Image Jo Freitag
Series for the Facebook 52 Illustrations Challenge Bonus Advent Challenge
To see some of the series by other artists see
http://illo52weeks.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/bonus-challenge-advent-calendar-2015.html
Image Jo Freitag
Having discussed how Sprite had celebrated Christmas in past years with the help of the Memory Elephant and the activities which are being held this year Intellectual Dabrowski insisted that in order to maintain the Dickensian symmetry of A Christmas Carol we should now discuss possible future Christmases.
Of course Imaginational Dabrowski was happy to imagine future Christmases and, being an idealist and utopian thinker, his hopes centred around the world becoming a more peaceful place, people sharing resources, and being kinder to the environment.
Lone piper Angus McTvitter piped in with “Och, I love a guid Noo Year’s ferst foooting!”
And the Memory Elephant reminded everyone that before we could have a New Year’s Eve he would be celebrating Memory Elephants Day on 30 December
Image Jo Freitag
After days of debate about which blog would host the Christmas celebrations the issue appears to be resolved.
The folk at Personas, profiles and portraits are sending out daily Seasons Greetings messages on their blog and on Facebook.
The Twitter Birds are going about their pre Christmas activities and staging their annual Nativity play and participating in the Facebook 52 Illustrations Bonus Advent Challenge.
Sprite will have her own celebrations and will not have to worry about fitting in with the other groups which will make the holidays less stressful.
Jo Freitag
This year the folk at Sprite’s Site will be joining with the Persona Dolls to celebrate the Advent season leading up to Christmas. There had been quite a bit of debate about which blog should be the venue and what form the festivities should take.
The Memory Elephant was called in to recount how the season had been celebrated in recent years.
In 2010 the theme was ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ and culminated with the Twitter Birds releasing an album of Christmas songs titled Twelve Tweeters Tweeting!
In 2011 the theme was ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas’ and we watched the Twitter Birds preparing for Christmas and staging their annual Nativity play.
In 2012 we shared the Twitter Birds activities in an Advent calendar tree and opened a door each day
In 2013 we watched the preparations for Sprite’s Christmas festivities, the celebrations in the Mouse House in the skirting boards and the annual Twitter Birds Nativity play
And last year we collected Twitter Bird snow globes.
How will the season be celebrated this year?
I found Sprite contemplating the Christmas tree which had been delivered to Sprite’s Site by an unknown person. It bore a strange resemblance to the spirals Sprite had drawn for her Australian history timeline.
“You know I think time should be represented as a series of spirals rather than a straight line” Sprite said.
“Well I also think the spirals are getting smaller and time is going faster.”
“And why do you think that?” asked Intellectual Dabrowski. “Do you have any solid scientific data to back up your contention?”
“Not exactly” said Sprite. “But it used to take forever to get from one Christmas to the next and now it seems like only a couple of months ago since we had last Christmas.
And there is so much to do to get ready for the holidays this year.”
“It is just a matter of perception of time” Intellectual asserted. “I seem to remember you saying how time seems to drag when you get bored in class
I think you will find that time will seem to travel faster while you are busy and enjoying the activities but much slower if you are bored.”
All the folk at Sprite’s Site seem to go into overdrive during the holidays!
We try to get everyone together for a group picture.
This year the Persona Dolls from Personas, profiles and portraits https://jofreitag.wordpress.com/ want to combine with Sprite’s Site for the celebrations. There are debates in progress about which blog should host the activities.
There are cards to send, presents (preferably not too expensive) to make for family and friends, decorations to hang, food to prepare and practices and performances for concerts and plays. Everyone is so busy!
The holidays are always busy for the Psych-Owl-Ogist.
The Twitter Birds always stage their Nativity Play.
All the Dabrowski Dogs always become very involved with all the holiday activities.
This is both a blessing and a problem.
It means that all the sights, sounds and scents of Christmas and the holiday days are experienced and appreciated at a deeper level but it can lead to sensory overload.
In the past P’est Pour Parfait, the Perfectionist Poodle, has insisted that everything must be perfect which has added to the stress but this year I hope the White Poodle will be able to ensure that striving for perfection does not take away the joy of the season.
This is a post for Hoagies’ Gifted December 2015 blog hop.
