2008-04-15

Muss-Makers

While my children munch carrots, I read Little House in the Big Woods. Yesterday, I grinned at this statement.

The Petersons had just moved in. Their house was new, and always very neat, because Mrs. Peterson had no little girls to muss it up.

Muss Makers

I have two little girls that muss everywhere. Laura and Mary didn’t have 1/427 of the toys my girls do, so I wonder what messes they made. Did they carry in leaf plates from outside? Did they scatter prized pebbles gathered in town? Whatever disarray they made, my family enjoys their story.

Because it’s my responsibility to teach my children, sometimes I feel like everything needs to be a study. Shouldn’t there be lesson plans to go along with this book?

Maybe delighting in the marvelous story of a family long ago is enough, because my muss-makers are learning to love literature. At least, I hope that’s what carpets of books indicate.

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  4. Bloggy Giveaway!
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34 Comments

  1. Emily 2008-04-15, 12:49 pm

    Your girls are so sweet as muss-makers! What a nice post.

    And just cuz I’m a wacko house decor stalker - i love your rug! :)

  2. Emily 2008-04-15, 12:57 pm

    I’d wager that my son made WAY more messes then my girls when they were all younger. Now, the girls have beads and scraps of paper scattered throughout the house.

    I’m beginning to hate beads.

  3. Mrs. C 2008-04-15, 1:27 pm

    Aw… cute! If I remember right, they also each got a cookie, and Carrie got half of Laura’s and half of Mary’s because they weren’t sure how to divide them up so everyone got the same amount LOL!

  4. Renae 2008-04-15, 3:59 pm

    Emily,
    Thanks. And just because I like sharing good deals I’ll tell you about my rug. A friend picked it up for ten dollars at a yard sale! It didn’t match her house, so she gave it to me. It’s great to have frugal, generous friends!

  5. Renae 2008-04-15, 4:01 pm

    The other Emily,
    I think my daughters make bigger messes. Bug spread(s) Lego bricks around, but he never used socks for doll beds or changed his clothes 18 times a day. And I’m glad we haven’t started beading yet. :)

  6. Renae 2008-04-15, 4:04 pm

    Mrs. C,
    You are right. I almost added that when I turn into Mrs. Peterson I’ll give the kids extra cookies to take home for their brothers and sisters. :)

  7. andrea 2008-04-15, 5:49 pm

    HA! I have *three* girls. Yes, even the teens make messes. I’ve tried to ban glitter but I swear it has a half-life. also, we have that SAME polly pocket set.

    Sarah did tell me today though that we lead far too interesting of a life to maintain a clean home. :D

  8. Mandi 2008-04-15, 6:45 pm

    Oh yes - I loved reading this book! Somehow I missed reading these as a kid but have delighted in them as I shared them with my kids. I think you are right - the best lesson comes from the joy of hearing the story. We loved Farmer Boy about the best, which we read several years ago, and we still make popcorn and apple cider on Friday nights because we took such a fancy to the Wilder family and this particular tradition of theirs.

  9. Melinda 2008-04-15, 11:39 pm

    I really smiled at this post. We’re not reading those books quiet yet with Aspen but I have fond memories of reading them with my older ones and I wonder too, how they mussed up the house? When I read this post I had just finished cleaning up legos, bristle blocks, candyland and little people from the living room floor : )

  10. Samantha 2008-04-16, 4:10 am

    I have just stopped by your blog by chance. Looks very interesting, will probably stop by again when I have more time to read.I don’t homeschool myself but because one of my sons has some learning difficulties I am very involved in his learning and am always looking for new ideas and inspiration

  11. Michele 2008-04-16, 6:23 am

    I have three girls and you are right about the muss. They are older, but the muss is still there, it just changes in it’s composition. Now it is posters, makeup, hair accessories, cell phones, ipods, laptops etc.

  12. Renae 2008-04-16, 9:06 am

    Andrea and Michele,
    I hope when my girls get older they will, at least, help clean up better. You are not encouraging me. ;)

    However, there is a lot more to life than a clean house. I’m grateful for the muss because it means we have abundance.

