Motherhood Moments Archives - Page 2 of 4

Picking Apples with My Kindergartner

October 2, 2013 By Deirdre

Visiting an apple orchard was one of the things on our fall bucket list that we wanted to check out first. Actually with only a few weeks left in apple season here in the Carolinas, it really needed to be done first. JDaniel and I decided to check it off our list. Picking apples with my kindergartner was going to be so much fun.

Details on Picking Apples with My Kindergartne

The only draw back with doing it the weekend we did was a forecast of rain. JDaniel and I headed out early in the morning to try to beat the rain.

My husband would have loved to come, but he really needed to study for a class he is taking. It turns out we really could have used him to reach the beautiful red apples at the top of the tree. There were tons waiting at the top of the trees for a really tall person to come and get them.

Both JDaniel and I tried climbing up the trees to get to some of the apples that were out of our reach. Climbing inside the tree also helped us keep warm and dry. It had started to drizzle a little by the time we reached the rows of Galas apples. The temperature had started to drop too. It was way warmer inside the tree than it was outside the tree.

Due to the weather I would say that we spent as much time in the trees as we did out of them. After a long time moving through the archway of branches created by the trees and climbing up them, we both stopped to take a rest. I just love this picture of JDaniel. He looks so comfortable sitting in the branches.

When we had finally filled out baskets, we headed out from the canopy of trees to find that fog had rolled in. It was really odd to hear people coming towards us before we would see them. It reminded me of a scene from the movie Brigadoon. The fog faded as we headed into the the orchard’s purchasing center to pay for our apples and to buy some apple doughnuts.

Apple doughnuts are something Sky Top Orchard is known for. Despite there being a really long line for doughnuts, JDaniel thought we totally needed to wait. After tasting one, I totally agree with him. They were really wonderful. Actually we decided to eat a second one just to make sure they were really good.

By the time we wove around the store in the doughnut line the rain had started to fall again. Picking apples with my kindergartner was fun, wet and slightly chilly adventure. This year he was old enough to climb safely up tree branches and enjoy picking apples.

Mama, Can I Buy Lunch?

September 25, 2013 By Deirdre

This is a lunch featured in a earlier post.

I love making JDaniel lunch. It is an opportunity for me to be creative and put together fun meals. Sometimes I put them together the night before and other times they a put together in the morning. I love know that when he sits down to eat lunch at school that he is getting a healthy meal and that he will eat 99% of what is in his lunch. Lately he has been asking to buy lunch.

His school has a cafeteria that serves a variety of healthy lunch options. Super healthy main dishes like black bean burgers and vegetables with hummus. They sound great to me, but I don’t know if you would like them. My plan was just to keeping making him lunch all year rather than having him buy lunch.

We were going to try out different breads, vegetables, and fruits. I have plans for sandwiches cutout with cookie cutters and pinwheel sandwiches filled with homemade cream cheese spreads.

That is still going to happen, but recently JDaniel announced that he would like to try to buy lunch.at school. I am not sure if it is the allure of getting in line and selecting your meal or as he says buying lunch means you don’t have to carry a heavy lunch box.

As I mentioned the lunches are all healthy. The days of tacos with sides of fruit cocktail, tater tots and a cinnamon roll are over. (I loved taco days at school when I was little.) We sat down and looked at the school lunch calendar to select a good day to try to buy lunch. There was a little debate over whether or not certain food selections would actually be eaten or would be thrown away. ( I hated to watch student throw away 50% or more of their lunches when I was a teacher.)

Finally we decide on pizza. JDaniel told me that it looked good on other students lunch trays. I asked if they liked it and he didn’t know. I am crossing my fingers that he likes it. He will be having it for lunch this Friday.

If he likes it, we will trying buying lunch on pizza days. They only happen three times a month at his school. We may even try a few of the other lunch options. I will continue to create lunches on the non-pizza days. That should make us both happy.

What do your children like to have for lunch at school?

This post is linked to Alphabe Thursday.

