A great day

Wow.

Yesterday was a great day.

It was one of those days where you pause many times and think to yourself, "This is great!"

A fit beginning to such a splendid day was me, waking up when I felt like it. Now you moms and dads out there can imagine that after three kiddos stealing my sleep for many years, my relationship with sleep is pretty tight. Me and sleep, we're like two crossed finger. Or two fingers crossed. Whatever - you get the picture.

Now that my youngest has been waking up after I do (yes! it does happen) , I can complete my sleep cycle and wake up when it is light. Ahhhhhh......snuggling in bed for 15 more minutes - ALONE - what a luxury. Love it. Love it. Love it!

So at 7:30ish I roll out of bed. Make my Peet's Decaf Sumatra coffee. Mmmmmmm. Pot of decaf green for the kids. I treated myself to a bowl of ceral, some sugary, fruity, supposed to be good for you kind from Trader Joe's. Usually I am forced to eat very, very branny bran muffins for reasons I won't go into now.

After dropping Marie at preschool, I drove the five blocks back to my house to begin "school time" with Rose and Richard. We sit on the couch, all snuggled together, and I read to them. It is my absolute most favorite part of homeschooling. We are together, we are reading and we have great talks.

Currently we are reading a book called Breadwinner, about a little girl in Afghanistan under the Taliban. You can bet I stopped quite a few times to sputter,

"Can you believe in our times that women are treated like this? It's ridiculous!"

I knew the women had to wear burkas and be totally covered. What I didn't fully realize is that all women were (are?) not allowed to leave their home with out a man. If they did they had to have a permission note from their husband pinned to their burka. PINNED TO THEIR BURKA! Women with degrees. Writers, Teachers. Treated like kindergarten children. In this story, the mother and older sister hadn't left their house for over a year and half! I was fuming.

But it led us into a great conversation about equality and how great our country is and how lucky we are. Man, we are lucky.

So that was reflection moment #1: I really appreciated: being with my kids, talking about important things, and living in the US.

A few hours later, I was sitting at the kitchen counter. Rose was at the computer getting all excited about the progress she had made memorizing her multiplication tables. Now, the fact that she is excited is enough to make my whole year. For at least two years she has been fighting and dreading any kind of timed multiplication quiz. So the fact that this new computer class she's taking has got her enthusiastic is BIG in itself. As she typed away, she would occassionally turn and say,

"Look at the progress I've made!" with a big smile on her face. Melt. Melt. Melt. (maybe only homeschool moms will understand that).

So, I'm sitting next to Richard who was taking a pretty difficult chemistry test. I looked out the window and had my reflection moment #2:

I'm doing it. I'm really doing it. My kids are really learning. Rose is making huge strides this year in reading and math. Richard, for goodness sakes, is converting grams to atoms with conversion factors and Avogadro's Number and back again. This is something I don't think I ever mastered in high school. And he's 11. We are really homeschooling! Hooray!

In the afternoon, my dearest, bestest friend from high school came over with her two kids. The one who was supposed to move to Germany, then lived in SoCal, has now moved about 4 miles away from me. And her kids and 2/3 of my kids play really well together.

We sat on my front balcony and watched them zoom around on scooters, bikes, tricyles and feet. I turned to her and said,

"Our kids are playing together. Who would have thought in high school, that we would be sitting here twenty plus years later, watching our kids play together?"

How cool is that? That was reflection moment #3.

I don't think I had any more major reflection moments that evening. We just had a nice dinner of homemade lentil soup and mmmmm...fresh french bread - lots of it. I put littlest one to bed. Then to top it all off - we indulged in ice cream with chocolate sauce! My jeans may rebuke me, but I couldn't resist.

We ended the lovely day watching the 2nd half of The Hindinberg, a surprisingly good movie about, you guessed it, the Hindenberg. Turns out (Joe looked it all up at work - is that what he does all day?) there was never any conclusion about why that German blimp exploded. The movie postulates that it was sabotage by the resistance to the Nazi's. A bomb. Yikes! It was so exciting.

But since the ending was so sad (36/90ish people died), we had to watch a few minutes of Monte Python and the Holy Grail to perk up. "Bring out your dead!" never fails to brighten my outlook. And the kids could go to bed happy.

