Playful Learning

Friends, I am bursting with joy to share my most recent endeavor!  For the first time in my life, I have (or have made) time for leisure reading in the past 6 months - a hobby I intend to continue - and for Christmas my mom gave me the book Playful Learning Spaces by Mariah Bruehl.  I am fangoriously devouring it.  Fangoriously... gold star if you catch that reference from the early 2000s.  It is loaded with great information about stages of development in different areas of learning (art, math, writing, etc), and she offers suggestions for creating meaningful play and learning experiences for children of all ages and developmental levels.

Last week we cleared our junk room to host some dear friends who were in town from Michigan, and the guest room without guests in it, is our new family studio.  If you can imagine, the room was stacked with boxes and toys and outgrown clothes and craft supplies from wall to wall waist-high just over a week ago, and now we have a clean studio space!

Guest room from the door that we were unable to fully open a week ago.  The towels and blankets (on the shelf) will return to the linen closet in the hall until we are expecting guests.

Our expandable day bed is back to twin-size, and the shelves are ready for new activities for the children.  We'll be adding an easel and table to the space along with some playful and carefully designed art, writing, science, and math activities (some of which may end up on the kitchen and living room shelves... we can't cram everything into one room!).

View looking back toward the door (to the left out of view) and curtained closet.  The toys and books on the shelf were just a couple things to help our mini overnight guest feel at home.

A big open wall and a couple pop-arty pictures to hang on a wall somewhere.

  I already have little piles of in-progress work toward the goal of breathing life into our studio space.

The paints will likely remain in a closet with a tray/palate on the shelf, so we can be more aware of when they are ready for projects with higher potential for destroying rugs and walls. :)  They paint often, just with supervision to ensure that the paints are not being abused.

In addition to reading and enjoying Mariah's book, I have registered for her Playful Learning E-course, which should help fuel and direct my aspirations for our studio and our home.  She has a beautiful studio in her own home, and it has been a major source of hope/inspiration to me in the past year since I discovered her website and blog: playfullearning.net  Here is a video trailer for the e-course, in case you might be interested in joining... I'm already in, so say the word and we can be buddies in this process.  I hope to share some of my work for the course here on the blog!

NaBloPoMo: Another Time-Consuming Addiction?

I am sure you have all heard of Pinterest by now.  I requested an invitation a while back, but have stopped myself from joining against every fiber of my being.  I could spend HOURS at my computer a day, and it is not healthy.  I'm wondering if any of you are on it and how you find balance.  When I first discovered blogging it immediately overtook my time on the computer (as did facebook before blogs, as did instant messenger before facebook, etc...).

Now I am fighting off the urge to join the online community of people who love to look at cool stuff, and I would be looking at more cool stuff than I was doing.  UGH.  I am feeling pulled to join today, and I am forbidding myself to join until my house resembles a home and not a trash heap.  It may be a cop-out of a blog for today, but it is what is real on my heart right now!

NaBloPoMo?

So, I hear it is national blog post month (NaBloPoMo).  I trust that this is not a made-up-thing by Kristen over at Birthing Beautiful Ideas.  At any rate, a couple of my other favorite bloggers did some 31-day series(es?) in October and I was pretty impressed by the idea.

Jules, who blogs at Pancakes and French Fries, did 31 Days of William Morris, using the quote "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful," to bring some order to her home.  Edie over at Life in Grace did 31 Days to Rebuild Your House and Heart, to recap the past year(?) of rebuilding her home after a fire that destroyed all of her family's worldly possessions.  There were a few others, including Sandy at Reluctant Entertainer (who is having a giveaway of a KitchenAid food processor and a copy of her book today), and if I'm not mistaken the Nester started it, but I just couldn't commit to reading more than 2 series (in fact, I read them kind of novel-style over the past week... not great for productivity, but excellent for inspiration).

After reading the amazing stories of those two moms and the deliberate approach they took to "feathering their nests" over the past month, I am feeling moved to do SOMETHING at home over the next 30 days (well, 28, since it is already 9pm on Nov. 2).  I have as many ideas and inspiration as I have dirty dishes and stacks of paper in my house - and I guarantee you, that is a lot.  Because I work much better in a crunch, I'll treat this like a homework assignment for a class that I really like and we'll see what happens (I rarely did homework for the classes I didn't like).

