Yesterday, the boys were singing Silent Night in the tub. Ollie said: "what's roundyon bergin?" No*ah (in a tone that says "DUH!") answered: "Roundyon is the Mother, and Bergin is the Child." O*liver said: "I'm going to name my little boy "Bergin" when I'm a daddy."
Speaking of those boys: they’re both doing quite well. Most of the time, they’re a joy to be with. They’re in some sort of problem-solving phase right now that is by turns hilarious and rather messy. For example, No*ah got concerned about the dog digging in our garbage, so he created a collar out of a shoelace and some large wooden beads, collared the long-suffering dog with it, tied that to another shoelace, and tied the “leash” to a very heavy jar of coins. Problem solved, but just in case it wasn’t, he also took one of those canning jar graspers, threaded it through the cabinet door handles, and taped the ends together with masking tape. And on it goes. Insects are created from taping together blocks, paper “eyes”, and Popsicle sticks, and when your peace-loving parents won’t buy you a toy gun, you can always tape together several cylindrical blocks and call it a day. Pow! If you wondered where the dog’s collar was, well that had been removed from the dog, attached to a mesh exfoliator ball from the shower, and hung from a doorknob as a makeshift Christmas decoration. The other doors were decorated with belts pilfered from my closet with balls of scrunched-up construction paper taped to them and tied with string. The other day, Noah was beside himself waiting for me to ask him to set the table, because he couldn’t wait to tell me that he’d taped a set of clean utensils to the wall next to his chair. “Isn’t this handy, Mama?”
Most of the time, we let them have at it with this type of thing within reason, though they are expected to clean up their mess eventually, no matter how “handy”, and I am not above rescuing the dog from too much interference from the under-5 set. But there are moments when I miss being able to find things more predictably and not having quite so much tape or worse stuck to the bottom of my feet or socks….
And the questions – oh my… Especially Oliv*er, who is in the middle of another fixation on mechanical systems. We had dinner at our pastor’s house a few days ago. The boys were treated to a lovely meal of some of their favorite foods, complete with desert, the chance to trim another tree, singing, guitar and piano, and even presents. What did Ollie talk about for 2 days afterward? My pastor’s husband’s explanation of their radiator system and the oh-so-interesting gurgling pipes full of hot water that made it work. I sometimes can’t get out of the church basement because Ollie wants an explanation of the duct work. He wants to know if the steps of the escalator at the airport came in a box set to be assembled on-site, or did they came in a big loop that needed to be slipped onto something? What happens if one comes loose? “I think if you are an elevator-maker or escalator-maker, it is important to do a really good job”, he finally concludes. Hinges of any kind fascinate him, and he wants to know what powers everything. Who built this building? When? Who for? What’s in the walls? Why is that ceiling higher than that one? How do you put in a ceiling fan? How does the factory know what people need for their houses? We have endless conversations about sewage systems, and electricity, and power plants. Learning to state a theory was a real breakthrough for him, because he suddenly figured out that I can at least help him narrow it down even if I don’t have all the answers. The poor kid does not have parents who are experts in any of these things, or are even particularly handy (or ahem, interested in the contents of our walls, though I’m always game for seeing it through his eyes), so I’m counting on Grandpa and maybe an uncle/aunt or two to help fill in the gaps. Besides, someday, I’m going to need a handy son. Heck, I’m already covered if I need a highly creative way to keep the dog out of the garbage…
Noa*h is more focused on stories and fantasy than his brother. He is still utterly in love with books, and can often be found reading to himself. Today, I took him to the grocery store, and he brought in a big, thick, Dr. Suess storybook from the library. He sat in the cart and was so engrossed in his book that he said not a word the whole time we were in the co-op. When I asked him to get out of the cart so that the bagger could load it up with groceries, he was shocked that we'd filled the cart and then paid for everything. He’s been cracking people up with his gestures lately – he makes the funniest faces, and looks like such a little imp with his silly voices, long arms, and waving hands. He can also do a pretty convincing Southern accent. His stuffed animals play elaborate roles in his games, and he usually manages to involve Ollie as well. He has a wonderful attention span (though it can be very difficult to shift his attention once he’s focused on something), and is really starting to love chapter books. We’re currently reading the first of the Chronicles of Narnia books, and the Pippi Longstocking book that my parents gave him as an early Christmas gift. He loves it, but suspense of any kind is pretty tough for him to take, and I notice he cuddles way into my side when we read. N*oah is pretty sensitive – very easily scared by movies or talk of scary things, and more cautious than his brother when climbing or sledding. He worries for Ollie sometimes, that he’s coughing too much, or will be hurt. He’s very dramatic and loves to move; he’s requested a dance class (the first time he’s ever requested an activity rather than have to be talked into trying it), and we think we’ve found a boy-friendly class for him to start in the New Year. Ollie will take swimming lessons instead, also at his request—the first time they’ve had separate activities. It will be a nice way to spend some separate time with each boy, and they do seem to focus and listen much better apart.
In the preschool newsletter that came home a couple of weeks ago, it was mentioned that in Noa*h’s class, the kids had shown a real interest in outer space. I’m sure that No*ah was among them – he’s often dreaming about the planets (and aliens) and looking at his giant space atlas, or a globe. Both boys seem to love that topic, actually. At their school, the teachers often follow an interest in something like that and build upon it, which is something we really love about their school. They use that natural interest to help the kids learn to find resources to learn more about it, to posit theories, to explore through experimentation, storytelling, art and music. They are learning to learn rather than just being filled with information. In Ol*iver’s class, the kids were very interested in scientific observation, and they were actually permitted to watch a pumpkin decompose in a terrarium. Yuck, but also interesting. The kids each made theories about what would happen, and Oliv*er’s theory was, “there’s going to be quite a fungus”. He was right, and the teachers wisely moved on to the next experiment at that point before the fruit flies got out of control. While of course an elementary school does have the job of making sure a certain amount of particular information is learned and learned well, I dearly hope that whatever situation we find for them also retains something of what they’ve had for the last two years. I hope they always love learning and learn to think critically and creatively in addition to learning facts, and to be kind people in addition to having their curious little minds engaged.
We're getting ready for a major blizzard over the holiday, which should be interesting. So glad we don't have to travel, though even the 25 miles we have to go may be a challenge.
Merry Christmas!
