Household mediocrity revisited

In February, I wrote about mediocrity. This is one paragraph from that entry:

"Back to my contemplating: Why is it that if we have a really good school week, everything else is mediocre or dismal. School was great which means my house is not. Why can't I have both? My kitchen looks like a tornado went through it. I've got bills stacked to pay, checks to order, checkbook to balance, library books to return, a telephone line to get fixed, a broken car window motor to fix, a house to clean, menus to plan, groceries to buy, prescriptions to fill, sheets to change, laundry to wash, floors to vacuum and scrub, etc. Why can't I "do" both and do them well?"

After I wrote this, I felt liberated. Just getting that frustration out and into the open enabled me to clear my mind and come up with a solution. Thinking about the mediocrity in our day-to-day life did me good and inspired me, which in turn carried over to our family. Harmony and teamwork. That was the answer. I needed to distinguish between my work as a wife, mother, homemaker and the work that belonged to the entire family unit. I needed to reflect on what I was teaching my son. I needed to teach him that a good work ethic applies to more than just school work.

I called a family meeting. We’re not big on official family meetings, but this needed to be done. My husband was less than enthusiastic to come to the table, sit down and start discussing. My son wanted to play. We did it anyway. I explained the problem about the mediocrity, the house and household responsibilities being chaotic if we had a good school week. I admitted that I could not do it all. That was obvious. I asked for ideas on what we could do. My son was great with coming up with ideas. My husband knew what was coming and again was less than enthusiastic but he did participate. I clearly defined my expectations. All I wanted from my husband was a couple of hours each weekend to help clean the house. I was surprised but he didn’t put up a fight.

When the meeting was over, I started work on the chore chart my son requested. After working on it a bit, I decided it wouldn’t work. Charts are great for some things, but I knew we needed something more tangible. So I got out my colored index cards and Sharpie markers. I made a list of things that needed to be done each day to keep the house in the shape that we desired and deserved. Then I wrote one chore on each index card in my best kindergarten-style handwriting. I highlighted the top of the cards in pink to denote daily chores. Then I did the same thing for our weekly cleaning tasks. The weekly cards were highlighted in green. It needed to be simplistic for everyone to participate fully. It needed to be easy because all the family members have a tendency to go off on tangents. All the cards went into an index box.

Every morning when we get up, the first thing we do is lay the daily cards on our counter. Every morning we start our school day with home ec. Home ec consists of the daily chore cards. We cannot start school until all the tasks have been completed and the cards have been put back in the box. There is something very gratifying about starting the morning with a counter full of cards and watching the pile dwindle down to nothing. We needed to see our work being accomplished in more ways than one. Obviously, you can see a clean bathroom. How much more empowering it was, though, to move that bathroom card back into the box. My son and I complete our morning task cards in 15 to 20 minutes.

On the weekends, at my husband's desired time, we do the weekly cleaning. Once again, I lay out all the weekly cleaning task cards on the counter. Everyone just grabs a card and goes to work. We aren't going off on tangents now because we know what task we are completing. House cleaning takes about an hour and a half now with all three of us pitching in. I always wanted to get up Saturday morning and clean the house first thing. My husband hated that. For years it was a problem or he was in my way. When we discussed it, I realized I could be more flexible. By doing so, I got what I wanted, and he got what he wanted, too.

It's that simple. Kindergarten stuff, basically, but it works. The results have been fantastic. For over a month now chaos has been eliminated and we have had both: good school and good home. Household mediocrity eliminated.

Last week I added two cards to the box. They were: balance checkbook and pay bills. That takes just a few minutes, but those two tasks done on a daily basis have taken a massive amount of stress away from me. I hate paying bills, but somehow I was the one that got that responsibility in this marriage. I used to pay bills and balance the checkbook once a month. As of the last week, when one came in the house, it was paid the next morning. Although I’ve only been at this for one week, I will continue. The results are too good not to. This took a major amount of dread and stress away from my life.

I have a few more ideas that I will add to the box in time. For now, I’m just happy to know that I can run my house well while homeschooling.

Our Daily Tasks

Thomas shower

Mom shower -- yes, we included showers, more cards to put away ;-)

feed and water pets

general house pick up

empty dishwasher

load dishwasher

gather dirty clothes

sort laundry

start load if needed

make beds

empty trash

empty recycling

plan supper

swiffer dust (my son's choice, he loves to dust)

wipe down bathroom

wipe down kitchen

swiffer or vacuum floors

checkbook

bills

Our Nightly Tasks

pick up house

rinse snack dishes

Our Weekly Tasks

mass pick up

kitchen

vacuum basement

put laundry away

laundry

basement bathroom

vacuum floors upstairs

cobweb removal (Minnesota has too many spiders)

mop floors

windex

empty garbages

cat box

dust upstairs

upstairs bathroom

bedrooms

vacuum furniture (1 dog, 2 cats)

vacuum drapes (1 cat lives in the window and gets hair on the drapes)

vacuum stairs

wash bedding

clean out cars

ready trash and recycling for pick up

Happy Easter

Writing Links

This is a very rough draft of a project I just started working on. I haven't even linked for all my topics yet. Aim is for my son or 4th-6th grade. I will be revising this list often.

