Cat Skinner Club

Poolside Pondering

Don’t you love those Mondays when you hit the ground running, totally organized, motivated and ready to start the week? I had the opposite of that this morning. Now as the dust has settled, I’m stealing a few moments for a bit of poolside pondering.

While I feel a near desperate need for productivity and routine, it seems that life, or more specifically, toddler-hood continues to conspire against me. This morning, I woke to the crankiest boy in the world. Screaming (primal) was his mode of communication. Kung-Fu took the place of cuddles (my bad, I let him watch Kung-Fu Panda, and now nobody is safe).  True, his molars are coming in. True he thinks it’s bullshit that his sisters get to stay home while he has to go to daycare three days a week. Still, what happened to my sweet little baby?

He refused to get dressed. He refused to eat breakfast. We started to run so far behind that I had to take him along to our vet appointment. This was a delight, of course, and by the time we were done he was happy to roll into his class and share his adventure with “the friends”. I got home wondering what the rest of the day would hold in store.

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So far, so good. I finished my final draft of the non-fiction book I’m working on. I managed to write this post. I’m currently acting as a lifeguard to my daughters and their friend who are splashing in the pool. Soon I will vacuum our house. My to-do list continues to get done, when I allow for some breathing space, some deviation from “the plan” rather than getting all wound up. When I tune into the needs of my children, who need at least one of us parents to be nearby while they eat up the lazy days of summer, I can still have my own little bit of productivity.

Lucky for me, I get to be their front line. I get to work poolside with a happy puppy snoring at my feet, paws wrapped around the bone she’s buried and dug up about five times now. I’m so grateful for our three-parent life, all of us working together to make our days full and happy. I’m so grateful for this new home, which will keep our children and their friends amused all summer.

How has your Monday surprised you?

Create Great Theatre With Kids

A couple of weeks ago, I finally bit the bullet and took a crash course in driver’s ed. I was in class every day from Monday through Thursday from 9:00 until 2:30. I wanted to leave the girls with something engaging and fun to do, so I made a list of what I called ‘Boredom Busters’. 

The activity that most appealed to Hannu and Aylu was creating a play. Hannu has been devouring the McEldery Greek Mythology book, so I had the girls select a story and create a play complete with props and costumes that they would stage for our close friends and family. They chose the story of Arachne, who is turned into a spider after challenging the goddess Athena to a weaving competition.

It turned out that the girls eventually felt a little overwhelmed about committing Hannah’s sophisticated adaptation to memory, so I spent a couple of hours with them and worked through the story. When I broke the story down into parts in a “what happens next” series of questions, both girls knew almost all of the lines. We decided I would read the part of the narrator, to help out Hannah who already had three roles to portray.

They seriously blew my mind and we had so much fun with this. All I did was jog their memory and suggest some very basic staging. The rest is all their steam and attention to detail, and they were so proud and excited to present their creation. I’ve included a link to the very simple video we shot, but like all stage shows the real magic was in watching the live performance.

Some tips for creating theatre with children:

  • Let them choose a story that they are inspired by and excited about. Stick with classic tales from mythology and folklore because they tend to be very simply written. Have them create a ‘script’ based on the story.
  • Keep a well-stocked dress up box for your kids and replenish frequently with thrift store finds. Think beyond commercial characters and try to find costumes for classic characters and archetypes. Sometimes the ‘ethnic clothing’ section of a thrift store can be a gold mine!
  • Don’t hold them to memorizing lines. Instead, help them remember the story arc and the key characters. If they can re-tell the story to you, then they can create a play that brings the story from the page.
  • Encourage them to play multiple characters by changing simple costume pieces. It’s great fun for kids to explore the ways different characters move and speak.
  • Create pride in their work by having them make hand made invitations that they can issue to friends and family. Turn the play into an event they can look forward to.
  • Help them rehearse by working with them on annunciation, volume, and simple staging. Resist the urge to over-direct them or turn into a rabid ‘stage mom’. Prompt them to consider how lines might be delivered, or how their characters might feel about what is happening.
  • Get involved by helping with props, costumes, set design, but don’t take over. You’ll likely be amazed by the scope of your kids’ imagination!
  • Document the event. Make sure you get video so you can play these when your kid wins their first Tony or Oscar.

Mommy’s To-Do List – Week of August 12th

mamaandnoah

Photo by Josh Hind

Weekend Highlights

On Friday night, we drove nearly two and a half hours in rush hour traffic to take the kids and their 11-year-old English cousin to the Legoland Discovery Centre. In my opinion, it was a total waste of money and a ridiculous distance travelled to share the hand germs of hundreds of hyper munchkins, but the kids seemed to have fun, so I suppose that’s all that matters. We tried to have dinner with extended family at a restaurant in the mall, but construction traffic and awkward timing made it more of a staggered, drop-in affair featuring a tired and incredibly loud Noodle and we didn’t end up getting home until well past midnight, which is never great when you’ve got kids. They were troopers though, to their great credit.