    Mandi,
    What a great tradition! I read these books to Bug when he was little. He’s enjoying them again.

    Yesterday, he learned how to make cheese. He wasn’t interested in trying it then, but this morning he’s asking me about it. I’ve never made cheese before. Hope it works!

  13. Renae 2008-04-16, 9:10 am

    Melinda,
    And they had less clothes. My girls have a drawer full of dress-up clothes. Everyday the whole drawer is emptied onto the floor.

    Family life just bring messes, I guess, no matter the collection of stuff.

  14. Renae 2008-04-16, 9:14 am

    Samantha,
    Thanks for stopping by. I hope you were encouraged.

    There are many homeschool blogs about learning difficulties that may inspire you, too. I’ll try to send you a note with some later.

  15. Anna-Marie 2008-04-16, 10:03 am

    I try to think of the mess as a reminder of my many blessings. There are many women who ache to be mothers. There are women who have no husbands to pick up after due to some sort of tragedy. There are mothers who stay with their little family at a shelter or in the car because they have no home. Many mothers send their children to bed at night with empty bellies. Every scattered toy and dirty plate and forgotten shoe is a reminder that I am not alone, that I have a family to love and to love me. I am truly blessed.

  16. Heather Young 2008-04-16, 10:12 am

    A word of comfort. We have read numerous books aloud over the years, everything from Narnia and The Hobbit to Mandy books (not a favorite due to poor writing), the Anne books, the Little House books, American Girls, to whatever. The kids also listen to tons and of books on CD (Rachel is pretty dyslexic and is only just beginning to enjoy a good book herself but loves being read to.) I have only used lesson plans with one series (Mandy) and I have found that when I use a lesson plan the kids do them and leave the rest there. When we read for the fun of reading not only do they gain a love of books and quality literature (one of the reasons they didn’t like the Mandy books–too many typos and errors) but they also took the stories and made them their own. They ask questions about the history and culture surrounding the stories, we discuss (in normal conversation) their own ways of solving the problems, the kids predict what will happen and why, they consider better ways, make their own crafts inspired by what we read, and so on and so forth. Many times I have come up on them doing something or playing something only to be told that they what they are doing has something to do with the story we are reading or some story we have read. They apply what they have learned from books constantly and in amazing ways.

  17. Renae 2008-04-16, 4:55 pm

    Anna-Marie,
    Oh, yes! You are right. That idea came out a bit in the discussion following Apathy or Contentment? My Trip to Target, but you said it so eloquently. Thank you for the reminder.

    Heather,
    Thanks for sharing your experience. That is mine to a certain extent. I do know it works better if I am relaxed about the whole thing. When I get stressed, none of us enjoy much.

    Learning flows naturally from reading good literature. It inspires us all to investigate a bit further.

  18. jen 2008-04-16, 5:39 pm

    we read that part this morning too
    and yes i smiled too:)

    “I have two [sons] that muss everywhere”.

    There are lessons that you can pay for these books however I have used this site http://www.easyfunschool.com/article1496.html
    and made up our own study

  19. Renae 2008-04-16, 6:29 pm

    Jen,
    Thanks for the link! It is always nice to add enrichment activities to our literature. Or maybe I can use some of the ideas for Bug who has already heard the stories. Thanks again.

  20. anniem 2008-04-16, 10:21 pm

    I think this, too. When I read (which Little House was it?) about the rhythm the family found while on the move, with the girls napping in the prairie grass while ma made lunch and pa hunted, I recognized a similar rhythm in our own travels with the children. We read by the fire and play music together. It feels like an age old ritual in the middle of present-day Manhattan.

    But no guns or animal butchering. ;)

  21. Marn 2008-04-17, 6:04 am

    Hi Renae!

    I miss your blog for weeks or maybe months now. I have been ssoooooo busy with our new business. Im now running our own travel agency so Im a bit busy and since its vacation time, a lot of people travel. WEll, good for the business, actually! hehehehe!

    Wow, nice girls you have. I hope to read more articles from you soon. Be blessed and take care!

