One positive thing is that we are all consistently behind together. {Think we can make up four months of work in the last five months of the year?! Don't answer that.}
After a late breakfast of honey buns (a stellar start to the day I know) and about an hour of reading time, I sternly informed my children we were going to have our history discussion. Then they would each complete a math lesson before we ate lunch. "AND, don't dare ask me what we're having for lunch!" I warned them. I'm not sure why, but the constant inquisition as to what we're having for our next meal makes me want to throw things. To prevent that from happening, I beat them to the punch with a preemptive prohibition. Opening our history book to read aloud, I told them we were finally moving on from the Civil War (where we parked for a long time, on purpose, because, well, there are a million fascinating things to park on). Today's discussion would be about the war between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, happening about the same time that the Civil War ended in the United States.
We read and talked about how Lopez's Paraguayan army had some good ideas about attacking with their fast, agile river fleet against Brazil's slower maneuvering ocean fleet, how the Paraguayan army eventually got pushed back up the river and the whole country became land-locked and eventually cut off from supplies and faced starvation. We discussed how it was risky for Lopez to attack other countries, particularly large, powerful ones and especially considering his own people were so disunited to begin with. We talked about the social classes within the Latin countries, how they were made up of three main people groups; native South Americans, former African slaves, and Creoles.
Me: What's a Creole?
(blank stares)
Me: We talked about this in our last history book. Remember when the Spanish came and conquered most of South America?
(still staring, small glimmer of something familiar in their eyes)
Abby: So that's why most people in South America speak Spanish?
Me: Yes. So what's a Creole?
(blank stares)
Abby: (venturing a hesitant guess) A Korean War Hero?
Close.
Me: No, a creole is someone of Spanish decent, a spanish colonist born in South America. We'll just keep going.
We continued the discussion about how cholera decimated the Paraguayan troops.
Sarah: What's that?
Me: It was basically an intestinal worm that made you very sick. And it was highly contagious. Now we have antibiotics that can kill the bacteria, but back then they did not. It caused you to become sick and get weaker and weaker until you died. But we don't have to worry about that here and now.
Then we discussed whether Lopez was a patriotic hero for Paraguay or an insane dictator drunk on power.
In closing I asked each kid to tell me one thing they learned today.
Sarah: I learned that worms eat your intestines.
Abby: I learned that most people in South America speak Spanish.
Ben: I learned that God doesn't always smite dictators by saying (dramatic God voice), "Fire and ash will rain down upon thee!"
Me: (my turn to blank stare) Interesting. Okay, move on to math.
Ben: So (smug smile), what's for lunch?
Ordinarily, my instinctual anger would have reared it's ugly head.
Today, I laughed.
Maybe it's not perfect, but this is us. #Authenticity
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