October Update

October is almost over. The season is changing. So is life... constantly. Currently, I am subbing at ICS whenever a sub is needed, as well as monitoring recess Wednesdays and Fridays. On Tuesdays, cello lessons interrupt the flow of the day, but Thursdays are my stay at home days, and I watch my nephew as his mother tutors. But the subbing can turn that schedule on its head.

While I am at school, Malcolm goes to Pre-K, and loves it. Something funny happened this summer. At the beginning of the summer, he was still hanging on me and if he was away from me too much, he would have bad nights. But then, something happened on the day my brother got married. Malcolm played with other kids or by himself the entire day and it was completely fine and normal. Ever since, he thrives with cuddle time or one-on-one attention, but even when he doesn't get it, he is ok. Now, whenever he goes to Pre-K, he asks if he can go back the next day. When I substitute, and he is there the whole day, he cannot wait for the next time he can stay. He loves his teacher and had new friends to play with.

Eamon is a full time first grader. He loves school too, except for the "yacker tracker" that makes a siren sound if the lunch room gets too noisy. He tries to read everything now, and if he can't, he asks what the special sounds are, so he can read it next time. Math is still his favorite subject though, and he loves figuring out addition and subtraction problems. It is fun to watch him making connections and asking questions. He is the most outgoing of the family, ready to make a new friend wherever he plays, but tends to gravitate toward the underdog.

Together the boys fight, play, argue, wrestle, try to be better than each other, and don't listen to mom or dad when they have each other to listen to. Whenever the two are together, there is either crazy or trouble, usually both, but only occasionally is it just nasty. They build grand stories and games and pictures together, feeding off each other's creativity, but definitely making there own thing. They are currently more interested in their characters beating things up, and there are no moral grey areas. I am getting used to it, though I still regularly ask, "Can't they figure out some way to solve this problem other than hitting each other?" And they regularly answer, "No, because he is a bad guy."

Thomas and I have been thinking about the contemplative life and leading a bookish life, developing times of quiet and creativity and reading. Because of that, I finished four books this month. I finally finished "Good to Great" by Jim Collins, "One Beautiful Dream" by Jenifer Fulwiler, and the first two books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I will be happy if I can keep this rate up, because my book list is getting rather long. And I have been trying to write more frequently. Working on fiction helps my creative brain, and the things that I am processing flow into those stories, but I was realizing that I also need to write to help process things. So I have a journal for processing, stories for telling, and the blog for recording life.