Let Them Eat Cake!

I know I missed my promised Friday post about dejunking, but I've been up to my knees in life and won't be able to post those till Monday. Until then, enjoy this older post/recipe from last year and enjoy your weekend!

I have a fellow homeschooling friend, whom I love dearly, that taught me about healthy cake. One day she was commenting on how it made her a bit angry that people in her neighborhood liked to poke fun at her for feeding her kids chocolate cake for breakfast. I was ready to sympathize with her because I have been known to let my kids eat stale popcorn for breakfast on a bad day. I was glad I didn’t confess this because she went on to tell me about her chocolate cake, “If only I could get my neighbors to understand what chocolate cake is, in our family. Our chocolate cake is made from freshly ground wheat flour, cocoa, applesauce, and zucchini. I can guarantee that my cake is healthier than any pop tart or cold cereal they’ve ever fed their kids”. Now, I have heard of sneaking veggies into food and I do it quite often myself, but this seemed too good to be true. I’ve always felt that there are limits to how much “healthy” you can sneak into a food before the kids can tell. However, my dad always said, “Don’t knock it till you try it”. So… I ground my wheat, grated my zucchini and squeezed out the excess moisture, mixed it all together and all I can say is, “I will eat it in a box, I will eat it with a fox”. This isn’t just good, this isn’t just cake, this is the only chocolate cake I have ever tasted that makes me want seconds, even thirds. I’m tempted to keep this fabulous cake a secret so that I can think of myself as superior to all the regular chocolate cake eaters out there, but then my mom has always told me to share, and my sister always told me that “saving is like stealing”. So, here is chocolate cake that is good enough to eat twice and healthy enough to serve for breakfast:

Breakfast Chocolate Cake
*Preheat oven to 350
6 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder
2 Tbsp. Oil (you can use olive oil)
3 eggs
2 C. sugar
1 C. Applesauce
2 C. Grated Zucchini (the smaller you grate it the better so try to use a grater with small holes, also place the zucchini in a clean, non fuzzy, dishtowel and twist it to remove excess moisture from the zucchini)
***MIX ALL TOGETHER, then add
2 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
***Mix quickly and pour into a greased 9x13 pan, sprinkle with 1 C. chocolate chips, and bake for 50 minutes. Let cool for at least 10 minutes because it is very hot when it first comes out, my kids can attest to that.

Great Literature Part II and Friday Preschool

I've been wanting to post about how I get my children to love Great Literature for a while now and finally stole some time today to do so. Here is how I am instilling a love of good books (that have nothing to do with SpongeBob, Scooby Doo, Or Captain Underpants) into my son, Monster Man:

Every Friday I open my doors to a group of silly, rambunctious, rowdy, loud, and overly energetic boys, and I happen to be the mother of one of them. After we made the decision to put Pablo into public school I realized that Monster Man was going to need something extra in his life to keep from getting lonely and bored in his homeschooling. In order to help him I decided to invite the sons of several of my friends to join us every Friday for a couple of hours for preschool/kindergarten (we are also part of a co-op that meets on Tuesdays). The curriculum I'm using for these classes comes from Five In A Row. I had always heard great things about this but was too cheap to invest in it. A friend let me borrow her manual and I have to say I LOVE IT! I'm being greedy and holding onto her copy until I get my own, or until she pries it from my cold, dead fingers.

What is Five In A Row? Click here for the web site, but I must say I didn't find their web site to be very user friendly. It is boring to read, has no pictures, and doesn't help an impatient, tightwad, person like me. So, I will give you my best go at a review here. FIAR takes good, classic children's literature/picture books and helps you squeeze every little bit of learning you can from them. With each children's book you cover the subjects of Social Studies, Language Arts, Art, Math, and Science. If you do just one subject a day and read the book each time, you've covered the story five times in a row (see how they get the title?). One of the great things about this technique is that you can apply it to any of your favorite children's books. So what I do is, on Friday, we start the class with Social Studies, then we read the book, we try to do one or two more subjects, and then I send them home with things to finish. Here is what I did for one of my own favorite books that wasn't in the FIAR manual.

