I wrote this a couple of years ago as a fun parody of Hamlet's famous soliloquy - it isn't meant to make any kind of judgement on whether or not we chose to participate in the activities of Halloween but simply to muse whimsically on the choice. I thought it might be worth posting again for your amusement. Enjoy!

To treat or not to treat -- that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The rings and knocks of outrageously-clad neighbors

Or to turn off the lights against a sea of begging

And by opposing end it. To hide, to flee --

No candy -- and by fleeing to say we end

The toothaches, and the thousand natural knocks

A door is disposed to. 'Tis a quietness

devoutly to be wished. To hide, to flee --

To flee -- perhaps to eat out: ay, there's the rub,

For in that escape from home what chance may come

When we have shuttled off in the minivan,

Must give us pause. There's the amusement

That makes savage such young lives.

For who would bear the nicks of pumpkin-carving knives,

Th' oppressive weight gain, the proud child's costume

The pangs of despised sugar, the delayed arrival,

The insolence of teens, and the forced thanks

That persistent merit of the giver takes,

When he himself might his quietus make

With a darkened porch light? Who would Snickers bear

To walk and walk under a heavy coat,

But for the dread of chill on an October night,

The carefully planned costume, now hidden,

No treat-donor guesses, puzzles the will,

And makes us rather compliment the unknown

Than offer them hot apple cider?

Thus conscience does make givers of us all,

And thus the expense of bags of candy

Is compensated with the sticky return of children.

And creative enterprise of the moment

With this regard our apples throw away

And lose the chance for health. Quick you now,

Fairy Princess, Knight, Mermaid, Pirate --

Be all my Skittles remembered.

(c) 2007, Karen Dittman

with apologies to Wm. Shakespeare.

This is the text of a speech I delivered at my Toastmasters group this morning. It seemed to do a good job persuading my audience not just toward my opinion, but that it's something they should be well-informed about.

Just over a year ago, a judge in California caused quite a stir within the Homeschool community. In a case that had to do with parental neglect issues, he ruled that parents did not have rights to determine their children’s education choices and ordered the children into a public school setting because neither parent was a certified teacher. Now, as shocking as that ruling was – and it was eventually overturned by a higher state court – it probably seems irrelevant to most of you since you’re not homeschoolers. But I believe it is important to be aware of the issues surrounding homeschooling for two reasons. First, education is always a hot-button political issue. If you want to make intelligent choices in voting or communicate intelligently with your political representatives, it is important to be well-informed on the issues. Second, a court may be ruling today about appropriate educational choices for our children – and tomorrow the judge may be ruling about appropriate health-care choices for your children, your parents, or even you. When we allow the government to interfere in personal choices that don’t matter to us, we risk allowing them to eventually interfere in personal choices that do in fact matter.

With this in mind, I want to share with you this morning four reasons why homeschooling parents can be highly successful teachers without state certification. Much of what I have to say today springs from conversations I have had with certified teachers who now Homeschool their own children. They have given me insight into the teacher education process and how it helps – or doesn’t help – in teaching their children at home.

One of the reasons critics believe homeschoolers require state certification is for accountability to be sure they really are educating their children at home and not sitting around watching TV. I agree with that. Colorado law does provide that accountability. Just like children in public schools take the CSAP test, our children are required to take a nationally standardize test or be professionally evaluated every other year beginning in 3^rd grade to demonstrate they are making adequate educational progress. With this kind of accountability, no homeschooled child will be “left behind.”

Second, if you think about some of the things that help students succeed, one very important element is how well the teacher knows their student. When a teacher understand their students’ learning styles, likes and dislikes, and status of their home life, then that teacher can customize lesson plans to help individual students. Now, I ask you, who knows a child better than the parent who spends every day with them, year after year? A Homeschool parent has no “learning curve” where the students are concerned. Before the school year begins, I already know I have one right-brained, visual learner who learns best in the early morning and is highly motivated by opportunities to play on the computer and a left-brained, auditory learner whose favorite subject is Art and does best if allowed to sleep as late as possible. I can anticipate how my children will respond to new material and structure the day to best fit their personal styles. So if some of the best teachers are those who know their students best, then homeschoolers certainly fit the bill.

