Anti-Television People; TV is BAD!!!

I was reading this book by a homeschooling mom of 9. The book has a lot of good tips and I'll "review" it later, but one thing that annoyed me is that she sets this standard of hardly any TV watching in her house. My husband would gladly give our TV away in a second (although what, my love, would you watch the Netflix movies on besids my laptop?).

Anyway, the mom said something about unwinding OTHER ways, like by reading or playing a game or ... I don't remember what else. I want to defend television by saying that sometimes it is the BEST way to unwind for some people. Think about it. There is no interaction or thinking usually. You just watch something mindless and you get to RELAX YOUR BRAIN.

Lady, I don't WANT my brain "on" all the time. If I'm sick or overwhelmed or find myself suddenly alone in my house (rare!), I like to have the TV on to just chill.

Do we watch too much TV at my house? Sure. But I have to say a good half of it is PBS educational stuff that's on while Sam is nursing and sleeping on me. It's our "quiet time." What's the difference between them watching that and other homeschoolers sticking their kid in front of a Bob Jones University DVD for hours while they "do school"?????

When the TV is on, they are occupied and quiet. A cousin of Aron's once called it the TV-sitter. I admire you if you have no television, but I can't do it. We only have one TV and are certainly not fanatics, but it is nice every once in a while to zone out, no?

How to Grow Pumpkins in Your Backyard

When Aron and I were first dating and he was traveling, he got me a sweet children's book called "The Pumpkin Blanket."

Last year Joel tossed some pumpkin seeds and gunk into our garden as composting, then this year Aron located what looked like some pumpkin vines. He transplanted them to the end of the garden so they wouldn't kill our tomatoes, beans, carrots and beets, and they are TAKING OVER the garden, climbing OUT OF the garden and resting on our air conditioner.

I can't wait to see how many actual good pumpkins we get out of this "crop." I wonder if my kids will cover them with blankets if they get cold come October. Anyone for pumpkin pie? I'll mail you a piece!

School Supply List Stupidity, A Shout Out to All Teachers, BACK TO SCHOOL TODAY

Okay, so I know someone who is putting her kid in school this year who would rather homeschool, but her man is anti. So she was discussing a couple of issues with me, and after talking to her about these things I realize that the school system in general is better off WITHOUT me as a school mom because I am so argumentative and logical about stuff that the SYSTEM would drive me insane. My skin is too thin on issues of general waste and stupidity! Here are a couple of her issues. Add your own to the Comments section!

1. Her son's class needs like 16 plastic folders because "they get beaten up each quarter" and they want to have a fresh set each quarter. This is kindergarten, folks. We are starting them out learning that plastic folders can just be tossed like it's no big deal. Office Depot has a sale right now that has PAPER pocket folders for ONE PENNY each. There is a limit of 10, but who says you can't send each member of your family in separately to buy them? When they get beaten up, you RECYCLE THEM. Novel idea for a school, I suppose.
2. Hand sanitizer is on all the school supply lists these days, as well. My friend says she isn't buying that because she doesn't want her kids using it. When do they use it, I wonder? After using the bathroom, you wash your hands. I get needing baby wipes for easy cleanup, but are we going to Purell the kids upon entering class every day and when returning from recess or what? Haven't these educators read about how we are killing too much bacteria with these sanitizers and are getting sicker in the process? We are bringing upon the opposite effect of what we want to happen.
3. I am sympathetic to teachers, believe me. I understand that they are often at the mercy of the principal, or the school board or other administrators who are so out of touch and clueless that is laughable. So teachers, I love ya, and I feel for ya. You are doing what you are told. You don't always want to teach this way. This isn't what you had in mind when you were in college. You might even want a less anal-retentive and repetitive way of running your classroom, but you are stuck. You need this job and you love teaching kids. And let's not forget how hard it is to teach 25 kids of roughly the same age who all learn in a different manner and at a different pace. It's a wonder any of us get out knowing anything.
4. School starts TODAY in my 'hood. With THREE WEEKS LEFT at the pools. Why can't we let the kids have like 2 extra weeks of summer? Why can't summer be a full June, July and August anymore? The first few months of school are mostly review anyway! Can't we find a way to combine the pool and learning, like paint ABCs and math facts on the bottom of the pool? Those who don't go swimming could do a few worksheets to refresh their memory before school started again in SEPTEMBER.

I'm just saying!

Hermit Crabs are the Perfect Pet!

Our daughtersitter Jordan got Joel 2 hermit crabs for his birthday in June, and they are such a cool homeschool pet! One is Herman and the other is Ashley. They can be lazy or quite active. They don't really pinch, but crawl around on you. They can be fast! They can also cost a lot of cabbage (money, for those of you who don't watch Rescue Me).

You need a fiberglass cage with a top, a special lamp, dishes, stuff for them to climb on, bigger shells for them to grow into, guages and water bottle with sprayer and special saltwater and special food and special sand and special mulchy stuff.

Sorry this looks cloudy ... Joel had just sprayed the inside to make it tropical-ish.

The bulbs for the lamp break if you bump them into anything. The thing is, they get very hot and you have to take the top off the cage often to water them to keep the humidity levels up. So my kids were busting a $7 bulb like once a week until my husband said, "Let's just use 75-watt bulbs from the hardware store." He's a financial genius because those are like $1.50 for 4 bulbs and they work like a charm. Likewise, you can make your own saltwater for the little guys. Check on Freecycle.org for a free cage, also.

For basic crab care, I love this site because the writer calls the crab home a CRABITAT. Love it!

Mom's Life Video

Aron just sent me the companion for the Dad's Life video I posted recently. It rocks! Check it out!