Summer Sky: Learning as I go

Happy Easter

For those of you who celebrate Easter, Happy Easter, and for those who don't, have a lovely day! Blessings to you and your loved ones.

 

The påskris is a Swedish tradition with a somber past. We make ours from seasonal branches (pussy willows in early Spring, fruit branches when Easter falls late). Each year the kids paint tiny wooden eggs to add to our collection.  We hang them by thread from and forgo the traditional feathers.

 

 

 

Earlier in the week, N and his friends had an Easter egg hunt at a local park. We walked through the neighborhood to get there, admiring the blooms along the way.

 

 

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day! oh, and it's Bird Week at TMG + Giveaway!

 
Over at The Magnifying Glass, it's Bird Week!  Our contributors will be talking all things bird in honor of The Great Backyard Bird Count coming up Friday, February 18. Plus, we have a giveaway at TMG--a lovely Charley Harper poster--details over there--go check it out.

 

 

Meantime, over here,

felted thrifted sweaters + embroidery floss = a little happiness

D has not said a peep to me about Valentine's Day.  I wonder what he has up his sleeve.

 

On this day, near to my heart

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday.

We live 5 minutes from the Lincoln Memorial, so next year I hope we can go down and hear the 4th grade class from Watkins Elementary School in Washington, D.C. give his I Have a Dream speech, which they do every year. I was disappointed we missed it, but I didn't realize until yesterday that they do it just a few days before the holiday weekend. Better luck next year.

In the meantime, I leave you with a video of last year's class speech that I found [sorry about the ad that disrupts the flow midway]. (The Washington Post also filmed the same speech; sadly, they cut it down to just a couple of minutes, but it's still moving to watch.) 

And, just in case you couldn't find it on your own, here's Dr. King giving the original speech in full.  And here is the full text of the speech.  There are many amazing passages in the speech, but the one that jumped out at me personally as I read it to our kids was this phrase:

for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

In general, I prefer for this space to be about preserving memories, but today I'm sharing something near to my heart.

It all started when I read Po Bronson's Nurture Shock in 2009. While fascinating, its hook rests on the 'science' of parenting. I realize Bronson defends the book by saying that the science cited is 10 to 20 years in the making and rigorous--but still. We can see for ourselves that parenting trends ebb and flow as each new generation thinks they can do better.

However, there was one chapter in the book, and within it, one nugget of information, that I haven't been able to forget. In fact, it felt so true that we acted on it, as a family, immediately.

Then, last May, CNN announced a study in the U.S. that was intended to test whether a group of kindergartners had developed racial bias at such a tender age. The answer, per CNN, was yes, and mirrors the studies cited by Bronson in his chapter on parenting and race.

The statistic that keeps coming back to me from Bronson's book is that in one study, 75% of white parents never, or almost never, talked about race and skin color with their kids. Meanwhile, about 75% of black parents deliberately talked about race with their children.

It's a likely explanation for why the kids designated as white at times heavily skewed (89%, for example) in favor of a cartoon character with lighter skin tones when choosing the one they'd like as a classmate or playmate.

In the towns and neighborhoods where we live, I'm convinced that parents put an extremely high priority on raising racially-neutral, unbiased children. In addition, in our daughter's class at school, I can see for myself that the heritage of every continent in the world is represented.

Why should we be specific, rather than staying silent, in order to further racial equality?  Because, if all this science is to be believed, kids can see for themselves that skin colors vary. Not just a little, but a lot. And even when those skin tones vary on the same street, or on the same playground, silence from the parents means...that 5-year-olds fill in that gap in their knowledge with their own theories.

Maybe one child will think that their parents never mentioning skin color means that everyone is equal. Maybe another child will let their friends make up their minds for them. Maybe yet another child will think that it means only people who look like them should be their good friends.

Too often, the studies Bronson cites show that the latter is the case for white children in the U.S. Because such an overwhelming percentage of white parents don't talk about race, it's rather hard to say that this isn't a factor in children deciding, for themselves, that sharing the same skin tone is important when choosing playmates and friends.

What I realized in 2009, when I first learned this, was: it doesn't matter what the science says. We (D and I) have clear ideas about how all people should be treated equally regardless of their physical characteristics, skin color included. So we talk about this, in very specific terms, with our kids. And as they get older, we will talk further about race as a social construct, cultural and racial identities, and DNA, and how they intersect and overlap, both now and in the past.