Bells of Santa Lucia

(You can read the book description by clicking here)

We started class by using our globe. We found where we live and then we took an imaginary journey by train, then boat, then car, then donkey, into the village of Santa Lucia in Tuscany, Italy. We talked about modes of transportation, and how some villages, even today, require people to enter on foot or by small pack animals. We learned some basic Italian phrases and tried to use them as often as we could through the class time.

Then finished by coloring the Italian flag and circling the location of Tuscany on a map of Italy.

Then we read the story of a young girl who lives in the "city of bells", but because of her sadness she can't stand the sound of bells. Then, in the end, she learns that bells are good things, they help us and help those we love, and she is happy again.

After the story we talked about modern day bells (fire alarms, car horns, alarm clocks, doorbells, etc.) and each child was given a little jingle bell tied to a ribbon to wear on their wrist "So their mommies would know where they are." =)

I explained personification to them and we went back through the book to find examples. Then we drew pictures of the personifications on this worksheet (it was so cute seeing pictures of grapes drinking a sun through a straw, or clouds munching on the sun):

Then I made up this little worksheet for math using a bell theme to teach the idea of subtraction. I try to stick with fact families for math, which is why they begin with 6 bells for each problem.

I've given each child their own folder and I write the title of each book we cover on the front of their folder along with a small circle for every worksheet or assignment they are given. For each completed assignment they get a sticker to fill in a circle. This helps motivate them to finish their work at home through the week.

I can't say enough good things about this program, and am loving it to death. If anyone would like to try it without buying the book (though the book is worth the money) I have made worksheets and have lesson plans that I would love to share for the following books:

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Make Way for Ducklings

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

The Man Who Tried To Save Time

Tikki Tikki Tembo

And here is a photo of my darling boys and the paper dragons we made after reading Tikki Tikki Tembo (you'll see Pablo in the back because he had a day off school that day. Now he is constantly talking about the next time he will get to do FIAR with us so I plan on doing it through the summer, hopefully):

Writing Boards

My first two children were funny in that they both wanted to learn how to write their name at 3 years old. This was exciting but also troubling because it is hard for a 3 year old to write. It is even harder for a 3 year old to accept failure. And even harder than all that is a 3 year old's ability to be patient while erasing any mistakes. Upon my daughter's first try, and therefore her first writing-temper-tantrum-meltdown, I quickly realized that I needed to do something to make it easier for her so she wouldn't give up. This led me to make writing boards for my kids. I printed out the following pages, glued the first two and last two together, back to back, (I also glued another sheet of paper in between them to make it thicker and prevent images from the back appearing on the front, but you could also just print them on the front and back of a page of cardstock), took them to a print shop to have them laminated, bought some dry erase markers, and VOILA! Now my kids could practice writing their name as often as they wanted. There is also a full number/letter page, a shape tracing page to help kids learn basic pencil strokes, and a fun page for making faces. My kids LOVED these. Now when they made mistakes they didn't even have to tell me, they just swiped the mistake off with their finger or a napkin and kept going. They were great for in the car, at church, in waiting rooms, any place. And it was great seeing how confident my kids were in their writing when we eventually went back to paper. Oh, and I've also made these for other children for birthdays, and if you made them big enough you could even use them for placemats at the table.

Homeschooling and Socialization

If you are not a homeschooler, what is the one concern you hear most about homeschooling?

If you are a homeschooler, what is the one question you get most often from people who are concerned about your choice to homeschool?



If you said, or thought, the word "socialization" then give yourself 10 points for being up to date on current issues. I have a lot of opinions, facts, statistics, arguments, pet peeves, and very funny stories about this subject, but today I want to try and address some real concerns about the ominous word, "socialization." I want to point out that while many homeschoolers prefer the kind of socialization they can provide their children through homeschooling the decision to homeschool is often made for other reasons. You can't just ask a homeschooler, "Yes, but what about socialization?" and expect a simple answer. For starters, what are you actually asking? "What about socialization?" can mean lots of things to different people, like:


Won't your kids be weird?
How are your children going to get street smart?
Don't you want your children to have friends?
Aren't you being over protective and sheltering them from real life?
Won't they miss out on all the fun activities that school has to offer?
Don't you think you have a responsibility to let your children be out in the world to help and to influence other children for good?


