Pil-ow!-tes and Compound Bows

After my regular circuit at the gym yesterday, they were offering a free pilates class. The instructor is a certified trainer, and they are offering it as a new option. I have always been fascinated with the concept, so decided to stay and try it.

I can definitely see how it works and in my younger ,thinner days, I would have easily become my exercise of choice. The way in which is works muscle groups hard yet without stress is wonderful. I have a long way to go before I can do it with ease, but it is the first workout that really has hit my abdominals and carriage long dormant. It was great to burn there, despite the embarrassment of knowing my once-flat belly was getting in the way of some of the more intermediate moves.

I was all ready to sign up for the classes, but the price stopped me $15 a class, on top of already paying for gym membership! Yikes. I have decided money would be better spent getting a PIlates DVD and doing it at home. Girlie was very excited about the idea and wants to try it with me, so we are decided. I have not been the best example of health in her early years, but am happy to try to change that now, with her. (I definitely feel the results of the pil-ow-tes today, and am really excited to do this a few times a week).

She woke up with a head cold, so I only had her work on her art history paper and do math. Then, I ran to the video store to pick up some movie taking place in the middle ages (a very lax substitution for history) and found “Princess of Thieves.” It stars Keira Knightly, and is the story of Robin Hoods daughter. We watched it snuggled up with fire crackling. Throughout, she made connections between King Richard and King John, and his son Prince Philip quite rapidly. She loved the archery competition, and began wondering why she had ever stopped competing after her one season. It was one of the few sports where girls and boys competed at the same level (and has a trophy to show for it!) .

When Daddy came home, she inquired about doing summer archery league, and just visiting the rod and gun club again. They made plans for next week, and she printed out the archery badge for girl scouts, planning to do it while there. They have to get her bow readjusted, or maybe even have Scout’s set up for her, as they have both grown a lot in two years.

She is back to her old self, thinking about positive hobbies and stepping out of the funk. Thank goodness.

The Light from Under the Door

On Saturday night, the dogs woke me around 3am to be let out. In my half-dazed state, I noticed a glowing coming from under my daughter’s bedroom door. I went in to find her sitting at her computer, glassy-eyed and playing an online game. After brief question and answer period, she admitted that she had been sneaking up at night to play for the last two weeks. I took the mouse and put her to bed.

Here I had assumed she was just over tired from another growth spurt, or fighting a bug. Maybe it was just hormones. A bit angry, I decide that she is just game addicted, and sneaky. No wonder she was so grumpy in the mornings! I don’t understand it, as I have been allowing her to play pretty much unrestricted after her school work and chores are done. Why does she suddenly want so much screen time?

We had a meeting on Sunday. She knows she needs her sleep, and that we need to be able to trust her. We also realized that with me writing so much, and Scout preoccupied with his ever-blooming social life, she has been feeling very left out. I let her slip into this habit of gaming, being too wrapped up in my own projects to really care at the time. I remind myself that this is exactly why I don’t work outside the home while homeschooling/parenting; I become too one-track and always let the ball drop somewhere. This time it was on Girlie.

Girlie, Big Daddy and I sat around and discussed productive free time pursuits for her. She loves art and loves nature, yet she pointed out that she can only spend so much of her free time doing that alone. She does draw for about 2 hours a day. Even though I had bought sketchbooks and pencils for us to start the drawing curriculum two weeks ago, they are still sitting on the end of the dining room table. I’ve been too preoccupied to draw or go walking with her in the afternoons. She has asked, often, and I have been too busy or tired from waking at 4am to write. She would play games because her online crew made her feel less lonely. The dejected look on her face killed me.

By now, the reality is hitting me that I have just had a brief glimpse into the madness of most parenting relationships in our culture. Not that this is nearly that dramatic, nor permanent, but it scared me how easily I could let that connection between us thin so. While I got to all the things on my daily “to do” lists, I wasn’t finding time for my daughter.

I apologized to her, and we set a path (another path) back toward how our days used to be. She mentioned that she would love to try to earn all the rest of her Junior Girl Scout badges by the end of this, her last year of scouting . Since she only needs 35 more, if we do 2-3 week on our own, we should easily make that goal. Suddenly, the light was in her smile instead of under her door. We spent the afternoon looking through her book and picking the ones we want to work on over the next few weeks. We even did one on “Cookie Biz” that afternoon.

