JUICY

Your Hair Should Be Orange

Expressive, deep, and one of a kind.You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices.

What's" Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

Okay, I Admit It, I LOVE Spongebob!

When people dismiss television, and cartoons especially, as a mindless waste of time, I can't help but feel sorry for them. I think how much joyful bonding they could be having with their children. I think of all the laughs they could be having, if they just let themselves, if they just allowed themselves the 'unproductive' time to just sit and watch, they would be pleasantly surprised. I think the biggest surprise for some would be how much can be learned from cartoons.

My favorite cartoon for the last few years has been Spongebob Squarepants. Our family has enjoyed so many laughs and learned so many things from watching that show, that it would be hard to list them all, but I'll give you just I few examples why I think Spongebob is so awesome.

The character of Spongebob is like an eternal optimist. He rarely gets discouraged, but when he does his other emotions are just as huge as his happiness. He has passion for life! He approaches everything with enthusiasm. Even at his job as a frycook, Spongebob strives to be the absolute best he can be, and he takes satisfaction in a job well done. He is truly happy with the simple things in life, like friendship and bubbles. Numerous episodes show his disregard of money. Spongebob is a generous and loyal friend, kind to everyone, even the 'evil' Plankton. He is able to see the good in everyone, and often brings out the good in everyone, whether they like it or not (like Squidward).

If all my kids learned from watching Spongebob was how to be enthusiastic, optimistic, kind, loyal, generous, or a conscientious employee, that would be pretty good! BUT, they learn so much more. There is the content of each storyline, with the references to things in real life that we discuss that add even more depth to the value of this cartoon. Just today, they were quoting one of the characters, Patrick, saying, "The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma." Quite a mouthful, huh? Of course, I couldn't let that go by without talking to them about it, and after the discussion, the humor was appreciated even more by them. (After saying this, the cartoon shows a carton of milk spilling on a table inside Patrick's head. )

One of my daughter's friends told me that there was talk at her school about trying to have Spongebob banned! I want to cry when I hear talk of banning anything in this day and age, but this cartoon? I couldn't imagine why. When I asked the girl, she said it had something to do with an episode where he ripped his pants. Well, I've seen the offending episode numerous times, and the moral is "Be yourself if you want people to like you." Spongebob got a laugh the first few times he ripped his pants, so he kept playing practical jokes until he went too far and everyone had enough. At the end, he sings a corny song realizing his error, and everything is all better. How that is offensive is beyond me.

What offends me, quite frankly, is the look I get from some people when I tell them I love Spongebob. I want to tell them to just grow up, I mean loosen up, I mean wise up, I mean --- just watch it, maybe you'll like it.

Betcha Can't Guess What This Is!

Betcha Can't Guess What This Is!

No, it's not a clementine crate painted white, lined with a dish towel, holding an empty oreo tray, filled with broken comb teeth that are floating in water! Good try, though. It's Angelica and Joseph's "baby pet fish". It's a little hard to tell from the picture whose side is whose, but there is an "A" on one side and a "J" on the other, just to keep 'em straight.

I am constantly amazed at how my children turn the ordinary things in our lives into props for their imaginary worlds. Anything and everything has a potential use for them, therefore, I have to look very carefully at everything around our house before I even think about picking it up or throwing it out. My older son's stray paintball was given a carefully crafted toilet paper nest, and surprisingly a few days later it had BB babies! Tiny cut scraps of paper that were obviously leftovers, were not. They were money, or food for horses, or snow (once they were mixed with water and put in the freezer).

I enjoy and celebrate that my children have such creative abilities. I also think that the amount of free time and access to things that they are allowed, fosters their creativeness. We have had friends over whose parents won't let them build forts with all the blankets and the kitchen table, who have their kids do "crafts" at school because they don't want the mess at home, and who don't let their kids play in the rain. Their lives are all about order, and schedules,and control. They are not free to create.

I pray that my children will always keep their creativity, and the joy they receive from creating.

40% nORMAL?!

That's what the results of the quiz said. I guess that's pretty good. Isn't it?

I mean, for a woman who stays at home with her children full-time and doesn't work outside the home, who is a practicing catholic married to her high school sweetheart, who keeps her children out of school and lets them direct their own lives.......I am surprised I scored any points for normality. <:o

HOW NORMAL ARE YOU?

You are 40% Normal

While some of your behavior is quite normal......Other things you do are downright strange. You've got a little of your freak going on, but you mostly keep your weirdness to yourself.

How Normal Are You?

SO I NEVER FORGET.....

I am so grateful for my life, for being able to use my body to walk and swim and jump and dance and sing and climb stairs and sooooooo much more.

