Adventures in Parenting

One of the Christmas traditions that I inherited as a child was a orange in my stocking. What is the origin of that tradition? Patricia Polacco provides a delightful narrative in An Orange for Frankie that helps children understand why an orange in winter is such an extraordinary and precious thing.

What is extraordinary now is that an orange in winter is not unusual. In fact, as I write this, I am enjoying my third clementine this morning. I think it would be fair to say that the years from my childhood until now have been marked by the scarcity of scarcity. For a host of reasons, very, very few things were scarce - and therefore few things were special. So, in place of special my generation multiplied quantity, often at the expense of quality.

So as a parent I now ask, "How do I help my children experience things as special?"

When we were in the UK, I noticed a number of things that made me think about the way we live. One of those observations was the towel Elisabeth used at my Grandma's house. It is the same towel that I used when I visited as a young child. The book used as a doorstop for that bedroom is the same one that I remember from childhood.

Not surprisingly, there was a profound absence of clutter in my Grandma's house. Although she has been in the same house for nearly 50 years, there isn't junk lying around. I love that kind of simplicity, and want to learn to live that way.

Yesterday, we had lots of snow at Pop-pop's house. We tried sledding (see the video of Funny Frank), and didn't have much success, so we took to snowman building.

Elisabeth was a natural


She helped Uncle Frank with the face


and set the eyes


We finished one . . .


and decided that we should make another.

The big one was over seven feet tall!

For eight years my in-laws lived in a home that they heated with a wood stove. So when I came to stay, I would get to split and stack firewood. For a city-boy, it was great relaxation. In the process I learned the truth of the aphorism, He who cuts his own wood is twice warmed.

There is something similar with cycling that I want to cut down into an aphorism. I've tried explaining it to Elisabeth in terms of he who cuts his own wood is twice warmed since we often journey around the city together on the bicycle:

Cycling is fun, fast, fit, and free.

Does anyone have a clever way to say that?

From the kitchen, I overheard Elisabeth:

"I . . . I . . and . . . the . . . play . . . make . . ."

She was reading . . . all of the words she recognized.

Recently we picked up a book of poetry by Shel Silverstein at our local library. We devoured most of the book in the first day. I read Elisabeth Smart:

My dad gave me one dollar bill
'Cause I'm his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
'Cause two is more than one!

Then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes - I guess he don't know
That three is more than two!

Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just 'cause he can't see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!

And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!

And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head -
Too proud of me to speak!

The humor of the poem was entirely lost on Elisabeth. She told me that she didn't want her dollar bill. "It takes up too much space. I like the coins better." So we've been playing coin games during our math sessions this week. Elisabeth still thinks that paper money isn't as good as coins - but at least now she's beginning to understand that 1 can be more than 5, when the 1 is a dollar and the 5 are pennies.

Elisabeth has made enormous gains in reading over the past month. She read I Love My New Toy by Mo Willems this week with hardly any help. It is a delightful, simple book that provides some smiles and a great ending.

Elisabeth is never short on good questions. Today there were two new ones:

1. How does a song get on a CD?
2. How do you make a speaker?

I have a lot to learn in order to give intelligent answers!

Yesterday I read these words:

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer's;
he makes me tread on my high places. (Habakuk 3:17-19)

They are words I need in times like these.

Yesterday, Elisabeth received a Smart Globe for her birthday.

You can use the "smart pen" to tap any place on the globe (or pull out map of the United States) and learn about just about anything you would want to know about that place. (It even updates the content from the internet via a usb cable.) Elisabeth thinks it is fantastic. (Thanks Pop-pop!)

So last night she said,

"Daddy, can we just do the learning about states part of family worship?"

A conversation yesterday:

Elisabeth: Dad, what do you want to give me for Christmas?
Dad: A hug.
E: What else do you want to give me?
D: A kiss.
E: What do you want to give me that can go in a stocking?

Amongst our travels, we visited my cousin in Olney, where John Newton served as a pastor. Although we didn't get to visit his church (since we were enjoying too much good food and friendship), it was exciting to be in such a historic place.

This morning I saw these words at Of First Importance:

This will be the first in a deluge of posts now that we're back from the UK with lots of photos and stories.

But first, it is great to be back! We arrived home to homemade soup, a bowl of fresh fruit and milk in the refrigerator after having been away for 10 days. What a blessing it is to have friends. Thanks, Mike&Lauren!