No tv in our house today. It's been....different. Lucy usually watches PBS, or it's just on in the background. She loves PBS, and I figured, "Eh, she's still talking like crazy and is behaving well - i'll let it slide since it's so flippin' hot outside."
And then I started reading The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. Now I don't care who you are. That book matters. Over and over and over, it matters. TV may very well be killing our kids. I decided that the first step toward total literacy in our house was to turn off the TV for a full week. I want to see what it does to the overall attitude around the house.
The DFW metroplex boasts a fabulous classical music station and since we have speakers throughout the house, that was my first step. So far, so good. I adore classical music and I'd like my girls to have the same love for it that I do. Classical music always makes a big difference in our day, when I remember to turn it on.
The one thing I noticed right away was that as soon as Lucy didn't have something to watch, she was distracting Molly and pulling her all over the house, leaving me free to cook, clean and otherwise go about my day. They've played so well all day and are coming up with all sorts of strange things.
The second thing I noticed was the absence of tantrums - things were much smoother when we didn't have the TV breaking up the day and demanding extra negotiating.
And tonight...tonight was the best. I decided that Lucy and I should start phasing out picture books and move into novels. As an avid reader, I'm SO excited about this next step in Lucy's literacy. Tonight we started Peter Pan. I decided to start with an abridged version just because I want her to get used to forming pictures in her mind before I start adding lengthy descriptions. This version of the story has chapters, but they're shorter and keep the "meat" of the story. Lucy just loved it. As soon as she learned there was a fairy in the story, she was hooked. We read four chapters tonight and she went to bed begging to "hold the book" in bed with her.
Tomorrow, we really don't have much going on. Just Day 2 of our Pulling The Plug week. I could stand to organize a few closets and the like, but I may just stay in my jammies til naptime and lie around on the floor with my girls.
The house hunt has taken sort of an odd turn for us. I think we're sort of just floating around on the whole idea. Because the gov't is going to be bringing the troops home, it puts us in a different place as far as Andrew's job. Since Andrew's job is to provide resources for overseas troops, specifically those in the Middle East, the news that we're "on track" to bring them home sort of puts Andrew and I at a crossroads. Do we forge ahead and just assume that come July, he'll be in a different function? Do we safely continue to rent in case we need to relocate or find a different lane within the defense field? I'm not worried about Andrew having employment. Not at all. Andrew is a dynamic, driven and truly talented contractor. He can find work and has plenty of contacts within his field. Neither of us really feels that his current company would let him go, but knowing that there will be a huge shift in his particular area, we're a little nervous about being under a mortgage.
That being said, we're ready to put down roots and give Lucy and Mo a forever house. I know we can't live forever in the "what if" lane, but as long as we can responsibly stay out of what could be a potential financial crisis, I think we might stay put. We have another year on our lease and we love the house we're in, so as long as our landlord doesn't do anything too drastic, I think we've decided we'd be happy to stay here until next summer. At that time, we'd know what Andrew's job forecast would be and would have a better idea of exactly how his new company operates. He's only been there since April, so we're still trying to figure out the company dynamics and Andrew is still wading around in the political end of the pool, I think.
Let's see...what else is new? The miscarriage is officially behind us and we're doing okay. Looking forward to finishing out the summer and seeing what the Fall will bring. We have a video camera in the mail and it may be here TOMORROW! We're VERY excited about this little piece of news, as we lost our little point and shoot and had no way at all to get videos of the girls. Molly is a stinkin' riot and we can't wait to share her insanity with you! Lucy has so many weird stories. Here's a great one.
L: Mama? Do other kids have nests?
Me: I'm sure other Mamas makes nests for their babies. ("Nests" being two Boppies in a circle covered in blankets for toddler sleeping bliss.)
L: Does Siah have one?
Me: I'm not sure. I'll bet Aunt Lisa makes him nests when he sleeps.
L: We should probably go there and make sure. We'll take...a plane. We'll get a ladder and climb to the plane. I can give Siah one of my Boppies since I have two. He will love, love, LOVE his nest. We can show Aunt Weesa how to make them and he'll be so, so, SO happy!
Me: That sounds....like a very tall ladder.
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2 comments:
What military base/post are you near that Andrew works out of? Typically not all of the troops are deployed at the same time, nor are they all home at the same time from that location. Being familiar with the Army, as long as he stays with that job, I would definitely recommend buying a home. If he's debating leaving his job, or has good reason to believe his job is in jeopardy, than of course don't commit. We purchased our home in GA and all was great for the time that James was enlisted.
Well, he's actually a defense contractor and works directly with Afgh. So he'll have work as long as they're over there and it really has nothing to do with TX. We talked to our landlord and he said he's totally good with us doing another year, which is GOOD, since we have a 2 year lease! We just love our house, so I'm very happy. We've talked about just buying this house, but we don't love the neighborhood enough to stay for the long haul. So hard to figure out what to do as a young family!
PPS: We need pictures of your kids! Like, yesterday!
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