To find out what advice other bloggers have for surviving the holidays come on the hop with us starting at
www.HoagiesGifted.org/blog_hop_surviving_the_holidays.htm
When I returned from the GHF December Blog Hop I found Sprite in a much better mood.
While she was taking her nap the Memory Elephant and the Giraffe had put up the Christmas lights and garlands.
The Dabrowski Dogs had defeated the Black Dogs in the chess match and the only sign of the Black Dogs was the greeting card and apology note on the pinboard.
The Dabrowski dogs were also too busy with other things to pester Sprite.
Psycho Motor had gone outside to bounce. Intellectual had gone to the library to investigate the background of various holiday traditions. Sensual was having a Lavender Lathers pamper session at the Paws for Poise grooming parlour bus.
Emotional and Imaginational had gone to help with the Reading to Dogs program.
The Taste Tester dogs had sent a greeting card
The Twitter Bird carollers had begun rehearsing for their annual nativity play.
Oliver Moremouse and the other mice in the skirting boards were getting ready to celebrate.
Ginger Pony had been harnessed and was giving sleigh rides.
And the mystery of the vanished Christmas stockings/slippers had been solved. The Dabrowski Dogs had claimed them and hung them up hoping for some extra treats at Christmas time.
These are the blog posts I visited and the comments I left
Feeling Lighter ~ My Little Poppies (Cait Curley)
http://my-little-poppies.com/2014/12/feeling-lighter/
Everything is feeling lighter to me lately: parenting, homeschooling, even the holiday chaos. When I think back to this time last year, everything was just…well… heavier; life felt more challenging and stressful. What changed? In some respects, everything has changed.
My comment
I love your blog, Caitie! And so many of your descriptions bring back memories of our children at similar ages and our family life at those times!
Thank you for a beautifully written blog.
Wishing you all a very blessed and happy Christmas.
Gifted Children: Just Pulling the Wool Over Your Eyes ~ Raising Tall Poppies (Celi Trepanier)
http://crushingtallpoppies.com/2014/12/15/gifted-children-just-pulling-the-wool-over-your-eyes/
With us sitting in the old, middle school desks and this teacher sitting in her chair facing us from in front of the class, she cocked back a bit with her arms folded across her chest and smugly announced with a truckload of retaliatory confidence and self-righteous pride, “oh, he is just pulling the wool over your eyes!”
My comment
Yes, I remember being told by a lady who had never met our children that one of them was ‘just saying/doing that to manipulate me’ and at first feeling bad because I thought she was right and then realizing that she was not right at all!
Thank you for a great blog, Celi!
Hawaiian Punch, Junk Food, and a (Holiday) Food Plan ~ A 2E Fox Revived (Carolyn Fox)
http://a2efoxrevived.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/hawaiian-punch-junk-food-and-holiday.html
You need a (holiday) food plan to tackle the candy canes and eggnog. The sheer volume of sugary stuff and food dyes/additives/flavorings is a nightmare for many 2e parents/kids, imho, which is magnified 10x or more during the holidays.
My comment
Thank you for a great list of suggestions for combating the problems associated with sugar and colouring laden holiday foods.
Have a delicious holiday season!
I love Christmas BUT… ~ Sprite’s Site (Jo Freitag)
https://spritessite.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/i-love-christmas-but/
I suppose I should have predicted this happening in the build up to the holiday season; as it is a situation we have met before…
My comment
Just looking in to see how Sprite is feeling now…
Major Themes Related to My Research on Gifted/2E Kids and Bullying ~ RedWhiteandGrew (Pamela Price)
http://redwhiteandgrew.com/2014/12/15/ghf-blog-hop-major-themes-related-to-my-research-on-gifted2e-kids-and-bullying/
Many children may, when stressed, feel their overexcitabilties “fire up” in response. This can impede the logical, systemic calming down required for someone to address bullying by herself and gain a lasting, powerful sense of self-efficacy in the face of conflict. We need, as parents and educators, to work to help kids manage these OEs before a negative personal encounter. In short, we owe it to them to help develop their social skills in preparation for a negative encounter to build their resilience. We parents may also need to scaffold better socially those children who have OEs that are “off the charts,” managing their exposure to stressful or toxic situations or people and refrain from gaslighting them at the holidays.
