Today

By request, here is our zombie graveyard. My hubby is the tall one in the middle!











Here's another picture just because I think it is really cute.

Meme

So Evie tagged me with a meme. I am supposed to list 10 weird things about myself. Weirdness is in the eye of the beholder. Hmmm...I hope I can stop at 10!

1. I was almost traded for 10 camels once in Saudi Arabia. No really! A Saudi guy offered my step-dad camels in exchange for my (11 year old) hand in marriage. Thank goodness he declined the offer, but he did get some usage out of it as a threat later on: "If you don't behave I will sell you for 10 camels!"

2. I don't like any fruits with the word "berry" or "melon" in their names. I am starting to come around on strawberries though. I think it is a texture thing for me and it all goes back to the super taster thing I mentioned before. Watermelon especially grosses me out. All those stringy fibers make me feel yucky.

3. I sucked my thumb until I was 12. I can't believe I just admitted that. My family did everything they could think of to get me to stop. I lived in fear of falling asleep with my thumb in my mouth during a sleepover. One day I just decided to stop on my own and I did.

4. I like to go to the movies by myself. I don't really think this is weird but I have been told in the past that it is. I love the whole movie-going experience so it isn't a big deal to me if I don't have someone else there to enjoy it with me. Of course I love going to the movies with Buck and Ian and friends. I just don't mind going alone.

5. I have never dyed my hair. I don't think this one is particularly weird either but I can't think of anyone I know who hasn't dyed their hair by the time they were 30. No Sun-In, no kool-aid, nothing.

6. I am pretty good at remembering numbers. I have a knack for remembering phone numbers and birthdays, addresses and social security numbers. I still remember the social security number of a co-worker from 10 years ago. When I was 16 and I worked at Office Max I used to memorize the credit card numbers of repeat customers.

7. I got married in the UFO capital of the UK (but not on purpose). Buck and I got married in Bonnyrigg, Scotland. When we got home we read that Bonnyrigg is home to the most UFO sightings in the whole United Kingdom! Cool.

8. I have written in a paper journal almost every day since I turned 18. I am on volume 36 now. I tried to keep a diary when I was a kid and I just never kept with it. Something just clicked when I turned 18 and I have been writing ever since.

9. I don't know how to put on make-up. I feel like there is a gene for being able to do make-up and hair that I am missing. I feel that I look like a prostitute whenever I try to wear make-up. I don't know what I am doing. Also, I could never figure out how to do the high bangs in eighth grade. At the time it was a tragedy. Nowadays, I don't mind.

10. Sometimes I think of tastes and smells as having sounds. It is hard to explain but I associate certain tastes (like mint and stew and bell peppers) and smells (like cinnamon and cloves and grass) with sounds.

I don't know who to tag so if you read this post consider yourself tagged. You're it!

Folk Festival

We visited this in-laws again this weekend. Ian and I tend to go a lot. Ian loves his Grammy and being out on the "farm" where they live. Buck was able to come with us this time. I like it when he can come with us :) The local Folk Festival was happening while we were in town so we decided to go on Sunday.

The first thing we noticed about the fair was that it was unnaturally hot! The leaves on the trees hadn't even really started to change.

We wandered through the crowds and the booths, admiring the crafts, jewelry, furniture, art, and people. I found lots of things I liked but I was indecisive so I left empty-handed. I wish I had been more vocal about wanting to go back and look at certain booths. I am pretty good about making sure Ian gets to do the things he wants to do but I am not always as mindful about my own wants. I was fascinated by all the detail and love that the craftsmen put into their wares.

Ian wanted to ride a pony. He rode one named Flicka and had a great time. He was a little bit nervous but he loved his pony, the saddle and the experince. He didn't care for the helmet though.

We sat down in the shade of a cherry tree for lunch. Everyone went to different food stalls to get their favorites. While we were eating Ian told us that he wanted a ribbon stick. We had seen a few kids waving brightly painted sticks with ribbons on the end and Ian thought they were cool. I asked him where we could find them and without any hesitation he said, "In the big barn!" The big barn was our next destination. We hadn't been there yet and we couldn't see the entrance. The barn was where the dancing and singing was held. There were also booths inside and Folk Festival shirts for sale there. As soon as we walked inside we saw a boy with a ribbon stick. I asked him where he bought it and sure enough he pointed to a stall about 20 feet away! Ian was right! I asked him how he knew they would be there and he said, "Because I wanted one." Wow. I wish I could be that sure of myself. Seriously.

We bought kettle corn and wandered around some more. Ian walked around with Grammy a bit. When he saw us again several minutes later he ran up to us singing his Transformers song at the top of his lungs. It is so fun to watch him learn and grow and share things he is passionate about with us.









We didn't stay at the festival for long but it was such a treat to be together, chatting and laughing (and sweating!) and holding hands with loved ones.





P.S. Thanks to Stephanie for her help in figuring out how to do the photo merge thing in Photoshop!

No food wars here

When we began unschooling we decided not to limit food choices or quantity for Ian. I grew up in a house where I had to eat everything even if I didn't like it and now I am a very (very, very) picky eater. My husband grew up being able to make his own choices about what he wanted to eat and even where he wanted to eat it (when he was 4 and 5 he didn't like his food to touch so he requested separate plates and utensils for each dish). Nowadays he will eat almost anything.