This set the tone for a very lazy Saturday that included a drive to the walk-in clinic for poor Hannu who has strep throat. Thank you public pool and swimming lessons with other kids. By Wednesday we should know whether any of the rest of us will get it. She’s recovering well, so fingers are crossed that the whole family doesn’t get sick, especially the poor baby. Mama S and Daddy had a date night to celebrate their 12th wedding anniversary. Date night in St. Catharine’s is very different than date night in Toronto it seems. I think they had fun though. I got an early bed time, and woke up feeling a bit more human.

On Sunday Daddy took me to Toronto for a meeting while Mama S minded the girls and Noodle. We had dinner at Taste of the Danforth, which is an outdoor food festival held by the city’s Greek district. I’ve lived in the city for about fifteen years, and it’s the first time I’d ever been. It was fun, despite the crowds, and everything we sampled was delicious. The meeting went late into the evening, and with the long ride home this made for another late night, and a late start this morning. I’m feeling grumpy, negative and sensitive. Is it PMS, or sleep-deprivation, or strep throat onset or all of the above?

VIP Tasks this Week

Classroom

I rallied Mama S and Daddy on Saturday to help me clear out more of the things that don’t belong in the classroom. This week I’d like to take down the remaining art, the curtains, and move the last few things out of there that don’t belong. Next step is priming and painting. The room is currently a deep burgundy. I’ll post before pictures.

Homeschool Prep

How did we arrive at mid August?? I need to cram now to make sure I’m ready to start homeschooling in early September. I’m taking at least one day out at Mom’s this week. Perhaps I’ll take two, just to be extra effective. I’m looking at the calendar and starting to worry a bit.

My Body

I’m not happy with myself. Since we’ve moved, I’ve been very bad at my daily exercise practice, it is basically non-existent. In Toronto I was walking for upwards of two hours every day with the baby and now I’m doing nothing. Our hiking only happened once, and I feel tired, lazy and ungainly. Looking at photos of myself is depressing me. Kicking gluten hasn’t cut it, I need to take action. I’m starting the Four Hour Body again today and I will post about that process. I hate feeling negative about my self, but I’m in a cloud that just won’t lift and I know some physical attention will improve things greatly.

Personal Goals

I’m in a funk. We all go there, don’t we? I’m feeling negative about writing, negative about my body image, sad, tired. I can feel that it’s cyclical, so that gives me hope that these yucky feelings will lift soon, but I know a good dose of gratitude will also help, so I’m going to work on shifting my mind to more positive things, and meditate on all of the things I’m thankful for.

Things to Look Forward To

Driving!
Daddy has been very brave and has taken me out to drive several times now. I love it, but it’s still really kind of nerve-wracking. I have to get more comfortable when there’s lots of traffic, and I really need to improve my lane changes. I need LOTS of practice, so I really hope we can get some time in this week.

Summer Reading Club!
I finally have my act together and can start the summer reading club I wanted to create for the girls. I found these adorable printables from Pinterest and I think it will really motivate them to enjoy some more of their rather extensive library. I also think it will be great reading-out-loud practice for Ayla who is coming along so well with her reading.

Anniversary!
On Saturday it will be four years since my partners and I decided to try to re-invent the relationship wheel. I’m hoping we can have an evening without the kidlets to go out and celebrate how far we’ve come in our relationship. They are my best friends and they make every day better because I get to share each one with them.

There’s my week for you. What does yours look like?

Rain or Shine

Noah and I on a practice hike.

Noah and I on a practice hike.

Or, How to Guarantee an Interesting Tuesday

It’s 7:30 am and there’s a light gray cast to the day. Our POP is currently 50%, moving to 30% at 10:00 am when we are scheduled to begin our first hike with our summer hiking club. While you are reading this, hopefully sipping coffee (which reminds me, I must take some coffee with us!) I will be trekking with Hannu, Aylu and the Noodle. We’ll either be going along swimmingly, or we’ll be quite soggy. Either way, we’re sure to have an interesting couple of hours.

I’ve been practicing with my baby-carrying backpack, which is extraordinarily comfortable. It was purchased way back when Hannah was a babe made by Macpac, a New Zealand company. Nekky had to find a local importer back then, but now you can buy direct from their website, pretty much anywhere in the world.  I suspect out of all of our kids that Noodle will get the most use out of the carrier. I love hiking, and this pack is a dream, especially with my scoliosis – it doesn’t bother me a bit. Of course, around here my walks are 40 minutes at max, and today we’ll be out for two hours, if the girls can last that long. With all of their weekly ravine walks at their former school, I think they are likely to out pace me!

I think we’ll need to start with some yoga at home because I’m feeling really stiff this morning. They should be able to manage some sun salutations, and their new room has enough floor space for all three of us to easily enjoy some poses. That and a good breakfast should give us what we need to get a good start to our adventure.

Here’s what I’ve packed:

Two water bottles

Three granola bars

Two packs of baby rice cookies

A banana

*A thermos of coffee (MUST remember this!)

Rain coats and pants for the girls

Rain boots for the girls

Rain jacket and boots for me (alas, no pants, must locate a second-hand pair)

Rain jacket and pants for Noodle (what am I going to put on his feet??)

