Adventures in Parenting

Viewing entries for May, 2009 View: All | Photos | Stories | Statuses | Videos | Milestones

Katherine's photo

Status Update — May 30, 2009

Katherine digs hanging out with cousin Anna

Elisabeth's photo

Status Update — May 30, 2009

Elisabeth saw both of her new cousins, two uncles, two aunts, and three grandparents - all in one day!

Katherine's photo

Status Update — May 29, 2009

Katherine met her cousin Anna today!

Katherine's photo

Status Update — May 28, 2009

Katherine loves to giggle

Elisabeth's photo

Status Update — May 28, 2009

Elisabeth is counting the hours until all the Grandparents and Aunts & Uncles arrive!

Katherine's photo

Status Update — May 26, 2009

Katherine is three months old today!

Katherine's photo

Status Update — May 25, 2009

Katherine just went for her first (of many) jaunts around Central Park in the running stroller

Katherine's photo

Status Update — May 25, 2009

Katherine has gone to bed at 8 (and slept!) for the past two nights

Elisabeth's photo

Status Update — May 25, 2009

Elisabeth is reading Grandma's Attic with Mommy

Katherine's photo

Status Update — May 22, 2009

Katherine 's mohawk gets higher and cheeks get bigger everyday

Parenting and Gardening

by Graham // 3 comments // tagged with: gardens

Over the past week or two, I've spent a lot of time parenting and gardening - and often at the same time. Elisabeth and I have been doing homeschool outside in the garden every morning (that it hasn't rained). She waters the plants, and I pluck the weeds. And, of course, we read, talk and write together.

It strikes me that that there is a parallel between parenting and gardening in concerted cultivation. If I want the garden to thrive (and not the weeds), I need to be diligent about watering and weeding. When I do those two things, I can enjoy the beauty of the garden. Likewise in parenting, I need to be diligent in nurturing and correcting. When I do those two things, I enjoy the beauty of right relationship. If I fail to nurture, Elisabeth will wilt like a flower without water; if I nurture without correcting, she'll grow, but her character will be laced with weeds. If I correct without nurture, I may get rid of the weeds, but her character won't blossom.

We're off to the garden again this morning . . .

Text to World connection

by Graham // 2 comments // tagged with: Elisabeth, home schooling

When I taught early elementary grades, I encouraged my students to make different kinds of connections:
  1. Self-to-text: when they identified with something in a story.
  2. Text-to-world: when then related literature to the real world.
  3. Text-to-text: when they saw a relationship between two pieces of text.
Today we had one of those text-to-world connections. I took Elisabeth to the Met for Start with Art, and we spent our time in the Ancient Near East galleries, where we looked at lion reliefs commissioned by Nebuchadnezzar II for the city of Babylon.

When we opened up the Bible this evening to read, we found ourselves reading Daniel 2, where Daniel interacted with the same king who commissioned the lions.
Elisabeth's photo

Status Update — May 20, 2009

Elisabeth is enrolled in a biligual school for next year!

Katherine's photo

Status Update — May 13, 2009

Katherine is our little Houdini in freeing herself from the swaddle blanket

Katherine's photo

Status Update — May 9, 2009

Katherine slept from about 10pm to 5:45 this morning!

Elisabeth's photo

Status Update — May 9, 2009

Elisabeth started ballet and swimming this week

Katherine's photo

Status Update — May 7, 2009

Katherine has returned to her sleeping self

Elisabeth's photo

Status Update — May 7, 2009

Elisabeth is back in the saddle

Elisabeth's photo

Status Update — May 2, 2009

Elisabeth took a HUGE spill off her bicycle this morning and has an impressive bump on her forehead

Katherine's photo

Status Update — May 1, 2009

Katherine weighed 11 lbs, 4.5 oz at her check-up on Thursday

Elisabeth's photo

Status Update — May 1, 2009

Elisabeth is convinced that she doesn't sleep at night

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