Hope that you are safe wherever you are. We are doing fine here. Our wonderful neighbor fixed the boys‘ tractor. We have to think of what we should bake him to say thank you. Whatever it is we will have to keep these little hands away from it.
Today my little baby cried when his brothers cleared the table because they took away his potatoes. It was the best compliment I could have gotten from a boy his age. Look at those little fingers hold on tight to that potato.
Be still my heart.
These boys grow up so fast. Like many parents, I lament It. I remember the first day of first grade for our oldest, and the warm handshake greeting given by the teacher. Our oldest is off to middle school soon but the “off” is a question. In reality much of it may in fact be “on” the home front. I wouldn't mind seeing him a bit more while he still is okay having me and Scott around.
And we could do it! This is a silver lining of the pandemic. I think most of us home educating parents have proven ourselves. We made it through, many without early education experience other than having once been students ourselves. But in the process, dare I say I believe it has made the family unit even stronger.
I must say though, homeschooling is much easier with the littles than with older kids. This is at least the case for me. I so love when our oldest's former teacher checks in with him. Reinforcements for the home front lines!
If we continue with this home education, I am learning already that some subjects lend themselves to young brother helpers more than others, which means I can use the kids! Take geometry for instance. The baby just delighted trying to show big brother that he could take a three sided shape and flatten it into a line. Remarkable! I couldn’t help it that he chose sunglasses for his demonstration.
Do everyone's kids play with sunglasses as much as mine?
I confess we did do quite a lot of playing on this beautiful day instead of schooling, per se. But our third boy saved the day with his relentless study of magic tricks. Hey, that counts!
We had a great day, overall, and I am so glad to have had another one to spend with my boys. Our biggest boy has always been a little more reticent, and I just adore hearing what he has to say at the end of the night. I am always open to those late night chats. Reminds me of the night he was born.
For Skin Cancer Awareness month, if you are using sunscreen for prevention of nonmelanoma skin cancers, you can choose to add a physical blocker sunscreen (ie zinc, titanium) that BLOCKs the sun's rays or a chemical sunscreen that ABSORBS into the skin. Reach for the physical blocker in favor of the chemical or just bring your wide brimmed hat. For kids, look for a NANO-FREE physical blocker formulation if you need a cream. Nanoparticles do incredible things, but in this case I think they are best left out of what we put on our kids.
xo,
Dr. Laura Dr. Swae