Archive for February, 2009

Teaching our Children

February 20, 2009 - 1:52 pm 3 Comments

“I don’t have the patience to do that. You are a saint that you can homeschool,” said my good friend. WHAT? Anyone who knows me well knows I am the most impatient person alive today. It may be part of my OCD, but I am an instant gratification person. I move quickly, sometimes not so accurately, prefering to do things over rather than take the time to think it through first.

Tom says that I’m tactical not strategic. My mother says: “El que no tiene cabeza tiene que tener buenos pies”. Roughly translated, “If you do not use your head, you have to be prepared to use your feet.” But I digress.

How is it that we have been convinced that we are not capable or do not have the patience to teach our children? Starting from the tender age of 6, they are expected to get up, get on a bus, be in school for 8 hours, keep track of all the different subjects, deal with all the incredible variety of social challenges that may arise, interpret the world and make the right decisions, put it all in context, come back on the bus, tell us about their day, and do homework for what in many cases seems like an eternity.

Then when we try to help them with homework and they don’t get it, or rebel and act up, we are frustrated and lose our patience. The poor little guys have been overstimulated for ten hours, and now they are supposed to do busy work at home? What did they do for 8 hours in a classroom? The expectation that all this work has to be done in the short time they remain awake and on weekends saps any possibility of play and meaningful interaction with mom, dad, siblings and friends. It affects the relationship between parents and kids in a negative way. Parents become frustrated and feel they have no patience, and kids get mad, act up, and are sent to their room.

Many end up resenting it all and do not learn to love learning – which is what education at such a tender age should be all about.

So now that the economy is in the toilet, and our schools continue to move in the direction of quantity vs. quality – and the images and influences thrust upon our young children all day long become increasingly disturbing — I urge parents who care to take back the education of their kids and make them smile again.

I understand not all of us are meant to homeschool – but there are other options. What else would we do? Half of us have already lost our jobs or are worried about losing them. This is a time to get creative.

Over the years, homeschooling has developed a negative connotation and many of today’s politicians are making sure that it stays that way. In my humble opinion, homeschooling is not a barefoot overly religious pregnant woman trying to teach eight kids about creationism.

Simply stated, homeschooling means that the home is directing the kids schooling.

Bottom line, we have been brainwashed to abdicate our children’s education to the state. This social experiment has obviously failed on many levels. It is exhausting us all, and creating many social misfits.

Today homeschooling has millions of inexpensive options that can be easily tailored to each individual family and child within that family. There are also thousands of curriculums on every subject, public-private partnerships, online programs such as K12 and many organizations such as the YMCA and park districts throughout the country have recognized the need for extracurricular activities and created programs to serve home schooled children accordingly.

Teachers and trainers are consistently amazed at how responsive, respectful and polite many of these home schooled children are. Why? Simply because they have not been taught that it is okay to be any other way.

Homeschooling is not weird any more.

So … Pick up your stuff and move to a beautiful, less expensive area where they are not taxing you for a failed public school system and go back to the basics. Tap the resources of your community and begin to enjoy what life with your family can and should be.

Appreciate all you can learn from your children while you are helping them navigate through this crazy world.

Posted in Educating our kids, Life with Tom, Social/Political Musings |

You know you’re old when…

February 15, 2009 - 12:01 pm No Comments

You pinch a nerve in the back of your head. What the hell? I have heard the expression many times, but I definitely had no idea. One minute you are smiling at the new day – the soft gleam coming through the window, thinking about the coffee and all you will accomplish. The next second you are in excruciating pain and totally immobilized. I never did have to spell excruciating before. With a c? Interesting. But not worth this pain at all.

So of course Tom, who as usual has been working since long before I open my eyes, has to chime in with his endless words of support. “How’s it going over there?” he chirps. “You need any help getting up?” Of course not, this will pass. YIKES! “Ah my honey, are you having an I’m getting old moment?” Perfect.

After a few minutes the mental agony of being stationery surpasses any pain my body has to endure and I am vertical, with a little help from my life partner, who props me up. But I cannot turn around. “So I guess jumping back in the sack and making wild passionate love to me is out of the question?” It’s like that little voice in your head, the evil one on your shoulder that keeps taunting you. I can’t even laugh. I turn my whole body around, cannot even move my head a mm. “I guess that answered my question. Huh Huh” When did Beavis take over my bed.

“Take three of my advil.” OK, walk to the bathroom, get the water bottle, slowly, still in pain, CRAP! Can’t get my hand up to my mouth. Three little pills are so far away. I try a few times. It is surreal not to be able to lift my hand up to my mouth. It just stops short a few inches.

“Huh, Huh…Oh…”

Place pills into right hand. Good. I reach. CRAP. Can’t tilt my head back. How did taking advil become such an ordeal?

Just when my elbow was getting over its little four month strike. Tennis elbow I was told. And I have finally found a hair color that is close to the original, after six years of trying. Now this.

Well, at least I still have my health. Do I?

Posted in Life with Tom |

I Love Jesus… But I Drink A Little

February 13, 2009 - 2:24 pm No Comments

Posted in Faith-based Initiatives |

High in the Thin Cold Air

February 13, 2009 - 1:12 am No Comments

We are really enjoying our time living at 10,000 feet.  There really is not much to do, but every time you open the door, the air is crisp and the setting is absolutely beautiful.  We are spending our time skiing and schooling.  Tom, of course, is constantly working.  He does not have a desk or even a den to hide in, so he sits in this old chair in the bedroom and when he is on the phone he paces from the window to the washer/dryer, to the bathroom and back.  It’s hard to believe, but he has been very productive.