SENTENCE WRITING

http://www.tustin.k12.ca.us/cyberseminar/paragraph.htm

http://www.stackthedeck.com/tips-getting.html

PARAGRAPH WRITING

Topic Sentences:

http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/partopic.html

http://www2.actden.com/writ_den/tips/paragrap/index.htm

http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/paragrph.html

http://www.gigglepotz.com/para.htm

http://www.english-zone.com/writing/para-strctr.html

http://www.swc.utexas.edu/highschool/hsopenpara.shtml

BASIC WRITING SKILLS

Outlining

http://www.albany.edu/eas/170/outline.htm

http://www.pb5th.com/outline1.htm

http://killeenroos.com/adm/essayo.htm#Criteria

http://www.adellshay.com/domain%20site/BUS%2032outlineformat.htm

http://www.cmsnet.org/stdlife/Summer%20ESS%20Website/outlinefacts.html

Prewriting:

http://www.studygs.net/roughdrafts.htm

Rough Draft

http://www.swc.utexas.edu/highschool/hswritedraft.shtml

http://www.cc.utexas.edu/student/utlc/lrnres/handouts/1234.html

http://www.arc.sbc.edu/roughdraft.html

Revising: Improving

http://personal.ashland.edu/~cdawkins/Student%20Tools/Revise%20a%20Rough%20Draft.htm

Final Copy

DESCRIPTIVE WRITING

• describing a person
• describing an event
• describing a thing

NARRATIVE WRITING

EXPOSITORY WRITING

PERSUASIVE WRITING

BOOK REVIEW OR REPORT

http://www.caledonia.k12.mi.us/kettle/otherpages/k-5pages/bookreportform.htm (book report outline)

http://hewitthomeschooling.com/pdfs/spnbkrpt.pdf (excellent outline and sample book report)

CREATIVE WRITING

POEMS

RESEARCH REPORT

FIVE PARAGRAPH ESSAY

http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/EssayWritingBody.html

http://www.geocities.com/fifth_grade_tpes/Handyguide.html

http://www.geocities.com/fifth_grade_tpes/five.html

http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/English/essay/index.html

http://homepage.mac.com/mseffie/handouts/paragraph.html (monster diagram)

http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/acen/writerslab/handouts/organization.htm (wizard theme)

MISC.

http://www.geocities.com/fifth_grade_tpes/five.html

http://www.rscc.cc.tn.us/owl&writingcenter/OWL/HowtoBegin.html

HANDOUTS: (MAPPING, GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS)

http://www.cusd.com/calonline/englishlab/module03/03image/0303mapping.gif (mapping)

Tax Time, Homeschooling Expenses and Planning

This week I finally got my taxes done. In my state, we get to claim the cost of the majority of homeschooling expenses. It can’t be religious stuff though. So the only thing I couldn’t claim was my Rod and Staff English program.

I spent over a $1000 on homeschooling last year, which was up a few hundred from the year before. This year I bought tons of books because I hate relying on the library. I guess in reality I can’t compare 2005’s expenses with 2004 because ’04 was the first year we homeschooled and only covered Sept – Dec.

I noticed a pattern starting. It seems in the spring, when spring fever was high and I felt like climbing the walls last year my spending went way up. I started ordering this spring as well. So I’ll be prepared next spring to not spend so much money.

I will continue to use Rebecca Rupp’s Home Learning Year by Year and Doc’s secular resources as my guide. Kixque shared an email from Doc with some additional links. I hope that Doc comes back to blogland because I miss her terribly.

Doc wrote an entry about goal planning versus scheduling that I printed and have read many times. What a great resource that is. Doc also wrote a big list of what should be studied. I can’t find a link to it on her site or else I’d place it here. I printed that out as well. Finally, she had a link to a high school 9^th-12^th grade planning sheet. I adapted that and made my 5^th-8^th grade plan. Well, I’m still working on it, but I have the outline and am happily filling it in. What a valuable resource that is. I had never thought to do that before and it has helped me tremendously.

Thank you, Doc, my son’s education has been touched by you. You’ve helped me tremendously.

As for upcoming expenses, I have decided to set a $1000 budget for the next year. I will continue to buy used, haunt Ebay and half.com. This summer I will again go to garage sales and make a bee line toward the books. I’m learning a lot about smart choices and spur of the moment mistakes. An ink cartridge for my laser printer is $90 and will print thousands of pages. Last cartridge lasted about two years. I can buy a ream of paper for $2.99 at Kmart or splurge and buy pretty pastel paper at Office Max for $5.99 a ream. The internet has tons of free teacher’s guides and lesson plans on almost every subject imaginable. Unless I buy a lot of reading material again, or go hog wild at Carolina Botanical’s website, I can’t foresee spending $1000 next year. For that, my husband will be thankful.

If I were really good, I'd take this year's tax refund and put it in a separate account for our homeschooling expenses. I'm not that good, though, and would rather play with that money now.

Fun on the net

I needed to clean my basement today, desperately. So while my I was doing tasks that my son could not help with, he needed something to divert his attention besides the Sims, Puzzle Pirates, or Runescape.

I found a fun website. It has simple machines, virtual knee surgery and a weather unit. My son is playing online and having fun. There are teacher's plans at the site as well.

Just thought I'd share.

edheads

I made him do it

I made him do it, I made him...

CUT MY HAIR.

My ten year old son. He cut my hair.

Long story short, I've been growing my bangs out for a year. They're below my chin and just so out of sync with the back of my hair that was to the bottom of my shoulder blades. It's getting hot and I don't want so much hair when it's hot.

So why don't I go get a professional haircut like most normal people? Because I'm not normal. The urge to cut usually strikes me at night. And when it strikes, I want it NOW not tomorrow or later in the week.

My husband was passed out on the couch and I turned to poor Tommy and said, "It's time. Come into the bathroom with me."

Poor child was shaking like a leaf. "Mom, I'm nervous!" I said you can't mess it up, just cut straight across here and pointed to where I wanted him to start.

"Now I know what you feel like when you cut my hair" he almost cried.

I'm such a mean mom.

He did it. He did a fine job, too. It's perfectly straight. Should I pay him $20 that I would have paid a pro? Nah. I'll count it as school. Cosmetology 101.

I cut his hair half the time. He likes buzz cuts so I bought clippers a long time ago. Saves a lot of money. My husband has *never* had a professional hair cut since I've known him. He used to cut it but I could stand it no longer so got books from the library and a few videos and learned how to cut his. I've also picked up a few cosmetology textbooks from garage sales and book sales through the years. His is difficult because he's naturally curly. But I use the clippers on him now, too, because he likes it super short.

