STREWING: MINECRAFT

So, we've been playing a lot of Minecraft around here. By we I mostly mean River, but it does rub off on everyone. Violet really likes to sing the song TNT, for example.  There is a fair amount of staring at the computer, but it's not just staring at the computer (it pretty much never is). We get huge murals of the Minecraft creatures on a near-daily basis, for one thing. We've also delved into Minecraft papercraft, and James even helped River make a couple of creatures from wood.

Since everything in Minecraft is made of blocks, lego is another very compatible medium. There is an official lego Minecraft set, but because the price went up so quickly, we've decided to stick with simpler lego tutorials for now. River even made a video of his own to show his creations! (We've discovered that you can buy legos by the piece if there are particular blocks you're missing.) River also likes to create things in the game itself. He's used tutorials like this one to teach himself to build epic sculptures of mobs like the skeleton, which involve a lot of memorization, digital navigation and general spatial skills.

Since the blocks in Minecraft are perfectly regular it's pretty hard to avoid the math implications, beginning with measuring length, width and height in block units. River often comes up with multiplication questions based on problems like "how many blocks do you need to make four legs that are three units tall?" As my mom pointed out, they are a lot like the cubes often used as manipulatives in math classes. I wanted to link to some Minecraft math demonstrations, but there are so many that it's hard to choose. Here's a search for "Minecraft math" with some interesting links, but the best bet would probably be to search for a topic of particular interest like addition - for example, this addition gate combines Minecraft, math, and basic programming concepts.

There is actually a lot of computer and tech stuff in Minecraft play. River has built some pretty impressive double-switched gates and similar machines, which I don't even completely understand. James likes to point out that he (River) has learned most of what he knows about Minecraft from other kids, both in person and on Youtube videos. Just last week we logged on to a server with other local homeschoolers, who were able to help us figure out the rules of the social game, while River was thrilled to get a  chance to share some of his technical knowledge. We're thinking of checking out the Snap Circuits Jr. kit to see if he has any interest in exploring similar concepts in three-dimensions.

In the meantime, there's a whole world to explore, full of different biomes, cities, people and materials. A world which is, apparently, larger than the whole earth. No wonder it's taking a while.


(post image from the Paradise World blog)

NOCTURNAL (LEARN NOTHING DAY)

Learn Nothing Day started today at 12:00 AM (I know, because I was there). Less than an hour later I had totally blown my chances for the year by watching a detective show, from which I accidentally learned a few things about guns and submarines.

Meanwhile, River was teaching himself things about how to build better lego monsters. Seriously, they were much more realistic than the last ones I saw. Is that technically learning? I'm not sure. It was a demonstration of knowledge acquisition, but it's hard to say exactly when that learning took place.

That is kind of like one of the biggest things I'm learning right now, too, which is that we need to be more flexible about sleep around here. It has been sneaking up on us for a while. Really, we are all sort of nocturnal. Before kids and regular employment, James and I used to go to bed around 4:00 AM. When we had little babies they adjusted to our schedule pretty easily, though it was somewhat earlier than it used to be.

They're not little babies any more, though, especially River, who has aometimes been wanting to stay up later than we do for about the past year. It's been a gradual thing. at first the rest of us would lie down and watch a movie and he would stay up to watch a video or two of his own before joining us around when we went to sleep. Eventually we noticed that it was getting more extreme, though. Sometimes he seemed full of energy at night, while at other times he just seemed determined to stay awake in the face of exhaustion. Since early spring, he has often been staying up most of the night.

Some part of me would like to say that we supported this right away, but we didn't. Instead, we tried pretty much everything we could think of, from a structured night-time routine to installing a program that cuts out melatonin-reducing blue light from River's computer. On the few nights we did get him in bed early, he still lay awake tossing and turning, sometimes for over an hour. Mostly we tried waking him up in the morning (with his consent) for the many day-time activities he enjoys. This went on for a surprisingly long time (weeks?) without any noticeable night-time effect. What we did notice was that he got more and more exhausted - droopy, grumpy, and eventually nearly impossible to wake up.

And so, after many conversations and consultations, we've decided to let him sleep. Today was a pretty average day, and he got up around three. most nights now James and I trade off staying up with him for at least a couple of hours after our usual night-time routine. It's certainly not an ideal schedule for us, but it may be the best compromise at the moment - and there are benefits for all of us. When River is well rested, he is much more cooperative, engaged and affectionate. When I stay up with him, if I'm not too tired, we have fun drawing, building with legos, and talking about all kinds of crazy stuff. In the mornings I get some alone time with Violet, too, when we can have a leisurely breakfast, play toddler games, and get some housework done. It is a big adjustment, though.