So, before you ask a homeschooler that all too common question, pause a minute and think about what it is you really want to know. It will make it so much easier for the person you are asking to give you the answer you need to hear.

Should you worry about socialization for your children if you choose to homeschool? It depends on how you plan to homeschool. If you plan to keep your children at home every day and all day long, and they have only you as a teacher for EVERYTHING, and there aren't any kids in your neighborhood, and you don't go to a church that has lots of children, and you never have visitors, then yes, you should worry a lot about your children not getting the socialization they need.

Some homeschoolers do homeschool this way. Most homeschoolers, however, have their kids in classes like sports, art, dance, foreign language, music, nature clubs, geography clubs, etc. where they have different adults teaching them and have to function in a large group of children on a consistent basis. Most homeschoolers have play dates. They take their kids to public parks where their children meet and play with public schooled kids (and where their children often have to deal with mean kids, bad words, and other public school recess situations). Many homeschoolers are religious and so they attend church where their children take active part in lessons and activities with other children.

What kind of socialization do you want your child to get? There are many different kinds of socialization available in this world and as parents we are often picking and choosing what kinds we will have our children learn. Some parents choose not to allow television or certain movies in the home, others choose to live in certain neighborhoods, or choose a particular religion to raise their children in, and still others choose to keep their children away from certain family members. These, and so many other choices we make for our children, are based on the kind of socialization we want our children to have. Is it any wonder then, that there are parents who choose to avoid the socialization they see being taught in their particular schools? I am lucky to live in an area where parents get to choose which public school to put their children in despite school boundaries and there are many parents who are willing to drive many miles in order to get their children to the school with the academic social structure they like best. Personally I think there is a lot to be said for having "street smarts" and I believe that public school is a great place to develop those skills, but it is most certainly not the only place. Public school is also a wonderful place to expose your children to different cultures and ethnic groups, but again, it is not the only place to get such exposure.

What can I do to ensure that my children get "socialization" if I choose to homeschool? Well, after deciding what kind of socialization you want your child to receive, you go out and get it. It is very important to me that my children be understanding and accepting of other ethnic groups, religions, and cultures. To do this I have had to copy the actions of Benjamin Franklin's parents. Franklin's father thought it was more important for his son to stay home and help run the family business than to go to school. But, to meet the demands of his wife and the needs of his son he made a conscious effort to have people into his home who could educate his son. If he met a seafaring man, a politician, a skilled craftsman or anyone who could teach his son more about the world he would invite them over for dinner so that his son could benefit from the stories of their life. Following suit we make an effort to invite in our homes people who can share experiences with us that we would not normally find in our particular social set up. We have had to go way out of our comfort zone to do this but I can promise you that my children are not the only ones who benefit from this. You can do things like this, and many other things, to ensure that your children get the socialization you feel is important for their growth.

Will my children seem, or be considered "weird" to other people if I homeschool them? If you stop grooming them and stop expecting them to use their manners then yes, they will probably seem weird to others. Seriously though, people might think your decision to homeschool is interesting, and a few will treat you as if you are weird but that is only if you tell everyone you meet that you are a homeschooler. You don't have to broadcast it to the world. I've even heard of homeschoolers who, when asked why their kids aren't in school, tell people that their kids go to a private school that runs on a different schedule (many homeschoolers even create names for their "private school"). On the whole, your family will only be as weird as you let them be. In the 8 years that I've been homeschooling I've only had 3 people guess that I am a homeschooler and that had to do with having a lot of kids with me during school hours and nothing else. Also in my 8 years I have only had 4 people treat me like a leper for being a homeschooler and they taught me not to "cast my pearls before swine" or not to broadcast our choice to everyone we meet. I also made sure to teach my children how to answer questions about their schooling in a way that prevents them from getting mean reactions (a skill I wish my mom had given me when I was homeschooled). For instance, I make sure they know what grade they are supposed to be in, I've taught them not to say that they don't go to school, to use the phrase "field trip" often, and to simply say, "I like it" to anyone who gives them grief.

