Well, we have had a gaming system in our home for 1 week now. It has its ups and downs. All the young neighbor kids congregate here after school (3 to 6 kids at a time, not including mine). Last week we only had one TV set up. We moved a small TV into Holden's room and hooked the garage sale bargain Gamecube to it. So far it is working better b/c Camden can use the living room TV to watch his movies or PBS instead of the one TV being tied up for several hours at a time for games. Camden stays busy a lot, but when he wants to watch a movie---watch out!! Camden's latest craze is riding one of his 3 bikes (lucky kid---busy mommy). This weekend Cliff had fun checking out the Gamecube with Holden. He helped him figure out a Scooby Doo game. I read the game instruction book to Holden tonight and then he asked a friend to come over to check it out. His friend left at 10pm after enjoying the game for several hours. It was fun and I can tell he is going to learn to read this way and learn some basic math and number recognition. There are lots of hints that pop up on the screen when he is playing too. He also has a Lego Star Wars game and I started reading the booklet to him. He knew most of what I read since he played it with friends all last week.
His friends all have form of game systems, but they like it our house. And most parents have time limits on games or don't keep the game systems out. It makes it even more exciting to come here where I see games as a learning tool or a way for kids to have fun learning (we don't talk about schooly stuff--we just do what makes us happy and the learning follows). After the noise from the kids, or any arguing ensues, I ask them to go outside to take a break since it is nice here this time of year. But I don't threaten to put the game on a high shelf like some parents do.
I am so proud of Holden's vocabulary and intelligence. In general he blows my mind. And he still does not want to go to school! He knows he has the option and chooses to live his life in freedom instead. His friends all tell him he is lucky. And they know he is smart despite not going to school. He knows it too.
Camden did something today or said something that blew my mind, but it happens so often now that I can't remember what it was. He cracks me up. I had some pics to post from our picnic and I thought I uploaded them. I deleted them on accident somehow...not just from here. :(
On a side note. I am really loving my bike!! Holden and I have been on several rides together and Cliff and Holden went on a few rides over the weekend. I was feeling tired this morning and went on a ride for about 20 minutes. I felt centered and energized when I got back. It is a nice stress reliever. Camden has been fussy about staying in the YMCA nursery, so I am glad to have another outlet.
For Mother's Day we went to a lilac arboretum and had a picnic. The lilacs were not blooming--the mid-April snow killed them? We had a nice sunny day and then went to a park for a bit. Tomorrow it is going to be hot, so we may go swimming. We never have a lack of stuff to do this time of year. We are loving it!! Cliff's mom was not home so we missed her. But he talked to her on the phone for awhile. I was so busy because of the friends we had over on Sat. and stuff we did on Sunday that I didn't have time to stress about not having my mom here on earth. I looked at her ashes and talked to my boys about them (her ashes). I miss her, but every year Mother's Day gets easier.
I hope you all had a happy day!! Hugs and thanks for reading about our crazy adventure! Much more to come this month I am sure.
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