The kids are all in bed having opened their jammies, danced around like madmen, sung several songs, listened to Lydia read the Christmas story in Luke, run around screeching, etc, etc, etc…you know, the usual bedtime fare.

I am sitting on my duff having cooked, cleaned, wrapped everything in sight and set out the stockings. I would like to arrange the presents under the tree artfully as my mother always did, but am struggling to get up.

Early this morning Eden awoke crying. Paul went to soothe her and came back fairly quickly. I asked what was wrong.

“She had a bad dream about a whale.”

“What happened?”

“That’s all she could say.”

And then he immediately fell asleep. I was awake another couple hours. Fantastic!

……….

Torey and I semi-artfully set out the presents.

Now I need to make up a bed for my mom who is spending the night.

I wanted all of the house to be immaculate, for that lovely Christmas morning feeling but we are in the midst of a bathroom renovation so a toilet, discreetly wrapped in a clean trash bag, currently resides in the corner of my kitchen. The living room is festive and lovely and our bedrooms are straightened and neat. It’s more than enough.

Merry Christmas.

https://alisonhodgson.com/2006/12/818/

Sorry about leaving that curmudgeony post up for so long. If I had files it would join so many others under the headings, “Monday” “PMS” “overcast” “tired”. That’s a little epiphany for me, an opening for grace.

Last year I started charting the really hard days with the kids and invariably they fell on an overcast day, right before my period, when Paul was out of the country – the basic ingredients of a Sad Oprah.

Once I noticed all the things that were contributing I was able take some precautions. At times, simply recognizing that all these things were at play gave me grace. This awareness helped me to interrupt the knee jerk judgments.

I am trying to get to the point where I simply acknowledge what is and then decide what I want to do about it.

It is grey again, the kids are hyper and fractious, it is the last day of school and I am tired from staying up late at a wonderful party but I don’t feel all het up. I am thankful I get to be the one to love and correct, to teach and to guide.

That’s what I am going to go do now.

https://alisonhodgson.com/2006/12/820/

It’s almost Christmas, Babies.

I have a child here on my bed with the emotions of a busload of junior high girls. Christmas break can’t come soon enough.

At times I think the problem with homeschool is that my children’s school is here at home and I get to teach it.

Oh goodness, now my other student is beside my bed whimpering. Fortunately the first one has rallied. The Legumes are upstairs doing what I can’t exactly say. Good thing Torey just walked through the door.

This a very Monday-ish sort of post but it is Monday so it’s legal.

Would any of you consider mothering my children, if only temporarily?

Today I am going to pack up a little tiny room down a small hall from our kitchen that is currently our office. It has a built in bed and also functioned as our single guest room – the upstairs is where we house more than one guest when our neighbors aren’t here. We are going to move Christoper into this room then move Lydia into his former room. The age difference between the girls is a challenge right now with room sharing, especially with the force that is the Legumes. The girls’s room will now be Eden’s alone and will function as the little girls’ playroom.

We are going to hang curtains around Christoper’s built in bed which we hope will feed his sensory needs. For the last month or so he has been sleeping in a hammock he made by suspending a sheet from his loft bed – so glad we bought that Serta Posturpedic mattress. He also hung some blankets, which he adjusts with a sort of pulley, to block the light. When I asked him about moving into the office and creating a sleeping nook he said, “That would be good because my back is hurting from sleeping in my hammock.” Yes…

The thought of packing, moving and reorganizing all that stuff is no picnic.

I should go locate the Legumes, put in another load of laundry, get started on the soup for tonight, pick up my room, check Christopher’s math, call Paul, load the dishwasher and do a couple of other things.

At least neither of my students is crying and the Legumes are alive(I can hear both of them jumping upstairs).

Be well.

Any suggestions for good Christmas CDs?

We like to buy one every year to add to the collection. One of the first purchases Paul made when still a very young and single man was the Time Life Christmas Classics two disc set. With a few exceptions, they were really good. Sadly, the mists (and scrapes and scratches) of time have made them completely unlistenable. I miss them.

What CD(s) do you need to make the auditory aspect of Christmas complete?