Category Archives: Jenny

08.24.10
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But wait, there’s more…

First of all, I have to say that I failed to mention the laptop, cell phone and iPod on Katie’s birthday list. I figured most people would assume they were there. She’s nine, and my daughter and a modern girl, too.

And the only reason a pony isn’t on the list is because we’ve been over that one a dozen times. The military won’t move your horse.

One other item that was on her list was a light for reading at bedtime that clips onto her bed. Her brothers each got one for the feast of the Epiphany last January. She and Jenny were very disappointed that they did not also get one.

So I got her one, just like her brothers’. In fact it was so very like her brothers’ that it even had a sticker on it with a St. Nick and words addressing it “To: Katie, From: The Three Kings.” She and her sister had been misbehaving last January and I threatened them with one less Epiphany present if they did not straighten up. They didn’t, so these lights have been shoved in the back of my closets (here and the one in Virginia) for 7 1/2 months.

She was happy with this one (not Silly Bandz squealing, just normal happy) and laughed when I pointed out the sticker. Jenny asked if that meant she was getting a light for her birthday next month.

“Put it on your list,” I said.

07.20.10
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Yesterday, in photos

Fritz said, “Mom, look! My hair is half brown and half blond!” I told him people actually pay good money for highlights like his. No chemicals here: that’s sun bleaching. I wonder what it will look like when he gets it cut.

This is a jig-saw puzzle that Fritz completed with a little help from his sisters and me. He took the picture. Notice the conquering hero’s planted foot…on the kitchen table.

Peter said he was too tired to clean up his toys. And then he proved his point by passing out on the kitchen floor.
Jenny got an early Christmas present: her two front teeth.

07.19.10
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Pancakes for Bedtime

Last night I “read” Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie De Paola to Mary before bed. I prefaced the story by telling Mary that this book had been Jenny’s favorite when she was little. “Do you remember that?” I asked my almost seven year old. It was 3 or 4 years ago, but she remembered.

As Mary and I went through the story of the poor woman who has to work so hard for her pancake breakfast, Jenny listened from her bed and contributed words and commentary. Jenny and I had looked at this book so many times when she was a toddler, and I would say the same things each time. Her words quoted me from all those long past readings.

When we were done, Mary said, “Again,” but I said no. I did say, though, that she could look through the pictures herself while she snuggled in my lap and we rocked in the chair in the dimly lit room. “But I can’t read,” sighed my little dramatist with flair learned from her older sisters.

“You don’t need to read it, honey,” I said. “There aren’t any words anyway.”

“No words?” asked Jenny.

“Nope.”

“You mean it’s a picture book?”

“Yes, honey,” I said as gently as possible. These little growing-up moments are so precious to me.

One day, perhaps, Jenny will have a little girl of her own, and I will be sure she has a copy of this book. And I bet it will still be my words that she “reads” to her daughter.
06.11.10
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"Hands on" learning – literally

“Mom, Jenny’s intentionally stepping in the poison ivy and rubbing it on her hands!”

No vicarious learning around here, no sir. She’s just.like.me.

Katie has been scratching at a rash for several days. I identified the rash as likely coming from poison ivy. I’ve had poison ivy rashes. No fun.

Billy mentioned he noticed some three-leaved plants near the fence. I investigated and confirmed their nefarious “roots.” I brought Katie outside, showed her the plant, and said, “Know thy enemy.”

Then I made the mistake of mentioning to the kids that they should wash with soap and water if they thought they had touched a plant. That might prevent the rash, I said. After handling the poison ivy, Jenny went and washed up to see if that took care of it.

Very risky.

The plants will remain in place until this weekend when Bill will get to them. Even though he has never had an allergic reaction to them, he will wear gloves and be very careful. Why tempt fate? Since I have him, I won’t go near the plants. If he were gone for an extended period, I would have to do something, but I would wear long pants, long sleeves, socks and shoes, disposable gloves and put all clothes in the wash immediately afterward (right after I showered using this product, which I recommend).

That Tecnu stuff helps relieve itching as well. It’s a good thing I own some. Jenny may be very miserable tomorrow.

09.27.09
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More pictures

Dressed for Mass. I’ve been fighting this girl for over a week now with the new clothes that she doesn’t like. Mary Janes? Tights? No way, she says. New pants? New shirts? What’s wrong with the summer clothes? She remembers this dress from early spring, so at least I have that.

