Book #19

A few weeks back I was suffering from a painful sore throat and couldn't do my normal reading aloud, so I downloaded an audio book--Palace of Stone.  It's the second Princess Academy book by Shannon Hale.  Years ago I read the kids the first book and we were all excited to learn there was a second in the series. 

The story tells of a group of girls from Mt. Eskel who come to Aslan (the home of the King and Queen) because their friend is marrying the prince.  Unfortunately there is unrest in Aslan.  There is a bit of a revolution happening.  The poor are not pleased with how they are treated.  And there is an issue with a commoner marrying the prince.  The Mt. Eskel girls get caught in the middle and do their best to make things peaceful. 

We enjoyed the audio presentation.  There were different voices and the songs were sung.  Shannon Hale has many fun books.

Book #18

Last Summer I took a series of parenting classes.  One was about simplifying.  The book Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne was recommended.  I went to my library and reserved it.  I was on a long waiting list and finally got it.  Dr. Payne believes that the behaviors we see in kids are caused by the complexity of the lives they live in.  He had a lot of great ideas about simplifying and I felt affirmed that I was doing many of them.  I also learned some more things that I can apply. 

Dr. Payne begins with a chapter called Soul Fever in which he shares the symptoms of an overwhelmed child.  Then he moves on to other chapters where he gives solutions.  He talks about reducing the amounts of toys and books and organizing what is left.  Here is an area that I think I've done well in.  The kids don't have a lot of toys and what they do have is kept in boxes high in the closet and they need to ask to get them down.  Clothes are also mentioned.  Today as we put away our winter clothes and pulled our our summer clothes, I tried to implement some of the author's ideas. 

Another area Dr. Payne says we need to simplify is the rhythm of our daily lives.  Is it predictable and consistent?  He even talks about simplifying food and dinner time.  He emphasizes the importance of routines.  He also has a section called the Gift of Boredom.  Free time has been an important part of our life for awhile.  I read somewhere that free time is when real learning occurs.  The kids' free time is the same time as my study time.  Yes, they still come to me and say they are bored, but I let them figure out how to fill that time on their own. 

Dr. Payne's next idea is filtering out the adult world.  We can do this with less screen time, by the way we parent (being present but not hovering), avoiding adult topics, and by talking less.  I love the idea of talking less. "The more you talk, the less you are listening."  We've also been big on minimal screen time.  I start seeing bad behavior when the kids get extra amounts of screen time. 

I wouldn't have picked this book up on my own, I feel like I've simplified my life without being told how to do it, but I was grateful for the additional ideas. 

Book #17

My couple's book club selected The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour as our March book.  I don't know if I mentioned this before, but the book club is actually a Gathering Project--a TJEd book club where we "gather" other parents and teach them about leadership principles through the books we read and discuss.  We've read a lot of great books and have had interesting discussions about leadership. 
As I read this book I was reminded how much I dislike Louis L'Amour's writing style.  It is choppy and doesn't flow.  But, I enjoy the stories and the messages.  The Walking Drum is about a young man, Mathurin Kerbouchard, who sets out to rescue his father.  It takes place in Europe during the 12th century and contains a lot of history.  Kerbouchard has many adventures and is able to solve problems because of his education. 

I am a lazy reader.  I often read just to read and forget that I should be thinking and writing as I read.  Sometimes I will underline and take notes and summarize, but mostly I read and enjoy.  This, unfortunately, means that I don't get as much from the book as I should.  I realized this at the book discussion.  There were 3 of us there, and only 1 person took notes and had stuff to share.  I wished that I had written down my favorite parts and thoughts so that our discussion could have been better.  I also wish that I knew how to identify themes and principles and could express my thoughts better.  That is part of the reason of this blog, though, to help me with writing. . . 

Book #16

The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright is a cute book about 4 siblings who are tired of wasting their Saturdays.  They form a club (the Independent Saturday Afternoon Adventure Club), pool their allowance and each take a Saturday to do whatever they want.  One goes to an art show, another goes to the opera, the third gets her hair cut and styled and the fourth goes to the circus.  After a couple of outings on their own they decided to find things to do together.  I enjoyed the book because of their adventures, but also because of their relationships.  I love books that show that brothers and sisters can get along.