Heidi

Hey

My kids are all night owls, we have discovered. The other night,
Katie stayed up playing computer quietly. They are so noisy when
they're up together, but alone, each kid can be very quiet, and so
while the other two went downstairs, she stayed up. We shut the door
to our bedroom and went to sleep.

at 3:15, Katie paged the cordless phone. She was hitting the hay, and
wanted to hang it up. (I did tell her not to call anyone! L) The
phone was in my room, because I had been talking to my grown boy
before I went to sleep. Brought the phone out, Katie hung it up, and
I said "You winding down?" and she said "yes"...nestling herself into
a blanket on the couch with an electronic language game in her hand.

I don't know how long it took her, but the next day (yesterday) she
showed me a big piece of paper with over 100 words written on it. It
was the list of words one can get when playing Word Mine (anagrams)
with the name jrrtolkien. 125 words, three letters and above. She is
very proud of this accomplishment, and I don't blame her.

The list was in order...i.e., all the words starting with ro were in
the same spot on the list...and she was ticking off words as she
noticed their patterns. Still...ARGH...wasn't reading them, but it is
fascinating to watch this literacy burgeoning in my "Late Starting
Reader Who Stays Up VERY Late"

blessings, HeidiC

Kelli Traaseth

Heidi,

This is cool to read. In real life, we have no friends that allow
their children to stay up so....again, nice to read.

We also have night owls here and I am always amazed at what
transpires in the wee hours of the night. They seem to get so
philosophical at these times, its like their minds just open up.
This is also the time that they seem to be so curious and
inquisitive.

My challenge is to try and get my eyelids to stay open so I can also
be part of this time. Not only to answer questions from them but
also just to enjoy their company-- to hang out with them.

I suppose some people would say the day hours could be my time with
them. Evening hours could be their time together.

But there is a different dynamics going on at night. I don't know
what, but they are all lit up. I guess it does seem to balance
out. Some days we spend time together during the day and less in
the evening. But if we've been busy doing our own things during the
day, we can reconnect in the night. :)

I guess maybe I'm selfish for their time. I want it all! All the
experiences! <g>

Its just fun being with them.

Kelli~





--- In [email protected], "Heidi"
<bunsofaluminum60@h...> wrote:
> Hey
>
> My kids are all night owls, we have discovered.

> I don't know how long it took her, but the next day (yesterday)
she
> showed me a big piece of paper with over 100 words written on it.
It
> was the list of words one can get when playing Word Mine
(anagrams)
> with the name jrrtolkien. 125 words, three letters and above.

kayb85

> We also have night owls here and I am always amazed at what
> transpires in the wee hours of the night. They seem to get so
> philosophical at these times, its like their minds just open up.
> This is also the time that they seem to be so curious and
> inquisitive.

That happens here too, not just to my kids but to me as well! I'm
much more creative and philisophical in the wee hours of the night
than during the rest of the day. I wonder what it is about those
wee hours that brings that out in (some of) us?

Sheila

[email protected]

In a message dated 11/16/03 9:51:55 AM, sheran@... writes:

<< That happens here too, not just to my kids but to me as well! I'm

much more creative and philisophical in the wee hours of the night

than during the rest of the day. I wonder what it is about those

wee hours that brings that out in (some of) us? >>

I think it's the knowledge that people aren't going to change your plan, the
phone is not going to ring, salesmen and missionaries are home asleep, and the
house is REALLY ours.

I don't have to wonder if my kids would rather be somewhere else instead of
with me, because we're in for the night. And one can bail and go to bed
without making the rest of them "go home" because we're already home. There's a
really comfortable wind-down, and the one left up last doesn't feel abandoned,
but rather has the electronics to himself, the last of the food is really all
his without negotiation if he wants it, and he's free to go to bed or not
without discussion with others.

It's cool through all phases of it.

I have an essay up about latenight learning and I added a couple of the
accounts above to the commentary page. There was already one thing there.

http://sandradodd.com/latenightlearning

Sandra