There are plenty of unschooling truisms like "you can have structure without having rules" which, while technically accurate, leave out the dirty semi-secret that this structure often has a way of occurring in the wee hours of the morning, and we've struggled more with this than with any other unschooling issue so far. Wouldn't it be better to just put River to bed over his objections, for his own good? The thing is, he seems to be doing just fine as long as we let him sleep enough, even if it is usually during the day. And although it's not what we might have chosen, the rest of us can be too, especially if we concentrate on meeting our own needs (for down time, getting out of the house, and so on).

I guess it comes down to the fact that we believe in unschooling not just politically (it's rarely right to force another person to do anything against their will), but also pedagogically - much like you just can't force someone sleep if they're not tired, you also can't force someone learn something when they're not open to it. On the other hand, even on learn-nothing day, there doesn't seem to be any way in the world to stop anyone from learning.

NEW PROJECTS

I've had some interesting commissions recently, the most recent of which was my first logo.

It's for "Hello, Baby!" doula service, so I was thinking about cute babies right away, and rabbits just sort of seemed to fit the theme. Also, Google image search confirmed that nursing baby bunnies are truly adorable.

I played around with a few different sketches, though, and in the end we     decided to work both of these ideas up.

ANGRY BIRDS, LAZY DAYS

I haven't posted about my awesome kids recently, have I?

River has spent most of the past year immersed in the world of construction, but apparently construction is now over. The theme for this spring has been video games.

Angry Birds, Mario, Minecraft, and more Angry Birds, mostly. The thing that intrigues me most about this is that while he does spend a lot of time playing games (and watching game videos), he spends even more time recreating the video worlds in various forms: role playing, play-doh, cut cardboard, real slingshots, bath toys, and stuffed birds with blocks come to mind. Angry Birds Space had us pulling out a solar system book last week, ending a significant reading drought. Lego is perfect for Minecraft, of course, although we've also seen our fair share of stone axes and other real-world tools. And then there are the drawings, which, while they've never been River's primary focus, tend to happen on a large scale, usually several times a day. The longest and most recognizable phrase he has written so far is on a recent drawing: Angry Birds Underwater.

We've had some really amazing conversations, recently, too. One of his favorite subjects to explore is how people came to exist, and then how they learned to build houses. He's asked to play letter and number games, recently, too, and I'm learning to be amazed at how much he picks up when he's not actively working on things. Why can he do more equations than he could last time we talked about subtraction? I don't know, but he can.

And Violet... I feel like maybe I don't write much about what Violet does. At her age, I'm sure I had lots of theories about what River was into, but so far Violet has been very easygoing and mostly just into whatever is going on. She does like a lot of the things that River likes, but some more than others. Recently she's also been enjoying Angry Birds, especially the part about building towers and knocking them over. She's also been fascinated with letters. She plays quite a bit of Starfall, loves to be read to, and I wouldn't be entirely surprised if she ends up reading before River does. She's also been enjoying dolls, stuffed animals, and of course,  horrifying daredevil stunts. We're going to try to get to a sample gymnastics class soon and see if River can tolerate it, because I'm pretty sure Violet will love it.

DRAWING LAB #4: ZOOPHILIA

 This week (ok, let's be honest, last week) my drawing exercise was to sketch at the zoo. I wasn't that excited about going by myself, so I asked River if he wanted to draw at the zoo with me. He was pretty excited about it until he realized I meant draw animals. His favorite thing to draw right now is Minecraft stuff, i.e. anything made out of squares.

While I was drawing, I was thinking about what makes a simple drawing successful. The bulky shapes (like you get from a gesture drawing) are important, but so are certain details. For example, look at this thing on the left. It's probably a gorilla. But the one on the right is definitely a gorilla. This bear was my favorite real sketch from the trip (the gorillas are fake, sorry) and a little of the same thing happened naturally, since the claws on that paw just happened to be showing.

I did have to be pretty quick with most of the animals. This is the only one that I actually got to spend a long time on, since he was distracted by the slides for quite a while and didn't even see me drawing. (And thanks for that idea, Steph.)

I asked River if he wanted to draw any animals and at first he insisted that he didn't know how, but then he decided to try some "minecraft" versions: elephant and flamingo. It's a good technique, I think. He got all the major parts blocked in. And yes, that is TNT in the corner.

I was left with one burning question after our zoo trip, which is why would a fish have nostrils? River says, "umm, water nostrils." Of course.