If you're a parent, I urge you to do the same.

**********

I can never think about these issues without recalling this post from Melissa's blog, which led me to read this post and many others on the blog, Love Isn't Enough.

Christmas kitsch.

Before I forget, I have a post over at The Magnifying Glass, about the Solstice lunar eclipse last night, complete with pictures.  Enjoy!

The other night my friend B and I took our 7-year-olds out to dinner. Just the four of us.  By the time we were done it was nearly 9 o'clock at night, which is pushing it for our two families.  But we still decided to drive over to see our neighbor's Christmas lights. I'm sure you have a neighbor like this--and if so, do tell! Who could possibly resist?

These folks have been decorating their lawn every Christmas for as long we've lived around here, so at least 12 years. And if their collection of decorations is any indication, they've been doing it for a lot longer than that.

Every year they mix it up and do it a little differently. Last year's theme for this group of santas and snowmen was "working out"--this year it was "gone fishing."

My favorite is the beautiful glowing nativity:

E and her friend were thrilled to be 'big kids' staying out late.

 

And just before we left, I spotted this little note. It was too dark to see the mistletoe up in the tree, but I know it was there just the same.

Happy Fourth.

I've just posted at The Magnifying Glass--Part 1 of my interview with a young man who's a naturalist for a living. Hope you enjoy it.

Wow, that was some long blogging break.  I sorta lost my mojo ~ plus summer just swallowed us whole.

First of all, happy 4th of July to those of you from the U.S. We spent the long weekend with Grandma and Grandpa (D's parents).  They've retired to a home on the Potomac River, a little slice of heaven that we are lucky enough to visit fairly often.

Here's what we woke up to on July 3rd.

Bald eagles sure like to spend time over the creeks and inlets of the Potomac River. Of course, it wasn't always so. D has been coming down to this part of Virginia every summer since he was E's age, but he never saw any eagles at all as a child.

On the 5th of July, another (?) bald eagle decided to eat his breakfast near the house within full view (a safe distance away). When he finished, I took the kids out to see if we could find traces of his meal. There was just a small patch of wet grass, and the tiniest scrap of fish skin with some fine fish bones sticking out. Clearly, he was taught to lick the plate clean.

The whole long weekend was wonderful--from beginning to end. Oh, except where I had to drive back to the sandwich shop where I left my wallet--a two hour round trip all by itself. (I dropped the kids off with their grandparents first.) *Sigh.* But that was soon forgotten.

When I finally arrived, I set about making my second cherry pie of the summer. I'm obsessed--obsessed--with tart cherries this year. I just can't get enough. I will share my go-to cherry pie filling soon, but in the meantime, you will just have to imagine it.

 

There was also much time spent in the hammock.

E reading aloud to N--how to make this mama's heart melt.

We swam as often as invited with the neighbor kids (who were also visiting their grandma)

and we ate watermelon and ice cream, and took the dinghy up the creek one afternoon and the sailboat out for a morning, and couple of times the kids swam just off the spit of sand (for some reason, swimming in the creek was the most fun of all) ~ and we went over to the neighbors again to light sparklers one evening and to watch the many private fireworks that people set off from their docks.

I'm just storing away the memories of those easy, lazy days.

Shades of Easter

I should save this post for next year, because Easter has passed. Unfortunately, if I do that, I'll have forgotten everything we learned this time around.

This is our second year coloring eggs with natural, plant-based dyes; it's an idea that's really taken off with lots of interesting tuts and variations if you poke around.

In addition to turmeric and red cabbage dyes, this year we added beet root powder, and a rainbow emerged.

Here are my updated notes and recipes; N was my wavy chopper sidekick this year.

P.S. A little birdie told me the links weren't working today, but I've fixed them! Thanks for your patience!

One last look back

at December.  These holidays were the most low-key in some time. Almost too low-key, but maybe it's better that way.  With the exception of cookies for our little mom's group cookie exchange, I did no baking (and I didn't buy any baked goods either).  I was a bit chagrined to fully realize this as we sat down to Christmas dinner.  The kids were perfectly content with candy canes and some nice chocolates Santa left in their stockings. Things have a way of working out, sometimes.

We did get our tree up very early, and we strung the lights on it right away, which was so nice.

