Asides

Currently Reading 2/19/20

Published on by Stephanie M. TylerLeave a comment

As some may know, I am considered an English language arts or literacy teacher in the United States of America. Currently I reside in New Jersey. Currently, I teach middle school. specifically eighth graders. Also currently, I am reading several books at once. People may have their theories, but I am so heavily influenced by my moods that I can’t help but read what I want when I want because I am also an entitled first world millennial.

So now I have a book for just about every mood I’m in. Here are my current reads that I’m chipping away at:

  1. Little Women (a nice long fictional tale that sweeps me out of reality and brings me to a life which I wistfully emerge myself in and smile at the end of every chapter.)
  2. We Got This (a book for teachers about teaching, why we do it and how to do it better. I need to read more of it, but reading professional development is harder as the year continues.)
  3. Dune (a ridiculously long audio book that Chris started when we drove from Missouri to NJ and I didn’t understand a word of it so I started it again on my commutes home from work. It’s sci-fi and complicated for my brain so it immediately gets my mind off work) – Just finished today! 2/19/20
  4. Rhythms of Renewal: Trading Stress and Anxiety for a Life of Peace and Purpose (a book my mom got me and my sisters for Christmas – I am enjoying the first few chapters so far!)
  5. Call of the Wild (a classic that I realized I never actually read and I am grimacing as I read the short text. It is more violent than I realized. It was suggested as a read for my eighth graders but I don’t think I can stomach teaching it. Don’t worry – I have other options.)
  6. A Glass House (Another one that I can only handle so much of the sadness and tragic scenarios. When children are groped, I have to put down the book. Although I know it’s a truth-telling story and the author is telling her childhood which she emerged victorious, I am still having a hard time picking the book back up again. I’ve had enough sadness in life that I have a hard time reading about it in my minimal free time.)

I am sure that I have technically started and stopped reading more books, but this is where I’ll stop writing now and see if you have any suggestions about solid books.

Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com

Growing Up Schroepfer: Part 2

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Growing up, Christmas day was quite a production. We had our own cozy morning with “just us.” (See previous post part one.)

Then around noon or so, we would head out for a day full of extended family. Showered and dressed for the festivities, but not too fancy, I would look forward to crawling around the floor of my grandma’s house with my cousins as part of the wolf pack. But before the wolf pack adventures, we would stop at my grandparents house in Jackson, NJ.

My grandparents house was not ordinary. According to Zillow, it was built in 1916. It was formerly a cranberry farm and the cranberry house is technically still standing, although it’s glory days are past. They used to use it as a farm when they were raising my mom, aunts and uncles. They had at least one cow and chickens. I would have to find out if there were more animals. They grew vegetables and fruit and sold it at little farm market in front of their house. My mom remembers a gentleman driving all the way from New York for tomatoes from my grandparents farm.

It is still a beauty to be seen as a relic of history and seasons. The chicken coop turned club house and the barn turned storage, my cousins and I had adventures in the six acre wood behind the farming area. We would tuck in our socks and follow our own path to our secret spot. One of us found a circle of trees that fit the five of us perfectly. We roped it off with twine and sticks, added a old little cabinet to hide our treasures and secrets. We swore an oath (not blood though) that no one could know about our spot. We giggled in delight at our secret hideout. It was dubbed, “The Sanctuary.”

My grandparents had five children and their spouses, significant others, and offspring could not all congregate in the same room at the same time. Because the house was compact enough, the many rooms still did not feel too separate from each other. The cousins could gathered around the kitchen table, play room, or upstairs in “the girls’ room” and still hear the conversation of the parents in the living room at the center of the farmhouse.

Back at Grandma and Pop-Pop’s, we opened presents without fuss or presentation. We younger cousins would exchange amongst ourselves (when we hit puberty and started to get allowance) just because we liked each other. These would be given semi-discreetly because we didn’t get gifts for all the cousins. Grandparent gifts were given and opened in front of our grandparents when deemed the right time- usually close to leaving time.

After lunch, giggles, and gifts in Jackson, we would get back into the car with some new goodies. We could get onto 195 and be at Grandma’s in 15 minutes. When we were close to getting off the highway, I would lean with my forehead pressed to the window to see her house from the exit ramp. I thought it was the neatest thing.

Again, I will have to continue another time. This is too long for one blog post.

Aunt and Uncle Life

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Aunt and Uncle Life. It’s kind of a big deal.

When I married Chris, I officially became the aunt. (It was unofficial up until then.)

When we got our own place, Chris was so stoked about having sleepovers with the kids and since 2016, every few weeks, we have all three sleepover.

Checking out my new pet fish, Nora Ursa Minor.

Brooke, the eldest, loves to create and plan. About six or seven months ago, on our way back from a sleepover, she wrote down a list of sleepover themes while we helped brainstorm ideas: baking, karaoke, Magic School Bus, blue, pink, Jurassic Park, Power Rangers, etc.

Since the themes have started, we have done the following: baking, Harry Potter, Jumanji, Magic School Bus, travel to a hotel, and the color blue.

I get exhausted.
I can become overwhelmed.
I can be sensitive when the pancakes are “not like mom makes them.”

However, I remember how time flies.
I remember how I loved karaoke with my aunt on several New Years Eves.
I remember how talking to a nonparent adult relative felt exciting and cool as a kid.

I love these kids so much. They don’t need to be blood related; they have my heart. Having them over is a continual joy. Seeing them each week makes my heart glad.

Little Abi, middle child, is full of exuberant energy and unstoppable giggles. She used to claim every time that she stayed up all night with us when she would fall asleep during a movie and wake up the next day: “I can’t believe I stayed up all night!” Now, as a ferocious seven year old, she is the last one to fall asleep and has great potential of leading our first all-nighter.

Big little Joshy started out sleeping over at the ripe age of two! For the first year, we would forget to make him use the potty before bedtime so every time around 2am I would get up, change his diaper, change the sheets, give him a warm bottle of milk and watch him fall back asleep. Now he’s sleeping through the night and showing Uncle Chris his latest Pokemon cards.

Brooke is starting to wear lipgloss, borrow my clothes (if they’re small on me), and do her hair in the morning after sleepovers.

As much as I can get exhausted or overwhelmed about these events, I want to do them this way. I want to build an event that screams how much I love these kiddos.