I am grateful for the gift of faith which has carried me through difficult times and given me the courage to change and grow.

I am grateful for my husband, whose devotion to our children matches my own. I am grateful that he is willing to work hard and yet knows how to play. I am grateful for all that he has added to my life, all that I have learned from him, and for the opportunity I have had to be there for him.

I am grateful for my children, without whom I cannot even imagine what I would be doing now. I am grateful that I am able to live and learn alongside them everyday, and for who I am becoming by being their mother.

I am grateful that my children are alive and healthy today.

I am grateful that I live in my own home, where I feel relatively safe, and I can sleep each night without fear of losing my life or belongings.

I am grateful that all our basic needs are met as a family, so that we are able to share with others.

I am grateful to have friends whom I know I could call in an emergency.

I am grateful that our family has made it safely through 3 major hurricanes in the last 2 years!

I'm grateful for my past, even the bad stuff, because all of it led me to where I am today.

I am grateful for having worked in the field of occupational therapy. I was fortunate to work with so many amazing people, who showed me that every life is valuable, no matter how compromised it may appear.

I am grateful for having worked with Hope, who survived a botched abortion.

I am grateful that I haven't "arrived" yet. I am glad to still be on a journey, still learning and growing.

LET FREEDOM RING

"No human right, except the right to life itself, is more fundamental than this. A person's freedom of learning is part of his freedom of thought, even more basic than his freedom of speech. If we take from someone his right to decide what he will be curious about, we destroy his freedom of thought. We say, in effect, you must think not about what interests and concerns you, but about what interests and concerns us.
We might call this the right of curiosity, the right to ask whatever questions are most important to us. As adults, we assume that we have the right to decide what does or does not interest us, what we will look into and what we will leave alone. We take this right largely for granted, cannot imagine that it might be taken away from us. Indeed, as far as I know, it has never been written into any body of law. Even the writers of our Constitution did not mention it. They thought it was enough to guarantee citizens the freedom of speech and the freedom to spread their ideas as widely as they wished and could. It did not occur to them that even the most tyrannical government would try to control people's minds, what they thought and knew. That idea would come later, under the benevolent guise of compulsory universal education."
excerpt from John Holt's "Escape From Childhood"

The 4th of July has become an increasingly significant holiday to me. I have come to recognize and appreciate more fully with each passing year how much freedom we really have in our lives, and how precious it is. This day is one in which I am filled with gratitude for the all the freedoms that most Americans are celebrating, but even more so, I am grateful for the freedom I am able to offer my children.

As unschoolers, my children have more freedom than most children their ages, freedom to pursue their own interests. Their time is not dominated by school. They truly are free to think and learn in the most natural and efficient way possible, as a by product of all their delight-driven activities. The wonderful bonus for an unschooling parent is that I get to be witness to, participate in, or provide the catalyst for all this fun, AND I get to learn right along with them!

God Bless America!

WOW, HAS IT BEEN A YEAR ALREADY?!

It has been an entire year since I started this blog, and I managed to post a whole 4 times. Wooohooo!

I'm taking it as a good indicator that my life has been so full that I haven't had much time to post. Yeah.....that's it.

Let's see, how can I sum up this past year?

Well...........here are some highlights since the last summary of "happenings" in Sept. '05:

****In September and October we had lots more first-hand hurricane education via Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma.----We felt so awful for the Katrina victims. We had to do SOMETHING, so the kids and I made "Health Kits" to send to the victims, that contained essential toiletries in individual zip-loc bags. We hoped it would help some people feel better. Then we had our own experience evacuating to Grandma's again, this time for Hurricane Wilma. We lost power for about 5 days, but fortunately had little damage to our home and we were safe. We went through the FEMA help lines to get water and food the first few days, and got to experience MREs, which Angelica & Joseph thought were really cool and kinda good!

****We attended the annual Live&Learn Unschooling Conference in St. Louis in early Oct. It was extra special this year because we had friends from home join us there as well, AND we were the winners of the raffle prize for free registration for next years conference! Angelica and her friend performed a ribbon dance to a Green Day song in the talent show, and Joseph showed some of his newly aquired Karate moves to the always appreciative crowd. We also saw some amazing sights in the St. Louis area, including the St. Louis Zoo(www.stlzoo.org), the Cahokia Mounds(www.cahokiamounds.com), the original Big Foot truck(www.bigfoo4x4.com), an awesome skatepark in nearby St. Charles(www.historicstcharles.com), and the unbelievable City Museum(www.citymuseum.org).

