Teach Your Children Well

Can you hear and do you care and 
Can’t you see we must be free to 
Teach your children what you believe in… 

It’s that time of year! School is starting. I love the ‘new’ associated with school. There’s smiling, polished faces dressed in their new clothes carrying new backpacks filled with wonderful new supplies. It’s a new year, most likely with a new teacher. It’s time to renew old friendships and begin new ones. It’s time to learn.

For the first time in a long while we had a new first grader at the house. She was excited because we were excited. And she couldn’t believe the bus would come all the way up to the house to pick her up!

First day waiting for the bus!

All of the Littles except George are in school now. It’s bittersweet. I love that they are growing and learning but I also long for the time when they were babies, no worries or cares, wanting to sit in my lap. We could do nothing together and have a good time. We still enjoy each others company, when we have a chance to be together. But schedules, both mine and theirs, activities and life in general make those meetings few and far between.

Now we have one in Kindergarten, two in first and one in fourth grade Time seems to pass so quickly.

I asked each of them about school this year. Starr, moving into a new state, besides a new school, has some cultural factors to overcome. In Texas, where Spanish is a common second language, she’s hearing words she’s never experienced before! The morning of her second day, before she was ready to get on the bus, I asked her what her teacher’s name was. She thought for a while and finally said, “Mrs. Tomato”. I laughed because I thought she was playing. She was serious. But when you’ve never heard Maldonado before, Tomato is pretty close!

She's really paying attention!

Belle is our kindergartner. She’s 5 going on 20! Her mother says she’s a lot like me because we have common interests: shoes, clothes, pedicures! One day last year when Callye was getting her ready for pre-school she burst out crying. “What’s wrong?” Callye asked. Belle, between sobs, told her the problem. “I don’t have any diamonds on my jeans!”

When I talked to her the other day, in her grown up Belle speak she told me she’d already gotten in trouble. “Oh no,” I said, “What happened?” “A girl was shaking me in the bathroom and I shaked her back and it got me in the OOPS can!” she said breathlessly. “Did the other girl get in the OOPS can too?” “Yes, she did!” she said. And without remorse I said, “Well good!”

Caleb is our little dinosaur expert. Except the other day he was Spock. He’s got varied interests which he seems to have inherited from his uncles. He can recite information and whether it’s correct or not, convince you! He is comfortable playing with a group of kids or he is perfectly content being alone. When his mom asked him last year what his favorite thing about school was he said the cafeteria! She told me he rubbed his belly and said he really liked that place! He also had a crush on his teacher last year. He liked her so much he was going to marry her! He didn’t have a lot to say about school so far this year. All he told me was that his new teacher was pretty! Hmmm…I wonder if she’s going to replace last year’s crush!

 

Evan is a big kid now. He’s into listening to his music, dancing and just being a cool kid. He’s getting to the age where he can throw a little attitude to and fro, much to his mother’s chagrin! She had an interesting conversation with him when he came home from his first day of school. “Mom,” he said, “My teacher is old fashioned. She called earbuds headphones.” She said, “Well that's what we called them when we were young.” And he, in his fourth grade superiority voice says, “I can't believe they had earbuds when you were young.”

I figured out their graduation years. That was an eye opening experience! Evan will be the class of 2022. Caleb and Starr will share the distinction of being in the class of 2025. And Belle will graduate exactly 50 years after I did. WHAT?? She’ll be the class of 2026. And they’d better watch out!

And feed them on your dreams 
The one they picked, the one you'll know by. 

Here’s the Quaker Yarn Stretcher blocking.

It really grew with the blocking!

 

I liked it so well I'm making another with this yarn. It’s almost finished! 

Fun with Brenda’s handspun yarn!

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry, 
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.