Ah, we're a weird family. I just cannot ever be normal. Making my 10-year-old son cut my hair is strange, but he lived. And I'm happy.

Gotta love instant gratification.

A different carnival this week

Because the Carnival of Homeschooling is being hosted by someone who blogs at homeschoolblogger, and because I boycott homeschoolblogger, I was thrilled to find that Becky at Farm School made up her own substitute carnival for the week! Take a peak!

Thank you, Becky!!!

Was it really a day off from school?

My husband took the majority of the day off from work today. He was at work and back home before I was even out of bed. We cancelled school for the day. So much possibility for my day -- I was going to go out shopping, during school hours, by myself -- something I haven't done in almost two years now.

I didn't. Instead I putzed around the house. I'm still in my bathrobe. And dare I say, I'm enjoying the heck out of my day!

I always find it so surprising that when we take a day off from school, we don't really take a day off. I mean we don't do our scheduled schoolwork, but learning is still going on.

Today my son decided to do an experiment with a pound of acorns he brought back from South Carolina. Some are soaking in water, some are planted in dirt, some he cracked with a hammer, others he left alone. He has continued to work on his forester project for scouts without my asking. Woo-hoo.

He researched, outlined and wrote a report on hermit crabs.

He snuggled up with me in bed and we read more about the American Revolution.

He's been studying geology a little this afternoon.

He's been in the garage with his dad using the band saw again. I have no clue what they were doing.

He made his first fried eggs today. He was disappointed that he cracked the yolk in one egg and overcooked the yolk in another. I told him that was okay because I'm 40 and I still can't fry an egg.

For phy ed, he went outside and played in the pouring rain. He splashed in puddles. He tried to get the dog to play with him but the dog just wanted back in the house.

My husband bought some concrete mix on his way home from work, and they mixed it up and did something with it. I have no clue what they made.

So today we've done science, history, cooking, reading, construction and phy ed.

Not bad for a no-school day. The day is only half over. I wonder what he'll come up with next!

I'm a snot

I'm a snot and I admit it.

I was at a meeting tonight. Before the meeting started, a friend introduced me to a friend of hers. We were visiting and the topic of homeschool came up. The new acquaintence had a baffled look on her face. Then she asked THE questions.

How do you do it? Doesn't it drive you crazy to homeschool? How can you be around your kids all day?

I smiled and said, "I love being with my son."

Then I stared at her.

She got the point.

I'm a snot and I love it. I just don't get why it drives people crazy to be with their kids. *That's* what drives me crazy.

Cool Time and Date

Did anyone get up early this morning and look at your digital clock at 3 seconds past 1:02? At that time it was 1:02:03 on 04/05/06.

<>
This will never happen again. That is, unless you are one of those people that puts the day in front of the month. In that case, you will have to get up early on May 4.

Changing clocks

I hate daylight savings time. Really, I hate it. Who can go to sleep an hour earlier? Not me, not my son. Who can get up an hour earlier? Definitely not me. Not my son.

Of course if I had a job in the "real world" I would. We survived when my son was in public school, too.

The animals are all on old time still, the human animals are too. We're not hungry at lunch and dinner time. It just stinks.

My son and I were discussing it this morning. He woke up late again and we didn't get school started until 10. Of course last week that would have been 9 and would have been fine. But starting at 10 really puts us behind. It puts us in a bad mood. My son declared that while the majority of America does the daylight savings time thing, we should not. I then asked him how he would keep track of appointments, den meetings, play dates and the like. He thought it would be easy. We discussed it further and he started to change his mind. He then expanded his thinking and came up with how it would be difficult to go to the movies and watch favorite TV programs. In other words, he figured out it would be a royal pain in the butt.

So he decided it would be best if we conform and change our clocks. I hope within a week we're good to go.

Everybody is too crabby here right now.

I've had a friend tell me many times which is "real time." I don't know if fall time is real or spring time. I don't care. I just don't want to change clocks anymore. Can't we do away with it? Is it really necessary in today's society? Really?

Bluch.

I am very proud to report...

My son won 1st place in his Webelos Den in today's Pinewood Derby. He then went on to the pack champion finals...

and won.

Second year in a row.

He'll be going to districts in May and hopefully he'll do well there. He won that last year.

I am so proud of him.

I am also proud to report that my husband placed 1st in the dad's race. Two women and one boy scout entered the dad's race this year. There were a total of nine entries in the dad's race. I am very evil, but I am proud to report that I won second place and the boy scout won third. We smoked the other five men and the other female den leader in the races. I'm just kind of proud because a WOMAN placed second in the DAD'S race.

After the races, someone came up to me and asked me what was my husband's secret for building fast cars. I said, "Well, WE worked on the cars every night for a few weeks." I think people assume my son did not build his car -- but he did. He designed it, he cut it out on the band saw, he did axle work, he sanded it, he primed it, he painted it, he clear-coated it and he applied the graphite. My husband did help a with the axles and stood over his shoulder for guidance -- but MY SON BUILT HIS CAR.

I designed mine, my husband cut it out, he helped me with the axles and paint, but I did a lot of the work on the car. Really. And I'm NOT making one next year because it was a lot harder than I thought.

So what is our secret for winning? Well, researching good designs -- a thin, flat slab works best. (I chose a wedge because I like them better.) Weights in the back. Straight axles and wheels. Sometimes the wheels that come in the kit stink so you should buy more than one kit. Lots of graphite work and not too much handling before the races. That's all we do. BUT...we work on the cars every night.

Someone else asked me if we actually had fun building the cars. Yep. Every night after supper we would clear the kitchen table and go to work. We did this for a few weeks. I'd call it good quality family time. My son really enjoyed teaching me how to build a car this year.

I am very happy and proud of my son for all his hard work. He did a great job.

Next year I hope they rename the dad's race to an open class race.

For "the circle"

I found something that reminded me of "the circle." I placed it here.

