Friday bullets - June 4, 2021

Life felt a little more settled today, so that's good.
  • A while back, as in January, W. and Y. were talking about what candy Y. liked in China. Corn candy was at that top of her list, so W. ordered some for her for her birthday. And it didn't come and it didn't come and it didn't come. Eventually the order was declared lost. So. W. reordered it from a different company. Earlier this week, guess what showed up in the mailbox? That's right, corn candy! And it tastes just as Y. remembered. She is a happy girl.

The rest of the household is fairly well split between enjoying it and not really caring for it.
  • Our co-op is having a used curriculum sale next week. Since I had been bemoaning the state of my studio, I decided that this was a great chance to try to sell some books we didn't need anymore. Well, when I was done, I think I ended up with 6 - 8 bags of various curricula. Even better, it allowed me to reorganize my shelves, and since I had empty shelves (!) I was able to get some other things organized as well. My studio isn't making me quite so anxious now. 
  • Another plus of sorting through resources is that I am reminded of what I actually own. I came across a couple of things I had honestly completely forgotten about, and I think I will make use of them in the fall.
  • One more school-related item. This is the time of year when I start to try to pin down what we will be learning about next year. I don't actually start researching and planning until August, but it helps to have ideas in my head to think about. It's also the case that often I will come across random resources during the summer if I know what we are doing. I think we will be focusing on Ancient Rome and world biomes. At least that's what sounds good right now. I totally reserve the right to change!
  • G. and L. have decided that cats are the furry equivalent on non-Newtonian fluids. If you think about it, they're not actually wrong.
  • I have started the summer sessions of my horse classes. The classes are turning out to be wonderful groups of children.
  • I am so glad I bought the pony. She is the perfect addition to those horse classes.
  • Aster is missing TM. Y. is the person in charge of Aster now, and she is doing a terrific job, but Aster just seems blue and is not her usual peppy self. At least she is not sleeping on my head which is what P.'s cat, Midnight, did when P. left to join the ship.
  • I am not looking forward to the ninety degree days they are forecasting for the immediate future. Why can't the weather always be in the upper sixties and low seventies except for a bit of snow around Christmas?
  • J. took some people to a local state park where they hiked around for several hours. Y. declared there to be a bit too many steps, but she was a trooper.
  • Finally, I want to share a huge achievement of R.'s. Last Monday, as we were getting ready to leave with TM to take him to the armory, we realized that R. was starting to spin out of control. Jumping into immediate action, we started to calm her down with the usual methods, but I also added that I bet what she was feeling was sadness that TM was going away for a while. I said that I felt sad he was leaving, too; that it was okay to be sad. I reminded her that TM would be back, just like P. came back after she had been gone. As I said this, huge tears started to drip down her face, and she repeated back, "It's okay to be sad? TM come back?" We assured her that these things were both true. She was then able to start to breath again. I then asked if she wanted to give TM a hug good-bye before we left and she did. She gave TM a huge hug and TM was so sweet with her. Now, for most of you with children, this probably sounds like a fairly typical event if you are helping a young child process a loved one going away for a while. But R. is not typical. This was the first time she was able to process a distressing emotion and not disassociate or head into a seizure. She has asked about when TM is coming back all week, but she has also remained stable. This is another enormous step of progress for her! We had years when she could not allow herself to feel any emotion that felt distressing, she would just disappear. For her to be able to remain present and work through it is a mighty step.

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