Oh so quiet.

What was I thinking? Homeschooling means the kids will be home with me, all the time.    This week I have had an unbelievable experience, I got a glimpse into what life would be like if I sent the oldest ones off to school this fall. The three oldest Schnuckies went off to cub scout camp this week with Papschnuck volunteering all week.  (8am-4pm hee hee hee).  They let siblings 4 and older attend a ‘tag-a-long’ program if an adult is participating in the festivities.  Next year I will no longer have a ‘baby’ at home and most likely will join the sweating adults herding kids around the Equestrian Center all week.  However,  this week I have been left home with Relentless, umm I mean Schuckie3. 

What a revelation it has been.  This one kid business??  Its a cake walk (now mid you I never thought so when I first had only one) going up in number of children is a progression and a learning process.  Going down however… heavenly.  I have never accomplished so much in one day since having children.  This is what my life would be like if I sent them all off to school next year.  It is tempting given the amount of things I found I was able to do in a single day.    Let me describe my first day, Monday.  I got up and had breakfast,  read the paper and got a shower and dressed. I then folded 5 loads of laundry while doing 3 more.  I cleaned up the kitchen and dining area (twice) and I mopped the kitchen floor and the dining room floor (hey I do it once a year at least).  I changed the sheets on my bed, and cleaned my bathroom.  I sealed the grout in the kids new bathroom, I went grocery shopping.  I bought $300.00 worth of groceries, brought them home and put them away.  I went to the shoe store and bought  Schnuckie5 a new pair of sneakers (which ultimately didn’t fit and had to be returned, I have got to figure out a successful way to buy kids shoes without their actual feet with me).   I cut the grass, front and back yard, and grilled chicken for dinner.  Also, I had the best treat ever, I took an almost 2 hour nap.  It was amazing.

I got so much done on Monday I decided, unlike the Lord, I would rest on the second day, and made it a point not to do anything at all except go to the gym and the pool, and take a nap. That was pretty amazing as well.

Happy Birthday Schnuckie9

Well, the end of birthday season has finally arrived.  After a very late night sleepover with a few of his friends, my sweet little boy, my oldest has turned NINE!  I almost cannot believe that he is close to double digits. 

This boy came into the world,(fighting hard to stay in) all 9lbs 11oz of him, and made me a mother.  My life hasn’t been the same since.  He was my serious kid.  The one who didn’t smile much at all, but now jokes and laughs and had just begun to appreciate the subtly of humor.  The child who watched the world to figure out how to do things and when he decided to do them off he would go.  Standing at 6 months old, pulling up and walking at 7 months old, and off and running by 9 months.  He is a smart and creative kid.  He is a caring, loving boy who, thankfully, still enjoys snuggling with his mother (but I never told you that) I am blessed and proud to have him as a son.  

 

I LOVE YOU SWEETHEART!

 

 

School’s out….

“Schooooool’s out for summer!  Schoooool’s out for-eveah!” (Alice Cooper).

The song has been rattling around my head for the past few days.  The boys had their last day of school last week and were a bit sad, a bit excited, and overall, looking forward to having a great summer.  Schnuckie7 was a little teary as he contemplated never seeing his friends again.  Now, this is not the truth but as his best friend is moving he has been a bit teary to realize that not only is he losing his best friend but he will also no longer be surrounded by those friends he has had in classes over the past few years.  Shnuckie 9 is convinced that he will return for 5th grade after this grand experiment in homeschooling, and Schnuckie 5 has just informed me that she wants to go to ‘big school’ where the boys go, just for a year and ‘do the homeschool thing in 1st grade’.  Hmmm.  Well regardless. For at least a year school is out and we are heading on down the path we started in November.  September 1st is coming, we are a homeschooling family now.

Public education

I really don’t want this to be a rant on public education, but hey, why not?  I have a very typical viewpoint as I believe that our country’s education is terrible but “my school” (not mine anymore) is pretty OK.  Let me qualify though, while I really like the boy’s (former) elementary school, I do not think it is good for my children.  I think they do the best they can, given the restrictions, the expectations, and the teacher unions. (not to my teacher friends, I do not mean the teachers themselves) but rather the collective bargaining unit which dictates things and has basically made as much of a mess of the education system, as the UAW has of the car industry.  Mostly I mean, that competition and choice are removed from parents.  You must attend the school you live near regardless (yes yes, I know that you can get a few boundary exceptions but you know what I mean").  To me this is like telling people ,

“Well, you can only shop at a the one grocery store that is closest to your house.  Sorry, too bad that the one across town has fresher produce, or the one in the next neighborhood always has that sausage that your husband likes.  If you don’t like it, you are welcome to go to the private ones what cost 10x as much (though you still need to pay for the local one) and buy whatever you like…..What?  Oh you can’t afford to go to those??? Well, then stop complaining and enjoy the one you are assigned to, learn to live without those sausages, and be happy with what you have, at least the store has food, unlike those stores in the inner city.

 

Makes no sense does it?  At any rate, I digress, my point is not to complain or redesign the entire education system, (though I’d love to and would be damn good at it ) it is actually to post an article I read this morning about how our failing education system is negatively impacting our economy.  For me, the greater point of the article is more that our standards are a fantasy and the results are worthless.  In order to improve education in our country we need to get real about where we actually are.  International standards seem to be a good start.  And shame?  a great motivator for sure.

