And then there were 4

Andrew Augustine

Tantrums

I started this some time ago and don't now remember where I was going with it. It did give me a bit of a chuckle to find it in my drafts today.

We have all seen this marvelous spoof on sleep advice, right?

Well....

Send your child to their room but never let them cry alone.
Spare the rod and spoil the child but spanking will give them brain damage and permanently impair their emotional health.
A child having a tantrum just really needs a little more attention to feel secure. Giving a tantruming child attention rewards the behavior and they will never stop having tantrums.
A child needs to feel free to explore their emotions in a safe and secure environment. If you give them an opportunity to express their emotions, they will never learn to manage them.
If you discipline a child for throwing a tantrum properly, they won't have them anymore. Children do not have the emotional maturity to stop having tantrums until they reach adolescence.

And above all, be consistent.

Flying

I didn't grow up celebrating Halloween but I have always been a huge fan of playing dress up. Sometimes a deadline also makes me do something that I wouldn't otherwise make the time for. With two families sick, co-op was canceled for the week so we had a bit of extra time to work with as well. When I asked the older kids what they would like to dress up as this year, Ellie said that she wanted to be a princess swan and Peter, who initially said that he wanted to be an electrician (?) said, rather predictably, that he would like to be an airplane. Ellie already had a white ballet-type dress that was a good base and I figured that some cardboard, duct tape and paint would do it for Peter.

In the spirit of involving them in the creation process, I cut out the crown and Ellie decorated it.

Painting gold glitter onto the swan's crown

Peter said that he wanted stripes, words and glitter. He somewhat halfheartedly dripped a few drops of red glitter on the wings and tail and went back to smearing on the paper that he was working with. Oh, well.

The PPE airline decorated as per request--with red glitter raindrops

A great use for those too-long suspenders. The clips held pretty well but required some adjusting after going up or down stairs. The wings were proportional to the body, which meant that they were too wide to get through gates or narrow walkways. Peter got really good at gauging whether or not he could fit through and we made a pretty good navigating team.

Can I go fly yet, mommy?

It fits!

Wings, crown and tail feathers from a dismantled feather boa. We also started reading The Trumpet of the Swan this week so there were lots of swan sounds echoing through the house and yard.

See my wings!

Koh-hoh!

We took the obligatory pictures and finally turned them loose.

High-yi up in the sky...

Swinging

One of the other families in our co-op has a swing in their playroom and it is in constant use when we are there. I was intrigued but unsure if it was feasible in our very different space and ceiling height. However, when Peter's OT pointed out how much more calm he is when he is swinging, we made the leap to figure out how to make it work in our space. Jonathan did a fantastic job of researching hanging options and then spending the time up in the attic to drill and reinforce the studs for the hanging eye bolts.

The swing from Hearthsong is big enough for all three of the kids at once and easy for them to get on independently, both of which were big concerns as we searched for suitable options. The upper cloth "cozy house" is a stretchy material that gives a lot of opportunity for reinforcing proprioceptive awareness, deep pressure and heavy work--all that just from some swimsuit material!
 

As long as they are just swinging rather than bouncing around, one can be in the cozy house and one on the swing at the same time.

Bonus is that we hung in not-quite-centered under the sky light so that they can swing and look as the stars at the same time.

Cool, man

It's all good.

Moses Lake Farmers' Market

Our last day in Moses Lake always involves a trip to the farmers' market. I only bought corn this year but it is always fun to see what people are selling and listen to the band.

Walking with Grandpa

Here come the ladies

Sharing frozen lemonade at 102 degrees

Hot and tired mess--just before the meltdown

But watching the doughnut machine makes

Everyone happy,

Except the one who can't have any.

Woods Walking

Leaf waving makes not being able to get down much more interesting

Quack quack quack

Stick collecting

Peter was a trooper despite getting his first nettle sting.