Running with All You Have

September 18, 2013 By Deirdre

JDaniel’s school held a fundraiser called a fun run last week. We had to help JDaniel find people that would sponsor his run. They could donate a set amount or a dollar amount for each lap he ran. There were various prizes awarded for each monetary level that we reached. He was thrilled with four prizes he brought how before the run. “Look at what I won!” he said as he got the car during pick up. In my mind I thought the gifts should be something fun for parents too. After all my husband and I did the fundraising. I didn’t realize our prize would come during the race.

Every few days we would get a recorded reminder about the need to fund raise on the phone or we would receive an e-mail or written reminder. After hearing from every grandparent and aunt we thought we would get donations from, I disregarded these reminders. We have done what we could do.

The question after all they hype, prizes, and fund raising was would JDaniel be able to run thirty five laps. The Fun Run course wasn’t sure long, but thirty five laps seemed like a lot. He likes to run, but would he like to run this much. I wasn’t sure. He seemed excited, but he might decide half way through to just walk.I was so glad that my husband and I could both attend the run. JDaniel didn’t seem excited about us both being there though until he passed us during his first lap. He gave us the biggest smile. We gave him big whoops and cheers. As the run continued he continue to smile and we continued to cheer, whoop, and shout out supportive words.

Round and round he ran. “You might need to walk a lap to rest,” my husband called to him as JDaniel swept by us. “Can’t Dad! I have lots of laps to go,” he called over his shoulder. He continued to run and run. He ran with his water cup in hand and water sloshing everywhere. I have never seen him run so much he is whole life.

Thankfully the DJ playing music to inspire the students to run and keep upbeat announced a few laps that everyone had to walk from time to time. I think JDaniel even move fast during those laps. He feet were on fire and so were his cheeks each time he flew by us.

The final lap was declared the “Parent Walk with Me” lap. JDaniel was so proud to hold both of our hands as we walked the lap together. (In that moment I was thankful that we are both still job hunting.) We were both able to make a kindergarten memory all with him that we will all carry with us forever. ”

The fun run was so worth the money we raised for the school. JDaniel had a sense of accomplishment and pride that I haven’t seen in him in kindergarten so far this year. He had the drive and sense of purpose that I hope he will carry into other challenges that he comes up against.

I believe that running with all you have is possible when you have a sense of self, the drive to complete a task, others running with you, and a cheering section. I am so glad that I get to be a part of the cheering section for my very special runner. Getting the see that broad smile and receive a huge hug of thanks for coming to his run was priceless.

Table Talk- Sharing During Snack

September 4, 2013 By Deirdre

Everyday I pick JDaniel up from school just dying to know how his day went. Almost everyday my chatty little boy who has been know to share his every thought shares a few thoughts and then stops. While I love the “My Day at School” crumbs of conversation, I am dying to know what he worked on, what color was he on his behavior chart, who he played with and well anything else he wants to share. Some days he is ready to talk in the car on the way home. Some days I have to wait for table talk.

Taking Time for Table Talk

When we got home last week, the first thing JDaniel wanted to do was to play with the neighbor boys next door. I usually sit outside in a folding chair to supervise their play and I gathered some more information about his day by listening to what he shared with them, but I yearned to hear more.On Monday when we got home, JDaniel announced that he was really hungry and he was dying for a snack. Well, every dying five year old should be given a little something to eat. Nothing big that will ruin dinner but a few bites of something that will help revive a dying boy.I was tempted to give him his snack and head out of the kitchen to take a load of laundry out of the dryer, but I didn’t. I grabbed a small snack for myself and sat down at the kitchen table beside him. As we both nibbled on our snacks and sipped from our glasses on milk something happened. He opened up more about his day. Things like I made a new friend in my class and we got hear about the computer center today were spilling from his mouth.

I sat on the edge of my seat taking it all in. All the things I was dying to hear about were being shared. I was in Mom Heaven.

Every now and then he would stop to take a sip of milk or crunch on his snack. I was so tempted to start asking questions about his day, but I held back and just listened. There would be time to ask questions later while we were having dinner or getting ready for bed.Just listening and sharing an after school snack time with JDaniel satiated my desire to know about his day. I felt like I had a better idea of what his day was like and he didn’t feel pressured to share. When he feels pressured to share he shuts down and refuses to share. It ends up feeling like pulling teeth and I end up feeling guilty for trying to find more about his day.