And if good teachers are those who know their students well, then even better are those teachers who care about their students’ success. The current emphasis on testing to provide teacher and school accountability attempts in part to motivate teachers to be personally invested in their students’ success. This kind of motivation can work to a certain point, but it can never create a loving relationship between teacher and student like that of mother and child. Allow me to read you a quote from Elizabeth, a mother who is homeschooling her two children, one of whom is high-functioning autistic: “I am not going to give up on my kids…a teacher might think that they have tried everything but they don’t know how to reach my son, and after one year he won’t be their responsibility anymore, but I am his teacher and his mom and I will always keep trying.” Homeschooling parents are much more personally invested in their children’s success than those who teach one year at a time.

Finally, if you still believe that anyone who is involved in educating the next generation should be well-trained, then I assure you that homeschooling parents do seek out all kinds of training resources. I know homeschoolers from coast to coast across this country, and Ido not know a single one who does not read books, attend conferences and seminars, seek out and evaluate curriculum resources, and ask questions of other homeschooling parents in order to do the best job possible in educating their children. Even my friends who have education degrees from college and state certification say that they are constantly doing these things to fill in gaps related to their current situations. They agree that the resources available to homeschoolers are quite comparable to what they learned in teacher training. Since homeschooling parents are personally invested in their children’s education – not just because they know their children will be tested but because they want their children to succeed – they do take advantage of all kinds of training resources.

With the training that homeschool parents seek out, their personal investment in their children's success, their knowledge of their students, and their accountability to the state, they are well-equipped to teach their children without the additional burden of state certification. Are they good teachers for their children? Yes! Do they need a piece of paper from the state to prove it? No!

We gave the kids a couple of Oreos yesterday evening. Watching them - especially my daughter - eat the cookies, I started wondering, "What does this say about their personalities?" I thought surely someone has come up with some kind of quiz to tell you about your personality based on how you eat Oreos, and, sure enough, this quiz is all over the internet:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Choose which method best describes your favorite method of eating Oreos:

1. The whole thing all at once.
2. One bite at a time
3. Slow and methodical nibbles examining the results of each bite afterwards.
4. In little feverous nibbles
5. Dunked in some liquid (milk, coffee...).
6. Twisted apart, the inside, then the cookie.
7. Twisted apart, the inside, and toss the cookie.
8. Just the cookie, not the inside.
9. I just like to lick them, not eat them.
10. I don`t have a favorite way because I don`t like Oreos.          

Made you choice?          

Your Personality:          

1. The whole thing.     

This means you consume life with abandon. You are fun to be with, exciting, and carefree with some hint of recklessness. You are totally irresponsible. No one should trust you with their children.          

2. One bite at a time.     

You are lucky to be one of the 5.4 billion other people who eat their Oreos this very same way. Just like them, you lack imagination, but that`s okay, not to worry, you`re normal.          

3. Slow and Methodical.     

You follow the rules. You`re very tidy and orderly. You`re very meticulous in every detail with every thing you do to the point of being anal retentive and irritating to others. Stay out of the fast lane if you`re only going to go the speed limit.          

4. Feverous Nibbles.     

Your boss likes you because you get your work done quickly. You always have a million things to do and never enough time to do them. Mental breakdowns run in your family. Valium and Ritalin would do you good.          

5. Dunked.     

Every one likes you because you are always up beat. You like to sugar coat unpleasant experiences and rationalize bad situations into good ones. You are in total denial about the shambles your life is in. You have a propensity towards narcotic addiction.          

6. Twisted apart, the inside, and then the cookie.     

You have a highly curious nature. You take pleasure in breaking things apart to find out how they work, though not always able to put them back together, so you destroy all the evidence of your activities. You deny your involvement when things go wrong. You are a compulsive liar and exhibit deviant, if not criminal, behavior.          

7. Twisted apart, the inside, and then toss the cookie.     

You are good at business and take risk that pay off. You take what you want and throw the rest away. You are greedy, selfish, mean, and lack feelings for others. You should be ashamed of yourself. But that`s ok, you don`t care, you got yours.          

8. Just the cookie, not the inside.     

You enjoy pain.          

9. I just like to lick them, not eat them.     

Stay away from small furry animals and seek professional medical help - immediately.          

10. I don`t have a favorite way, I don`t like Oreo cookies.     

You probably come from a rich family, and like to wear nice things, and go to up-scale restaurants. You are particular and fussy about the things you buy, own, and wear. Things have to be just right. You like to be pampered. You are a prima donna. There`s just no pleasing you.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But here's the funny thing: neither  my daughter nor I fit any of these. My son is an "eat it all at once, live life with abandon" kind of person, no question. Or he dunks sometimes - and that fits his "messy" lifestyle, too.

