100 Things to Learn Before Adulthood: Circuits

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. -Robert Heinlein

When Zach and I started having kids we started making a list of 100 things we wanted our kids to know before they left our house. The list ranged from common, practical things like cooking a meal, writing a letter and washing laundry to fun things like playing Euchre, programming a computer and paddling a canoe.

I am a big fan of skills. I have vague, but fond memories of time spent with my great-aunts as a little girl making Swedish sausage and canning raspberry jam, and happy memories of creating big, extravagent feasts with my parents. I admire people like my father-in-law, who can build houses and cabinets and bunk beds and people like my Grandpa Frank who, when their prosthetic thumb proves inadequate for banjo picking, can fashion themselves a new one that is equal to the task. I don't expect my kids will leave here able to build a house or a body part, but I would like them to have the basic knowledge necessary to be resourceful, contributing members of the community.

There is nothing Zach enjoys more than playing with electricity, so naturally it is high on his list of things he wants our kids to learn about. In service of that goal, I ordered us a set of Snap Circuits. Basically, snap circuits are like electronic legos. They snap into place without any messy soldering (a skill the kids are learning separately) and engage them in hundreds of projects including creating an AM radio, wiring a burglar alarm and voice activated lights.

We started out with the smallest kit, the Snap Circuits Jr, but will be moving on to the larger kits, which include a computer interface that works as an oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer.

                     

Even James was a fan. So far they have done three of the 100 projects, so it's something we'll get a lot of fun out of.

Another project we have on the docket for the summer is Squishy Circuits.  We learned about this project from the big kids' favourite podcast, Make Magazine's Sylvia's Super Awesome Mini Maker Show.

Squishy circuits are basically electrically conductive playdough developed here in the Twin Cities at the University of St Thomas.  Cheyenne is excited to have a chance to use the pink LEDs she got as a gift from the manager she has befriended at Ax-Man.

Family, Flavour and Fun

I was inspired to write today's post by a friend who was considering whether or not to have children and was concerned, as a lot of people are (I was), about losing her sense of identity in her kids. I can totally understand that. Parenthood often looks from the outside like a form of slavery. Diapers to change, children to chauffer, laundry to wash. All things fun and interesting relegated to the back burner in favour of mundane domestic tasks. And of course, there are days like that as a parent, although I had days like that before I was a parent as well. Maybe without the diapers, but then I've had customers, clients and coworkers who all but expected me to wipe their bottoms too.

Before I had kids there were qualities I highly prized in myself and in others.

My humourous, spontaneous, adventurous husband

Humour, spontenaiety, creativity, adventure, just to name a few. I had interests and passions and hobbies that filled my days with curiosity and intrigue. I surrounded myself with fun, interesting, people and did crazy awesome things.  I can't tell you how many times when I was pregnant with my oldest I heard someone say, "Well, you won't be able to do that once you have kids" or "You had better kiss that good-bye." I refused to believe it. Eight years and five kids later I still refuse to believe it.

Kids eat passion for breakfast. They really do. They gobble it up like candy at Christmas. Nothing in the whole world motivates children the way passion and enthusiasm do. They are wired for it. They need it like they need air and water and the more you give them, the stronger they'll grow. Like a well-tended garden, they'll give you back at least as much as you've put in.

The things I love and the things my family loves have become the flavour that makes our family unique. Before I had kids my days were interesting, now they are meaningful: the memories we are making carrying who we are and where we've been into a future I am helping to create with my own two hands. My identity isn't lost, it's expanded. My experiences are made richer by having people to share them with.

I'm not saying parenthood is for everyone. Clearly, it isn't. What I am saying is that it isn't a prison sentance. Sure there are challenges, but in my experiences challenges are where you discover who you are, not where you lose it.  Like anything in life, it's not all roses and butterflies and it's not all misery and sacrifice. 80% of it is what you make of it and the other more challenging 20% is what it makes of you.

