Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Doctor's appointments ... HERE WE COME!
Well, the insurance situation is fixed (after MANY MANY phone calls ... just to change our address) and the boys will be going for their "well child" check ups on Monday. Why is this worthy of a post, you may ask. Well, it's all I've been able to hear about since I told them of the appointment. They have been doctors and checked each other and ALL of their stuffed animals. Now they are planning what kind of presents they want to take to Dr. Ervin. I'm not quite sure why we are bringing him presents, but I'll do it if it means they will continue being excited about going to the dr! Oh and now we can start the process of scheduling appointments for Jason to have his tonsils taken out -- at least that's what Dr. Ervin said last time we brought Jason in. We'll see on Monday. All I know is ... those tonsils are definitely not any smaller than they were a few months ago! Yuck! Poor guy! Well, I hope everyone has a GREAT day! We love you all!!!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
New Attitude Update
So, here are my thoughts after reviewing my thoughts on medicating myself:
1) Try taking yourself OFF of the meds you thought you needed. (Just eliminating my allergy med has calmed me significantly.)
2) Just try to accept yourself as you are ... after all, no one is perfect.
3) Accept that, when you are with some people you more stressed. With others you are more relaxed.
4) Let go of any ideas that you might have on what people expect of you. You're never gonna be able to be perfect for everyone! What matters is that you are the best YOU you can be.
Oh! And 5) MOVE OUT OF THE CITY!
Wow! It is working. I may not be calm 100% of the time, but who is?! I love my life, my kids, my hubby, and all of my family and friends! Thank you everyone for your love and support.
Oh, and I will not be getting meds. I WILL be changing my diet and trying natural methods before I think any further on the subject.
1) Try taking yourself OFF of the meds you thought you needed. (Just eliminating my allergy med has calmed me significantly.)
2) Just try to accept yourself as you are ... after all, no one is perfect.
3) Accept that, when you are with some people you more stressed. With others you are more relaxed.
4) Let go of any ideas that you might have on what people expect of you. You're never gonna be able to be perfect for everyone! What matters is that you are the best YOU you can be.
Oh! And 5) MOVE OUT OF THE CITY!
Wow! It is working. I may not be calm 100% of the time, but who is?! I love my life, my kids, my hubby, and all of my family and friends! Thank you everyone for your love and support.
Oh, and I will not be getting meds. I WILL be changing my diet and trying natural methods before I think any further on the subject.
Friday, August 7, 2009
School has started!
Well, school has started here and, once again, Jason is concerned that he is missing out on all of the learning (in his own words). Here is our conversation from last year:
Jason: "Mom, I don't want to go to school."
Me: "You don't have to. Remember, we decided to do homeschool." (Just FYI - We don't homeschool, we unschool, but this is just too much for a kid to explain to an adult when the adult asks him why he isn't at school.)
Jason: "But how will I learn anything?"
Me: "You learn lots of things when you are at home. What did you learn in school last year?"
Jason: (after LOTS of thinking) "I dunno. I learned ... umm... to wait in line." (Once again, this is so true! As an kindergartener, Jason was far advanced in all areas of academics, but his teachers and the school district insisted that he needed to do the same work as his typical classmates. As you can probably imagine, this left him with LOTS of down-time.)
Me: "So do you want to keep learning how to wait in line or is there something else you want to learn?"
Jason: "HA! Mom, I already knew how to wait in line before kindergarten. I just didn't like it, so I didn't do it!"
Me: "I don't like waiting either. Do you think we need to practice waiting in line more?"
Jason: "We already practice waiting in line at the grocery store and stuff. I don't need to go to school for that!"
