Instant Gratification

Hannah and Elias reminded me today that we live in a culture that is used to instant gratification. We went to an apple orchard to pick apples. The orchard itself was about 35 minutes away from home. Not terribly long but long enough for Elias to start complaining that it was taking too long when we were still 10 minutes from our destination. Later in the day after waiting in line for a few minutes to buy food Hannah started whining that we were waiting too long and that she didn't want to stand in line anymore. Shortly after getting the food Elias showed up in the building to complain that we were taking too long. (He had been left to guard the table and our apples).

In the afternoon as we got out of the car to go into Ikea Hannah began complaining that she was thirsty. I ignored the whining until she directed it at me, "Moooommm I said I am thirsty!" I reminded her that I am not a drinking fountain so she would have to wait until we git inside where they do have a drinking fountain.

These incidences didn't seem like much at the time that they were happening but then I began to think of how many of our wishes and expectations are met instantly on a daily basis. We can walk into a fast food restaurant and walk out with a hot meal in five minutes. If I want to know the weather forecast I don't need to wait for the news to come on at 10pm I can just log-on the Internet and find out. Most grocery stores and large stores like Target and Walmart have express lines for people with a small amount of purchases. I can pay my bills online, no waiting in line at the post office to buy stamp, no waiting for the check to get to the biller and clear with the bank. If I want to send a message to a family member I just need to access my e-mail and presto they get the message minutes later. My daughter needs to get home from school, I just jump in the car and drive there to pick her up. Sure she has to wait but not as long as she would if she had to walk or rely on public transportation.

How different would my world be if we had to grow all of our fruits and vegetables then can them so they would be available all year. What if we didn't have a car, or computer or TV. Would we be better people or bitter people? I'm not ready to make any of these changes but I think I would like to get back to a simpler and somewhat slower way of life. Elias and Hannah lived in a village in Ethiopia that didn't have running water, no electricity, no one had a car, they lived off the land. Their family worked hard to care for each other and their neighbors. Tow years later that village hasn't changed but my children have. I need for them to stop always thinking of themselves first. Maybe that will change their attitudes about what they are owed instantly.

First Day of School

Elias, first day of 2nd grade

Earlier this week Maya and Elias had their first day of school of the new school year. Elias is in 2nd grade this year. This year he has a new teacher and different students in his class than he had the last two years. He was nervous for the last week leading up to the first day. He was really worried that he wouldn't know anyone in his class and he was worried that 2nd grade would be too hard. His nervousness led to some angry, rude and inappropriate behavior. All of that has disappeared since the first day. He knows a number of other kids in the class and has found that the school work is right at the level where he left off a month ago. He has also started running in the mornings to wear off some of his energy. One time around our block is a half mile. He can run around it in 5 minutes. I told him if he practices every day he will be one of the best runners by the time he gets to high school (only 7 more years).

Elias getting off the bus

Maya, First day of 5th grade

Maya is in 5th grade this year. She is now in middle school. Maya, too, was nervous for her fist day because this year she is in a new school, an all-girl charter school. Her classes start at 8:30 and I have to drive her there every day so our mornings are becoming pretty streamlined. One hour between getting up and walking out the door. Four other girls in 5th grade transferred from her elementary school, a few 6th graders are from her elementary school as well. Though she was worried about meeting new people she already made a friend in her violin class. Her friend has a brother and sister who were adopted from Ethiopia two years ago! Sounds familiar.

Maya getting off the bus

Hannah continues at her same day care. She has been working on recognizing letters and numbers. She surprised me earlier this summer by knowing so many letters. She loves to do work book pages of copying letters, finding matches, opposites, dot-to-dots and other preschool activities. One more year for her until she starts school.

I am continuing to co-lead Maya's Girl Scout troop. We split our troop over the summer since only some of the girls would be at the new school. We have 4 girls so far and hope to have more from the school join us soon. In addition I'm spending a lot of time in the car driving to soccer practice and games, Cub Scouts and swimming lessons. Not to mention all the driving to school and back each day as well as back and forth to work. I need to make some more CDs to listen to in the car.

Camping 2009 edition

A couple of weeks ago we went camping at a nice campground on a nice big lake. We eplored the trails, threw rocks in the water, made campfires, cooked hot dogs, made s'mores, held races through fields and around the campground. We played card games and board games, games of catch and beach ball soccer. All was great. Then it started raining during our second night and rained all day the next day. It was a light rain so we drove to another state park to explore their wooded trails. We stayed pretty dry. We returned to our campsite for lunch, ate it in the tent then played games and read books in the tent to waiting for the rain to stop. The tent started to leak after 14 continuous hours of rain so I decided to just pack up and go home. As soon as I made that decision it started to pour. All the kids help to get packed as quickly as we could, however, Maya really helped a lot. She stood out in the rain helping me to pull down the tent, gathered our camp chairs and other supplies left out in the rain that still needed to be packed in the car. She didn't complain once even though our clothes we were completely soaked through. I rewarded them with a stop at DQ on the way home. By the time we arrived home a couple hours later it was sunny. At the campground was rained on for another 24hours after we arrived home so it turned out to be a wise decision to leave.

Even though the trip ended on a wet note my kids still want to go camping again. I am glad they like camping because I love it. Next year I am hoping to go on a longer trip. Maybe a trip to the Black Hills of SD to see Mount Rushmore.