Weekend

Good start to the weekend.  I spent most of the morning doing laundry (7 loads) and then putting it away with help.  Or not so much help as would be Julia's role.  She decided to open the drawers to her dresser and dump out ALL the clothes that I had just folded and put away. Only she dumped two drawers of clothing in a big pile.  I just used that as an opportunity to weed through the clothing that doesn't fit and reorganize her drawers.  Kept it a positive opportunity :)  My favorite part was when she said "Oh Man Juwia!" after she dumped it out and then laughed.  I guess I say "oh man Julia" a lot - as she has been saying it after anything she does.  Like pushing Riley's plate of eggos with syrup on the floor, stealing her water and dumping it all over Riley and her chair, and squirming when trying to get her diaper on.  Madi and Riley find it hilarious.  (and so do we)

Madi spent much of her day reading, playing (not on the computer though) and going for bike rides.  I think she went on two bike rides.  Maybe three??  But I think only two.  She has a major project due for LEAP this Thursday.  And another major project due in her classroom on March 6.

With each project that has been given, we've tried to be a little less hands-on.  Not because we don't want to help.  Sometimes we have some 'great' ideas that we're super excited about, but we try to hold back so that she can actually do the project the way she envisions it.  So far she's done a really great job on each one.  The first project of the year, we tried to guide and give directions and help her through it.  The next one, we took a little less investment in and let her do more of the work.  And so on it has gone.

This project for LEAP was assigned over a month ago.  They've had tons of time in class every Thursday to work on it and Mrs. Fuller has gone over everything in detail.  I've kept in good contact with her through the entire thing.

It's coming along.  Madi rewrote/recopied one page out of the four or five she has to do.  She has to finish her blueprints for the project and create a 3-D presentation.  There was quite a bit of reworking in her outline and of the items she would change to the bridge.  Mrs. Fuller told her to think more detail-oriented rather than big picture because her ideas are so large, but she has very surface detail to them.  And she wants them to think big, but provide many details.

We have talked with Madi through the whole process of the assignment and explained that we will stay mostly hands-off.  That we are giving her more of the responsibility this time to plan out what she needs to do and simply get it done.  We told her that we're very good at micromanaging and that it can get in the way of her really learning how to be responsible.  She told us that she likes when we micromanage.  To which we said "Of course!  Because then the pressure to get it done on time is on us and you just simply do it. But that won't always serve you well and for her benefit, we'll start to help her learn to navigate time management and deadlines."  Then we shared some things we have to do in our jobs and how our bosses handle things.  That these lessons carry on through all of life.

We're not doing it in a rude way.  Not like "figure it out!"  It's more of a "we're taking you through what you need to do and you've been shown and taught what to do.  You take the reins and be responsible for it now."  After all, she has had time to work on it.  And now is the time for her to start taking some of the responsibilities for work on her own.  It'll serve her better in the future if she doesn't have to be micromanaged.  We realize she's not 18 and it's not like she may not need a little help.  But she is old enough and smart enough and capable enough to decide to get her work done.  And she'll be all the better for it.

What was interesting today was that she spent a good hour in her room with the door closed this morning(never does that unless at night).  Normally on a Saturday, she'll ask for WOW first thing.  She never even mentioned the computer.  So it was late morning before she came out and started talking.  We mentioned that she didn't need to wait for us to tell her how to dictate her day.  She could decide when to work on her project and what she needed to do. As we've helped her along the way with it, she's now at the point where she can be responsible to finish the task.  And she's very able to do it.  She goes "ok."

She finished Fasttmath as well.  She and Riley played together for a little while.  The girls were spinning in the playroom - Julia was following and falling everywhere!  Then they played hopscotch which was hilarious too.  Julia would run across the pads and then run in front of both of the girls.  So we worked on following people and taking turns.  Both girls were very patient with her.

Madi has absolutely loved going for bike rides.  It's so good for her.  She gets exercise, fresh air and time by herself to just be and do whatever she wants.  We'll be going to church tomorrow and then getting the house ready for the party.  She's beyond excited about that.  Everyone is coming that was invited which will make it a big, fun, loud party!