After just a few hours of Mom-time, she wasn’t sullen and grumpy anymore. She asked to help me cook dinner, and did the dishes. She came into the living room and watched History channel with Daddy, and tended the fire in the fireplace. She got her sketch pad and drew a while. In the evening, she mentioned that she thinks she was getting obsessed with games like alcoholics do about drink, so they wouldn’t think about those things that upset them. Wow…very intuitutive, and very accurate.

Yesterday we had learning center, and she awoke happy (amazing what sleep will do for a girl!). We each had a great day, and she had made a weekend playdate with a friend to make jewelry. She is back to her old self. Oddly, after not writing for two days, I am enjoying the sleep and feeling of not pushing so hard.

I feel as if I just got a wake-up call, in a way. Girlie is right in the middle of adolesence, and now is not the time to become inattentive. Since she is more private, I need to be available for her when she is needing help. If she feels I am too busy, she will just close up and hide herself away. I have worked too hard over the years to not finish the job.

If I really analyze the last month, I have not been giving her time where I am not distracted. She is feeling it, and I hate to admit it, so am I. Not that she asks that much of me, but I am just so strung right now that hte mention of a board game made me cringe. Since Scout has moved into a new place of his own,it was too easy to do the same for me. Yet Girlie isn’t ready to be left on her own, and felt like an island. What a selfish jerk I have become. Please, someone slap me!

I’m setting the book aside until May, when we are done with our school year, the plays, Scouts, classes, and all the other million things we want to do as well. I want to walk our dogs in the woods, collect twigs and pods and make fairy houses all afternoon. I want to lay in bed, snuggling and reading. I want to bake mountains of cookies and bread, and paint sunsets. We want to sew costumes and crafts and plan the gardens. MOre than anything, I want laughter and joy to be the heart of our home again.

Thanks goodness it is not too late, too late for the true joy of sharing my daughter’s last years of childhood with her. Where is that camera…the fun is back at Mothercrone’s!

Writing History Lesson plans

I have a lovely weekend with cold weather, crackling fires, and even an inch of snow. It isn’t nearly enough to make our gang happy, but it is still beautiful. What do I do with a winter’s day when I was bored with reading? Plan stuff for next year (I really have a sickness).

I spent quite a bit of time working on my American history unit study for middle schoolers, trying to create the same sort of whole learning format I have been using with Ty. I want the learning to be interconnected and natural, instead of disjointed.
I am having a great deal of fun putting it together. Using history as the timeline guide, I am able to put the pieces togetehr more easily.

A friend is selling off all her homeschooling materials as her daughter is getting ready to graduate. I am happily purchasing Joy Hakim’s “History of the US” set from her. While I was hesitant to spend $120 for the set , I will happily buy it from her for $25. As much as I am not a big textbook person, I do like the format of these books as a spine of sort in their highly readable and bright format.

Now that I have the spine set, I have been raiding our bookshelves for coordinating literature/ fiction. This is where it is getting fun and frustrating at the same time. There are just so many quality books about this period. I would like to divide our year into ten sections, and have Girlie read two literature selections a month. I am trying to include at least five books a month as choices, and even include some applicable picture books. This list should be ready for posting by the end of February.

Once that is done, I will start making lists of possible activites to go along in the areas of writing, art, nature study, cooking and crafts. This is where I really start having fun. I will be making heavy use of History Scribe journals, as they are so lovely and perfect for recording narrations and drawings, even recipes and photos.

Bread Baking-Amish Friendship Bread

Girlie and I had the house to ourselves on Saturday morning, and spent the time researching traditional recipes. One of the Girl Scout badges she is working on focuses on International foods, and we are narrowing that focus to breads, and the process of making them. We have narrowed our choices to a few: Italian, french, pita, tortilla, sourdough and a local favorite, Amish Frienship Bread.

Another lifetime ago, I used to make weekly trips to Lancaster County to purchase handmade furniture from the Amish to sell in my furniture store. While my ex-husband conducted business with the men, I often visited with the women. I would bring along a cross-stitch, and sit with them while they cooked, baked, and quilted. After a bit, they realized I had a genuine respect and interest in their traditional crafts, and they began sharing recipes and needlework tips. One day, I was given a baggie full of Amish friendship bread starter, with some ingredients written in longhand, and some verbal instructions. Anna, my Amish friend, told me that each time I would bake a batch, I should remember our friendship, and say a prayer of thanksgiving.