Here is Laura Vanderkam’s article from USA Today: http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/06/the-permanent-recession.html

She also has a blog, worth a look: http://giftedexchange.blogspot.com/2009/06/permanent-recession.html

The Room

Well, we are moving along on the room.  Things are starting to come together and it is beginning to look like a place, where we at least have the environment to learn.  My very good friend’s husband was fortuitously closing a office and I was able to get some really terrific (slightly) used office chairs and tables for  price I couldn’t refuse down.

This is my desk, I confess, I love it.  I am already using is as often as I can. The artwork is from those little Schnuckies.  I found some “floating” frames at Joanne’s on sale and bought a bunch.  They have 2 panes of glass you place the wart work between and it makes them look terrific and displays them rather professionally.

 In a rampant fit of domesticity, I actually made the curtains.  I used my grandmother’s sewing machine (ancient but a work of art). Though the hems suffer a bit, they are all the same length and I for a novice, I think they look really great.

 

 

PapaSchnuck has been working on the computer network system and has managed to link up my laptop with two desktops and a few printers, (mostly wireless I might add)  Very neat to sit here and print in the other room or send a document to another computer.  Best of all, since he figured out how to do it all, he is my new IT Geek, and if there is a problem  he can fix it. 

This is one of the desks for one of the student computers, but it is temporary as Papschnuck is going to make a long wrap-around the wall desk-top (I’ll update the picture when its done)'.

 

The book case (thought I have others, this is “THE BOOKCASE” ) is huge and my books look positively meager in it despite the fact that I have been accumulating curriculum for months.

I went to a used homeschool book sale the other day and snagged a bit more.  I know I will look back on this picture and laugh as I will be overflowing before too long.  Happily, Schnucks love books.

Another desk provides even more space to write and learn.  I must admit, I had my doubts about making a “classroom” but I think it looks good and the kids are excited.  Its getting closer…

Well, there goes Mother-of-the-Year…(again)

So,  my daughter was invited to a birthday party over the past weekend.  She received the invitation to a birthday party.  This little girl, lets call her Poppy, is a very very good friend of Schnuckie5, and before Poppy entered Kindergarten last fall, they spent a great deal of time together. While, she hasn't spent as much time with her this year, Poppy remains one of my daughters closest and longest friend.

At any rate, I told Schnuckie5 about the party (a gymnastics party) and she began to get excited.  As the days got closer and closer her excitement grew.  A special trip to the store was embarked on to pick the perfect gift. Which, I must say, was a terrific gift as it was temporary hair tattoo cream.  Poppy, being a blond has the perfect hair to streak.  And, as an added bonus, this was sure to drive Poppy’s mom a wee bit crazy (she happens to be my very good friend so I am allowed).  The gift was brought home and wrapped.  Not only was it wrapped, but the wrapping paper was drawn on and pictures were created extolling their friendship and the excitement of the event.  Small, child-like hieroglyphics designed to convey the importance of the upcoming festivities.

The next day, Saturday (the day before the party), much time was spent creating the perfect card.  More pictures were drawn, balloons and cake, little girls performing gymnastics feats on uneven bars and very carefully copied words wishing good cheer on a special day.  The card was carefully taped to the gift to prevent it from being lost.  The day passed, oh-so-slowly.  Schnuckie5 would occasionally cheer for Sunday to come and the party to finally be here.  She hurried to bed without a fuss in a vain attempt to get the party to come more quickly.

Sunday morning came swiftly and suddenly, as I awoke to the panicked wailing of the house alarm.  It was set off by none other than Schnuckie5 who awoke early and was trying to help by feeding the dogs (in the garage).  She was dressed in her leotard and ready to go to the party.  I explained (again) that the party was not going to be until 2:00 and she had all day to wait.  She cheerfully answered me that she knew and then patiently told me (in that little girl logic) that she just wanted to be ready.  The day crept by, minutes feeling like hours. Schnuckie5 would occasionally ask “How much longer till we can go?”  or “Mommy, is it time to go yet?”.  But she was very good.  Finally, at 1:35pm I informed her it was time.  She got her shoes on in a flash and had the present in hand.  I grabbed my packet (ever the prepared mom, I had printed out the e-mail with details of the party , with the address, as well as a Google map of my destination, carefully stapled into a packet) and my keys and we hopped in the van.  I figured we would be a few minutes early so looked at the map again to make sure I knew where was going and checked the e-mail one last time.  That's when I saw it……… clear as day……..a very important detail I had somehow garbled…… the.time. of.the.party.:

12:30 till 2:30pm

OH NO!  my heart dropped and I couldn’t believe it.  We actually had missed the party.  This event that was so important to my daughter, was almost over. I swallowed hard and then carefully explained to her that I had really messed up and gotten the time wrong, and the party was actually almost over, and that I was so sorry.  I babbled a bit and can’t remember all my sputtering, I felt so bad.  I called my friend, apologized to her,and got moving down the road.  After a few minutes of listening to me continue to apologize, Schnuckie5 quietly said, “ Its OK Mom, maybe we can still get there in time to give Poppy her present”.   

We got there in time to have a piece of cake and watch Poppy open her presents. Nothing she opened was as great a gift as I got that day, my daughter’s forgiveness.  Lord knows, it will be a while before I will forgive myself.