foxbridgeacademy Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 I have a not typical mom. She's always worked in a male dominated field (machinist and Industrial Maintenance) she's the one who fixed the cars, took us camping, fishing, and hunting. She takes the kids on Canoe camping weekends where they "survival camp". To look at her you'd never know that she's the one who chops the wood and tends the farm. She's 4'11 and all over small, very pretty, but she's tough. I wrecked the car when I was 16 and she was walking around getting us all out (2 little sisters) with a broken leg and 3 broken ribs. She started sky diving in her late 40's and took up golf in her 50's. She's beat cancer twice and had open heart surgery just before Christmas (life long heart defect) and was ready to go back to work 3 weeks later. I can honestly say I've never met a person I admire more. Nothing wrong with being a not typical mom. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Love this! So true! Otherwise, I'm going to be taking a board break for a bit I think. It's not a good health morning for me today (or last night) and that's affecting a bit. Then too, my homeschooling days ended in 2012, so... it probably is time to move on. Best wishes to everyone! The one thing I really expect to miss is following our kids and general lives. I've enjoyed that tremendously. Hi Creekland, I am really going to miss you. I understand though. I'm going back to work next fall in order to help with college expenses, and youngest ds whom I thought I would teach full time through the end of high school will be taking mostly college classes instead. I'm starting to feel like my homeschooling days have ended and with the job and a dying father am likely to not be around much after I get through the maintenance of the acceptances and decisions threads on the college board. Please know that you are very much going to be missed. Though we have never had the opportunity to meet, you feel very much like a friend to me. Faith 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 Hi Creekland, I am really going to miss you. I understand though. I'm going back to work next fall in order to help with college expenses, and youngest ds whom I thought I would teach full time through the end of high school will be taking mostly college classes instead. I'm starting to feel like my homeschooling days have ended and with the job and a dying father am likely to not be around much after I get through the maintenance of the acceptances and decisions threads on the college board. Please know that you are very much going to be missed. Though we have never had the opportunity to meet, you feel very much like a friend to me. Faith It's not 100% (not yet anyway). I still feel good some days - esp at school (like today - I'm on lunch now) and most mornings. Of course, it kinda shows that I don't really "do" much at school! :lol: I'd best not ever sub for PE. (I already choose not to.) My mind stays occupied (French today - most of the day) and my body doesn't (usually) have to do much that annoys it, so school days tend to be decent ones. There are exceptions, of course, like if I try moving desks or handing out laptops or moving several library books, but now that I know what those exceptions are, I can get students to do most of those, most of the time. It's tougher at home trying to get the ponies to groom themselves and there's no way I'm letting hubby do all the chores. I also haven't totally given up hope that someone will actually be able to determine the cause and be able to fix it. The anatomy teacher and I have been brainstorming. (He trained as a PA before deciding to teach school instead, so has more knowledge than "just" anatomy.) But most afternoons/nights (sigh)... I'm learning to live with those 'cause there's no way I'm giving in. I'm just not happy learning to live with it - and I'm human. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 I don't know who I'd compare myself with to determine if I am a typical mom or not. I work a bit, write epic fantasy fiction, cook (and enjoy cooking), mess around with colonies of stinging, flying insects for fun, take care of my menagerie, do school with my kids, clean my house on a regular schedule, and dream about having time to garden, keep great numbers of said colonies of stingers, and think it might be cool to someday have a house way up in the mountains where I could have my "hive for the honeybee and live alone in the bee-loud glade." Seems pretty normal to me. :laugh: (Best wishes to Creekland, hope you are feeling better soon and that all goes well for you!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Hi Creekland, I am really going to miss you. I understand though. I'm going back to work next fall in order to help with college expenses, and youngest ds whom I thought I would teach full time through the end of high school will be taking mostly college classes instead. I'm starting to feel like my homeschooling days have ended and with the job and a dying father am likely to not be around much after I get through the maintenance of the acceptances and decisions threads on the college board. Please know that you are very much going to be missed. Though we have never had the opportunity to meet, you feel very much like a friend to me. Faith Noooooooooo! This is getting to be too much. First Creekland (who is still here I see ;) ) now you. I refuse to accept this reality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Not gone yet scoutermom, I just know that we have some pretty big changes ahead and it will greatly limit my time. I do hope to check in on the college board once in a while to see how all of you are doing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 These are women who are scattered across the U.S. and a few in Europe as well. These days there doesn't seem to be as much regional variation with our highly mobile society. People hop from one city to the next to further their (or their spouse's) career. But the more expensive areas do attract those CEOs and traveling type. I settled down so my kids could have roots. We aren't willing to travel. They will have a real home, rooted in geography. Funnily enough, a few years after I returned I finally read the Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy. I remember Random. So harsh. Temporal and geographic rootedness... something can be lost without that. Love this! So true! Otherwise, I'm going to be taking a board break for a bit I think. It's not a good health morning for me today (or last night) and that's affecting a bit. Then too, my homeschooling days ended in 2012, so... it probably is time to move on. Best wishes to everyone! The one thing I really expect to miss is following our kids and general lives. I've enjoyed that