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.

Resentment Toward Your Spouse

I’d been feeling a little resentful toward Aron. It seemed like the more kids we had, the less he helped out with the boring stuff like laundry and dishes.

Sure, he does outside stuff and takes care of the cars and fixes things as they break (which is quite the job, let me tell you).

But I was feeling ungrateful and like I was doing more than my share with cooking, cleaning, homeschooling, errands, and so on.

Then I started typing up old DayRunner pages from before we were even married and from when we were first married. I want to have everything in one place as far as journaling goes for when I start scrapbooking, plus then I recycle the pages, so that’s less junk in my house!

Anyway, DANG! I sure took a lot of naps in those days before I had kids (it’s a wonder he’d want to marry such a sloth!).

And Aron cooked for me all the time.

And he was there for me when my parents were divorcing (that was a lot of tears on my part).

And he never complained about my dad hanging out with us all the time (he actually enjoyed it, as did I).

And he called my mom on her birthday and helped my dad paint his house.

And he was supportive about me finishing my little ole 2-year juco degree.

And when he was laid off from his job, he went on unemployment for a while, but he worked as a cook to supplement and did not take the full unemployment payment. (who does that these days?!)

And he saved his travel food allowance so he could buy me an engagement/wedding ring.

And he doesn’t say one word about the fact that my fingers are currently too thick to wear that ring. That is priceless to me.

When things are so different and always changing after 15 plus years with someone, it’s nice to be reminded of why you are with someone in the first place.

Now I think I’ll go do something I’ve NEVER done … I’ll bunch his socks together in sets so it’s easier for him to get ready for work and I’ll maybe even go crazy and fold his underwear.

Last-Minute Field Trip to Crown Center in KCMO

* couldn't get the underline function to turn off, dangit.

Whenever Jordan is out of school we like to get the heck out of Dodge.

She had off February 11, so we loaded up and made the arduous, 15-minute trip to Crown Center. Actually, it took a lot longer than that because we stopped at Sonic first (we had coupons and I’d just cashed a whopping $27 writing check!)

Then I took the long way there, via SM Parkway (my old ‘hood was Roeland Park), Ward Parkway, then into the Plaza and down Main Street. Sorry, Overland Park, but things are just more “alive” and energetic toward the heart of the city.

(Overland Park is my wife, but Westport, the Plaza, Crown Center and Downtown are my mistresses.)

As we approached the “Eifely Tower” (pronounced I-full-ee), which is the KCPT tower, we had to pull up near it for photos because Callie thinks it’s the real Eifel Tower. Maybe with my next $27 writing check I’ll fly us all to Paris.

We drove around Union Hill to check out the cool houses (most of them for sale … one can be my summer home), then to Crown Center, where we built our muscles dragging the double stroller up and down stairs from the parking lot to get to the elevators.

First stop: Chip’s Chocolate Factory. I spent way too much on various kinds of bark for the kids. Jordan and I gained weight just watching the kids eat it.

And yes, that was me taking the double stroller down the escalator. Some woman asks me, “Are you sure you don’t want to take the elevator?” I said, “Look, lady, I have to keep my family of 16 together. I can’t take the elevator because my other kids are down THERE already.” Sigh. Such are the problems of mine, looking like a teenager and all that. I get all kinds of unsolicited advice.

Next stop: Under the Sea exhibit at the end of the lower level. Photos below, need I say more? Crazy fun. May I suggest a nice leash for your child at this exhibit so he doesn’t get lost? They should rent leashes at the dang door because they leave the doors wide open and kids escape all the time.

Next stop: Shoot, what’s it called? The hotel that’s connected to Crown Center. We like to ride the glass elevator up and down until we puke. Great view of the city. After that, against my better judgment, I let the kids ride the escalators at the hotel whilst annoying many a businessman. I looked at them and said, “You were a kid once too, Mister, and you’re just jealous you’re working and not riding the escalator, too.”

I must stop here to both blame and thank my parents for my smart mouth. I learned from the best!

We took the long way home (excellent SuperTramp song, by the way) so Jordan could get some schoolin’ of the city … Downtown, specifically.

We love you, Kansas City! You are an awesome place to homeschool for sure.