Rock Climbing

I'll admit it. Frequently we make our decisions about what we want to learn based solely on the awesomeness factor. What does rock climbing teach you? Lots of great stuff, actually, but I'd be lying if I said that was the initial attraction. If I'm honest, the kids were inspired to try it by watching an episode of Knight Rider on Netflix. That said, as the kids of a woman who spent pretty much all of PE class coming up with fake illnesses in an attempt to be sent to the nurses office or the library, the fact that we are interested in something physical fitness oriented both surprises and delights me. I remember having a conversation with a gym teacher that went something like this.

Him (accusingly): Why are you always reading books?
Me: Are you allowed to ask me that? You're a teacher.
Him: You know, intelligence isn't everything. Your body can live without higher brain function, but your brain can't live without your body. What if you get in a car accident and can't think anymore?
Me: Hopefully I'd die.
Him: How do you know being a vegetable isn't the greatest thing ever?
Me: I'll have to take your word for it.

In retrospect I appreciate that said gym teacher did not send my mouthy, sarcastic teenage butt to the principals office. I probably would have, and as much as it pains me to admit it, he was right in his basic assumption that it is important to take care of both your body and your mind.

When we started homeschooling PE was the subject I was the least interested in, but the kids have found some fun avenues for physical fitness like karate, Japanese dance, swimming, biking and canoeing. It's something that's helped me to see physical activity in a different light.

In the deepest recesses of my brain, exercise has long been associated with feeling awkward and embarassed. In my head it stinks of sweaty, ill-fitting gym clothes and inadequacy. Like pretty much every other woman in America, I have come to find out, I grew up hating my body and as such was not especially interested in taking care of it. Now in my 30s I have found myself feeling differently. My body has made five people. Awesome people.

People who scale walls and dance and paddle and run. The more I watch them from the sidelines, the less I want to watch and the more I want to participate. Now that I am no longer legally required to play dodgeball, physical fitness is beginning to look less like something that should be banned by the Geneva Convention and more like...play.

Roadtripping with Kids-Part 3: Good Cheap Fun Continued

Part three of my series on Roadtripping with children.

Public Transportation

Public transportation veries widely from place to place in the United States. Here in Minneapolis it is less than ideal, to say the least, but in areas with decent public transportation, using it as a means of getting around can connect you to the city in a way that driving in a car cannot.

In San Diego we took the train from my mom's house in Oceanside to Old Town San Diego. In both directions we started conversations with other passengers, getting tips on places to visit and stories of their lives growing up in the area. By the time we reached our destination, we had made new friends and learned more about the city we were visiting.

The views were spectacular and everyone got to enjoy them. No one had to fuss about which exit we needed to take or where we were going to park. It's a good way to travel.

Talk to the Locals

The cousins at the base of Sandia Peak, Albuquerque, NM

This is easier to do, of course, if you are visiting the locals, but striking up conversations with people can lead to some interesting experiences. The flavour of a place is in the people who live there. Getting to know them helps you to understand the heart of what makes a location tick. It also gives you ideas for places to go and things to do that you woudn't have thought of before.

The tram up to Sandia Peak in Albuquerque. I had never heard of it until my cousins suggested it. Absolutely amazing.

Keep America Weird

Wyoming Frontier Prison Museum, Rawlins, WY

The Carbon County Museum, Rawlins, WY. The main attraction at this museum is shoes made from the skin of a murderer, Big Nose George.

The United States is full of  weirdos, and I mean that with all love and respect. We are a creative bunch, that is for sure, and along any given road in this beautiful country there are gems like these; mystery spots, fiji mermaids, The World's Largest Ball of Twine (made by one man), Carhenge, a waterslide through a shark tank. I love this country. Roadside America is a good resource for finding these oddball treasures and many of them are cheap or free. 

Photo project: Bathrooms of America

 

Before we headed out on our trip one of the most common subject of discussion about roadtripping with four small children was how often we were going to stop to go to the bathroom. A friend of Zach's suggested that we make it into a photo project. Our Tour of the Bathrooms of America. I loved it. What a way to take something potentially irritating and turn it into something fun. The kids had fun picking out the best bathrooms to photograph. We are planning to make a photo wall in our downstairs bathroom of the photos we took for this project.