Before knocking off, I read a bit. A fascinating book, Three Cups of Tea, is about a mountain climber who ends up building schools in northern Pakistan and Afghanistan. And girls can even go to them! A pretty cool way to end the day, especially considering the book I'd been reading to the kids in the morning.

This kind of day doesn't come often. Today, as I carried my screaming, kicking three year old to her room for various and sundry infractions, I longed for yesterday.

I did my best to savor it.

Blogisms

There is a word that has been rattling around my head for the last few days: TRUTHINESS.

I have only encountered this word in the blogosphere. Sounds a lot like truthFULness, and that's how I am taking it. But it sounds so much cuter. And full of pizazz. And joie de vivre. I hope I can find an opportunity to employ that yummy word soon.

Another term I enjoy, which I've only found on blogs is: FACEHOLE. As in mouth. I'm not sure if I love this term as much as the other, but it has a certain edginess and hipness about it that I like.

Facehole stuffing. Facehole cramming. Seems like a lot of people relish doing this.

See...I'm pretty out of touch with the world. I am not HIP to the new JIVE. Ya know? The first time Joe said something about giving someone his "props" I corrected him in his incorrect usage of the word. He had to fill me in on this new lingo - and what it meant. Duh....

I don't watch TV. I am not out in the work world. I read a few things online, but can't stand too much news. I suppose NPR and Joe are my biggest links to the outside world. I'll never forget the incredulity on an acquantance's face when I didn't know who Clay Aiken was.

"You don't know who Clay Aiken is?" with big intake of breath.....

So, learning a new word or two is a nice connection for me with the world "out there". You know, the world that isn't all about snacks, and laundry, and dividing fractions, and unvoiced consonants, and playdates, and ballet, and fencing, and cooking...well, you get the picture.

I have been skipping around quite a few blogs lately. Peering into other folks' lives can be darn interesting, if the writing is good. But it is bumming me out - because so many people are so much funnier and write so much better than I do! And man! People put all kinds of personal pictures in their blogs.

I can't. Nope. Made an agreement with Safety Man: no real names (except mine) and no pics in the blog. Sometimes I fudge the rules a little bit. But not too much. Marital peace is important to me.

And on another completely unrelated topic: did you know that LBJ was afraid of sleeping alone? If Ladybird wasn't there to keep him safe and sound, he'd have a secret service agent sleep in the room with him. Guess he'd had a heart attack, and was afraid of having another and dying in his sleep. The things you learn when your kid reads a lot. I learn the oddest things when when he says,

"Hey Mom, did you know......?"

Like, did you know it costs $40,000 per hour for Air Force One to operate? Betcha didn't.

How about this? At the start of WWI there were no guns on planes. So after flying reconnaisance and waving when they saw each other, the Brits and the Germans started carrying bricks to drop on each other (they aimed for the engine). Then they graduated to hand guns, with which they shot at each other. Mounted machine guns didn't come until well into the war. Imagine.....bricks. Pretty astounding when you consider how far planes have come in a hundred years in terms of speed, maneuverability and firepower.

Well, time to go prepare dinner so I and the fam can STUFF OUR FACEHOLES! hee hee

Safety Man

My hubby is Safety MAN!

He works hard to ensure the security of his family. He makes certain that no dangerous activities occur.

I appreciate his love and desire to protect. Though, sometimes it can be a bit....stifling.

Safety Man's Rules:
- no beds under or near windows (earthquake might shatter glass, sending shards of crystalline death down upon our progeny). "But honey," I argue, "they are shatter-proof windows!" Uh uh. That's a no go.

- no kids' names or pictures on the internet. Period. OK - he's got a point on that one.

- kids must wear helmets if they come within five feet of a bike, skateboard or scooter. I agree with this one, though sometimes I let my three year old toddle around on her tricycle with out one - don't tell!

- children under 5 not allowed in hot tub / spa / my hot bath: yes, it's true that babies under six months or a year or something can't regulate their body temp very well - but once they're two or so I say they're good to go.

- me not allowed to go door to door canvassing for my main man Ron Paul: as if I would!

I can't remember now all the many times Safety Man has restricted or otherwise quashed my plans due to their dangerosity. But I know there have been lots of them. My friend, anonymous, can attest to that.

But I love him and all his eye protection. Though I'm not a reckless person, and I'm not sure how much protection I need, I am grateful for how much he loves me and kiddos.

Yeah Safety Man!

