Go away!

Natalie has a little brother. This week she taught him his first full sentence: "Go away!" He does not really know what it means and he uses it quite a lot. So now we have a toddler running around in the house telling everyone to go away.

Soooo sweet

Natalie has learned a very sweet song at school.

I've got peace like a river
I've got peace like a river
I've got peace like a river
in my heart

I've got love like a mountain
I've got love like a mountain
I've got love like a mountain
in my heart

I've got joy like a fountain
I've got joy like a fountain
I've got joy like a fountain
in my heart

I got my daughter back!

Natalie has had her third ear infection this year. Before we realized this she was not herself - she kept whining and refusing anything we proposed. The moment she got her medicine and the pain went away I recognized my sweet little girl again. Hopefully the probiotics undo the harmful side-effects of the antibiotics.

Provider Man

We got snowed in. We underestimated the winter in Oregon and did not buy any tire chains. So after a week we were running out of supplies. As a Provider Man I had no other choice than to face the elements and go out hunting. Actually, I loved getting out for a walk with my backpack and hiking boots. I have sufficient gear and during the walk I even got too hot in my heavy winter coat and gloves.

At the store I did my best to meet all my wife's wishes. We had a lot of phone conversations. "I cannot find the molasses, Dear. They only have blackstrap molasses, the kind you don't like." "No, they don't have them in the Organics Section. You have to find the regular section where they have mild taste molasses." "Oh, OK." Walking around in the grocery store I noticed several other guys on the phone. I realized they were all talking to their wives at home. One even winked at me - the only way we could communicate (being on the phone). For a moment I felt like being a member of The Brotherhood of Men.

On the way home I realized we men have evolved a lot. A few thousand years ago we just went out together and our wives ate the prey we got. Now we go out of our way to ensure we get the right ingredients for the cookies they bake for us.

A new adventure

In January Natalie will start at a Montessori preschool. We are all very excited about it. As young as she is, Natalie senses that a new chapter is starting - she has repeatedly requested to go to the "New School." The more we read about it (like here) the more we are convinced we made the right choice. This is our school.

In the moment

Today we celebrated Natalie's birthday. So I asked her at breakfast how it felt being three. She looked confused. I said: "Yesterday you were two, and today you are three. What is different?" She pointed to the wall and said: "The clock is moving!"

Montessori school visit

Today my wife and I visited a Montessori school. The school's location is far from ideal, so on our way there I thought "It must be really really good for us to even consider taking our kids here every day." As a matter of fact, I thought it was so unlikely that I felt a bit embarrassed taking the time of the school to show us what they offered.

The minute I entered the classroom I was so moved that I found myself fighting my tears. What I saw was unbelievable. No flyers, no websites, no testimonies could ever have convinced me that this was possible. Can you imagine 28 toddlers in a classroom all working quietly and diligently on their projects? They were all exploring things. Some were helping others. None of them were fighting. None of them were screaming. They all cleaned up after themselves. And it all was so natural. Natural discipline. No force whatsoever. Stunningly beautiful.

I can imagine you would not believe this. I would not have. Seeing it happen right in front of me convinced me that this was what I wanted more than anything in my life. And I realized how clumsy the regular schools are where they force all children to learn the same thing at the same time, ignoring the interests and talents of the precious individual human beings that the schools are meant to serve. It's no surprise that lots of time and energy at regular schools gets wasted keeping everyone in line. I realized how silly my prejudice was that children would not learn anything useful if they were left to choose. The children I saw were all under six years of age and several of them were working with numbers and letters. Some were spelling words. I did not learn any of that before I was seven.

Afterwards I spoke with my wife, who had been observing in another classroom. She had had the same experience and the same emotions. We share the same conviction. We will do anything we can to make this possible for our children. We will be strong and work hard. And we will love it.