But first a word from our sponsor…me.
This evening, after a day of running around completing errands made more irritating by “oh we’re closed in the middle of the afternoon for lunch/training/because it’s Wednesday,” I finally grabbed a kid and drew names for the book giveaway. A was the lucky winner-drawer, as he declined to play outside this evening in favor of whipping his mom at a board game.
I grabbed my oh-so-awesome Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat hat…what, you don’t have a Cat in the Hat hat? Every household needs one. Crazy hat day, Halloween, drawing names for a free book…the uses are endless. I cut up a gazillion pieces of paper with names on them and…
Congrats to Nancy M. and Cristy S., the winners of the first ever Holy Heck I Wrote a Book and Am Giving Away Two Copies Giveaway!!! I have notified both winners and will pop the books in the mail as soon as I get addresses.
But wait! There’s more!
Unbeknownst to me (mostly), my friend Kim bought some books and is hosting a giveaway over on her blog. Now, full disclosure here. She and I roomed together at the SENG conference last month, and I pinky promise swear I didn’t hold her underwear hostage for her to buy up a bunch of books and host a giveaway. There was no freezer in which to freeze her bra so I just let it go. But you really need to toddle on over to Delicious Minutiae and not only read every dry-hysterical-humor word she’s written, but enter to win a book. Tell your friends.
So. Talking a good game. Yes. I’m sure we all do this. Talk the talk, but not always walk the walk. Case in point. I say I’m ok with A being homeschooled, and really I am, until I’m not.
Yesterday, driving home from teaching my flute lessons, I passed by the middle school. The school has puke-poor parking, so cars tend to take over the streets when there’s something at the school. Last night the streets were packed. There was only one thing that could have been going on there, based on the date and time and my vague recollection. Sixth-grade Hey Here’s the School Night. The one we weren’t at because A will be starting middle school with me next week. And while I know he couldn’t handle middle school and that homeschooling is absolutely the best thing for him…I could feel the knife twist in my chest yet again. When the road not taken isn’t taken because you fell off of it unexpectedly…well, even if the new road is awesome, it’s still sometimes a little painful to see the old road.
I may talk a good game, but I don’t always feel it.
So anyhoodle…if you haven’t yet grabbed a copy of If This is a Gift, Can I Send It Back?: Surviving in the Land of the Gifted and Twice-Exceptional, go enter at Kim’s or purchase a copy. THEN, if I could beg a favor, reviews! Reviews on Amazon, on GoodReads, on Barnes and Noble…reviews would be just be crazy bonkertown terrific. Let our tribe know what you think about it. Then give copies to your schools’ administrators with a note that has all the i’s dotted with hearts, spritzed with perfume and sealed with a big smacking lipstick kiss. Most libraries take “please buy this book pretty please you’re so nice can I buy you a puppy?” requests; check with your library and request away. Grab some friends and have a wine book club night. The book goes great with Malbec.
So here’s the school night does give you a knife in your gut, but please remember that this early they don’t have much to show and that nothing says you can’t have a “show off night” for family and friends. YOU could even have a virtual one where friends from all over the country can see what A has done.
My 8-year-old has his own web page. He hasn’t updated in a while, but you can see some projects we did there (http://braindrain8.blogspot.com/). Home-school doesn’t have to be lonely school. For some kids, it is much better. You get to make the curriculum fit the kid rather than reshaping the kid to fit the curriculum. Last year we did a section on origami. We built a mayan pyramid. We played with map puzzles and painted the closet door and did a hundred things that were much cooler than school. We did a field trip every two weeks too. Show me a school that can do that.
Bottom line, my MIL was not crazy about this notion of homeschooling. This year, she wants to do some field trips with us. Family likes to see what the kids are doing, and most kids like to show off a little. So make the back to school night yourself and let A help with the plans. Or make a brag night later in the year. Don’t worry. It gets easier with practice.
I know the feeling all too well – right there with ya. We’re doing what’s best for our children, but that doesn’t mean it’s best for mama, or even that there aren’t aspects of what we’re NOT doing that wouldn’t be good for our kiddos. You’re not alone.
Elizabeth, that is such a fabulous idea!!! Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