and so we are free....

greenin' up nicely....

after many more discussions...many more tears (mine and hers)..and a conversation with Angels (excellent advice..thank you Sarah and Jacqui).....we found the source of this sudden interest in school.

{kelly- reading your comment made me smile}

turns out...after having seen all the kids coming  home from school looking so buoyant and joy-filled, she figured she was missing out on a good time.  i gently explained that perhaps they were happy because school was finished for the day....

i let her sit with that awhile.

and then she asked what Sebastian and i  would do when she was at school all day -- i answered, "oh, you know - our usual stuff...." and listed all the things we do, the visits we make, our little adventures....

as she started to cry, i asked her to think of the ways in which she is free...

and she remembered that she's: 

...free to lie in bed and read a whole Junie B.Jones book before getting up in the morning; free to spend two hours on YouTube researching how to play Sims: Medieval; free to check her email umpteen times a day to see if L has sent her a note from Pakistan; free to eat, sleep, play, talk, run, jump, skip, paint, build....whenever and howsoever she chooses.

i didn't sugar coat it....i told her the truth; of how there are some fun things that happen in school, but that fun isn't the point of the exercise. and that the fun stuff that occasionally happens at school, is the stuff we do every day. she hadn't realized that.

{i now have a venomous dislike for the various and assorted ways that 'school' is portrayed on television and in young children's books -- it had been my suspicion that her desire was stemming from a misguided notion of what school is like....seems i was right...grrrrrr}

free-wheelin'

so once our tears were dried, we discussed how she'd like some more "out and about"  {it was a long winter and a very rainy spring} and books she'd like to read and how she's going to save her money to buy the new Sims game now that she has an idea of how to play it {she counted up last night and discovered there was enough -- and so it was ordered}....i showed her Stephanie's blog and how they play a lot of games and maybe she'd like to try that too -- {"oh YES! that looks cool"}

*sigh*

so now i find myself with new appreciation for this life we lead. i'd taken so  much for granted, i suppose -- and to find it all hanging perilously on the verge of upheaval was eye-opening to say the least.

but i'm grateful for the challenge this has been -- emotionally exhausting though it was. it has served to remind me how deeply i value this sweet  freedom we have; and it made me see what a strong and self-possessed child this beautiful girl is growing to be -- and how fiercely i will protect her right to continue on that way -- even when that means the agony of simply trusting her to make good {albeit well-informed} choices.

but it also showed me the scarier side of this right of autonomy -- that they are going to choose to do things we'd much rather they didn't....and i was risking everything i'd ever preached by wanting to take the decision away from her. but how could i not? ugh - it was a wretched conundrum indeed. it wasn't like she was wanting to do a tight-rope walk across Niagara Falls. although i could easily argue an equivalent danger...;)

 in the end though, i realize that this mastering of  the fine art of letting go will be the hardest lesson i'll ever get out of this parenting gig....

so thank you, one-billion-fold, dear friends -- i drew on the love and support you all sent and kept that and your wisdom in my heart as we navigated this part of our journey. i am ever grateful to you all for witnessing this unpleasant bump in our road....

blessings and love to you all....xo

following our feet..

It started off as a trip to the bulk food store -- heavens-to-mergatroid the squirrels are out of peanuts -- plus I needed flour and cinnamon.

We battled through the casualties of the weekend storms....it's more fun to clamber OVER these things, than to walk around them....

Where once a tatty old used car dealership stood, is now this scar on the landscape. Future site of a pain management clinic [prompting the unenlightened to fly into fits over all the crackheads and heroin junkies that would surely be cluttering up the place -- someone may have inadvertently mentioned methadone] Even though the car dealership was grotty and abandoned, there were some lovely old trees to brighten it up . They're not there now. We are not amused. Savannah has issued an ultimatum which involves speedy construction and the planting of many trees and shrubs to replace those torn down.


Halfway to the bulk food store, Savannah decided she was thirsty. Thusly, we carried on to the coffee shop for refreshments and people-watching.

We eventually wandered back to the bulk food store and got in our supplies -- with a few extras, of course.  It was decided after we did our shopping that we would walk past the 'haunted house' on our way home...

Sometimes we're up for the terror, sometimes not.  Debate rages over 'haunted vs. not-haunted', 'abandoned vs. occupied'.  Hard to tell. Although the tree in the front yard is gorgeous. On this, we at least agree.

Musings over a large lollipop -- which, by Savannah's estimation will take approximately one year to finish -- brought us to the conclusion that a side-trip to the park was in order...after all, it's going to rain the rest of the week...

And so we swung and dug in the sand and watched the painting people learn how to use their ladders and made silly faces into the camera...

Such freedom this, in following our feet....

En francais, s'il vous plait...

Two of Sebastian's favourite pastimes...eating pretzels and watching movies on the computer.

Today's fare - PC Multi-grain Alphabet pretzels with an episode or three of Zoboomafoo...

Interestingly - or perhaps unsurprisingly, considering the source, he chose to watch in French....

The Kratt brothers sound nothing like themselves when they speak in French....but it makes the cute one even cuter....