Most of us panic. We love our children. We are not following the crowd and sending them to school. We are not following the homeschooling crowd either. We are the less known group of unschoolers. I panic.
Amelie (8 now) was writing a story on the computer. She was asking me how to spell a bunch of words. I had a vision of her as an adult writing on forums or at a job and not being able to spell. Appel is not acceptable. Neither is flote. Spelling is one thing that bothers me if it is horrible. So should I place this insecurity on my children. I did. I printed up spelling lists appropriate for their ages. The girls were excited about this. They each had a piece of paper and pencil and wrote down the words I gave them. Amelie got an average of 8 or 9 out of 10 and Ricky got them right. (Amelie's weren't spelled the same as they sounded) I took a sigh of relief and I have continued to leave them alone to learn. Every once in a while I do this. I wonder if other unschooling parents do this. I just sometimes need the reassurance that my children will be able to be who they want as an adult. I don't want them to grow up and not have the opportunities that everyone else has.
But that is all relative, isn't it?
I believe they will have more opportunities to be who they want. They will have time and freedom to explore their interests and desires. They have room to fail and room to soar. They have the opportunity to not allow outside influences to shadow how they view life.
This doesn't mean that their crazy mother won't throw a few spelling quizzes at them though.

My son. My beautiful son turned 5 this month. There is a difference between girls and boys. Girls grow up and need their mom. They call for advice, wedding help and just a nice chat. I hope that my girls will grow up to be close to their mom. Sons. Sons are different. I have noticed throughout the years that a son will grow up and find a wife. A mate. He will then turn to HER for advice, wedding planning and just to chat. There will be another woman caring for my son. Sure there are circumstances in each family that change that dynamic but in general, this is what I have found. So when my sons get a year older it almost feels like a year closer to independence. A year closer to not needing kisses on knees, to not praying with mom that nightmares stay away and a year closer to being further away. Sure us moms all look at our lives now and think ... oh how nice it will be when I can take naps when I want, when I can take some special interest classes that we want and when we can sit and have a tea without stopping to wipe a bum. Ah, the freedom. But at what cost? No more asking how we can see God. No more little hand made crafts just for you. No more holding hands around the dinner table for prayers. No more "Mom, can I just stay up for 10 more minutes?" No more telling them to brush their teeth. No more kisses and hugs goodnight. No more being the center of someones universe. I do want my children to grow up and experience life but at the time they are ready.
Here is an example.
Cohen who is 5 asked me at the dinner table.
Cohen: Mom, when do I get to go to school?
Me: Why do you want to go?
Cohen: Because I can play with all of their toys.

He is ready. No, not ready for school. Ready for some independence. Once a week he has Sunday School. We decided to let him stay for the hour on his own. If anyone knows Cohen, he has no filter. He says the funniest and most embarrassing things at times. He gets in your personal space and doesn't realize it. This was a big step for us.
When I dropped him off I had a hard time walking out the door. I was just down the hall but still. All through the sermon I thought of him. Oh, I didn't tell them that he still goes in the girls washroom. Will they take him to the men's? He would look under the stall and ask whatever unfortunate soul was in there if he was done yet. Maybe I should go and make sure they know. I stayed put. I am not going to lie! I did peek in on him and he was doing fine. My little boy.
Am I ready to let go a bit. Yes, I can do that. For him. That is what my role is. I am his mom. The person who is there to listen to him. To know when he is ready. To not push or coerce him into a situation he is not comfortable with. He is moving into independence on his own. Good for him!

I have been cranky with the kids lately. Pregnancy related...I know. I was feeling down because of the yelling. I had the wonderful idea of throwing flour all over the kitchen/kids/counters (you name it) and watch them laugh. And laugh WITH them. It was a lot of clean up but well worth it! While the flour will be gone from my kitchen the memories and pictures will last a lifetime.
It is nice to let go sometimes.

Family

It looks like I will be blogging again!

1st reason is I am not sick anymore. YAY!

2nd reason I have realized that I can still upload pictures on here.

A lot of normal family things have happened in the last month. Halloween, Track and Field Outing, Vet Outing, Park days, time in the forest, walks, laughter, crying and noise.

We took our annual pictures in the local forest and there is one of them. I always feel the closest to my family when we are alone in nature.
The second picture is of Ricky at the apple farm. We all went and had a good time but I especially liked this genuine smile.
The third picture is of the Track and Field Outing. They had races, long jump, frisbee throwing and much more. We then went down to the cold beach and made sandcastles.

Right now we are going to the homeschool co-op and learning about explorers, exploring under the sea and space. This is more for the kids to have a good time than it is for educational purposes.

