Home Spun comic strip #599

Yes, I have actually overheard such statements at the library. And since Marina became a library page, she can add a few herself. Like the mother who told her child that he could only take out one book since he had too many activities to finish more than one. In fact, there are many parents out there who will only allow their child to take out one book at a time. Having put many fines and a few lost books on my library cards, I can empathize. They probably want to make sure they don't end up with too many fines. They might need that money for the next activity!

Home Spun comic strip #598

Home Spun comic strip #597

Here is the link to the original article about Sierra's "puker."

Home Spun comic strip #596

Home Spun comic strip #595

Out of Fog, Clarity

Sometimes the comforter needs comforting, the cheerleader needs cheering, and the mother needs mothering.

I know I do too much. I think most homeschooling parents--parents in general--try very hard to do all they can for their family. I had one of those weeks where many things converged and overwhelmed me. I ran my March storytelling workshop at the library. I drove everyone to their various activities. We finished annual testing. By themselves, these would be minor blips in my hectic life. Now add to that the stress of a moody eight year old, my own feelings of isolation and me trying to actively lose some weight while dealing with perimenopausal emotions gone wild, and you end up with a highly volatile mixture that is sure to end in a meltdown. Which I did.

The result was that I had no creative energy to work on my comic this weekend. Instead, I went for a drive and ended up hiking at a park for almost two hours. The exercise helped, but the sadness was still there, even after I came home and talked with my husband about how I felt.

There is a comic I enjoy called "Rose is Rose" by Pat Brady. One of the many things that I love about it is that Rose has an alter-ego, Vicky the Biker Chick, who surfaces when Rose feels conflicted between her responsibilities and her desire for freedom and adventure. My own inner rebel has been surfacing a lot these days. I am satisfied with the choices I've made in my life, but sometimes I feel crushed under my daily obligations to my family. I want to take care of them, but sometimes it is easy to feel as if they are taking advantage of me. This might sound strange, but I don't want to be indispensable. Nor do I want to be a nag. I just want my family to notice when something needs to be done, like washing a dish or sweeping the floor, rather than waiting for me to ask for help. Lately, the house has been so cluttered and messy, and it tends to stay that way until I either clean it myself or yell. I really don't like to yell.

Testing my kids has always been stressful. It's hard for me to hide my own antipathy for the test. This year I started the test while I was reading John Taylor Gatto's Underground History of American Education. I think that was poor planning on my part. My inner rebel was fit to be tied. I was indignant about wasting my time and theirs with such an arbitrary measurement of learning. Who decided when my children should learn these things? Why should there be a schedule? Two of mine were slow to start reading if they are compared to others. Now they are avid readers. They learned when they were ready. The same is true for the math concepts they are supposed to know. Why do we bother to tell kids they are unique individuals and then test them all in the same way?

Isolation has been my biggest issue lately. We've been going through a changes among our homeschooling friends. Friends that we tended to see regularly are much harder to get in touch with now. One of my best friends started her own homeschooling co-op in the city. That has taken up much of her time, as well as carting her kids to their activities. Other friends have moved and some had their kids return to school or start college classes. It seems like everyone, my family included, is too busy to get together.

This meant it was time to find new activities. Yesterday, in spite of my own depression, I drove out of my normal activity range (a 30 minute drive plus 15 extra minutes, because it was foggy and I got lost) so that my son could attend a homeschooling teens' board game night. While the teens played, there were many parents hanging about at a separate table, talking and playing Bananagrams. Some were new to me and some I haven't seen in a long time because they tend to go to homeschooling activities farther north, out of my range. I realized how much I missed being able to speak with other homeschoolers about the issues and problems that are common to us. The game night ended at 10PM. I had to drive slowly home through a thick fog that enveloped the road, but I felt better than I had in days. It turned out that I needed the companionship and socialization as much as my son.

And Now, A Message from Spring...

It was definitely feeling like Spring today...



The crocuses were popping up all over the front yard!

I hope these gave you a smile today. I never tire of seeing the crocuses pop up after a long winter. They spear right through the layer of decaying leaves and spread their delicate petals to the sun. For me, they are a radiant sign of hope. Life will always return, no matter how desolate earth looks in the dead of winter. Nature is like that. It tears down, sometimes completely. But it rebuilds.