The English Language

I know this email has been circulating for years, but it came across my screen recently and I printed it out for my son. We laughed ourselves silly reading it. Actually he laughed at me because I actually read a few of them wrong and had to correct myself.

This may be a fun reading exercise for a rainy day.

The bandage was wound around the wound.

The farm was used to produce produce.

The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

We must polish the Polish furniture.

He could lead if he would get the lead out.

The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

I did not object to the object.

There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

They were too close to the door to close it.

Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

I shed my clothes in the shed.

Let's face it - English is a ridiculous language.

There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in a hamburger; neither apple nor pine in a pineapple.

English muffins weren't invented in England, nor French fries in France.

Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which are neither bread nor sweet, but meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that bakers bake, but grocers don't groce?

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth?

One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? We ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn't a race at all).

That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

And finally, how about when you want to shut down your computer you
have to hit "START"?

Label Me This...

This is in response to a thread at odonnellweb.

Don't label me as a Christian homeschooler. I am a Christian, I am a homeschooler, but I do not homeschool for religious reasons. I do not define myself as a Christian homeschooler.

Don't label me as gay. I'm not.

Don't label me as anti-gay. I'm not.

Don't label me as a Marxist. I'm not.

Don't label me as anti-Marxist. I'm not.

Don't label me as an Atheist. I'm not.

Don't label me as an anti-Atheist. I'm not.

Don't label me as a Libertarian. I'm not.

Don't label me as anti-Libertarian. I'm not.

Don't label me as an ACLU Supporter. Sometimes I am, sometimes I am not.

Don't label me as an ACLU hater. I'm not.

Don't label me as an anti-Christian. I am not.

Don't label me as a person who hates people that are different and unique and that have different opinions or ideas, a different faith or lack of faith than I do. I do not hate them.

Go ahead, label me as an Home-Educating Parent. I am.

Go ahead, label me as someone who is trying to polarize the Christian community. I am someone who is trying to "spread the news" that physically punishing your child is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Go ahead, label me as an action hater. I don't hate people. I hate some of their actions. Hitting a child with a hand or anything else is something I hate.

Don't label me as having a hidden agenda. My agenda is loud and clear: STOP CHILD ABUSE

Do not assume that because we share a belief that Jesus died for our sins, that all our beliefs are the same.

Don't think that I will actually believe this boycott will do no good and will make homeschoolers in general "look" bad.

It is time for "THE OTHER HOMESCHOOLERS" to speak up and out. We're not all denim-jumper-wearing, husband-obeying, blind-faith people. Some of us educate ourselves on issues. Some of us can think for ourselves. Some of us can separate ourselves from our husbands. Case in point, as I blogged earlier, my husband does not support this boycott only due to "the censorship" issue. Because I am a Christian, that does not preclude me from stepping up to the plate and honoring my beliefs. I have a voice. I will use it. If it causes a polarization of the Christian community, so be it. I guarantee it will NOT reflect poorly on the homeschooling community.

The point, though, is that if saves just one child from being hit, then "we" have won the battle. Hopefully it will save many more, I hope we will win the war.

Discrimination

Tonight I experienced discrimination firsthand and didn't recognize it for what it was.

I did recognize it only I thought it was sexism in action.

I was wrong.

I was talking to a man -- rather I was *trying* to talk to a man and give him some very helpful information. Not only did he not give me eye-to-eye contact, he wouldn't look at me when I spoke. Not only did he not look at me when I spoke, he didn't look my direction.

He was short, curt and uppity. He didn't want my help. He didn't want me talking to him. That was very clear.

When my family got home from this activity, I discussed it with my husband. I expressed my opinion that the guy was just being a sexist jerk.

My wise husband smiled and started speaking in a gentle tone. Frankie, he said, sexism was only a small part of it. He didn't want contact with you because you are overweight.

I was floored and about to ask why he thought that. Then it dawned on me. That's why the man couldn't even look at me, because I'm overweight.

I cannot understand how someone can hate someone else because of their body shape. Same with skin color. Same with religion. Same with sexual preference. I could write a million "same with" sentences here. I don't understand discrimination.

Really, I just don't get it.

I think the people that can't look you in the eye and are so closed off to any other ideas than their own are the saddest people that walk the face of the earth. I think they must lead the most miserable lives imaginable. I think they are projecting their own self-hatred and self-doubt onto others. I think they are so full of hate that it eats away at them so they lash out at others in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.

I pity them.

My son saw all of this. He also was privy to our conversation after the fact. Another valuable lesson for him. Funny thing is, we don't need to tell him why discrimination in any form is wrong. He knows.

To drive home the lesson, though, I've come up with some vocabulary.

Tomorrow morning's lessons:

From dictionary.com:

discriminate: 2. To make distinctions on the basis of class or category without regard to individual merit ; show preference or prejudice

unreasonable: Not governed by reason.

preconceived: To form (an opinion, for example) before possessing full or adequate knowledge or experience.

conviction: A fixed or strong belief.

prejudice:

n.

1. a. An adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts.

b. A preconceived preference or idea.

2. The act or state of holding unreasonable preconceived judgments or convictions.

3. Irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race, or religion.

4. Detriment or injury caused to a person by the preconceived, unfavorable conviction of another or others.

tr. v.

1. To cause (someone) to judge prematurely and irrationally.

2. To affect injuriously or detrimentally by a judgment or an act.

hate:

1. a. To feel hostility or animosity toward.

b. To detest.

2. To feel dislike or distaste for

pity: Sympathy and sorrow aroused by the misfortune or suffering of another.

tolerance: The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others.

Tomorrow I will teach my son to start seriously questioning. Why do some people believe it is good to beat babies with plastic pipe? Why do people hate fat people? Why is there racial discrimination? Why do some religious people do what they do? I'm sure he will come up with a million questions.