When he was done with his snack, he headed outside to play with the boys next door. I headed outside to supervise they boys playing. Neither of us was frustrated with the other for trying to share or not share about school.

Taking a few moments sit and enjoy a snack has become a routine with us. I hope it is one we will continue to do for a long time. His sharing during afternoon snack is like food for my heart and I love it.Do you have a special time or way you encourage your children to share about their day? Do you have table talk?

This post is linked to Pour Your Heart Out and Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe Thursday.Follow JDaniel4’s Mom on Facebook and Pinterest.

On the Floor Playing With Him

August 28, 2013 By Deirdre

“Mom, come play Plastic Mat Village with me!” JDaniel would call from the living room. He would have the mat out and a collection of dinosaurs, vehicles, and plans would be spread out all over it. Sometimes I would call back to him that I would be there in a minute. Sometimes I was the perfect time to stop whatever I was doing and join him on the floor. Sometimes it wasn’t the right time and he would start to play on his own.

What sweet memories I now have of laying on my stomach rolling the cars up and down the streets of the village. It always fell to me to protect the town from unwanted dinosaur visits or alien airplanes dive bombing the local restaurant or grocery store to steal sweet potato french fries.

When I would pretend to communicate from the police station to the plain wooden race car about one of the attacks with a crackling voice trying to pretend I was speaking through a walkie talkie my guy would smile. It didn’t keep him from plotting more attacks. In fact in seemed to spur him on. Having me engaged in play with him seemed to fill him with joy.

The funnier I spoke about the strange incidents I was finding as a patrolled Plastic Mat Village the stranger and more fun events he would create for me.

As soon as I moved to a different side of the village, something would happen.Something unpredictable. Sometimes it was caused by invisible relatives of the creatures I could see or they would caused by creatures that would slip up on top of a near by table officially named Dinosaur Mountain. I wasn’t able to capture any of them once. My plane was blocked from leaving the area of above the village. Which worked out well the police station on Plastic Mat Village would never have been big enough to hold them all.

With JDaniel is school full time this year visits to Plastic Mat Village will have to wait until the late afternoon or the weekend. This time I will probably be the one taking out the plastic mat and laying in out in the living room. This time I guess I will be the one gathering the creatures and vehicles ready to play.

I miss him so much when he is in school during the day. Time to lay on the floor and play with him will be something I can look forward too. I am hoping he looks forward to visiting Plastic Mat Village with me. It is a glorious time to get on the floor and play with him for me.

This post is linked to Mrs. Matlock.

I Thought We Would Both Be Going to School

August 14, 2013 By Deirdre

I Thought We Would Both Be Going Back to School

At the beginning of the summer or was it the end of the spring my husband lost his job. We knew it would be hard for him to find a job where we live quickly. He had worked in a field that moved quickly into new technology while his company continue to work on an aging one. So, I updated my resume and composed letters of interest to distribute at any school that posted job this summer. I send letters of interest and/or dropped off my resume at every school that had job listed on the public school website that I was qualified to do. I really wanted JDaniel and I going back to school together.

Just before giving or sending them out I prayed that God would open the principal’s heart and mind to what I could bring to their staff. We prayed as a family that I would find something before school started. Not one phone calls came. I called the county to see if I had something in missing in my file that would keep principals from calling me and was told everything was complete. It would take time for me to be going to school though.

There are too many people for too few jobs,” I was told. ” I have experience. I have taught for over twenty years. Is that keeping me from going to school again as a teacher? No, we are hiring all levels of experience,” they said.

Last week I panicked. I had three jobs I had applied for the week before. I had done all of them at one point another. Each job disappeared within a three hour period on Tuesday. Someone else had been selected. Some other people had been granted interviews.

I haven’t gone on any interviews. By this time seven years ago I had had six and had two school’s wanting to hire me. (The teaching job market is much tougher now.)

Was the fact that I worked one year and then stayed home to raise my son the problem? Well, it might have been. “You have shown that you put your family first,” said a friend. “If someone would hire me, I would stay with them until retirement,” I replied.

