If you don’t like the weather,

wait a minute, it will change.

That was a saying, growing up, in New England. It has never run true here. “L.A. Story” makes a joke of the constancy of the weather. But yesterday, I had a little of my childhood weather, but hotter. Of course, the unending heat in the morning. And then, thunderstorm. No lightening, and not the usual, piercing, painful rain we have, so I took Jamie out, we lay on the driveway and let the cool rain fall on us. He was scared. Not of the thunder, of the the rain.

“It hit my head.”

“It’s o.k., rain can’t hurt you.”

“One just touched my lip.”

“It’s o.k., rain can’t hurt you. Doesn’t it feel nice? Too cool off?”

“Yes. I want to go inside. It’s cooler in there.”

“I’m enjoying the rain. Aren’t you enjoying the rain?”

“No. It’s scary. I want to go inside.”

We’ve had one true rainy season since he’s been home. Since he’s been old enough too remember, I can count the times it’s rained probably one one hand. And, our normal rain is not the rain of my childhood. It’s a flash flood, stay inside, buckets of rain, go out when it’s over and play in the puddles kind of rain. People do get killed in that rain, swept away in cars. He understands the power of rain, but not the joy. We used to go walking in the rain and come home soaked, enjoying the cooling power of the rain. Of course, we had no a/c (despite our pleas) and the rain came in the summer. Now, our usually rain is in the winter and truly is more a power of nature phenomenon.

By the time we went inside, we were dry, that is both how light the rain was, and how hot it still was. It also never rained in the back of our house, just the front. Convenient for weeding. Soon, Jamie recovered from his trauma of sitting in the rain and went to play in the back (in 100 degrees no less, am I raising a desert rat, or what?). He’s soon calling to us, “I see a rainbow!, a very rare sight for us indeed.

To cap off our night, a spectacular sunset, blue sky (above the smog layer, which we just sit above), orange sky, and clouds, precious clouds, also rare for us. Orange from the sun, and then pink, some small ones still black, and a few dazzlingly white.

Perhaps, I should complain more frequently about the weather .

O.k., long ago I “promised” a final thoughts on our first 6 weeks of hsing, and then I got distracted by that whole vacation thing. So, I will try to keep it short, since I’ve already waxed poetic.

What I did well:

1. Listened to Jamie
2. Gave him frequent breaks
3. Established a schedule
4. Was willing to change things that didn’t work
5. Gave him lots of choices
6. Got him out with his friends a lot

What I screwed up:

1. Not enough field trips (we only went to La Brea Tar Pits the whole 6 weeks, we’re used to being on the go a lot and I think in context learning is important. He’s still talking about the Saber Tooth Cat killing the horse by tearing it’s jugular “brain;” a lot of learning has been extended from that one field trip. Of course, every dinner is, “What animal are we eating?”)
2. Pushed too hard
3. Wasn’t creative enough in my pushing (He just started a book club. I didn’t think he would be able to read independently the book they chose, “Frog and Toad are Friends,” mostly because of the length. I didn’t say anything to him though, just sat with him, told him he needed to read 2 chapters for book club next week, reminded him of the friend he met there, and he’s reading it quickly, fluently, laughing in all he appropriately places, loving the book; he just needed a reason to read. He was reading before, but much shorter, easier books; I completely underestimated him).
4. Found him hs friends (hey, this isn’t easy. He’s a really social kid, but we’ve struggled in this area. The book club is with other hs kids and I think (cross my fingers) we’ve found a good match. It meets weekly, we’ve only gone once, to the first meeting; he loved it. Of course, even at 5, he has to take some of the responsibility, but it will also be more important now that school has begun. At least I have a once a week activity for him to go to with other kids. I can lead him to water.).
5. Math (Yeah, math is going to be a struggle. Any good math clubs out there? Getting him from counting to adding. Any advice? He does the ones in his head. Maybe I have to be happy for the time being. He’s 5. Let him be, work with manipulative’s for the next 6 weeks, and maybe after that, try again.).

O.k., so there you have it. This next 6 weeks, we’re studying the human body, because he is just fascinated. And, at least for Sept., I have basically a field trip a week planned. Plan to hear, “No rest for the wicked,” a lot.