Strewing: River's Bucket List (Part 2)

I'm not sure if it's an unschooling thing or just a mom thing, but I tend to keep a mental list of things River has mentioned that he would like to do some day. Here's a recent one, with notes:

build a treehouse - ours won't be this ambitious, but the playground built by children is an inspiration.

make a birdfeeder/watch birds - the pine cone is classic, and kid-friendly

go to the woods
go to the playground
go to the unschoolers waterpark gathering again (don't forget toy bag this time)

make a train shaped lunchbox - this is a craft in a book, which unfortunately is not online. maybe I'll post pictures if it happens, 'cause it is pretty crazy.

go to a drive-in movie - maybe this one? looks like The Lorax is playing right now.

go through a car wash - I bet he would also like this kids' version
go back to the beach (bring toy trucks)
learn to read - we've seen a lot of Starfall recently

build and drive a race car - naturally this made me think of soap box derby. apparently it's still a thing, although I don't see a lot of soap boxes

go to outer space - this has been on the list a long time, and it's not getting checked off any time soon. but you never know...

Strewing: Anatomy

River has been really into anatomy for a while, and I've been collecting related projects and links:

This paper plate skeleton is goofy, but could be fun to construct and hang.

These skeleton cookies are adorable, though. Looks like the original post is gone now, but you get the idea.

Someone recommended the Melissa and Doug anatomy floor puzzle. It has bones on one side, organs on the other. It's a little advanced for River, but he was excited to have us help him put it together a few times.

We haven't explored it much yet, but the Google body browser looks really interesting and definitely more in-depth than these other ideas.

One that River came up with himself was to take his clothes off and ask me to draw bones on him with washable marker. That was fun. We also draw bones and blood people on paper pretty regularly.

For Pittsburghers, the Carnegie Science Center has some really good anatomy and medical technology stuff for all ages in the changing exhibits.

Looking for an image for this post, it occurred to me to show him the Alex Grey books...plenty of anatomy in those paintings (like the image above).

River Learns Stuff

River is about to turn four. I know, I can't believe it either.

Last year when he turned three, I was thinking about school, unschool, and blogging a lot. He was the age at which a lot of kids start school, and how cool would it be to have a complete-ish record of his entire unschooling career? But then life, three-year-olds and unschooling got in the way of my blogging, and it mostly didn't happen.   

Thinking back, though, River has clearly learned a ton of stuff this year. Last year he was just really starting to get into independent play with cars and pretend animals. This year, he's been all over the place.

Unschooling and little kids is a funny thing, because for the first couple of years, everybody knows that kids just learn: walking, talking, interacting, etc. Then somehow, by the school years, it's assumed that most important things will have to be not only taught, but also in most cases directed and motivated by adults. So I think the preschool years are actually a really interesting and important period for the unschooling philosophy, because if more people would give it a low-risk shot (still plenty of time to get to Kindergarten, if necessary) they might see how well kids are able to pursue their own interests at a very early age. In River's case, I'm going to break down some of the biggest developments by approximate "subject":

English - River can name and write most letters, write and type his name, and recognize a few words by sight. He likes books (especially non-fiction), being told stories (putting in his own twists), and learning new words. Some of the concepts he's been asking a lot about recently include "no, thank you", "oh well", "fault" (as in, whose is it?), and "I don't know". Sometimes it's a real challenge to explain well using words he understands, but it's also an interesting window into his thought process. He is talking more and more about things we did in the past or plan to do in the future, too.

Math - River can count to twelve reliably, and likes to experiment with larger numbers. He also likes to add small numbers, and has a pretty good grasp on halves and quarters. He was really interested in measuring for a while, using a tape measure and the kitchen scale. He is also into clocks, and has the big hand part down pretty well.

Science - River is really, really into sciencey stuff. The Science Museum is one of his favorite places to go. He can name a whole lot of dinosaurs and other animals, sometimes with relevant details about their lives. He has a pretty good grasp of the plant life cycle and the seasons. He's really into anatomy (likes to name parts of the body, talk about digestion, nutrition, etc). Once he took off all his clothes and asked me to draw his skeleton on him with washable marker, which was fun. He likes to use a microscope and telescope to look at things. He is has also been really, really interested in appliances - reading and watching videos about how they work, and so on. James took him to home depot once to play with the washing machines and I think it was one of the highlights of his year. Oh, and I almost forgot outer space! He names the planets, draws the solar system, etc.

Social Studies - River is starting to understand concepts of distance: that we live in one city, some people live in others that are far away and take a long time to get to, etc. He can point to Pittsburgh on a world map. For a couple of months he was intensely interested in castles, so we built a lot of different types with legos and read books (that was really our first foray into history, I think).
 
Foreign Language - River knows that we speak English, notices when he hears another language being spoken, and is interested in Spanish and Chinese (mostly because of TV shows he watches). He sometimes asks us to speak Spanish or show him how to write Chinese words (yay for the internet!).

Art - River loves building with legos and drawing. He also likes to paint occasionally. We've definitely seen recognizable figures, along with plenty of other subjects this year (one of my favorites was posted in this blog before, a person riding a duck). He also likes to take pictures, including the self-portrait in this post.