Natural insect repellent lotion (I’m frankly unsure that this works)

Kibio natural sunscreen (this is an excellent product, I can’t say enough about the stuff!)

Wet wipes

A spare diaper (it occurred to me that the only realistic place to change Noodle will be somewhere after the hike. I think I’ll coat him in diaper rash cream, just in case)

If I’ve forgotten anything, I guess we’ll have to deal. I’m going to encourage the girls to each search for one natural treasure for our nature table, and they will both work on a journal entry when we get home. I must dash off and get ready for the day! I will post some iPhone photos later on my Facebook page. I hope we don’t get those mighty Toronto rains, and I hope nobody needs to poop in the woods!


Mommy’s To-Do List – Week of July 8th

Mama S shot this amazing photo of Noodle and Hannah.

Mama S shot this amazing photo of Noodle and Hannah.

Another busy week begins! Our weekend fun continues with a Monday jam-packed with kid energy, and there’s lots of fun to be had this week.

Weekend Highlights

This weekend was a whirlwind of family fun. On Saturday we hosted some of Nekky’s family for a barbecue and a round of a game called “The Word Game”. The premise of this game is to take a large word and find as many other words from the letters of this word before the 15-minute timer goes off. Sounds like fun, right? Well it was, mostly, but it also turns out that a highlight of the game is watching Mama S and Bapa (Nekky’s dad) argue over the rules. They cleared the room after only the second round, but fortunately there was a lot of delicious food to distract everyone. We were celebrating Ia Fui’s (Nekky’s sister Nadia) birthday, and I’ll share more on that later this week, including menu highlights and family recipes.

As I’m typing the main floor of the house is alive with sound. That’s because Mama S’ sister Crystal arrived yesterday afternoon. She drove here from Texas with her three boys who are all under the age of five. It’s like a hurricane of cute and crazy in our home! The crew is staying until later today and then they are off to Barrie to see Mama S’ folks. I’ll be posting Crystal’s secrets for staying sane later this week, because I know there’s no way I could hold it all together as beautifully as she does.

 

VIP Tasks This Week

The Classroom

I’d say most of the house is in good shape now, and everything looks very settled in. Our classroom is piled high with boxes and it’s a bit of a minefield. I’d like to begin organizing and purging in there, and get the space ready for painting. I think we could use the classroom for some summer fun activities before we even begin our curriculum for the fall.

Summer Camp At Home

One of my favorite blogs, Simple Kids, featured an at-home nature camp curriculum. I think I’ll give it a whirl and plan some fun activities for the kids for the rest of the summer. We now have swimming lessons to look forward to at the end of this month, but it’s really nice to have some tricks up my sleeve when they run out of their own ideas for fun.

Work Day

I found a bus that runs from the nearby plaza to a stop that is a five-minute drive from my mother’s house! It’s a short trip – only twenty minutes – so now all we have to do is choose a day this week that works for us. I’ll spend half the day writing, and half the day working on home school curriculum and finishing those thank you cards from Noah’s baby shower and Bayah that need to get sent out!

Gluten Free Baking

I plan to hit the local Bulk Barn and see how many of the ingredients I can find for the Gluten Free all-purpose flour I’d like to try. My experiments in gluten-free baking should make for some hilarious writing. How many of you reading these posts eat gluten-free? Do you have any great recipes to share? Please do!

Personal Goals

This week I want to be mindful of spending quality time with the kids. They seem to really thrive when I’m conscious of spending some focused time with them each day. We start our hiking club on Tuesday, so that’s one really fun thing we can count on.

I’d also like to start shifting my focus back to my theatre company. In the whirlwind of moving and getting settled, it seems like a far-away memory, but we have a Halloween show to plan and get working on! I hope that inspiration will come once I turn my mind to the show because I’m feeling a little tapped now.

 

Things to Look Forward To

Hiking!

I haven’t been on a proper hike in years, and I can’t wait to go out with the kids on Tuesday. Hiking was such a huge part of my childhood. The hiking club has been arranged by one of the moms in our local homeschool group, and I really hope we have the chance to meet some of the other families. The girls want to go rain or shine, so I guess we’ll know who the real nature people are. I’ve got a kick-ass pack for Noodle, and I’ve been practice walking with it this week. It’s very comfortable and he usually settles in for a good nap.

City Time!

I’ve got to head back into town for an errand at the end of the week. I’m really hoping to connect with some of my city peeps. I’ve been craving a meal at Fresh, which is probably the best vegetarian restaurant I’ve ever eaten at. It will be nice to get back there and feel that crazy city energy again.

Thrifting!

I plan to hit the local thrift store this week because we have a large pile of stuff to donate. I think it will best for me to have a couple of hours there alone because I like to be so thorough in my searching for stuff that most people find it annoying to shop with me.

I have a feeling this will be one of the weeks that goes by in a flash, which can be fun, but also leave me feeling really tired if I’m not careful to take some down time too. How is your week shaping up? What’s the one thing you’re most looking forward to this week?