Toddlerisms

My three and a half year old daughter, Marie, is entering into the transformative phase from toddler to little girl. It is magical, funny and heartwarming to witness. But it is also a bit sad. No, really sad. My baby is disappearring. No matter how wonderfully cute and funny the little girl she is becoming is, my baby is still going away.

I remember the first night she slept in a big girl bed. I was so happy to get her beautiful pink bed. And she went into it perfectly - no residual missing of the crib - no getting out in the middle of the night. But that first night after I put her to sleep in her new bed, I shut the door behind me and unexpectedly burst into tears. My baby was growing up!

I think it is especially poignant for me as she is my third, and last, little one. I'm never going to go through the magical gauntlet that is babyhood of one of my babies again - ever. I know I'm wierd, but I'm already starting to think about grandchildren. I know! I know! My oldest kid is 11. So I'm reaching a bit. But it consoles me to think that someday in the next twenty or so years I'll get to hold and smell another snuggly bundle of smooshy cuteness.

In honor of Marie transitioning into her little girl self, I am sharing some of her collected toddler "gems". You know, those so-cute-you-practically-fall-off-your-chair things that toddlers say?

Here are a few of her best:

When something fell on the floor...
"It can't break because it's not glassable."

One time at dinner, Joe had just nailed Richard for disrepectfully interrupting and then rolling his eyes when corrected. Into the tense silence at the table, Marie blurts,
"Mama, everyone has a bottom!"

Her description of boogers:
"Hard nose roller things"

Trying to avoid getting in trouble for name calling:
"Rose, you're STU–"

Her interesting sense of the aging process:
"When you're little again, and I'm big......"

Hugging me tightly:
"Mama, I want to be with you ALL OF DA TIME"

Waving goodbye:
"See you later crocodile!"

sigh.....

glowing box

My son is a computer guy. Just like his Dad.

I have already lost many battles over computer time, but mostly have lost in the effort to prevent computer time from becoming an obsession. Too late.

He loves it. Can't get enough of it. Thinks I'm incredibly unfair in the amount of time allowed for his various computer activities.

Now we've had to distinguish between: gaming, reading, writing and coding. Gaming is limited to three hours per week, give or take 15 minute chunks based on behavior during the week. However, reading (if appropriate), writing (yeah!) and coding (yeah!) are allowed much more flexibility.

Recently we had to institute a rule that he has to take a 20-30 minute bike ride in the morning before getting on the computer. Otherwise, what do I see when I come out of my room every morning? Son at the computer.

But it just seems like there is always a new challenge. A new frontier. A new pain in my a#%$%. The most recent one is that he wants to code a "mod" for a game (Supreme Commander, which he wishes he was). That is great - except he wants to do it WITH someone. Who is this someone you ask? No way to know..... Is this person kosher? safe? kind? appropriate? Who knows....?

Yikes. Joe already broke the news that he can't use our server to host this "mod", which Richard is not happy about.

I struggle. I wrestle. I ponder and try to crunch my brain cells about this. How can we support and encourage good computer skills and activities, while making sure our little guy is safe?

The computer is in a very public area. I can look over his shoulder any time - and I do. I've never seen anything questionable yet. But I can't sit with him for an hour in the morning, and hours in the afternoon and supervise everything he does on that glowing box! C'est impossible! I have two other kids who require lots of attention. Plus a house to run. Plus my blog to write (sorry blog, I've been busy!)

So, my fantasies of my boy playing outside all afternoon, building things and generally running around are dashed. Fine. But the sight of him glued to the glowing screen for hours just bums me out. And yet! And yet! He creates web pages. He writes LOTR stories. He codes ..... stuff. He will end up like my hubby, doing stuff that I don't understand.

How do you supervise / oversee projects that you can't even fathom?

My parents never had to deal with this......

Homeshool Bru ha ha

The crazy court ruling which makes homeschooling illegal in CA hit about the time I was coming down with the WORST COLD EVER!!!!!! Throughout my fevers and chills, aching bones, joints and muscles, cram-packed full head, splitting heading and light sensitive eyes I have paid mild attention to the story.

Aside from the fact that right then, I really didn't care what my kids did, I wasn't worried. Between popping sudafeds and ibuprofins and nyquil I calmly answered friends' and family's questions. My first response to such a ruling is that there is no way homeschooling will be illegal in CA. There are too many homeschoolers who are willing to make life miserable for elected representatives to let it go that far.

