Earth hour

I wanted to blog about this and now that I have a sleeping babe on my lap I have a chance!

For the second year in a row my family has observed Earth hour. This year the older kids were at their grandparents and my husband was at a friends house so it was just baby K and myself in the dark. At first I couldn't help but watch the clock it seemed like this hour was going to take forever, but pretty soon I grew to love the quiet stillness.
At first baby K and I just looked outside. It was snowing and the ground seemed to be glowing because of it. Baby K would point and ahhh and I would answer his silent questions as best I could. When that tired we danced. Nothing fast or fancy just a simple sway to a rhythm in my own head. Baby K was resting his head on my shoulder and occasionally his little hand would pat my back. I felt that each little pat was his silent way of telling me he loved me. After we had danced I sat down to nurse baby K. I sat on the couch with a single candle lit, and baby K layed across my lap. As he nursed I sang a song that I've sang to all my babies just incoparating their own name and gender into it. It's simple and nothing special, but my children always loved it. As I sang to him he would reach up and gently stroke my face. Meanwhile I could see his eyes getting heavier from the sleep he was trying desperately to avoid. His eyes had finally closed so I decided to end my serenade of him, but as soon as the last note had left my lips he popped off the breast opened his eyed wide and clapped as hard as he could! I couldn't help but laugh and baby K continued nursing and I continued singing. Soon I looked up and realized our hour was up, but I just sat there nursing baby K. I was enjoying this too much.

Today I will doubt myself

As a parent I occasionally have days where I doubt myself to a level that is below comprehension. I don't know what sets this off in me. Maybe it's an off hand remark from a family member or some baggage left over from my public school days. Whatever it is it makes the day tiresome and painful. Today started off as one of those days.
My main concern was my kids education. Am I doing it right? Are they going to be equipped for the "real world"? Am I damaging them in some way? I could keep going, but I won't.
What do I do when I have these feelings? Well first I call a friend and just vent a little bit. Then I get on Sandra Dodd's website. Any question you have ever had about unschooling is on that site. I instantly feel a sense of peace once I read some of the articles on there. I highly recommend it to anyone thinking about unschooling. She also has links to several other unschooler blogs on her site.
I do feel better and I feel confident in my decisions once again, but it makes me realize that I'm not there yet. I'm not totally at peace with myself. I have a few ideas why, but I won't go into that now.

Math

I'm always amazed how much my children learn from just simply "being." I feel sorry for kids being forced to learn things when they're not ready or when their just simply not interested. People always like to argue with me that no kid will ever ask to learn multiplication, geography, or whatever subject they despised in school. I have to disagree. My kids like to learn, because I've never forced them too.

My son R has recently started doing addition. Big deal you say, but I've never taught R to do addition he just picked it up on his own. Just by playing games and enjoying life he was able to teach himself to add! It's so exciting to me! He's starting to multiplication as well. It started one day when he said, " I know what 4 three times makes...12." I explained to him that he was doing multiplication. Now he's constantly coming up to me with new problems he's figured out on his own.

I don't want to give anyone the idea that I never worry. I do. I have moments when I worry that my kids aren't at the" level" they should be and then I think, "who came up with these levels?" It's just some leftover brainwashing from my public school days making me question myself and my children.

Sick babies

Both of my sons are sick right now. I'm pretty sure baby K is just teething. He's got a fever, runny nose and a cough. Also he keeps sticking his fingers in his mouth. He's nursing like a mad man as well. I told my husband last night that when woke up the next morning he'd probably find me deflated:).
R on the other hand is running a fever and throwing up. Not a lot, but enough. I know it sounds mean, and I really do hate it when any of my kids are sick. However when R is sick it's kind of like a little vacation. He's such a hyper, intense child, and when he's sick he's calm and subdued. He's had this for quite a while though, and I'm actually thinking about taking him to the doctor.
It's been a really long time since I've had any of my kids to the doctor for illness. Baby K went in to have his bow legs looked at (he's fine), and R went in when we thought he broke his arm. As far as going in for illness I bet it's been 4 years! My kids are usually very healthy, but this winter we've had a lot of illness. I think a lot of it has to do with the constant change in the weather. One day it's hot enough to wear shorts and the next it's snowing. And people don't believe in Global Warming HAH!

De-cluttering

Aaaahhh! We have way to much stuff. It's ridiculous really. Part of the problem is that we are a family of 5 living in a house for a family of 2, but we still have way to much stuff. It's pretty much impossible to keep the place clean. So, I've decided to do something about it. For the next 30 days I am going to get rid of 10 things everyday! That may seem extreme to some people, but it's really not. Remember I have 3 kids! It doesn't have to be big things. Little things count too.
Yesturday was my first day, and I have to say it felt really great to take those things to the local Salvation Army. I was actually excited to pick out the stuff I was going to get rid of today.
I really just consider this another step on my way to creating harmony.