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!

:>)