violamama
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Posts posted by violamama
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Hey WTM board folks. I'll be at the OHEN thingie at Oaks Amusement Park tomorrow for my small business (music lessons- we have a black, white & red logo, but I figure posting the name here might be like advertising it and not cool). We're giving away free music practice dice for kiddos to assemble.
I am imagining there may not be throngs of homeschoolers at an amusement park on a drippy rainy day, so please come chat with me. I'd love to meet some of you in person!
11-4 "Not Back to School Day"! See you there?
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Whoa, I am now completely curious about the book.
Are those of you calling out the lack of superior intellect, thorough specialized training and extensive experience homeschool moms? And if so, do you ever secretly (or not so secretly) worry about the fate of kids homeschooled by average moms? Or is that kettle of fish too old to open... ?
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Yep! Well, we camped for about 2 weeks in Montana (before we bought the trailer- so it was car camping), plus two more long weekends with the trailer.
My husband's into flying RC helicopters, so we go to "fun flies" with it. We've only had it about a month, so it's our new obsession. We're going again next weekend.
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Here it is as a link. This pic posting thing is kind of sad. Looking forward to the help from OtherJohn next week...
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Thanks!
I've resurrected my Flickr account and am going to try to post a picture. Stand back!
Edited to remove lame broken link...
Nope. Dangit.
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Thanks, Jean!
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I've read it through, though I admit to skimming stuff out of our current age/grade levels.
I read it and then looked for you all on the internet.
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The summer was almost traumatically busy. I'm finding the new year to be a relief!
Just wanted to say I've been thinking of all of you guys, and hope to have a minute to glean the posts of the past few months.
We've started year 3 homeschooling! It hasn't killed us yet!
Here are my boys with our new camper trailer (my favorite reason for being offline!)
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I'm glad you bumped this thread.
I would like to marry this sharpener: http://www.jetpens.com/Uni-KH-20-Hand-Crank-Wooden-Pencil-Sharpener-Red/pd/6546Look around that site. I dare you.
I bought this staple-less stapler and then made up reasons to put papers in packets for all our music campers because it's SO COOL!
http://www.jetpens.com/Sun-Star-Paper-Stitch-Lock-Stand-Staple-Less-Stapler-Bamboo-Green/pd/8347
And I also have fallen for the Palomino Blackwings. They are fantastical.
I may have to just give up and move back to Japan.
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Yes. I am fully aware that doing everything, including going above and beyond, perfectly is not really a reasonable goal. Doesn't stop me for some dumb reason though. Then add that so many of the things are things that really don't matter (again, why is the stupid closet so important?). Then add that some of it is just an impossibility (gotta pick - this life or that).
Want your cake and eat it too? I can see that.
Eating it on a certain plate is important WHY?
Want to finish off the evening with a relaxing bath and all you have is desert around you? Not likely.
And yet, I want to be eating the cake from a certain plate while taking the relaxing bath despite the desert. Add in a few wild animals. Yeah, I'm real reasonable.
Like mentioned above, I really need to prioritize. Quit grasping for perfection.
Let some things go altogether or at least be more reasonable about it.
And then accept how things are, make choices that work for us. And accept what we give up (for now) in the process.
I have done this before. I grasp for control when things are out of my control and I have trouble accepting that. This is especially true when I can't seem to work out *everything* and *perfection* which is crazy in it's own way. No wonder I'm overwhelmed when I'm being completely unreasonable through a very tough situation. Then I can judge myself harshly when I can see this but still won't give myself a break.
I wish I could treat myself like someone else. I'd never expect anyone else to even be functioning after losing a daughter, much less being perfect. I really need to start being kinder to myself. But how? <dumb tears> I guess it starts with a thread like this (y'all have some great ideas and thoughts) and a trip to the psychologist (Tuesday).
Well, baby finished bottle (she doesn't usually wake up in the night, thankfully) and dog finally decided to come back inside; so I'm going back to sleep. 3 hours before I have to do another day.
