A Week, Briefly (5/18/20)

It was a hard week.

Not as hard as it could have been.

Not as hard as weeks in our past have been.

But it was hard enough.

How grateful I am that the sunshine (literally, the sun began to shine) appeared very late Friday afternoon, so that I could breathe a bit and remember how to be grateful.

I am grateful for the freedom to count our own hours, define our own curriculm goals, and make changes as needed.

Reading Plutarch's Lives has been more of a duty than a joy.  Duty is important, but this one began to suck away our lifeblood and define our days.  During one desperate afternoon, I did a bit of arithmetic and realized that even without finishing it, the teens had completed 145 hours of Ancient History Through Literature (part A), and that is enough to call it a credit hour.

I forgot to put a Bible on the top of the stack--a significant portion of our studies included several books of the Old Testament.

So we finished up Marcus Cato's life, explored the comparison between Aristides' and Cato's lives and put the book on the shelf until Belle is ready to pick it up for the coming school year.

I am grateful for a mother who teaches her grandchildren.

Look what Ladybug finished!

Yes, she wanted to give up.
Yes, she cried sometimes as she worked.
Yes, she told me she hated me for making her do 2 rows a day.

But in my heart, I knew she needed to accomplish this.  I knew it would be worthwhile to push her past her own limitations and let her see that she is capable.

She. is. so. proud.

And so am I.

Brother has also learned from his grandma.

I am grateful for minds that awaken naturally.

My very literal young ones heard the terms black and white in reference to people and rejected them outright.  For years now, the kids have defined people as peach-skinned and brown-skinned.

This has annoyed--even angered--Rose Red, who is bi-racial and is defining herself as black.

"Mom, why are you covering up who they really are?  Are you ashamed?  They need to know they are black!"

I would give her permission to try to explain, and then I would laugh quietly as they looked at her like she had 3 eyes and antennae as they showed her their skin and said, "This is not black.  This is brown.  You are not white.  You are tannish-peachish."

I have never tried to hide anything from my children regarding race (I do, however, hide chocolate).  I have filled our house with books, pictures, movies, and discussions of people of all colors and racial backgrounds. 

This week I was reading a history lesson about the Declaration of Independence, and there was a mention of the irony of men who owned slaves declaring the freedom of all men.

A light came on in Brother's mind.

"Mommy, am I black?"

The door opened, and we had great discussions all week long.

The kids are still wrapping their minds around this new definition, and Lola has been inclined to say to Daddy or Pixie when they get home from work, "I am black, and you are white."

But I'm telling you this:  Rose Red's and Super Star's bi-racial status is still waaaaay confusing. 😆


I am grateful for the joy of learning.

Nature Angel has now completed all of her formal school for the 2019-2020 school year.

She said this week, "I'm so glad you had to do that 'Hey, Andrew' review that one year.  I love Greek so much.  I'd never have done it if you hadn't needed me to try it for that review."

She's industrious, so she's still doing modern Greek and Irish Gaelic on Duolingo each day.  She's also still working on keyboarding skills at Typing.com.  She's faithfully studying the scriptures.  She's still working every single day on increasing her flexibility and strength.  She's doing at least one creative thing each day.

Like these reusable grocery bags that I actually use for library books

Or this doll-blanket-turned-princess-cape!

And she helps me with the kids, the garden, and in the kitchen.


I am grateful for sibling bonds.

Little Princess has sort of adopted Lola lately.  They are found doing chores together (I think Lola will be our chicken carer when Little Princess retires), reading together, playing cards together, playing outside together.

And being twins.

I am grateful for long hours out-of-doors.

I am grateful for modern medicine and medical insurance.

Little Princess fell.  We thought she'd just skinned and bruised her knee.

That might still be true.

But the swelling and tenderness are so severe that we might be looking at a broken patella.

We're giving it another day or two before we decide whether or not to get x-rays.

But I'm grateful we have that option.


I am grateful for instructional Youtube videos.

I used them for botany this week.

Sir Walter Scott used them to diagnose and fix several malfunctioning appliances and systems in our home.

(Though it did take a professional to patch the tire after Sir Walter Scott ran over a rake head that had fallen onto the floor of the garage.)


I am grateful for the story of Job.

It was next on the schedule of our Old Testament readings during Morning Meeting.  How perfect it was to end of a hard week being reminded that we are not "as Job."

We spent some time counting our blessings.

We took this picture the day we celebrated my birthday.

We have so many!