Math Drills

Glancing up from my laptop to see Jed quietly doing his Math drills.

Whale Time

Unlike most parents who get the weekend off, I am on a 24/7 shift. I do not have the option of quality time for Jed. 

Instead, Jed and I have lots and lots of "whale time". A baby whale spends two years beside its mom, just moving placidly through the waters. They do everything (which is mostly nothing) together. In this way, the baby whale slowly but surely grows to maturity.

Deuteronomy 4:9, 6:7 Watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Boys

Dericke has Jed pinned against the floor, his wrist at an unholy angle. Jed is screaming, "It hurts. It hurts. Let go!"

I run in and shout at the top of my voice to "Stop it and let go RIGHT NOW!"

Both boys stop instantly, look at me like I'm crazy and then they speak over each other. "No, mom, it's okay." "We were just playacting, auntie." "We're fine really." 

Then they run out to find something else to play with. 

I go back and sit at the kitchen table, my heart racing. I congratulate myself. Because, hey, Im not strangling myself to death. Or slitting my wrists. Or mindlessly banging my head against the wall. 

Boys. I will never understand them.

Dear Mommies with Grown-up Kids

Dear mommies-with-grown-up-children, 

Is it true that all mommies will miss the mess when the kids are grown up and move out of the house?

Please encourage me.

Catching a Magic Moment

God called me to work-from-home five years ago and homeschool two years ago. Today, I have the greatest privilege of leading my second heathen (Jed being the first, of course) to a saving knowledge of the Jesus.

Me: (stage auntie mode) It's true lagi, Sam. I almost died last night.

Samantha: Hahaaaay.... Anti, teacher said 'Dont tell a lie. Or God will send you to hell on the last day of earth'.

(catching a magic moment and swiftly changing to serious mode)

Me: And if we want to go to heaven on the last day of earth, what should we do then?

Me: The Bible says in Romans 10:9, "If we say with our heart that 'Jesus is Lord' and believe with our hearts, then we will be saved." Do you say it? And will you believe it?

Bent head. Closed eyes. A prayer made. A savior accepted. A life entrusted. Celebrate with heaven and me.

Childhood Hurts and Prayers

The two boys burst into my room, with Jed Elijah Sean Tan leaning slightly into Dericke for support. Dericke Gwaine Tan burst into a convoluted tale, Jed burst into tears.

After many questions, I managed to piece the story together.

They were biking the 500 meters from Elleane Tan-Dicdican's house to my apartment. Two kids started to chase them.

My precautionary tales of kidnappers, syndicated children begging on the streets, organ harvesting, pedophiles & toxic poisoning resulting from ruptured colons set them on the defensive and they pedaled faster to get away.

Dericke evaded the hump after the curve of the road and called out a warning but Jed didn't hear. Of course, Jed howled like a banshee as I dressed his wounds.

I shushed him, hugged my boy closer and thought,"This hurt, at least, I can heal."

I sent a quick prayer (one of many others) for all the little boys and their mommies in the neighboring islands.

Settlers of Catan

Finally, thanks to the world's best auntie - Anti Eve-, we finally get to see what all the fuss is about.

We opened the box at 8pm, tore through the manual and ended at one in the morning. There is a lot of inherent strategy and logical analysis and addition, multiplication and division going on during the game. So, the boys without knowing it, got a huge dose of practical learning while having loads of fun.

Best fun ever! Cant wait for the next round!

Patience and Silk Chinese Pajamas

A certain young man, who will remain nameless in this post, was naughty today.

In a last bid to make mama happy before lights out, he put on his authentic silk China costume as jammies. The same costume he had pronounced as "ugh!" while in China and which I had to bribe him to wear back in March.

As we drifted off to sleep, he also remembered to say, "Congratulations, Mom! Thank you for being very patient today."

(I struggle with patience on days like these and have asked him to congratulate me whenever he thinks I have done a great job of being patient. We try to actively practice the habit of catching ourselves doing what is right, instead of pointing out our mistakes.) 

The best thing about homeschooling is that my son and I can learn from each other. He learns his math and I get to practice my patience. We both learn to build our character. 

Bedtime reading

Absolutely, unequivocally, without a shadow of a doubt,

Jed loves to read.

It's Beginning to Look like Christmas

Jed had a fever today, so Dericke came to keep him company. The two boys commandeered the hammers. The poundings gave me quite a scare, as I had visions of them tearing down the house.

The end result was a lot lovelier.

Now, we have a bit of Christmas in our house, thanks to two energetic boys!

Naughty

Someone's been naughty for several days now.

So, the laptop  has been impounded. And an old friend for discipline has been put up. The last time we used the Reward Chart, Jed was five years old and going through a growth spurt which included testing the limits of the grown-ups around him. It seems we are going through yet another growth spurt.

For my parenting principles, I subscribe to the teachings of the One Minute Manager especially that children must be taught to "catch themselves doing right". So, the rules are pretty simple.

Jed knows what he should do and when he should do them. If he does it without me reminding him, he puts a star with my approval. When all the stars are up, he gets his laptop back.

It's a painless way to discipline & motivate him, perfect for little goal-driven boy.

He works so hard for the stars, too. On the one instance that he was rude & back-talked me, I asked him to take out eight stars. He ripped them out, then fled to the privacy of the bathroom where he cried his heart out. After several minutes, he stepped out and asked forgiveness.

All is well. We will weather this tempest together and come out safely on the sunny side, with no hearts damaged or trust betrayed.

Stop the Clock

How often I pause in my tracks now and wish there was a way to stop time in its tracks.

How fleeting are these childhood days! How blessed I am to spend these dawning days!

How often do I spontaneously burst out, as Wendy did to Peter Pan, "Oh, the cleverness of you!"

Bored or bribing?

I can't quite remember now if Jed was bored or trying to bribe me to do something for him.

But, I found these photos on the camera. One of his cousins must have been his accomplice.

A Planetarium, Microscope & Globe - Goodies!

We finally unpacked the goodies we picked up from Melbourne. O, happy day!

Here's our planetarium. It shows the stars of the South hemisphere. I'll have to keep an eye out for the slides that will show the stars of the North hemisphere.

 And here's a microscope, for my little scientist.

I also picked up an inflatable globe at the local National bookstore in Ayala, and attached a tiny golden plane to it.

Together with his laptop and art supplies, this rounds up all the materials that we will be using for this school year.

So now, Jed can marvel in the gigantic wonders of the stars, and indulge in the tiny details within a blade of grass.    

Ready for A New Week

All the art supplies tidied up and ready for use.

Welcome to Our Cozy Corner of the World

Meet Jed. He loves cartoons & internet games. And now he can indulge in both while doing online homeschooling.

I love that there's no early morning mad rush, and lots of time for healthy food & bonding.