Friday Roundup ...

I was sick most of the week, and spent minimal time online, but here are a few things I ran across and enjoyed …

• Happy Birthday Mom (by The Other Laura via the WC) … “THIS is normal”  Read it moms, and feel the truth.  So well said!
• A friend turned me on to Grooveshark just today, and so far I love it!  It’s an online choose-your-own radio station where you put in some songs you like and it suggests others … not a new concept but I love not having to pick a playlist!  Great background noise if you want some. 
• Homeschool Freebie of the Day is just that, and I’m loving some of the things I’m finding!  Great ebooks, .mp3s, etc for your kids … some just plain entertaining, some directly educational.  I just subscribe in my feedreader and check to see if it’s something I want every few days.  Most of the content is older, some of it really old, and I love seeing the vintage illustrations. The audio files are great alternative entertainment too.
• One more homeschooling thing, which PW profiled today so I’ll let her talk about it … The Story of the World books, they really are fabulous!  I”m loving just picking them up and reading a chapter, and if you keep books in your bathroom??  Great addition to that pile :). 

Have a great weekend!  We’re hoping to do a mini stoop sale and lemonade stand if the weather holds, I’ll let you know how it goes. 

What a difference a day makes ...

Yesterday, my father-in-law came and took Douglas for the day.  With Fynn in preschool, that left me with 5 golden hours, the likes of which I hadn’t seen for over two months.  Hours of daylight, alone, without kids.  I was turning in circles wondering what I should do with them.  Work?  Run?  Relax?  Clean?  It was difficult to decide, actually, but I managed to do some of each.  The run sucked, as I was ridiculously tight and couldn’t seem to shake it off.  Then lunch, some cleaning up, blog reading and writing, work for a friend, a bunch of catch-up computer stuff, and then tearing off at top speed to pick up Fynn, cramming in one more phone call while I trotted.  It was a good day, if short on the relaxation aspect!

The difference it made in my week?  Immeasurable.  It set the tone for the week, as something to look forward to, and something refreshing enough to make me more patient and relaxed.  A simple break from routine is enough to recharge me for days.  I hope anyhow, shouldn’t speak too soon as it is only Thursday night, but it was a day well spent and it meant a lot to me.  I had a break, and I loved it.  This schooling gig is hard in all the ways I expected, and then some.  It takes it out of me, and we’re still adjusting.  I can only hope that it gets easier, and that I don’t feel as desperate for breaks as we get more comfortable … until then I’m glad for every little bit I get!

Tip Tuesday : Give Yourself a Break

I know, I know, it’s a tired old phrase but the reminder is no less necessary.  If you’re having a rough time, frustrated, or out of ideas, just give yourself a break!  I’ve hit a rough patch in homeschooling, and while I’m not one bit surprised, it’s still hard and somewhat demoralizing.  It’s a huge thing to adjust to, and we both have our issues. I’m struggling with feeling incompetent and impatient, two hot buttons of mine.  No surprises there to any who know me :).  I’ve had to step back a bit, and take stock of where I am, where he’s going, and watch and reflect for awhile.

One of the things I’ve been pushing is writing, which he needs work on, but every angle I try, I get huge amounts of resistance tossed back at me.  Rather than continue to battle him on it, I’m dropping it for now.  I’ll pick it up again eventually, but when we’re both ready, and not so battle scarred from trying!  He’s not going to fall behind, and dragging us both through something we both hate is pointless.  It’s more about our relationship, and less about writing I think.  We both need to relax and build some things together before we try to write.  Do what we’re good at, and let that drive the foray into things we both find challenging. He needs the break as much as I do.

A break is a good thing, no matter what you need a break from.  Chances are, returning to it will be all the sweeter and easier!

Food and Kids

No matter where (in the USA at least) your kids get their education, chances are the food program at their school could use some improvement.  I can certainly vouch for the craptastic quality of most of what Douglas was served for 4+ years.  It’s full of sugars and fillers and all kinds of stuff that we know isn’t the healthiest thing for our kids.  I think we can all agree there’s a lot of room for improvement in the public school system! 

I’ve gotten a chance to watch the first couple episodes of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, and it’s enough to make me hope that he can pull off some kind of change that makes other cities sit up and take notice!  He shows that many people have no idea where their food comes from, or what it even is.  That a classroom of kindergartners couldn’t identify a raw potato or tomato?!  There are some scare tactics in there for sure, but they make a very clear point.  We can do better.  It’s a cause I’m happy to support, and hope you do too!

The link to his petition is here, and the shows can be seen online here.  Check it out, and sign if you think it’s time to change the food served in our schools!

it's been a long day ...

… and all I want is glass of wine and a movie.  Tempers were as short as the mercury in the thermometer today, and colds and coughs were in evidence.  I didn’t do so well in the temper department myself, and could not wait to put the kids in bed.  I think they’re finally asleep?  I’m going to make myself fold the last two loads of laundry and then pick out a movie.  

Oh, and laundry, which I hate folding but don’t mind doing?  I’m trying a new system which works pretty well.  I now put all laundry out of the dryer straight onto our bed.  (It used to be the couch.).  Now I can’t go to bed unless it’s folded … rather handy and has worked so far!

I did manage this week to start the ball rolling with homeschooling … D has two weeks left of public school and then he’s home!  I’m quite honestly terrifed, but still convinced it’s the right thing.  I talked to his teacher and the parent coordinator at the school, and both were extremely understanding and supportive.  Whew!  Got the paperwork started, received a fab box of books from my expert-homeschooler cuz (thanks Tiff!) and feel like it’s a matter of Ghost in the Graveyard from here on.  Remember that nighttime hide/seek game with the “Ready or not, here I come!” chant?  I’m in the dark, ready or not, but the game has started … curious ride this will be.

I’ll leave you with a pic of the snowman we built on Thursday, when it wasn’t quite so horridly cold for playing outside.  It lasted all of an hour before melting, and was kicked to bits right after school as it was the only non-melted snow left to play in!