Birthday girl. I forgot to mention that Jenny had one of these last weekend. Yesterday she asked me if I wished I were 6 again. I told her when I was 6, I didn’t have her daddy or her or her brothers and sisters in my life, so, no, I would not want to be 6 again. (Oh, but to have that simple life…)

[photo removed at the request of an overly sensitive 6 year old]

Self photography. Jeepers, creepers. Where’d she get those peepers? Gosh, oh golly, where’d she get those eyes?

Peter is posing with his “new” football outfit. This fit Billy not too long ago. Billy is thrilled that now he and Peter can play on the same team (Billy has a bigger jersey now). Amazingly, Billy will wear Fritz’s old Packers jersey, as long as they aren’t playing each other like last weekend.

08.13.09
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Off to an intentionally slow start

I have nothing on my calendar for today – thank goodness. I don’t know how I always get so busy, but it is exhausting.

We started “school-lite” this week: math and Latin. That’s more than enough. I really do like easing into the school year. My two boys are using DIVE videos for the first time, so we’re figuring out how that works and also doing time management.
Two subjects, four students.

But to give you an example of the challenges I face, one student who has no desire to do math or Latin and who thinks that giving me a hard time will – I don’t know – make me decide that we should just skip those subjects? Really, I have no idea what he hopes to accomplish. Anyway, he was showing me just how difficult math is by wrinkling his brow and acting constipated. And what exactly was the problem that was giving him such trouble? Complex algebra? Long division? Word problems written in French?
9 + 8
I told him he should have picked something just a tad more difficult if he were going to pull such dramatics.
So, this is why I am glad we’re starting off small. 90 minutes more or less of school is good for the first week, especially when nobody else in the area has even begun to think about it.
One other sure sign that school has begun in my house is the antics of the younger crowd, including Jenny who is not learning Latin and whose math takes all of 15 minutes. Peter keeps begging for a playmate, so we will work on following the full school year routine I laid out which actually has someone assigned to him to keep him occupied. Jenny’s downtime has been relatively benign.
Here is her self portrait taken while waiting for Katie to finish math.

She took a half dozen pictures of the sunroom: things on the wall, the ceiling fan. Harmless, quiet self-absorption. Wish she did this more often.

Mary, of course, is the biggest trouble-maker. It’s her age-appropriate nature. First she got her hands on the white-out pens. Fortunately, I own some Goof Off. The linoleum looks just fine now.
Then it was the magic markers. She currently into body art. And even washable markers take several days for the ink to get off skin. I buy markers once a year – at the beginning of the school year. When they’re gone, they’re gone. If the kids can’t keep them put away and monitored closely when in use, they will be gone very soon.
Then it was the half-eaten yogurt all over her and the dining room table.

If you look closely, you can see the lines from the markers. Her legs are twice as bad.

Right now she’s soaking wet from playing with soapy water in the sink. It’s what I have to do to type a blog post. The floor is wet, too, but this is an easy cleanup compared to hand soap rubbed all over the bathroom mirror, another of her favorite pastimes. She’s bored now, and thus ends my writing for today.

07.07.09
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Where does she get these ideas?

“There’s the ice cream truck,” one of the kids said as we passed a house. Apparently, a neighbor has secured summer employment.

“The ice cream man is mean,” said another kid. I asked why, and they went on to describe how he never stops by our house and how Neighbor Girl said she was waiting for him, and he slowed down, but then he sped up and didn’t stop for her.

I thought perhaps these trucks have set routes and that our street was not on his, but before I had a chance to suggest it, Jenny offered her own idea:

“Maybe he had too much beer the night before.”

01.31.09
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On the Fashion Runway…

I look back at childhood photos and wonder what my mom was thinking in her selection of my clothing. I don’t care that all the other children were wearing bell bottoms and polyester and brown and orange, she should have been able to rise above the chaff, right?

I am certain that my own children will do the same thing. For the record, I neither selected nor approved this outfit. This child has her own fashion sense, and I take no responsibility for her “look.”

And this one, who is increasingly difficult to capture in a decent photo (“Mary, stop moving!”)…well, let’s just say that I’m glad this underwear is clean. And I’m doubly glad it isn’t mine.