I can't imagine it, really. I am so grateful Paul has a good job and works so hard. It could all be gone in a moment, esp. these days. Last night I volunteered at an emergency homeless shelter that our church supports, and it opened my eyes. We were there to help with the children and give the parents a break. Where I could have seen hopelessness and despair, I found humor, gratefulness and normalcy. Some of these people just lost their jobs as early as a month ago. That could be any one of us. It was emotionally demanding, but I hope to start helping there more often, perhaps with our kids in a couple of years. What a reality check.
Topic #2: School
This is an ongoing thought process for me as we begin the educational journey with our guinea pig, Carmella. Though it's going relatively well, she has recently been talking about how she doesn't have enough time with Paul and me anymore, and it makes her sad. Her words, not mine, though I echo the sentiment. This is out there, I know, but just when did sending our children away to school all day become the right thing to? Is a 6-year-old really meant to sit behind a desk for 5-6 hours a day "learning?" I feel like I am questioning everything I was taught in school about teaching children. Questioning the "norm" in education. I don't know if I have the courage or energy to homeschool, and I don't know if that's right, either. I don't have any answers, and I doubt I will before the kids are all knee-deep in school. Any thoughts, friends?
Topic #3: Food
Those of you who know me well know I am a bit of a tree-hugger. Go Green! Lately I have been reading and reading about how and why we as people of this world need to take a step back and look at where our food comes from. How can we sustain it all? How can we afford to not change everything from soil to table? This is such a passionate field for me, and I struggle with it because eating organically and more naturally is so darn expensive and time consuming!! Eating and cooking how I want to versus what I have time and $$ for isn't finding any middle ground. When 5:00 rolls around and there are five hungry people around, grabbing some take-out pizza for dinner seems appealing. But I'd like to teach the kids how to make better choices, nutritionally and socially responsibly.
More on this another time... am getting sleepy and I can't find the right words anymore. I won't do this again for awhile, I swear. Back to cutsie pictures tomorrow... (o:
I am so with you on all of this! I am sending Connor to the school right in our neighborhood, but really just for the skills and hopefully positive social benefits. His real "education" started long before he'll step into the classroom and is my responsibility. One of my new neighbors homeschools her kids MWF and they attend a home school charter school on T/Th. I could get some phone numbers or email addresses from home schoolers I know whose kids seem to be thriving if you want. As for the food, oh, lordy, how I wish I could whip it all up from scratch. We did hit the farmers market this week though! I'm reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollen at the moment. I'm still waiting for the part where he explains how I feed us all without growing my own wheat and such...
ReplyDeleteKeep it up, Lish, and feel free to share any time!
Love,
Your CA Admirer, Cyndi