tremendously. D: I get it though, kind of. I mean I get things bleeding over. I hope you'll come back occasionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slojo Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 I'm a pretty lousy homemaker as well. I've never understood why the state of a woman's house is often seen as a measure of successful motherhood; seriously, what about birthing a child is supposed to transform me into a full time maid?!? Don't get it. I think I'm an awesome mom. I love my kids and all their quirks, love teaching them, love supporting them in the adventure we call life. I smile and laugh a lot. Mismatched outfits and messy kitchen floors are just not very high on my priority list. I don't know if I'm a typical mom or not. I assumed homeschooling, by definition, made me atypical - at least statistically speaking. It seems that "typical/atypical" depends on where I am. I moved from a place where extended breastfeeding, home birthing, co-sleeping, and having kids over the age of 35 were kind of "AND what else is new?" occurrences -- I called it the "Land of the Crunchy-Granola, Gray Haired Kindergarten Mommas." I was fairly typical there in terms of parenting situations and choices, but then stuck out in other ways. I jokingly referred to myself as "a mostly hippie mom without the ugly clothes." When we moved, the "typical" parts of me just showed up in other ways. Change of scenery, change of what was considered typical. I think that a lot of the things that people associate with "typical" moms don't have a darn thing to do with actually mothering, or at least they are only associated with mothering in a general, very culturally-prescribed way -- and I'm always surprised when people don't just recognize it as such. I mean 7 billion folks on this planet have had mothers, and surely they couldn't have all done it the same way ;-)! Really, however you "mother," you're "typical" somewhere. Hear you on the "maid" thing, sister! Whose fresh hell of an idea was that? I think I'm a pretty awesome mom as well -- when I'm really doing me, and not trying to fit with something I'm not. I have blue hair at the moment, tattoos, and I garden. And really, I think I'm a fairly typical mom. Based on what I've read here, most of you are typical moms too, at least compared to my circle of IRL friends. I'm sorry to burst your bubbles. :lol: Yep. Not to have a Chris Rock "low-expectations having" attitude about it, but I take care of my kids! (That's when, in your best CR impersonation, you say, "BUT THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO!" LOL!) I don't deserve a cookie for any particular brand of parenting. As long as "you take care of your kids," I think you're typical. Also, let's keep it real -- I drive a mini-van and my kids play soccer, just how fringe can I be? Sure, I sport dread locs and will take my kids to a protest march (those probably aren't typical), and my kids' bedtime is late - perk of homeschooling, I say or maybe I'd just make a great Indonesian or Spanish mom. But otherwise, down-right boringly typical. Magazine moms aren't typical, Most of the typical moms in my area are slightly frazzled and trying hard at various things, including study, careers, relationships, homeschooling. Me included. Beyond that, there is no prescribed set of hobbies/clothing/attitudes/jam making sessions etc Yep, just trying to keep it together. There was that one video that went around several months back about the kinds of moms you meet, and the last mom was the mom who barely had it all together, and every single mom friend I had who commented on FB identified with the 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilaclady Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 Love this! So true! Otherwise, I'm going to be taking a board break for a bit I think. It's not a good health morning for me today (or last night) and that's affecting a bit. Then too, my homeschooling days ended in 2012, so... it probably is time to move on. Best wishes to everyone! The one thing I really expect to miss is following our kids and general lives. I've enjoyed that tremendously. Please don't leave because of this creekland. I love seeing your posts and hope your son's heart mends quickly. Hugs to you all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted April 5, 2016 Author Share Posted April 5, 2016 Noooooooooo! This is getting to be too much. First Creekland (who is still here I see ;) ) now you. I refuse to accept this reality. I think mornings are still going to work for me (for now). I need to head off to school soon. I've no idea yet what I'll be doing there, but it's math today, so chances are better that I might actually be working. It's still last minute (vs planned) so it could just be passing out tests or something. Time will tell. Please don't leave because of this creekland. I love seeing your posts and hope your son's heart mends quickly. Hugs to you all My youngest flew back to college on Sunday. He seems to be doing well there. Time should help his heart. He definitely said it was empty though - so much he has to rethink now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 Hi Creekland, I am really going to miss you. I understand though. I'm going back to work next fall in order to help with college expenses, and youngest ds whom I thought I would teach full time through the end of high school will be taking mostly college classes instead. I'm starting to feel like my homeschooling days have ended and with the job and a dying father am likely to not be around much after I get through the maintenance of the acceptances and decisions threads on the college board. Please know that you are very much going to be missed. Though we have never had the opportunity to meet, you feel very much like a friend to me. Faith This is where I am as well, going back to work (hopefully!) in the Fall. Partly because it is time. I homeschooled primarily to help my son with some special needs. He is now 18 and doing very well at his community college program. And I am also going back to work to help offer more choices to my kids for college. I am not ready for a board break though, so you guys are stuck with me for a while. I will see how it goes once I get job and start working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeannpal Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 One of the things I like best about getting older (I'll be 50 in June) is that I don't have to play the mom game so much any more. I don't worry so much now about what I am wearing, what my daughter is wearing, or how we are perceived by others. I like having interests that have nothing to do with being a mom or even a woman. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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