The truth is that I can’t make that promise. I don’t know where my husband will get a job. He is going back to school this fall to work on learning newer programs. If he gets a job outside of our town, I woud have to resign again. That would look terrible on my resume.

So I am going to sub this year as often as I can. I will work with every grade I am allowed too. Contributing to my family’s income is vital.

I was hoping I would be going back to school with JDaniel this fall. He as a student and me as teacher. God seems to have other plans. I will demonstrate to teachers that they all want me to be their go to sub. At least I am praying they will.

What challenges have you been dealing with?

This post is linked to Alphabe Thursday and Pour Your Heart Out.

Park Hop- Cedar Falls Park

June 26, 2013 By Deirdre

My friend Bethany runs a blog called Kidding Around Greenville. She brings to my attention all kinds of wonderful activities and events that are happening in Greenville, South Carolina that I might have missed otherwise. The latest thing she has shared is an opportunity offered by our local parks. The Park and Recreation department is hosting a Park Hop. The Hop is really a scavenger hunt that includes visits to 17 parks in our county. At each park you are asked to find the answer to a scavenger hunt question. When we have answered at least five questions, we can send in our answers for a prize pack. There are additional levels of winning based of visiting more parks and gathering more correct answers. JDaniel and I have been to eight parks so far. The most recent park is Cedar Falls Park. It isn’t too far from where we live, but it is on a road we have never traveled down. Even with directions to the park I missed the turn. I was looking for a sign pointing me to the park and their wasn’t one.

A man at the Fountain Inn Farmer’s Market (Also a location on the Park Hop) mentioned how pretty the falls were at the Cedar Falls Park and what wonderful trails it had. I was surprised to find a large parking lot with a wonderful playground at the front of the park. In my mind we would park in a lot surrounded by trees and leave the parking lot via the trail head to the falls. JDaniel was thrilled to see the playground and he was dying to explore it.

I encourage him to explore the trails first so, we headed down a winding trail across a field and into the woods. We kept listening for the sound of rushing water. It wasn’t until we followed the trail beyond the buffer of trees that we actually heard it.

There were actually several falls. Some were small and others medium size. Apparently the falls were used by a power plant and several local business in the past. Right now you can see every little evidence that those businesses ever existed.

While there was a paved path, you know who preferred the dirt path least taken through the border of trees and over the rocks. There he found small streams that had carved their way through the rock. JDaniel was fascinated by the power the water had over time on the rocks.

There weren’t as many animals to see as we did on our visit to another local park Paris Mountain State Park. JDaniel did spy a salamander scurrying as quickly as possible over one rock and under another. There was just a lot of water.

JDaniel was constantly dipping his hands into the shallow water near the water’s edge to see what it felt like and let the water flow around his fingers. I stood very close by despite the shallowness of the water.

What a wonderful place Cedar Falls Park is to explore! We have several other parks that list hiking as one of the activities you can do there. I think we will enjoy visiting them along with the nine other parks on the Park Hop. We are going for the grand prize and that means we will be visiting every park on the Park Hop. I bet you aren’t surprised.

Do you have Park Hop going on where you live?

This post is linked to Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe Thursday. Follow JDaniel4’s Mom on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Memorial Day Hot Air Balloon Festival- Chasing Balloons

May 29, 2013 By Deirdre

Something super wonderful happens every summer in not too far away from where we live. The Aloft hot air balloon festival in held at Heritage Park in Simpsonville, South Carolina. While many families attend the festival to enjoy the rides, special food, concerts and to observe a field filled with balloons, we enjoy the balloon festival from outside the park. Why? We love balloon chasing.

Somewhere between 6-8 p.m. each night of the festival the balloons take off from Heritage Park. We head down to the park around 6:30 to see which way the cars in front of the park are facing. The direction they are facing is usually the way the balloons are going to travel.

This year they were facing toward the southeast. We drove to a school near by and waited with about thirty other cars filled with people for the balloons to take off. After waiting about fifteen minutes, JDaniel challenged me to chase him around a grassy area in front of the school. Until the balloons took off, JDaniel and I were the entertainment. Well, their were a few other children running around too.

