Saturday, May 17, 2008
Difficult Questions
Last night at bedtime, K was talking about when AJ would be 100 years old. I told her I did not know if I would be alive when he is that old as I was not sure I would live to be 127 yrs old. This really bothered her. She couldn't understand why I would be dead and not with her. She asked me with tears in her voice and eyes, "If you are dead, who will be our Mommy?" I tried to explain that mommies and daddies usually die before their children. T had a better answer. He said that I will always be her Mommy. I also took the opportunity to share with her our beliefs about life after death. I don't know what she got out of the conversation, but she seemed to be a little more at peace about the whole concept by the time we turned out the lights.
Dr. K, OB
K has been really into babies for the past few months. In fact, we have let her watch a "baby" show that they occasionally show here. This has led to some questions as to how babies are born, but, fortunately, none as to how they get in the mommy's tummy to begin with.
K has been interested in being a doctor for a while, and she received a play doctor set for her 3rd birthday. She has used that to perform C-sections on her American Girl doll she received for Christmas from her great-grandmother. One day, I thought she was being too quiet. You who are parents know the feeling. To my surprise, she was being perfectly good. She was just in surgery. She occasionally comes out pretending to hold babies in her arms, then she tells me when they get to go home. I take this all as good news for any future babies we may have come into our family (and, no, I am not hinting at anything regarding an impeding arrival).
One of her latest babies was named LeeLocks. I don't know if it is supposed to be a take on Goldilocks or what. This baby has grown quickly as she recently celebrated her 6th birthday. K updates me on her birthday, her mom and dad's status, and any other news about her. I don't think she is an imaginary friend as K does not talk to her, just tells me stories about her. For example, K has told me that LeeLocks is staying with her while her parents travel, or, more recently, she told me that LeeLocks' daddy died in a car accident. I did not know how to take that. Today she told me that LeeLocks stays with her while her mommy goes to work to earn money. Most of her stories are about why LeeLocks is with her that day. It makes life interesting.
K has been interested in being a doctor for a while, and she received a play doctor set for her 3rd birthday. She has used that to perform C-sections on her American Girl doll she received for Christmas from her great-grandmother. One day, I thought she was being too quiet. You who are parents know the feeling. To my surprise, she was being perfectly good. She was just in surgery. She occasionally comes out pretending to hold babies in her arms, then she tells me when they get to go home. I take this all as good news for any future babies we may have come into our family (and, no, I am not hinting at anything regarding an impeding arrival).
One of her latest babies was named LeeLocks. I don't know if it is supposed to be a take on Goldilocks or what. This baby has grown quickly as she recently celebrated her 6th birthday. K updates me on her birthday, her mom and dad's status, and any other news about her. I don't think she is an imaginary friend as K does not talk to her, just tells me stories about her. For example, K has told me that LeeLocks is staying with her while her parents travel, or, more recently, she told me that LeeLocks' daddy died in a car accident. I did not know how to take that. Today she told me that LeeLocks stays with her while her mommy goes to work to earn money. Most of her stories are about why LeeLocks is with her that day. It makes life interesting.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Foxes and Reading with K
Our excitement for the morning included spotting a fox in our backyard and making cookies. I must admit the fox caused more excitement as we make cookies pretty regularly. Unfortunately, the fox was quick, and he/she did not stay in our yard for long. By the time I got AJ to the window, the fox was gone. It did not stop him from looking longingly out the window for about 5 minutes, though. Meanwhile, K was saying excitedly, "F-O-X, fox! F-O-X, fox!" I guess she is learning something from her spelling lessons after all.
On another note, for those of you who are wondering how well K can really read (probably just family), I went online to do a home reading level test. I had her take 3 to assess her reading level more accurately. She is reading at a 4th grade level, or as well as an 8-yr-old, depending on what test results you go by. This was good for me to find out as I look at purchasing or borrowing more children's books for her to read.
On another note, for those of you who are wondering how well K can really read (probably just family), I went online to do a home reading level test. I had her take 3 to assess her reading level more accurately. She is reading at a 4th grade level, or as well as an 8-yr-old, depending on what test results you go by. This was good for me to find out as I look at purchasing or borrowing more children's books for her to read.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Life in General
Okay, so some of you probably wonder what life is like for me here. There are a multitude of questions to answer. The Swedes wonder if I like it here, and I usually answer that I do. I don't like everything about living here (like taxes -- 25% sales tax, over 50% income tax, enough said), but I like enough about being here to be happy.