Why is homeschooling good for socialization? Besides the fact that you get to customize it to your individual family you also have access to areas that you might not have time for or the ability to get if you didn't have the time freedoms of homeschooling (though I know many families who public school who go the extra mile to get these experiences for their children). These include but are not limited to:

-Allowing children to socialize and interact outside of age parameters. No one in homeschool is too embarrassed to be seen playing with a kid from a younger grade or talking with a teacher about an academic interest (and really, outside of school, when will your child ever be in such an age restricted set up again?).

-Spending adequate time immersing oneself in other cultures or languages to get a good understanding.

-Taking your children to work and volunteer at nursing homes, homeless shelters, and special education facilities so that children learn to love and serve all people as equals. Or, another beauty of homeschooling, simply taking your children with you while you serve people in your church or community.

-Giving your child a specialized education for a skill or ability that is not offered by the public schools.

-And, something that I think needs to be mentioned, you can also allow a child who is naturally "different" to learn and grow without having to focus so much energy on simply surviving in an intolerant environment.

Public school is fantastic because your children get a LOT of socialization without you having to do much but pack a lunch and kiss them goodbye. My daughter's very first friend in public school was a girl who had just come to America from Ethiopia and was struggling to learn English.

Homeschooling is harder because you have to work to get what you need, but it is so nice getting exactly what you want =)

Now I need my fellow homeschoolers to help me. I am very lucky to live in a big city where I have many many resources at my finger tips. So, I'm asking all you homeschoolers who live in the country or in less diverse cities to share with us your tips and tricks to getting your children the socialization you want them to have.

(Oh, and I have reposted my rant on homeschooling and the socialization question so if you really want to go there go here)

Deleted Post

I've just deleted my most recent post concerning homeschooling and socialization. I realized, while thinking about it today, that it wasn't exactly what I wanted to say. It was more of a rant on people's misconceptions and it was aimed at the people who have made ridiculous judgments about homeschooling. That is not the group who I intended to write to. What I want to write is a post that creates more understanding for mothers who sincerely want to know about homeschooling but worry about socialization, and that should not be written in rant form. So, maybe in a few days, when I've had time to organize my thoughts, I will write the post I should have written today.

Thanks.
Lizzy

Ok, I'm putting my rant post back up, now that I have written the one I should have written, because I do feel strongly about this. I have had people tell me that public school will "fix" my kids. I've had people tell me that without public school my kids will be socially handicapped. And I've had people tell me that kids need to be bullied to learn how to function properly in the adult world. This rant was written in response to these ridiculous statements.

Yesterday's post led some of you ask me about the socialization worry that people seem to have about homeschooling. Here is my take on the whole thing:

(warning: this post may sound defensive. No one here has given me reason to be defensive. I am a mother and thereby claim the privilege to be Mamma Bear defensive when talking about children) =)
A conversation between myself, my children, and a stranger while watching doughnuts being made at Krispie Cream two years ago:

Stranger: My, you have such lovely children. Hi, how are you, little guy?
Pablo: I'm fine. (He shakes her hand)
Cookie: Are you here to watch the doughnuts being made too?
Stranger: Why, yes, I am. (Stranger Lady continues to talk with my children about various things)
Stranger: My goodness, your children are so polite. It is rare for children to be able to hold conversations like that with an adult.
(We talk for a bit and she continues to converse with my children. At one point it comes up that my kids should be in school and I mention that we homeschool)
Stranger: Wow, that is so brave of you. (then in a loud whisper) But, what about the whole socialization thing?

I get that so often it makes me want to shake some people. This woman had just been talking to my children, complimenting me on their social graces, and yet she couldn't see the ironic humor in what she had just asked. She didn't even know they were homeschooled until I had told her.

Several years ago there were some attempted studies done on homeschooling to try to determine whether it were a good thing or a bad thing. Not being able to prove that it was bad, or at least worse than public school, someone decided to throw in the argument that the only thing homeschool had going against it was the worry that there might be a lack in socialization. Read this to mean that homeschooling might make your kids weird. So, now that homeschooling has gone rather mainstream the only thing people can seem to find to say about it is, "But what about the socialization?"

