Home School Life

I have had so many reminders lately of the importance of maintaining equanimity in my life.
All my life I have tended to live with an abundance of sympathy. I have a very easy time understanding the perspective of another person, and though this seems like it might be a wonderful skill, at times it has been difficult [...]

So, that generous gift from my mother is still sitting in my purse, waiting to be spent on a new camera . . . or something.
Last Friday I spent a good hour at the local electronics warehouse store playing with cameras. I walked away with the following conclusions:

I can’t afford a dSLR.
Even if I had [...]

 It’s 6:30am and I’m sitting in my living room, the dog at my feet, the cool glow of the computer screen the only light in the room. Children are sleeping, the house is still warming up, I’m still in glasses and pajamas. I always forget how delicious early mornings are.
Feeling a little under the weather I [...]

Today Alice had day one of her three day visit at school. All new students go through this formal process of visiting the class, the parents interview with the teacher and then a decision is made as to enrollment. I was somewhat surprised that the school wanted Alice to go through this process — we [...]

For the past week or so I’ve been feeling a bit low. It just feels like there hasn’t been much life in my life lately. I think it’s partly a let-down from not being in the classroom full-time this year. There is nothing like the life and energy created by a classroom of students and their teacher exploring exciting [...]

At the moment, Alice is upstairs crying herself to sleep. And I’m downstairs on the computer, hard as it is, listening to her – not going to comfort her.
Alice wears glasses . . . most of the time. These glasses, and their whereabouts, have been an ever-present source of struggle. They’ve spent months lost under the bed, [...]

Well, my birthday was very happy indeed. It was one of those days when everything seemed to go right. Stoplights turned green as I approached; the birds sang when I woke up; even the rain let up for my 45 minute walk with Lula.
Today made me feel so grateful to be a part of a [...]

They’ve been a very full 38 years, and I wouldn’t trade a single one of them for anything.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Can I buy myself a camera for my birthday? Please?

My little girl is eleven today. The picture above is one of my favorites, somewhere between 18 months and 2 years, in all of her big brother hand-me-down glory. Below is something a little more recent.
 

Looking at these two pictures I can’t tell but compare who my daughter was then and who she is now. [...]

Day before yesterday the b-word was thrown my direction by my 14-year-old son. I was shocked. Horrified. Stunned. But most of all, hurt. Where did my parenting go wrong? Where is that sweet little boy who used to snuggle and nurse for hours on end (thank you to Amanda’s post today for reminding me of [...]