Big huge hugs. It stinks to realize some things just won't happen, doesn't it? Maybe some will become delayed desires and others might be incremental projects. Sometimes revisiting what is doable can make the waiting easier. I imagine dealing with your loss is coloring all the little details of life right now.
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So my question is how often you feel behind, overwhelmed, like you're not doing enough in some areas, that you still have a ways to go to get on top of things, etc?
I feel like that a lot, and in fact I take a little "reading" of myself often in that area. Feeling a bit under water doesn't induce panic in me, though. It tends to help me focus and prioritize better.
For those of you who feel that way, what do you think contributes to that feeling? Is your to-do list only X% complete each day? Or is it a mindset or something else?I have a lot of things I want to do consistently. It's not stuff I can always check off a list and have it be done, and as a flawed human being with a real life I'm constantly re-starting the small tasks and goals that will get me the outcomes I want. It's stuff like deeper understanding of theology, or more compassion for others, or better intonation (music/career stuff), or greater engagement with my kids, or more enjoyment of my own body. These desired outcomes both hang over me and spur me on.
How do other people view you and your running of life (house, children, homeschooling, unforeseen occurrences)? Do you struggle with that view (either direction)?Thinking too deeply about what other people think of me is almost never very helpful for me. I tend to be sensitive, I tend to worry, and I have a bad habit of remembering every negative thing people say, so I just try to assume the best and only listen to people whom I have chosen as counselors in my life. For example: I really really don't like to be told, "Oh, you're so busy!" or "I really have no idea how you get things done" or "What?! You're homeschooling too?" It's even worse when homeschooling mom friends comment, because I often start to question myself and my scheduling choices. My mom in particular has a way of talking about my life that makes me feel like she is disapproving. I'm not sure she actually thinks I'm doing to much, but I do know she would not be doing all the stuff I do... if YKWIM.
Do you think most people are handling life better than you do? If so, do you just justify it (fewer kids, not homeschooling too, no special need, fewer health issues, whatever)? Or do you think there is something wrong with you?The slant of these questions intrigue me. I can't imagine thinking somebody caring for/dealing with the things above wasn't accomplishing things. What would they need to justify? If anything, I am completely inspired by the moms I personally know who are parenting special needs kids or who are dealing with health issues. I'm not calling them saints- I'm just talking about the patience and perseverance I see two of my friends in particular displaying daily... What they accomplish in any given day is incredible and it may be completely invisible to somebody else or to a To Do list. Their quiet stamina is something I deeply admire. In fact, sometimes at the end of a crappy day or week I find myself thinking of people who are doing/being what I want to be but with less income, less time, less energy, less help. It helps me to buck up and find what I need to adjust in order to do what I can with what I've got.
Last thought: Your goals and ambitions and to-do lists are only as helpful as you make them- and I think a ton of people make them in such a way that they are almost a hindrance instead. This last set of questions makes me wonder if what you think you should be able to do and what you actually have in front of you to do are a bit at odds.
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In Oregon there have been problems with some kind of a ring selling previously wrecked cars with doctored titles. They usually say at first that they have no title (some people will buy it anyway) and then that they can get one. I'm not at all saying you've stumbled on one of these, but we did and we were glad to have dodged that bullet. We ended up not liking the car (price seemed too good to be true, one panel looked replaced but they said it had only ever been in a parking lot fender-bender, and when we mentioned we would run a CarFax, they got all funny about the title- so we were out of there). A police officer later confirmed this is a relatively common scam thing here. While he said it's generally Russians in our area, I have no evidence that part is true and have never heard of other people running into that.
I'm surprised she can't find something that matches her criteria. My dad has had fabulous luck finding great used cars (mostly Honda sedan type cars) out on runs through country neighborhoods. Don't know if you have suburbs around you, but if so you might try a fact-finding mission. Garage sales have brought us a couple of great deals, and we've sold cars that way too.