Some of the people in the parking lot had taken out chairs, picnic dinners, and coolers of drinks. These were the non-chasers. The chasers were waiting for the first few balloons to take off and then they would hustle out of the parking lot to follow them.

We as I mentioned are in the balloon chasing group. My sister and nephew ( Who were visiting us.) were shocked to learn that my family is not the only family to spend a Saturday night in May chasing balloons. As soon as we had seen twelve or so balloons, we began our chase.

During the hot air balloon chase it can look like balloon are heading one direction only to swerve off in another direction. They go where ever the wind blows them. We go where ever the roads will let us go. Sometimes we end up in a housing developments that suddenly dead end. When that happens, we have to backtrack out of the development try to find a main road that will take us the direction we want to go it.

A sign we have gone in the right direction is the appearance of a chase vehicle for a particular balloon. If we get behind one of them, we know we will end up where a hot air balloon is going to land. This year when came across one, but it was on the side of the road. Its passengers had spread a map across its hood. We decided not to wait for them to find the right road. We headed off to find it on our own.

Not soon after we did find it. There were a line of cars in front of us that had found it too. Thankfully we found a golf course with a parking lot that was open to the public to park in near where we thought they would land. Several dozen balloons flew over our heads while we got out of our car. It was amazing.

We decided not to return to the line of cars chasing the balloons instead we walked on a path across from the parking lot to follow the balloons on foot. Some of us walked. My nephew and JDaniel ran to try to catch the balloons.

We followed the path to its end and watched more balloons stream past us. It looked like we won’t be able to see a balloon land this year.

God must have heard the pleas of two boys who desperately wanted to see a balloon land. Just was we turned around to head back to the car two balloons landed in the field. The boys were thrilled. They got to run up to each of the balloons to check it them out.

What a night! Simpsonville, South Carolina is not the most hip or cool place to be most Saturday nights, but once a year it is the coolest place to be. There is something wonderful about watching a hot air balloon take off and sail across the sky. Watching a balloon traveling across a blue sky is better than any movie. I don’t know how many times we each said words like cool, incredible, awesome, or amazing.

If you are ever near Simpsonville on a Memorial Day weekend, I hope you will go balloon chasing too.

This post is linked to Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe Thursday.Follow JDaniel4’s Mom on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Yes, Mom is Part of My Name

May 8, 2013 By Deirdre

A few years ago I went to a blogging conference and a lady from a PR agency shared that she wished that so many bloggers didn’t put the word mom in their blog names. “You will not always be a mom,” she said. She encouraged people that hadn’t started a blog to avoid using it. “You are so much more and will write about so much more than being a mom,” she announced.

I sat quietly confused by what she had said. What I write about on this blog may shift over time and JDaniel may decided he doesn’t want me to write about him as much. He will grow up. He has already become a “big boy”. He informed he of that just yesterday. What won’t change it that I will always be his mom! I will always write with a mother’s heart, because that is one of my favorite parts of my heart to share.

I know she meant I am so much more than a mom, but the way she said it hit me wrong. Writing about motherhood is a gift that not all women get the opportunity to write about. Being JDaniel4’s Mom is one of my most favorite things to be.

When I go to pick him up at school or the little boy from next door comes over, the name I am called is JDaniel4’s Mom. I am not Mrs. Smith most of the time. (Though I love being Mrs. Smith just as much.) I am not a blogger or a writer or a teacher or a sister or daughter. (Though I am those things.) Maybe it is because I spent so much of my life as a single school teacher and maiden aunt. I was called teacher or aunt or by my first name or Miss and my last name for decades. It hasn’t been that long that I have gotten to be called mom.When I hear that deepening voice call out for mom or mama or mommy, my heart jumps. It is my favorite thing to hear JDaniel say. Well, I love to hear him say dad too.

Giving my blog the name JDaniel4’s may not have been the best branding or SEO choice. I really didn’t think about that when I started my blog. I just gave it my favorite name so, despite what others think I will with pride respond to the name JDaniel4’s Mom.

