Sunday, March 27, 2011

In Like A Lion, Out Like A Lamb.

To be truthful I have no idea what the weather is doing. But I know March came in with a vengeance at our home. DH was laid off from his regular job. I frantically looked online to find a new one for him. Being a home school family with a single income isn’t always the most financially sound decision. I found a perfect job it was a temporary job all that he needed to keep us on track. Then the third week in he had an accident at work that could have ended very badly. Thankfully he was spared. The downside was he was banned from returning to that work site. Which has left us again seeking employment. He has a promising job interview this week coming.

Our Dds birthday is in March and she turned six. Not wanting to forgo a party we threw her a grand balloon party. Our living room which is roughly 160sq feet was emptied and filled with three feet of balloons. No we didn’t blow them up alone. We used an air compressor for 90% of them. All of the pink balloons had a small paper inside indicating a prize. And the kids were to locate the balloons and bring them to us to be popped and prizes were put in their take home bags. We kept food simple and I made a Neapolitan cake at Dds request. In my youth I baked entirely from scratch and I love to still. However having suffered some cake defeats over the years at the most in opportune times I decided to opt for mixes. The chocolate and white layers were easy. But the strawberry layer gave me pause for thought. So I finally decided to add two boxes of jello powder to a white mix to get the strawberry flavour. I think it could have probably worked alright with one. The filling was pudding chocolate for one layer and vanilla for another. I have in the past made bakery shop icing for cakes. And although people love it I personally can’t serve it anymore knowing that it uses so much vegetable shortening solids. Very unhealthy. So I went with a butter cream icing instead. The party was super fun and I recommend the balloon pit, as we called it for anyone to try. She lost her first tooth the night before her birthday and was visited by tooth fairy~ yes we do believe in fairies around here. It was a really special time for her which was followed by her loosing another tooth a couple of days later.

Ds was most helpful this month with party prep and in school. However whether it be spring or the fact that he is nearing eight, I have noticed a small change for the worse in his mood. It seems to be rapidly improving after a good haircut. Which if I do say so myself turned out rather well. I have always cut his hair. He finished his grade three vocabulary list and has moved on to the grade four list. Which considering he actually only in grade two is pretty impressive to us. Way to go son!

For school we slid as we seem to do far too often away from the original goals I set out for the month. Sometimes I think I need a more solid outline to fair better. But I also find that the kids are learning nicely so I should ease off myself with the shoulds, woulds and coulds.

We are patiently waiting to see what becomes of the avocado seeds we have started and I am planning to make a large unit study called 'Egg-stravagna Eggs' next month. We will, fingers crossed, be hatching some chicken eggs. Looking at Easter customs, learning egg science, and so on.

The Harder Row to Sow Often Reaps Greater Rewards.

People seem to think that home school people are weird. They must be either really smart or stupid. That people who choose to home school their kids are weird. And you know what I am realizing? We are weird! We don’t fit the socially acceptable norms. And we are not alone they are millions of us weirdo’s. We may be separated by time and space but we number the millions. And we, by home schooling are allowing our kids to be socially different. Yay! We want them to buck that system of normalcy. Normal is boring. We don’t want them to be beholden to someone else’s preconceived ideas for them. We want them to search the depths of their own persons to be the best possible them. And if they falter, as we all are prone to do, then we will pick them up and dust of their knees. And guide them down the next path of their choosing. This is our role in this lifestyle we have chosen.

It becomes clearer by the day that this was and will remain one of the best decisions we have made in our marriage. My children tired and weary from all long day of partying, shopping, and fun were asking questions about water and wind resistance. And were asking about why stars are the color they are? And at 10.30 at night when were we bone tired and not wanting to we schooled them in our vehicle on the way home. If we don’t have all the answers and we don’t pretend that we do, we help them seek those answers their young minds are hungry for. Textbooks are failing our kids because they don’t allow imaginations in. If a child is required to follow guidelines you may have an automatic response system of unparalleled quality when they graduate but you won’t necessarily have a person capable of critical thinking.

We are hearing more and more of how the world is needing critical thinking. Nurture young minds and you will get the minds capable of creativity. Starve them of answers and you will shut off that possibility. So sometimes in life we are given choices. The choice may not be easy and it may scare you a little but the harder row to sow often reaps the greatest rewards.