 

We enjoyed our annual trek to the U.S. Botanic Garden's holiday train display downtown--this photo does not do it justice. Everything--except perhaps some of the trains and the tracks--are made from natural, plant-based materials.  (I had a hard time taking photos here; I hope the gift of a tripod from D will help me out in the future.)

A tiny 'fairy house' at the exhibit.

Before the snow, I snapped some pictures of N, who thoroughly enjoys being 4.

 

 Four means running errands in your jammies now and again,

 

and lying down to look for shapes in the clouds even when the air has turned colder.

 

Wait a minute. I thought I said I didn't bake anything after the cookies! It turns out I did one more bit of baking--saffron buns for Lucia day.  I lost steam after that.

  
E was in a Christmas play that the Kindergarten puts on for the whole school. She was a "neighbor."  I went ahead and made her costume (with huge hems) because I suspect it will get a lot of use. 

 

The swish-swish trees could not contain their giggles. 

  
 
Then there was the glorious snow. Glorious because, like most big snows in our town, it was gone almost as quickly as it came.

Then there was Christmas eve, which I enjoy even more than Christmas day.  N was so excited, he told D he was going to throw up as D was putting him to bed. N ran to the bathroom three times, but he never did throw up.  To fully appreciate this story, it's useful to know that his grandfather *did* throw up one Christmas eve from all the anticipation, according to an oft-told family saga.

And so we bid adieu to December.  I hope this past month held some special memories for you and your loved ones, too.
 

 
  
  
 
 
 

Sharing the light.

Our family enjoyed the Seasons Round Exchange again--this time, the theme was {Light}.  We received a special handmade candle holder, toys, and book from mamaroots; here's what we shared with her family. 

Each of these was fun to make, and each has a wintry theme that isn't specific to Christmas, so if you're looking for something to do after the holiday bustle, here are some ideas.

    
  
  
First, we made salt dough snowbirds.  Sculpting and baking salt dough is something I'd nearly forgotten about, but what fun for the preschool set!  The recipe and tips we use are at the end of this post. For those with gluten allergies, I've found two gluten-free salt-dough recipes:  this one (scroll down), and this one.  I can't vouch for them, but we will do a side-by-side comparison in the next week or two. 

 
  We used peppercorns for eyes. Can you tell which one is N's?

 

I have a stash of old holiday magazines that I leaf through each November to get ideas, and one project that caught my eye was crocheted snowflakes (there are four patterns--I made the easiest one).  I used a size G hook and some merino wool that was so fluffy it was nearly the texture of roving, which was interesting because it kept pulling apart; a little twisting of the yarn and I was back in business.

 

The wintry lantern votive was a variation on the old classic (tissue paper glued to a jar).  I cut pine branches and pine cones; E, who is six, cut tissue paper snowflakes.  We used Cassi's snowflake-cutting tips and tiny, special paper-cutting scissors (if you don't have any, cuticle scissors work great).

Then we glued the cut-outs onto the jar.  You can use watered-down white glue (careful not to tear the cuttings); we used homemade wheat glue.

We also made a little beeswax candle in the shape of an angel.  These are so easy--no wax melting required--so it's great for kids.  You can get rolled up sheets of beeswax at most craft stores.  Using a blow-drier to soften the wax at each step, unroll the sheets, then use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.  Cut a wick (also at craft stores) to size. 

This little angel is four cut-outs "glued" together two at a time (by softening the wax and pressing together); then the wick was laid on top of half, and the other set of two cutouts was pressed on top to form the candle.

And there you have it--handmade for the season of light.

 

 

With visions of sugar plum fairies...

or something like that.  Today we went to see the Nutcracker ballet in downtown D.C.--an early Christmas present for E.   Never mind that last night, our street looked like this (and that evening's show had been canceled):

We knew our street wouldn't be plowed by today, so we planned to walk to the metro.  We live a bit more than a mile away. So we bundled up the kids

and then I realized that my purse was in the car. (???!!!)

Purse obtained, we started off for a good 45 minute walk to the metro.  When we were nearly there, D, my husband, said he felt ill. Then the rest of us watched in horror as he lost his breakfast in a snow bank. Not once, but twice.

I did not know what to do. It seemed like we had only one choice, to walk back with D and tend to him. But D insisted we go, so with great misgivings about leaving him to walk back alone, we did.

We waited a long time for a train both ways, because they were only using one track.

Self-portrait, with N.

It used to be such a treat for the kids to take the train into town, but now they are 'old hands' at riding the subway.

