The Farm Report – Page 94 – Archiving the early years

Field Trip: 7/15

July 15, 2008

Today’s field trip was to a little art studio in the Big City specifically designed for kids. When Neko was two we had taken a series of classes there, and loved their great ideas and rapid pace. When I discovered they offered open studio time, we gathered up a small group and headed south.

We immediately dove into paint, clay, beads, shaving cream, and a slew of other things. The hour flew, and wrapped up just as some of the kids began to get a little antsy.

Some went home to nap, and others headed to a nearby park for lunch, playtime, and VERY friendly ducks, who probably ended up eating more than the kids did.
Weird things kids do

July 14, 2008

Neko’s truck has suddenly turned into her “wheelchair”. In a sort of pathetic Tiny Tim kind of way she tells us her legs don’t work and then plunks down into the bed of her truck and painstakingly rolls the wheels forward by hand. It takes her nearly a full minute to get about five feet, which might be the slowest I’ve seen her move since she was about six months old.

I’m not really sure where this came from. Monty from Little Bill? Traction Jackson from Sesame Street? I have no clue.

In other fantastic news, Shep didn’t throw a single temper tantrum today. I feel strangely refreshed and zen-like.
Every five-year-old girl should use power tools

July 13, 2008

Upon discovering Neko’s new set-up, Shep demanded parity. And off to IKEA we went…
Excavation

July 12, 2008

I’ve been asking Tom to take the kids away for a few hours because I needed to throw myself in a black hole and hope I made my way back out.

Neko’s room. It scares me.

Those of you whose kids are under the age of three, you probably don’t know what I’m talking about, because when Neko was that age, I, too, was naive. Her room was a cute little nursery with everything placed just so. But then she got a little older and all of a sudden, it began. The HOARDING. Scraps of packages. The endless paper that comes home from preschool, toys that have trucked in from the playroom and never made their way back out, and weird little pieces of ribbon and pipe cleaners and goodness knows what else. It’s one of those moments when you think, “You have only been in this world for five years. How could you possibly accumulate this much stuff?” And then I break out in hives thinking about what the volume will grow to by the time she packs her bags for college.

When Tom took the kids to his mom’s this morning, I made my move. The first photo is all the stuff I removed from her room that did not belong there. Some of it trash, others I needed to move to the playroom, laundry room, or into the great beyond.

The second is the “after” photo. I removed a bookshelf that held baskets which were only enabling the hoarding problem, and replaced it with this IKEA coffee table, which I hope will also be used as a sitting-height desk.

Other than the bed and play-tent, her bedroom now contains the following:
books
Rudolph Christmas toys (loved so much they stay out all year)
Rudolph Christmas globe
Playmobil Ark
Toy Story family
one basket of small stuffed animals
beanbag of large stuffed animals
regular beanbag
Playmobil dinosaurs
Yo Gabba Gabba dolls
Little Einsteins rocket
two small suitcases
markers
paper
clock
the orchid

Okay, I know you didn’t really need to know the details, but the fact that the list is only 16 items long makes me beam from ear to ear.

And, yes, there are about a zillion other toys in the playroom, but I have control over cleaning those up. I can stack and sort and purge in the dark of night while the children sleep. The bedrooms? That’s trickier.

I know my days of being able to do this are numbered. As she gets older, a purge like this will be a violation of trust and boundaries. But for the moment? It was exhilarating.
Down on the other farm

July 11, 2008

Neko had her last day of Bug Camp today, so I was looking for something to do with Shep and Ellery. We ended up at the farm run by the local park district. We were excited to see they had renovated the playground, and Shep got to test drive a few tractors.

However, our mild summer caught up with us today when we found it already blazingly hot at 10am. The pigs had the right idea by cramming into their water tub, which was clearly the coolest spot on the property.

In good news, Shep was extremely pleasant the whole time and even rode his first horse. Last summer he cowered behind my leg and refused to even look at the horse. Today he was a bit hesitant, but once the horse started moving, he smiled the whole way.

I tried to remind myself what a fun and normal time we had this morning when he completely melted down over some ridiculous thing in the afternoon which, once again, ended in a tantrum.

And then we attended Gregory’s birthday party, which was fabulous, except for that part at the end where Neko had a complete meltdown which ended with Tom carrying her kicking and screaming to the car.

But the morning and the party? Good stuff.
No photo

July 10, 2008

Why is there no photo today? Because every day recently Shep has had at least one, if not two or three, extensive temper tantrums. Not just like a few minutes. Closing in on a hour. If not longer. Often at bedtime.

My nerves are shot and my blood pressure is through the roof. I am so over this stage.
Apple cottage cheese pancakes

July 9, 2008

I love these pancakes. They’re tasty and kids tend to gobble them up. It’s been a while since I’ve made them, but I dug out the recipe today.

1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
3 large eggs, separated
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup peeled, cored and chopped apple
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt

optional:
protein powder
ground flax seed
shredded veggies (carrots, zucchini, etc.)

In a large bowl, combine the cottage cheese, egg yolks, butter, and vanilla. Stir to blend. (However, if your kids are anything like mine, they have lately become wary of chunks of anything, so I puree all these ingredients—plus apples—in a food processor.)

Add the apple, flour, sugar and salt and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold into the batter just until blended.

Heat a large nonstick griddle or skillet over medium heat until hot enough to sizzle a drop of water. Brush with a thin film of vegetable oil, or spray with nonstick cooking spray. For each pancake, pour a heaping tablespoon of batter onto the griddle or into the skillet. Adjust the heat to medium-low. Cook until the tops are covered with small bubbles and the bottoms are lightly browned. Repeat with the remaining batter.
Field Trip: 7/8

July 8, 2008

Today’s field trip? The local bowling alley.

I don’t know why, but we’ve never taken the kids bowling. Neither Tom or I are very good, so I suppose it just hadn’t occurred to us. But when I drove by one day, I decided it might be a good outing.

I was thrilled to find out that all the lanes were easily convertible to bumper bowling, so we set up six lanes and the kids went to town. We even got a behind-the-scenes peek at the mechanics, a beautiful system of gears, pulleys, and levers that reeled in and reset pins and balls. I would have taken pictures, but the attendent was a little grouchy, so I didn’t want to push my luck.

The kids had a blast, and many of the adults decided that maybe bumper bowling would be a pretty good outing for the over-18 crowd as well, particularly those of us who regularly score in the 30s.

Once again, I’ll throw this on the “to do again” list. It’s a keeper.
Terrible threes

July 7, 2008

Not a great mom day today. Too much yelling. Not enough good stuff. Shep is pushing me to the brink, but not offering up any last-minute sweetness which usually makes me reel him back in for a big hug and forgiveness.

Whoever coined the phrase “terrible twos” lived in a whole other dimension. It is a ridiculous misnomer. It gives you the false idea that the hardships you go through when they’re two are the worst of it, but then they turn around and become three and become exponentially more difficult. Like “If I just left them with a neighbor for the next six months would anyone frown upon that?” difficult.

I know it will ease up. It did with Neko. But until then? I could use some extra hugs.
Slip ‘n Slide

July 6, 2008

Slip ‘n Slide…clearly done best naked.