Working out the details

Yesterday I had to spill the beans about our plans for homeschooling to my son. He's seen me reading how-to books, organizing cabinets with school books and supplies and going to "meetings". He's too smart to let it pass so yesterday he finally asked me why all of this was happening. I told him as little as possible (he has a need to know everything, so it wasn't easy). I want him to know what we are thinking about but I'm still keeping all of the details to myself. I made him a promise that on the last day of school I would give him the full run down, only two more months.

At first he looked at me like I had two heads and then he asked the question I knew would be first "You mean I'm going to have to leave all my friends?". That's not an easy one, how do you tell your child you're taking him away from his security? After I explained the good points to him I could see a little spark in his eye. He had a few minutes to think about it and then he was on board! There are so many advantages to this way of learning and the more I hear the more I can understand why it works.

When I went to school my parents didn't have to think about where I went to school or the quality of that school. There were no SOLs and "No Child Left Behind" wasn't even a thought yet. Don't get me started on those two ideas... My best friend's fathers were a lawyer and a doctor. They could have gone to private school if they wanted to but we had a good school so it wasn't even questioned. The hardest obstacle we have had to overcome with our children is schooling. We knew before we had kids that we would never send them to our neighborhood public school and when we found the private school they attend I had been warned by many to beware. I figured that we could just supplement what they weren't getting at home. What I didn't know is that paying for your child's education doesn't mean you will be heard at the school when there is a problem; and I certainly didn't figure that our concerns would be ignored.

I still have a lot to figure out and some days I panic because I'll be in charge of my child's education but once we hit our stride I think we'll find it suits our family. This might be the answer we have been searching for all along.

Kathy

School Daze

I was originally going to write this post on Monday and it was going to be about how the previous owners of my house had stripped everything good out of it (except for a few doorknobs and window lifts). My original light fixtures have been replaced and the 1960s chandelier has even been stripped of it's crystal prisms, the old light switches are gone, the claw foot bathtub is no more. And although I'm sure the owners thought they were "updating" this house what they did was strip it of it's history. It makes me sad to think of all the treasures this old house is missing.

Anyway, like I said that was supposed to be the original post. For most of the week, however, my mind has been consumed by thoughts of what to do about school next year from my two kids. The public school system in our city is at best passable and at worst dangerous. They have been attending a private school but it also falls short. Although it has great teachers this year there are a few that are long overdue to retire and the governing body is blinded by their own small mindedness.

Along with two of my friends the idea of homeschooling came up. This is something I swore I would never do, I think kids need to be in school for the social aspect if for nothing else. But when you feel that your kids are being shortchanged in the learning department and you have no other option... well, what exactly do you do? My children are the most important people in my life (my husband gladly comes 2nd!) and our philosophy has always been that we do what is best for them.

In the next few weeks I'm going to have to do a lot of soul searching and investigating to make sure this is, in fact, the correct choice for me and my children. I would love to hear from other homeschooling parents, I need all the help I can get right now.

Have a great weekend - I'm going to a Garage Sale Gala tomorrow night so hopefully Monday I'll have some new treasures to blog about!

Kathy

A new chapter

Last week we started something I have been dreading all summer. Both of my children are in school full-time.

There is no one to ride to the preschool with me, no one to say "Good Morning" to the YMCA patrons, no one to help me clock in and no one to help me clean up after the kids are gone. There is no one to eat lunch with, no one to pick up after, no one to ask what channel Spongebob is on and no one to give me kisses "just because".

There is no one to push in a baby stroller, no diapers to change, no bottles to warm, no one to pick up and carry to a nap.


No one to kick my belly, no one to see on an ultra sound and no one to share my body with.


But... there are 2 special people to welcome home, 2 lunches to make, 2 book bags to collect papers from and 2 kids who I miss terribly.

I cried the first 2 days of school (and yes, even now I'm crying) but I know that in one hour I will be yelling at 2 kids to stop fighting.

And all will be right with the world.

Kathy

Back to a routine

School started Tuesday and I am trying to get us all back into a routine (something I must have in order to be sane!). I go back to work next week, hopefully by Monday I'll have my head on straight and can start blogging again every week.

Until then I leave you with this image.... Never leave yourself vulnerable to the little sister you have picked on for the last 3 months.