To this I like to ask the question, "Does public school fix socialization problems?" If so there would be no nerds, no bullies, no lonely kids, no kids coming to school with their heads bent low, their clothes unwashed, and their hair uncombed. Did every kid you know in school have lots of friends, or know how to behave themselves perfectly in new social situations? I don't know what public school you went to but mine even had kids who were so socially handicapped that their one solution was suicide.

Yes, some homeschoolers can be "weird" but it isn't because they are homeschooled, it is because of the child's unique attributes and those of the family they were born into. Whether you are homeschooled, public schooled, private schooled, or have personal tutors, it is really your own personality and your home life that determines your social ability or acceptability.

If you come from an abusive home, a reclusive-sheltering home, have a learning disability, have neglectful parents, live in abject poverty, come from a family of eccentrics, or are just shy it is likely you will have "socialization problems."

Now, though I've seen a few attempts here and there, I've yet to see a public school actively reach out to individual children in these cases. There are programs in place and they are working in small degrees, but I personally never saw a teacher step in and tell a group of kids to be kind to the dirty boy (that is vastly different from telling them to leave him alone). I never saw teachers encouraging the cheerleader to ask the nerdy girl to sit with her. I never saw a principle take a child aside and show them the basic steps to making new friends and then hold their hand through it as the child practiced this skill. (And even when teachers do try this, they aren't the parent and can't tell a child what to do) But I have seen all this and more at the homeschool group activities I've been to.

*Edited to add: Admittedly, not all homeschooling parents teach these social skills. And while public teachers may not teach them there are certainly parents of public school children who teach their children these values and skills in the home. Again, home life plays the key factor. I'm just pointing out that it is the parent and not the institution that teaches these values and skills and therefore it is a bit easier to do when the parent IS the teacher.

It makes me sad when I hear adults say that teasing from their peers can get a child to behave or mature (and yes, I've heard this many times). Sure, teasing can make a child want to change (or run and hide), but if no one is there to love them and show them how to change all they do is get hurt. (I'm NOT saying that public schooling your kids means they will all grow up to be bullies or snobs! I'm just saying that the family life a child comes from makes all the difference in the world. I know that all you who read my blog are great parents!)

Sure, kids will be kids. Kids need to learn to stand on their own. Kids need to learn how to deal with the bullies and the snotty mean kids. But please, do not try to convince me that they can only learn to be decent, outgoing, strong, sociable, friendly, and "normal" by going to public school. At least, not until you can show me a public school without a single hurt and lonely child in it.

Look not to the school, but to the family and the individual.

Are you sorry you asked me? Now, I'm going to go eat some ice cream and cool off =) On the lighter side of things, here are some funny answers to the socialization question.

Identity Crisis

Hi. I'm a homeschooling mother of four, soon to be five, but my oldest (9yrs old) has been in public school for over a year now and I just put my oldest son (7 years old) in public school last week. I guess that makes me a homlic schooler, or maybe a publomeschooler, or.... Well, I'm not sure so you can just call me crazy.

Why do I/did I choose to homeschool? The easy answer is that I was homeschooled myself until 6th grade and wanted to give my children that same advantage. The hard answer is that there are many many reasons and there have been different reasons for each child. With Cookie I wanted to homeschool her because she is so smart and I wanted her to be able to progress as fast and as far as she wanted/could. With Pablo I just wanted the kid to have time to grow up and feel confident before I threw him to the hyenas. And I'm still homeschooling Monster Man in an attempt to keep him from becoming the next Bart Simpson.

Why have I chosen to put some of my kids into public school? Cookie needed to go in last year because for 1 1/2 years she had decided to stop learning from me. Yup, anything I said was poo and she preferred to fight with me every day rather than learn a simple math problem. She actually did not want to go to public school and begged me (literally and quite sadly) to let her stay home. Sorry, but homeschool is about learning and she just wasn't doing it. For poor little Pablo I chose to put him in because I have not been able to get myself to homeschool the way I should since last summer. I know some homeschoolers just let school fall to the side when they are pregnant or going through a life change and that is fine, but not for me (at least, not for this long). I wasn't even getting the bare minimum of schooling in with him. And this guy really wanted to learn. So, acknowledging my lack of ability I asked him if he would be ok going to "Cookie's school" and he said ok. I can still handle Kindergarten and Preschool stuff with the 2 youngest because that is the fun stuff and easy to do so I am still homeschooling them.

