My 2cents Worth

My daughter home schools her three children, so for some reason that seems to make many people think they can judge, criticize and throw out all the negative advice they have bottled up inside them. The main thing they all seem to be the most concerned about is that home schooling will populate the world with stuffy snobs unable to communicate with anyone around them.

I just want to know one thing. WHAT class in public school TEACHES how to socialize? I completed twelve years of public school and came out as one of the most shy insecure people you could know.
What class TEACHES how to be polite?
What class TEACHES how to communicate well with others?
What class TEACHES how to like yourself for who you are?
What class TEACHES how to go out into the world and get a job where you can work at a decent pay even if you can't afford to get a college degree?
What class TEACHES family values or values of any kind?
What class TEACHES you how to discover what your talents and interest may be outside of academics?

NO, instead they have taken out all the classes that give you the chance to learn to love music, dancing, sports, or any other talents or interests that may give you self esteem.
NO, instead they throw you into large crowded rooms so you can get bullied and teased if you don't fit into their clicks.
NO, instead you are placed under tremendous pressure to be just as successful as the student who may have the photographic memory and gets a perfect score no matter how difficult it may be for you.
NO, instead you are put under peer pressure to experiment in whatever every bad seed out there may try to do to influence you so that you may fit in with what THEY consider cool.
NO, instead you are shuffled along in the herd to the next class and the next step whether or not you feel you learned the last step because if you aren't pushed into the next class the schools will loose their funding for that new student that takes your , SO when you get to that next step and your already behind you can feel like more of a failure.

When did it become the right thing for parents to wash their hands of their children's education and well being? When did the word "family" become a bad word? Why shouldn't parents have the right to choose their child's education and the right to choose to change it if they feel things are not as they should be for the sake of the child?

I worked in a grammar school before. I saw all the paperwork with the misspelled words as the teachers turned in their paperwork. I heard all the remarks made about the children they LABELED trouble makers or irritating.
Teachers are just people. They are not perfect. Some should not be teaching , they are burned out, yet they continue because it is their "career" and they feel what else would they be doing. I say this because for eight years I witnessed it.

Yes, there are good teachers, but there are good parents that can teach also.

I have five grandchildren. Three are home schooled and two are in public school. I pray the best for all of them. I've seen my grandson who is only in second grade come home with "red cards" and have received them because he could not sit still in his chair... since when is it normal for a 7 year old boy to sit perfectly still? Who decided that a child could not hear and learn while his leg is hanging off the chair and swinging?

My three grandchildren that are home schooled are the busiest, most social children I've ever known. They participate in baseball, soccer, basketball, piano lessons, music lessons, ballet, theater, gymnastics and church activities. They are at an average or above average grade level in fact my second grade granddaughter is reading at the the top of a third grade level.

Whether it be public school, private school or home school isn't it the DUTY of a parent to participate and to step in to be sure the child is getting the very best education? So why should home school be less? In fact it should be more because these children are given a one on one teaching without the peer pressure, without the bullies and social clicks to worry about. Instead they can LEARN what they are suppose to be learning and leave the socializing to other activities.

As far as learning how to be social..........why shouldn't parents be able to choose the positive side of social activities for their children and be the filter for who their children hang out with.

Isn't this all suppose to be what is best FOR THE CHILD?

No time for drowsy!

My eyes feel like they have weights on them. Why? I don't know. Possibly the fact that I've taken allergy tablets the last week and even though they say "non drowsy" they don't say non sleepy!

So I'm going to try to get by the next few days without the allergy meds and see if I can survive. It's the price to pay sometimes!

I can't be drowsy or sleepy! No time for that! Yesterday was full of five grand kids coming and going at all hours of the day.

Today being Saturday is soccer day. Sarah's game at 9:00am..... Nathan's game 9:15am.......two different fields. So I take Sarah to her game. Ryan with his knee stitches and wrapped up goes with me. After soccer games Nathan has TWO baseball games in a tournament. So I bring Sarah and Ryan home with me for the day, that way Ryan can sit with his leg rested and Sarah can , well, do her girl thing. Jim being the loving papa that he is went to watch Nathan's baseball game.

As for me..........I've watched two iCarly shows, played four board games, ate hamburgers and milkshakes with the kids, and now Ryan is watching a movie called "how to eat fried worms" which is strictly a boy movie, and Sarah is in the bedroom in her own little girl world. I now have a few moments to be in my little world of emails and blogs.................or possibly it's a short little nap time for the drowsy eyes...?

tomorrow is friday

Well lets see, what did I do today?

Do you ever have those days when all day it feels like it should be a different day of the week? I had to keep reminding myself that tomorrow is Friday--not today!

Today I took my 2 year old grandson to a preschool class. It's a fun class, a parent/grandparent participation class. It starts at 9am and last till noon every Thursday. He loves it. He gets to use glue and paints and all kinds of neat stuff and sing and dance and play with all the neat toys, have snacks at the table with all his friends and go out to the kiddie playground with the little slide and tricycles and those little Flintstones cars. He loves the Flintstones cars with his little feet shuffling along!

After the class we get into my car and he's asleep in his car seat before we get out of the parking lot!

Today Vanessa got off work at 1pm so she picked up Kyle from school and then came over to visit and get Conner.

The rest of the day I've pretty much accomplished nothing!

Chasing Lizards

I have the most goofy dog!!

I have a very tiny back yard. It has a very tiny cement area out the back door and then grass. We have a fence all around it and next to the fence we have a few flat bricks laid that I have my comfy outdoor chair.

Around 4:30pm it finally cooled down and I went out side to water the yard and plants. I watered the plants and replanted one plant and then noticed that the two hummingbird feeders were surrounded by hummingbirds so I sat in my chair with the sprayer on the hose and just held the hose with the sprayer over the yard and began to watch the birds.