Music - River likes to play hand drums, keyboard, and whistles. He dances to music, talks about how it makes him feel, sings the ABC song, and has experimented with scales and chords on the keyboard. He can also identify several genres of recorded music.

Physical - River likes to play catch, play on the playground, pillow fight, experiment with a skateboard, and recently he's been practicing hitting a ball with a bat. He'll occasionally join us for a few yoga poses, and he's getting increasingly independent in the swimming pool...not exactly swimming, but definitely interested in the concept.

Social - River has plenty of chance to play with new kids at museums, playgrounds, etc. We also try to get together regularly with his kid friends. He understands taking turns and is sometimes willing to do it. He has gotten a lot of practice finding alternatives to whacking his little sister, which could still use (lots of) improvement, but he has learned a lot of self-control since the beginning of the year. He has also started to apologize, occasionally, and show a little concern for people having problems, even including Violet.

Life skills - River can butter his toast, make a bowl of cereal, get himself water, ask to lie down when he's tired, talk about feeling sick, answer the phone, play computer games with a mouse, play a board game (Zingo), push a small cart at the grocery store, be careful near cars, list the months of the year, and probably a million other little things that are hard to think of because I'm already starting to take them for granted. He really loves being able to do things for himself. Oh! and he is finally out of diapers, which is convenient for everyone.

So, it's been an eventful year. I like to think I would be just as happy if there was less in the way of visible, traditional progress, but it's also nice to see such a clear demonstration that the natural learning process can continue, at least up to the age of four. Next up: five! And, of course, two again.

The Blood Person

Sometimes when I want to post stories about my kids, I think it sounds too much like I'm bragging. Really, I have absolutely zero interest in competitive parenting. When I get excited about the awesome things my kids are doing, it's partly because these things are special to them (and hence, to me).

It's also because kids are pretty amazing in general. I'm regularly blown away by the process of learning unfolding before my eyes, and you'll have to pardon me if the examples that spring most readily to mind tend to come from my own kids.

Anyway. We're members of the Toy Lending Library, so last week during my volunteer shift I picked up a pack of craft punches to try at home, and sure enough, River was pretty happy to be able to punch out stars and stuff. Then, while he was cutting some red hearts, he said, "Mommy, let's cut out a blood person!"

Naturally, my first response was, "What?"

I'm pretty sure, though, that what he meant was a picture, like the ones in his human body book, that shows the anatomy of blood vessels. I was a little daunted by the task, so I talked him into drawing the blood vessels and cutting out some other stuff instead. He drew the blood, glued on the heart and bones, then colored pink over everything to make skin. Okay, maybe I'm bragging a little bit. I will admit, I'm pretty darn charmed by this creepy little blood person.

I love to read about the awesome things other people's kids are doing, too, which is probably a big reason that I do the blog thing in the first place. There are some cool unschooly blogs in the second part of my blogroll, over there  ---->  check 'em out if you like that kind of thing!

Mi Amor Mas Pequeña

One of Those Tuesdays

River likes to watch a cartoon called Kai-Lan, which is about a Chinese-American girl. This morning he watched some episodes while Violet was having her mega-nursing-growth-spurt-nap, and when I came out he asked me how to write the word "love" in Chinese. River's Chinese vocabulary certainly exceeds mine at this point, but today we both learned something new (the word sounds just like the English "I" or "eye", and the character contains the character for "heart").

River also asked me to make a crocodile out of folded paper, which I'm pretty sure he picked up from the origami documentary that we watched the other night. We looked it up, and managed to construct a simple version - hooray for the internet!

Then we read his new whale book twice. This book is one of the longest he has, and we've read it probably twenty times since he got it last Thursday. Sea animals are a topic of sustained interest around here.

When Violet woke up, we walked to the playground for our first major outdoor expedition of the year. River volunteered to push Violet on the swings, which amused both of them for a really long time. Then River and I raced around the playground for a while while Violet tried to figure out why she couldn't walk up a slide.

River has had a ton of manic energy these days, so we followed up the playground with a rousing round of "bed games" - a combination of mostly pillow-fighting, wrestling and hide-and-seek invented to let off some steam in the house.
 
This evening, after grocery shopping (at Whole Foods, where River likes to push his own little cart), he asked me who makes legos. We watched some short videos about factories making legos, cars and boats, then followed it up by building a lego castle.

After James gave the kids their bath and I put Violet to sleep, we had a little quiet time with River before he, too, passes out...he asked to read several more books and watch a video about space ships.

We learn something new every day, but occasionally it's nice to have days like this when the process is totally impossible to ignore.

(Oh, and the picture is a lego model of a person riding a duck. Of course.)

December/January Gyres

I feel unreasonably good considering that it's early February. Of course, having a car this year has made the winter pass more easily. Having a car, heat, hot water, room to play, places to go...it almost seems unfair, really. (Actually, it is unfair. but the least I can do is appreciate it, I think.)