I believe she was saying "Swing, batter, batter, swing!" right before she hit him!!!

I hope all of your "first days back" went as well as ours - hopefully there weren't as many tears....

Kathy

The last hurrah

Summer is winding down. It's a sad fact but one that I must face. I started thinking; "What have we been doing for the past 3 months?", so I looked at my pictures. There is the photographic evidence that we actually had fun. Sure there was some fighting, crying and yelling (both on my part and on the kids as well) but all in all we had a great summer!

Hope you enjoy looking at the pictures as much as we had posing for them!

Filling the pool

A cool morning on my porch

Sleeping on a pirate ship

Welcome Summer!

Catching "flier flies" with new friends

A bug catcher (and a goof!)

Climbing mountains

He's still my little boy

Marty's idol

John L. Porter designer of the Iron Clad CSS Virginia

Fireworks for The 4th of July

Complete with popcorn and root beer

Lazy days

Favorite Ipod spot

Arts & Crafts

Colonel William Crawford, founder of Portsmouth

Our waterway

Hog Island Fresnel Lens

The Railroad Museum of Virginia

Making dinner with Dad

One of the many nights they slept on the porch

Marty explaining artifacts at the

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum

Lightship Portsmouth Museum

Standing in the Hollow Mast

A very hot day!

City Park

My baby's growing up

Having fun

Norfolk Botanical Gardens

Mermaid statue

It should have said

"Beware of Mamma"

Huckleberry Finn and Becky Thatcher

Tree stump maze

Taking a break

This is what I'll miss most about summer:

The best part of our vacation is most of these pictures were taken right in my own backyard. We love living in Portsmouth, there is so much to do and see here (we didn't even scratch the surface!).

I start back to work tomorrow and we have an open house for the kids school Tuesday so I guess this is really it.

Back to the grind.

Next week I'll post pictures of their first day at school and probably of me crying. But I am looking forward to having some time to myself. I just wish it didn't come at the expense of their childhood.

Happy Monday Everyone!

Kathy

Conflicted

They're driving me crazy today.

There I said it! Most days it's fine but today is my day to be short tempered and impatient. Today is their day to not listen and push my buttons. While I was brushing my teeth I was sadly thinking that I only have a few more weeks with them before school starts. I don't know how I'm going to get through the first day when I drop them off. The last 3 years I have taken Louisa to breakfast right after we dropped Marty off at his first day of school. Who am I going with this year? Who's going to help me punch my time card on my first day back to work? Louisa was always there with me, now who is going to reach up on their tippy toes and pull the handle for me?

Then I came downstairs and my two sweet babies had been replaced by two little monsters. "She hit me." "Because you called me butt face." "We need to go, we're going to be late." "Why does he always get to go first?" "Because I like him better." "I know you don't like him better, you're just saying that. He hit me again." "I didn't hit you. I tapped you." "Well stop tapping your sister." "Hey, she hit me back." "I tapped you too!" "Will you both please stop hitting or I'm going to hit you!!!"

Quiet in the car because they're pissed at Mamma. So I'm thinking again, what am I going to do with all that time? Who am I going to eat lunch with? "Get your feet off of me!!!" "You started it!"

I guess it's going to be like this for the next 26 days.

How did my sweet children go from this:

To this???

It happened in a blink of an eye, while I wasn't looking!

One minute I'm crying because my kids are going back to school the next I sending the little creeps to their rooms! I think it's a plan, it's so you'll want to send them out into the world. Go, for heaven's sake just go! But please come back; come back soon and tell me all you have learned. But be quiet because your giving me a headache with all that talking! Need me but not all the time, just when I need to be needed.

Today I went to get a cup of coffee from a little shop downtown. While we were sitting there I looked out the window and saw a lady wheeling a suitcase down the sidewalk and put it in her car. I told the kids, "See that lady with the suitcase? She's running away from home because her kids are driving her crazy. See the big smile on her face??". Don't think I'm too mean because I mess with my kids so much the don't believe anything I tell them. They both just laughed and said she wouldn't leave her kids! Yea, right!

But I know she (I) would come back because you can't live without your heart. Even if your heart gives you attacks every now and again.

Kathy