i just posted this over on my homeschool blog…thought i’d share it here too…
i have come to the conclusion that december is just far too hectic to even THINK about school stuff. we’re doing our song of the week, but that’s about it right now. at least that’s it for me planning things…maeven is still learning all kinds of things from her own ideas and activities she creates herself.
just now i went to check to see if she was ready for bed and i found her in her room, making a list of all the people she has already made homemade xmas gifts for…she’s got them all wrapped and tagged and ready to go. been working on it for weeks. she’s amazing! she has completely done this all on her own. i’m not sure what all she’s made actually. but she’s just so organized! i am so proud!
she’s asking me how to spell people’s names so she can correctly tag their gifts…and she’s had a blast wrapping presents. none of these cost any money.
not only that, but this…last year we gave maeven $50 to purchase gifts for people of her choosing. she stretched it out to 10 people, with a little mommy guidance. this year she understands that we are super tight on funds. she started asking if she was going to get her $50 to buy gifts this year and at first i said she’d get something but i wasn’t sure how much. then i said probably not $50 and just recently i told her i didn’t think i’d be able to give her anything…to which she said something like “that’s ok, i’m making gifts!” i’m so proud!
not only that but she’s decided to use her allowance that she’s been saving up to buy xmas stuff. not sure what she has in mind yet…but its very sweet to see how caring she is…something that a parent, i would imagine, is ALWAYS happy to see!
its been important to me that she understand about giving. i have been wanting her to not just receive from her family each year, but also give back something…even if its not worth anything monetarily. last year was the first time we gave her actual money to spend on others…but she has given gifts in the past too…one year (i think she was 3 or 4) we gave homemade bookmarks to everyone which she had made. but i wasn’t real consistant with encouraging gift-giving…not every year did i remember to encourage her…there’s always so much going on. but last year, the joy in her eyes as she picked out gifts…and this year as she makes everything by hand…she’s SO excited! she gets it. she really does. it makes a mama’s heart just burst. 🙂
tyren will follow suit eventually. if i could get my act together, i’d get him more involved…but there’s time. he’s only 3. and i really don’t need MORE work right now. hell, he’s enough work as it is!! he is exhausting me! he’s been a holy terror lately and its all i can do just to keep up with him! anyway, he watches and imitates everything maeven does, so i’m not too worried about him catching the “giving bug.” 🙂
plus we are going to be making a bunch of photo gifts to give this year so i’ll make sure i involve him in it. i had planned to order prints, but didn’t get my butt in gear on that, so i’m going to go buy a photo cartridge for my printer and start working on them with the kids.
anyway, there’s just sooooo much to do around here and we’re not even doing holiday cards or parties or major decorations or gifts for everyone we know! right now i’m just being kept busy trying to raise more money for us…selling things on ebay and advertising on my websites. bringing in enough cash to help us pay the bills (since adam’s gotten a pay cut) and cover xmas. i think we’re going to be ok though. we’re doing ok. 🙂
but the songs of the week will continue! the kids are really digging them! every day i start singing one of them…or all of them, some days…and the kids immediately join in! its so fun! 🙂
i need to get another video of them singing…well at least tyren…but maeven is very shy about singing in public, so i’m not sure if she’ll do it on tape or not…we’ll see.
so school is officially on hold right now, for the most part (we still listen to history on cd here and there and read books always), so that mommy can make it through december with what little sanity she has left!
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