Good Vibrations

We've had a wonderful few weeks. My mother came into town, my girls started Girl Scouts, and our unschooler group went on our Not Back to School camping trip to Warren Dunes in Sawyer, Michigan. The passing of these events have marked the end of Summer for us. There's really no denying it as I watch the leaves fall in the backyard. But that's okay. There's something cozy about Fall. We had a lovely storm ring in the new season this morning. A nice day to sit, play card games, and drink hot peppermint tea.

I've realized these few weeks that we needed to deschool more than I'd originally thought. We remained so busy all Summer that once it came down to thinking about "schoolish" things again, I found I just couldn't gather my thoughts. Some wonderful friends gave me good advice to just take it slow, and spend one on one time with each child every day. So that's our starting point. I did get our Life of Fred Butterflies book out today to read with the two oldest kids, and that was about as schoolish as we got. But it's a start.  I'm not in a hurry.  In fact, in my lack of structure lately, my kids have spent plenty of time playing video games, but something was even birthed from that for my son.  He began telling his dad and I tonight about a comic book series he wants to begin writing.  The wheels are already turning for him.

I think the best part about this time is observing and taking note of the blessings that come with this lifestyle.  My son is so happy.  He smiles all the time now.  I had wondered at one point if he would ever be a happy child, and now he is.  Life doesn't have to be so complicated.  There's no race to any imagined finish line.  We're all here in this together, and there is space for peace and growth.

And I am growing.  There are so many things I thought I'd never be able to accomplish since having kids because in my mind there were just too many things we had to get done.  But nothing is so pressing now that I don't have room to pursue my interests too.  On my "Bucket List", so to speak, for a long time had been learning to crochet, to sew, play guitar, and get healthy.  Last Spring I taught myself to crochet, last week my neighbor, some friends and I started making strides toward the goal of getting healthy (hopefully resulting in an unschooling 5K team in the coming months), and tonight I began learning to play my grandfather's guitar.  I've started all of these things before. Now I'm able to actually follow through.

Living this lifestyle is a breath of fresh air.  It may seem directionless to some, but it's actually a wide open field with many paths that overlap.  It's a very happy time for my kids and me.  I'm so thankful that we decided to jump in with both feet.

Summertime

What a crazy fast, whirlwind summer we've had!  I really don't know how it's September already.  We played hard, took a couple of vacations out of state, and found some fun local stuff to do too.

Vacationing with small kids can be hard.  Much of is it just plain work.  But today I finally unloaded all of our pictures and was delighted to see that amidst all the craziness, we really did have a lot of fun!

We started with a trip to Chicago.  We got killer deals on City Passes, and being always on the lookout for educational experiences, I decided the most logical idea was to cram four museums into three days. Ha!  Sounds nuts, but we had great fun during the day.  Nights, not so much, but that's what we get for sharing a single room with four children.  (Never again!)  We visited the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, and Museum of Science and Industry.  We are incredibly blessed to live so close to such amazing places!

But we live even nearer to some other places of interest.  The Studebaker Museum is basically in our backyard.  We were invited to go with some new friends one day a couple of weeks ago, and had a great time absorbing some local history.  We even got to see the car from The Muppet Movie!

Finally we just got back from Cedar Point.  This is totally my husband's thing.  He is a bona fide, self-proclaimed roller coaster geek.  Every year we go, and every year I walk around in circles ruing the day we bought those darned tickets.  But even in my misery, the kids so enjoy their over-priced carnival rides, so as a mother you just grin and bear it, right?

What's neat about Cedar Point that even appeals to me is their Dinosaurs Alive! exhibit.  Very cool and humbling to see life-sized dinos up close and personal.  I loved that Punk got to see what Sue from Field Museum would have looked like!

What I love more than anything, though, is the little learning moments here and there that aren't scheduled.  Boo loves to touch and smell everything she comes into contact with. Her curiosity is precious.  Coming out of a toll road rest stop she just had to stop and feel a pillar.  We took just a few minutes and compared the feel of the bricks, mortar, cement, and caulk.  While leaving the hotel one day we observed a katydid climbing the wall.  On the path to see the dinosaurs she stopped to touch a grasshopper.  Little moments that mean a lot.  Perhaps those brief memories will live on in her mind.  Who knows what memories will stick?

Another impromptu lesson was Dude asking to use my camera at the park.  There are no automatic settings on my "good camera".  It's all manual.  So I showed him how to use it as well as I could in the short time we had while his sisters and brothers were on a ride.  I set the ISO and aperture for him, and he set to figuring out the shutter speed.  After a few tries, he didn't do too shabby!

All in all, great times were had.  Memories were made.  We invested time in one another.  And the fun in the sun isn't over yet!  Monday is my birthday (yay!), Thursday is Punk's birthday (whaaah!) and in a week and a half we'll go camping with our unchooling friends.  The latter promises to provide some good photo ops as most of us are inexperienced campers!  Ha!  Until next time...

School's Out (Forever)

So, I'm sure you've all noticed this annoying trend with stores where seasonal items seem to be stocked 4...5...6 months in advance.  Last week a girlfriend of mine was looking for swimming gear for her children and was unable to locate what she needed at Walmart, the place that has everything (for three cents less than their competitors).  Here it is, still July, and I've even seen some Christmas items on the shelves in some places! But there's similar trend I'm noticing.  Perhaps I notice it more now that we've decided to unschool, but it strikes me just the same.  Many of my friends seem to have written off the rest of summer, and for good reason!  For those in traditional schools, some of their kids only have a week or two left before they have to go back, and some have even started!

At the risk of aging myself...(insert old fogey voice)...when I was a kid we had until the end of August before we had to go back.  And before my time it was after Labor Day!  What is the rush?!  (This is obviously a rhetorical question, as my traditionally schooling friends don't have control over the decisions of the powers that be in their district.)  Kids now have Spring Break while there's snow on the ground, and get out of school while it's still cool.  It feels like they are being robbed of time they could be enjoying in the sun.  And during those precious few weeks, there are constant reminders everywhere, in every commercial break, in every store, that school will be back in session in no time!   There are commercials where the parents just can't wait to get rid of their kids for 9 1/2 months.  Maybe some parents feel that way, but I know most of my friends don't, and their kids certainly don't feel it's the happiest time of year either.  It gives me anxiety remembering how I felt as a child, dreading that first day and counting down how many more days of freedom I had.

I'm not sure why this bothers *me* so much.  I'm not bound by the traditional school year.  In fact, our unschooling group will be having a "Not Back to School" camping trip in September...when it's still summer.  I think it bothers me because it makes my mind drift further ahead than I care for it to drift.  It makes me feel rushed. Why can't we live in the present?  It's like people who take their Christmas tree down December 26th when there are still 10 more days of Christmas to celebrate.  I guess it's just sort of a buzzkill.  Do I have to follow what they do?  Of course not!  But it is still a downer to hear about it.

As the matriarch of our family, I'm vowing to take summer back!  And Christmas!  And whatever else we want to hang onto a little longer.  Summer in our family will last until the leaves fall off the trees, and we won't celebrate the next season until it is actually upon us.  We will get to that next step in due time.  No need to rush it, because before we know it, we'll be longing to have these days back.  Who's with me?!  Those of you who have kids in school, you can join me too!  Just because you're on someone else's schedule Monday through Friday doesn't mean you have to settle in to the routine.  You are still in charge of your weekends.  TO SUMMER!