2020-01-29

January 29, 2020

I (Dad) decided that he is going to try to hug before any sort of discipline or argument. Leading with love is the right way to do things. A very late lesson - but going to start now. I informed the kids of this…that I am going to interpret any whining, yelling, swearing, etc. as a clear sign that they, in fact, need a hug. They all found this amusing…even Huxley. Raz is doing his best to eat healthier and is trying to go Keto. He was getting frustrated at unclear instruction from Dad on how to calculate net carbs, bc Dad didn’t honestly know either. So Erasmus and Dad sat down today and learned from some blog posts how to calculate net carbs from nutritional labels today. Practicing Net Carb calculations together. Despite appearances, we had fun doing this. We are attempting to get checklists going…but given sickness and late night habits we are all slow to get going in the morning. The kids are great at entertaining themselves in the morning though. Birdie drinking morning tea and a read... I (Dad) decided that instead of spending 3+ hours a day in the kitchen cleaning up after everyone, the kids will help. They all enjoy cooking, and if we clean as we go, it’s relatively light work to clean. It was fun working together - it was fun listening to Raz and Hux have positive conversations together as they worked. Lou cleaned the waste basket. Then she played memory (and won!) with Dad while he did dishes.

Lessons

Story of the World today - started to learn about the conquest and genocide of the Americas. With a Disney illustration of a conquistador to help… Some brief but exciting discussions of a more philosophical nature came up today. Briefly discussed ‘brain in a vat’ and solipsism with the boys. I’m eager to start spending more time on critical conversations like that. Discussion of slavery, racism and other ‘isms’ came up from the Story of the World readings. Birdie snuck off after SotW and did Paisley's hair instead.

After Lessons

Family Reading

Everyone loves Harry Potter! They all clamor for another chapter after I finish. Even Huxley. It’s been a big hit. I wish I would of started it years ago. Tonight we read for nearly 2 hours and read chapters 4&5. We didn’t finish until 10:00 PM