I am really enjoying our family dynamic. I love how the kids play nicely (at times) with one another. Amelie can play with Ricky or Reagan or Callum ... you get the idea. They play with different kids every day and I like to see that. I hope this is what is to come as they grow together.

I have been working on my dads quilt. It is almost pieced together and then the quilting will begin.

Christmas is fast approaching. We are much more ready this year. Of course we are not finished with presents but we also have 3 birthdays in December so we are concentrating on those as well.

We have been a family. A normal family who giggles, whines, argues, plays jokes, games and is pretty much always together. Just the way we like it.

You must wonder what we are doing. At least, I like to think you are. ;)

The kids have been doing wonderful.

Amelie has been reading Magic Tree House as much as she can. I really should write down which ones she has so we can get more! She can tell time now. For some reason this took a while to click with her. She is so quick to catch on to everything but telling time was a toughie.

Ricky loves to draw and write what is happening in the pictures. She continues to comfort any who need it. She still likes to be on her own when out at the park. I see her exploring and really looking into things when she is alone. Ricky also has no problem interacting but prefers being on her own.

Cohen is well...Cohen. Saying a tonne of really sweet, funny things. I think he may be noticing personal space now. One can only hope! lol. He has been playing a lot of make believe with Reagan. His favorite book right now is This Rocket. THANK GOODNESS it is short because he wants to hear it daily.

Reagan...read the post below. Seriously though, she has calmed down the last couple of days. OH and she has decided to wear underwear and not have accidents. Have you ever heard of a parent who tries to keep a diaper on their child and that child demand to take it off and use the toilet successfully. I was literally trying NOT to potty train her until I wasn't sick. Yes, I hate the words potty train. She isn't a dog but I don't have the brain capacity to think of something better at the moment. Her and Cohen have library time on Tuesdays and they enjoy the special time with mom or dad.

Callum is starting to talk more now. Sure no one else understands him but he tries. ;)
He has good naps and is very easy going. He is really starting to like books much to my chagrin at the moment. I mean, you can only say BEAR and point so many times! BUT I do do it because a love of books is important to us.

Ron is moving on to day/afternoon shift work. YAY!!!!!!!!!!! I can have my husband back from midnights!
We are looking for a van with 8 passengers. That should be fun.
I felt flutters yesterday so little brazilian nut (that is apparently the size of baby) is doing well.

I have been quilting and I am hoping for a new sewing machine soon.

I am at a loss. I have always been able to reason with my children. I respect them...except for one. I have this 3 year old that is impossible. The tantrums, screaming and crying is enough to drive someone mad. For every.little.thing she throws herself on the floor and has an all out battle with whatever object is around. She turns angry and is irrational. Do I think this is her fault? No. If I dig deep enough I will see that I haven't been fair with this little one. She is fire all on her own but I haven't dealt with it in the best way. I get busy with her other siblings and I have not taken the time to figure her out and help her. I think at this point I hold a grudge. I mean she is so incredibly irritating that I just want to put her in a relax time and be done with it. I want to punish her and make her stop. This is not the way I want to parent. I want to be there with loving arms and help her. I want to be her rock instead of her mountain. From this moment forward I am going to try harder with her and give her special attention to form a stronger bond with this little fireball. :)

We have some wonderful news!! We are adding the last member to our family in May. This is why I have not written. I have been sick and whiny. Who wants to hear that? Be back soon.

First: Happy Anniversary to my awesome husband! 9 years today. :)


I was really wanting to watch a cheesy, highschool movie and the stores here in town didn't have it. I went to a nearby town to get it. (The Last Song) I was watching it later on at night and it stopped close to the end. I can't stand DVD's. Can we get VHS's back? So anyways, the next day I called the store and asked them if they had another copy. When I got into the store there was an older man (say 60's) behind the counter. He had the movie ready for me and handed it over. He asked me if I would be bringing the movie back that night. I explained that I may not be able to because I had plans that evening. He literally tilted his head down and looked at me over his glasses. Are you serious? So this brought back my teenage years. It brought back the awkwardness and frustration the adults brought me. Just because of my age I was suspicious and looked down upon. We live in a society where the young AND old are not respected. Children have no say. They are placed in an institution and made to stay there. It sounds eerily familiar as they grow old. They will be placed in a nursing home without a say. Why do we place all of our respect to the middle aged? I am hopefully raising my children to respect the elderly as well as the young.
I try very hard to respect my children and not fall into what society feels is right. They are little people with thoughts and feelings. This is a reminder to not look over my glasses at my children when they tell me something just because they are children.
They will be respected, loved and honored just as I hope I will be respected, loved and honored as I grow old. Isn't that the way it should be?