Author Archives: Jess

Let’s see if I’ve got this right…

I have started my study of child psychology and educational theory today by reading Erik Erikson. He was an artist who moved to Vienna and was trained in psychoannalysis. He study Freud and worked closely with his daughter Anne Freud. They ran a little school and studied the children and how they learned.

Anyway, I wish I had a background in Freud for reading Erikson. I need to figure out exactly what the ‘ego’ and ‘super-ego’ are. From what I’ve read today, the ‘ego’ is a person’s innate self-love, and the ‘super-ego’ is what we call a conscience. But, a child isn’t born with a conscience. The ‘super-ego’ develops within a child in response to their need for adult approval. The conscience is a created authority inside the child’s head that defines right and wrong the way he thinks adults would do it. This mechanism keeps his behaviour in check because the need for adult love is so strong.

I don’t think I agree with that.

I guess it’s a question of nature vs. nurture. Is conscience something we’re born with, or is it learned? There are clearly people that don’t have much of a conscience–is it because it was never nurtured into them, or that it was nurtured out of them?

A pretty good day

We had fun today. We just got our Usborne books from the party I had, so we explored our Children’s Encyclopedia for school. Each page has a website with links relating to the topic, so after reading and real school stuff I let Brenna pick a page and we found the links. She explored deep sea fish and was mezmerized. Tonight she made up her own fish called a Ribbon-Bow fish that woul kind of be a sea serpent like an Oarfish and have bioluminescent markings and spots on its tummy that looked like eyes to trick other fish. It’s stomach would be able to stretch so it coul eat fish bigger than itself, and it woul tie itself in knots. It was basically a mixture of all the fish wer read about today. She went on and on 100 miles an hour talking about it. It was cute. She is certainly an animal lover, especially fish. Maybe we should get her one of her own…

Anyway, I also got a bunch of the Usborne Easy Words to Read books. They are the cutest thing ever. I’ve hidden them so I can just get one new one out every once in awhile. Today we got Hen’s Pens out and Brenna can read the whole thing. That’s fun.

I’ve been at my wits end with trying to negotiate bed-making and getting dressed in the mornings (and Jonah’s naps–but that’s a whole other can of worms) so I devised a plan. We have a popcorn jar now, so when anyone does something good they get to put a scoop of seeds in the jar, and when its full we can get a movie and have a popcorn party. Also, if Brenna decides she wants me to make her bed or get her dressed, then she’ll take scoops of seeds out of the jar. I hope this reduces the “Brenna, I’m ready to go downstairs and you’re still not dressed. You can’t come down ’til you’re dressed and your bed is made and you say your prayers, okay?” “But I need company!! You always do this to me. I’m tired of these consequences. I don’t like these bad consequences and you just make them up and do this to me. (blood curdling scream and running after me to latch onto my leg) I can’t be alone, don’t leave, don’t leave!!!!!!!” “Brenna, it’s 9:00! You’ve been playing for an hour and a half while I kept reminding you that I would be going downstair without you. I’m hungry. I NEED to go downstairs and eat breakfast before I pass out. You can come down when you do you morning routine…” and the negotiations continue and the drama drags out. I can’t adequately describe the drama, the drama. So I pray the popcorn jar will work and give her some inspirtation to get dressed before 9:00, for heaven’s sake!!!

I CUN BE CHOOFL FOR UTHERS

Brenna’s Primary lesson yesterday was about honesty. At the end of the lesson the kids just got to color and Brenna figured out how to write this all by herself. Yes, my four year old is a phonics genius!! And, she even put a period at the end of her sentance!!

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(It’s supposed to say “I can be truthful for others.”)

This is a treasure.

I have more pictures to add. I took some on our good day on Friday, you know, the day I bathed all three of my children. Well, I felt so ambitious, and my kids were too clean, we had to make play dough for school. What mother in her right mind would make play dough for her freshly bathed children? I don’t know. I obviously wasn’t in my right mind, and now light blue (food coloring just isn’t potent enough to make anything other than grayish ugly light blue) salt dough is smashed into my dining area carpet. (Someday when we’re rich we will put tile down in the dining area. Carpet and eating toddlers or play dough playing are definitely not a good combination.) So, my good day got a little stressful…but then, while I was trying to clean up the salt dough mess, Jonah went to the bathroom by himself. Which was fine until he washed his hands and filled the sink up , and then tried to scrub it with half a roll of toilet paper. Wet toilet paper doesn’t have a whole lot of scrubbing power, but it sure is fun to watch it break up to little bits in the sink full of water, then pull the plug and watch it go down the drain–for awhile. Because eventually it stops going down the drain because it is completely clogged. Anyway, my day was pretty good until then. I didn’t take pictures of any of that, though. I just wanted to run away.

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So we went outside and spread out some blankets under a tree and read a little bit of Wind in the Willows. The kids were being good, so I gave them suckers. I simply had to ruin the clean kid thing even further by letting Jonah drench himself in sticky slobber. (You have to click on this picture to get the full effect of the slobber. I mean, there is some slobber!)

Barry unclogged the sink. He can do anything.

We went for a pretty fall walk yesterday, so I have to include these pictures too.

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At the dinner table last night:

Jonah: Is that the neighbor’s house? (pointing out the window)
Me: Yep.
Jonah: Why do the neighbors have a house?
Me: So they have a place to live.
Jonah: No! But they do bad fings. They knock over trees and gates and mailboxes. And they do bad fings and knock over fings and they have big horns. They bonk fings with big horns here and here (waving his hand over his face–nose and forehead). No, neighbors can’t have houses, they bonk them down with their horns and do mean fings and…
Me: Neighbors are people, silly. They don’t have horns. They need to live in houses like us.
Jonah: Oh.