The boys have settled into our routine quite nicely and they are really very focused on their studies.  Every day they do a math lesson and a grammar lesson, and we try to cover all the rest at least five times a week.  I keep thinking I am turning them into little geeks what with all the history, literature and Latin, but they really seem to enjoy it.  

We are deep into King Arthur, and each day they beg me to read at every break and meal.  They have turned the entire living room, which is tiny, into a giant medieval battlefront, with the occasional storm trooper wanting to bring up a quest of its own here and there.  They really are enjoying all the beheadings, which is a little disturbing.

I seem to be much more in control of my odd quirks and pet peeves here.  The place is small and highly manageable, and everything is where and as it should be.  No laundry accumulates, I have time to cook all three meals, even time to get creative, and the kitchen is always immaculate.  I have time to keep up with the school work and find interesting additional material online.  I have even been making fires.

The one thing I have noticed is that I can’t seem to get worked up over anything.   There just isn’t enough oxygen for that.  I got a little upset on the phone the other day, and found myself hyperventilating.  I wasn’t even moving!  Also, if I get excited and start talking a little too much or too fast, I am soon out of breath.

After a few episodes, Tom decided that, if nothing else, this is definitely a good reason to consider moving here.  “So you can’t talk a lot and you can’t be bitchy…  Where do I sign?”  Never a dull moment…

Posted in Life with Tom |

Curfew to cover fire

February 13, 2009 - 12:50 am No Comments

So this is interesting.  Apparently when William The Conqueror crossed the puddle from Normandy with his army an overtook King Harold of England in the legendary 1066 Battle of Hastings, he marched over to London and declared himself king.  This would change the big island forever, as King William ruled with an iron fist and squashed dissent pretty effectively.  At first he was benevolent, they say.  But then he decided to take a little vacation back to Normandy leaving his brother in charge.

On the morrow, there were a few rebellions so he came back and after that apparently he was ruthless.  Among his many deeds, he ordered people to stay home after dark so nobody could cause trouble.  He ordered all fires to be put out by 8pm as well.  This was called “couvre feu” which is French for “to cover fire”.  Eventually this morphed into curfew.

William, being from Normandy, installed all his cronies in high positions, and they all spoke French.  One of his most notorious acts was to order a massive census so that he could appropriate the best lands for his vassals and also enable his goons to tax anybody who had any holdings, whether it be one pig or big estates.  All this information is recorded in the “Doomesday Book”, which gives us a pretty accurate picture of the one million or so  inhabitants of the United Kingdom at the time.  Pretty nifty, huh?

Posted in History/Literature Discoveries |

Opiate of the Masses

February 10, 2009 - 2:18 pm 1 Comment

OK – so this lady in Ft. Myers just asked if in the billions given to state government for stimulus projects, there will be a check in the mail for individuals and how much will that be for?  “Great question,” says Mr. President.  And he went on to explain that there would be $1000 checks in the mail for middle-class families.  “If you are making $40,000 – $50,000 a year,” he explained, “You could probably really use an extra $1,000 to offset the payroll taxes you are paying.”

MY POINT EXACTLY!  Why not just cut the payroll tax for a year or two, which would immediately put a constant stream of money in the hands of individuals and small businesses (which pay a portion of this tax)!  This means businesses would instantly have additional money to retain workers and grow, even if the revolving lines of credit take longer to flow back into the market.

Why continue to tax workers and businesses this way in these hard times, but send employees a $1,000 check in the mail?  What’s that one-time help supposed to do? Appease us?  Doesn’t anyone understand this?  Apparently not – we are cheering for the government’s generosity while that amount is about what they take out of our salary monthly!

How can Mr. Obama get away with mentioning a $1,000 tax credit check and payroll taxes in the same sentence?  Not only get away with it, but be cheered for it!

President Obama is doing great. He is a master communicator, he can connect emotionally with the populous in any venue, and we all love him for it.  Maybe that’s what we need in these hard times.  

President Obama is the new opiate of the masses.

Posted in Social/Political Musings |

Obama, Clean Energy, and RV’s?

February 10, 2009 - 2:15 pm No Comments

President Obama is on the road selling his stimulus package.  His rhetoric, as usual, is compelling.  On the surface, it all makes good sense.  But if you look a little deeper, not only at the words, but at the images, there are so many contradictions.

Who was the genius who chose the RV capital of the world to deliver the first major pitch for this stimulus plan? President Obama tells us Joe the RV Builder lost his job because all the people that want to buy RV’s today cannot access the credit to buy them.  Who are all these new RV buyers? Are these the same people that are losing their jobs and their homes?  

So, part of the solution Obama continues to pitch –  in Elkhart yesterday, and today in Ft. Myers – is to borrow $150 billion from China to invest in the green jobs of the future, which will also curb our dependence on foreign oil.  At the same time, these green job workers will now have enough money to buy a gas guzzling 7 mile a gallon RV, which means Joe RV Builder can keep his job.  WHAT?

There are currently hundreds of thousands of used RV’s on the market.  Even new models that did not sell last year – about 60% of the total built – are available.  Why build more?  Can’t we let market forces dictate where the jobs of the future should come from?  It does not sound like RV building would happen naturally without government intervention…

And who is the typical RV buyer?   I can assure you this customer is not the hybrid/electric car customer, or the upper income family willing to pay more for a vehicle that saves the environment.  There is not a market for green RV’s.

So, Mr. President, are you saying we can go green and still keep our camping habits in place?

Now if you tell me that RV’s can become our primary residences so that we can move from state to state looking for a job building solar panels — I will begin to understand your logic.

But logic and rhetoric are no longer taught in the public school system.  That’s a good thing for our current leader, since the general public can no longer deconstruct pretty oratory and will be easily lulled into submission cheering all along the way!

Posted in Social/Political Musings |