A few words

1. It rains and rains and rains.  This is good for the river.

2. I am in a little cabin in the woods with three children, ages almost two, three, and five.  Just, use your imagination. 

3. I am trying to get ready to move.  Our community has been here at this Land for ten years.  There are files in the office from 1993.  I found a 1957 Ford truck manual yesterday.  (Why on earth do we have this?)  I will have to pull out the camera, so I can show you guys the extent of what I believe will eventually make me insane.

4. Let's see.  Yesterday at our community meeting we discussed: a) Dumpster vs. trash runs, which is basically money vs. pain.  How much scrap do we have?  We can get money for this, maybe offsetting the cost of the dumpster.  b) The eleven vehicles that we still need to deal with.  (Abandoned, not working...) c) What can we sell? Stoves? RV? Chainsaw? d) Which day should we go shopping?

5. Yesterday we also received a scathing letter from someone we haven't met, condemning our choice to sell the Land.  Where have all these people who care so much been, the whole time we've lived here?   I am amazed at the number of people who are popping out of the bushes angrily, like hedgehogs.

6. I love teaching my kids.  It is possibly my favorite thing.

7. Also my favorite thing is Leafy's new phrases, "HUG!" and "I love you ______" (name inserted)  He yells "HUG" about eighty-seven times a day, and says "I love you" about fourteen times a day.

8.  So, all in all, life is good.  (Just, do you think it's cruel to make my kids play outside in the rain?)

Comments

[Rebeca]

My kids don't seem to mind playing out in the rain at all. I'm not super fond of all the mud and wetness that comes back in with them, but it doesn't bother them. So no, I don't think it's cruel at all- send them out to play!

[josy]

i'm unhappy that the land is being sold. i wanted to one day drive down that highway and stop in, show my babies and my babydaddy where i spent the best months of my life. i guess maybe i still can, provided the new owners aren't stockpiling weapons....

[Jennifer]

Nope, not cruel at all. A little water and mud never hurt anyone- this is what I tell myself when I stubbornly force my children to ride their bikes home from school in the driving rain. Hey, I tell them, at least it's not cold or snowing! At least you have bikes! Besides getting me out of the dreaded "parent-pick-up" routine, it forces them to *want* to shower when they get home which is an all-around beautiful thing in my little world. Hope the packing/decluttering dilemmas work out smoothly.

[jessie]

I think that rain is good for them but then you have to deal with wet, muddy kids so I do not know what is better. I wish that I lived closer and could help with all the paper work that may drive you insane. One positive of the rain, it smells so good.

[melissa douthwright]

the rain is funtastic,
the first nations people of Vancouver island where asked what they wore on there feet pre-colonial times, and were quoted to say : we never wore shoes ever. always bare feet,

I think it's healthy good splendid fun to go in the rain, shoes and boots do help .....

I recently spent four hours biking in the rain last sunday because i missed the pounding rain so much, (it used to rain every day in Vancouver (well almost every day) and in ottawa it's rained once month since my arrival.

Perhaps your children can grow an appreciation for rain the more they embrace it!

I'm so enlivened to hear that you love teaching your kids, i find it a challenge with my six year old who already knows everything, and it doesn't seem to come so natural to me,

Ps. best of luck getting rid of the crap/ scrap, i'm sure craigslist and a digi camera can help get some deneros for anything sellable!

[TwoSquareMeals]

I definitely vote for playing in the rain. We are in the midst of such a serious drought here, and if we had rain, I would join the kids in playing outside, barefoot and raincoatless. Send them out in their undies if you worry about the mud. As my mother-in-law always says, skin washes.

[Renee]

crazy's I tell ya, every single last one of those hedgehogs

[Deborah]

no, definitely not cruel. Good raincoats, rainpants and rubber boots are essential on the Wet Coast.

[Susanne]

No, not cruel. And they might have something to warm them up afterwards.

It is always amazing to find that people care. Often they only say so when it is too late.

[#1mama]

At least it's not 30 degrees below zero which is what it used to be like in Edmonton for weeks at a time. One time it went for 3 weeks that way - no kids outside at all. So I know the cooped in feeling, the going crazy feeling. If you've all got raincoats you could just walk around the land a few times! At least that would burn off some of that energy.

But it's tough....Sorry about your awful letter. It's amazing how some people make everything their business!

[tj]

Ditto to what everyone has said! I have no original ideas to add. So why am I writing? So you know I am thinking of you.