Celebrating the differences of Motherhood is brought to you by our host, Inspired by Family, and by the following contributing blogs: Kids Activities Blog, Rainbows within Reach, Powerful Mothering,Fun-a-Day, The Pleasantest Thing, Royal Baloo, Laly Mom, True Aim, Kids Stuff World, Milk and CuddlesThe Imagination Laboratory, Smiling like Sunshine, Teach Beside Me, Kitchen Counter Chronicle, Nate and Rachel, Two-Daloo, Mamas Like Me,Mama Miss, One Mommy.This post is also linked up to Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe Thursday and Things I Can’t Say’s Pour Your Heart Out.

Parenting- You Teach Me

April 30, 2013 By Deirdre

There are times that activities that I create end being learning times for me. Parenting and teaching just seems to work that way sometimes. Let me give you an example. Just last week I sat down with JDaniel to work on a letter and sound recognition game.(It was featured in last week’s Read.Explore.Learn. post.) JDaniel was supposed to place the uppercase letter, the lowercase letter, and a picture that began with that letter all together on one pea pod.

The activity started as it was planned. He sorted through the letters and pictures. It was not a surprise to see that he wanted to start with the letter D. It is the letter that starts one of his names. I was pleased to hear him say each of the letters as he sorted through them. He also said seemed to recognize all the pictures. This was going to be simple for him I thought.

All of a sudden he decided to change the activity. He placed an uppercase G down on a circle on a pea pod. Then he put down a frog. “Frog doesn’t begin with g,” I told him. “I know, but it ends with it,” he replied. The activity was to match uppercase letters and beginning sounds so, this didn’t follow the rule of the activity. It wasn’t suppose to find the ending sounds in uppercase and lowercase letters.

I have to admit I was a little frustrated. Doing this was going to leave a lowercase g without a circle to be placed on. I was sure he knew that frog began with the letter f. This just didn’t make sense.

Something inside my parenting mind told me to wait and see what he did next. The teacher inside me tried to contradict this feeling and have him do the activity correctly. Thankfully the teacher voice quieted down and I waited for him to teach me. There was something going on inside that wonderful brain of his and I was just dying to know what it was.

“You know frog begins with a f,” he declared. “We don’t have the letter f on any of the circles,” I told him. “I can make one,” JDaniel stated. He got up from the kitchen table and went to the junk drawer in the kitchen hutch. Things in the drawer were pushed around and searched under things until he found what he wanted.

“I can make the letter f,” he said wheedling an orange marker. “There aren’t any extra circles,” I told him. With that he took the circle with the elephant on it and turned it over. On the back of the circle he wrote an uppercase F.

He was so proud of himself. He had come up with his own way to do the activity. I was proud of him for a number of reasons. He had taken a simple activity and made it a little more challenging. He had taken ownership of the activity. He had seen there was a problem and he had created a solution.

While I was proud of him and enjoyed seeing how he worked out this activity, I had to wonder what his kindergarten teacher would do if he did this next year.

Technically he destroyed the game and he didn’t demonstrate that he could match the upper and lowercase letters. He prevented himself from completely using all the circles by making the elephant circle an F. The teacher won’t be able to check off that he knew the skills this activity was assessing if he didn’t complete the whole activity correctly

If I hadn’t been sitting beside him to hear he talk about what he was thinking, I might not have known what he was doing. Next year he will be in a class filled with children. The teacher may give him a worksheet or activity to do and she may only have few minutes to assess his understanding.

We will probably talking about the importance of following the directions the teachers given him at school. I will need to be working on making sure he doesn’t complete every activity with an out of the box solution at home.

He is a really smart boy and I worry that someone who doesn’t know him well would miss that he really does understand what to do. JDaniel is just one of those kids that thinks out of the box a lot. His mind is a fascinating place. Things are thought through, analyzed synthesized and developed into new and original thoughts all of the time.

I am hoping and praying that he teacher next year will look at some of his work and ask him to teach her what he is thinking. You teach me is a parenting question I am going to be asking him again and again.

This post is linked to Pour Out Your Heart.

Oh! I have a guest post on Crayon Freckles called Making a Newspaper Nest. If you have moment I would love for you to stop by, read it and leave a comment.