We've been going out so often that staying at home can sometimes be a nice change of pace. Yesterday we did just that, and River and I spent a lot of the day playing Zingo (by the rules for the first time! If you don't count the fact that he wanted to use the "sun" tile on the "star" space. Well, yes, technically...).

He also dragged the kitchen scale upstairs because he wanted to weigh things, and we spent a lot of time talking about heavy and light, pounds and ounces, you know...scale stuff.

River's passions have definitely taken a turn for the more traditionally academic recently, and it's really interesting to watch. At three and a half, he is driven to learn about numbers and letters, weights, building, machines, drawing, plants and animals, and generally questioning why things are the way they are. It seems so perfectly normal and intuitive, like this kind of learning should be taken for granted (rather than the opposite).


Violet has been really sweet and fun, too. She's into books, music, and climbing to the top of dangerous things to shake them. Yup, I think she's a Gyre, blue eyes and curls notwithstanding. It's especially funny when she rides her rocking horse in daredevil style - practicing to be a circus equestrienne, I think! But she is learning, too, of course. This morning I watched her lie down on the couch and scoot carefully to the edge to peer over, where last week she probably would have barreled over the edge at full speed. And she is so cute and giggly and squeezable.

They're so fun right now. And before we know it, it will be spring. I'm definitely feeling like a pretty lucky mama.

Winter at the Gyrestead (and River's Obsessions)

 So, late January. The time of year that makes me question my sanity for deciding that yes, I really did want to settle down in Pittsburgh and brave these long, dark winters for approximately ever. We're doing pretty well, though, considering.

We've had a little extra cash flow that means wonderful things like replacing our broken hot water heater, working on building an actual living room (so exciting!) and even caving in to get a second vehicle. I don't love driving so much, but I do love the fact that I can take the kids out while James works and still get back to the Gyrestead in time for dinner. I hate to admit it, but driving is actually going a long way towards keeping the winter crazy at bay.

The kids are well, and also big. Violet is walking and climbing like a maniac, and starting to really communicate a lot. Recently she has liked to pick a baby book off the shelf and bring it over to one of us to read, and you better believe I am thrilled about that. She also waves, hugs, and shakes her head "no." It's all pretty adorable, if you can believe it.

River really seems to be growing recently, too, in ways that are kind of hard to pinpoint. For one thing, he's started in on the "why" questions, and while I'm sure I will eat my words eventually, so far it's been really fun. The conversational possibilities have exploded.

He's three and a half, now, and we've really started to observe the way his interests fluctuate and flow. I wanted to make a little list of his obsessions here, for posterity, and so I can remember as many of them as possible.

It started with normal baby stuff, like toddling and following us around. When he was learning to talk he made a meowing sound for our cat, Henry, and pretty soon he was using it to refer to any animal (even a fish). He was also amazing at pointing out cars and buses, including by their sounds as they passed outside our house. Around two years old he started the "what" phase. Pretty much every other thing out of his mouth was "Dis a what?" He lived to go to the playground.

Then around two and a half, the winter when Violet was born, it was video. (I was incredibly low on attention, then we were incredibly busy, and at the same time he discovered kids cartoons - Dora, Diego, and the Backyardigans, nature videos - he asked for David Attenborough by name, and movies...it was a marriage made in heaven.

We were a bit concerned for a while, but as unschool theory predicted, he eventually got enough and moved on to other things. In the spring it was lots and lots of pretend, first with animal themes (especially dinosaurs), and then around his third birthday it was cars, cars, cars. Specifically, "cars with eyes", the characters from the Pixar movie. Since then, we've been through cake decorating (he found some videos on YouTube while we were looking up fire trucks...and yes, we've definitely tried the real thing), trains, venus' fly traps, counting and numbers, and cranes (that kid builds a mean lego crane, and overall his building ability really blows me away).

For Christmas he got a Leapster game system with a Kai-Lan math game, and that has been pretty popular, as has pretend about "nice" and "scary" animals, and huge, ambitious cities based on a play mat he likes to combine with extensive train track constructions, car parades, and lego buildings. He's recently started to take more of an interest in letters, too, so we'll see if that leads anywhere.

There's been other stuff, too, that has never quite qualified as an obsession but that he comes back to again and again...play-doh and drawing come to mind, as do building with blocks and legos, kitchen and outdoor play, music, dancing, pillow fights and other "bed games", and books (mostly nonfiction). It's so interesting to watch him learn and grow.

October/November Gyres

Hi, it's been a while.

You know how some people can have a job, kids, and a spouse, make dinner, clean up, and still manage to do other stuff like art or blogging (or, incredibly, both)? Those people amaze me.

