Thank You Notes

This afternoon, full of virtuous feeling, I set the children to work on thank you notes. Our newest reader, Cornflower, required much spelling of words. She was still working on her cards when Triss and I moved to the computer to do a Plutarch lesson. As we read and discussed, Cornflower continued asking words: 'gave,' 'pajamas,' etc. Triss and I finished the lesson and I idly clicked on email. Cornflower asked, "Mom, how do you spell 'knee'?"

"K-n-e-e," I said absently as I read over an email about a stamping class.

"K?" she asked uncertainly.

"Mmm-hmm. Isn't that weird?"

"Yeah."

There was silence for a few seconds. I thought about explaining the relationship 'k' has with 'n' but decided against it. She is still in three letter short vowel words in her phonics book, and our English language is weird. (It never occurred to me to think how weird it was that she wanted to write the word 'knee' in a thank you note.)

Then she said, "But I spelled it...hmm... k-n..."

Finally, she was finished. As I looked at the card, I realized at once the absurdity of the word 'knee' in a thank you note-- and immediately understood her request.

She was thanking her aunt for a gift of 'mo-knee.'

Goal-Setting

There! The DHM has said it much better than I can.

"Here's my hint for the new year- make sure your goals are not the sort that will find you burning bridges with others on your way to burning out yourself. Remember that the point of what you are doing is to bear fruit of the sort useful and sustaining to living souls, real people with hearts, feelings, strengths, weaknesses, made in God's image. You do not want a 'perfect' house and a 'perfect' homeschool that accomplishes primarly 'mechanical action instead of the vital growth and movement of a living being.' (Charlotte Mason)"

Never a Dull Moment

As we drove home from picking up some curtain rods for Mariel's new curtains, Mr. Honey said, "Mariel, are those screws from the old curtain hardware still sitting on your dresser?"

"Yes, they're still there. You know the tall one? He's the tallest, so he's the president. The white ones are all lying down, and the blue one is giving a speech. That's how you will know them," Mariel said helpfully.

"Um, okay. I'll look for that. Thanks." Mr. Honey glanced at me. I was trying not to laugh. He said, "The next time one of these kids comes to me complaining of boredom, I'm going to say, 'Whose kid are you, anyway? Here, have some screws to play with!'"

At that moment, Cornflower shouted, "Daddy, can we ple-e-ea-se go the long way home this time?" And Triss began reading aloud a poem about some people named Hodge and Podge.

Happy New Year from our family to yours~ we wish you screws to imagine with, poetry to share, and time to go the long way.