Those Old Plates

Kids, here's a story for you.  And it's not a story about homemade lemon poppyseed muffins for Sunday brunch.  It's a story about the plate the muffin is sitting on.

When your dad and I were in college, we rarely had extra money.  But one summer we were going to live in an apartment in West Virginia so your dad could complete an internship at a power plant.  We had an air mattress and some bedding which basically sums it up as to our useful household possessions at that point.

Out of obvious necessity we bought a set of dishes, 16 pieces, off the clearance shelf at K-Mart.  It cost four dollars.  We felt like kings having found this treasure and we gave no concern to style or color.

To this day, we have some of the dishes from the original set of 16 in our kitchen cabinet.  And every time I use of one them, I think back to a different era in our lives, a magical adventurous time where so much was still ahead of us and we knew that together we could take it on.  So perhaps to you it's just an ugly old plate, but to me it's a memory and a promise of things to come.

December 2022 Home School

I learned in my first year of home schooling three children (2020) that no one in this family is well served by a challenging home school curriculum in this particular month.  So, we always plan December with few academic demands and lots of connective and regulating activities.  We had a book for the month, but it was a bust, so I won't mention the title.

This month's home school adventures included many hikes at local parks, making cinnamon ornaments, various seasonal crafts, a trip to the driving range for Middle Kiddo and a short, live holiday concert for Little One.  We read aloud books and sang carols.  Social skills were practiced at holiday gatherings and in the community.  

And lots of free play!  Like independently creating a harp from household items and performing a Christmas angel concert.

Christmas 2022

When you have an exquisitely sensitive child with vulnerable mental health who loves the holidays, you have to be very intentional with how you thrive or survive through the season.  We carefully and gently paced ourselves through the month, seeking a balance between meaningful special events and a lot of no pressure downtime at home as well as outdoors when the weather permitted.

Week 1 November 28- December 4

A visit and party with a Sensitive Santa and decorating the tree at home

Week 2 December 5 - 11

St. Nick's Day at home and a performance of Hot Chocolate at the Aronoff

Week 3 December 12 - 18

Lights in the Woods (a Christmas walk with friends) and a holiday open house with extended Ohio family 

Week 4 December 19-25

Our traditional Christmas Eve picnic on the living room floor and a quiet Christmas Day with just the five of us at home - Santa couldn't have made her any happier than he did with this record player

Week 5 December 26- January 1

Christmas/birthday/New Year's combo gathering with our Indiana family and a mini icecream social with our cousins who live one street over