[Waiter type shoes for men? Reasonably priced]

I got Rockports for my ds when he waited tables.  

[Going back to the U.S. in one week and I am a giant ball of ANXIETY]

Heather, my ds has been in Japan for 5 years.  When he comes home, he says it takes him a while to get used to hearing English again and to not be surprised when he sees Americans.  He also has a hard time with bowing.  I think it is sweet.   

 

My family in Florida is  small-minded.  I've learned to smile politely and listen to them when I go home which is only once every few years.  They haven't changed as much as I have since I left decades ago.  I'm sure they mean well, but my life isn't something they can relate to, and I'm still in the same country.   I always make plans to take breaks from them just to keep myself sane.  

 

Enjoy your trip home and try to see it as an opportunity to reflect on how much you've grown.

[S/O Bacon or Eggs Poll]

I'm allergic to pork, but I used to work with a lady that brought in bacon and a giant Big Red soda every morning for breakfast.

[What Magazine(s) Do You Subscribe To?]

Zoobooks

Foreign affairs

The Economist

[Florida vacation....VRBO/Homeaway area options from Tampa to Seista Key/Sarasota]

Tierra Verde has condos with pools available.  It's best points are easy access to Ft. Desoto for a great beach easy access back to the interstate.  (When I lived in south Florida I had a townhouse there)

[Trying to build up hand endurance (writing with a 7.5 year old boy)-what is normal?]

In addition to the previous recommendations about OT, I suggest finger knitting moving into knitting.  It improves coordination and strengthens little hands.  Legos and lots of time spent coloring also help.

[Sick of searching for poetry memorization]

You don't really need more suggestions, but I'll give you two anyway.  When I was stuck because of too many choices, I used the Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization.  I just did as it said, and the kids amazed me.  After that I was more confident in our abilities.  Now, I am using How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare.  It is fabulous and includes the "how" instead of just the "what"  that fill a lot of other resources.

[Can we talk lack of motivation and the gifted child? (Specifically 2E children)]

One thing I found that helped for fear of failure was pottery classes.  A few months of wheel-throwing really helped my Dd get over that fear and learn to enjoy the process.    Improv classes helped a lot too.   A larger problem that she readily admits to is laziness.  Everything learning related is extremely easy for her.  She would much rather watch funny movies than learn something new.   We talk about this frequently.  If I had a solution to that, I'd be happy.   I do require that she spends part of her free time doing something new or challenging. 

[6th grade math in PS]

My Dd goes to a 6th- 12th classical charter school.   One thing they've found is that most of their students come into the school significantly behind in math.   They use sixth grade to catch them up for their rigorous program.   In sixth, they focus on mastery of math plus proficiency with decimals, fractions, ratios, proportions, and percentage.  

[If you always do (this) your life will be so much easier!]

I have to at least have a clean counter and sink at night before I go to bed.  I start the day angry if I have to see dirty dishes before I've had my coffee.  I've spent years nurturing that particular annoyance.  It used to just bug me a little, but I willed that little issue into a problem big enough to overcome my tiredness.  On days when I just want to turn off the lights and go to bed, I think of how mad I will be in the morning.  It is now enough to make me clean it become it turn in.

 

I also schedule 15 minutes alone to drink my coffee in the mornings which means that if I don't drag myself out of bed when the alarm goes off, I don't get to enjoy my coffee before the kids get up and want me.

 

I guess the thing that makes my life easier is finding ways to leverage who I am so that I can accomplish the things I really want to do.

[Is Ecce Romani enough for high school credit?]

Take a look at "The Romans Speak for Themselves."  It is a terrific supplement that goes along with the vocabulary and grammar from Ecce Romani but adds some excerpts from historical writings.  My Dd has enjoyed it.  

[I think I'm done with reading Trilogies]

I had my falling out with trilogies long ago although I will read the third book of the Kingkiller chronicles because Rothfus has named it Doors of Stone, and he will finish it, and it will be the last of the trilogy, and it will have been worth the wait.

:)

[If you were bullied during your school years...]

I think that there was sarcasm there.  ( I really don't have much of a sarcasm meter)

But, at least for me, that would have been an excellent choice.  Better even than having mom doing the teaching.  

 

 

 

No sarcasm intended.  The words I remember most from my mom in my childhood are "go outside and play."  We had acres of swampy woods near our house that I spent most of my time in.  The only place I was allow to go alone besides the woods was the library, and it was one of the few air conditioned places in town.  (I grew up in the very very rural South)

[If you were bullied during your school years...]

I was not bullied, but wish I had been wise enough to stand up for those who WERE bullied.  I always felt so badly that I was oblivious/ignorant to all of that.  It became one of the main messages to my children, to stand up for those being bullied.  As an adult, I could never understand the message that it's better to be bullied and learn how to be tough than to be bullied and disappear.  I wouldn't have hesitated to pull my own kids out of school if they were being bullied.  For those who were bullied, do you think if you had had the opportunity to be pulled out of school at that point and homeschooled, would it have made a difference?