Personally, I feel pretty accomplished when we can all eat, sleep, play, and keep the house more or less habitable... which has actually been happening more often than not recently. I feel like, almost a year in, we're finally getting adjusted to this two kids thing. Blogging, though, not so much yet. Maybe next year.

Anyway, it's been an eventful couple of months, especially for the kids. Halloween was a pretty big deal this year, and River was an adorable pirate. We've been getting out of the house at least a little more, too, for a trip to the playground, science center, or just outside to play in the first snow. It was pretty awesome for all of us to watch the leaves do their fall thing here for the first time...it was definitely good to be reminded of the wonderful things here as we start to batten down the hatches for another stupid Pittsburgh winter.

Most days, though, I just hang out with the kids at home. River has been developing a couple of intense new interests recently, most notably cranes and dumptrucks. He has a toy crane, and likes to make lego cranes, crane trains, etc.  He also got interested in Venus' flytraps somehow (oh, I remember how - watching BBC nature videos), and we spend a good bit of time building and/or impersonating those, too.

He's also still playing around a lot with numbers and letters...he can now count to ten reliably and recognize those numbers and most of the letters, and he's been pretty into experimenting with those concepts...he even wrote the first letter I've seen from him (J) although he continues to mostly be more into building than drawing. He made a block sculpture of our family the other day that reminded me again that although he's not that into drawing, he has a pretty good idea of how things are structured. When he's not busy with all that, there's also been a lot of Thomas the Tank Engine - possibly where he got the idea for the cranes.

There's not too much to say about Violet and her interests, except that she's gotten really mobile - definitely walking these days. She loves, of course, to get into whatever River is doing, especially taking apart his lego creations. Oh, and music! She loves banging on drums or anything that makes a noise, and bopping to pretty much anything. And she has teeth, four of them now. Mostly, though, she's still the same squishy ball of giggles.

Open Letter to Jelly Belly (aka How Violet was Born)

Dear Sir or Madam,

Thank you for producing Jelly Bellys, the most amazing jelly beans in the world. Not only are Jelly Bellys delicious, but I'm also fairly certain that they saved my life while I was in labor with my enormous baby daughter, Violet. I'm getting ahead of my story, though. It seems in retrospect that as early as the seventh or eighth month of my pregnancy I had already begun to subsist primarily on jelly beans. I had a healthy diet plan, of course, but the great thing about Jelly Bellys is that you can keep a quantity on hand and have just a few at a time when you need something sweet - after a meal, for example. Then, later, you can eat the rest of the box.

Even though I was not eating Jelly Bellys at the time, my first child was born weighing ten and a half pounds, so naturally I was a bit concerned about the size that my second might achieve due in part to this highly nourishing diet. As my due date approached, arrived, and started to recede into distant memory, I became increasingly eager to give birth before she (and I) could get any larger. Thus it was that my next encounter with your product occurred. Supposedly walking helps to bring on labor, and there were about three feet of snow outside (this was last February), so my walking options were limited. In retrospect it seems inevitable that we ended up in a mall and, in particular, taking a break to rest our legs and pacify our toddler in a candy store. There was one of those Jelly Belly displays where you get to choose your flavors individually, and my husband, James, and I left with two significant baggies of our favorite flavors.

Apparently all that walking was effective, because I'd barely had time to finish my personal stash when it became clear that my contractions were getting stronger and this was almost certainly The Real Thing. I'll admit that at this point a long time passed during which I didn't think of jelly beans at all. James and I made our final plans and arrangements, then watched about six episodes of Lost while I labored in a bathtub. If you've ever seen any birth videos, the way things were going was about what you might expect. I'd concentrate and breathe through contractions, appreciating the fact that, yes, I could choose to understand the sensations as intense pressure rather than pain, then relax and chat in between. I was pretty sure that things were going great and Violet was likely to be born any minute.

Then, suddenly, oh my god. A variety of things happened that I won't elaborate on in detail, but that in general served to make me wonder if people ever spontaneously commit suicide during labor and why you never hear about that. Several hours passed in the most amazingly slow and painful way that I could not have previously imagined, and I started to entertain the idea of going to the hospital. I guess I should mention, here, that I belong to a subculture that sees home birth more or less as the norm, and my general feeling about going to hospitals to give birth is similar to my feelings about other beloved cultural institutions such as school and employment, i.e., not sure why I should bother. However, at that point I was basically ready to throw in the towel and volunteer for an emergency c-section, except that the only way I could imagine possibly becoming less comfortable was to get in a car. And so, there we were.

Meanwhile, James and our midwife, Michele, were eating Jelly Bellies. This is not to say that they weren't being supportive, because actually they were great. But they'd had this bizarre desire, during the past ten hours or so, to occasionally do things like rest and eat snacks. It was at this point that James offered me some of his mix. "No!" I yelled. I'd been doing this quite a lot, actually, but on this occasion, it was an accurate expression of the way that my rational mind was feeling about jelly beans. And yet, several agonizing minutes later, I looked down at the kitchen counter where I was bracing myself during a short rest between contractions, and there was the bag. Without any conscious intention on my part, I grabbed a handful and stuffed it into my mouth.