I never had the recipe for the starter, but found this one on the internet. The feed ingredients match, so I am hoping is similar to that which I had years ago. I added the bread recipe I had from Anna at the end, as I think I will try both.

A little more time consuming than sourdough, but I thought I would share it here.

Amish Friendship Bread Starter
INGREDIENTS and PROPORTIONS:

Starting the Amish Friendship bread starter-like sourdough bread
Sugar-1 cup
Milk-1 cup
Flour-1 cup

Place sugar, milk & flour in a large glass or plastic bowl. Cover lightly with a damp towel ( or loose plastic wrap) and sit it on your counter at room temperature. Stir with a wooden spoon everyday for
17 days.
On day 18 do nothing.
On days 19,20, & 21 stir.
On day 22 add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk & 1 cup flour
stir again.
On days 23,24,25 & 26 stir.
On day 27 add 1 cup milk, 1 cup sugar & 1 cup flour,stir.

It is now ready to use to make the bread. Give away 2 cups of the starter for 2 friends, 1 cup to make the bread and 1 cup to keep the starter going.

When you give away a cup of the starter, give these directions for keeping it going and the recipes for using it.

Keeping a starter going once started:
-Do not refridgerate
-Do not use metal spoon or metal bowl
-Do not cover tightly-cover with damp towel
(or loosely with plastic wrap
Day 1-do nothing
Day 2-Stir with wooden spoon
Day 3-Stir with wooden spoon & place in a bowl large enough to hold thru Day 10
Day 4-Stir
Day 5-Stir
Day 6-Add 1 cup each flour, sugar, milk
Day 7-Stir
Day 8-Stir
Day 9-Stir
Day 10-Add 1 cup each: flour, sugar, milk. Stir & put 1 cup mixture into each of 3 containers.
Keep 1 (with recipe) for yourself and give other 2 (with instructions sheet on
how to keep the starter going and the recipe for using it in bread) to friends.

Ingredients for Amish Friendship Bread
(using 1 cup starter)
1 cup oil 1/2 cup milk
3 eggs 1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour 1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 box (5.1 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
cinnamon sugar (about 1 tbsp cinnamon to 1/4 cup sugar)

PROCEDURE:

Mix oil, milk, eggs & vanilla with the starter,mix well.
In a seperate bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, vanilla pudding mix, and nuts.
Add to liquid mixture & stir thoroughly.
Pour into 2 large well greased (buttered) 9-by-5-inch loaf pans (or 1 bundt pan) that have been sprinkled with a mixture of cinnamon, sugar and flour. Sprinkle more cinnamon & sugar on top of unbaked loaves (or cake).
Bake at 325 1 hour or until tests done.

REQUIRED UTENSILS:

wooden spoon-glass/plastic bowl-loaf pans

TIME-CONSUMING: 1 1/2 hours-27 days

DIFFICULTY RATE: Fair

WARNINGS:

This is a fermented bread starter-its supposed to grow-bubble-smell strong-but NOT supposed to change colors or grow mold-if molds, or fungus grow on it-throw the whole thing out-wash and dry your utinsels well & begin making the starter again.
Making this bread-bringing it to new neighbors & sharing the starter mix is a great way to make new friends. Make sure they have a copy of the recipes for using, starting and making it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ANNA’s RECIPE FOR AMISH FRIENDSHIP BREAD

1 cup starter 2/3 cup oil
2 cups flour 1 cup sugar
3 eggs 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. baking soda
options: 1 cup raisins, choc. chips, nuts, dates,apples, etc.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 loaf pans; sprinkle with sugar. (extra sugar besides what the recipe calls for!) In bowl, combine ingredients. Fold in any options. Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Cool on rack 10 mins. and remove. Cool completely.

Opinions…Oak Meadow High School courses

I am looking for some personal opinions on Oak Meadow high school courses I am specifically interested in science and foreign language, but would love general info as well.

I have been hearing some major concerns from college professors about the big homeschool science course, Apologia. It is very easy to use, especially with the cd-rom programming, but it is highly creationist. It tweaked me, but it was also easy enough to avoid/ substitute with evolutionary thought.

While working with the Science Fair committee at a distinguished local college, mention of the program met with looks of concern and a polite recommendation to research traditional upper level science curriculum if I was not planning to send my children to Christian colleges.

I have realized that while the Latin tutor is exceptionally nice, there is a huge downside. She lives 40 minutes from us and at $20 a week, isn’t exactly inexpensive for one class when you consider the value of my time, mileage and fuel costs.

