!WARNING!-- boring post to everyone but me.
I am a mother so I spend a great deal of my mental energy thinking about my people and trying to figure them out. What makes them tick? What motivates each one? What throws their little world out of orbit? How can I help them be all that they can be? Remember the Army phrase, "Be all you can be"?
Anyway, lately I've been thinking of them in regards to what pace they set in the family.
Yes, I like putting my children in categories. Isn't that what all the "experts" say you should do? Oh, yeah--the "experts" would love this.
Here's what I'm thinking right now.
Bethany sets the social pace. If someone is playing with a friend it is Bethany. She sets the pace of how soon friends can come over and how many kiddos are over at our house playing. She never wearies of socializing (even if it is with other home schooled kids-- yes, home schoolers can and do socialize). Elinor often follows Bethany's lead as they play with many of the same friends.
Clark sets the emotional pace of the day. "If mamma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" is only partially true in our house. I find Clark to be our emotional barometer and if he is cheerful and contented it is going to be an enjoyable day for all. If he's off kilter then we brace ourselves. By the way, Clark is happiest outdoors- preferably on a mountain.
Elinor sets the pace at which the tasks of the day are accomplished. Elinor tends to be our pokey little puppy. Sometimes I don't know if she could move slower if she tried. She doesn't do it to be naughty or get out of work. She just moves at a remarkably slow pace sometimes. She doesn't have any kind of disorder or anything. She is capable of moving her body quickly, she just chooses not to. Oh, maybe she's really into conservation and just wants to conserve energy. I can respect that. I'd love to look inside her brain and see what she is thinking about instead of whatever task she should be completing.
I'm not sure what pace Faith sets yet. Oh wait, she is a three year old girl who changes her clothing no less than four times a day. So I suppose she sets the laundry pace. I can't always tell what is clean and what is dirty, so I err on the side of cleanliness and I probably do much more laundry than is necessary. I should mention that it is not always my policy to err on the side of cleanliness when it comes to household chores.
Cannon sets the actual VOLUME pace of the family right now. All of my babies have been screamers (not screaming crying--just screaming because they like how it sounds). Cannon is no exception. He is a super high pitched squealer. We are use to it, but when he lets it rip in church I am reminded by the snickers and stares that it is actually painful to many peoples' ears.
This squealing "gift" (I choose to see it that way) does not go away as they age. All of the children can still screech something fierce. Even Clark. In fact, Clark is probably still the highest of them all. I digress. My point was that because Cannon is so loud the rest of us have to raise our voices to communicate. Not good.
I wanted to post a picture of Cannon's knees. He is almost 14 months and I think walking is still a little ways off but he crawls like a mad man. I hope you can tell from the picture how calloused his knees are. They are always dirty and try as I may I can't get them clean.
So I guess Cannon also sets the pace of how clean the floors need to be since he eats anything that will fit in his mouth.
Bagels for breakfast on the road. Everyone is happy at this stage of the trip. These four stayed pretty much happy for the whole trip. 
