Steady Mom

teaching my children to bake--how & why I'm doing it

Today I'm writing on Simple Homeschool about the baking lessons I recently started with Trishna and Jonathan.

I'm sharing about it here as well because I think this activity is both fun and educational whether or not you homeschool!

From my post:

 

"About a month ago, I started teaching my children to bake. For years they have watched and "helped" me in the kitchen, standing around the center island with their own mixing bowls. But recently I felt my kids were ready to bake on their own.

I expected this would be fun--but I had no idea how much of a positive impact it would have on our home.

Baking is now a core component of our school day on Tuesdays. (Doesn't this bring to mind Little House?!)

"Ma used to say: Wash on Monday, Iron on Tuesday, Mend on Wednesday, Churn on Thursday, Clean on Friday, Bake on Saturday, Rest on Sunday. Laura liked the churning and the baking days best of all the week."
- Little House in the Big Woods

Want to know how and why we've added baking to our curriculum?"

Head here to read the rest!

what I learned from 4 days without power

Courtesy of Hurricane Sandy last week, we were without power, water, and Internet at home for four days--here's what I learned:

* that it's no wonder the pioneer women didn't have outside careers--survival for the family consumed most of their daily life

* that my kids roll with the punches really well--flexible and always ready for an adventure (I love this about them.)

* that even without power, we still have a ton of luxuries in our lives that others are missing

* that sometimes we need to go without, just to be reminded of how blessed we are

* that going without my morning cup of tea is a little harder than I expected

* that we have incredible friends and neighbors--who let us take showers, do laundry, borrow camping stoves, help out with blogs, and let our whole family sleep over

* that my regular, daily life overflows with extravagances that even kings and queens wouldn't have known 100 years ago (& chances are, if you're reading this, yours does, too!)

* that we need to intentionally remind ourselves of that fact, within a culture always after more

* that an unexpected week without time online was good for me in many ways

* that I'm thankful to be back with you all now!

We had a lovely October--though I wasn't around this space much, I worked plenty behind the scenes on new projects. Looking forward to getting back to a regular rhythm of blogging and life again.

"The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poor-house. The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man's abode; the snow melts before its door as early in the spring. I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there, and have as cheering thoughts, as in a palace."
~ Henry David Thoreau, Walden

 

have you met scary mommy?

Have your kids ever met "scary mommy?"

My kids have--yesterday, in fact.

She doesn't visit too often, but every once in a while she comes by unannounced. She refuses to politely knock at the door, but instead bursts her way in, surprising us all. The kids look at her with expressions that say, "Who are you?" and "What have you done with our real mother?"

But she pays no attention. She presses on with the day--there's work to be done, after all, and work is no laughing matter. Sometimes she makes people cry--the children and often, herself.

But there is a positive side of scary mommy as well, and it is this:

She models the beauty of starting again--of asking for forgiveness, of being vulnerable, of showing that it's okay to make mistakes.

Most of all, scary mommy shows that she's human. And her kids need to see her humanity just as much as they see her courage.

“We should regret our mistakes and learn from them,
but never carry them forward into the future with us.”
~ L.M. Montgomery

together

Trishna on her recent India day--celebrating 5 years with our family!

I'm over on Simple Homeschool today, writing about these babes of mine and all that I'm learning from them:

"Dear Trishna, Jonathan, and Elijah:

I’ve watched the school bus go by for years now–sometimes with envy, longing for a bit of extra “me” time and a bit less responsibility.

Lately, though, I watch it through the early morning fog–with a deep sense of rejoicing.

You mean, we get to do this…together? The learning, the living, the loving–all of it?

It’s almost too good to be true."

Read the rest over at Simple Homeschool.