Tomorrow I will stress my favorite line for the millionth time: LIVE AND LET LIVE with the caveat: as long as it does no one or thing harm. If it causes harm, fight it like crazy.

"When I grow up, I wanna be a..."

HEALTH INSPECTOR.

My son said this to me today. I'm thinking, what the heck???

I asked him why and he had a good reason.

"Dad said that sometimes health inspectors are given free food. Companies hire them to watch the wait staff to make sure they don't do anything gross like pick their nose when they're serving food. I want to be a health inspector because I want free food."

And there you have it.

Free food.

Color

I have a thing for color. I was just emailing with a friend that I was kicking myself that I didn't buy a ream of pastel pink copy paper at Office Depot when I was there. She wanted to know what I used it for.

Well, I like color. White is boring to me. When I was in high school, I bought colored paper spiral notebooks and my grades shot through the roof. I also bought a set of thin line makers and would come home from school and re-write all my notes in those colored makers. Weird, huh.

I buy little packs of 100-count pastel paper at Kmart. It's expensive compared to buying a ream at an office store. I like them. Pink is the color I do all my planning on. It's easy to find when I'm looking for some specific plans. My son likes the green. All his math facts sheets are in green pastel. Blues and yellows I use for other things, mostly for me.

I bought a pack of "brights" at Sam's Club at the beginning of the year. The red and blue was too dark to do school work on. We printed everything in orange paper at Halloween.

At Walgreen's the other day, I came across a pack of 100-count colored notebook paper. It's not pastel, it's very bright. Tommy's been doing practice math problems on that. He seems to like color as much as I do. I'll have him do his writing on that this summer.

We still use white paper, mostly for mapwork or if I'm out of pastels. The colored paper makes things more fun and peppy.

I read in a book while I was doing research for homeschooling that if children have difficulty focusing, that you should put their favorite color on their desktop. It will help them to focus. I haven't tried that yet, but it is worth a shot. Tommy has troubles with focus if I'm not in the room. Maybe a trip to the dollar store is in order. I could buy a green poster board and put it on the table.

I also like colored 3x5 cards. We don't use a lot of 3x5 cards, but when Tommy's math facts inexplicably escaped his brain last week, I made my own set of flashcards. I asked him which color he'd like his 9's on. Green. I made flashcards for all the upper multiplication and division problems on separate colors. As I started to make them, he requested certain color Sharpie markers. He told me that 9 is green to him. Six is blue. As much as I love color, I have never put colors with numbers.

Is it any wonder that my kitchen is pink, my hall is blue, my bedroom is purple, Tommy's room is yellow and blue? I really do like lots of color all around me.

Spring Planning

I've just been too frustrated to blog lately. That's because I go blog chasing and get disgusted at what I read. (Pro-Pearl garbage.)

School's been going well. We're over that awful spring-fever hump and going strong. I sat down today with a fresh quarter calendar and our books just to map things out a little. I'm not big on doing X the 23rd, Y the 24th, Z the 25th. We take our time with each subject, slowing down if we want to study further, speeding up and covering only the basics if it's boring. Of course we get sidetracked a lot, especially with science. Not sidetracked, but something piques Tommy's interest and we go off on that tangent. And that's okay by me. =)

It looks as if we are going to finish everything by the end of May. Yes!

Much to my son's dismay, though, I've announced we're doing summer school lite. I've talked about it all year so he knew it was coming. He's very upset. Tommy even asked me today if he could do all his work independently on the weekends so he could be finished a couple weeks earlier. lol Yeah, but...we're still doing summer school. With breaks, though. I certainly don't want to do school every single day.

For the summer I'm planning on continuing with math. It's going well but for math facts. Why is it that a child can pass a 100-problem-timed test several days in a row on his math facts and then wake up one morning and all those facts have escaped his brain? Why? WHY? See mom cry. See mom banging her head on the kitchen table. We will drill, practice, play math fact games until they NEVER escape his brain again. Hopefully.

Also on the schedule is a writing program. I didn't actually buy a new program for summer, I'm going to teach him about some of the different types of writing and then have him start outlining and writing five-paragraph essays. I might also have him do the American History writing program (forget the name, but it's by the Logos school) that I bought and we never used. Ahem. I hope my husband doesn't find out about that, he'll get ticked. He thinks I spend too much on school.

Finally on the summer agenda, science and lots of it. I'm still in the beginning planning stages, but I see lots of mini-units in our future. Lots of outside nature stuff. Lots of experiments. My son has requested a garden. We still have plenty of time to plan the garden, we still have snow on the ground -- plus it snowed again today.

Might throw in a weather station, too. Oh, and astronomy...oh the possibilities.

We tore up the check to Uncle Milton's and have decided to order our hermit crabs from Carolina Biological instead. We're going to be ordering a butterfly kit too. Hopefully we'll find some tadpoles at one of our lakes.

I like the planning stage as much as the carrying-it-out part. My plan is to make summer school seem as if it's not school at all, but lots of fun. If only I could make math fun.

What a waste of money -- Uncle Milton's Hermit Crab Habitat

We went shopping in the big city today. The big city actually has a bookstore, a craft store, decent restaurants, an Office Depot, a mall, a Home Depot and other great places.

While at the craft store, I picked up some things for my son's county fair projects. He found an Uncle Milton's Live Hermit Crab Habitat. $26.99. He didn't beg, he asked nicely if he could have it. We kept trying to explain that it was probably junk but he kept saying how cool it would be to have a hermit crab or two. So after walking through the store, debating, we finally gave in and bought it.

Big mistake.

Our $26.99 got us the cheapest piece of plastic that bends and warps and barely stands up on its own. It is JUNK. Most toy packaging comes with stronger plastic than this thing. The cat will be able to destroy it if he sees a hermit crab inside. If the cat even jumped on it, it would collapse. Everything but food was included. Junk, junk, junk.

Also included was the FREE coupon for a hermit crab. All you have to do is mail the coupon in and include shipping and handling for the crab. $6.95 shipping and handling. $13.95 for two crabs.