I have a wonderfully orderly husband, and I am feeling an urge to become a bit more deliberate about the order in our home.  Also, I think I'll spend some time on being a more deliberate parent - taking some inspiration from Kristen at her gloriously thoughtful and genuine blog about life and babies and mothering and all manner of good stuff, as well as some of the books I've been reading lately (and, you know, all that Montessori stuff I have rattling around upstairs).  I already tackled the floor and hanging bar of the entryway closet and cleared out a ton of junk (without taking before pictures, woopsy), and tonight I'm going to finish the top shelf full of games and tiny baby winter-wear.  Look for pictures tomorrow along with another exhilarating post (oh, and maybe a clever title to this endeavor?... thoughts?... suggestions?)

Dreaming of a White Christmas...

I tackled two kitchen projects this afternoon, and

promise to embed pictures later.

So I saw this awesome tip on the blog iHeartOrganizing a while back and decided to try it out. Then I got a little carried away, and I applied this tip to ALL of my kitchen appliances (which includes a washing machine, and even showed the sink some love).

Step 1: get magic eraser wet

Step 2: scrub the heck out of the "ivory" colored areas of your white appliances

Step 3: wipe with a damp cloth

Step 4: Oooooh and ahhhhhh. (here's the comparison... sideways)

I saw this awesome tip over at The Borrowed Abode blog a while back and used that same damp cloth from step 3 on my first project to show our microwave a little extra love.

Step 1: wet a cloth, not damp, not drippy, just wet

Step 2: microwave the damp cloth on high for 2 minutes

Step 3: open microwave and using an oven mitt or rubber gloves to protect from heat wipe the inside of the microwave with the cloth

Step 4: pick jaw up from the floor and enjoy a sparkly microwave.

Change is in the Air!

I posted a while back about my observations of the film "Eddison's Day," and the daily activities of a child who was just barely older than my own. There were MANY suggestions for how to make a home more appealing to a toddler, and our house was falling short in MOST of the areas I offered suggestions. The biggest goal of a toddler's house has to be safe independence, and accessibility is a HUGE componentof that goal.

Over the weekend I was hit by a nesting urge (never before experienced... my first child entered the world with the tack-board from disgusting carpet remaining along the perimeter of his room and still does not have a room color that is satisfactory for the space of a little boy). Dominic went down for his nap and Ryan and I got to work in the kitchen.

We had a bistro table at the far corner that barely fit Ryan and I and left Dominic floating in the middle in a high-chair... not my image of a family meal, but the flavor of family meal we've been having for a year or so! The table and chairs relocated to the third bedroom as a make-shift wrapping and sewing table next to the day bed. To add function to the nook in our kitchen, we brought in a low shelf that was salvaged from St. Catherine's when Katherine got new posh natural wood shelves. The shelf sits right under the window. The top shelf has a space for a small water source (I want to get a glass or ceramic water crock with a simple spigot) and a space for Dominic's drinking glasses, bowls, plates, and silverware. I am still trying to figure out my feelings about the dishes with characters/animals/etc. on them. It seems like Dominic is pretty distracted by the little cartoony super hero plates... he removed his toast from his plate this morning and tickled the little figure for the greater part of his breakfast. Hrumph... I put a lot of effort into that dry toast!

The second shelf has a little apron, his sketch-pad and crayons, and some sets of classified cards with pictures of amphibians, fish, and reptiles. The bottom shelf has the hand wipes (for coming in from picking up yucky stuff outside), a couple sweaters to choose from, and a hat for going outside. I am going to be adding a window washing setup, some kind of polishing, and possibly a bird-feeding activity. Any suggestions for how to do window washing with a toddler? I will also be hanging a picture above the shelf and creating a window treatment or mistreatment f

or the small window.

The next step for that nook is to bring in a wooden hutch from the garage onto that blue wall (the pictures have relocated since the photo was taken long ago) to display our white everyday dishes and store some of our larger serving pieces and appliances that do not have a home right now. That will also give us a little bit more counter space under the shelving to do kitchen stuff or just make a mess. With the dishes out of the overhead cabinets, we'll move all of the food pantry items to the overhead cabinets and convert the pantry into the cleaning and laundry closet, thus freeing up the space next to the washer as well... Maybe a low table or the kitchen tower will go there! Does anyone have experience with making snacks accessible for toddlers? How does one go about that? I was thinking of making one of the drawers in the hutch Dominic's snack drawer with pre-portioned snacks that he can get when he is hungry (goldfish crackers, pretzels, raisins...); before I do something crazy like that, I will have to have some pretty solid feedback from an expert, though!

The photo is dated, so picture the tree gone and the giant picture in that blank back wall space. For more accessibility, we've also put a shelf under the interior window where the tree is in the picture (you know, that window from our living room to our dining room... our house has so much CHARACTER!). We still need to work out exactly what the function of that shelf is (and paint it a more attractive color than almond). Since the guitars are all hanging in the living room, I am leaning toward a music and art shelf. We could bring some of Dominic's rhythm instruments out from his room, set up another coloring work, put out the shape-scapes sculpture puzzles, put art books and art cards (postcards from museums and photos from my stay in Italy), and set out some poetry books. We will also keep some other toys on the shelf for general play in the living room and possibly a diaper changing setup for when the new baby arrives?