(the St. Charles Skate Park)

****We celebrated both Angelica's and Joseph's birthdays in November, since we didn't have our power back yet for Angelica's birthday. Tom had completed building his half-pipe in the backyard and was skating it almost daily. We went to see "Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular" at the Kravis Center with Grandma. That spurred quite a bit of dancing around here.

****December was dominated by Christmas preparations and celebrations. Angelica went on her annual trip to NYC with Grandma and her cousin. She loved ice skating at Rockerfeller Plaza. One of the most exciting gifts this year was the 14ft. trampoline from Grandma & Grandpa in NY. It has been well used and enjoyed ever since we got it. We spent Christmas eve at Grandma and Granpa's house and the kids performed with some friends, as is our tradition. This year MAGIC was the thing. Joseph performed a bunch of tricks from his new magic kit, and Angelica did 3 tricks which she learned from a Christmas Magic book from the library. Then there were the usual songs and jokes, and Grandpop telling "The Night Before Christmas".

****January was spent enjoying all the new toys and gadgets from Christmas. We also went to a local Greek festival, where the kids learned that they really like gyros and greek pastries. It is also the month of my birthday, the month when I received my new laptop computer that I'm typing on right now! Yippeeeeee!

****Hmmmm, what was notable about February? I can't really remember. I think I was probably on the computer whole bunch, LOL. My daughter had been introduced to www.whyville.net, and by Feb. everyone in the house had an account except DH. Then we started with www.piczo.com.
I'm learning alot about computers by just following where my kids lead and helping when they ask. It's been a blast.

****In March, Tom was confirmed in the Catholic Church. It was a rocky road to get there, with his first teacher resigning, and Tom unsure if it was what he really wanted. The Bishop's talk at the ceremony was so awesome. He told the teens that "......from the beginning of time until the end of time, there was no one else exactly like them." (not sure if that's word for word) He told them that they should not feel inadequate by looking at others, because they have shoes that no one else can fill, and if they try to be like others they are giving up what is so special about themselves. Also in March, Tom and Joseph went to Maine for snowboarding and skiing, respectively. It was Joseph's first time, and he loved it. He came back saying he wants to go to Utah skiing because, "that's where the best skiing is." "How would he know that?" I asked Grandma and Grandpop. :)

****May - this is getting too long.

****June-We went to CT to visit Grandma and Grandpa's at their new house. We also got to see our new nephews/cousins, who were only a month apart in age but so different yet both adorable. While visiting, we went to the CT Children's Museum(www.TheChildrensMuseumCT.org), The Rainforest Cafe(www.rainforestcafe.com), Dinosaur State Park(www.dinosaurstatepark.org), UConn's Dairy Barn at Storr's Campus, the Fish Family Farm, and we made our own soda at Avery's Soda Factory(www.averysoda.com). We spent a day in NYC, and visited the Museum of Television and Radio(www.mtr.org), St. Patrick's Cathedral(www.stpatrickscathedral.org), Colony Music Center(www.colonymusic.comCenter), the giant Toys-R-Us in Times Square, the Hershey Store, Beard Papa's Sweet's Cafe - specializing in cream puffs(http://www.muginohousa.com, and Ruby Foos.

There you have it. A summary of the some of the most noteable. Now I will try to keep up with the more mundane, yet often more meaningful things that happen, or happen to cross my mind. ;)

LOVING PEOPLE AND USING THINGS.....

This is certainly an ideal most of us would admit to striving towards. Who would honestly want to use people?! But, alas, who can help but falling in love with their "things"? (Especially with the nearly limitless number of wonderful "things" to own in this day and age.) It is so incidious, however, that most people don't even realize that their things have become more dear to them than people.

As a mother of small children, I frequently get to witness how much more value "things" hold than people, especially if they are little people. The things take on even more importance if they are threatened by the little people. People feel hurt and disrespected when their "things" are not respected and "loved" by others as they think they should be. The owners feel that this gives them free license to disrespect the offending child, and the child's feelings are irrelevant.

My children understand about being careful with other people's property. They know that they are responsible for fixing or replacing something of someone's if they break or lose it. They do not purposefully set out to damage other people's property. So, if in their energetic youthfulness they accidentally damage something, I will not berate them for it. I will help them find a way to remedy the situation and to avoid a recurrance. I don't expect them to respect other people's "things", OR to respect other people who DON'T respect them.

If someone loves their things more than my children, even though they profess otherwise, my kids can see right through their actions to their heart. They will ask to leave places when they know they aren't respected and valued as much as the furniture, and I can hardly blame them.

This is yet another one of the MANY ways in which the simple wisdom of my children is re-educating me daily. Their unpretentious honesty keeps the heart at the heart of ALL matters.