What do I think about the change? There are things that I highly dislike about the public school system (and we are in a fantastic public school) but then there are things I don't like about homeschooling. I still say that homeschooling is AWESOME and I hope to do it again with my older kids at some future point. I am glad I chose to homeschool and I know that a LOT of good has come from it. I love knowing that I am in control of my children's education. Even with them in public school it is a choice and not something I HAVE to do. I like having that control and that ability to ensure that my children get a good education no matter what the public system does. I am also glad that there is a public school system in place for me when I can't homeschool. I love all the education options we have today and am grateful for the people who fought to give us these options.

How am I doing with all the changes? I feel guilt. I've cried myself to sleep. I feel grateful. I've felt anger. I feel everything that any regular mom with children in public school feels at times, and the same as moms who homeschool. I've now had the experience of being offended by remarks made by homeschoolers (only one or two) as well as the ones I've had from public schoolers. It has been interesting, though not unexpected. I desperately hope I've never hurt someone elses feelings or seemed judgemental when I was a full blown homeschooler. If so, I humbly apologize!

How are the kids? Cookie is thriving in public school and has done wonderfully there (though I really have a hard time with the kind of books she has come to love. ie: she now reads only fantasy instead of the classics or other good books. Luckily whenever school is out on break and she can't get to the library she is stuck reading MY books and she does like them... if she HAS to.). Pablo is having a tough time but he is getting used to it and already has a best friend (I know he is just starting, and I know I need to be patient, but it bothers me when he comes home and I ask him what he did for math and writing and he says they didn't do any of that... AT ALL. Instead they made straw helicopters. That is great and all but he was doing stuff like that at home all the time, and I sent him to public school specifically to get math and writing. But I'm being patient. Can't you see my patient smile?). Monster Man and Sweet Terror really miss Pablo and get bored at times because he isn't here to invent a new game or to start a new adventure. And I am adjusting, again, and getting better at packing school lunches =).

Bottom line: Public School is NOT evil. Homeschooling is NOT weird. Public school is NOT perfect. Homeschooling is NOT perfect. And this is all because any form of schooling is only as good as the teacher administering it.

And that's all I have to say about that. =)

Good Morning

Good Morning! I am off to play botany bingo with the boys in Co-Op. I found a BINGO sheet generator online and put all of our vocab words from our plants unit on it. I will read the definitions and whoever gets 5 in a row gets a treat (another good way to get rid of Halloween candy).

If you need something to read, may I recommend this blog post that has been changing my life? It is a long read but very, very thought provoking. Let me know what you think.

Co-op Classes For Today

6H2O + 6CO2 > C6H12O6 + 6O2

This is the math I will be doing with 6 boys later today. This is plant math: six molecules of water (6H2O) plus six molecules of carbon dioxide (6CO2) produce one molecule of sugar (C6H12O6) plus six molecules of oxygen (O2). So, why is it that when I reverse this equation and I consume oxygen and sugar I produce carbon dioxide and fat pads? (I won't be asking this question in class) We learned about seeds and planted a few last week and now we will be talking about what the seed does next as a plant with soil, sun, water, air (all four elements), photosynthesis and transpiration. We will also be sticking celery and lettuce (and maybe carnations if I can get to a store) in water colored with food coloring so we can see how plants pull in water.

For drama class I am going to give the boys small poems to memorize for dramatic recitation. Not only will they memorize it but they will show expression, use physical action and emotional variation when they recite. I am excited to see what they do with it. This is the poem I will be performing for them as an example:

When Daddy Carves the Turkey

When Daddy carves the turkey,It is really quite a sight,

I know he tries his hardest,But he never does it right.
He makes a fancy show of it,Before he starts to carve,

And stabs in all directions,While we're certain that we'll starve.
He seems to take forever,As we sit and shake our heads,

By the time he's finished slicing,He's reduced the birds to shreds.
He yells as loud as thunder,Just before he's finally through

For when Daddy carves the turkey,Daddy carves his finger too!