Our third bedroom also experienced a facelift recently as a result of the new shelves in Katherine's classroom at St. Catherine's. I already mentioned the table and chairs that have made a makeshift wrapping table and sewing spot (although I will have to re-acquire my mom's sewing machine for that to REALLY be possible). I also have a lot of fabric that I've accumulated over the past year or two... the IKEA "as is" department is the BEST place for cheap and cool fabrics; there are always mis-matched and incomplete sofa covers and duvets priced at under a few bucks to come out to a real steal per yard! I'm probably going to have to steal some boxes from the living room or find some cheap baskets at goodwill to store all of the fabric scraps on the shelves. I'll also be able to bring in some of my boxed books from the garage. I think we will also set up the little play mat in this room for when the next little Smith makes his debut. I am sure the other two shelves will quickly fill with diaper supplies, blankets, and newborn toys. I am thinking that this will become more of a reading and craft room. This one also needs a paint job and a proper window treatment, rug, and day-bedding (keep me posted if you see anything awesome at a garage sale or thrift shop).

So hopefully those changes will be completely activated in the next couple days. I'm realizing as I post that the next post should probably be an update on the progress we've made on our house, although there are way more cracks in the walls now because we had the foundation repaired last year around this time.

Changes at the Casa Kitchen

After reluctantly watching the documentary films "Killer at Large" and "Food, Inc.," I've taken a radical plunge in my thinking about the food I put into my body and the bodies of my family members. I highly recommend the films, and I will be taking the book The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan from the library today to read it for more info.

The changes will include the following:

1. Only eating organic, free-range, grass-fed meat. This means we will be eating much less meat because I am sure it is not cheap to eat the new standard.

2. Eating fresh, organic, locally grown vegetables. We will be shopping weekly at the farmer's market for produce, and supplementing with produce from Whole Foods or Central Market.

3. Decreasing our intake of processed foods. Instead of packaged mixes, I'm going to be packaging my own convenient mixes to keep in the pantry (so long "blueberry muffin" mix that doesn't have blueberries on the ingredient list). Maybe I will post these "recipes" here if I get it worked out to a well-oiled homegrown machine.

4. We will be gardening. I have put this off since we bought our house. I have a few bags of soil in the garage and enough seeds to feed a village. I'm thinking that perfect is a lower priority than I've been making it, so I might just be going into the backyard, pouring the bags of soil on top of our "garden" space that is currently grassy and weed-riddled. Then I will plant the seeds... at this point I think our only crop will be Okra, but I will be looking into a timetable for planting a fall garden as well.

5. This one probably goes without saying, but we will be eating at home. The only person I can trust to care about the food that goes into our mouths is me, so I am going to be cooking more.

So there it is in writing. I will be posting updates, and I will probably not follow through on this stuff 100%. I know it is going to be more expensive, but I'm also confident that it is the right thing to do for my family. If you have some suggestions for "follow-through" on these items, please let me know. If you are in Houston and want to start a veggie co-op so we can buy in bulk and get better prices at the farmer's market, let me know that, too! Happy and healthy eating to you and yours!

Montessori Mama!

With my training fast approaching, school ending yesterday and a whole year off, I've been thinking about nothing but Montessori. The home environment should be a place for the child to explore and grow in every developmental area within a safe and nurturing environment. There should be opportunities for practical work, sensorial exploration, language development, growth of his mathematical mind, and most importantly development of independence and confidence. Here is what we are up to in our Montessori home environment:

Floor bed: Dominic has given up the fight against bedtime, and for months now has had a beautiful bedtime routine. He takes a bath, gets into his PJs, reads a book (with our help of course), and goes to sleep. We've cut bottles out of the equation, but he does get 1/2 cup of warm milk in a sippy cup on nights that he is struggling to go down (not so Montessori... can we call it "following the child?")

Eating: This has been a BATTLE at home. At the Smith's house, his NaNa can feed him just about anything, but he has become increasingly difficult at home. So I had a conversation with Ms. Jacinta the other day, heard all about her fabulous little Montessori wonder of a granddaughter, and I had an epiphany. We were eating all kinds of things, and offering him other stuff (because we've been kind of junky eaters lately). So today I put exactly what I was eating on his plate (making sure it was healthy, and even adding cooked carrots to my own diet), and he ate every bite (except the ones that missed his mouth and ended up on the floor). I also offered him a tiny toddler sized fork that looks just like regular adult flatware, and that was a huge deal for him... he LOVED it.