James has excellent taste in most things, but his Jelly Belly preferences are truly bizarre. As I chewed, I tasted Dr. Pepper, grapefruit, coconut, coffee, and probably pomegranate. It was sick and wrong in the most amazing way. After taking a break to scream through the next contraction, I shoved another handful in my mouth.

Within twenty minutes I had given birth to a beautiful, humongous baby girl. She weighed eleven pounds and six ounces, which apparently is what I get for eating all those jelly beans. Still, thanks for your help, Jelly Belly...I never could have done it without you, and I wouldn't change a thing.

Sincerely,
Laura Gyre

P.S. My favorite flavors are peach and pear. Oh, and buttered popcorn.

Loving Books, Loving Kids

I come from a book loving family. My mom is a librarian, my sister works in publishing, and my Dad, a life-long bibliophile, has been a writer of many sermons and one book. Me, I write internet content. And more importantly, I read.

Which makes it funny, in a way, that for all the aspects of unschooling that I question and struggle to wrap my mind around, reading isn't one of them. Many parents, grandparents, and concerned strangers seem convinced that children will never learn to read unless forced to do so.

Personally, I'm 99% certain that my kids will learn to read. Maybe not at three, maybe not at five (though I wouldn't be surprised), but eventually - when they have a reason to. To me, the interesting thing is not that unschooling kids learn to read (they do, seemingly without fail), but how it happens. In some stories I've heard, they ask for help when they want to be able to enjoy books more independently. In others, they teach themselves, maybe using computer games or other technology. In our house, we've already seen both of these things, as River learned the alphabet from videos and games that he likes, and has since started to ask about words and letters. Occasionally, though, it seems that kids wait long enough to learn reading by osmosis, in almost the same way that they learn to talk. Parents of older children, perhaps concerned that they haven't shown any interest yet, will suddenly discover them reading chapter books. How did they learn to do that?

Interestingly, some research shows that the phonics method, taught in schools and homes all over the world, isn't necessarily the most efficient way to read. Apparently hearing the sound of words while you read, as most of us do, can slow us down to about a third of our potential reading and comprehension speed. It's possible to reverse this habit by using speed reading training tools like those found at spreeder, but you know who can do it faster automatically? Self-taught readers.

Other research on reading shows that the single biggest factor influencing whether kids grow up to be book lovers is not how or when they learn to read, but whether they see their parents reading - they learn this habit by example. That's a major factor, and one of the few in the control of parents. If it's true then my kids should be in good shape, reading-wise. Of course, it's not a foolproof guarantee; they may learn to enjoy other pursuits more and read only when necessary, regardless of anything I might do or not do.

They will learn to read, though, I'm almost sure of it. On the off chance, that other 1% or .5% or .1% chance that they don't find it worth doing eventually, I'm almost certain that I'll be even more impressed with the sheer fortitude it takes to make and live with such an interesting and unusual decision. It would be a different life, more immediate and present maybe, but also requiring more human interactions, a wonderful memory, and a good sense of humor to deal with the challenges. It sounds kind of exciting, actually.

Sprouts

I've been trying to post an update since Violet was born. One month already! I'm still hoping to do an actual birth story, beyond the fact that she was born at home and it was totally crazy, but that will have to wait until I get some actual time.

Anyway, Violet herself is amazing, and we are so glad she is finally here. We're all adjusting pretty well, although it's definitely tough at times, too. James has started to transition back to work, and sometimes I feel like I just don't have enough hands to go around. River also asks occasionally whether he can jump on "that thing" or if we can leave her outside, but at other times I catch him staring into her eyes or gently holding her hand, so I think he's starting to come around.

Also, the weather is totally awesome. As usual, the arrival of Spring has made me feel so much better that I suddenly realized how much worse I was feeling previously (does that make any sense?). When I can wrangle River out of the house, he can spend hours out there -- really, we all can. It's so wonderful to be in our new house where, although we're still kinda camping out on the inside, we have tons of green space to explore right outside the door. When I figure out how to transport the kids better (Violet is pretty sling-resistant, just like River used to be) there are lots of other places to explore, too.

We've started a bunch of seedlings for a fairly ambitious garden, so if we can get a big enough fence installed to protect them from the deer, that should be exciting, too. Really, life is kind of crazy at the moment. Really hard more often than I'd prefer, but really wonderful all the time, too. Thanks, universe!

