the sleppys

Happy Spring!

On Ostara, we didn’t light any fires or pray to the Earth Mother Goddess. We went to the park. Better yet, we walked to the park. Well, Ty rode his scooter, and the two little ones rode in the wagon. I walked. On the way there, just a few houses down, Ty bumped his ankle against the wheel of the scooter. He fell and cried. He got up and rode again, this time with more care.

A few houses later, I thought we could share the visit to the park with our new homeschooling friends who live on our block. So I knocked on their door. The mom answered. Her name is Susan. They said that they’d meet us at the park. Okay. So I walked, and the kids rode. A little while later, Ty got tired of riding his scooter and decided to walk. I carried his scooter on my shoulder. As we got closer to the park, we found Susan and her kids on their bikes.

Susan and I talked about homeschooling and rearing children and fun things to do around town that don’t require crowds and lots of money. Our kids played together, ate sand, baked cookies using sand, climbed the monkey bars, practiced somersaults, et cetera.

At noon, the public school kids were let out to play in the public park (which totally should not be allowed because it’s off of school grounds and awfully close to the street. It’s not a busy street, but still, any creep can pull up and grab a kid or two and take off). There were at least thirty of these kids who made such noise that Susan and I agreed simultaneously that it was time to go home.

Ty didn’t want to ride his scooter, so I carried it for him. Three people were on their bikes: Susan and her two kids. Ty ran. I tried to keep up while carrying the scooter and hauling the wagon. But in keeping up, my hair got caught in the scooter’s wheels, and I had to stop and ask Susan to pull it out. My hair didn’t have to be cut nor yanked out. Still, we took about ten or fifteen minutes. The kids were getting restless. Finally, we got moving again, and Taylor wanted to be carried. I didn’t have the sling, so I carried her and pulled the wagon while Susan carried the scooter on one shoulder and steered her bike with her other hand.

I was exhausted! But Ty wasn’t. He kept up with the kids on the bikes while they rode up and down the sidewalk. This walk is about a mile, and Ty ran most of it. I was very impressed. Exhausted, but impressed.

The next was Susan’s birthday, but we couldn’t visit her. Springtime came upon us with a downpour. Literally. The whole morning was nothing but rain. Dad pulled out the bins and collected some water. Our county just started its water restriction, and it was nice to have some rain that we can collect for times of “no watering allowed.” We’ll visit Susan today perhaps. They homeschool, so we can’t knock on their door too early.

Our homeschool lesson today is learning to tie. As in, tying shoes. Ty doesn’t know how to tie shoes or even that tying shoes exists. His shoes have always been sandals.

Some doves were walking down the street. The male was bobbing his head up and down, and the female was pretending not to notice. Typical. The male flew up a little to catch up to the female, and she fluttered her wings a little. He walked faster, and so did she. He really took off to land on her, but she flew away. He chased after her, and the two of them disappeared behind a rooftop. I wonder what they’re up to. Ah, springtime.