Part 2 of the 4 part Friday correspondent series from my friend Kerri, on raising a child ethically in modernity. I just want to add that you can find more about knitting in Harry Potter here and to make sure to notice that Kaleb’s t-shirt is a wee Sonic Youth t of my favorite SY album. Yay!

Holy crap the week has flown by! What have we done?? Saturday Kaleb, Daren and I went canoeing on a nearby lake. It was fun; we saw a few turtles sunning on rocks and low hanging branches. We wondered how many fish and snakes were swimming nearby yet unseen, hundreds maybe? The biggest thrill was rocking on the waves caused by motorboats speeding past. At some point in the day (not in the canoe) I was knitting which K accused me of always doing. Then somehow we ended up in the “yes boys CAN knit” discussion for the millionth time, noting AGAIN that Hagrid (Harry Potter) knits. I think this talk is becoming a bit of a game.

Sunday all three of us headed out at the crack of dawn to work on the CSA we to which we belong. Kaleb helped Daren shovel compost into a wheelbarrow. K decided using his Tonka construction trucks was the best and most fun way of doing this. Why simply shovel when it can become an amazing and interesting game? Alas, after 2 hours Kaleb grew tired of this chore. He and D headed down the road to a bakery for a bite to eat while farmer Sara and I finished up.

They returned with a yummy croissant for each of us. Then all four of us harvested a bucketful of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, chives and basil. I think we all appreciate and enjoy our food so much more after we’ve spent time helping to raise it. Kaleb is more likely to want to thank the earth, sun and rain for our meal when he�s helped bring it to the table.

Tuesday morning was root day at pre-school nature class in the park. We had carrots and potatoes for snack. When the instructor informed the children these are roots, several kids said “eeewwwww!!!” and wouldn’t eat. Kaleb said “yeah, I know” and ate up. Finally we all pulled weeds out of the flower beds and examined the roots with a magnifying glass before putting them in the compost pile. I don’t think Kaleb was overly impressed by the class.

Tuesday night was Stitch-N-Bitch at Starbucks. As we are all busy moms we only meet once a month and spend hours gabbing away interspersed with oohs and aahs over various projects we’ve brought to show off. I am coveting a really beautiful felted bag a friend made for her ipod accessories. I feel a trip to the yarn store for a ball of the same yarn coming on. Who knows what I’ll create from it.

Wednesday was a relaxed day at home. We spent a good deal of time playing with tangram pieces, but making our own designs. Thursday morning I dropped Kaleb off with my sister-in-law. He and his cousin played trains for hours (by far their most favorite activity in the whole world) while I went back to work at the CSA. I was brutally stung by 3 caterpillars hiding in the corn stalks today. The big bullies should pick on someone their own size!

Anyway, I went back for Kaleb, but he wasn’t ready to leave yet (never is). So we stayed a little longer so he could paint with my niece and nephew and I could get lovin’ the baby, my newest nephew. At home I had some papers in need of sorting. I put Blondie on the stereo and Kaleb danced while I sorted. If he stopped dancing I was instructed to ask “why” at which point he would resume dancing.

Coincidentally, Daren is on a punk message board, Viva La Vinyl, that had a vein running today about being parents. People were posting pics of their kids, one guy put up a video of his kid dancing! After dinner tonight the 3 of us did dishes together- D wash, K rinse and I dried and put away. It is funny how satisfying working together on a mundane chore can be; partly because Kaleb is so happy to be really, truly helpful.