Fall Road Trip

I recognize that my longtime fascination with road trips may be a manifestation of attention deficit disorder.  After a quick trip to the mountains with June, I see that I'm right on track to pass that along to my kids.  Here is what we crammed into 24 hours:

• 6 hour drive, each way
• 10+ stops to gaze at fall leaves
• 4+ stops for photoshoots
• 3 stops for little hikes
• 1 lunch stop in Leadville
• 1 stop to watch a local parade
• 1 stop to get some school clothes
• 2 stops to read

At our destination, our pace was equally phrenetic: hiking, biking, running, eating, leaf boat racing, bookstore-ing, cafe-ing.  For the love of roadtrips, I don't think I'd trade the ADD.  The real conflict is  pollution.  We need a hybrid.

But, I do find that there are few better ways to connect with your loved one that cruising the world together.  Being present.  Taking it all in, side by side.  Or in our case, front seat - back seat.

Making Things: Trees

Recently, I gave each of my kids a square canvas and begged them to draw a tree.  I love to kick-start an art project and then watch to see where the chips fall.  Sometimes there is a creation.  Sometimes there is a drama.  Sometimes I get nothing.  But, on this day, we ended up with four authentic paintings.  Hallelujah!

Everyone painted one tree.  I love the way they are all so different (Will's and Clara's), or not so different (John copied June).  Surely they were all inspired by the Sorry board that never left the table.

Allowance versus Hornets

For a while now, I have had a mental block about allowance.  I want our kids to learn how to manage money and how to earn it!  But, I've made the whole deal a little more complicated than it needs to be.

For example, I've gotten distracted by the delivery of the funds.  Hooked on the idea that the kids retrieve their allowance via their own mailbox attached to a white fence, I also dreamed of their reaching over flowers to get it.  While the mailboxes have been there for years, the cosmos below are  from seeds planted in August!  I have definitely strayed from the whole allowance issue, but by now, the kids have, too.  After waiting so long, they anticipate hornet nests in their boxes, rather than funds.  But, we're back on track.  Sunday delivery.  After chores...

Phases: Drawing a Star

John just learned how to draw a star.  He is empowered by his discovery.  And stars abound.

Apples

After school, John and I made a pie.

While it is easier to experience the ideal in a picture than to live it, we grabbed about 5 minutes that did actually feel idyllic.  Our formula went like this:

• Catch a beautiful Fall day.
• Find a quiet porch surrounded by trees.
• Don't worry too much about a clean table, or clean people for that matter. 
• Produce a bunch of apples and an old fashioned apple peeler.  (The old-fashioned always seems to up the idyllic factor.)
• Seize on a five-year-old's curiosity for stabbing an apple and turning a crank.
• Hold his attention for say 5-10 minutes tops.
• Get educational with the apple peels.  (If I form almost all the letters by default, maybe he gets something out of it.)
• Add a loyal dog, if possible.

I do have to move fast to keep John's attention and squeeze in these scenes that make me feel so good.  Granted, after 15 minutes of apple peeling, I moved on to assemble the pie, while John made airplane fighting sounds with a pencil. 

But, I somehow have faith that these 5 minutes do get mileage, in the form of connection (to the season and each other), a sense of accomplishment, and a memory.  I know the memory sticks because John's siblings came home and talked for 5 minutes, about their 5 minutes last year, doing the very same thing.

But then again.... maybe it's the pie.  

Police Officer Parenting

Today, my son begged and begged for a thing I just couldn't (and shouldn't and wouldn't) deliver.  We were at a park, and he wanted to find "Poppy," the perfect acorn.  Nothing fit the bill.  I couldn't make it right, nor could a genie in a bottle or a million dollars.  Yet, sitting with an agonized child, sitting with their agony, is not a simple task.

Also today, I begged and begged a police officer to give me a warning rather than a speeding ticket.  The traffic and construction crossing town was unpredictable, and about 1/4 mile from school, I got stopped.  I don't think the officer felt my agony, nor did he feel any agony in giving me the ticket.

I don't want to parent like a police officer.  I don't want to set my kids up to expect rigid people and a rigid world.  I want them to feel room to be creative, with words and deeds.  But, I also want them to go the speed limit, and accept cold consequences when they come, be it a lost acorn or a humiliating fine.

Drab Farm Faces

Recently, I brought everyone to a farm to pick whatever was growing.  The faces below reveal their glee.  

We have made this visit to Berry Patch Farms a number of years in a row now.  The farm is amazing.  This trip, however, my crowd showed no giddy excitement from plucking raspberries straight from the bush.  Instead,

• They got out there;
• They filled their green containers;
• They stared at fat pigs;
• They observed screaming toddlers;
• They checked out cats;
• They watched chickens fight;
• John predictably snuck half his harvest into his mouth;
• June and Clara deliberated for about 30 minutes over 5 flower stems;
• Will sat on a peaceful bench.

But, no one went overboard with enthusiasm.  Maybe they had some good sibling bonding, moaning about their mom dragging them there instead of the International Pancake House.  

Sometimes you hit the happy mark, sometimes you don't.  Even at a farm.  I guess I'll see what happens next year.  Maybe I'll bring Jeff and we'll take a smiling selfie.  

Still, no one can deny that they were good strawberries!