Don't start laughing yet... I've only moved my BLOG, not the whole family.

For the Family's Sake!

Homeschoolblogger has been slow and difficult to access lately and it's cutting into my limited online time.  Come visit!  And let me know what you think of the Homesteadblogger and if it's easier to read.

Mildly Melancholy

The blog of a third-generation teacher still starting out in the Big Apple.

}And once again I become depressed, convinced that the other teachers are better than I am, that my kids aren't really learning anything, that I'm not really doing my job, that all my plans and excitement never end up actually happening, that I am a failure and I am failing my kids.~

 

How's this for channel blog surfing?

It is good to hear that classroom teachers have some of the same feelings that home educating moms have!

Humanitarian: A woman before her own time

When Denmark set up her practice, there were only 32 pediatricians in the state.

"There was no such thing as a day care. Any woman that had a child, she looked after it,'' she said. "Today, we've got 2,000 pediatricians in the state and all the children are sick. Today, we've got everything on earth to keep a child well, except one thing. You know what that is?'' she said with a pause. "A mother.''

Ah.  Well said!

Isn't it neat what you can find out in the blog-o-sphere late at night when you really should be sleeping?

Austin hasn't been himself today, so I took his temperature on a hunch.  Yep.  102.  I've been so focused on keeping Alex from getting worse that this snuck up on me.  Tomorrow I'll take him to the doctor to make sure it isn't mycoplasma.  My guess is that Dr. P will put him on antibiotics regardless since Alex had a positive blood test.

Ash is complaining because she wants to be sick, too.  Doesn't want to do her school work.  Silly girl!

Parents: School hid rapes of four 1st-graders

The most disturbing paragraphs in the article:

}The district denies wrongdoing and has asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit. But it has not disputed that assaults occurred, and its legal response has only further inflamed public opinion in one of the state’s poorest school districts.

In federal court last month, the district’s lawyer, John Freund III, argued that under the Constitution school officials cannot be held responsible simply for failing to protect youngsters from assaults by other students.~

But then, schools don't appear to be held accountable for not educating students.  Why would we expect to be able to hold them accountable for not keeping students safe, as well?

Next year I'm going somewhere warm for the entire month of February!  I will live in a carboard box on the beach in Key West if I have to...

Yes, it's the Winter Doldrums and THEY ARE HERE.  Two sick kids, too much going on at church, not enough getting done at home, soccer starting for the spring even though the ground is frozen, and an attitude that says to me, "Stick your head in the sand (or under the covers) and stay put for about 21 more days!"

Had to take Alex back to the doctor today.  She spiked a fever last night so our ped wanted to make sure she didn't have the flu on top of everything else.  Thankfully that test came back negative.  So, stronger antibiotics for the pneumonia to start Sunday or Monday if she doesn't start improving.

The part I hated was having to wait in town for over an hour waiting for test results.  This is one reason why I hate living so far out of town.  We have such a love-hate relationship with this place.  It would have been easier to stomach if our favorite Japanese restaurant would have been open, but *sigh* they are closed until next Monday due to a family emergency.  I did manage to say a prayer for them in the midst of my self-pity.

Now Aislin is running a fever and has a cough that isn't getting better.  I really don't want to take her in tomorrow (don't like the ped on call), but if she gets much worse that could mean Urgent Care on Sunday.  I like UC even less than the on-call ped.  Hopefully she'll hang on until Monday when she can see her regular doctor.

I am convinced if we lived where it was warmer my babies wouldn't be sick and I wouldn't be suffering from The Winter Doldrums.

Did I mention that my TOTALLY AWESOME, HANDSOME, SWEET, TOO WONDERFUL FOR WORDS, son let his very sick sister borrow his BRAND NEW GameBoy DS to play with at the doctor's office this morning?  Isn't he a great kid?!

I had a small mom victory last night.  In a moment of desparation I bought a box of Pioneer Brand Baking Mix (similar to Bisquick).  I gave up white flour baking mix years ago as part of our journey to healthier food.  But, our  house is in crisis mode again and I needed a quick supper.  I was too lazy to grind the flour and make my own dumplings.  Hence the mix.

Keep in mind that my kiddos have been begging me for these supposedly far superior dumplings since the day I dumped the Bisquick.

Alex's response... "Why are the dumplings different.  They taste a little... ummm... boring."  (She doesn't like to hurt people's feelings.)   Aislin response... "Mom, these things are like vanilla pudding gone bad!"  Hooray!   Austin also didn't hold back and let me know that they were tasteless.  Hooray, again!

I feel vindicated.

(And lest you worry about our health, I did make them in homemade chicken broth.)

Caleb Stegall: Populism now

Kansas farmer and lawyer argues that this nation of alienated citizens should reclaim its destiny from power elites

When the oldest sources of order – which are at root religious – are abandoned along with their traditions and taboos, the resulting void of meaning is by necessity filled with some ideology promising one form or another of perfect happiness in the here and now. And these systems of self-salvation creep not toward liberation, but toward total control.

 

This is why I shouldn't read Rod Dreher's blog at bedtime.  I'll be up for hours chewing on this interesting article he linked to.

This can't be right...  I would consider myself a nerd wannabe back in the day, but I'm pretty sure I left all that behind with my college days.  I am a DORK.   That's like a nerd, but we don't do math. :)

I mean, I can't even get the little graphic to show in my post so I stuck over in the sidebar.  ►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►►

As I'm sitting at my desk waiting for a return call from the pulmonologist, I decided to surf the blogs of some fellow Sonlighters.  While on my journey I chanced across this poignant post from Mother Joy.

Moms, there is an alternative.  Be brave, and realize that you don't have to let anyone force you to send your child to school. Except your husband, of course.  But pray.  God changed my husband's heart and he is now our biggest homeschooling defender.  But believe me, homeschooling your kid with a messy house or screaming babies or an inadequate teacher is better BY FAR then sending them off because you don't think you "can do it".

 

So often we are afraid to stand up and say anything to our friends and family with difficult public school situations because we don't want them to think we're being judgemental.  There has to be a time when we stand up and speak the truth.  The excuse that drives me insane...  "There is no way I could homeschool my children.  I don't have the patience."

When a child is struggling in school, there is an alternative.  It is time for more parents to make sacrifices to put their child's educational and emotional needs first!  And it's time for homeschoolers to stop being afraid of judging and come right out and tell these folks that homeschooling IS THE ALTERNATIVE.