Oak Meadow uses secular materials such as would be used in private schools, and it’s Waldorf background seems very friendly. I love that I could purchase just one or two classes, without enrolling. Yet, I have never dealt with the school and would like a little more information from actual users.

I thank you in advance….

Colonial & Prairie Cooking

I have been following JoVe’s posts on traditional bread baking with great interest lately. There is much to be said for gaining understanding of a time or place through preparing meals in the same way. A favorite part of our homeschool has always been our adventures into cooking and cultures we were studying.

I dug out some fun resources that I have for recipes that are particular favorites. These books are all quite old, but many are still available through half.com and such . Smithsonian Folklife Cookbook is a wonderful resource. Not only does it provide wonderful traditional recipes, each section includes and essay history of cooking methods and recipes for each region of the country.

Then I have a handful of these skinny little theme cookbooks that I picked up at used booksales over the years. We have had a lot of fun experimenting with their recipes. The Old Farmer’s Almanac Colonial Cookbook is a great little book filled with recipes and trivia about Colonial foods and traditions.

Pennsylvania Dutch Cookbook of Fine Old Recipes is a particular favorite. It really does have fine old recipes, with a German theme. A Vermonth Cook Book is similar, but with New England fare. What I love about both of these books is the phrasing in the recipes themselves.. “if buttermilk isn’t available, use sour milk or sweet milk.” These were real recipes from a time when you would cook and bake without the ease of a trip to the grocery store.

Another fun book is Hillbilly Cookin. With chapters entitled “bisquits ‘n such” or “wild game cookin”, you can guess the Southern flavor. There are even little essays on “The Civil War” and “Appalchian Talk” which make an interesting read. I love this book for its preserves and jellies, fo’sure.

My ~Heart~Dog

I am a dog person, through and through. I firmly believe that a house is not a home without one. I can’t imagine coming home and not being greeted by a tail-wagging, four-legged friend. And I believe, since they are pack animals by nature, they should always come in pairs. And while I have had wonderful dogs all my life, one will always stand above the rest.

This is Bosworth, and he was surely my ~heart~dog. A ~heart~ dog is that one dog that is above and beyond all the others in most every way. I often thought Bozie could look in my eyes and know my every thought. He was a mastiff/ Rottweiler mix that we got as a puppy. I can remember the day well. Girlie was almost a year old, and we took her along. While all the other dogs were tumbling over each other, he walked up to me, then looked at her, and licked her toes. He sat down next to us, and that was that.

He grew to be equal parts gentlness and power. One minute he was patrolling the fence to scare joggers away from the children in the sand box, while another he was letting the kids bandage every inch of him as their patient. He gave me such a feeling of comfort and safety in his companionship, and it was always enough to just be near me. He was silly and brave and gorgeous, and I loved him with all my heart.

He broke his leg one sad spring day in his eighth year. We found out then that he had bone cancer, and all his leg bones were hollow, like china. We had to put him down, and I swear the shock of it I will never forget. I still begin to weep when I think about coming home without him.

A dear friend is facing the last day with her ~heart~dog. I can do nothing but tell her to spend every last minute loving and being loved by him. Know that other dogs will come into your life, and you will love them and enjoy their companionship. You will get past the loss, and they will fill your life with that special joy that only a slobbery kiss can bring. We are here for you.

Whining Victims of Public Schools

Almost to the end of January, and I am still going to the gym four times a week, and feeling really good about it. I actually am waking up and wanting to get there…and the $$ in my jar is adding up.

The only downfall I have encountered is in the form of the trio of women who happen to workout at the same time that I do. I have aptly named them the “Whining Victims of Public Schools.” Every morning, there is yet another story describing the myriad of ways in which their children are being slighted, victimized, and potential wasted during their days in the institution. On and on they rant about lack of safety or schools push for medication. One is certain the curriculum design is catering to females (her poor little boy!) while the other argues it is biased toward males (just ask her daughter). The teachers seemed to all be unfairly targeting their darlings, and they are not getting enough field trips or too much art.

I have been very careful to not get involved with these conversations. I try to hold myself and my views on homeschooling in the same way I wish most evangelicals would hold themselves and their faith: I don’t hide the fact that I homeschool, but will not preach about it. I don’t want to be a hypocrite, and feel that if people are really curious, they will come to me.