I (like my mother, interestingly) like to take the cookie apart, eat one cookie half, and then nibble through the other cookie half with the filling. That doesn't fit any of these categories - maybe the slow, methodical personality. Or maybe a mixture of several.

But my daughter is the one who is totally off the chart. She takes the whole thing apart into 3 layers. Then she slowly nibbles away at the cookies while occasionally taking a small nibble or lick of the filling. It can take that child 10 minutes to eat one Oreo! I think it shows her complete artistic personality - she absolutely marches to her own drummer. You can see it in how she chooses to dress (often with a swath of fabric wrapped around somewhere just for a little "splash"). And she always wants to do something musical, crafty or arty. But at the same time, she has a tendency to be very methodical and perfectionist in things - this is the child who used to sort her M&M's by color before eathing them. I don't know if it shows that she's a crazy, mixed up person or not - but it's how God made her, and I find it refreshing.

So, be honest, how do you eat your Oreos?

What do you do when you see a person standing on the side of the road holding up a sign telling you they need food and money?

I usually drive by, wishing I at least had a granola bar or something to give them, but unwilling to hand out money. And then I have a looooong conversation with my kids about why that person is standing there in the median and why I didn't give them any money.

One of the moms from my homeschool group got a great idea from her husband for what she started calling "Bags of Blessing" to help homeless people. (Shout out to ya, Angela!) Several families got together last week and put together ziploc bags (gallon-sized) filled with very helpful items that we can carry around in our cars and hand out to people we see in need. The bags include:

• water bottle
• 2 pkgs of vitamin-enhanced flavor powder (to add to the water)
• granola bar
• toothbrush (generously donated by a local dentist)
• toothpaste (ditto on the donation)
• hand sanitizer
• lip balm
• tarp or rain poncho
• Bible

I also hope to buy a roll of bus tokens to put in each bag as well.

Very simple and not very expensive (without the bus tokens, they're about $4 each) - and a ton of fun for a group of families to do together. And now I don't have to feel quite so helpless to help the homeless.

This has been going around Facebook, and it's pretty funny. Google (your name) "wants" and or (your name) "needs" and post the top 5 results. Since I've seen it both ways, I thought I'd do both.

What Karen wants:

1. to remember being a kid
2. to remember things as I paint them (or maybe to paint things as I want to remember them)
3. to not end up in a meeting like that, sitting helplessly
4. a fight
5. to have the Ohio plumber killed

What Karen needs:

1. to vacuum the floors, throw in a load of wash (how true that is!)
2. to go to Fredericksburg
3. to work in the garden
4. to make a plan to keep on top of the replacement plan (???)
5. additional citations for verification in a wikipedia entry that mentions my name

Very funny! (I really don't want anyone killed, though.) So what does the world according to Google think YOU want and need?

Movies are rarely as good as the books they are based on. The stories usually need to be simplified in order to fit into a 1 1/2 to 2 hour time frame. Minor (but sometimes lovable) characters get left out or characters are given new motives in order to move the story forward. But I found the changes made to The Tale of Despereaux to be somewhat bizarre.

I realized after we saw this movie that the problems I found in it probably arose from trying to make this story into a G-rated movie. I love that it was made as a G-rated movie - I wish more movies were a little more toned down so that young children could enjoy them. But the producers or writers of this movie seemed to think that G-rated movies must be movies for the preschool crowd. This story was not written for a preschool age group, so the changes don't fit the story. The chef suddenly has a unnecessary, magical, vegetable-based character as his assistant whose primary purpose seems to be to run Despereaux into the dungeon in time to save the princess in the end. Roscuro becomes a "nice" rat instead of a half-good, conflicted rat. Other characters surrounding Despereaux (particularly those in his family) are made benign and have little or no involvement in his being sent to the dungeon in the first place.

The middle of the movie follows the original story more closely than the beginning and end, and I enjoyed that part more. But some elements of the climax might be a little too scary for the preschool crowd, so I really don't understand the writers' choice to make the danger to the princess more intense.

While the story didn't make the transition to this movie so well, the animation was very well-done. The art is lovely. And the message of the power of forgiveness comes through very clearly. Overall, I'd say the movie is worth seeing, especially with younger children who understand enough of the story to know that the princess' rescue is certain. And I would encourage supporting almost any G-rated movie, if for no other reason than to demonstrate that an audience remains for such movies. But just don't go expecting the same quality of story that the original book gave us.