I think part of my happiness comes from the friendliness of our neighbors. They have helped us in so many ways through this transition, and they help us when we feel like stupid Americans who can't speak the language. Plus, our kids play well together. That has been such a blessing. I know that K was not happy about leaving her friends, but she has adjusted, and she is slowly developing friendships. As to how they communicate: they speak Swedish to her, and she speaks English to them. The hard part is when there is some sort of conflict. I can't help run interference, and she has gotten the short end of the stick more than once. Overall, she does well, though.
Once or twice a week we go to what translates to "Open Preschool". This is another source of friendships for K, and even AJ to some degree. It is mostly unstructured, then we all sing Swedish kids songs and have fika (but without the sweets). They serve coffee, tea, saft (kind of like putting naturally flavored syrup in water to make a beverage), crackers, and cheese. I also usually bring some fruit to give to my kids. Some moms bring food and feed their babies lunch. Most of the moms who go have babies 18 months or younger, depending on what their maternity leave allows (one year to 18 months is typical here). I think I am the only true SAHM, which is fine with me. With the high cost of everything here, most homes have to have both parents working to afford, well, life.
The days we don't go to the "Open Preschool", we stay home and have home school. K is doing so well with her reading. For those of you familiar with the McGuffey Readers, she finished the first reader, and she is now on the second one. I like the format of these books for a couple of reasons. First, they are broken down into short (manageable) lessons, and, second, they usually teach a good moral lesson. We also do spelling, writing, and simple math. I am just counting by 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's with her now. We also have done some number ordering (smallest to largest, for example). Once I get a little more organized, I will start teaching her some basic addition (she knows some, but we have not done anything really structured). As for AJ, I am working on teaching him to read. It is hard to say what he knows, but I know he can read several words. He knows his colors and several shapes. He is also very good at all our wooden puzzles. Some days he is really into learning words, and others he has a mind of his own, which is fine. Of course, all our "school" time still leaves plenty of unstructured playtime for the kiddos, and we also try to bake and paint every week. Oh, and the kids are great about helping me clean (for the most part).
Well, that should give you all a fairly good idea of what my day-to-day life is like. Nothing that different than what I would do in AR, except that we are learning Swedish in the midst of it all. :) Hej då for now.
I think part of my happiness comes from the friendliness of our neighbors. They have helped us in so many ways through this transition, and they help us when we feel like stupid Americans who can't speak the language. Plus, our kids play well together. That has been such a blessing. I know that K was not happy about leaving her friends, but she has adjusted, and she is slowly developing friendships. As to how they communicate: they speak Swedish to her, and she speaks English to them. The hard part is when there is some sort of conflict. I can't help run interference, and she has gotten the short end of the stick more than once. Overall, she does well, though.
Once or twice a week we go to what translates to "Open Preschool". This is another source of friendships for K, and even AJ to some degree. It is mostly unstructured, then we all sing Swedish kids songs and have fika (but without the sweets). They serve coffee, tea, saft (kind of like putting naturally flavored syrup in water to make a beverage), crackers, and cheese. I also usually bring some fruit to give to my kids. Some moms bring food and feed their babies lunch. Most of the moms who go have babies 18 months or younger, depending on what their maternity leave allows (one year to 18 months is typical here). I think I am the only true SAHM, which is fine with me. With the high cost of everything here, most homes have to have both parents working to afford, well, life.
The days we don't go to the "Open Preschool", we stay home and have home school. K is doing so well with her reading. For those of you familiar with the McGuffey Readers, she finished the first reader, and she is now on the second one. I like the format of these books for a couple of reasons. First, they are broken down into short (manageable) lessons, and, second, they usually teach a good moral lesson. We also do spelling, writing, and simple math. I am just counting by 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's with her now. We also have done some number ordering (smallest to largest, for example). Once I get a little more organized, I will start teaching her some basic addition (she knows some, but we have not done anything really structured). As for AJ, I am working on teaching him to read. It is hard to say what he knows, but I know he can read several words. He knows his colors and several shapes. He is also very good at all our wooden puzzles. Some days he is really into learning words, and others he has a mind of his own, which is fine. Of course, all our "school" time still leaves plenty of unstructured playtime for the kiddos, and we also try to bake and paint every week. Oh, and the kids are great about helping me clean (for the most part).
Well, that should give you all a fairly good idea of what my day-to-day life is like. Nothing that different than what I would do in AR, except that we are learning Swedish in the midst of it all. :) Hej då for now.
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