After the meal he cleared his dishes, with me carrying him to the sink, he scrubbed them with the brush while I held them in the sink, propping him on my knee, and he then put them into the dishwasher on his own. I then let him wipe his own tray with a towel (why were we not doing this sooner?!). OH and midway through the meal I offered him a juice glass (mini version of my glass) and showed him how to use two hands to lift it to drink, and he went to town. Gradually tipping it more as he was more comfortable. When he started to put his hands into the cup, I took it. I would quickly return it as he begged for it, and he continued just the right way. It was PRECIOUS! Again, why weren't we doing this sooner?

Playing: His room still has one low shelf unit with three levels of shelves. The bottom shelf has an assortment of musical percussion instruments and a natural snake pull-toy (from Plan Toys). The second shelf has a tray of balls, a set of nesting cups (which are about to be rotated out as he's lost interest), and three turtles who are propelled by the balls that make their shells and feet. The top shelf has his pounding bench, which he is now able to fully manipulate, flipping the pegs as he finishes hammering them, and placing them in the correct shaped cutout. There is a basket of books on the top shelf, which he regularly visits, bringing us one book to read, returning it to the basket, and bringing another... OVER AND OVER again. There is also a xylophone representing the diatonic scale of C. He LOVES to play the xylophone, and I was so glad to find one that had the true scale.

He also has a set of toddler sized broom, mop, dust mop, and dust pan, that he has enjoyed test-driving. There is a shelf of stuffed animals in the closet, and a family of elephants on his rug by his rocking chair. He enjoys picking up a stuffed animal and carrying it around, or snuggling it. Lately he's been practicing differentiating the elephant family, today carrying the mother elephant on his shoulders like Ryan carries him around.

Generally we help him to play with only one toy at a time, reminding him to clean up as he begins to move on to the next. There is a large supply of other toys on a high shelf in the closet, so we can rotate the toys as he loses interest or gains interest. Keeping the shelf organized, with each toy returning to the exact same spot every time has aided his development of an orientation to his space and his sense of order. He knows exactly where things belong, and can help when they are out of place.

Our favorite activity is definitely listening to music and dancing with him. He LOVES music, of any kind of music, and has really taken to dancing. He particularly enjoys funk and techno along with harder rock while he's with his dad.

Furniture: The floor bed is kind of the focal point of the room (the thing everyone wrinkles their nose at when they see his room). Next to his bed is a toddler sized upholstered rocking chair that I salvaged from the roadside and slip-covered (so it is totally machine washable now). His clothes and cloth diapers are in a dresser near his closet, and we will start offering him a couple choices a day when we get a little closet shelf to place those options on. The changing table has been out of his room for a few months now because he enjoys acrobatic diaper changes, and we've gone to the changing pad on the floor method, which works well. He has a small basket for a laundry hamper and delights in putting his dirty clothes in it. I still have my rocking chair in his room because we do occasionally rock with him, and we sometimes like to sit in a chair while we are with him in his room.

Decorations: This area is a little bit lacking (still). I have added a series of black and white African animal photos above his shelf at his eye level. I also framed three 5x7 art-show postcards from a local artist that feature abstract paintings in different color families above his laundry hamper. He often takes them down for a closer look, which is totally safe because they are framed in cheap IKEA frames with plastic "glass fronts." He also has a lamp on his shelf that we use when he is winding down.

Toileting: recently he has shown an interest in his little toilet. It is a cheap one from IKEA, and he generally sits on it backward, but he does have an interest. He is also becoming proficient at signing and saying "poop" when he has one in his diaper... we're working on getting a little warning for that one! As long as he has an interest we will let him sit on his toilet in the restroom while we give him all of the "potty language" we will be using: pee, poop, toilet, clean, dry, diaper, etc. Our goal is not early potty training, but rather to help him communicate with us when he has that need and offer the little toilet as often as he is interested. He doesn't seem to have an aversion to wetness yet, despite being in cloth diapers for the past several months.

Outdoor exploration: Our back yard is an open area for exploration at this point. He plays with sticks and rocks he finds on the ground, often enjoys climbing over garden barriers and examining the trees. He also enjoys going to the park and climbing the play structures and swinging. Over the weekend we discovered that he enjoys swinging in a regular child swing (as opposed to the infant/toddler swings). The one at my parents' house is low enough to the ground that he could almost get into it on his own, and we stayed with him any time he was swinging.

