Gardening, kids, and nonsense.

From Here

I am pleased to report that my strawberry bush has produced more very sweet strawberries. I have learned what variety of strawberry that I am growing here. It is an alpine strawberry plant. Apparently it is supposed to have diminutive berries. I have to say, out of all the strawberries that I have had over the years, these are the sweetest.

I am torn between mild disappointment that the plant isn't producing enough to make strawberry tarts with it and sheer joy that I have strawberries that I've grown myself. I'm trending towards joy, just so you know. Amusingly, the boys will not touch them. They view the plant with great suspicion because the fruit looks very little like what we get from the store.

My Mother in law gave me some southernwood cuttings when I saw her recently. She was watching Cuddle Bear for me as I had some appointments to attend to. When I got back from seeing my psychiatrist, she had some cuttings for me. I have planted them in some soil and gave them a good long drink. I also planted the geranium cutting she gave me. She has this wonderful geranium that has blooms that are such a dark red that they are almost purple. I've been lusting after the plant for a few months now.

Tutoring today went fairly well. I wasn't able to locate a dictionary for the girl, but we didn't need it today. I am going to dig through my old pile of books to see if I happen to have one kicking around. If I have a paperback dictionary just sitting on the shelf, I'm going to give it to her. I have an unabridged dictionary sitting on the shelf right now. If I need to look anything up (or murder someone) I have a very effective tool for that with out even needing to go online. I brought down the math flashcard that Cuddle Bear isn't quite ready for. We did some work with them. I'm going to let them borrow the cards until school starts. According to theory, if she works on those flashcards, she will get a bit stronger with her mathematics and have an easier time with the other stuff.

It's been really interesting and rather confusing how she is so hit or miss with her mathematics skills. Some things she does well with repeatedly. Others, she really struggles and needs to be coached through the problems. My friend (the girl's mom) is talking about getting her tested to see what learning disorders she might be dealing with. When she asked me what I thought, I said that I could only see good things coming from the testing. Because they've got really good health insurance through the state, I know that a full battery of tests would be covered, as this is showing up in other areas and has my friend concerned that there is some kind of developmental or other problem at play. I really hope that they can get it figured out and a plan for how to work with it all.

Snuggle Bug has adjusted well to the new summer schedule at Headstart. He apparently has been telling his teachers quite excitedly about how he gets to play at his friends' house often. They've written a note asking who it is that he is talking about. I'll be letting them know in a note tomorrow. I am just amused that Snuggle Bug is having such a wonderful time with it all. It seems to have made it easier for him to get into the swing of things after having almost two weeks off.

Cuddle Bear has been having a lot of fun playing with his friend when she is done with our tutoring sessions. His big thing right now has been the pole on the playground at her apartment complex. Cuddle Bug has been talking about this thing non-stop since last Wednesday. Wednesday was when he figured out how to use it. Now he wants to bring down a fireman's hat and pretend that he is Fireman Sam. I'm happy that he is enjoying it and even more so that he has developed the upper body strength to use it. Last summer, he wouldn't have been able to do so. It makes me optimistic that he is continuing to make good progress on strengthening his body through play.

I made the mistake of looking at the other mommy blogger's posts. For a few minutes, I felt poorly about my blog's lack of pictures and its rather unprofessional lay out. Then I took a mental step back and considered the situation. I am investing my efforts into things like making yule gifts and managing my disability. I am very busy with two autistic boys who are very full of energy. While these other mommy bloggers may have blogs that look professional and polished, they are not exactly dealing with the workload that I am. Perhaps when school starts up again, I may tweak the lay out of the blog and who knows, maybe I'll manage to get some more pictures up on here.

I don't need to be doing the same thing that these women are. My home and family has different needs. It is more important that I focus my efforts on meeting those needs then trying to make my blog look as shiny and pretty as those other mommy bloggers have theirs looking. I'm not out there doing a boatload of DIY crafts and stuff to make my home look pretty or follow the latest trends. And, now that I think about it, I am rather happy not following trends. It is better to pursue my own authentic vision of life then that which is out there for the trendy people. It's not that I've got anything against following trends, but I'm far more healthy when I consult my inner sense of things compared to when I am trying to keep up with trends.

I may just swear off looking at those mommy blogs. Or start looking for the mommy blogs that are more like my own. Where the biggest triumphs of the day are things like mastering a new crochet technique (Today I'm learning how to make a sock from the cuff down. I'm working on turning the heel right now, it doesn't look quite right but I'm trying.) or keeping the kids from having massive meltdowns because they wanted to go get ice cream when we didn't have the funds for it. I'm going to try to update this thing more often.

After all, there may be another mommy looking for a realistic mommy blogger just like me.