It was then that I realized what my goofy dog had been doing the entire time I was messing around with the plants.

On the tiny cement area there sits our air conditioner compressor unit which is about a two feet wide square. We have lizards that have decided to live underneath and my dog was guarding that unit to be sure that lizard did not come out from under it! He kept his nose down to the bottom of the unit and as the lizard poked it's nose out on the other side he'd run over to that side and the lizard would run under it and over to the opposite side.......so the dog ran to the opposite side! Back and forth, back and forth this dog ran each time the lizard stuck it's nose out of either side.

It was as though the lizard was playing the game with the dog and this went on for an hour and 15 minutes non-stop!!

Tuesday Today

It was a busy busy day today! Conner got here at 7:30am. He drank his milk and ate a banana and we got in the car with the dog and drove to the vet's office. Pepper (my dog) had his routine grooming appointment. Without a groom every 6 weeks he starts to transform into some fuzzy creature with out eyes to be seen!
Much to Conner's dismay we left Pepper at the groomers and drove across the street to Parkway Plaza which is a large indoor mall. None of the store were open but it is one of Conner's favorite places and I always take him there when dropping off Pepper since it's across the street. I bring my quarters and allow Conner to ride every one of those cars, trucks, planes that he sits in with that big grin on his face while it shakes and she steers that steering wheel.
Then we went into Walmart as I got a few things that I needed.

I had packed Conner a sandwich and juice so he ate his lunch and then we headed home. He made it about a mile and was sound asleep in the car seat.
I carry him in and lay him on the bed.
while he sleeps I throw in laundry and check emails and catch up on the TV news.
He wakes up just in time to go pick up his brother from school. Kyle gets in the car and it's now 30 minutes before time to pick up the dog and Kyle is hungry as always after school. So we drive to Wendys and get chicken nuggets and milkshake.
There is a fire at a construction site down the street so we sit in the car and watch the firetrucks while they eat their yummy meal. It was nice of those firetrucks to entertain them for 30 minutes. I'll have to watch the news later to see what the fire was all about.

So we then drive to the vets office and pick up the dog who now looks like he's lost 5 lbs from all the hair that is gone. Conner is very happy that we didn't give him away to these strangers in the building.

We drive home and Jim is taking his Tuesday afternoon nap because he bowls on Tuesday nights. Since he gets up at 1am and gets home at 2pm he needs this nap.
So I get out the train set and the boys play quietly in the front room for an hour and then their dad gets here, Jim gets up, Lance and the boys leave, Jim leaves..........and now I have the place all to myself to have full control over the remote and all the snacks in the house while the dog sits in front of me and begs for treats!
And as the dog and I sit and eat our treats we will watch The Biggest Loser of course! :)

Monday Madness

Can you say sneeze? We are having a terribly Santa Ana day. It is so terribly dry and windy and with just getting over a virus from last week my sinuses today have gone crazy.
I spent the day busy as usual. I don't have the grand kids usually on Mondays so it's my day to run around like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to get everything possible done that needs to be done without a 2 year old toddler!
I started the day taking my crazy dog for a much needed walk. He weighs 20 pounds but he thinks he's one of those dogs in Alaska pulling a sled as he runs from one place to the other at the end of my leash!
My dear mother-in-law isn't driving now and so that's another one on my to-do list on Mondays and Saturdays. I drove her to her favorite clothing store so she could get some clothes shopping done. The store just happens to be a 20 minute drive away. She shopped for 15 minutes and was done. After that her back was hurting and she wanted to go home to sit and read (oh those would be the days to sit and read:) so then the 20 minute drive back to drop her off at home.
So then I drove myself to the post office, the pet supply store, then to the mega store Costco.
I timed it just right to get home right after Jim got home from work so he carried all the goodies into the house for me.
So I've spent the rest of the day sneezing and blowing my nose.
Now is my time to sit and veg in front of the TV before a new day starts tomorrow with that busy little toddler!

Sunday Stitches

Well this day didn't turn out exactly as expected. My grandson Nathan is on a traveling baseball team. Jim and I decided to go watch him today. Since Lisa, my daughter, and I were both sick all last week and have been very busy we were looking forward to not only watching Nathan play ball but chatting.
My other grandchildren were playing on the basketball court right behind our seats. It was only into the first two innings of the game when Ryan, my oldest grandson, came to us grabbing his knee. He had fell down and landed directly on his knee. We grabbed the only band aids we had and tried to mend it but it kept bleeding out and looked pretty bad.
So Jim stayed to help with the grand kids while Eddie helped coach Nathan's team and I drove Lisa and Ryan to the ER.

After about 90 minutes of sitting in the waiting room and watching people walk in and out of the ER with various injuries and tales of woe Lisa and Ryan came out with Ryan's leg wrapped in an ace bandage around the knee and he was hobbling along without bending it.
He had three stitches and was told to keep it wrapped up for 10 days and not to bend it! That if he bends it it may split open again and if it does they cannot restitch it! He will get the stitches out in 10 days and then he still needs to wrap it for 2-3 days after to keep it from splitting open!

Ryan is 12 years old. He was disappointed because he has started as a referee on his sister Sarah's soccer team and was thoroughly enjoying it. He'll have to miss a couple of games. But he's a great guy and he likes to draw, watch shows, play video games, computer whiz and play board games.
One good thing is that Lisa home schools and Ryan can continue his school work and not have to struggle with walking around.

So it was a strange day but I'm thankful that there wasn't anything more serious and that I was there to help out. This was the first game that I was able to make it to during this traveling team! Nathan being the sweet 9 year old kid that he is called his brother while at the hospital to see if he was alright.

All in the life of busy grandchildren!