Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!

I am currently holed up in a hotel away from three of my four kids and watching endless re-runs of House Hunter International. It's making me consider becoming an ex-pat.

Anyway, I thought what better way to start out the new year than by looking back on the last. We have ended our first semester of home-schooling and are about to embark on our second. So now it's time to evaluate the experience thus far and what better way to accomplish that then a top-ten list?

How about TWO top-ten lists? Yay!

Ten Great Things About Homeschool:

1. Art

2. Music - I can't emphasize how happy I am that they are able to take both art and music. Aiden practices his guitar, willingly, almost everyday and Sean's violin playing is about the cutest thing I have ever heard.

3. Physical Activity - not just your mother's PE class either - the boys are taking and loving Tae Kwon Do class twice a week through our homeschool program. They also played soccer last season and will start swimming again in April. All this counts as instruction time.

4. Vacation - we have the flexibility to go when and where we want. There is nothing better than a vacation during off-season. I have gotten spoiled

5. More field trips

6. No HOMEWORK - this is a big, big pro.

7. More free time

8. The ability to spend more time on subjects my kids like

9. The ability to spend more time on subjects where my kids need improvement

10a. Re-learning all the things I have forgotten and improving myself along the way.

10b. Learning all the cool stuff my kids are learning


And the Cons...

Ten (not so) Surprising Things That Are Less Great

1. Having all the kids all day

2. Having all the kids all day - it's really, really hard.

3. No cute art projects/surprise gifts. It seems like such a little thing, but I loved those handmade crafts my kids brought home from school. The cardboard framed Christmas ornaments, the potted hand shaped cut-outs, the frosted candle holder, painted birdhouses, framed handprints... well you get the idea. I could still get these things but they wouldn't be a surprise and, in fact, would involve a lot of work. I'd have to plan, gather the supplies, wrangle the participants, ect... And, let's face it, I don't craft well with my kids. I have a vision of how said project should look and it's very hard for me to let the craft develop as they, and not I, see it.

4. Isolation - not the for the kids, for me. The boys are doing really well. They have a playground park day every Friday and classes Monday - Thursday. In fact Aiden has already been invited to four parties this year which is approxamately four more parties than he went to last year. I am the problem. I'm feeling a little out of the loop. I'm hoping it gets better this semester.

5. I have to teach math but this has a plus side too - see #10 above

6. By the time Thursday rolls around I am really very tired which is why we usually spend Friday's doing something fun - see #5 above

7. I had something else less great but I seem to have forgotten what it was.

8. Constantly questioning whether or not I'm doing the right thing.

9. Not really having any way of measuring what the kids are or are not learning. The homeschool does participate in state testing at the end of each year but I wish I had something to use mid-year. I'd hate to find out that Aiden is testing at a first grade level at the end of third. I think we are doing okay but it would be nice to know for sure.

10. Having to keep myself organized and keep track of the way we spend our time every day. I have planners for this but it doesn't make it any easier as the planners don't fill themselves in. :(

All about me.

Yes. It's all about me - for the next 20 minutes anyway. So, if you aren't interested in reading my diatribe feel free to skip down to the bottom where if you are lucky I will post a recent picture of Malcolm - just don't tell me about it as I might think you rude and not want to be your friend anymore. I can do this because, even at 37, I am hopelessly immature and juvenile. :)

I turned 37 yesterday. There is something special about having a birthday right before the new year. I hated it as a kid - there is nothing worse than having a birthday between December 21st and January 5th as a child. Gifts wrapped in Christmas paper, the Christmas/Birthday combo gift, the forgotten gift, the second best because they were out of stock gift, and the sorry, I am totally broke gift. But I'm not bitter. Not at all. Now I kind of like the forgotten birthday because I can perpetually be 28. It was a REALLY good year.

I am having a bit of a hard time with this birthday because even though it is not a "milestone" - not like 16, 18, 21, or 30 - it does mark the downhill slide toward 40. Now I definitely have to round up. I am absolutely in my "late thrities". I am even in a different demographic - goodbye t0 the 25-35 age group. Accordingly I have started to find grey hairs and wrinkles. Of course I am also finding acne which is just not right. One should never have to worry about wrinkles, grey hair, and acne at the same time. Come on!

It's not just about rounding up to 40. I'm also experiencing a number of other things that signal the end of youth. I know I'm not old but I just don't qualify as "young" anymore. We've decided not to have any more children. I don't necessarily want any more kids but for some reason I am have difficulty dealing with the end of my childbearing years. I am also realizing that many of the things that I have always wanted to do will probably never come to pass. For example: I will never be on the Olympic Women's soccer team, a world class figure skater (no, I never took lessons but that's beside the point), backpacking through Europe, going into the Peace Corps, and living in South America. I could go on but I won't - you get the idea. Now some of these things don't even sound so good anymore - I think I have lost any desire to stay in a youth hostel and a new eyebrow ring wouldn't look quite so cool... Or would it? I also know that I could still do some of these things but I feel I'm running out of time.

On the upside, according to my hubby, having a mid-life crisis at 37 means I will live to be at least 74. Get it? Mid-life crisis? Ha! So I have another 37 years left. Hopefully I'll be able to move for all of them. Fortunately I believe that my life is what I make it and that wonderful opportunites can pop up anytime - I just have to keep my mind and heart open.

I have been so blessed thus far - a beautiful family, a loving husband, great freinds, good health, and LOTS of unexpected adventures. So thank you to all the good folks who have been around for my first 37 years - I hope you'll stick around for some more. As for now, I'm not crossing anything off the list. After all - I'm sure there will be women's soccer team in the Senior Olympics when I'm ready.