Recovery and Reflection

After getting a good nights sleep, E spent most of the day on the couch again, even though she was better and not really feverish. I had told her we would not be able to go to Red Rock if she was not better by the end of the day and that I expected her to rest all day to ensure just that. She agreed without complaint and started asking for food, and continued to ask all day. She was well on her way to recovery, which is good because when one of us is sick, it puts a hold on the rest of our lives. The immune system on that kid is amazing!

It was a nice day today, but we did not do much. I finished the daggers for the girls and made A an eyepatch, which she declared weird feeling and put it on her Build-a-Bear, Violet. We have gold hoop earrings and belts and scarves for our heads. We should be proper Pirates tomorrow.

A played her computer games for a while and kept asking me to come help her with things and before I could come, she'd wave me off having figured it out herself. People think the best way to get better at something is to work at it and practice. While I would agree that that works some of the time, for children, it seems to not be the best, especially when developmental skills are concerned. Stuff is happening inside their brains that has nothing to do with how often they try something. They are either ready or not. It has been months since A has played that particular game and she had trouble with the one area she asked for help on. Today, she assumed she would have trouble, but decided to try it for herself, and lo and behold she could do it. No Practice. She has consistently done things like that and so has E. It is so cool.

Tonight, I got the girls into the bath for a good cleaning and afterward we read Harry Potter. We are a little more than halfway done with #3. While I read, E flitted around, in and out, doing whatever tickled her fancy. A, on the other hand, was lying on my bed looking at her Top Secret Adventure books. She had pulled out the Sweden and Russia ones before the bath and while looking at one of them, she realized the picture of the money in the Russia book looked like some of the money C gave her. She "paused" me and ran to get her money, and she was right! She has a ruble. She said E had more because she liked the "castle money" so much (the ruble has a picture of a castle on it). It is a bit distracting for me to read to her while she does other things, but that is just how she works. She told me she likes to read in my room because there is more room to move. Since I read so much, I just never put reading and moving together, but since she is only listening she is free to do that. Thank goodness there is no school labeling her ADD or worse! From the time she was three, I knew she did not fit in a typical school setting and I am so glad for her that it has worked out for us to unschool. Glad for all of us!

Here are some pictures I promised last week:
A with the hornworm pupa and E surfing in the backyard.