    Miss you,
    Marn

  22. Barbara Frank 2008-04-17, 9:13 pm

    What adorable little girls you have! Such sweet faces :)

    My eldest (now 24) burned through all the Little House books on her own and I never got to enjoy them with her. But my younger daughter (now almost 17) asked me to read them aloud to her, so I did. What fun!

    We did use a unit study book with them and picked the projects that sounded like the most fun, which they were. That book got passed around to so many of my homeschooling friends, and I eventually sold it at a used curriculum sale, so I assume it’s still blessing someone :)

    When your girls are older, they (and you) might enjoy the works of Gene Stratton Porter, if you haven’t already found them.

    Take care,
    Barb

  23. becky 2008-04-18, 10:06 am

    I think all little girls tend to be the best at making messes. I know I always did. Haha

  24. Sandpiper 2008-04-18, 12:49 pm

    Hi there! Thanks for your comments on my blog!
    We have loved the “Little House” books and reading them is full of lessons. Especially when Laura does something she shouldn’t. There is a Prairie Primer that has activities for each of the books, but just reading aloud together is valuable too!

  25. Renae 2008-04-18, 2:15 pm

    anniem,
    We were reading Little House in the Big Woods. I agree about the animal butchering. I’m glad I don’t have to do that.

    Marn,
    Glad to hear you are well and busy is a good thing. ;)

    Barb,
    This is my second time reading the Little House books. Bug enjoyed these when he was three or four, and now he’s enjoying them again. They don’t grow old. Good literature is wonderful like that.

    Thanks for the author recommendation! I’m always looking for more books to add to the shelves. Although I think I need to rotate some out, or get more shelves.

  26. Renae 2008-04-18, 2:26 pm

    Sandpiper,
    You are welcome. I wanted to see if you found any images to use in your posts. ;)

    I actually did lesson plans for this book during my teacher training, but I haven’t really used them. Maybe I should dig them out. I found one theme/idea per chapter to focus on. As you mentioned, there are so many good lessons, so choosing just one was the hardest part.

  27. Ellen 2008-04-19, 2:30 am

    Hmmm. Maybe Mary and Laura had nature projects and collections messing up the house, or they didn’t put their shoes and school books away. Whatever it was it can’t possibly compare with the clutter that collects in our house.

  28. Jennifer in OR 2008-04-19, 9:51 pm

    What a great quote! Having 4 little muss-makers, it’s never quite clean around here. Or, when it is, it lasts only a day. I just hosted a huge party and had the entire house in order for the guests, and here we are just 2 days later…muss, muss!! Ah well, a perfect house with little children worries me more than a messy house with little children.

  29. Ellen 2008-04-20, 3:55 pm

    I’ve started a new homeschool meme for Mondays and I thought that you might be interested. If you want to participate, just write a post about a highlight from your past week of home learning. Then, come to my blog and sign Mr. Linky.

  30. Life Nurturing Education » Bloggy Giveaway! 2008-04-21, 12:14 pm

    […] The truth will set you free. John 8:32 AboutWelcomeWhy I HomeschoolThe Best Books « Muss-Makers […]

  31. Principled Discovery » The Carnival of Homeschooling honors the homeschool bag lady 2008-04-22, 7:47 am

    […] If your children have ever mussed up your house, you will enjoy Life Nurturing Education’s little muss-makers. […]

  32. Principled Discovery » Carnival of Homeschooling wrap-up 2008-04-23, 8:02 am

    […] did, however, mess up Renae’s link from Life Nurturing Education about her little muss makers.  She caught it and I fixed it pretty early, but if you came through early and wondered where her […]

  33. JHS 2008-04-27, 10:59 am

    Hi:

    They are adorable! How could they ever create a mess? :-)

    Thanks for participating in this week’s Carnival of Family Life, hosted by Jen at Diary of 1. Be sure to drop by tomorrow, April 28, 2008, and check out some of the many wonderful articles submitted this week!

  34.   Carnival of Family Life: Tea Edition 2008-04-28, 1:29 am

    […] presents Muss-Makers Before the end of the eighteenth century the firm of Twining was using tea wrappers, printed in the […]

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