Don't Be So Dramatic

Today was my first day teaching drama at our weekly co-op and it was a lot of fun. I thought I would post what we did because it actually makes a great game for family home evenings, family reunions, or any silly party. First I had everyone take a diologue card. I took these lines from random plays. Everyone reads their line. Then Everyone takes a Drama Card: Blue is your character, purple is your point motivation (current emotion), and green is your prop. Now everyone has to read their line again but in character now. It was so cute! The kids were laughing and having so much fun (and so were the adults). Some of these were pretty tricky. Monster Man was a bunny, who was worried, with a carrot, and had to say, "Maybe tomorrow, ask me tomorrow." He hopped around nibbling on his carrot and squeaking out his line. Last night I showed the game to DSSH and he and I played a few rounds. Good times!

It Is So Hard To Find Good Help These Days

(Sing to the tune of Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?)

Where is my babysitter?

Where is my full time nanny?

Where is my in home cook?

Where have all the good maids goooone?

My sister and I often console one another over the impossibility of "getting it all done". We are both stay at home mothers, we both have four children, we both homeschool, and are both involved in the managing of very tight budgets. We are constantly asking, "How is it that we spin our wheels like crazy and still feel like we are standing still?" As I type I am rubbing the bottom of my foot across the cuff of my jeans to wipe off crumbs, AND I JUST SWEPT 15 MINUTES AGO!!! By the end of the day it is obvious that something always has to give. If I am a good homeschooler I usually miss the laundry and dinner. If I am a good neighbor I never seem to manage homeschooling or sweeping. When I am a fun mom I usually haven't done any of the things on my perpetual "To Do" list on the fridge. And if I manage to get everything done in one day I am hardly a good wife by the time hubby gets home. I have heard it said many times that stay at home moms work the equivalent of 5 full time jobs. That sounds great, but I'm sure that I'd have been fired from at least 2 of those jobs by the end of every day (and, honestly, some days I've even fantasized about getting those pink slips). And even though I am the first to tell other women that they shouldn't feel guilt just because they aren't Superwoman, I am all too ready to add "self beater" to my professional resume. Well, Ladies, I am here to proclaim that I officially

NO LONGER FEEL THE GUILT!

I know, you either don't believe me or you are insanely jealous (or you just think I'm crazy and have skipped to someone else's blog by now). No, I am serious. A lot of my guilt came from this stupid pride I've always had that "If the pioneer women can do it, so can I." But I am learning that the pioneer women either had awful lives that I don't want to have, or they didn't do it all because they lived with family, had slaves, hired hands, servants, or young ladies to help them. Heck, they even hired women to breast feed their babies for them!!! I was recently reading Little Men by Louisa May Alcott because it is about Jo and her husband running a school for boys (basically an over grown homeschool) and they had little money and I thought it might make me feel better. While it is a great book I couldn't help wincing at yet another "nanny" and "cook". The straw that finally broke my back was when my sister called me with the disgusted proclamation that I wouldn't believe what she had just found out. Apparently even my grandma had a young girl from down the road come in to help her with the cooking and cleaning while her children were young. My very poor grandma, I might add. So, were is my "young girl from down the road?" She is at the mall. She doesn't need my very piddly $8/hour for watching my kids or scrubbing my floor because her parents gave her an ipod and $20 last night for nothing. Well, I may not be able to afford a french tutor for my children, a maid for my floors, or a cook for my kitchen, but I will be darned if I ever feel guilty for not making the 10 Greatest Homemakers of America list anytime soon. And with that, I am making frozen corndogs for dinner!

When does a package of Ramen Noodles become part of a major science experiment?