Any theme would work for this, like restaurants you've visited, city or state welcome signs, state capitals or public artwork. It's a fun way of remembering the trip when you are done and it's good, cheap fun.

Road Tripping with Kids- Part 2: Good Cheap Fun

Cost was a really big factor for us on our recent 6 week roadtrip. We saved for it over the summer when Zach was working, but we knew we were going to have to work the budget to make it happen and we don't use credit cards, so we needed to be prudent with our spending in case of emergencies. Luckily, contrary to popular belief, kids are cheap. My kids are, anyway. They are just as happy with a day at the beach as a day at Disneyland.

Plan Ahead

Have an idea of where you want to spend your money and then fill in the blanks. As I mentioned above, we skipped Disneyland. It wasn't worth the money when half of our kids were too young to appreciate it and I was pregnant enough at the time to make that much walking a chore. We used to live in Los Angeles, so we had people to visit while we were there, and we know we'll be back someday when all the kids are older.

We saved our bigger spending for Las Vegas (visiting my Grandparents), San Diego (visiting my mom), The Grand Canyon and Albuquerque (visiting my cousins).

So what to do in the spaces between?

Memberships

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

As homeschoolers I have found museum memberships to be a great investment, but even more so this year than in the past. Many science and history museums have reciprocal benefits with other museums all over the country, giving you free access to some very interesting attractions. For the cost of our $90 Science Museum of Minnesota membership we were able to get free access to The Madison Children's Museum, The Indiana State Museum, The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and the Omaha Children's Museum, and those were just the museums we had time for. 

Experience Gifts

San Diego Zoo

Our trip took place over Christmas, so in lieu of physical gifts, each of my parents gave the kids an experience gift. Mom paid for Dad and all of their kids and grandkids to go to the San Diego Zoo. Dad paid for us to go to the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla. Experience gifts have always been highly prized in my family and space was tight in the van, so the fact that we didn't have to cart home Christmas gifts was a bonus.  

Letterboxing/Scavenger Hunts/ Adventure Races

I've said this before and I'll say it again, but the key to entertaining children (and easily distracted adults like myself) is novelty. Fortunately, it's a big and interesting world out there and novelty is not in short supply if you are willing to look for it. Sometimes all it takes is a new perspective.

Letterboxing is one of our favourite hobbies both at home and on the road. Similar to geocaching without the fancy equipment, letterboxing is a fantastic way to get off the beaten path and really explore. It adds a sense of mystery and purpose to an otherwise everyday walk in the park. There's something exciting about knowing that there is a "treasure" hidden in plain sight. It's like being part of a secret club. Everyday people walk past these spots, some of them on busy city streets, some down barely visible paths in the woods, and nobody knows what lays there if only they knew where to look.

Scavenger Hunts and Adventure Races (think Amazing Race) are another way of adding a sense of purpose, and even a bit of learning, to your adventures. I once had a friend who liked to travel alone on bicycle in Europe. To amuse himself, he liked to pretend he was a spy. He'd give himself little missions and then try to complete them without anyone seeing him. Yes, it's eccentric, but you have to admit it's kind of fun.

There are a few ways of doing this. If you have time, I think it's fun to head out and plant clues for the kids in various locations. Print up a letter and place it by their toothbrush in the bathroom. "Your mission, if you choose to accept it..." or something along those lines. Give them their first task, which will lead them to their first clue.

If possible, it's fun to involve other people. When you head out for your morning coffee, explain what you are doing to the barista. Tell her the kids will have a secret password for her. Something goofy. Then give her a letter with a clue to the next task. "At Main St and Grand there is a small coffee shop called Java Hut. There is an agent there named Rachel masquerading as a barista. Go to her and order a small hot chocolate with two pumps of vanilla and whipped cream. When she hands you your drink, whisper the password. Female Aardvark. She will give you your next set of instructions." In my experience, unless they are really busy, people enjoy being part of the mystery.