Today I woke a little cranky, and was just not up to listening to another hour of their bitching. I borrowed Girlie’s IPOD, and started with that while on the treadmill, but I have to listen to the tape for the changing when doing the circuit. The incessant complaining was driving me mad, so I was abnormally quiet. Obviously, they needed an audience full of “Oh my’s” and “That’s awful’s” which I often politely provide. They kept asking me, “What do you think? Tell me what you would do?”

I just couldn’t play nice today. I told them that I just did not understand if they were so terminally unhappy with the schools, why they didn’t do something different. They all seemed dumbfounded. I offered to share with them everything they needed to get started with homeschooling, or if that was too scary, at least enroll their children with one of the many online charter schools available.

“But we would have them with us all day then.” The idea seemed almost repulsive. They responded that they “couldn’t possibly” and told me how busy their days were and how they don’t have the patience to teach. But what they really wanted to know is what I would do in their shoes about the teacher that must not know what she is doing because Johnny still can’t do long division.

They did ask me for my opinion, didn’t they? I was certain they did, so I responded honestly.

“If you don’t aren’t willing to try for your kids, it seems a little hypocritical to bitch about every little thing as you do. Why should the teacher do it your way if you won’t? ”

I thought it was all about to break loose when a senior German woman who is there most mornings spoke up. She said, “She’s right, you know. It seems to me you would rather bitch than do the work yourself. Then you want us to listen to it. I raised my kids when the schools were better and safe. Angela didn’t like what she saw in the schools, and is putting in the hard work. She makes sacrifices like we all did when we first came to this country. If you don’t want to do the work to make things better for your kids, keep your whining to yourself and let us workout in peace.”

I cannot tell you how wonderful I felt in that moment. For someone from another generation to put it so simply, and praise our choice, was wonderful. Better still, her comments seemed to chastise the others enough that our conversations moved on to more pleasant areas of garden planning and soup recipes and knitting. I plan to meet Ursula each morning, hoping that her presence will have them biting their tongues.

Back on the Path

I spent the better part of the last two days finding some solutions to our quandry. The more I thought, the truth was Scout was the only one with too much going, and lacking the ability to handle it all. I so appreciated all the comments and ideas. I wish buses were available to his activities, but most are not in our city.

While some of the commitments he must keep until their end in APril (theater/envirothon), a solution was to start looking for carpooling. He made some calls, and it looks as if we no longer have to all leave the house at 7:30a for his class, when we have none until 10:00a. SImilarly, he is going to ride driving classmates to the extra rehersals and practices. This is wonderful news, for it has freed 10-15 taxi and sitting hours from my week.

I decided I have to allow myself to stop preaching about better work habits all the time. He understands it all, but he is a teenage boy who, like most, knows better than his mother. This is one of those places where I need to step back and let him succeed or fail on his own. We sat down with his calendar and added a list of academic deadlines, and I am letting him be in charge of meeting them. I outlined the stiff limitations he will face if he does not meet them, and so be it. It is on him now.

I took yesterday as an opportunity to spend some time with Girlie. One of our favorite pasttimes is walking nature trails, so we took advanatage of the sunny winter day and headed out for a while. She is very excited about the changes in our schedule. She has felt more pushed aside than her independent nature showed. With our new schedule, I told her we could now take part in a once-a-month nature science class for homeschoolers she had heard about. She beamed, as that is right up her alley, and a day hiking and exploring in nature is something I welcome, too. We talked about friends, books, religion, and plans. She is maturing so fast, and is so much fun.

She admitted that she misses “our project” weekends. We used to find a crafty idea somewhere, and just do it together. I haven’t found time for that since the summer, sadly. We brainstormed and came up with a few fun projects like these armwarmers and this funky tote. She is really developing her own style, and I think we will have a great time doing stuff like this together.

We hit MotherCrone’s library when we got back, and started planning a botany unit study. Again, I will be pulling from lots of sources, and will post it when I have it better outlines. She wants to not only learn about plants , but have a lot of hands on activities. She wants to make a terrarium, start heirloom seeds again, design and plant an herb garden, and learn how to make homeopathic medicines with herbs. It sounds like a wonderful semester long unit. We decided to include some of the biotechnology info we were planning focusing on genetically engineered seeds, and visit the Burpee factory, as well as our friend’s PeonyFarm. Seed catalogs, here we come! (any recommendations of favorite companies for herbs…please leave in my comments!)

