it a priority.

I'm revisiting my list of spring poems to choose a few topics to read about so I'll be prepared to talk to the kids about them when we encounter them in the wild. It can feel like a lot of pressure to learn enough about nature to "teach" my kids about it. But in recent years, I've embraced the idea of a mystery lesson where I ask questions about a plant and we all look at it closely, even though I have no idea what it is and maybe I won't even be able to find it in a wildflowers book.

That is how I went down a rabbit hole for myself last year and learned about a few of the more common types of speedwell. Once you really know a common flower, you will see it everywhere and wonder how it was that you never noticed it before. I'm always drawn back to these lines from Wordsworth

She has a world of ready wealth, 

Our minds and hearts to bless—

This blog from New Hampshire has actually been a huge help to me in growing my nature knowledge. Being several hours north of me, I see things first and then see pictures and discussion on the blog. It helps me confirm my own guesses and even get ideas of what to look for in my own backyard.

Motherhood and Charlotte Mason

I'm rereading Parents and Children with a friend at the same time I'm taking Dr. Laura Markham's Peaceful Parents Course. Mason's writings about parental authority provide a good tempering to peaceful parenting's empathetic limits. But I see no conflict between the two, only a different emphasis.

Mason emphasizes the special authority deputed to parents and urges us to teach our children the habit of obedience, in part by invoking a "majestic ought." But our authority is limited by their personalities and their identity as born persons. 

Dr. Laura Markam shies away from words like discipline and authority and obedience, knowing all too well how the desire for control for selfish reasons or fear of outside judgment can warp those ideas until they become the justification for many bad acts that lead to a breakdown in relationships. 

But on the other hand, without authority and character training, we can swing to the other extreme and let our children lead the family, which is not good for them, or for a marriage, or for the other children in a family. And it doesn't have to be that you get the balance all right or all wrong. In our own family, I can see areas where we practice loving authority and invoke a majestic ought as parents and others where we have got out of balance one way or another.

This is why I keep reading about all the topics that are most important to me including parenting, education, nature, and the humanities. My whole life is a balancing act and I'm trying to learn and grow and stretch in whatever ways I'm able during the current season.

Reading

My 2021 reading goals are really challenging me to keep the books coming. I have placed several ebooks on my hold shelf and try to power through my physical books or public domain books while my ebooks are not available. Then I have to switch gears and read, read, read before my ebook returns.

I'm currently reading

The bluebird effect: uncommon bonds with common birds - I am LOVING this one!

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (reread)

Parents and Children (reread)

Peaceful Parents, Happy Kids (reread)

The Cat Who Went to Heaven - Reading aloud with the kids

The Introverted Mom

Formation of Character

Families on Foot: Urban Hikes to Backyard Treks and National Park Adventures 

Writing that list out makes me look crazy, but I read different ones based on where I'm sitting or what I'm doing. 

Homeschooling

I just signed up for our homeschool evaluation in May so I know that the end of the school year is in sight. I'm already busy planning for next year.

This will be our first time returning to the beginning of our four-year history cycle and we'll be studying approximately 1000-1650. I've learned so much from our first time through this time period and I want to do a better job choosing books that include more diverse perspectives--not as an add-on, but as the meat of what we are doing.

I'm so excited to share our history plans when they are completed for all 3 children. I hope to do a separate post just about history soon. I have found so many great books to make it a really interesting and important year.

Homemaking

This week finds me going through bins in the basement looking for short sleeves and shorts, but also buying slippers for feet that have busted through their old ones. We still have almost 2 months of cold mornings to look forward to, after all.

I also decided to order some very inexpensive shelving to transform our narrow hall closet into more homeschooling and craft storage. Hopefully, this will take more pressure off of my kitchen storage because I've got some pans and muffin tins that keep falling all over the place as they are not in a good location. I used to store these items out of reach because I rarely used them, but I have two new resident bakers who need mini muffin tins on the regular. 

As always, the kids keep growing and changing and I either need to find more storage or get rid of more stuff. I find doing both is the best solution.

For dinner this week we are still eating like it is winter. Although the rhubarb is just peeking out and my peas will be planted by this weekend, we won't really be able to eat from the garden until the very end of May. So we will finish up our storage vegetables and ferments until then. 

monday :: no boil pasta with chicken sausage (I splurged on sausage to make this an easy dinner night)

tuesday :: beef tacos with refried beans (beef and beans from the freezer) plus homemade tortillas and sauerkraut

wednesday :: everyday beans and rice with eggs and sweet potatoes

thursday :: chicken, potatoes, and frozen broccoli (Peter is dissecting a chicken thigh for his anatomy study so we wouldn't want it to go to waste!)

friday :: Nana dinner (we'll eat at my MIL's which is a huge relief because after spending 4 hours outside at our Wild + Free group plus 45 minutes driving each way I do not feel like cooking!)

I need to find a way to use almost 1 gallon of fermented beets I still have leftover from last year. I told my husband to plant 1 row of beets/turnips/daikon. Instead, he planted 1 row of each!!! I hate letting them go to waste, but there is only so much borsht I can serve for dinner. Any suggestions are appreciated! Fortunately, the beets will keep for a LONG time if needed.

Linking up with Rosie.