If it's not possible to plant clues ahead of time, you can do an information gathering scavenger hunt. "On the lawn of the capital building there is a statue of the first governor of the state. Find his name. This is the name of the street where you will find your next assignment. Show me the street on your map to recieve the next clue." These kinds of facts are easily attainable online, so you can plan these even from home.

Get outside

This one doesn't need a whole lot of explanation. Kids are easy. A trip to the beach or a hike in the woods are the cheapest fun out there. The world is a beautiful place. Get out and enjoy it. Some of my longest lasting memories of travel aren't the days I spent at Sea World or Six Flags. They're the moment I rounded the bend on a windy mountain road in the Canadian Rockies and was suddenly sure I was in heaven, or the way the moss grew, sad and lonely on the weatherworn tombstones of goldminers on a remote road in Southern Alaska, or watching the sun set directly over an island, like a crown on a head submerged in the sea in Manzanillo. It's amazing how many memories are made in these simple moments.

Up Next: Roadtripping with Kids-Part 3: Good Cheap Fun Continued.

Road Tripping with Kids- Part 1: Survival and Sanity on the Road

Thanksgiving to New Years Eve of last year was the first of (hopefully) many extended family roadtrips for the Griffith family. So many of my best childhood memories are of roadtrips, from small ones like a week spent at Mackinac Island Michigan, to the epic RV trip I took to remote corners of Alaska when I was 10, to a summer mom-and-daughter adventure to Texas with my freshly minted drivers permit at 15. We've taken many smaller roadtrips with our kids, working our way up to this. We still have daydreams of someday taking our clan on the road for a couple of months or more.
This year was our maiden run. For the better part of 6 weeks, with a few days stopover at home between the Indianapolis leg of the trip and the Western leg of the trip, we traveled across 15 different states visiting family and friends and having many amazing adventures.

I love to travel and I'll take it any way I can, but the beauty of roadtrips is in learning to enjoy the journey and not just the destination. For that reason, and it was a controversial decision amongst family and friends, we chose not to buy the in-car DVD player contraption and I really don't regret that.

Preparing for the trip I was about 75% out-of-my-mind excited and 25% sure we were completely insane to be traveling that long and that far, pregnant and with four little kids in tow. Crazy like a fox. The trip went astoundingly well. Having bested that challenge, I feel qualified to offer a few tips for anyone attempting such a feat, including what I would do differently in the future.

Tip #1: Halfway through a long drive, get out and do something.

Something active. Something where both you and the kids can just get out and run. Childrens museums, parks, beaches. When you are researching your trip try to come up with a couple of spots along the way that you can stop if the troops are getting restless. In my opinion, 70% of success in doing anything with kids involves finding the balance between rest and activity. Add 10% for adequate nutrition and you are 80% of the way there. The other 20% involves forces I do not understand; probably equal parts alignment of the stars, particle physics and Divine Providence. Kids start out the day excited about travel. By the middle of the day the novelty has worn off. Getting out and doing something awesome refreshes the novelty, rewards their patience and wears them out. There is no downside. It helps small children to nap and older children to focus on quiet activities for the latter part of the drive.

Tip #2 Quiet Time

This is the Yin to #1's Yang. Whether you are in the car, or out sightseeing, down time is essential. Travel is exciting, but it's also tiring. Downtime gives kids (and adults) rest for their bodies and a chance for their brains to process all of the cool things they've seen and done. I have found that when we don't get enough down time we get something I call Sensory Overload. Believe me, that is something you want to avoid if at all possible. Audiobooks are a good way of inviting the kids into quiet time. We downloaded two or three books at a time for free from Librivox to listen to in the afternoons and as we settled in for bed at night. It was so successful that we have continued to use classic audiobooks for our afternoon quiet time even after we arrived back at home.