As a mother, I am feeling much more peaceful as we make our way back toward the path that fits us so well. It is hard to find the balance between doing too much and not doing enough when they hit the teen/tween years. I can see how easy it might be for parents of traditionally schooled kids to lose touch during these years, especially with all the time apart. I think with just the few changes we are making, we will all be the better for it.

Paths and Goals

I am in a bit of a quandry, and have been purposely not posting as I thought no one really would care about that sort of thing. Then a friend mentioned that maybe through sharing, I would help others deal with similar situations.

I have been thinking a lot about the direction of our paths with respect to our goals in homeschooling. I always start each year with a pretty clear idea, and somehow I always find a way to wander off the path. Too many interesting distractions get me to stop and wander in their direction, and I go happily along for a while when one day I realize I have no idea how to find our way back to the main path, and our goals are no where in site.

My goal is for the kids to have an active, challenging, and creative educational experience. I want them to be able to have a personalized curriculum, and plenty of opportunities for personal exploration. I want them to enjoy positive peer interactions as well as have a rich family life. I want them to learn to balance their work and play, and be happy.

Yet, I find that with having more than one child, meeting these social and educational goals to the satisfaction of both is difficult. Paring that with a partner who does not want to say no to any activity, yet does little of the taxiing, and I add “exhausting” to the description.

Girlie is not big on organized classes or socialization. While she enjoys theater and chorus, she certainly would rather not have a full day of classes at learning center. She is bored with scouting (too much paper work, not enough adventure), and enjoys spending time with the family or alone, working on her own projects. She would much rather spend a day home in pjs than go running about.

Scout is a total fun-seeker. He will sign up for any activity, club, or class without regard to his prior commitments or time conflicts. His life is about the social. When told to make choices, he struggles. If left on his own, he procrastinates all work in lieu of play, to the point where he has major meltdowns at the crunch time.

Can you see the quandry?

This year, enticed with the idea of teaching and a streched out schedule, we enrolled for many classes at our MOnday learning center. When enrollment was down and a few classes we really needed were cut, we were suddenly commited to 8-5p day, but only a few classes we truly needed. We then had to seek outside for Latin tutor, adding another activity. Add music and riding lessons and scouts, and we are off the chart busy.

So, half way through the year, I find that Scout is beyond thrilled with this breakneck pace, and Girlie is more than a little miserable. I, personally, would prefer a less hectic schedule, as I do not do well rushing hither and tither as I do.

Each activity they have, in itself, can be enriching and bring positives to their lives. Yet, all added together, I feel as if we are on a whirlwind spinning out of control. I cannot even mentally keep all the dates and activities straight in our heads. How people live like this all the time, I’ll never know.

These distractions have taken us away from our path. We have lost the casual gentle learning we used to do when we had time to spare. We are rushing through, and not enjoying the process, because we can’t be late for the next extra thing. So many ideas that we would have followed up on before academically are now being passed over because of schedule.
Instead of a path filled with delightful surprises, I am on a path filled with exit ramps and billboards flashing more activities.

It’s time to make our way back to the path.

For now, we are committed to classes for this year, with the crazy season of plays and fairs and all that stuff. We are having a family meeting later today, and Scout just has to make some choices. He is not meeting deadlines, nor working up to his ability in many areas. I’ve tried to respect that not everyone works steadily along on projects. But I find that he will waste hours a day playing and socializing for weeks, then do a shabby job the day before the project is due. He’s shown he cannot handle all that he signed on to, and must cut things out. He’s got focus on responsibilities in order to earn the extras. I so wish he was maturing as fast as he was growing!

I feel badly for Girlie on her end as well, as it seems that we are always running around to Scout’s activities. It really must suck for her, who would rather stay home and read or draw than sit in a car all the time. We have decided that at almost 13, she is mature enough to stay alone for an hour or two at a time, locked inside, of course. She is beeming iwth pride over this new priviledge, but in reality, I was babysitting by her age. I should have considered this earlier in the year.

She has willingly accepted the crazy Monday schedule is just for this year. Next year, we will only do a half day, no matter what is offered. I am going to try to limit weekend commitments so we can all spend quality time together, as that is what she and I enjoy.

I am going to cut back on writing hours for a few months, as I need some down time. It is taking over every waking moment, and I am forgetting things like laundry and cooking meals. That will be fine in the summer, but for now, I need to keep on top of their education and keep my own sanity.

We may have to fight through some brambles…but the original path was very, very good.