via The Open University. Too fabulous not to share Sunday night/Monday morning!
Happy Thanksgiving: I Am Thankful For You.
It’s been a long, slow, and hard trip back into writing since I started occasionally pecking away at my keyboard back in 2010. The one thing that has kept me on track is you. Knowing that you come to my site and read my posts, when I manage to actually get something up, is a guaranteed ray of sunshine.
Those of you who comment or like the posts, well heck, that’s a rainbow!
I am trying to write more these days. I hope you won’t find it too much. I am honored and I am grateful to have you as my readers.
Growing up, Thanksgiving was and continues to be my favorite holiday. It felt like the perfect time to say thank you!
Wishing you all the best,
MultilingualMama xx, who has yet to master the un-strained selfie.
S is for Santa. Right, More Like Stasi.
Have you listened closely to the lyrics of Santa Clause is coming to town?
It’s not so pretty. I had a choice to make. I could cut this song out of our Christmas repertoire or I could capitalize on it.
Here’s the thing. I am half French half American. And this puts me in a difficult position. On the one hand, many people expect my kids to be well-behaved. I mean I am half French right? Everyone knows, thanks to Pamela Druckerman, that French kids are the example to which we should all aspire.
On the other hand, full-blooded French people look at my kids, waiting for them to misbehave.
Aha! That tantrum! Surely that is because you caved. You didn’t stick to the cadre – you are just one of these American parents, easily manipulated by your kids, who confuse self-esteem and creativity with letting kids run wild and boss you the adults around!
Yes folks, most Europeans expect, as a general rule, American kids to be brats. They may not tell you this straight to your face, but I assure you it’s true. They will compliment your kid’s ‘free-spirit’ and ‘independence’. These are thinly veiled terms for ‘you have no control’. But I digress. What I am trying to say is that I am feeling the pressure from both sides of the Atlantic!
What does Santa have to do with all of this? Santa, when I am tired, is an extremely effective parenting tool. One with a terribly limited shelf life so best to ‘consume’ while you can.
I love the holiday season, not simply because I can justafiably (yes I am aware this isn’t a real word) remain sozzled while pulling out my maternity pants and indulge in all things rich and calorific. I love it as I’ve got my kids’ full attention when I talk about a special elf-like secret police and the battles melt away like cotton candy on a toddler’s tongue. Readers note: I don’t buy into elf on a shelf. What!? Am I supposed to carry that thing from room to room? Also, I’m in a rental folks, I don’t make holes in the walls for shelves and/or elves as a rule!
Though I use Santa year around, he is most effective post Halloween.
- Acting up at Dinner… watch out Santa’s watching.
- Won’t get undressed for shower time – Santa’s making a note.
- Refuses to take my bra off her head? He’s got his eyes on you.
Creepy, yet the girls lap it up.
This year I got a little more creative. The girls watched The Rise of the Guardians. In this movie, Santa is this fantastic Russian character, with tats and all. He also has a big globe with red lights indicating where the kids who believe in him live. When questioned by P as to how Santa can really monitor everyone, I said something along the lines of ‘the lights start to blink slowly when a child misbehaves, increasing in speed the longer they take to listen to parents.’
I can stop unwanted behavior in 2 seconds flat by simply saying ‘light blinking’ and flicking my finger up and down.
There are moments, where I ponder whether it would be better if I stuck to my ‘French’ methods, enforcing boundaries, time outs, etc. rather than creating a culture of fear. But then, it won’t last for long, and with Santa watching, Mama has more time to put together all that holiday cheer and pour a nice Christmas-colored glass of wine.
Merry Merry everyone!
(PS. Santa if you are really watching, can I please have anyone of those Pointer Sister dresses? Bring back the bouffe!)
Teachable Moments: Pillow Math & Other Opportunities Abound.
We are finally back from our big adventure at PunPun, a sustainable farm one hour north of Chiang Mai. Our stay was spectacular in so many ways and I will be writing a more comprehensive post about our time there. Here’s a sneak peek: Photo by my 5-yr-old
While I am still catching up on the backlog of emails and commitments after an amazing break from wireless and unlimited kbps lands, I want to share an important lesson I re-learned during our trip.
Teachable moments are everywhere.
Sometimes as homeschooling parents –based on my vast experience of stalking online groups– we worry we aren’t giving our kids enough, that we aren’t prepared enough, that we don’t have all the things we need in order to teach them what they need to learn. When I started out this year, I was obsessed with lesson plans, curriculums, and having the right manipulables. I worried how I would manage with a limited budget. (Read anyone who wants to donate or gift me a Montessori moveable letters set, don’t hold back!) But in truth I was worrying for nothing; some of you may already have realized I could get paid for worrying, I am such an expert at it.
When I stopped trying to bring school home and let go, things naturally started to happen. Once I was fully oxygenating my brain instead of panicking about how much I was covering and just watching my kids play, I could jump in when they asked and see where I could naturally fit in letter, number, language learning among other things.
Here are a couple examples:
1. From a morning chat to vocabulary building & basic math concepts.
Mondays are French days in our house and I was talking with P while halfheartedly trying to make my bed. I am not sure how, but I used the word plus in French, meaning which means both more and “+”. My daughter asked me to explain the word. I used moins or less as a contrast but it wasn’t enough for her to understand. Finally I looked around and grabbed the four pillows I was fluffing. We divvied them up a few times, with her having more and then less than me. We talked about adding them to her pile. We also had equal amounts. I then talked her through other verbal examples of more or less things, like who got to hold the chicken more at the farm, etc. Finally we found a pen and paper and looked at the + and – signs and wrote out the basic pillow additions we did. Ending the lot with a small pillow/tickle fight.
2. I wanted to review some letters with something other than paper letters. As I was re-organizing toys, I came across a travel scrabble set we have yet to use. The girls loved grouping similar letters. Then counting how many of each they had and then putting them into order. Yes the star and pink boxes distracted them briefly, but hey, it’s all a work in progress.
And yes, we always play scrabble in pink ballroom competition dresses. Don’t you?
I’ll put more examples in the comments as they crop up. I am just so tired I can’t think of them now. And please share your own!
Multilingual Mama 