At Home With Dad

With the crazy weather ’round here lately, someone or another in our house has been sick for over a month. We seem to pass around the illnesses so that some form of illness was in the house every day for the past month. As a result, homeschooling was difficult. One of the kids would be sick and I’d be tending to them and the others doing what they can, but missing the group reading we use as the backbone of our homeschool. Then, when I got ill things really came to a standstill.

Now we are getting back on track, but we lost a solid 2-3 weeks this past month or so. Ready to get back on the horse and get back on track. <crossing my fingers that no one else gets sick…>

The freedom homeschooling offers our family is incredible.

For example, Jessica Watson, a 16 year old, set sail this past weekend in an effort to become the youngest person ever to sail solo and unassisted around the world. As a result, our family has a new subject in our homeschooling – following Jessica. Setting this record has drawn a fair amount of controversy due to her age. As a family we’ll get to discuss this issue. We’ll also hit on the other side of the coin – you can do anything you set your mind to.

As we see it – the freedom homeschooling allows creates endless opportunities for our children. They too like Jessica can accomplish anything they set their mind to. While I’m not sure any of them desire to sail alone around the world, they might… Or, they might choose to accomplish something even greater.

If you wish, you can follow Jessica with us. She is blogging about her experience here: Jessica Watson. Should be an interesting journey.

While not entirely true, this video resonates on several notes…

Yep… You read correctly. Yesterday, iTunes suggested I might enjoy NWA (Nigg**s With Attitude – one of the original gangster rap groups) and that goofy little computer program was right. I used to love listening to NWA back in the day when my pants were a little baggier and most of my clothes were black.

So, I picked up some of my old favorites: Straight Outta Compton, Gangster Gangster, and Dopeman.  Of course, I bought the clean lyric versions and they are totally different songs. About 50% of the lyrics are changed due to profanity. LOL.

So, the kids and I were rocking out with NWA while doing our math yesterday afternoon. The kids enjoyed the music and are eager to start slinging ‘rock’ or ‘cain’. Maybe that can be the lesson tomorrow. Or, at least, be a good way to teach them math… If you sell an 8 ball of cocaine a dime at a time… Ok, maybe not.

Still funny though how our lives change… These guys were the white kids glimpse into ‘the hood’ back in the day. All my friends listened to The Smiths, The Cure, and, of course, NWA. Go figure. But, we all wanted to be cool-like-that.

With passing of time, it is hard to listen to Eazy-E rap about his sexual exploits knowing that in just a few short years he would die of AIDS. I guess he wasn’t invincible. Interesting to hear their gang exploits & bravado -  whether real or not – and watch the violence accelerate in the gangster rap scene to a point where folks started dropping like flies there for awhile.

I’ve always wondered if the whole “scene” was just a fabrication for white kids living comfortably in their suburban homes to feel ‘real’ life and work out some anger issues. Maybe that was the way things were day to day for the members of NWA, who knows? But, I do know that from them spawned a whole movement in music and culture. One that resulted in the deaths of many of the participants. Whether real or not, the gangster rappers all were impacted by the drama they created. Some grew wealthy. But, many died. And, I’m pretty sure that most of the white kids that bought the CDs just went to college and moved on with their lives.

To be honest, I’m not real sure what to make of it all in retrospect, but I’m sure my kids will be listening to something similar in their teen years. Something angry. Gritty. Supposedly ‘real’. Makes me wonder if the results will be the same in the end. I guess we’ll see…

Many of the local private schools have already started their school year. The local public schools start Monday… Life is good.

No more waiting in line at the Zoo & World Aquarium, which morph from crowded, congested activities into wide open, free parks for the kids to enjoy. With the public school kiddos safely nestled into their desks, we get to explore the local amenities unencumbered. Free at last… Free at last… Thank God, we’re free at last!

One of joys of homeschooling for our family is being able to go to local zoos, museums, and other kid activities without there being a million other kids there. We are able take our time through the exhibits and really soak up the available information. We love it!

You’d think being a homeschooling family there would be days when nothing happens, but it just isn’t so. For the past several years there is always somewhere to go and/or something to do. Even last week when we were stuck at home waiting for plumbers, electricians, and pool repairmen, I was just watching the clock and complaining about what I  COULD be doing.

Then there was yesterday… We did nothing. That’s right, nothing!

I’ve just been worn out the last couple of weeks and wanted to just turn on the TV and hang out. And, that is precisely what we did.