THE VALUE OF NOTHING

Ask my 14 year old son on any typical day what he's doing, and he's likely to tell you, "Nothing." What causes him to say this, in my opinion, and what aggravates me, is the pervasive disregard in this society for things unseen and unmeasurable.

My son spent 6 years in school being told what he should learn, what he should be doing each minute of the school day, and even with time when he went home. As he did those things, he received feedback that what he did was more or less valuable as noted by grades, praise, criticism, and the like. What he also received was the message that anything unrelated to school was not valuable. It wasn't worth the time, wouldn't garner others' praise and prizes. It wouldn't raise his status in the artificial peer hierarchy of the academic world.

The message of what is valuable was also taught to my son by our consumerism, and the general value of work in our society. Work that doesn't bring in lots of money is poorly regarded. There is little evaluation of the personal fulfillment that work brings, or the moral ideals that it might futher. The greatest example of this is motherhood. Full-time mothers provide one of the most important services to humanity, but their work is often the most disregarded. Don't even get me started about the pay! LOL

Let us not forget the media's role in giving value to our lives. The more media play something gets, the more spectacular it seems, the more status it receives. On a smaller scale, that which is visible is valuable. When someone builds something, or creates something, it's easy to "see" it's value. But what about the things that go unseen? What about washing clothes that will be dirty again in few days? What about feelings? What about ideas? What about practice? What about the internal dialogue that we constantly have that propels us through life? What about the mistakes from which we learn to do better, or differently the next time? Most of these things are not visible to others and might go unnoticed. They could hardly compete with the larger than life promotions of media greatness!

I am fighting against all these messages to prove to my son and the world that the only life worth living, the only valuable life is one in which you are true to yourself. Follow your own interests. Value your own time. Don't let others steal that away from you. If others don't value what you are doing, they are missing out. When I confront my son and tell him all the things he has actually done, he smiles because I think he really knows he is not doing, "nothing". He is doing something, just what he wants to do, and that is SOMETHING.

WHERE DO I BEGIN..........AND END?

Boundaries and personal responsibility have been my personal course of study lately. I am letting go of the responsibility I felt for other people's happiness, and holding them responsible for mine. I am learning that setting my own boundaries may make other's uncomfortable, but they are necessary for self-preservation. How someone reacts to my "no" is their responsibility, not mine.

This is especially true when dealing with family. Naturally, my desire is to make them happy, to give to them out of love, but at what cost? Maybe "self-serving" shouldn't be such a negative phrase after all. We serve others all the time. Knowing oneself and one's limits is key, I think. Defining those limits, those boundaries, is what I'm working on.

You would think at 41 years old I would have figured this much out already. Anyway, thankfully I'm still learning. I'm glad to still feel like I'm on a journey instead of stuck at my final destiny!!!

SHOULD I PAUSE TO POST?

This has been my dilemma since I set up this blog. I enjoy my life, and want to get as much as I can out of every day. If I stop to write, then I'm missing out on something else. However, since I don't write, I'm finding that many of my ideas and even memories that I want keep or share, are too soon forgotten. So.....I'm going to try to post at least once a month. That's my goal.

Since this was set up, we have had much going on in our life, including:
*our oldest son returning from NY and skatecamp in OR
*4th of July celebrations
*an annual birthday party at a local spring training stadium, followed by awesome fireworks, and meeting an amazing George W. look-alike
*the boys attending Tony Hawk's BoomBoomHuckJam
*Attending the opening day of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
*our daughter attending cheerleading camp at a local HS and becoming and "official cheerleader" by receving her first fat lip during a stunt
*attending my 90 year old grandma's funeral in PA; the kids all came, and our oldest son was a pall bearer; we were grateful to be there and to have had Grandma Angie in our lives.
*visiting briefly with my Dad while in PA, who we hadn't seen in over 5 years!
*all travelling to SanAntonio, TX for DH's Pastry Chef of the Year competition, included trips to: SeaWorld, Schlitterbahn, Witt Museum, Natural Bridge Caverns, The Alamo, Ripley's Believe It or Not and Wax Musem, the Riverwalk, and more!
*DH going to NY on business AND getting to see our newest nephew born 7/27!
*all going to the ME lake house in Bridgton to be with cousins and have a rollicking, rousing, and relaxing time.

In between all this, we managed to squeeze in a few get-togethers with our local unschooling group at the beaches and pool, and a few play-dates with friends. Of course I'm hard-pressed to remember all the activities that went on around the house when we actually were home. It usually is strewn from one end to the other with evidence of the goings on.

So, now I'm up to date. Phew! Maybe later I can post what I've been thinking lately. I've been relishing the fact that we are not "going back to school" and mulling over the magnificent magnitude of what that means. If I can pause to post .....I will!