Boy, I love my son! (Well, both of them!) Jason is the only one who seems to feel like all learning must be done in a classroom. It makes me so sad that he had successfully been brainwashed by the school system in such a short amount of time, but I do think it's interesting that he will quickly admit that he didn't learn anything in kindergarten (his last year in school). He laughs quickly when I ask him about what he learned, because he already knew how to read at a second grade level, do addition and subtraction, some fractions, and some multiplication before he went to kindergarten. He also knew all of his directions (N,S,E,W), how to read a map, all of the continents and most of the oceans. So son ... learning only happens in a classroom, huh?!
I challenge anyone who doesn't know about unschooling and/or anyone who thinks that school is great to really, honestly think about what you actually LEARNED in school. Really think about it! And teachers, don't be offended ... remember, I used to be one of you too!
Ok, so this year's conversation:
Jason: "Mom, can we go play with Chase today."
Mom: "Not today. Chase went back to school today."
Jason: "Oh. Um... what are we gonna learn today?" (By the way, this question only occurs when Jason is suddenly made aware of the fact that others are in school and he's not. It's not a regular occurance.)
Mom: "Well, what do you want to do today?"
Jason: "I want to write a story."
Mom: "Ok! That sounds cool. Let me get the pen and paper."
Here is the story that Jason dictated to me:
Jason's plan for destroying ***** School.
First, I will get my friends out of school. They will come with me and my brother. Then you will drive us to the Nashville Zoo. We will liberate ("um, that means set free, right?") the animals. I will create a diversion, and the animals will be set free. The zookeepers will never send the animals back to the zoo forever. The animals will run to Hendersonville and stomp on the school. Then there will be nothing but a big pile of dust.
So, there you have it. What Jason wanted to do on the "first day of school" this year. He is so happy that he says his head will explode!
What does Jeffrey think of the school year starting? He couldn't care less. He happily built with Legos for the longest time today and made up a balloon game in which you had to count by twos (we made it to 326), then we had to count by threes from the first score of 326. Jeffrey did a better job at figuring it out and correctly adding than I did. Oh, and don't forget badminton tournament, basketball shoot-out, making many imaginary meals for mommy, and lots of other stuff. Right now, he and Jason have set up an animal hospital in the living room for all of their stuffed animals. They are the vets and are practicing giving shots, wrapping bandages, singing lullabyes, and generally discussing what needs to be done for each. (Isn't this amazing! Autistic kids aren't supposed to be able to play interactively with anyone ... let alone each other! I am so blessed!)
I absolutely LOVE being able to watch my children learn. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to be their helper in learning!
Jason: "Mom, I don't want to go to school."
Me: "You don't have to. Remember, we decided to do homeschool." (Just FYI - We don't homeschool, we unschool, but this is just too much for a kid to explain to an adult when the adult asks him why he isn't at school.)
Jason: "But how will I learn anything?"
Me: "You learn lots of things when you are at home. What did you learn in school last year?"
Jason: (after LOTS of thinking) "I dunno. I learned ... umm... to wait in line." (Once again, this is so true! As an kindergartener, Jason was far advanced in all areas of academics, but his teachers and the school district insisted that he needed to do the same work as his typical classmates. As you can probably imagine, this left him with LOTS of down-time.)
Me: "So do you want to keep learning how to wait in line or is there something else you want to learn?"
Jason: "HA! Mom, I already knew how to wait in line before kindergarten. I just didn't like it, so I didn't do it!"
Me: "I don't like waiting either. Do you think we need to practice waiting in line more?"
Jason: "We already practice waiting in line at the grocery store and stuff. I don't need to go to school for that!"
Boy, I love my son! (Well, both of them!) Jason is the only one who seems to feel like all learning must be done in a classroom. It makes me so sad that he had successfully been brainwashed by the school system in such a short amount of time, but I do think it's interesting that he will quickly admit that he didn't learn anything in kindergarten (his last year in school). He laughs quickly when I ask him about what he learned, because he already knew how to read at a second grade level, do addition and subtraction, some fractions, and some multiplication before he went to kindergarten. He also knew all of his directions (N,S,E,W), how to read a map, all of the continents and most of the oceans. So son ... learning only happens in a classroom, huh?!
