to ourselves and our Posterity

We have been studying Colonial America and the founding of our nation, and part of that was memorizing the Preamble to the Constitution (thank you, Schoolhouse Rock). But the Preamble is full of all kinds of lofty ideals and big (and outdated) words, so what does it really mean? We decided to break down the Preamble into short phrases; for example, "We the people" and "in order to form a more perfect union" and "establish justice," etc. Then we talked about what each phrase means, G looked up words in the dictionary (very useful skill!), she wrote down the phrase on lined paper to practice her printing, then rewrote the text onto an unlined drawing page, and then we brainstormed what the concepts embodied in the phrase might look like in modern day, esp. in our home, and then she drew a picture to illustrate the phrase. So for "Promote the general welfare" she drew her mommy making dinner while her children happily learned and played (the nicest compliment I could have received). I typed out her descriptions of the illustrations, and we have just finished editing and formatting them, and now we will be compiling it all into a book!

It is of course hard to convey the charm of the project here on the computer, but I think this might actually be one school project that we keep forever. In such a small house, we are NOT savers of art and schoolwork! But G’s descriptions give such an accurate portrayal of our home life, embellished by her unique perspective of it, that I am sure we will enjoy looking back and remembering life in this season, and our creative eldest daughter in her blooming.

There were three descriptions in particular that I enjoyed for the little details (and original phrasings) that I thought I would share here. They are long, so of course only read if you want to--but the length also says something about the mind of the writer, doesn't it? (and my pride as her parent and teacher! ; )

Selections from The Preamble Book, by G, age 8

insure domestic Tranquility

E has a balloon tied to each foot. One is purple and the other is red. He is on his pack-n-play. He is in his bear suit and is watching the balloons. He thinks this is a very fun game. The game is where you tie a balloon to the baby’s feet and just leave him alone or watch him. He will kick and the balloon will move. The baby thinks this is very interesting and soon he is kicking very hard and slapping his feet on the pack-n-play. M is banging on a drum and B is singing on her flute. Although she does not know any tunes, she just blows on her flute. There is a calendar on the refrigerator. It is mine. Smiley faces are for if I do all my chores, stars are for if I do all my school, hearts are for if I do my heart lesson all through the day, and pencil stickers are for above and beyond. On one of my squares, as you see, there is a smiley face and a heart and a star. On the next calendar square there is a smiley face. On the third there is a star. On the fourth there is a pencil and on the fifth there is a heart. I am pressing a smiley face on the sixth and counting how many stickers I have now. And so I am saying, “Eight.” And Mommy is saying, “That’s nice,” because I have done such a good job on my calendar. M’s drum is doing “boom, boom, boom-boom, bang, boom, bam, bang!” And B is making a long sad screech on her flute. “Ooooooo ooooooo ooooooo ooooo ooooooo oooooo oooooooo ooo!” B’s flute sounded. E has just done two big thumps on the pack-n-play by bringing both his feet high up in the air and “bang!” bringing them down on the pack-n-play edge and then kicking his left foot onto his towel. M has made a big skeleton and has pasted it on the door. The big skeleton is paper with some blue cloth for socks and some brown cloth for shoes. The knob on the door is touching the big paper skeleton. There are clips to make his arms and legs move. He is wearing a hat on his head that shows flowers on it. It is actually a piece of cloth with flowers on it. There are lines of pencil and little notches up on one long piece of paper to show ribs. The paper skeleton’s hands are high up in the air and he has purple sewn gloves on his hands. They are pieces of cloth. He looks very funny. He has googly eyes and a triangle paper nose. And his mouth is as straight as a needle. He looks like a crowded, uncontrollable guest, because sometimes his arms droop down and sometimes when I look at his knees, one is backwards. He may have one knee up, but in the next few minutes it may be down again with him not being able to control it. So I guess the air can’t keep it up very long.

to ourselves and our Posterity

Me and M and B and E are grown up and Mommy and Daddy are grandparents. B and her husband are dancing together and B has three children and the oldest two leave out the youngest. B’s youngest daughter looks just like B when she was little. M and her husband are dancing together too and this is Thanksgiving so we are all getting together. M has four children and one of them is talking with my next oldest and another of M’s is watching Blue’s Clues on TV and clapping and cheering. The next oldest of M’s is pushing Daddy into the living room in his wheelchair. And the youngest of M’s is sitting in the baby play gym and is taking a teddy bear rattle toy from its hook. There is a box that looks like a present box with a Fisher Price little person on it. The present box is on a little bus with a hook at the back. There is a short ladder that leads up to the present box. The policeman Fisher Price toy is left in the people jar and lots of people are piled next to it. E is reaching out to put another toy onto the baby playgym and his wife is playing and tickling his daughter and she is about to say, “Please, Mommy, let me have my doll back” And the mother is about to say, “Ok dear, but make sure the little kids don’t tear it up. It is too fragile for babies.” “I will mama,” the daughter is going to say. There are a bunch of shoes piled at the door. I am cradling my youngest and about to hand him to my husband. My oldest is patting my second child and putting her to sleep, for she is very tired. My next oldest is whispering to M’s oldest. And then comes my four year old, Sarah, who is pushing Mommy in her wheelchair into the living room. She is a very strong little girl. I taught all my children to be strong and helpful. Though I have tried to teach them not to be mean, my second child is whispering to M’s oldest about M’s next oldest, who is sitting by the TV and clapping her hands and watching as Joe jumps from his chair and spreads out his arms and legs and sings. My second child is saying, “I wonder why she loves Blue’s Clues so much.” And M’s oldest is saying, “It is because she is so little.” And they are both giggling. Lots of people are going to one house to have a very important meeting on Thanksgiving day. They are trying to make out a solution for one big problem. The problem is that all the turkeys have realized that they were going to be eaten and so they all ran away, so now they have no Thanksgiving turkey and they wonder what they will do, because everybody who is coming loves turkey.

do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America

This is a picture of a big American flag and three men cheering and standing under it. Underneath it is a picture of two men walking away from signing the Declaration of Independence and seven men are waiting in line to sign it, while one man is thinking while he signs his name. And he is thinking, “Hmmmmmm. I think I’ll be able to stand promoting the general welfare in my household.” The next man in line is reaching out to tap the man that is writing on the shoulder and say, “I think you wrote a B instead of a D.” And the next man in line is bringing his hands behind him and waiting patiently. And the next two men have turned to face each other and say their names and talk together and shake hands. And the next two men are shaking hands and talking too about their lives and about what they thought about the Mayflower. And the last man is holding a purple flower which is wet with dew and there is black ink on the petals so that when he sets it down on the bottom of the paper, when he picks it up again, the bottom of the page shows big cursive letters reading “The Declaration of Independence.”

Photo from mattwardman.com