Tip #3 Family T-shirts

This is a tip I learned when I worked at a preschool. Groups of people, and that includes families, are easier to keep track of if they match. We bought a bunch of red t-shirts in various sizes and had the kids decorate them with fabric markers. Instead of writing the kids' names on the shirt, which is not recommended for safety purposes, we had the kids number them like sports jerseys. #1 for Cheyenne, #2 for Bella, #3 for James and #4 for Travis. The older kids drew pictures on the shirts and I wrote our cell phone number on the hem.

One thing I would do differently in the future is to keep the back of the shirt empty and bring a fabric marker with us. Then as we traveled, we would ask all of our newly-made friends to autograph our shirts. It would be a great way of remembering what, to me, is one of the coolest parts of traveling; the people you meet.

 

Chinese guys who wanted to take a picture of a big American family. Lovely, lovely people.

Tip #4 On big travel days, spring for the hotel with the pool

You won't be sorry. Enough said.

Tip #5 Plan ahead, but be flexible

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered. G.K. Chesterton

That is our family motto. Planning is good. Know ahead of time what attractions are on your chosen route and get some ideas of good places to eat. It's even good to have a Plan B in case the kids get squirrelly earlier than expected, but also know that some things just cannot be planned for. Keep your sense of humour and remember that many things that look like disasters in the moment make some of the best stories.

On a long ago visit to Fillmore, Utah I arrived, exhausted and overheated, past the cows grazing by the Welcome to Fillmore sign, to a tiny motel. In the all-but empty parking lot a 12 year old kid rode in circles around tumbleweeds. Noticing me, he ran inside to man the reservation desk he was tending for his mother. I walked into the lobby, ready for a good night's rest, only to find a 5 foot long iguana between me and the reservation desk. I screamed and ran outside. The kid ran after me, irritated at my girly fear of man-eating lizards, and assured me that Godzilla was his pet and it was harmless. He coaxed me back inside, past the scaly beast, only to tell me that they had lost my reservation. Suddenly I had a second wind. If they kept man-eating lizards in the lobby I wasn't in the mood to find out what they kept in the rooms. I made it to Mesquite, NV that night. It was a pain in the hind end at the time, but it amused me enough in the retelling that I bothered to snap this picture eight years later as I drove through for a second time. Keep your sense of perspective.

Up Next: Roadtripping with Kids: Good Cheap Fun

Summer Writing

In preparation for summer I have been stocking up on fresh school supplies. 

There are very few things as satisfying in life as fresh school supplies. Everytime I tell someone that we are planning to have school-time over the summer I feel a little like the Grinch, but it's not as bad as it sounds. A little summer reading, a vegetable gardening project, some woodworking, some cooking, some rock climbing, some dabbling with art projects and some creative writing. Swap out shuffleboard for the rock climbing and it begins to sound more like retirement than summer school. There are still the Latin and Greek lessons and a smattering of math, but they like that stuff, I swear they do.

One of our projects for the summer is our creative writing group. So far we only have family members, but we want to eventually open it to friends as well. The idea is to exercise our creative muscles a bit.

We meet outdoors with our Creative Writing Kit and a big pitcher of lemonade and have at it. Sometimes we do creative writing exercises, sometimes we just write. There are no right or wrong ways of doing it, whatever strikes your mood. You can write it in crayon, you can write it in pencil. You can even write it in window markers on the patio door.

We're trying to establish the practice of creativity as a habit, something that is worthy of setting aside time for. It's far too easy in life to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget to give yourself space to dream and play. It's easier, of course, for kids, but I think the practice is still a valuable one. The more ingrained it becomes for them to give themselves that time and space the more likely they will be to continue it as they get older and the "real world" (I hate that phrase) increases its demands.

I also hope that now, while their inner critic is still relatively quiet and the world is still a place of wonder and possibility, that the practice of giving themselves permission to just do and create and make will give them the ammunition they need to fight that critic and bring their gifts to the world.

 Mostly, though, it's just for fun. I have been participating too. My creative muscles have atrophied a bit over the winter and it's good cheap fun to let my imagination come out and play for a while.