Feb. 8, 2008
~Washcloth Soup~
Yesterday afternoon, both of my girlies were having a rough time. The older one was cranky & had cramps. I left her in charge of the younger oen while I took a shower. When I came downstairs Susanna was sobbing & hiccuping. Hannah was leaning over the counter with a hotpack on her stomach. I felt badly for both of them. Turns out Hannah was getting Susanna dressed and she is very particular about what she wears. Hannah could only find one pair of her undies-they were too big. Hannah at that point felt so yucky she didn't care how Susanna felt about it & told her to deal with it. So, Susanna tells me thru sobs & hiccups, "big...undies...on...my...dupee!" Hannah was looking pretty miserable, so I just told her to go have some time to herself in her room-read a book or whatever she wanted to. She had to go to riding lessons later. When she came down later she gave Susanna a hug and apologized for making her wear big undies-she really did feel bad about not respecting her feelings. Later as I was telling Pat about this it was kind of comical
Later, I had time alone w/ my youngest girlie. Hannah was at the stable for lessons & to help out. Jonah had a friend over and they spent about 5 hours outside buiding a fort and snowboarding. I wanted to do something special/different with Susanna.
I'm getting e-newsletters from a great website called Toddler Toddler. So, I checked out the newsletter for ideas.
I almost passed up this activity-it seemed too simple and sounded like it might get very messy. I'm glad I let her do it, though-she loved it and it kept her very busy for over an hour.
It's called "Washcloth Soup." Fill a big pot halfway with warm water. Supply a stirring spoon and a stack of washcloths. Hannah & Jonah used to make something similar when we were building our house and they were outside a lot (2yrs and 4 yrs). It was called "yucky soup" and was full of rocks, sticks, grass, leaves,etc.
I have tons of home-made washcloths that I made for baby wipes-they're old and used for general cloths now. The activiy said to discuss the colors of the washcloths-but I didn't do that-that kind of teaching feels too much like interfering with her play-she knows most of her colors anyway-and noone has really taught them to her. It seems to me that many preschool activities & curriculums act like preschoolers don't know how to learn unless you make them-well, I've seen otherwise, so I often opt out of what feels un-natural or artifical.
After she stirred in all the washcloths she could find, she wanted to add soap so she could do laundry.
From there, it went to let's give our horses a bath:
Then we made a horse barn & pasture for her horses. Here, we did end up talking about colors-only because she told me what colors to give her-I was her assistant.
She's been wanting the fairytale playmobil castle that she plays with at one of our friend's houses. I'd love to get it for her, but It's expensive. She made her own castle:
Then she had dinner with the boys-mac & cheese. The boys gobbled up their food so they could get back out, feed the calves and continue working on their fort until dark. At dark, they came and got flashlights. I love how boys play! Here's a pic of them getting ready to head back out.
I didn't make dinner last night- Pat didn't get home from work until late, then we had to run Jonah's friend home (I fed the boys mac & cheese), drop the car off at the shop, return an alternator, pick up cow & chicken feed and then get Hannah from the stable.
So, when we got back, everyone was hungry-Susanna's pot of washcloth soup was sitting on the stove waiting to be emptied out. When everyone asked what was for dinner, I said, "Oh, Susanna made us a delicious washcloth soup-let me just heat it up." LOL!
Everyone looked in the pot & made faces. Susanna said, "I'm not eating that!" We had leftovers.
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Feb. 8, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by BChsMamaof3
Susannah is so cute! I just love the washcloth soup idea to my daugher would just love that :) I love how boys play to my sons is forever building forts and things outside. wishing you and your family a blessed Friday,
Rosina
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Feb. 8, 2008 - How Sweet!
Posted by melissal89
I just love the "washcloth soup" idea too! My 2 1/2 year old daughter will love that. I think I'll let her put her culinary talents into action tomorrow. I don't blame anyone for not wanting to eat it though! Thanks for sharing your sweet time with your daughter.
Blessings, Melissa
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Feb. 9, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by domesticangel
Mercy, and I thought I was the only one who talked to her animals!!! We moved out here in the 'country' and plan to sort of homestead (we are renting) and as we used to keep chickens when small son was VERY small, we can't wait! We would REALLY like other animals but my husband INSISTS that if we had cows or goats or sheep I would bring them in the house, take them for pets and never want to .....kill them, which is far from the truth, he just sees how I talk to the dog and cat and thinks I'm a tad 'off'. Bless your heart for your struggles! I, too, was having "one of those days" a little while ago and wrote about it on my blog. You know what I did? Made an 'executive decision' and called a "Mid Winter Break" from school!!! Woo-Hoo! We got SO much accomplished this week. I was feeling guilty, but when driving home from a home school activity just yesterday, small son reads this sign on the marquee of a school we were going by "NO school Monday"...he asks, "why don't THEY have school Monday? Didn't they just have time off LAST week? I guess we shouldn't feel bad about our break, huh mom?" Out of the mouths of babes! AND....I've tagged you with a book tag. Kind of fun, actually. Not long.
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/domesticangel/
Denise aka The Domestic Angel
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Feb. 9, 2008 - <em>Untitled Comment</em>
Posted by SunnyFlowers
Hi there! What a fun idea with the washcloth soup! I miss those days, they just go sooo fast! Just stopping in to see how you are doing. Sounds like you've had a tough week. Hope you have a blessed weekend!
Edited by SunnyFlowers on Feb. 9, 2008 at 8:20 AM
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Feb. 9, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Training Hearts
LOL! Soo cute :) I love the idea of washcloth soup. I'm sure that it might be a good play activity today while I am cutting a bunch of quilt squares today :)
Saturday Blessings,
~Tamara
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Feb. 10, 2008 - Too sweet
Posted by Anonymous
This was such a sweet little story. I am so glad I stopped by your blog.
Pat from http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/PatsPlace/
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Feb. 14, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by JoyfulMomOf6
That is so sweet!!! I must admit, I would be hesitant to do washcloth soup b/c it would just be another mess for me in the midst of days that are already consumed with "busy"-ness. I'm glad that you took the time to listen to your heart and fill the need of your little one. Sounds like I need to "listen" with my heart more too. :*) Thank you for the reminder and thank you for the Excellence Award, I will get around to blogging it soon! :D Happy Valentines Day!
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