This week, in an effort to get myself out of my rut, we actually left the house Tuesday and went to the year-end picnic at the park with our bigger homeschool group.
In Alabama, you don't really homeschool, you are a satellite of a church school that is also your legal covering-these vary widely. Then there are the regional and local support groups for field trips and making friends and for us there's 'our' homeschool group, which is to say the roamschool group of families that make up 95% of the people we do anything with, ever.
The park day was mostly roamschoolers and we all ended up at Heather's afterward to swim.
Afterward, we came home with Brit and Austin and I dropped the boys off and the girls and I went to get groceries. Matt had practice.
The kids stayed up until around 3 and were back up before 8. I had planned to go to the library today, but 3 tired kids is not my idea of fun hang-out buddies when I am in the mood to cruise the stacks for an hour or so. I want some skeery books for the camping trip!
So, we came home and finished loading the camper and I made menus and packed food and made shopping lists for everything else I need to pick up. I always bring SO much food, I overpack in every area, really. I thought I would be more sensible by now, but I don't seem to really have that...gene.
Jake rode with me while I ran local errands today-Mr. Holmes, post office and so forth. Mr. Holmes let me write my check for a dollar over so we could buy drinks. hahaha! He's such a great guy, I really hope he gets good news Monday about his broken hip. Well, it's mended, but he needs therapy now. We are hoping that he will get the news that he's healed enough to start walking on it again.
Jake and I were talking-first about how I can belch and he's horrified because he can't and he made me promise to never do it in front of his friends so they would not know of his inability. Poor kid. I only recently learned myself and can only do it if I chug a cold soda, otherwise, nothing.
Once past that little exchange, he talked a while about how kids in groups always have to have an adult with them. Field trips, backstage, in dugouts and dozens of other places where you'd think they could just hang out and do their own thing and not need to be herded and managed.
I told him I thought it was a mainly public school issue, safety being first, but that kids are just accustomed to being told what to do ALL the time and they can't really function without threat or bribe or reward. I remember if the teacher ever left the classroom, we would go nuts-the longer she was gone, the more rowdy we all got.
I wonder about that now. If we had not been kept under such rigid control with rules and schedules and time-dependent activities, would we have been nuts when left alone? I don't really have any way to compare, when homeschoolers are together in groups, there are moms everywhere and the occasional dad as well. It's easy to say it's public school mentality 'cat's away, mice will play' sort of thing, but it's just a theory.
The only other bit of news I have this week is that Matt has a new top boss and it seems like the new guy is planning some changes that will improve the company as well as our personal lives. The change I am most excited about is the shift to a 4-day work week over a period of time. That will save us...$420 a year in gas alone, plus around $240 in lunches and an oil change's worth of engine wear-so in the neighborhood of $700 a year and it gives him a day to schedule appointments without having to take off work and 3 day weekends every single week. That would be SO good plus I think we would be healthier-think of all the hiking and camping we would be able to do! I hope it works out that way!