I recently ran across these links - very cute.

Austenbook: The story of Pride and Prejudice told as if it happened on Facebook.

and

Hamlet (Facebook news feed edition)

OK, in a sense, moms do run the world, pretty much from behind the scenes. When you think about it, though, part of Sarah Palin's appeal was that she had the experience and, presumably, common sense that moms approach life with. If someone would approach the presidency with mom-sense, we could straighten up the economy and everything else in no time at all.

For example:

• If you don't share with others, I'm going to take it away from you could apply quite nicely in our current economic crisis. Banks were refusing to lend money to anyone, choosing to hoard their reserves. So what did our government do? Give them more money. If my kid is hoarding his toys and not sharing with others, I'm not about to give him more toys. What if someone put all the bank executives in a "time out" of sorts? Or told them that if they didn't share with others, then they were going to lose their accreditation (or whatever), then I bet they'd behave differently very quickly.
• If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all would certainly change political campaigning, wouldn't it?!
• Be kind to others, especially those less fortunate than yourself. This could take care of the entire debate between "trickle-down" and "middle-class first" economic policies. The great flaw in trickle-down policies (in my opinion) is that it doesn't take into account the power of greed - those who earn more will generally keep more. But what if we changed the tax code to take away tax shelters for the wealthy and instead rewarded them with significant tax breaks for charitable giving? It seems to me that we'd see a lot more charitable foundations set up to help the needy and less need for the government to step in and act like Robin Hood.

What else? I bet some of you moms have great ideas about how to change the world and would do a better job running the country than most of the people in charge now. But we're all pretty busy running our own households after all!

Here in Colorado, we have a very lengthy ballot to sort through - not just presidential, senatorial and local candidates, but something like 12 citizen initiatives that are very complex with all kinds of potential ramifications. So for us - and I expect many others across the country - this election isn't just a simple matter of showing up and casting your vote for a few candidates. So I think it's really cool that Starbucks has this offer for tomorrow:

I see and hear many people in fear of how our election on Tuesday will turn out. Regardless of your political affiliations, may I offer a few words of hope and comfort?

• God is not going to lose this election.
• Regardless of which candidates win and what policies are instituted, our contry will continue to be so much better off than most of the world - and, guess what? We still get a say in who our leaders are - many people in the world don't have that privilege.
• We should pray for our leaders whether we agree with their policies or not.

And don't forget to vote!

This isn't political or anything, so please take it in the light-hearted spirit in which I offer it....

Last night I heard for the first time the pun that has been going around about if we elect Barack Obama, then our country will be an "Obama-nation."

So I found myself wondering, if we elect Barack Obama, and our economy continues to tank, and we end up in another depression ...

Will the U.S. then be "The Obama-Nation of Desolation"?

Just a thought....

When I was at Jennifer's blog to let her know she had won my contest, I found a cute tag that I thought I'd pass on. Just Google yourself (i.e., type your own name into Google to see what comes up), and then share the top 5 things that come up. So, I apparently am:

1. an American Folk Artist in North Carolina

2. a Physician's Assistant (PA-C)

3. a Director in the banking industry in the San Francisco Bay Area

4. the author of a blog called "Between the Worlds"

5. an artist in Texas

Very interesting, isn't it? I was rather surprised that my blog came up when I searched for my name.

If you're reading, as they say, consider yourself tagged. I'm interested to see who my friends' alter-egos are!

Congratulations to Jennifer of Poop on a Stick! for winning my 3 Favorite Things Contest! In a truly random drawing, comment #2 was chosen. Yes, it was a day late, but I promise not to be a dollar short.

Thanks again to all who participated. I enjoyed reading about the things that you love about homeschooling or that make your life as a homeschooler easier. It's interesting how many said that their co-op or support group is one of their favorite things. We all need each other, don't we?!

Our Safeway stores are running a really useful promotion these days. You used to be able to earn 10-cent discounts on gas for buying groceries, which were helpful, but not really enough motivation to go out of my way to a Safeway gas station. But this month they changed the program to where your discounts accumulate and can all be used at once. So technically, I could save up enough 10-cent discounts to get free gas. Now, that's worth driving a few extra miles out of my way for!