My comment
Thank you, Pamela. I am looking forward to the publication of your book!
As Paula says you are giving an in depth approach to a difficult and far reaching topic.
Overexcitabilities and Asynchronicity and Perfectionism! Oh, My! ~Gifted Unschooling (Amy Harrington)
http://www.giftedunschooling.com/overexcitabilities/
Some of the most overwhelming aspects of raising gifted children are all the quirks, idiosyncrasies and discrepancies in abilities. Without a thorough understanding of what overexcitabilities are and how they impact a child’s experience in the world, parents and others close to the child may contemplate attaching a pathological disorder to try and explain away the difficult behaviors and outbursts that unfold in daily life. To contemplate matters more, asynchronicity creates a layer of confusion when a child whose physical age, intellectual age and social-emotional age conflict with his chronological age concurrently and in any given moment. But, let’s not stop there kindred spirits. Until we sprinkle in a heavy dose of perfectionism, we haven’t even touched the surface of how complicated living with gifted children can be.
My comment
Great post, Amy! A really good clear discussion about the OEs, asynchronous development and perfectionism and how they affect the everyday lives of the gifted.
Parenting and OEs: Is Sensitivity Your Child’s Super Power? ~ Through a Stronger Lens (Nicole Linn)
http://throughastrongerlens.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/ghf-blog-hop-parenting-and-oes-is.html
On a regular basis, the members of the family alternate between high levels of emotion, the need to move, and a desire to learn and do everything as often as possible. We each have various levels of sensory comfort and discomfort, and there is no shortage of imagination. It can make life interesting.
My comment
The Emotional OE is indeed a super power! Lesley Sword calls Emotional Intensity the Energy that Drives the Gifted Intellect and Dr Linda Silverman in her article Dabrowski’s Theory rates Emotional as “perhaps most important of the overexcitabilities
I really enjoyed reading this post – thank you Nicole!
Parenting Reality in the Land of Willful Ignorance ~ Homeschooling Hatters (Care Martin)
http://homeschoolinghatters.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/parenting-reality-in-land-of-willful.html
Every so often we run into folks who just don’t get what life is like at our house. They have an image of what a “gifted child” is in their head, and when our life doesn’t match that image, obviously it is because none of us are gifted. I wish, fairly frequently, that our lives matched that image, but they just don’t. However, the fact that we aren’t all bookworms who enjoy studying, who raise their hands first, or who don’t have parties, but instead have Socratic Conversations over weekends, while engaged in high-profile careers which allow us to have a housekeeper, and incredibly flexible hours so we’re mostly paid to just think… Well, people seem to not realize that no, that’s not what gifted (much less 2E!) is. At least, not by and large
My comment
It can be really hard when onlookers just don’t understand asynchronous development and OEs!
Thank you for a great blog, Care!
Raising a Kid Who’s Just Like You ~ Your Rainforest Mind (Paula Prober)
http://rainforestmind.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/parenting-gifted-kids-overexcitabilities/
What do you do when you’re excruciatingly sensitive, severely intense, outrageously curious, and wildly imaginative and you’re raising a kid who is JUST LIKE YOU? Do you– run away from home? Move to a state where marijuana is legal? Outsource your child to India? Create a reality TV show?
My comment
Love this post, Paula!
I did once write a series of posts about an imaginary reality show The Survivor – Gifted Island game -like a cross between Survivor, Big Brother, The Amazing Race and the show about the camp for badly behaved teenagers.
It is played by teams of one parent, one teacher and one gifted or 2E kid.
You don’t get voted off the Island – you just have to stay there and survive and everybody gets to watch how you cope and laugh or cry about it.
This is a commentary post on the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum December Blog Hop: Parenting OEs, 2Es and everything in between.
To read all the posts please visit http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/blog-hops/parenting-oes-2es/
When I suggested going on the GHF December Blog Hop Parenting OEs, 2Es and everything in between Sprite said she could not come with me because she was too tired and she had too much to do.
She seemed a bit grumpy and out of sorts.
“What is the matter?” I asked
“I love Christmas BUT….” she said “there is so much stuff to do first!”
“You gave me the Christmas Planner and The Origami Secretary Bird handed me a great long list of things I have to do in the next week and P’est Pour Parfait, the Perfectionist Poodle said they all had to be done perfectly.”