This may just be a coincidence. I don't really know. I am half convinced that I am a super taster like the They Might Be Giants song and that might be why I am so picky.

We trust Ian and we feel that only he knows his body. Only he knows when he is hungry and when he is full, what his body is craving and when to stop eating.

It has been a joy lately to watch him make food choices. The other day right as we sat down to a meal of pork chops, bread and salad he told me he wanted mint chocolate chip ice cream. At first I was hesitant to give it to him. I started feeling angry because I had just spent time making this nice meal and I wanted him to eat what I prepared! I took breath and realized I wasn't letting him make his own choices (and I was being silly) so I fixed him a bowl. He sat down happily with us to eat his ice cream. When he was nearly finished, he pushed the bowl away and announced, "I want to eat my dinner now." Wow! I didn't expect that one.

Today he asked for gummy bears. I put a large hand full in a bowl. He ate a few, I ate a few. He soon handed me the bowl and said, "I don't want these anymore." I put them aside in case he wants them later. He might. He might not.

I am just amazed at his choices at 3.5 years old. I am 30 and I don't have that much willpower! I suppose for him it's not willpower though. He really just doesn't want any more. He knows that if he does want more they are available and no one will tell him that he can't have them. Freedom of choice makes all the difference in the world.

Ebay happiness

While we were at Live and Learn (I know, I know, I need to write a post about it!) Ian spied an egg and spoon race game on the raffle table. He really wanted it and mentioned it a lot. Buck and I tried to put lots of tickets in the bag to increase our odds of winning but we didn't win. Ian was pretty disappointed so we talked about ways we might buy it at home. I looked at Target since it was the Play Wonder brand that they carry, but they didn't stock it anymore. I found it on ebay but the auction had just begun.

At the end of the week we won the auction and the coveted prize arrived today! He was overjoyed to have his toy arrive and I was too! We quickly opened the box and began playing. We have found lots of uses for it besides just having egg and spoon races. The spoons can be lined up, the eggs can be cooked and served to mom, the egg shells can hold treasures, the egg shells can be stacked.

I am so glad that we are living this unschooling life. A couple of years ago I would have just dismissed his idea as just a temporary want and I would have disregarded it. I never would have gone out of my way to find it for him unless he kept "bugging" me about it. Even then I might just tell him that it was too bad that we didn't get it and we just couldn't find it without even looking for it.

I will be forever grateful to people like Sandra Dodd and Pam Sorooshian for putting information about radical unschooling out there, for living it and for continuing to write about it. Our lives are changed forever and definitely for the better. Of course we have day-to-day crap like everyone else but life with my kid is so much more fun and peaceful than I ever thought it could be!

Oh, and of course Hi-Q joined in on the egg-spoon fun. He is always a part of our play!

It worked! Episode II: Water and Popcorn

Once when Ian was having a hard day I asked him what I could do for him to help calm him down next time he felt out of control. He told me I could get him some water to drink. We got to test that one out this morning. He was upset when I got back from my run and I wasn't lying next to him anymore. His anger started escalating and he really seemed stuck in his discomfort so I asked him if he would like some water. He immediately stopped yelling and said yes. I got him a drink, he took one sip, and within about 2 minutes he was smiling and telling me that I was his sunshine! I swear that my kid has the best ideas!

Around lunch I asked what he wanted to eat. "Copcorn!" he shouted. I made a big bowl of popcorn and put his in a special Shrek bowl. We cuddled under "Big Blue" (a blanket made by my grandma that is both big and blue) and watched "Goonies." It is amazing to me how much joy there is in our house when I simply listen to Ian and say yes. If he were in pre-school he couldn't ask for popcorn for lunch and we definitely couldn't cuddle every day.

While we were in Lowe's the other day a cashier told me to value this time with him while I can. She said that the day her son went to kindergarten was the last time she was allowed to hug him, and her 13-year-old daughter won't even talk to her. I just told her that I do cherish the time I have with him, but I don't worry at all about him not wanting to spend time with me. And I don't.

It worked!

In my never-ending quest to be a better mama and a better person, I ask my son for advice on my behavior. I figure that he is one of the best people I know so I bet he will have a good idea for me.

Last week I yelled at him for some stupid thing that I don't even remember. After I calmed down and breathed I came back to him and I apologized and asked him, "What do you think I could do next time I start to yell at you so that I calm down and don't yell at you?" He smiled and immediately told me that I could, "sing the sunshine song!" The 'sunshine song' is "You are my sunshine" and it's one of our favorites. I sing it to him pretty much every day and if I forget he reminds me to sing it.

So, yesterday he was eating mint chocolate chip ice cream on the couch and after a while he told me that he spilled "a little" on the couch. I don't mind a little spill here or there so I wasn't mad until I saw that the whole underside of his diaper was green and so was the couch. I started thinking all sorts of terrible and selfish things in my head and I started to yell. Ian jumped off the couch and sort of started crying. I stopped, though, after about 3 seconds, took a breath, and then belted out, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine...." By the end of the song he was cuddled in my lap and I was kissing the top of his head and I was marveling at my wonderful son. Best of all I was truly not angry anymore. IT WORKED!

Now if only I can start singing before I yell next time I will be set...