Don't know, but my mom would have abandoned me to a pile of books and the woods which is always a good choice.

[If you were bullied during your school years...]

And this leads to another effect of the bullying--I absolutely believe that if you don't stop it in the first couple of times it happens, you can NEVER stop it. Once you're labeled as the person all the other kids can pick on, I don't believe you can ever recover status as a normal kid in that group. I feel completely defeatist about it. Does anyone know if a bullied can really ever gain acceptance after they're labeled as the victim? Like, if you were the lowest kid on the social ladder for 2 years, can you suddenly recover and become friends with a bunch of your classmates? I don't think so, but I'd love to find out I'm wrong. But I just can't imagine that happening.

I fought back, but I was always still the victim. I was still small and still outcast.  After a few beatdowns each year, I didn't have to fight again, but I was never let into groups.  It was always just a matter of time before some other bully tried again to put me in my place.  It didn't matter if I won or lost the fight or if I fought them before they could start in on me.  Everyone knew that eventually the bullies would come after me again.  No one wanted to have to be in a position to have to help me.

 

Eventually, I changed schools and grew.  I never did learn to fit in with the crowd or trust that people would help me or even take my side when I am right.   What I learned from fighting back has served me well as an adult in the business world.  I don't think I've been intimidated since I was in third grade. 

[If you have a 2 story home, do you use a window unit AC to help cool...]

We have "whole house fan."  I never saw them before moving here.  There is a fan in the attic with vents in the top floor and fans on the roof.  Turn it on and it sounds like the ceiling is going to lift off.  It sucks the hot air out of the top of the house. You can feel a breeze flowing through the house from the basement up.  

[What did you get for Mothers Day?]

My dh made french toast that I can eat which is a great treat considering my allergies.  He also went to every natural grocery store in town to get enough elk to make elk burgers and then grilled them in the snow while I Sat on the couch with a book and a glass of wine. One kid made me a card and brought me coffee in bed.  One played cello for me.  One called from Japan.

[If you were bullied during your school years...]

It was my dad that had me thinking I was small, weak, ugly.  My hair is too curly.  My feet are too big.  My clothes are weird. I'm not as smart as my siblings or as pretty as my sister.  Why would anyone want to be my friend?  When a kid a school pushed me down and kicked me the first time, it had been coming for a long time.  I already knew nobody would help me.

[If you were bullied during your school years...]

I was one that fought back. Every year. I fought and fought.  I know the need to fight back and the knowledge that no one would stop it except me influenced how I turned out. I can't say if it was a positive or a negative influence, but it was a large influence.  I don't know what school was like for kids that were in the middle or kids that had the power.  I know I am still different because of choices I made at the end of someone's fist decades ago.

[Can someone explain eyebrows to me?]

 My eyebrows went gray about the time my middle child hit puberty.  I tend to forget I have them now.   I wonder what shape they are.....

[So what do you believe is truly the best overall healthy "diet" for life?]

Another vote for real food, not too much and mostly plants.  I am a healthy weight, and my cholesterol is in a healthy range along with my blood pressure.  Both of my siblings are overweight and both of my parents have had heart attacks so I know it is the food choices I make that set me apart from my relatives.

[Last TEACHERS LOUNGE. 5-7-2014]

So Wyoming is where you're looking for those deer and antelope?

 

Today I had stuffed a stuffed pepper leftover from last night's dinner.  I decided that I'm making it next week too, but doubling the recipe.  It was really good.

 

I had lots of things planned for today, but I'm sitting in an uncomfortable chair in the ER with my older Dd counting my blessings instead of worrying about her future.  Today was her third visit here in three weeks for anaphylactic reactions.  When the pollen count is high,  every reaction is worse.  She is better than last year.  She was almost completely sequestered for May last year. She's sleeping off the epinephrine right now which is much better than a lot of other possible outcomes.

[Advice for having teens or tweens do indoor painting]

I help with taping and protecting.  I also help with edges and corners for the first few rooms.  Once they are started, I don't look unless they ask.  

[Do You Sacrifice to Put Yourself First?]

I started going to an exercise class a couple of weeks ago.  It is 3 hours a week.  My family can do without me for 3 hours.  My house will stand for 3 hours. I am important too.  I am pretty sure we all are.  

[Monday's TEACHERS' LOuNgE 5-5-2015]

Afternoon.  It is almost time to fire up the grill for dinner.  I'm grilling Portobello mushrooms and making baby bok choy.  

 

You know it is two weeks until summer vacation here?  That really is the best part of May.  I also live where the deer and antelope play.    Hope you enjoy it.