We arrived late for the show, but they gave us better seats (!).  I wish I had the nerve to take a photo in the theater. It was so intimate and unbelievably Christmasy and beautiful. 

I kept looking over N's head at E. She watched the dancers' every move, perfectly enchanted.

We stopped for a bite to eat, then headed home for our long train ride and walk.

E was fine walking home, but N started to beg to be picked up. So we played a game, where I'd name something fifty feet up ahead, and we'd sing a song about walking to the lamp-post, to the tune of Waltzing Matilda. 

And pretty soon, we turned down our street

and we stopped to admire 'the street that we wish was ours but isn't' one block over, where they have such fun summer street parties and pot lucks that they occasionally invite us to

and then E ran ahead and up the porch and into D's arms.  He was fine--whatever illness had struck him, it was over, thank goodness--he ate a hearty dinner and then finished shoveling out the cars.

And now they are all fast asleep.

Kid-made holiday table decor.

N, who is 4, attends a co-op, learning-through-play preschool near our home.  I'll post more about our co-op another time, but today I'm sharing a craft that his wonderful teacher makes with the kids each holiday season. Lizz (as she is known to the parents) has kindly given me permission to share the "how-to's."

Each December, Lizz gives the kids some clay, beads, and copper wire, and with a little help from grownups, they make holiday table place card holders.

So, if you'd like to make some too, gather together:

18 gauge wire.  You will need 7 to 9 inches for each place card holder you plan to make (about 2 feet, four inches for a set of four).  Lizz uses copper.

clay you can air-dry or bake.  There are various air-dry and oven-dried clays for kids that you can buy (such as Sculpey) or you can make your own at home.  For those who'd rather make homemade, I suggest the salt dough we use. (Recipe follows.)  If using Sculpey, you'll need the equivalent of 1/2 to 1/3 of a package of clay for one place holder.  Lizz and the kids like to mix and match.

beads.  Ours have 5 to 10 beads on the wire.  Be sure to get beads that have holes large enough for the wire.  Lizz likes 'em metallic and shiny.

a pencil.  This will be used to twirl the wire at the end so it can hold a place card.

a home oven.  For baking the clay.

Take bits of clay mold them into little bell-shaped lumps or other shapes to serve as the place card holder "stands." Make sure the bottom of the sculpture is flat as the table so that they won't tip over later.

Cut enough wire for the number of place card holders you'll be making, in 6 to 8 inch increments (Lizz likes to vary the lengths).

Poke your wire through the clay base (careful!) and far out the other side, then bend the end of the wire into an "L" shape.  Gently pull the wire back so that the bent end is flat against the clay.

Now, the sculpture is ready to bake.  Use parchment paper to protect your cookie sheet or pan from any clay.  If using Sculpey, Lizz recommends baking in a 280 degree oven for one hour.  If using salt dough, I recommend baking in a 180 degree oven for one hour to let it set, then air drying for a day or two.  (The low temp oven keeps salt dough a snowy color.) 

If using salt dough, once it's baked or dried, you can paint the base.  Wait a day or so for the paint on the clay to dry thoroughly before the next step.

String the beads onto the wire.  Leave about 2 inches of wire free of beads at the very end.  Then, wind the end of the wire onto a pencil (small kids will need help, wire is pokey).

Let the kids loose with paper, crayons, pens, stickers, etc. to make the place cards.  In our house, place cards often have pictures or initials instead of names.

and that is it! Thanks, Lizz, for letting me share your fun idea.
 
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Salt Dough Recipe for Kid Sculptures and Ornaments

Sculpey and other polymer clays are made with PVC plastic, so if you have very small kids or would rather use a homemade clay, I suggest this salt dough.

The recipe is simple:  2 parts flour to 1 part salt.  Mix thoroughly, then slowly add 1/2 part water.  Test the consistency by taking a small bit of dough and rolling it in a ball. You want a firm but pliable dough that won't droop when shaped.  If you need more water, slowly add more (up to 1 full part).  The amount of water will depend on how humid your home is.  If your dough turns out too droopy, add in a bit more flour and salt, keeping a 2:1 ratio.

Salt dough can be air-dried (it takes a couple of days) or baked, and also painted once it's dry.   You can also color the dough before baking, by adding food coloring directly to the dough, or you can color the water that's added to the dough (although this gives you less control over the final color).

I'll share some salt-dough sculptures we made in another post.