Friday, December 31, 2010

Why Buy Play Food...

when you can buy Play Doh? After being home for a few days during Christmas vacation, my daughter got into her play kitchen again. She was really wanting to "make" food and she didn't have all the food she wanted to serve. Like eggs. Or certain veggies. So on Christmas Eve I decided to stop by the local "crap" store to see if they had anything that would work. (I call it that because everything you buy there will break eventually. Like a little Walmart :) They had a cheap basket of really sad looking plastic food that didn't fit the bill. And then I got an ingenius idea...PLAY DOH! Heck, with Play Doh you can make anything you want, again and again. And Christmas day, that's exactly what she did. Below you can see my egg, sausage and hashbrown breakfast; pizza, asparagus (and some "others"); and of course Lucky Charms. She had a great time in her kitchen seeing what she could come up with. The funny thing is, my mom has pictures of my sister and I when we were little, and my dad and mom eating our Play Doh concoctions. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner!

P.S. Check manufacturing location on your Play Doh labels if you don't want to buy products from China. Make your own if you know how...this is something I've not done well with!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Bringing My Kids Back Home

Last spring, I enrolled my children in school for the first time. They entered 2nd and 3rd grade, and really liked being at school. But we are halfway into this school year, and the honeymoon period is over. They are both ready to be home and tell me often that they want to homeschool again. I don't blame them. They have great teachers, so I guess it could be worse. I've been around long enough to know that there are some bad teachers out there. But slowly, all the reasons I was against schooling have come to fruition.
My biggest complaint is the wasted time. This is no one's fault, but inherent in trying to meet the needs of a large group of children. There are things that bore my children to death because they are not being challenged. And then there are times that they need more help, in math, for instance, because there are things that were not covered from one curriculum to the next.
The other thing that bothers me, like most parents, is the amount of "knowledge" that other kids share. Now, where this "knowledge" comes from is a mystery to me, but if you hang out long enough where we live, you will notice the way parents talk in front of their kids. The language is filthy, using every curse word you can imagine, as if it is a normal part of everyday conversation. So if parents aren't careful about language in front of their kids, what else are they exposing them to?!
We are planning on moving soon, as soon as we can get our house sold. I'm hoping after the move we will be able to pick back up on homeschooling, but I know that things will be tight. I am a single mom, receiving no child support. My home business almost covers expenses, so I will have to build on that and hope that there is enough. This is very important to me, not only because I want my kids to receive the best education possible, but also because it will provide them more free time to work on the things that they really love. My daughter loves dancing, art, gymnastics, singing, and wants to try acting. My son loves playing sports and Taikwondo. When they are in school all day, their free time is very limited. It just doesn't work for us.
So I'm committed to finding a way to allow my children to stay at home. They are worth it, and I know deep down it is the best thing for them and for our family.