This month I had earned 30 cents in discounts, and since I was going to be near a Safeway gas station today, I decided it was OK to let the gas level in my car get close to Empty and  then fill up the tank. I dropped my kids off at track, planning to go fill the tank and then come back to watch them. Imagine my shock when I pulled up to the gas pump and found my wallet was not in my purse! I had taken it out when we went to the pool yesterday, and it was back home in my pool bag. So I said a big prayer for the gas to last until I got home, and by the grace of God I actually made it (this was close to 10 miles, and I doubt that I even had the 1/2 gallon of gas that I needed). At home, I used up the gas we keep for the lawn mower, drove to a closer gas station where I got a couple of gallons for the car and refilled the gas can, took the gas can back home (didn't want to keep it in my car in the heat while running errands all day), and went back to the Safeway gas station where I filled my tank for $3.69 per gallon. It was a lot of silly driving around to save money on gas, but I convinced myself it was worth it.

Next time I'll have to remember my wallet.

If you haven't heard, NaBloPoMo is short for "National Blog Posting Month." Participating bloggers commit to posting every day for a month. The "official" month is November, but the organizer decided this year to do every month, one month at a time, and each month has a theme. July's theme is Food. I'll try hard to be creative with it - and I expect I'll have some things to say that don't have to do with food, too - so help me keep up starting tomorrow!

Here was the scene this morning:

No, I didn't go outside to take it - I took the pic through the back sliding door. We ended up with about an inch of snow out there before it stopped! And it snowed a little more again this afternoon. It was pretty to see snow falling against the backdrop of purple flowering plum trees everywhere when we were out. But is this really the first day of May?!

First, I forgot to add into my last entry where I got the idea for the vinyl lettering that I did on my wall: Tori's blog. I kind of cheated, though, by using stencils instead of the way she recommends. After I remembered to trace the stencils backwards on the backing of the vinyl sheets, it worked out quite nicely!

For the last 3 days, our weather was sunny and warm (in the mid-70's to about 80 degrees). We've been outside, at the park, enjoying it so much! And right now - on May 1st, mind you - it's snowing. Huge snowflakes just swirling around and blowing in the wind out there. It's quite lovely, but seriously, it's May! Springtime in Colorado is always unpredictable!

Speaking of weird Colorado weather, several years ago, we had something that my husband & I called "snail." It was like little snowballs falling from the sky - snow hail. One of the strangest things I've ever seen!

Next week, Mama is going on a field trip! We have been studying US History and each state in order that it joined the Union. Today we wrap up with the last state, Hawaii, and next week my hubby & I will take a trip to Maui! The kids get to enjoy some time with grandma & grandpa (which they're really looking forward to). I'll try to post pics here, but I bet you all will understand if they don't get up until after I'm home.

OK, my son just put on Toby Mac's "Portable Sounds." Gotta get up and dance now!

If you like using online resources to supplement your homeschooling, you need to check out this website. SoCalVal has spent a lot of time collecting these resources and compiling them in one place:

http://weblinkeducation.com

No more guessing if a site is for teachers only,
No more wondering what a particular website offers,
No more guessing if the material you're viewing is free or not,
And no more jumping around from site to site to find something you need...

It's all done for YOU - by Homeschool Moms, like YOU. 
All Weblinks are Mom tested and Mom approved!

I just spent a few minutes browsing this website, and it has a ton of great resources. Check it out!

I picked this up from Tirzah's blog. It looked like fun!

You Can Only Type One Word.

This is not as easy as you might think. Change the answers to suit you.  It's hard to use only one word answers. When you're done, post a comment so I can check out your answers.  Enjoy!

1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. Who is your significant other? Michael

3. Your hair? funky

4. Your mother? self-sacrificing

5. Your father? servant

6. Your favorite thing? family

7. Your dream last night? forgotten

8. Your favorite drink? latte

9. Your dream/goal? published

10. The room you're in? family

11. Your fear? nothing

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here

13. Where were you last night? bed

14. What you're not? perfect

15. Muffins? husband-made

16. One of your wish list items? refrigerator

17. Where you grew up? Maryland

18. The last thing you did? ate

19. What are you wearing? jeans

20. Your TV? nearby

21. Your Pets? beagle

22. Your computer? laptop

23. Your life? full

24. Your mood? content

25. Missing someone? yes

26. Your car? storage

27. Something you're not wearing? shoes

28. Favorite Store? Target

29. Your summer? relaxing

30. Your favorite color? indescribable

31. When is the last time you laughed? hours

32. When is the last time you cried? unremembered

33. Who will/would repost this? You!