Big Sisters

Eva, clad in wedding dress, feeds Sam M&Ms by spoon at a little desk.

Do We Homeschool in the Summer?

Yep.

I don’t want them to forget everything they learned all year, so we keep up a light schedule in the summer. What else are we doing on summer mornings anyway? The pool doesn’t open til noon!

There’s no reason they can’t do a couple of pages of English and a couple of pages of Math every day with other subjects thrown in every now and then.

Also, summer is a great time for tons of field trips to nature centers, natural history museums, zoos, pet stores, children’s museums, parks and so much more. Kansas City is an amazing place to homeschool.

Regular school suggests kids do a workbook over the summer to keep up their skills, but how many people do you know who actually do that, especially if the kids are in day camp, daycare, at the sitter, etc.?

Shoveling Snow as Men’s Work?!

Who said shoveling snow was men’s work?

I love to shovel snow in my butt-kicking Land’s End boots, red coat, gloves and earmuffs.

I just can’t get away from Sam for more than a few minutes to do it. When he realizes I’m outside he starts to cry.

I love the exercise. I love helping my husband. I’m 5 years younger and not with a bad back, after all. I love the solitude.

But you don’t see too many women out shoveling snow. How come?

I also love to mow the lawn. With my youngest in a sling. With headphones on and music blasting, my tennis shoes turning green.

But ask my parents … I didn’t always love to do these things. When I was a teenager it was probably pretty hard to get me to get up and do much of anything. Hey, I was a teenager. I was using my energy to grow, right?

As for Aron ... it’s like you wind him up and he won’t stop shoveling. Then his back is killing him for days.