It’s that time again, where there are three books sitting next to my laptop, waiting to be shared, but they have nothing in common.
Come along! There is fiction, nonfiction, and beautifully illustrated science, coming right up.
The past several years, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) has been slamming me to the mat pretty hard.
Why mention that when we are closing in on the longest day of the year? Maybe it’s that the days’ scandalous length are a constant reminder of the contrast come winter. Having a doomsday attitude about life helps me prepare for the rougher bits, and part of that is Summer Laura making gifts for Winter Laura.
I wanted to write a sweet memory post about this little dude today, on the day he turns four.
It was hard to get in the mood for this type of nostalgic, reflective writing. Honesty, I’m still not in the mood. We’re all in a bad way today. School burnout. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed, everyone.
The kids keep reminding the baby of all the things he SHOULD get on his birthday, like special food and presents, when no presents have been bought (because he’s four, doesn’t need anything, and but for the reminders from others, really wouldn’t care), and the cake hasn’t been made yet.
Today I slugged it out with the last two and a half hours of bell hooks book Ain’t I A Woman on audio. The heat and humidity were oppressive, as was the overwhelming feeling of defensiveness every time I pressed play.
Then, on one of my breaks, I read this article from the Washington Post, “Germany faced its horrible past. Can we do the same?” by Michele L. Norris. The article described in great detail the way Germany has faced its painful history, with small reminders of it everywhere.
We have just a few days left of homeschool. The past eighteen months long ago bled out any desire anyone has to do schoolwork (or in my case, enforce it – see, I’m not even calling it teaching anymore). We still plod on, but I feel like I spend the vast majority of my waking hours doing things I’d rather not.
New York State requires us to finish 80% of our curriculum, and at this point in the year, we’ve certainly achieved that. It would be completely reasonable to call it quits. But to a fault, I am not a quitter. I can see how close we are to the end of the books we’re reading, and I’m determined to finish. I want to get my money’s worth from our online math curriculum. I don’t want my kids’ brains to turn to sludge until at least July.