RIP OFF!

Because it is a major PITA to drive to the big city to shop, we won't be returning it. We will be using the coupon and spending yet another $13.95 for two hermit crabs. We'll use one of our glass aquariums to house the crabs instead.

I knew better, I knew better, I knew better.

Next time we think of buying something in a city far, far away, I'll be opening the box to check it out first.

$26.99, $13.95 -- I could have bought books!

At the Kitchen Table Tonight...Censorship

Tonight after supper, the three of us started a discussion on censorship. It was very enlightening to all three of us. My son sided with me immediately. My husband took what normally is my role. I took what normally is his role. He is a conservative. I grew up in a liberal family.

I brought the boycott topic up. I asked my husband if he would join me in my boycott. His answer? No.

Of course my jaw dropped to the table.

Why?

Because it's censorship. "As much as I hate it, as much as I hate what they are advocating, it is censorship."

We had a big, long discussion on censorship. My son decided the book should be banned off the face of the earth and then burned. Then we brought up how the conservative right try to and succeed sometimes to ban such books as Harry Potter, Narnia, Heather Has Two Mommies, My Brother Sam is Dead, The Stupids, The Color Purple which was turned into one of mom's all-time favorite movies, to name a few.

I told my son of stories where people have imitated crimes in novels. He thought the novels should be banned.

I told my son that some people hate Disney. He wanted to know why and I said because they are magical, and magic is against the bible's teachings. Maybe those should be banned, too.

We went through a long list of all the types of books out there: How to commit suicide and Kevorkian's books on assisted suicide. Had to get a little off topic with that to explain what that was.

We should ban those.

We kept bringing up other books and topics that might be offensive to some.

All should be banned.

Then I said to my son: Guess what? There are no books left. All books have been banned. Every book out there is going to be offensive to someone.

His eyes got huge. I could almost see that light bulb above his head going on.

At this point my husband got into a little bit of a "discussion" about children's rights. We bantered back and forth. We even brought up the cult that is demonstrating at the American soldiers' funerals. My husband, although he hated what they did, thought they should have freedom of speech. Then he jokingly added that he wants the right to protest the protesters. The protesters infuriate me and I don't know if I'm big enough to support their right of freedom of speech in that forum. Gulp.

My husband asked me how I could believe in censorship.

I couldn't come up with an answer right off the bat. How can I? It goes against everything I believe in: Freedom of choice, freedom of speech, live and let life. How can I believe in censorship?

After sitting there for a few very awkward moments, I turned to my son and said this: I am against censorship. Vehemently against it. However, sometimes we have to stand up for our principles. My view on the safety of children is stronger than my view on censorship. In my perspective, the greater good is to protect children and stop the production of child-abuse manuals and devices that are produced for the sole intent of inflicting pain. It may be wrong in the realm of censorship, but it is right in my heart and for children. I believe in it and therefore I will continue with my boycott.

My husband and I agreed to respect each other's choice. I do admire him for taking a stand on such a painful subject. I will add that he thinks the author was probably the child who mutilated bugs, pulled the wings off flies, killed baby birds, etc., because he was so cruel.

19 free gifts

Okay, so maybe I'm getting a little petty here, but this question has been at the back of my mind since I heard of a certain magazine.

Why do they need to give 19 free gifts to get you to subscribe? I've heard of magazines like Time, for instance, giving one free gift or Sports Illustrated giving one free gift, but why 19?

It makes me think they are desperate for subscriptions. Is it that bad of a magazine, they have to give you 19 free gifts to get you to order?

19?

First listed is Focus on the Family. That's enough to get me running in the other direction PRONTO. And yes, I am a Christian. (A point that is really nobody's business, but just added for emphasis -- the silent group speaking up, Doc.)

Scrolling down the list, oh, there's BJU Press...another supplier that I will never buy from. Ever. Not even used.

Scrolling further...oh wait, LOOK, it's NO GREATER JOY, Debi Pearl’s best homeschooling ideas from 20-plus years of homeschooling.

Yup, free, with your subscription. No Greater Joy. Free. One of the 19.

Three strikes, you're out.

Becky's Boycott Business

My very good friend, Becky at Farm School, wrote a very powerful letter regarding the boycott. Please, take a moment and read it. Thank you, Becky, and bravo!

Boycott Business

Memories of Public School Sexism

H at Not School has an excellent post entitled Pass Me the Vomit Bag. It reinforces something that I was thinking about just yesterday.
When my son was in public school, his school had to take part in a research project where someone came in and did weird exercises. It was supposed to fire up neurons and actually build more neurons in the brain.

My son hated it. You have to know my son to appreciate this, but he's very serious just like his mom and dad, and he just isn't the type kid that can bark like a seal, dance in public, or crawl on the floor like an alligator in front others. He just cannot do it. And that's okay.

And he didn't. And I got phone calls. "He's not participating. We can't make him do this. He needs this to build his brain."

So, this mom, who volunteered twice a week in his classroom already, went in three days in a row during this brain boost project. The kids did it on a daily basis the entire year. It wasn't bad, but I thought it was all rather silly. Had I been a child and forced to do it, I wouldn't have done it either -- parts of it.

So I watched the first morning, and my son sat with me because he refused to participate. We went home that night and discussed it. My final directive to him was do the parts that don't embarrass you. Barking like a seal was terribly embarrassing for him. Really, he's that sensitive. I would have been too. I told him he didn't have to do what made him uncomfortable.

I show up the next day and lo and behold, my son actually participates in parts of it -- the parts he feels comfortable with. I'm satisfied and proud he faced his fears. They aren't. He needs to do all of it to build his brain up.

So at the dinner table that night, I discuss this with my husband. He decides to take a half hour off work and go watch. I went a third time. My husband got down on the floor with the kids and did everything in the program.

