Spanish

Thomas and I tried to study Spanish last year. We have Bob's college text and tapes. It really isn't too much for us even though it's a text book because we can break it down into small chunks. Thomas does really well with the chunks.

We're having a slight problem, though. That problem is ME! I just am putting up a block to learning Spanish! I am slowing us down because I can't remember the vocabulary and then I cannot pronounce it correctly.

To be quite honest, I think the text book is boring. It was free, sitting there on the shelf gathering dust -- and then I bought another text book on eBay so we'd each have one, and that was less than $10. The price was right. But it's boring.

I've been looking at Rosetta Stone. Wow, it's a lot of money. I sure like the visuals though. I have done the Turkish sample a few times and I am remembering what I'm hearing/seeing. Thomas did that sample once and remembered it all.

Is Rosetta Stone worth the money?

money, money, money

Music to My Ears

I caught Thomas singing yesterday. Big deal, right? Yeah, it was a big deal because Thomas doesn't sing.

My kiddo isn't in to music. He hates--H-A-T-E-S--to sing. His one complaint about summer camp? Singing camp songs. He refused.

So yesterday I heard him singing. I can't complain about what he was singing, because he was singing.

Want to know the band that he is now in love with? I have had to endure listening to every one of their You Tube videos for the past few days. It's okay, because I like them -- takes me back to my childhood and teen days. I've never owned their album. Thomas will, though, as soon as I can get to Wal-Mart. I'm going to buy him a Happy New Year/Not Back to School present for Tuesday morning. We can listen to it during school that day. On my CD player, that sounds a million times better than the speakers on our laptops.

This is his new favorite band and song: (Should we be concerned? lol) (I think he has a crush on Agnetha, who must be near 60 by now. She was a cutie in the video, though.)

The Hardest Thing...

The hardest thing I ever did in my life was have a child and return to work. I had no choice, as Bob was finishing up his degree and I was the bread winner. I worked until Thomas was 22 months old. I hated every single minute I was away from my baby.

So I was quite shocked when I was reading about Governor Palin just now at Wikipedia. She had her youngest child on April 18, 2008. This baby boy has Down Syndrome. This baby is four months old. Four months old.

Personally, I could never spend that much time away from my baby, especially a special needs baby, especially when I knew how much time is going to be spent campaigning.

I will not judge. I will not judge. I will not judge.

I know some women are better mothers when they work. I worked with them. I know no one thinks twice about a man spending that much time away from his baby.

I'm old fashioned and sexist, I guess.

I just find it -- looking for a word here -- strange.

I am sitting here very torn, because I'm all for Women's Lib. I believe wholeheartedly in a woman's right to choose, equal pay for equal work, etc. I really do. And I believe a woman has a right to choose to work or stay home with her child(ren). And I support that choice. But do I in all cases?

I just could never leave my baby, my four-month-old Down Syndrome baby, like that. I just couldn't do it. And sadly, I have the need to force myself to work on being open minded about it.

I had already made my decision to vote for Obama, so this isn't a political thing. It's a mother thing.

Frankie, who has some work to do and fully expects lots of negative comments on this one!

A Lovely Day

Thomas and I had a lovely day today. Instead of working on school plans, cleaning the school room, paying bills, doing laundry, cleaning house, etc., we hopped in the car and headed toward civilization.

Mankato, Minnesota was our destination. It's over an hour from where we live, but it's the closest town that has any big chain stores. Well, we have Walmart and Kmart and a few fast food chains, but it has a mall, a BOOKSTORE, an Office Max, Sam's Club...cool stores.

Today's mission was to find The Sims2 Apartment Life for Thomas. We could have got it here, but it was much more fun to go there. We left this morning. We went to the mall and walked it a few times. Ahhh, Frankie needed to get off her lazy you-know-what and exercise a little. Then we hit all the fun stores: Yankee Candles, where I made a small purchase, the Game Stop where Thomas was sorely disappointed that what he was seeking didn't come out until tomorrow. And of course we hit the bookstore.

We went to the great pet store and bought our good dog food and two containers to store the food in. Pesky little border collies are too smart for Rubbermaid containers. We bought two containers that latch and they won't be able to open. Ahem, hopefully. The dogs like to snack on the cat food, so hopefully we'll alleviate that!

We went to Sally Beauty Supply just because Bob wasn't with us and I could. lol Bob will buy monthly female products at the grocery store without batting an eye, but he won't go to Sally Beauty Supply. Go figure.

We stopped off at a Baker's Square for a mid-afternoon snack. We had never gone there before, and we indulged in cheesecake and a cinnamon roll. Mmmmm.

All the while, we talked and talked like we hadn't seen each other in a long time. We laughed, we joked, and we thoroughly enjoyed each other's company.

It was a special day. We left the sadness and grieving behind. We lived in the moment and loved each other's company.

I was only slightly annoyed at our final stop on the way out of town: Best Buy. The greeter at the door was a retired gentleman. He touched my arm and asked, "When does school start?" I smiled and said Tuesday. He said, "Oh, Mom, I bet you're glad!" This is where Frankie got a little ornery. I smiled and said, "Oh, yes, we're very excited to start school again. We homeschool. My son is a very good kid and I really enjoy being in his company."

The man literally took a step back. He smiled, said that was great, and then turned and walked away.

Why do people assume that moms are tired of being with their kids at the end of summer? Even when Thomas WAS in public school, I hated the start of school. I hated it! I will never get that.

Mom 101: Love your child each and every moment, because they grow too damned fast. They'll be on their own in the blink of an eye. So don't get annoyed by them being with you, embrace it. If they're climbing the walls, be a parent and do something with them, guide them, love them.

There, off my soap box.

So yes, we are excited for school to start this year. Even Thomas confessed today he's ready to go, albeit a little nervous. He knows the work will be more difficult this year. But we're excited because we homeschool.