“Intellectual Dabrowski said I had to write all the Christmas cards in my best handwriting and make sure the spelling was all correct. He reminded me about the time I called Rob Head Rod Heab and made me feel bad about it”
https://spritessite.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/overprikkelbaar/
“The Memory Elephant said if he had to remember all that he was going on strike unless he got paid overtime rates.
“So I forgot to get some of the materials I need for making presents and had to go all the way back again.”
“The weather was really bad and the shops were really crowded” she said “and Sensual Dabrowski kept on getting in my way and complained the whole time about the noise and the artificial lighting and the smells. He felt uncomfortable and itchy and that made me feel uncomfortable and itchy too.”
“Going all that way four times made me tired and sore and Wistful Black Dog said I would not have had any problems if I had remembered everything the first time.
And I couldn’t remember where I put the Christmas stockings I always wear as slippers at Christmas time and I could only find this one.”
“Emotional Dabrowski said that I was making a big fuss about what was really not a big problem. She said I should be grateful that I had saved enough pocket money to buy the materials I needed to make presents. She said some children don’t have any slippers or presents or even enough to eat and we both cried about that.”
“Then I started to write the cards and Psycho Motor Dabrowski was distracting me by calling me to come outside and bounce with him and write the cards later. But I did not have enough energy left and I did not even want to do that.”
*******************************
I suppose I should have predicted this happening in the build up to the holiday season; as it is a situation we have met before during last year’s November GHF Blog Hop https://spritessite.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/surviving-the-christmas-season/
*********************************
“When I saw the shadow of Black Dog jumping out of the Origami Secretary Bird’s To Do List” Sprite continued “I realised I needed to take your advice about controlling the Black Dogs.”
https://spritessite.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/the-third-s-i-p-p-for-physical-and-practical-part-4/
“I did the H.A.L.T. check and found that I was Hungry – so I had afternoon tea.
And I was Angry with myself for not getting everything the first time; but most of all I was just very, very tired.”
“So Imaginational Dabrowski said to have a nap and imagine that I was floating on a cloud or wrapped in cotton wool and that everything should seem brighter after that. So that is what I am going to do now.”
“You and Retweet go on the Blog Hop and bring back me a sample bag or a balloon!”
This is a post for the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum December Blog Hop: Parenting OEs, 2Es and everything in between.
To read all the posts please visit http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/blog-hops/parenting-oes-2es/
We have returned from the Hoagies December Blog Hop Bye Bye Buy Buy http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/blog_hop_holiday_gifts.htm with lots of great ideas for gifts and activities for the holidays.
We set off on the hop from the post on Sprite’s Site at https://spritessite.wordpress.com/2014/11/30/gift-giving-without-the-buy-buy-buy/
Intellectual Dabrowski carried the sample bag for Sprite.
“Well, now I know what the folk at Sprite’s Site will be giving me!” Sprite said. “I need some suggestions for gifts I can give them.”
Here are the posts we visited and the comments we left or tried to leave.
Living with geniuses
http://lwallin.wordpress.com/2014/11/24/christmas-is-coming-the-goose-is-getting-fat/
Comment: These are great ideas for ways to have fun together as a family and build memorable traditions. I love the idea of Yadnuf day!
Planet Smartypants
http://www.planetsmarty.com/2014/11/gifts-for-kids-who-have-everything.html
There were some very helpful suggestions here
Limit the wish list
Just say No
Think different eg coupons
Give gifts that will leave lasting memories
Comment: I love these wise suggestions!
Homeschooling Hatters
http://homeschoolinghatters.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/hand-made-holidays.html
Comment:
My mother always made tapestry pictures and baked shortbread from a traditional Scottish recipe for her Christmas gifts. She would apologize for giving the same thing each year but everyone loved her shortbread and would have been disappointed if they did not receive it. The baking was an important part of our family’s Christmas tradition
Hoagies’ Nibbles and Bits!
http://hoagiesbits.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/holiday-traditions.html
Comment: I loved hearing about your gingerbread house creating. What a great fun family tradition!
Elgarmummy
http://www.elgarmummy.com/10-free-activities-to-do-in-the-holidays/
Comment: Your gift of time to do activities together and visit places of interest sounds like a wonderful way to give a lot of fun during the holidays! Thank you for a great post!