We hope it doesn't have to end up with legislation, because that will mean more restriction than freedom for homeschoolers, but it is better than complete illegality.

Today my cold has morphed into more of a flu-like deal, complete with upset stomach, dizziness, a disgustingly productive and painful cough and I have lost my voice. I am whispering today..."SOH CAH TOA is how you remember sin, cosine and tangent" to my son (boy does that bring back memories from high school).

To go along with the general nauseous-ness of the day, I read this article in SFGate about the homeschooling conundrum. The opening of this piece kills me:

Let's be clear about this: Some homeschooling is pretty dreadful. Some of it is basically: I'm too indolent to send you to school, my child, so I'll say that I'm homeschooling you instead and you can help me sell greeting cards from home and make big money. Or scratch lottery tickets - something productive.

Do you think Mr. Carrol knows any homeschoolers? Might he have met or interviewed some? Or is he just spouting the mandatory "homeschoolers are crazy" mantra in order to justify the rest of his article.

His depiction of homeschoolers is so extreme, so far away from any of the many, many folks I know who educate their children at home. Not only that but it doesn't make sense! Too indolent? Hmmm......which do you think is a more indolent option? Keep kids home to teach, play with, read to, clean, feed, counsel all day? Or send them to school (and be blissfully alone!) for 6 - 8 hours a day?

If I were truly lazy, I would pack my kids off each day and go meet my friend for a latte and do a pilates class.

It is pretty disheartening for a major paper to run something so ludicrous, though to Carrol's credit he does conclude that homeschooling should be legal. He said some other good things too, I'll confess (boy it took me a while to cool down after that intro!). He debunks the myth that only "certifiied" teachers are capable of teaching kids. I've got nothing against teachers AT ALL, but I've talked to quite a few who confided that most of what they learned in their Education Masters program was crowd control.

So, today I spit out as much phlegm as possible so as not to irritate an already touchy tummy. I whisper all about gears and pulleys to my daughter as she constructs gear systems. And I reject the notion that we should stick our kids into failing schools in order to "save" them.

Hopefully this ruling will be overturned, or depublished (which means it can't be used as a precedent in any other cases). When I first started homeschooling I read very thick books all about the legal rights of homeschooling. Most of it is based on a 1925 Supreme Court ruling (and natural law and common sense I would add!):

"The child is not the mere creature of the State. Those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.

1925 Supreme Court ruling
Pierce v. Society of Sister

Truly, I am not worried. What is the absolute worst that could happen? Homeschooling becomes illegal, school districts decide to pursue truancy and then I've have to enroll my kids in a private school. A bummer? Yes. End of the world? No. But it won't come to that.

Shoes

I think I've blogged about this before, but I'm too lazy to check my previous posts. But some things are annoying enough to write about more than once.

There is something to me unfathomable about childrens' minds.

I know they are kids, and their brains aren't fully developed, but sometimes the things they do (or don't do) are perplexing.

A major example of this phenomenon would be: Getting Ready to Go Syndrome.

Whenever we leave the house I give my kids at least five minutes notice. When my big kids were small I would then add,

"Now you should go to the bathroom, put on your socks, find your shoes, put them on, and get whatever you need to bring with you in the car," as I still do for my three year old.

Seems to me that this would be helpful. But no. Those are just too many steps for their little noggins to handle. Perhaps their thoughts go something like this:

Time to go soon.... Going to the bathroom now....Washing hands..... I wonder what's for lunch..... Oh, what is that interesting thing on the floor (in the book...etc.)

...and they are lost.

When I yell one last "LETS GOOOOO!" they are caught, sockless, shoeless, stuffless...etc. As I make my way to the car they are either

a.) running around frantically searching for something
b.) yelling "where are my shoes?" or "I can't find my book" or "Mom! Wait!"
c.) still sitting on the toilet

Then there are the times when we drive away and one of the girls says, "Oops, I forgot my shoes." Forgot shoes. I guess for my kids shoes just seem optional. "No biggie," they say to themselves, "I'll just walk around Trader Joe's in my bare feet."

Or we go to violin lessons and one of them forget their....you guessed it... VIOLIN! Now wasting my time and energy is aggravating enough. But wasting my money is verboten.

I suppose this is potentially a pitfall of homeschooling. My kids don't have the rush, rush, rush every morning to get ready and out the door. So it is definitely not their forté.