Things to come: I will be adding to his room a small kitchen mat in a basket that he can use to delineate a workspace, as his toys become more complex, and as the number of peices increase.

In the area of decoration, I would like to have some family photos printed and hung at his level throughout the house and in the hallway. I want to sew some curtains for his window and a curtain for his closet. His room also needs a full length mirror (his length) and a table and chair for dressing and grooming and working. I just found out my neighbor is a woodworking hobbyist, so maybe he can help out in this arena... I think some homemade bread is in order!

Outside I would like to begin a garden with him, so he can harvest himself a little snack when he is outside and taste herbs. It would also be great for digging and watering. I will probably be buying a kiddie pool to keep back there for the summer (which lasts approximately 7 months in Houston). I want to paint the mini adirondack chair we have for him to relax. I would like to add an outdoor shelf to put some garden tools and watering can.

In the kitchen I would like to start some basic cooking with him. Maybe I'll pull in a low table so we can do projects down low (and I'm going to scout craigslist for a learning tower, to get him up to counter height). We'll try some breads and maybe some sauces or dips for veggies and crackers.

For art, I would like to invest in some high quality "block" crayons, since he is not ready for a pencil grip these allow him to hold on with his whole hand and are thick rectangular prisms that seem pretty difficult to break (I had a dream that they were super cheap at walmart, but that is indeed only a dream). I would also like to reconstitute some of my clay from the garage and pull out my wooden tools and ribs for him to play around with some ceramics... never to be glazed (unless i can find a friend with a kiln... Vindictive Pottery or Anne the Potter, maybe?) I would also like to purchase some art prints and frame some that I already have at his level around the house, probably on a rotating basis. As Maria would say "the best for the smallest among us!"

I'm also wanting to situate the communal areas to accommodate Dominic. Right now we have gates up blocking the living space off from the hallway because we don't want him to have open access to the kitchen and living room (lots of breakables and electronics... oh and gas stoves), but I would like to have a little nook for him in each of these spaces so he can feel more at home. This includes getting the learning tower and possibly investing in one of those expensive Svan high chairs so he can climb right up to the table (since he is quite the monkey). I also want to find some nice toddler chairs on the cheap (like the Michael Olaf option). Another idea is creating a playroom in our in-progress guest room.

So that is the current status... we will also be making some changes to welcome baby brother to the homestead... so we are guaranteed to be derailed from many of these projects and pick up others along the way. What are you guys up to on the homefront? Any tips for getting it more accessible for toddlers? Know where to find any of the "wishlist" items for cheap? Know how to insert photos in these dang posts? Help? I hope you are all well, and would love to hear what you are up to!

Good Bye, Disco Counter. Adieu.

I snapped. This week in a fit of being sick and tired of being sick and tired in bed, I went to home depot, bought a sample-sized jar of paint (dark ash), two fitty-cent foam paint brushes, and a quart of semi-gloss water-based polyurethane.

I sanded the countertop, removed the glass wall shelf, blue-taped the edge of our posh yellow sink, and went to town with my $15 materials. I painted a few layers of dark ash, then applied 3 (and counting) layers of polyurethane. My current beef with the project is that I keep getting tiny bubbles while using the fitty-cent foam brushes. I am planning on going back to home depot for a splurgy paint brush to finish the finish on the counter.

Not to jump the gun, but it already looks like a million bucks. I should put it in perspective, though, a week ago I had a cream colored formica countertop with fashionable 1970s gold flecks all over it. For $15 and some elbow grease I have a slate gray (I mean, Dark Ash) countertop that coordinates with my towels.

Next up, replacing the p-trap and posh yellow cast iron sink with chips in it... not the kind of chips I eat with salsa.

Normalization, anyone?

Normalization is that process in which children entering a Montessori environment come to be at peace and at home in their setting. They grow into a work cycle, begin to interact as a community, and become all around pretty settled. We're a ways a way I think at school, though we do have settled moments here and there. The beginning of the year is always an adjustment, though.

At home I sometimes wonder if I'll ever reach a state of normalization. The house gets clean, then it falls apart at the start of the next project. Right now it is clean, but there are the lingering projects of cleaning the garage and converting the junk room to a guest bedroom/media room.

I was definitely pretty pumped to clear the clutter from the top of my dresser, get my shoes into my shoes-under (stupidest invention ever, by the way, and we bought it!), and make the bed two days in a row (this is a record unsurpassed in my lifetime). There are only a couple bags in the entryway, which I will try to clear out before bed tonight, and a corner of the dining room is still a bit of a mess while I am in the middle of my tablecloth alterations for school.

I am ready to put some art on the walls and call this place home for a while, though! We'll just call it a settled moment on the road to normalization.