A 2E Fox Revived
http://a2efoxrevived.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/ten-ways-on-how-to-avoid-buy-buy-buy.html
Useful suggestions here were
Avoid the media as much as possible
Limit the TV
Avoid shopping malls
Shop at Op shops where possible
Donate to charities
Recycle – try for zero waste
Visit a museum or cultural event
Give handmade gifts
Search Pinterest for craft ideas
Comment: Thank you for a great post – lots of good ideas for gifts and activities that avoid commercialism and seek to produce as little waste as possible!
Aurora Remember
http://auroraremember.com/2014/11/the-gift-of-love/
This post gave a link to 5 Love Languages which we found interesting and helpful
http://www.5lovelanguages.com/
“(1) love language = physical touch, then hugs or massage; (2) love language = quality time, then time and undivided attention; (3) love language = gifts, then hand written letter or home-made item; (4) love language = words of affirmation, then a recorded message or note of all the reasons you love the person; and (5) love language = acts of service, then home cooked dinner, laundry, or baby sit.”
Comment: Thank you for a great post – a very helpful way of thinking about what would be the ideal gift to express your love for the recipient!
…braver than you believe…
http://www.braverthanyoubelieve.com/2014/11/30/does-1-1-2/
Comment: Thank you for a thought provoking post!
Gift-Ed Connections
http://skpicard.wordpress.com/2014/11/29/1505/
Comment:
I love this “There are so many competing narratives that are invoked at this time of year that always have me carefully navigating the distance between Santa and Scrooge, religion and secularism, scarcity and abundance, intention and expectation.”
So beautifully expressed!
My Little Poppies
http://my-little-poppies.com/2014/11/holiday-gifts-without-the-buy-buy-buy/
Some suggestions we found here were
Books with personalized inscriptions
Bookmarks
Handwritten letter or story of a happy memory
Handmade gifts
Something silly
Scrap book or photo album
Music
Give to others/charities instead of family
Comment: Love all your ideas and the examples of your family gifts and also the quote from Mother Teresa.
Sunrise Learning Lab
http://sunriselearninglab.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/making-giving-doing-for-others-for.html
We were not able to leave a comment here but enjoyed the post very much.
Sunrise Learning Lab also posted a Pinterest Board of Handmade Gifts at
https://www.pinterest.com/f5th/handmade-gifts/
Sprite has received a couple of her gifts already because they are similar to an Advent Calendar in that they help to count down the days and prepare for Christmas.
They are gifts for you also, dear reader.
They are a PDF booklet titled The Christmas Planner (Christian flavour) and a daily picture of a Twitter Bird snow globe and they can be found on the main page of my personal website at http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/
This year I am trying to avoid the Buy! Buy! Buy! hype that always surrounds the holiday season.
So I asked the folk at Sprite’s Site what I could give Sprite that she would love to receive, would be useful and would demonstrate care in creating or choosing but not be too expensive.
Here are the suggestions I received
“Very funny!” I said “That is not quite what I had in mind!”
You can print off a booklet about games here
http://media.heraldsun.com.au/PDF/2009/02/pafc-victoria/PAFC_Tip_BallGames_f.pdf
Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/
Directions for making bath bombs, soaps scents candles can be found at
Soap making http://teachsoap.com/
Candles, soaps, fragrances http://www.candletech.com/
Scratch http://scratch.mit.edu/
Shape collage http://www.shapecollage.com/
Origami http://www.origami-instructions.com/
This is a post for Hoagies Gifted December Blog hop : “Holiday Gifts without the Buy-Buy-Buy” To read all the posts in the blog hop visit
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/blog_hop_holiday_gifts.htm
To progress to the next blog in the hop click on the button below
When the Memory Elephant returned from the Memory Elephant Day holiday everyone wanted help with preserving their Christmas memories. Here is part of my collection of recollections.
The Memory Elephant helped Oliver Moremouse to condense his Christmas season reminiscences into a picture for his wall.
Sprite needed several pages for her Christmas memories. Here is one of them.
And the Twitter Birds also needed several pages for pictures of their Nativity Play and their Christmas festivities. Here is one of their pages.
Sprite's Site 