It has been a difficult winter. So much has happened here and around the world, and winter has ended with such terrible tragedy in Japan. A week later, it is still hard for me to talk about it. My heart goes out to those who have suffered. Lives have been lost, so many have been hurt and left homeless. And living on the opposite side of the world, it is easy to feel impotent and powerless to help. But we can help. Our donations of supplies, money and time are like the crocuses. They bring hope.

Home Spun comic strip #594

Just so you know, my children have already informed me that I did not include enough traffic and food stops, or any red lights for that matter. Sorry! I was going for simplicity and legibility.

Home Spun comic strip #593

Home Spun comic strip #592

My kids did not enjoy writing. As someone who spends a lot of time writing, this was very difficult to accept. You want your children to share your interests, and in my early years of homeschooling, I envisioned happy hours of making up stories, writing poetry, and researching topics together. It would be idyllic.

What I got was complaints. Marina complained about how much it hurt to write. Part of the problem was her death grip on the pencil to create painstakingly neat lettering. Chase wrote rushed sentences with words spelled phonetically. I never did convince him to hold his pencil properly. Both wanted their work to be perfect the first time so they could move on to other things.

Luckily, I have a long memory. My own writing method was similar to Marina's when I was in school. I remember how painful writing was, and I had no choice in the matter. My fingers were often cramped and my handwriting could not match the speed of my imagination. On my own, I would revert to drawings to capture my stories. When I was younger, my mom would write down my poems for me. As I got older, my parents let me use the typewriter, but I was about as fast with that as with writing. I did get used to writing by hand--in college. That was when I started penning my longest story and a spiral notebook was the most portable method for writing. After I got married and we bought our first computer, words began to flow faster than ever as my typing speed improved. I suppose I have always had stories and essays in me and they were simply waiting for me to find the best way to let them out.

These writing memories tell me that I shouldn't worry too much about my kids. If they have tales to tell, those stories will find a way out. I'm hoping I'm setting a good example by finding time for writing in my own life, and by having my family read what I write and check my work. They are very good at catching my mistakes!

Home Spun Vignette #16

Home Spun Vignette #15

In case you've forgotten or weren't here for it, check out the original post about our Mobius bagel!

Carnival at Time4Learning

This week's Carnival of Homeschooling: The Mardi Gras edition is celebrating at Time4Learning's Homeschool Online Blog! Come join the festivities as we celebrate the kaleidoscope of ideas, thoughts and experiences homeschooling offers us!


Happy Mardi Gras!

Home Spun Vignette #14

This past week got away from me. It's amazing how hard it is to come up with ideas when you are constantly dropping off and picking up your kids from activities, nursing a backache, and reading "Have Space Suit, Will Travel." My brain was slightly overloaded, so I opted for vignettes this week. Hope you like them!

Home Spun comic strip #591

A Path Unparalleled

Each step we take onto the path before us is different from anyone before or after us. This road is not constant. It shifts and breathes, opens cracks for some, potholes for others. It breaks into thousands of side paths that twist and merge and rejoin the main road as they please. No two of us walk it the same way. Some of us take long confident strides, others take tentative baby steps. Even if I were to step in the print of another, my foot would not fit exactly.

Look back along the tracks you have made. They are unique and distinct. This is what we are trying to teach our children. We each leave our own personal mark on the road. It cannot compare to another. I have three children with three separate methods for learning. Marina walks closest to me, but sometimes gets distracted by the flowers or a small animal and falls behind. She loves the details. I had to pick my way through brambles as I realized Chase would never be as open as Marina to reading or doing everything I suggested. He prefers to run in the brush along my path. I stumbled along my own path as I figured out that Sierra would learn by her own design and no other. She prefers to climb the rocks and sometimes hides behind the trees so she can jump out and surprise me. If I accept that they cannot compare to each other, how can I even consider comparing them to others who have chosen the more traditional, well-trodden route?

My path hasn't simply had potholes, it has had cliffs to climb and raging rivers to ford. My clothes have been muddied and torn from the effort of being a non-conformist. I've waded in the water and tried to stand in the current as I've watched others simply cross a bridge. If someone were to look over at me from that bridge, they might not understand the effort I put myself through. After all, there is an easier way.

And my answer would be that in spite of the difficulties, I'm having too much fun to give it up.

Home Spun comic strip #590

Carnival at Notes from a Homeschooling Mom

The latest Carnival of Homeschooling: Thanks for the Inspiration is now up at Notes from a Homeschooling Mom! Please take a moment to stop by this week's carnival!