We're very lucky.
Jack is the sort of child
we all assume we'll have
when we decide to have children,
and the sort of child
less experienced parents
congratulate themselves for.January and February 2004
March and April 2004
May and June 2004
July and August 2004
September and October 2004
November and December 2004
Blogs we read:
2006-06-19 - 15:33
I want to go to Africa
Jack wants to go to Africa.
Neither Rod nor I have ever had any particular interest in visiting Africa, but I guess it sounds like fun. At $5,200 plus airfare and personal expenses to take the family to Africa, though, it seems pretty unlikely that we'll be able to do it anytime soon.
It should be easy enough to dismiss this whim to go to Africa as the ravings of a three year old, right? After all, we have no real idea why he thinks going to Africa is so important, except maybe his new interest in animals. (Many of his favorites live in Africa.) We have family to visit every year, and between Sweden and Australia, that make our travel budget pretty well spoken for. It would be so easy to assume that the answer is and should be "no".
Except that last time Jack was so intent on anything so unlikely was a year or more ago when he started to announce that he "needed a house". At the time, we were paying of debts from my previous marriage, eating beans and rice, and scraping for gas money. Buying a house was the last thing on our minds and it seemed a many-years-away-if-ever kind of plan.
Well, the debts were finally paid off, and what with one thing or another, we found that it was indeed a possibility -- and then the first house we saw was "the one".
So...though it looks extremely unlikely at the moment, if Jack seriously wants to visit Africa, I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see it become possible at some point. I think even if I were determined to take Jack to Africa, three is a bit young to get as much out of it as I'd like him to for that kind of investment, so we wouldn't go until he is at least seven anyway ... would we?
When I'm a polite boy, it makes you happy!
I say this with monotonous regularity, but...Jack has reached a whole new level of maturity.
I am always amazed to see each new level of development happen so suddenly. Jack can speak in full, fairly complex sentences now. He is starting to examine cause and effect, and is tuning in to other people's feelings.
He regularly asks me "Are you happy, Mamma?", or asks me "Can you smile at me, Mamma? It makes me happy."
Yesterday, Jack had been particularly sweet and polite -- he said please *and* thank you without any prompting, and even smiled when he said thank you -- and then told his Dad "You did an excellent job, Dad." when Rod got him a glass of milk.
I told him he was a very sweet, polite little boy and he responded "When I'm a polite boy, it makes you happy. When I am a rude boy, it makes you grumpy." Oh my. That's true enough, but it's a new thing for Jack to both notice and to be able to express his observation.
A part of this newfound expressive maturity is the ability to make up long and complex songs about what he's seeing or experiencing. These days a drive with Jack is almost always a musical affair, with lyrics about horses and cows and houses and flowers and trees. It's funny and sweet, and a low-demand way to tune into what he's noticing.
He has also begun to explore music with his harmonica. I mentioned recently that Rod told about coming downstairs after a shower to find Jack playing his harmonica along with a CD. I got a change to see that myself a few days later. He turned on the music and picked up the harmonica and managed to hit the high and low notes at the right tempo for several bars before he lost the thread. He continued to play with great enthusiasm and deteriorating musical quality as he added dancing and facial expression to the repertoire. I caught a glimpse of him at one point making ecstatic faces like a seasoned blues musician ...though where he would have seen such a thing is beyond me.
Since I have absolutely no musical talent, I am totally amazed to see Jack exploring music on his own, in his own way, and achieving, at age three, things I wouldn't even dream of being able to do.
Oh, and we're back to reading a lot, too. Jack continues to love the "old fashioned" books I recently got for him -- The Little Engine that Could, Katy and the Big Snow, and Little Toot get at least one reading each every day. But he's also branched out to revisit some very old favorites ... his entire library got a workout over the last weekend, I think!
And last night, he brought me Little Bear and asked to read to me! That was fun! Of course, Jack being Jack, he had to try to read it while standing on his head, but he got through four pages before he got too tired to concentrate!
I have to say, I am gaining a whole new respect for the idea of unschooling.
I seriously doubt that it would have worked as well for TJ and Corey, but Jack is showing every sign of being the sort of child who might even benefit from it. We'll probably not pursue unschooling per se, but I think it may be wise for us to leave plenty of time and energy for Jack to also explore his own interests -- he certainly has plenty of them!
Hot, hot, hot...
It's been so hot all weekend that Jack and Rod pretty much didn't sleep for several days. They came to bed about midnight when it started to cool down and were up again as soon as it started to heat up again. (Nothing ever stops me from sleeping.)
Anyway, in the interest of coolth, Jack wore nothing but a pair of underpants for much of the day on Saturday with no accidents! Of course, he just held it, he refused to use the toilet ... but it's a start. Right?
I keep thinking I've forgotten something I meant to blog...but, since I can't remember, I'll try to remember for tomorrow or later this week.
