It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here and I didn't really have anything to do with it. Oh, perhaps you could say I had one teeny-tiny thing to do with it. You must not blink, though, or you just might miss it.

While I was scrubbing the bathroom floor (on a Sunday afternoon), I could hear my husband strum a guitar. He was playing some music while he waited. I didn't know he was waiting for me. He didn't know I was cleaning.

(I don't usually work at all on Sundays much less start deep-cleaning projects so why I felt compelled to get on my hands and knees to scour the bathroom tile is hard to say -- except that it was WAY over due and that I had folks coming over on Monday. But, I didn't really remember that I had company coming before I started disinfecting. At some point the dirt simply screams to be eliminated and I oblige. But I digress.)

So, while I am scrubbing the bathroom tile, the Hubby finally comes to find me instead of just waiting. He asks if I want to set up the Christmas tree. I say, "Sure."

And that was the extent of my involvement. That is all I did. I said, "Sure."

This is a true statement.

The Hubby and Sweet Number Three -- who is nine -- brought all the boxes down from the attic. Then, while the Hubby and I were discussing where to displace the trunk that lives in the corner so that we could put the tree in the same spot as last year, the Youngest ran by us and said in a loud voice, "Don't look in the living room or the dining room."

Hmmmm. Could they really do this all by themselves? The Youngest came by again, delivering the same message, "Don't look in the living or dining room."

But the Hubby, who has always been in charge of setting up the tree, had had to modify the tree last year. He needed to go help. He couldn't just let them do it. (He is not, by the way, a control freak. He just wanted to prevent Disasters of Much Greater Harder Work for us later on.) He walked to the living room. The Twelve-Year-Old First Born Son said, "You made a diagram last year, dad. It's clear. I'm following your instructions."

They had moved the trunk from the corner. This capable young man, who builds all-of-the-time, was doing just fine. They were all working together, pleasantly. The Firstborn said, "We'll do this. Put your feet up. "

And so we did.

The Hubby made popcorn. I made hot cocoa. We sat down on the couch, drank cocoa, ate popcorn, and watched the children do all the decorating, including the lights. After we sipped our last sip, we drifted off to a quick cat-nap.

I was thrilled because I had wanted a nap and I wasn't really up for decorating the house. (Though I had been up for scrubbing bathroom tile? As the Hubby said when he found me cleaning on a Sunday afternoon, "You are a strange creature.") But things are a-changing around here. The children really are helpful and able to do. And I was able to nap.

So on Sunday: The children set-up the tree, the nativity scene, the outdoor lights, and the various Christmas knick-knacks around the house. The Hubby strummed a little guitar. I removed the dirt from the bathroom and kitchen floor. (The kitchen floor mopping came after the Christmas decorations and before the movie.) The Hubby & I took naps. We all watched Prince Caspian, which I had checked out from the library. (Which was another first, by the way, because usually the DVDs from the library are so scratched up they simply just do NOT play.)

Life is changing around here. It's not all bad. Actually, it is quite good and it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas, too.

Our School Room

Our school room is the dining room, the same room in which we eat all of our meals. It is a simple approach. A college friend of mine (for those that knew us in college: it was Jinna) encouraged me that we didn't need a special school room to educate our children at home. I love the look of school rooms and having wall space to put up things we're learning about or projects we've done. But because it is a central room of the house, I don't put up much school stuff to look at (unless you count the wall of books in one corner that you can see HERE .) Even so, this space works for us.

A chair at our dining room table is the place our students spend most of their time at our school.

The big windows in the dining room provide lots of natural light and a view of the stray cats and dogs from the neighborhood, some birds and butterflies, the mail carrier putting mail in the mailbox, the changing weather, and other children walking home from school.

The hard part about schooling at the dining room table is that this is also where we eat. At times it is a hassle to clear the table to eat and then start again. But to compensate I often read at lunch time before we've cleaned up the lunch mess.

When the kids are working independently, one or two will scoot off to their rooms or another area of the house so that "they can concentrate." And this is the evidence that is often left behind that readers have been here. We also read in the living room. And the highlight of the day is the evening book that Daddy reads in the living room. In the winter, everyone gets nice and cozy to listen up.

Do you have a special place that you school? Want to see how others do it? Jump on over to the Not Back to School Blog Hop to be inspired.

Kathleen