Considering Kindergarten

On the whole, I don't think I'm a person who does things by default when it comes to parenting. I chose to stay home because I think it's best for my particular kids to have me at home with them, and I'm not the type of person who can be effective at both career and motherhood simultaneously. I decided to breastfeed because it worked for us, it was cheap, and it was easily available. D and M are vaccinated against the standard things because I don't want them to get those diseases (the exception being chicken pox; I'd like them to actually have it in order to build an immunity against it). Hubby and I take our girls to church because our greatest hope is that they'll become followers of Jesus. D is taking swimming lessons because I want her to be safe in the water. We make all kinds of choices surrounding the hows and whys that we live our lives, and I'd like to think that we make informed choices.

A great and scary thing about being a parent is that you get to make the decisions. Other people can weigh in, approve, criticize, etc, but you get to choose in the end. The toughest decision that I've had to make so far regards kindergarten. [Hubby and I have talked at length about it, and he's leaving the final say to me.] And I haven't quite made it yet.

D has a late birthday, as do I, and she won't be 4 in September. My parents chose not to send me to junior kindergarten, which at the time was a half-day program. There are still several schools in our area that provide half-day programs, but this is the final year that the option will be available. So, if D goes to junior kindergarten this year, it'd be half-day; if we send her next year, she'd be going into senior kindergarten for a full day. I think that would be a challenging adjustment, to go from all day with Mom and sister to all day at school with a teacher and classmates.

Compounding the issue is that we have four publicly funded school boards: English, English Catholic, French, and French Catholic. We're not eligible to send D to the French board because French is not Hubby's or my first language (nor the predominant language spoken at home), or to the French Catholic board because we are not Catholic. That still leaves two boards to choose from, and the schools closest to our house belong to these. The English public school, closer geographically, is in a quiet area, and offers Early French Immersion. The Catholic one is on a busier road, but it would take into account the core beliefs we share with Catholicism, and build on the spiritual foundation we've laid.

And then there's the simple fact that D has many, many years of school ahead. Neither junior nor senior kindergarten is mandatory. I'm not remotely concerned about her missing out on any aspect of learning, and I'm pretty confident that if she went straight into grade one without having attended kindergarten, she'd catch up with the other kids quickly. I'm also not worried about her socialization. The most important socialization right now is what occurs within our family. She has regular opportunities to connect and learn to get along with other kids at play group, Sunday school, play dates, etc. I place a higher priority on her attachment to us, her parents, rather than her peers.

I'm trying not to let sentimentality creep into my decision-making, but I'd be dishonest if I didn't admit to tearing up when I think about what kindergarten in 2013 would mean for me and D: no more library story time, play group, Wednesdays at church, park visits, relaxed mornings, play dates. At least not on weekday mornings. And M would miss her sister, but she'd get more one-to-one time with me. Man, what would it be like to only have a two-year-old around the house (for the mornings, at least)?

For the record, I have asked D her opinion about whether she'd be interested in starting kindergarten or not, and she gave it all of five seconds' worth of consideration before declaring "Hmmm...not." Meanwhile, the day before, on her way out the door to swimming lessons, she was proudly wearing her backpack and telling me that she was going to school. I'm not sure she is weighing her options the same way that I am.

Registration in the Catholic board starts next week, and the English public board is the week after that. The balance of this week will be spent researching my options, picking other parents' brains, and of course, always, praying. Let's see if I'm any closer to a decision by next Monday!

Is this kid ready for kindergarten? Who knows?!

First FOs of 2013

Kicking off the Year of No Yarn, we have our first finished objects! For my mom, Jaywalker socks. Ever since I became a mom, I like to give her a present on my birthday (or as D would say, now that she's working on pronouncing her r's, "beeurfday") to say thanks for carrying and birthing me. These socks neatly used up two balls of yarn, plus a little bit of leftover yarn from some gray socks I had knit my dad. The real accomplishment here is that my mom took this photo AND uploaded it to her computer AND attached it to an email to me! Good work, Mom! 

Hey look, it's the mohair sweater that took nearly a year for me to finish! It's now making its way to Australia to meet and stay with my mother-in-law, and I must admit I'm somewhat jealous. I have one leftover ball of yarn; is it cheating if I return it and buy something on store credit? Oh fine, just some needles then. That's if their return policy covers 11 months. 

