Children's Museum

I hate tolerate am not the biggest fan of The Children's Museum. Truly. But it's not about me. So, when Princess told me that she wanted to go, we looked at our calendar together and chose a date. I asked her if she wanted to invite a friend or if she prefer it be just the two of us. She wanted a mommy and Princess day. I was more than happy to oblige. =)

It was a very full afternoon!

dental hygiene for the crocodile (or is that an alligator)

a little grocery shopping

some architecture

and construction

wandering through the woods

Princess drove the ambulance while she had me navigate

and drove me to school in the bus

All that and more! Some things we did twice!! Okay...we did have a really fun time. Princess decided to hold our next visit until school is in session. We are not big fans of crowds and have a lot more room to groove when all the other kids are in school. Next visit? Sometime in September...or maybe October. September promises to be a very fun-filled month! Stay tuned...

I am THAT mom.

Impromptu Unschooling blog carnival. Please, feel free to join in!

• I let my daughter eat cookies before dinner.
• I head up to bed when I'm tired and ask Princess (age 6) if she's coming up with me or if she is coming up later. I let her stay up late and sleep in when she needs to.
• I let Princess make her own decisions about what Village Home classes she will take. For that matter, she chooses whether she goes to Village or not. If she's up late at night, I ask her if she wants me to wake her in the morning to go to class.
• I need to have the house in order, picked up, clean. So I keep the house in order, picked up and clean. Princess helps sometimes, but it's her choice.
• I let my daughter watch as much TV as she wants and play video games for as long as she wants. Interestingly enough, she doesn't spend all day watching TV and playing video games.
• My daughter jumps on the bed and the couch. Our bed and couch have both survived beautifully!
• I let Princess express her anger and sadness in public. I don't stifle her emotions.
• Princess sleeps where she wants. Currently we co-sleep but she talks about moving into her own room.
• I let my daughter sleep in her clothes, if she chooses...which she does often.
• Although I prefer hand made, locally produced toys made from natural materials, Princess chooses the toys we buy.They are her toy so it is her choice.

I'm sure there are more, but that's what I've come up with for today.

Another Good One

I promise my posts won't all be Abraham quotes, but this one was so good I had to share it!

You are really individual beings, with very special talents, and it would be nice if teachers had the time, or parents had the awareness or skill, to see the children as the very individual, very special beings that they are. So that rather than trying to drum them into one category, they are, instead, appreciating the special insight that each child brings to the sea of diversity and contrast which is the stuff that creation comes from.

--- Abraham

Law of Attraction

Dayna Martin, over at The Sparkling Martins, is my unschooling hero. I met Dayna through her Yahoo group. She was amazingly supportive when I was going through a rough patch, talking with me on the phone several times. I have been a long time believer in the Law of Attraction and through Dayna I learned about Jerry and Esther Hicks. Everyday I get an inspirational quote from Jerry and Esther via email. I found this recent quote very interesting.

Parents don't want their children to make the wrong decisions, so they don't allow them to make the decision. And then the child becomes dependent, and then the parent resents that, and it gets off into a blameful thing early on. If you are encouraging children to do all that they can do -- and not squelching the natural eagerness that is within them, so that they can shine and thrive and show you and themselves how good they are at adapting to physical experience -- then everyone wins.

--- Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in Dallas, TX on Saturday, March 13th, 1999 #507

Lovely, isn't it?

Screen Time

No limits on screen time means that Princess spends all day watching TV and playing video games, right?

No, we don't have screen time limits in our house and while Princess does spend her fair share of time playing video games and watching TV and movies, she spends lots of time with other things as well. It is all up to her. Yes, there have been times that I've worried a about the amount of screen time. The more I focused on it, the more screen time there was. But it seems that as soon as I let it go, so does she.

The thing I needed to learn was that even when she does spend all day with a screen, she is still learning. Colleen over at The New Unschooler (who isn't so new anymore) recommended Don't Bother Me Mom--I'm Learning. It was a huge eye opener. I have always been very open about screen time but this book helped me see all the amazing benefits.

Welcome!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy your visit. I've wanted to start this blog for quite some time now but, I have to admit, I was a little nervous to make the change. If you ask my friends they will tell you that when I speak about unschooling my energy changes and I sparkle with excitement. We are embracing this life, but we're still stumbling along the way.

Is there only one way to unschool? Or two? I used to think that, but now I know there are so many ways and levels that no two unschoolers are the same. Of course, there are those who will tell you that their way is right and if you don't do it their way then, well, you're doing it wrong. I believe you need to do what is best for your family.

When Princess was young we went far left radical. She fell apart. We knew that this wasn't working for our family and made some adjustments. What I realized is that we didn't need to follow any unschooling rules, we simply needed to live our lives with respect. We don't have arbitrary rules in our house or any rules really. In unschooling they talk about principles and I suppose that is the best way to describe how we live. We may be a wee bit more rigid than the far left, but Princess and I often talk about how she feels about how we live. It's important to me to make sure that Princess feels respected.

Some may not understand our life, but it works for us. We live our life without bedtimes, no screen time limits, no chores. We do our best to be open and listen to each other, respectfully. I fail at this more times than I'd like to admit, but hey...I'm learning, too! I hope you'll join us as we learn together and maybe you seasoned unschoolers will have some words of wisdom as we journey through this unschooling life. I hope to see you again soon!