Calgon Wednesdays

As of late there seems to be a growing number of  families that seem to be doing it right.  The dad is usually on the mission field somewhere.  The mom has a baby on her hip and is clipping coupons with her other hand . The siblings are playing chess or milking a cow.  They bake bread.  They smile all the time.  And in their spare time they visit museums and quote 17th century poets.

We are not  that family.

Here, the dad is out in the corn field somewhere.  The mom is prying scissors out of a 2 years old's hand.  The siblings are pulling each other's hair.  They eat candy.  Lots and lots of candy.  They fight all the time.  And in their spare time they quote Sponge Bob.

Now, don't get me wrong.  The first scenario sounds much better.  But we live here...The Space Between.  Where grace and frailties collide creating our beautiful mess of a life.

And did I mention I can't do it all?

So on top of having the best parents and MIL that help me fill in the gaps, I also have found the absolute all time best baby sitter in the entire free world.

And she has kept Baby Yahoo (and Little Middle when he was younger) for me every Wednesday since he was 6 months old.

Wednesday.  My Calgon moment of the week.

It is amazing how much and how fast you can get things done when you don't have to stop every few minutes to pull a toddler out of a dryer.

So on these Calgon Wednesdays, the older kids and I try to do more 'hands on' schoolin'.  Things that are not quite so conducive to the whole 'toddler in a dryer' moments.

Such as...

we're doing a unit on New World Explorers.  A few weeks ago we made our own flags for our pirate ship.

Please note that as the children are painting their flags I am painting the back porch door.

A true lesson in multitasking.

And today we made a pueblo diorama.

Gorgeous.  And the diorama looks pretty good too ;)

We had a few spare moments to make some clay replicas of ourselves

 The children decided they couldn't say pueblo.  So they just called it a castle.  Or a dirt house.  Pueblo is an odd word, isn't it?

Next week I'll order my Rosetta Stone.

I thought they did very well.

Coronado is getting ready to enter the pueblo.   Watch out Zina warrior tribe!

Calgon Wednesdays also allow for me to engage more in open conversations with the kids.  We do more reading together and have more opportunity to discuss what we've read.  Ninja was reading a book about the colonists when he had his first encounter with the dreaded.....cannibals.

I have no idea how the conversation ended up here, but these words actually came out of my mouth:

"No, Ninja, I am telling you for the last time.  President Obama is NOT a canibal!"

Ha!

In other news...


Another luxury I give myself on Calgon Wednesday is in regards to lunch.

 In that I don't make it.

I'm going to be vulnerable here.   So don't judge.  Typically I let the kids have a piece of fruit or two and then let them help themselves to a cookie to tied them over until I serve an early supper.  

My rationale, you ask?  Well, if I'm going for a productive, get-as-much-done-as-you-possibly-can-while- Baby-is-gone mentality, then isn't food one of those things that simply must go?  I mean, hello?  I am trying to school the children and paint the gutters all in a 6 hour time frame.  Who honestly cares about the 5 servings of fruits and veggies?

But I did say a piece of fruit or two.  See?  My conscience is clear.  I feel fine about it.  Really....  I do.....

Really.

I am truly thankful for a day a week that I get to have a little down time and a little more one on one time with the bigger Yahoos.  But I have to say that my favorite days are when we're ALL here.  Doing our crazy messed up life together. 

Speaking of craziness, Baby Yahoo has decided he is ready to full on tackle this potty training thing.  I think it is partly the sugar buzz he gets from the candy reward after going and partly that he hates the thought of still being in diapers when he goes to get his drivers license.  Regardless, we are well on our way to saying goodbye to Pampers.  Not that we are rich and ever really bought Pampers to begin with.  I was really just making a point.  But you get what I mean.  OK, I'm rambling.....All I really wanted to say is that now I have added potty training to my daily agenda.  So if you notice me running chicken-like behind a sheepish toddler you will have a better understanding why.

Alrighty, that's enough real Yahoo life for one day.  I think I'll go soak my hands in some Ajax bubbles, scrub some dirty dishes, and channel me a Calgon moment.