My son wouldn't have done a thing if I had not encouraged him, given him permission to do only what's comfortable, to add things slowly.
My son had participated that day and the day before because I had made him feel safe and gave him freedom of choice.

I think it was wonderful that my husband went and was supportive. I know many men wouldn't do that. It did not make my son do the things he felt uncomfortable with, though. Dad was performing his parental obligation to help his son, nothing more.

Here's the kicker. The staff at that school put my husband up on the highest pedestal. He could do no wrong. He was basically worshipped! The rest of that school year I heard, "Your husband is so wonderful." "How's your husband?" "I can't believe how supportive and loving your husband is." "Tell your husband hello for us." "He's such a good father." Oh puke.

He shows up for a half hour one day and he is suddenly a male-parent god? Because he's male and took an interest in his son in front of an audience of public school staff, he's promoted to sainthood? Because he's actually performing his father role he is adored? I was shocked and appalled at the way he was treated versus how I was treated. I mean, I was there volunteering twice a week. I was the one that did homework after school, that took DS to the library weekly, that read all the classroom newsletters. My husband shows up for a half hour and is the man all men should aspire to be?

My husband is a good man and a good father. But by the mere fact he showed up for a half hour does not make him a saint. And he will be the first to admit that. My son learned a valuable lesson in sexism that year. We discussed it openly and honestly at home.

It was that same treat-them-like-they're-four-years-old mentality that H was discussing in her blog. We, the parents, are children and needed to be treated as if we are completely ignorant and unaware of our parental responsibilities. We need to be talked down to yet praised for our efforts. My husband was doing his job: he was being a father. Why do they not respect the mothers that are doing their jobs, too? When will they realize that there are a lot of people out there that take their parenting responsibilities very seriously.

As my son says way too often, sheesh.

Another HS Cartoon

Cute Cartoon

Frankie Preaches, Kinda Sorta

This is one of my favorite emails that's been floating around for years. I've been meaning to post it here for awhile, and today just seems appropriate.

Use your brains, people. This really is a good example of picking and choosing bible passages as a way of justification: In this example, it's silly. Put your brains to work regarding beating your children. Silly can't even describe it. Criminal does.

Dear Dr. Laura, Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22
clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them.

a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

e) I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an
Abomination (Lev 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

g) Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die?

i) I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

j) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does
his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev 24:10-16) Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev.
20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging. Your devoted disciple and adoring fan.

INNOCENT CHILD DEAD -- BOYCOTT

I had started a post last weekend about a book called To Train Up a Child. It is the only book that I have ever thrown away not due to poor condition. I do not believe in book censorship, but that trash has no business in anyone's home. I stopped reading after the authors stated to pull the hair of an infant who was biting while nursing and to thump an infant when he started to pull hair, glasses, etc.

A fundamentalist friend gave me the book. It made me ill. I deleted the post before publishing because it was making me physically ill to think of all the abused children. I should have finished the entry and posted.

And now I've come to learn that an innocent child has been murdered by his mother who followed the advice of the authors of To Train Up a Child. Story

I wondered when I read that book years ago why the authors were not turned in for child abuse and promoting child abuse. I did nothing but throw the book away. I will take a stand now.


BOYCOTT

Michael and Debi Pearl
homeschoolblogger.com
The Old School House Magazine
Advertisers at The Old School House Magazine
advertisers


That child's blood is on your hands, Michael and Debi Pearl. According to my bible, murder is a SIN. Your actions are criminal.

Let's go beyond blogging. Let's start a letter writing campaign, or an email campaign, to all the advertisers at The Old School House Magazine. If they continue to advertise in a magazine that promotes child abuse, we, the homeschooling public, will not buy their products. What can we do further? America is a land of free speech, but when that speech promotes child abuse which is illegal, what can we do?

How do they sleep at night knowing the pain and torture that is inflicted upon innocent children at their direction?

Bloggers outraged:

http://beingbridget.blogspot.com/2006/03/boycott-supporters-of-child-abuse.html
http://dantesvirgil.blogspot.com/2006/03/repulsive-hipocrisy-boycott-these.html
http://intothesunrise.blogspot.com/
http://evilmissy.blogspot.com/
http://deskfullofclutter.blogspot.com/
http://asmallcornerofnowhere.blogspot.com/
http://lifewithheathens.blogspot.com/2006/03/boycott-refuse-to-support-abuse.html
http://www.odonnellweb.com/
http://cobranchi.com/


If you want to be added to the list, let me know.

May it be noted I am a Christian and I have never in my life believed in spanking or any form of child abuse.

County Fair Arts and Crafts

Last year my son entered things in the county fair under the Cub Scout division. He won lots of ribbons and a little cash, too. It was a lot of fun. He'll enter under Cub Scouts again this year. As we were walking through the fair, we spotted the 12 and under arts and crafts exhibits. We decided that it would be cool to incorporate County Fair Arts and Crafts into our school. I saved last year's fair book and typed up select categories that are boyish enough and I think my son might enjoy doing.

I'm scratching my head on some of these categories, though. Plastics? What does it mean, plastics? Liquid painting or stenciling? Isn't all paint liquid? I don't get that one, either.

I thought I'd share what we are doing because I know there are county fairs all over the country. My son was thrilled seeing his creations up on display, and was even more thrilled when he got ribbons. (He won the grand champion for Scouts division, which was very cool.) I highly recommend entering the county fair. As my son said, "Mom, plain and simple, it's just cool!"

Maybe some of you crafters have some ideas to help us out. We have no Wal-Mart in our town. We have no craft store, either. We are 60 miles from the nearest Hobby Lobby. I hardly ever go to Hobby Lobby because I spend too much money there. (In other words, I can't just hop in my car to go get ideas.)

County Fair Arts and Crafts

Basketry

Either buy a kit or find something on the internet. A rope basket would be cool.

Ceramics

Buy something and have DS paint it.

Plastics

???

