4.10.2013

Charlotte Mason was a genius.

I normally write my posts a week or two in advance. Now that Jonah is so very very mobile, I can't turn my back for a second let alone sit in the living room while he's playing and try to write something.
You may have noticed that my editing is getting worse and worse. And now it's official, I'm out of pre-written posts. So for the foreseeable future, all writings are going to be "live." It reminds me of certain k-dramas where you can tell that they didn't pre-record enough episodes. The editing gets a bit rough, they throw in more flashbacks and in really bad cases, the actors start to get bags under their eyes. Well, I've got bags under my eyes!

He's already crawled over to a door, put his fingers in the hinge side and pushed it closed with his other hand all in the matter of seconds.

 And now that this is happening, the injuries have increased.


I have to be within a few feet of him because who knows when he'll let go and face plant. At one point this morning, he had three red spots on his face - from three different bumps/falls. Luckily, it's spring time so after about 10 times through the fall/cry/comfort/put down/repeat cycle this morning plus a tantrum (because that walker wagon used to be MINE!), I packed us all up and we went outside.

I've tried to make outdoor time a priority before but Mason's recommendations of 4-6 hrs a day always seemed like overkill. 1-2 was as much as I could do and that was on a really good day

. But today, we were outside for over 5 hours. And it was great! We ate lunch and dinner outside, only coming in for a nap and to grab some laundry to take out to hang on the line. We played in the sandbox, blew bubbles, read poems, did some pretending (Lucy - she was a lion), ate some grass (Jojo) and did not pick up a single toy (mama!). There are a lot less pull-up possibilities which makes watching Jojo much much easier. He eventually figured out I was the best climbing choice. That's not too bad since it keeps him close but most of the time he was happily crawling around me while Lucy was running around the yard doing her own thing which means I could actually sit and relax.

Another benefit, we picked up before we went out and since we weren't inside, the house stayed clean so even though I didn't do anything other than dishes and laundry, I don't feel like a slacker. I'm not sure if we'll manage 5 hours every day but I'll certainly try.

1 comment :

  1. We've been spending several hours a week at the park. Everyone is so much happier outside, but I only enjoy being outside between October and March. I'm really looking forward to having a baby pool in back yard when we move so we can spend more time outside in the summer in spite of the heat.

    You are especially right about the housework! It feels great to walk out the door with a tidy house and come back later to a clean house. If the day is really busy, the girls don't ever go into their room to dump out all their toys.

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