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... Yes, talk to our child about it privately, but blowing it out of proportion will make everyone uncomfortable.
My son was 3 when he spotted a little person for the first time ever. He was squealing like he'd just won the lottery. "Mommy, it's a little grown up! Did you see him? It's a little grown up!" He was so completely happy. I was mortified and couldn't get out of Bed Bath and Beyond fast enough.
Thanks, glad to have a bit of affirmation and hear other's thoughts.
KungFuPanda, we've had an 11 year old gal coming to our house for about 4 years who has short stature syndrome (i.e. she's a little person). My son (yep, same one) just the other day finally realized her body is a bit different than the average and that she is the same size now as she was when she was younger. Her mom happened to be there and replied kindly to his questions with, "You know, people come in all different shapes and sizes and colors. It can be kind of surprising. Have you been noticing that more lately?" And I think he was almost relieved to realize the diversity of man is a marvel to many- even adults. I love that mom.
We're about to become a mixed race family, and I always appreciate glimpses of others' thoughts on race. My favorite viola student this year decided against a career in music to go off and study race. I asked her to send me her thesis when she comes out the other side of academia...
Anyway, thanks all!
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That sounds good. You could also make a soup with them but as a side I like your idea better. We put ours on salad sometimes, too.
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I have a Pakistani friend who once failed a driving exam for not honking enough. I second all the recs for a driver if at all possible.
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When we do go on the first day, we pick one of those living room theaters. We buy tickets online and then go stand in line about 60 minutes early so we get first choice of seats. It's the kind where you can order dinner & wine anyway, so it's nice to sit there early. The fancy living room one here only has about 30 seats so even if we were to go late we'd still probably get decent seats. It's expensive, but we honestly only do it maybe twice a year.
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If I was allowing a bigger mixed (family/non-family) play group including an age gap like that, I'd be out there playing- and mostly with the youngest. Whenever I saw kind behavior to the youngers I would give a knowing smile or even verbal encouragement to the olders. Bring them "in on it", make them feel respected when they care for the others in the group. Reinforce that acting responsibly and with compassion is a grown-up group way of behaving. And I would probably try to arrange some time for the olders to play together or have a special late movie night, something like that. Which I would also supervise.
ETA: Fwiw, I would not trust my own boys to play in a consistently friendly/polite way in a group with kids from other families. The darndest things come out of kids mouths in those situations. They KNOW how they should treat each other, but they sometimes experiment with some weird hierarchical stuff in groups. They may want to align themselves with the olders in that situation, too. And they are sweet, loving kids. It's just that social stuff takes so much practice and redirection.
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Does he trust you enough to promise to talk to you before doing anything rash?
Could you offer to put him up if things go south, and ask him to give you, say, 2 months of his life before he runs out in the untamed wilds if they do react poorly?
Poor kid. Tough world out there, no matter what you've got going on. Running off at 14... eek.
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I once left my keys in the freezer. Thank goodness my hubby wanted ice cream & discovered them before I had to have a melt-down looking for them.
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Mine does worse. He beat boxes. Incessantly.
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Fair enough Seasider, but he represents my flavor of Baptist fairly well. Do some of those other Baptists deny original sin or the need for salvation? If so, why would they need baptism? Seems illogical.
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We also got a 2nd one in...but dh for dibs on it to use for...wait for it...target practice for target practice for archery. He loves to get phone books :)
We always used big sheets of that pink foam insulation because it was easier to retrieve arrows. :-)
So out of curiosity...
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Not necessarily important, though lots of education can be one indicator of love of learning.
I've got a bachelors, masters and doctorate in music performance with a focus in arts management. I also have Suzuki violin training and music theory pedagogy experience.
I have taught music lessons and related courses for about 20 years, and I taught English in Japan for 2 years.
My husband has a bachelors in computer science and went on to complete a law degree. He also completed a pilot's license.
One of the courses I've found most useful in our day to day life is a one year parenting with love and logic class we took. It informs my teaching both at home and in my college classes.