We watched some great shows by the way as well. First, we watched I.O.U.S.A. a documentary about the national debt and the importance of personal fiscal responsibility. Really a great movie. I asked Tony when it was over what it was about and he replied we need to save more money instead of spend it. Check… He got it.

Next up was A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash, a documentary about the use of oil around the world. Faith was out on this one, but Tony stuck with it. He was interested in it, but I’m not sure he got this one. Pretty interesting stuff though.

We broke the couch-fest for a little lunch at this point and I almost gave up on the whole idea of being lazy. But, we pressed on. Raising Cain was up next about the psychology of boys. Another interesting movie about the emotional needs of boys – even teenage boys.

Last, but not least, was New York: Episode 1 about how New York City was started and developed over the years. As someone who loves that city, I was thoroughly impressed with the movie. NYC just has so much to offer.  If we could afford to live in anything larger than a small closet there we’d probably move there in a heartbeat. Although the small closet would probably be more than enough room for the six of us…

Yep… A whole day of nothing but couch time with a gentle mix of napping by all parties involved. A day of nothing. While I’m not looking to make a habit of it or anything, it sure was nice to just hang out for a change. I can get so caught up in the planning of our days and constant running around attending the needs of the house and the plethora of kid activities. From early in the morning until the evening, I feel like each day is filled with something to do. When there isn’t something specific to do, I find myself feeling like I should be doing – which isn’t very relaxing either.

But, yesterday I found it… Nothing. And it was wonderful.

I have a problem…

It can be debilitating at times…

This problem keeps me up late some nights…

See, a couple of the kiddos are in a lying phase of life. While all the books say this is just a normal part of the growth process, I instead only see the offense leading towards some type of future jail time.

I know. I know. It is crazy.

But, really, my mind begins to venture down a long and tawdry road that ultimately ends with me pushing my children a letter under a glass window from their wives/children/mother/etc. as they waste away in jail. It is all very rational, I know.

Maybe it is the history involved with my kids. Maybe it is just a fear that nature will ultimately win over nurture in their lives. Maybe I just really need to take a vacation. Who knows?

But, any way you look at it, I hate the lying. When I was a kid, lying brought a pretty severe penalty so I’m sure that plays into my psyche as well. Couple my background with the fact that  most of the biological contributions for my children have spent a fair amount of time in jail and I’ve got a real issue. I’ve started looking in the yellow pages for a good bail bondsman. One or two look like nice guys and seem to respond at any time of night, which I think would be a real asset. I’ve written down their phone numbers.

Hopefully, the kids will pass through this phase and move on to more respectable habits soon. Until then, I’ll just keep these two phone numbers handy. It can’t hurt to keep them here in my nightstand. Just in case…

Tomorrow (Thursday), Tony starts guitar lessons. He is so excited he can barely stand it. He has always enjoyed his guitar, so we figured it was finally time to take that next step with it.

This weekend we picked up a junior sized guitar for him for lessons, which replaces his Toys R Us guitar. He would sleep with it if we let him.

Wow! That pretty sums up camping this past weekend. Simply incredible.

One of Rachel’s favorite clients from Sewell invited us out to his ranch and off we went. We didn’t have any idea what to expect, but we never could have imagined the ranch that the Mitchells have put together out there. Stocked lakes with bass, catfish, and perch. A private, sandy beach. And, beautiful Texas hill country. Faith, Tony, and Mama caught fish. Everyone rode their bikes all over the property. I even found three feral hogs that I thought might make a meal of me.

Ten xXx Ranch had full RV set-ups for us next to their prized cattle barn. Faith and Tony pitched their tent and loved every minute of it. Faith jumped off a 20 feet bridge with mama.

The weekend was perfect.

The kids are reading like fiends around here. The three older ones are fascinated with letters and words everywhere we go. Faith is reading well above her grade level and Nicole is right there with her already. Tony is making some great strides and starting to really get a hang of the whole idea.

The past year for him has been a challenge in the reading department, but he is really getting the hang of it now.

While Faith was the first to really get the idea of reading, Nicole has very quickly caught up with her.

Even Dylan is fascinated with reading, he loudly screams the alphabet most days and is always wanting to read another book.

As an English major and former English teacher, I’m just pleased as punch! Watching these kiddos learning each day is a blast. I thoroughly enjoy being a part of this aspect of their life. Being a part of helping them make these breakthroughs is priceless.