31

I can't quite believe that it's been a year since I wrote my last birthday post, but when I look back I realize that it's been a very eventful year! And a good one. Pretty much all of the ennui I was wallowing in last Winter has evaporated somehow and been replaced by lots of awesome. Within the past year, we've decided to stay in Pittsburgh and moved into an amazing new home. I've figured out where I want to go with my career (transition from writing to illustration, while continuing to dabble in alternative health and seeing if that ever leads anywhere organically), and I've gestated our second and last child almost to completion. At the moment I'm looking forward to a new baby, a babymoon with all my Gyres, then the excitement of discovering our new environment and whatever is going to happen next more thoroughly in the spring.

The house is still in a major state of flux (for one thing, the future living room is an active construction zone), but even having a few rooms to expand into has been amazing already. We've got a bedroom and a separate room to hang out in, working heat, hot water, and laundry, and as of this week even kitchen cabinets, counters, and full cooking capabilities. It's kind of mind-blowing, really. I feel incredibly lucky to have found this place, and also for the massive amounts of work that James and many of our friends have put in to get us situated before Violet arrives. We're really looking forward to having more folks come out to see it once things have calmed down here a little.

And of course, River continues to be delightful. Really, he deserves a post of his own soon, but I wanted an excuse to put in this picture.

Did I mention that today is my due date? I don't think it's gonna happen, somehow, but I can't really complain about having a day to relax, hang out, and wallow in gratitude.

Baby Blahs

In general I think of myself as someone who's very comfortable with uncertainty and chaos. I'm the kind of person who does things like, for example, move into a new house that needs a lot of work less than a month before my baby is due. Sometimes I tell James that it's a good thing we like to dive into stuff we aren't really prepared for or we'd never get anything done at all, and for the most part I really believe this, at least the part about diving into stuff.

This is also a good attitude to have, I think, while mentally preparing to give birth. It's a huge deal, and one that I don't really think it's possible to be completely prepared for. Which, again, is totally fine with me, and kind of thrilling. I tend to enjoy the feeling of being subject to the whims of the universe occasionally, and of course we're getting really excited to meet Violet, however it ends up taking place.

Unfortunately, something I really really don't enjoy is being subject to the whims of other people, particularly when I have to go through them to get the things that I want, and planning a birth in this time and place is very, very frustrating on this level. We're hoping to have a home birth with a lay midwife we really like, but I found out recently that the hospital-based nurse-midwives we were hoping to use as a backup plan are not at all down with this plan. Meaning that unless we can come up with another option, our backup plan for any complications is to show up at an emergency room somewhere to get a luck-of-the-draw OB and no time to negotiate. ZOMG!

Anyway, I recently finished reading pioneering midwife Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth, and was amazed and frustrated by their statistics. For example, of all clients (all clients) that started prenatal care with the Farm midwives, only 1.4% ended up with C-sections! The national average is around 20% or higher, and the hospital-based folks I was working with are proud of their figure around 10%, even though it's probably significantly increased by their legal policies about things like risking out breech births, which aren't particularly unsafe at all. Right now, this feels like a ridiculous numbers game to me. How much should I concede what I want and believe is (biologically if not logistically) possible in order to gamble on a worst case that's half as bad? I'm so frustrated by this, and I know that that attitude isn't doing my any favors either, in terms of preparing for what comes next...I feel like I have to defend myself from the huge behemoth that is the modern medical establishment, while simultaneously trying to get comfortable enough to accomplish the small miracle of giving birth.

(Other than that, stuff is good. But really, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.)

Waiting

Besides my usual slew of reasons for not blogging, we've been in a bizarre period of flux for a long time around here... I keep thinking that maybe things will settle down and then I'll write an update, but I've decided I don't want to wait that long.

We're still trying to move. Have I even blogged about that? Astonishingly enough, I think I've barely mentioned it. We're hoping to close on an amazing house in the North Side by the new year. I'm eager to write more about this, but it's been such a long and complex process, I'm feeling almost superstitiously cautious about it at this point. With any luck there will be massive update news some time next week. In the meantime, we're feeling optimistic enough that packed boxes of our stuff are starting to pile up in our apartment.

I'm still writing a little, hanging out with River a lot, and entertaining fantasies of freelance illustration work. I'm still pregnant (seven months!) and trying to really enjoy these last couple of months with the Gyres I have before everything gets all crazy - ok, crazier -  although there are days when I'm really feeling ready to deal with this baby on the outside rather than where she is currently camped out. Yes, according to a principle called science, we are having a girl... her name is probably Violet, although we have been warned to have a backup ready just in case. We're a lot excited and a little nervous, and really hoping to have certain things (like where we'll be living) figured out by the time she arrives.

I guess that's it for now...hopefully it won't be another month before I post again. BTW, excellent arm-warmers (xmittens) in this glamor shot are by our friend Amber Coppings, who would love to make you a pair.