I challenge anyone who doesn't know about unschooling and/or anyone who thinks that school is great to really, honestly think about what you actually LEARNED in school. Really think about it! And teachers, don't be offended ... remember, I used to be one of you too!
Ok, so this year's conversation:
Jason: "Mom, can we go play with Chase today."
Mom: "Not today. Chase went back to school today."
Jason: "Oh. Um... what are we gonna learn today?" (By the way, this question only occurs when Jason is suddenly made aware of the fact that others are in school and he's not. It's not a regular occurance.)
Mom: "Well, what do you want to do today?"
Jason: "I want to write a story."
Mom: "Ok! That sounds cool. Let me get the pen and paper."
Here is the story that Jason dictated to me:
Jason's plan for destroying ***** School.
First, I will get my friends out of school. They will come with me and my brother. Then you will drive us to the Nashville Zoo. We will liberate ("um, that means set free, right?") the animals. I will create a diversion, and the animals will be set free. The zookeepers will never send the animals back to the zoo forever. The animals will run to Hendersonville and stomp on the school. Then there will be nothing but a big pile of dust.
So, there you have it. What Jason wanted to do on the "first day of school" this year. He is so happy that he says his head will explode!
What does Jeffrey think of the school year starting? He couldn't care less. He happily built with Legos for the longest time today and made up a balloon game in which you had to count by twos (we made it to 326), then we had to count by threes from the first score of 326. Jeffrey did a better job at figuring it out and correctly adding than I did. Oh, and don't forget badminton tournament, basketball shoot-out, making many imaginary meals for mommy, and lots of other stuff. Right now, he and Jason have set up an animal hospital in the living room for all of their stuffed animals. They are the vets and are practicing giving shots, wrapping bandages, singing lullabyes, and generally discussing what needs to be done for each. (Isn't this amazing! Autistic kids aren't supposed to be able to play interactively with anyone ... let alone each other! I am so blessed!)
I absolutely LOVE being able to watch my children learn. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to be their helper in learning!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
I got a new attitude!
Well, here goes nothing ... I am, as of this very moment, throwing away my old negative attitude and grabbing hold of a new, wonderful attitude. I am posting this on my blog so that those of you who know and love me will help to hold me accountable. Please do! I know that my old self will sometimes try to sneak back into my life, but I am making the first steps to ridding myself of it. Oh ... and I believe medication will soon follow! Yippee! (I am not one for taking something just because, but I KNOW that I need medication-al help for this now and have for a LONG time.) Love to all and sorry that I haven't posted in months!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Long time ... No post
It has been a long time since I have posted. I'm sorry for that, but we have been quite busy with birthday parties every weekend for a month, playing outside ALL day (when it's been warm), and generally living. I am trying to get a new company off the ground while remaining a dedicated unschooling mom. This is more challenging than you may think, but I am determined! I want to stay at home with the boys and Terry needs to have a way to make money without ruining his body any more -- so that means we need a way for him to stop having to install windows. So, working-from-home-mommy and two-job-daddy it is! At least there is a light at the end of this tunnel! And it's an exciting light! Both Terry & I are excited about the prospect of working together. It's great that I married my best friend! We are hoping that this company will meet each person's needs (boys included). We know it will be through hard work and some stressful times, but we believe it CAN be done! And, for those of you who remember my crazy decision to finally finish college, you know that if I set my mind to it ... it WILL be done! Exciting!
Monday, March 16, 2009
School Is Hell Blog
I really encourage everyone reading this blog to check out school-is-hell.blogspot.com! I would cut and paste the interesting and poignant parts, but when I tried, I found that it would be really long and overwhelming. Hey! I write blogs that are too long myself. So, believe it or not, I actually will simply encourage you to read it and think -- rather than copying his thoughts on my blog and "forcing" you to read it (or skip over the post, whatever). Well, good night!
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