When you cook it using water in its three states of matter. This was our science experiment for the day. After reading What Is The World Made Of? by Zoehfeld we started our lunch using solid water ice cubes. We heated them in a pot until they became liquid. When our pot started producing gaseous water we added the noodles. We also held a cold cookie sheet over the steam to show how water vapor can cool and condense to return to the liquid state. The kids had a lot of fun doing this and I was more than pleased that we were able to finish a science experiment and make lunch all at the same time. Bon appetite!

I Really Do Homeschool

I know you wouldn't be able to tell just from reading my blog, but I really am a homeschooling mom. I don't often post about my kids because my blog is usually used as an escape from my daily duties as mother (Does that make me sound awful? Too bad). Today I took the kids to a local beach park and as they gathered seashells, built driftwood forts, and splashed in the freezing cold waves, I took some time to ponder over this year's homeschooling schedule. In past years I've fully enjoyed a lackadaisical, sort of fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants approach to education. However, now that the kids are older, and now that we have to factor in Cookie's public school schedule, I find that I really do need to have a method to my madness here. I pulled out some bright little yellow index cards, that I keep in my purse for just such occasions, and began writing. Now, I have to try and make some sense out of all these scribbles. The times I give are not starting times but ending times, so I must finish each thing by the time given. If it doesn't have a weekday next to it then it is done everyday Mon-Fri

6:25 Wake up and JUMP out of bed
6:45 Make bed, pick up room, shake my booty till DSSH gets out of the shower.
6:55 Put on running clothes, family prayers, kiss DSSH good bye (I'm such a good wife)
7:30 Run or shake booty for 1/2 hour
8:00 Unload Dishes, dress kids, get them to do whatever chores I can
8:30 Scripture memorization with kids, quick prayer, take Cookie to school
9:30 Reading time
10:15 Math Lessons
11:00 Personal Folder Seat Work
11:15 lunch
1:30 LOVELY QUIET TIME All kids will take a nap or read quietly in bed. Usually I just eat and veg-out during this time. This year I want to do more with this free time.
Mon: Do a deep clean in one area of the home and write a letter to a loved one.
Tue: Answer a Little Miss Knowitall (I haven't answered one in way too long), Do something artistic, or work on my writing projects.
Wed: Watch a movie and enjoy a yummy snack (Hey, I'm still human).
Thur: Do a sewing project and work on church calling duties.
Fri: Wild Card do what I want to day.

2:30 History or Science (Or both if I'm having a SUPER MOM day)
3:00 Pack up kids and walk to Cookie's school to pick her up.
4:30 Have kids finish their chores, prep dinner, and have Cookie do her homework.
5:30 Do something interactive and fun with kids
Mon: Play Board Games
Tue: Math Games
Wed: Run Errands (Sorry kids, it's gotta happen sometime)
Thur: Outing to museum
Fri: Art project

6:30 "All right, everyone downstairs and give mom some peace and quiet so I can still love you."
7:00 Finish making dinner, have kids set table.
8:55 Family scriptures, prayers, brush kids' teeth, spank and send kids to bed.
9:55 Enjoy a quiet moment with DSSH
10:00 ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ (I wish it were that easy)

Being realistic, though, I plan to crash and burn every Wednesday (and every other Thursday as well). Those are the days when I will eat embarrassing amounts of ice cream, watch every Cary Grant movie I own, and talk to my sister until her husband cuts their phone line.

This craziness will start on the morning of September 4th. Wish me luck!

Michelangelo Vs. Michelangelo

GEO CLUB

Today we are driving to Monroe, WA for Geography Club. This is to show that I do homeschool somewhere in between all of my ice cream fits. This month we have been studying Italy. Pablo is going to do a compare and contrast report on the differences between Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni and Michelangelo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles =).











One uses nunchuks, the other uses paintbrushes and chisels. One was born in a New York City sewer in a puddle of toxic sludge and the other was born in Caprese, Italy . One spends his time fighting the evil Shredder and saving the world, the other spent his time creating some of history's most amazing artworks like the David and the Sistine Chapel. One eats pepperoni pizza with anchovies, the other ate mostly bread, cheese, and wine. Oh, and one is a mutant ninja turtle, and the other is a Renaissance man.

Can you guess which Michelanglo is which?