Labor Day and Hard Work

When I think about how to teach kids the value of hard work, I picture a very cliche farm scene in which we all wear overalls and shovel cow dung into buckets. Or at least do our own gardening and I'm making my kids weed the vegetables the way my parents made me weed (and I'm so grateful because now I love gardening and think weeding is fun. What happened to me....) 

I had never considered that moving to NY would be a great opportunity for us to learn hard work skillz. The effort we have to put into menial tasks still surprises me sometimes and we are constantly trying to figure out what we absolutely have to get done and what we can do without. I won't go into the horrors of grocery shopping because I'll get worked up and lose sleep. Short version: I'm learning a LOT of vegetarian meals. None of them very good, but beans, rice and potatoes are becoming staples in every meal practically. 

We have to wash clothes in a laundromat, which requires hauling the 15-20 lbs of laundry in a rolling grandma cart about 1/3 of a mile to the place. No car involved as that would cost more for parking and we'd lose a possibly good parking spot in front of our house. Cost: $35 per week and 3 hours of time. Plus a sweaty face and bad attitude (mine). 

We find creative ways to get exercise. Hannah makes use of an empty corner in the house (a rare find). For me, my commute to work costs me 22 flights of stairs, both ascending and descending, and 1 mile of walking. That's counting all the flights in 3 different subway stations. Someone was telling me how much easier it is to live in NYC because public transportation is so accessible. Yes, it is, but it is also a lot of work. On the other hand, driving involves heavy traffic, expensive parking and possibly the rudest drivers I've ever encountered. Way worse than Dallas. And if you are thinking Miami is bad, please come visit me. Cost, besides the 22 flights of stairs: $116 per month for a bus/train pass. 

Scooting on Coney Island boardwalk. Coney is our personal little playground now. We live 10 stops away. That's how distance is measured--in terms of train/subway stops. 

Boardwalk and beach: Free. Wristband for rides: $35 (we haven't done that yet)

The weather is finally letting up, which means I don't sweat profusely anymore. Yay! Yay? The stations are the WORST. I would get so, so hot trying to wait for the train to show up and be completely drenched by the time I got to work. Uncool. Literally.

We have taken a break from our day to day working to try and enjoy what the city has to offer. Leah saved up her birthday money and only wanted to spend it on a carriage ride through Central Park. She was so happy and felt like royalty, so it was worth it. I think I look really big in the picture so I almost didn't post it, but then I thought that was really stupid of me. Cost: $60 

Me and the girls went to visit my cousin Jared and his new baby on Labor Day Sunday (is that a thing?). Plus my uncle Stephen and his wife Laurel were there and made a GREAT dinner. I had such a good time and relished being around my people so much. Family is such a rare treat these days. Baby Lincoln is so sweet, plus we loved getting out of the urban jungle for a few hours. I think the girls forgot what is was like to live in a rural community because they kept commenting on how small and quiet everything was. As a side note, my phone GPS died in the middle of the trip, right after we left the Bronx. In Yonkers. So I can cross "Get lost in Yonkers" off the bucket list.

We spent Monday flying kites on the beach. The water was sort of swimmable, but my kids are beach spoiled and didn't want to get in unless it was 90 degrees and you could see clear to the bottom. We really had a great time and made quite a spectacle with the stunt kite. I guess that's not an East Coast thing? People were crowding around it like they'd never seen one. Below is the plain old mermaid kite and Leah is flying the stunt kite in the picture after that. 

WARNING: NSFW!!!!!!!!

He rolled in sand instead of put on sunscreen. No comment. 

I'm happy to report that homeschooling is going very well. We have some scheduling issues to work out but things are falling into place. We decided to take a trip once a week to a museum or something educational. This week it was the American Museum of Natural History. One of NYC's most fantastic gems, in my opinion. We had some great discussions about evolution, oceanography and minerals. All in the space of three hours. And we still didn't see the live spider exhibit. Darn.

Hannah stand by her birthstone. She wanted me to tell everyone that she spilled on her sweater and had to take it off. As a side note, the museum had an 86 carat diamond. As another side note, I wouldn't have guessed that the hall of gems would have been Leah's favorite part. 

Hannah was found in this position during 'school'. The perks of home education--wear what you want, lay where you want, eat when you want. Hold your favorite blankie while you do math. Sit in mom's lap while you watch a history video. 

Being in Brooklyn for 9/11 was highly anticlimactic. While the rest of the nation is saying #neverforget, New Yorkers would really like to forget and are still struggling to heal emotionally. No one really talks about it and the majority of the day passed silently. I took Jacob and the girls into Manhattan to see the two beams of light and show the girls where it all happened. Jacob referred to it as the "pillars of light, directly over our heads" (church nerd) and Leah especially was very moved by the story. We made a goal to visit the 9/11 memorial this week. The reflecting infinity pools are worth anyone's visit. 

Truthfully, this week has been very tough trying to figure out how to balance work schedules, finances, loss of child support, social activities for both girls (Hannah signed up for cheerleading...heaven help us all), and many other things. Homeschool is a success. Jacob's rotation is a success. And I have no blisters from 22 flights of stairs times 5 days of work. So, success, right?