Wreath or swag

Probably not, not too boyish...unless we made a Harry Potter wreath. Would a Christmas wreath count or would that have to be under Holiday.

Wall hanging

Something Harry Potter. ???

Beadwork

Make a bead wristband or a beadie.
Patterns
More Patterns

Recycled
Cool Recycled Site
DS will be making a train similar to that on this website. We have all the parts saved up, just need to build it.

Toy, small

???

Painting on item

Will buy a box or plaque and have him paint a scene or design.

Paper craft

quilling, oragami, paper airplanes...???

Liquid painting or stenciling

???

Leather

Leather moccasins

Craft stick item
probably a craft stick bridge. However, DS has free access to the craft sticks and builds with them all the time. His latest creation is a telephone holder. It's a major PITA because the phone falls off, but we use it anyway.

Holiday
Christmas wall hanging

Not specified
??? Could have fun but I'm drawing a blank

Quilt

DS has been begging to learn to make a quilt. (Probably because of my civil-war era quilts from my great-grandparents that I love so much) I have purchased everything, just need to give up control over MY sewing machine and quilting supplies. Gulp. Will make a baby quilt log cabin style with the Quilt in a Day pattern.

Pillow

?? Does Wal-Mart still sell Harry Potter fabric? How creative can you really get with a pillow? Will search the net.

Stuffed Animal

Need to find pattern...I'm wondering if a yarn snake would qualify as a stuffed animal. It's not really stuffed, but cool. My pattern is like a pom-pom snake, as long as you want to make it...wouldn't an eight-foot long snake be cool?

Latchhook

Have kit, have started.

Construction – wood or metal

Hmmm, the choices are wide open.

Collection of items – small

Ha ha, snort, too many collections here. Will probably spray paint an egg carton and display rocks. Last year he displayed his state keychains in cub scouts.

Photography – framed (made to hang)

Time to hand over the camera.

Picture – number painting (made to hang)

Have purchased, need to start.

Picture – any type

Probably a picture of his dream house, which there are at least a million of around here.

Refinished furniture

I have a night table that is old and ugly. He could use it in his room. Would painting qualify rather than staining?

Woodcarving

Sky's the limit here.

For your morning coffee

Have a cup of coffee with me this morning.

My son and I both think this is pretty funny. Put the coin in the slot, select your coffee and then make sure to click on apri after the coffee pours.

Really, this reflects my sense of humor.

And on another note, we got a cool email today with sidewalk drawings. We liked them so much we searched the artist, Julian Beever. Scroll down and check them out. Our favorite is the boat followed closely by the Coke bottle. Very talented!

Purity Fire

I received this from my local homeschool group. Okay, I admit that I am in a mini-depression right now. This kind of thing just does not help. At first I laughed at it because it was so funny, but then it fueled my depression because I want a homeschool group that isn't so extreme, so weird.

I wasn't going to blog this because the local hs group people have been very nice to me, have not preached. However, this is so against my beliefs and so stupid that I just couldn't not share it.

The two big questions are: What is a manly meal? Is it prepared by young virgin girls so it is pure?

What exactly do they do at the purity fire? Throw the boys into the fire?

I know...they tell the manly men and boys to not visit www.themarriagebed.com because they got smart and figured out that is just a place where Christians can discuss porn under the guise of their religion.

Shaking my head.

PURITY FIRE

For young men 7-12 grade and their fathers

April 8,2006
at 6:00 p.m.

at the XYZ Farm

Cost of $15.00 pair ($5.00/ additional son)

The evening will begin with a manly meal, followed
by music and skits. Mr. ABC will challenge and inspire
father and sons to be pure.

Reserve your tickets by calling ???

It was that bad.

This is one of the buildings downtown where I live. A friend of my husband's took it. You don't see that every day -- that's how windy it was yesterday during our blizzard. Kinda funny looking, but helped to reaffirm why I was in a very bad mood yesterday.

Let's Ban March

I think March should be outlawed. Maybe the last two weeks of February, too.

We had gorgeous weather Saturday that turned in a hurry. We are in a blizzard now except they call it a winter storm nowadays. Schools were closed, although we ended up doing three subjects anyway. It's actually pretty and much more tolerable than blizzards in colder months.

I was highly annoyed by one of the moms from scouts. She called my house four times this morning and let the phone ring nine to ten times each. I don't answer the phone during school. There are several reasons for this. One, I am spending time with my son and teaching and/or supervising him. Two, I have a propensity to gab and gab and gab when the phone rings. Depending who is on the other end, I can talk for a couple hours. Three, I think my son needs to learn that things can wait and to keep focused on what he's doing. Anyway, the mom emailed me instead. She made the comment that "someone must be on the internet this morning because they aren't answering the phone." Now in print that doesn't look bad, but if you heard her say it...highly snippy and sarcastic and bitchy.

I am in such a bad mood and it just seems to be spilling over to everything. Sigh.

My sister called tonight and talked an hour. She was diagnosed with diabetes today. My heart breaks for her. My half sister has it as well. My mom had it and my dad has it. All adult onset. I don't -- yet, but if I don't lose some weight and take better care of myself. She lectured me to wake up before it was too late. She's right.

I just cannot seem to focus on anything. Everything seems to be a major task. I have library books sitting here that were due Feb. 28th. Aargh! I'm not bipolar, really, I'm not -- but I just seem to be bouncing up and down lately. Last week was all down, I had a short reprieve Saturday, and Sunday and today I'm down again. It stinks. It's hard to do school when I'm like this. Today was another jammie day -- for me.

Someone needs to whack me upside the head to get me going. If my mom were alive, I'd be lectured severely. Of course she's probably the reason that I get depressed anyway, she was a carbon copy of Joan Crawford. (I'm NOT kidding, either.) I haven't broken all of my learned responses and reactions yet.

March last year was such a struggle, too. I really think the month should disappear. I don't like to whine all the time and that seems to be all my blog is lately, whine.

Ugh.