Rant, part two

And while I'm ranting...I've about had it with the chicken pox now. It's been long enough in isolation--
There. I feel better.

A bit of a rant

Did you know that NY is one of the least friendly homeschooling states, and one of the most regulated? Did you know our local school district denied the request by two homeschooled seniors to take part in the graduation ceremony? They're not asking for a diploma from the school--just an opportunity to walk the aisle and get the diploma they earned from their parents. How hard would it be to give them their 30 seconds? I know foreign exchange students have taken part in the grad. ceremony. How is this much different? I just don't understand the flat out hostility this school district shows toward homeschoolers. When we ask to do something, they hide behind the regulations. I just want to know why they don't want our participation. We pay our school taxes. We are active in our communities. What harm is there to let a student come play the trumpet in the band, walk the aisle at graduation, or play 3rd base on the softball team? Is it fear of competition? Fear a homeschooled student will take a school attendee's position? The funny thing is, we could enroll our children tomorrow and that competition would be there anyway. We have to report to the school on our progress. The Superintendent has the authority to vouch for the adequacy of our program. We are compelled to be connected to the school system, but shunned from any activities they offer.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Pox Man--

Covered in pink goo--can you see all the pox? I think he's even more covered than Emma was!

The pox

First--I feel like I should apologize for having the same music play over and over forever on this space. Everytime I go to change it, I realize how much I really like it. Really.

So, we are a almost a week deep in pox, and so far the worst case was Emma. Daniel had only a few pox and they are almost all scabbed now. Jon and Matt popped out with pox yesterday--and both of them already have a worse case than Daniel. Matthew has not complained of itching yet--though I've seen him scratching his head--there's a huge pox there. Armed with caladryl, benadryl, and ibuprofen for fevers and sore throats, we're actually doing very well, considering. In fact, this weekend we still managed to plant our vegetable garden and get some cleaning done at Oma's. (They return tomorrow!) Plan for today--pox people to doc for documentation of their pox (in case they ever go to public school), last touches at Oma's, and itch patrol...

Here's Daniel with his one bad pox...the rest were tiny and there were only about 10 of them.

Jon has quite a few more than Daniel--you can just make out one about an inch from the corner of his mouth. He's very itchy...

Emma wins the prize....

she was covered from head to toe....

Matthew refused to be photographed...like any toddler he loves the camera any other time than when you actually want to take a picture of him!

Pickin' up the pace

Ok, so the thing about giving yourself permission to take it slow on one day, is that the pile-up phenomenon is unavoidable. With 7 people living in a house, the clutter can be overwhelming unless you keep on top of it everyday. Which I did not do yesterday. And have done very little of today. I think it's time to call in the troops...as in the 5 people out of those 7 who are doing most of the cluttering.

Takin' it slow

After a day of festivities celebrating a 5 year birthday, and a poor night's sleep due to sweaty, overtired boys needing much attention in the night, I'm moving rather slowly today. And to top it all off, I'm still wrestling with pregnancy exhaustion and nausea, both of which seem amplified by my lack of sleep last night. You would think at 16 weeks I'd be done with nausea--but I'm wondering if I'm feeling my age with this one. Pregnant at 37 is much different than pregnant at 34. You wouldn't think so, though, would you? However, I'm rather enjoying the slow pace today. Most other days it would annoy me...but I've cuddled with the youngest, enjoyed 2 cups of tea (mostly to warm myself up), helped a couple children along with schoolwork, read a couple chapters in a book (College-Prep Homeschooling), done some dishes, and basically just puttered around the house. Giving myself permission to take it slow has been such a relief. Next big thing to conquer--dinner, then early bed for still tired children, and, hopefully, early bed for still tired Mama.

On one shoulder, the figure with horns and tail shouts to me,

"Go ahead and eat whatever you want! You're going to get fat anyway! May as well enjoy it!"

On the other shoulder, the figure with wings and halo shouts,

"Don't do it! You know how hard those pounds are to lose after baby is born!"

Not sure who's going to win the war...but the guy with the horns is winning the battle today!

:>)

Real Pleasures

Andrew is reading The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis, and so I've been stealing the book from time to time to enjoy it again. I've read it twice before, but it's been many years, and it is so much fun to read. It's a "real pleasure" for me to read this book, and just about any book I pick up. I love chapter 13, when Wormwood mistakenly "allows" his patient to read a book he enjoys--just for the sake of enjoyment, and not to impress or make clever remarks to others. And then his patient goes for a walk, through the country, alone, to have tea...and winds up becoming inaccessible because of the cloud of God's presence that surrounds him. His uncle Screwtape admonishes him,

"How can you have failed to see that a real pleasure was the last thing you ought to have let him meet? Didn't you foresee that it would just kill by contrast all the trumpery which you have been so laboriously teaching him to value? And that sort of pleasure which the book and the walk gave him was the most dangerous of all? That it would peel off from his sensibility the kind of crust you have been forming on it, and make him feel that he was coming home, recovering himself? As a preliminary to detaching him from the Enemy, you wanted to detach him from himself, and had made some progress in doing so. Now, all that is undone. Of course, I know that the Enemy also wants to detach men from themselves, but in a different way. Remember always, that He really likes the little vermin, and sets an absurd value on the distinctness of every one of them. When he talks of their losing themselves, He only means abandoning the clamor of self-will; once they have done that, He really gives them back all their personality, and boasts (I am afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more themselves than ever. Hence, while He is delighted to see them sacrificing even their innocent wills to His, He hates to see them drifting away from their own nature for any other reason."

Many times I have felt like I'm coming home, or recovering myself, after partaking in what would be called a "real pleasure". For me, reading a book, visiting a friend, walking the property with my husband, competing on a team sport, traveling and teaching a group of preschoolers are some such pleasures. I wind up feeling closer to God, and more like myself when I've allowed myself time to do these things. It's kind of weird, because these are not spiritual things, but I think it's a key to abundant living--when we are true to who God has made us, wholly His, and walking through life as the "me" He made us to be.