Year of No Yarn 2.0

Just when I was feeling smug about not making any resolutions this year, I remembered that I'm doing another Year of No Yarn. The ground rules:
-I will be knitting from yarn I already own*
-I can buy enough yarn to complete a project
-I can trade with other knitters to get "new" yarn
-I can still buy patterns, buttons, needles, and other notions if necessary

*Unless an immediate family member or very close friend gets married or has a baby, and I don't have the yarn for an intended project.

Consider the following as "before" pictures (although I realized minutes after taking these that I had missed a few stray skeins):

The stash in all its glory

Sock yarn

DK yarn

Medium weight yarn (the light blue is for a sweater for me, and the teal next to it is for my mom)

Bulky yarn

As you can see, I have enough yarn for many sweaters, socks, baby blankets, hats, mittens, etc. I look forward to seeing the stash transform into actual clothing over the next twelve months!

And in the finished object category, here's my brother-in-law, sporting his new hat and flip-top gloves on Christmas Day.

Don't buy a new kettle

Just a quick tip, courtesy of my mom: if your kettle gets rusty at the bottom, scrub it out with baking soda. Our stainless steel kettle was giving us rusty-tasting water, possibly because I sometimes under-fill it, or maybe because we've been using it so much more in hot-water bottle season. Hubby was thinking about buying one in the post-Christmas sales, but we've only had this one for three years, so I tried my mom's tip first. The kettle's plastic lid doesn't come all the way off, and it's sort of narrow at the top; I couldn't just use a regular wash cloth or scrubbing sponge. Instead, I grabbed our bottle brush, normally reserved for washing out baby bottles when we're not using the dishwasher. It worked like a charm, and I've had two rust-free cups of tea since! I now regret not doing this sooner... I'd been boiling water in a saucepan or the microwave for about a month!

Birthday knits

Finally, some knitting I can actually show! Hannah's birthday was on Friday, but I had until her birthday dinner on Sunday to finish my presents for her. She had asked for an eternity scarf and some fingerless gloves, made from the same purple yarn as D's Fair Isle sweater. The scarf was done on time, and the gloves were a day late. It doesn't look like she minds too much.



Patterns: Encompass scarf, by the Yarn Harlot
Ursus wrist warmers, by Hanna-Kaisa Hämäläinen [These only took two days to finish, which is good because little sis Rach has requested some as well!]

A Week in Winter

Maeve Binchy's final book came out in October, and I had placed a library hold on it in July. This past Thursday, it was waiting for me. I'm about two-thirds of the way through, and there's a very brief, touching scene that I'd like to think was included just for me (although I'm sure that wasn't the case!). A young couple  names their daughter after a woman in her eighties, who never married, but had a happy life all the same.

I was reading this afternoon when my Maeve woke up from her nap; I brought her downstairs and fed her some snacks on the couch next to the book. By chance, her outfit coordinated nicely with the cover, and I treasured seeing her little name on it. Both girls are in bed now, and I'm looking forward to finishing the book either tonight or during naptime tomorrow. It's a worthwhile disruption to my knitting. I couldn't wait for an audiobook.

I love audiobooks

As a knitter, I always appreciate something to listen to while I work: live radio, podcasts, radio drama, book recordings, etc. And in the midst of Christmas knitting, it's something of a necessity. Lately, I've had the presence of mind to peruse the audiobooks on CD at our local library branch, as well as checking out the ones you can download from home. (I'm not sure how to refer to the material I've consumed- I heard a good book? I listened to a good book? I sort of read a good book?) I re-listened to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and laughed and cried at the usual parts. It was the first audiobook I ever downloaded, back in 2010, following a cottage weekend where we read it aloud in turns. I couldn't wait to go to the library, so I was delighted that I didn't have to! The people chosen to voice the various characters were excellent, and Isola Pribby has to be one of the quirkiest characters ever.

I've also recently listened to The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom (thought-provoking and heartbreaking), and Tina Fey's Bossypants (funny, but perforated with unexpected profanity). I have two others waiting for me, one online and one on CD beside me: Ken Follett's Fall of Giants (which I've heard is good reading for those pining for the return of Downton Abbey), and Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World by Claire Harman. Finally, I've added The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam to my online queue. Clearly, I have a thing for memoirs and historical fiction.

Sadly, no pictures of recently finished objects; these will follow in the New Year, ideally with the recipients in them. I'm planning another Year of No Yarn, which virtually guarantees that a close friend or relative will get married or have a baby. I mean, already Will & Kate have announced their pregnancy, and I only decided not to buy yarn in 2013 a few weeks ago!

Edited to add: The narrator of Fall of Giants also did the voice of Dawsey Adams in TGLPPPS! Very excited to hear more.