Rated R for not Really

A few days ago while letting my Dancer play on the computer a bit the movie "My Cousin Vinny" came on. I noticed it was rated R. I couldn't in my head picture why it would be so... there's no violence, no gore, no nudity or sex. Then within the first 30 minutes I realized why, the language. I've heard people in the grocery store talk the same way and we watch a lot of shows on Comedy Central, so the language doesn't usually bother me... it's not necessary but it doesn't bother me when seeing it on TV. IRL, I'd rather hear people use real-thought out-yes I do have a brain-language instead of the potty mouths I hear... but hey, I'm no saint! I do use that language ESO when I'm upset... I don't make it a regular part of my vocabulary.

Anyhow, I got off the subject. About 30 minutes into the show, Dancer came over and laid down with me, and I told her that there was bad language in it but that she could watch it if she wanted to. She's like, "Mom, like I would ever say those words." She wasn't even interested in watching it, actually she took over the TV and changed it to some cartoons or the nick game shows that she likes watching.

All along, the ladies on the unschooling yahoo groups that I'm a part of have been saying that our young ones won't be interested in watching those adult movies. We get all kinds of concerns right and left coming from those who are just starting out in radical unschooling. I do keep the V-chip turned on on the TV in her room, just so I don't have to worry about what she might be exposed to when we (Dodger or I) are not hanging around and watching things with her. But there have been some things that we've all watched together and been able to discuss things that she may not understand with her.

Once again, the issue of trusting our children comes into play...

Fear of the Homosexual

We were at 4H earlier this afternoon and learned about rockets… pretty cool stuff. Anyhow, while we’re outside waiting for the rockets to be set up for launch a few of the tweenagers were talking and one of the girls mentioned that blank, blank, and blank were gay. A young man that she was talking to went “ewww, where are you going and you need to stop going there.” It was mentioned that it was at *** (a local community college, and the men that were mentioned as being gay are part of the dance program there). I stepped in and said, “It’s not contagious, they can’t touch you and you’ll become gay. They aren’t bad people for being gay.” The young lady then mentioned that two of them had adopted and another young lady that was part of the conversation went… “Ewww”.

I was horrified! Just sick! The young lady who was doing most of the talking never made any negative comments about them, but the other two did. This group is made up of all homeschoolers and this view of homosexuals is LEARNED behavior. God loves homosexuals just as much as he loves anyone else! Homosexuality is a sin (EDIT: I NO LONGER THINK THIS!) and so is lying, cheating, stealing, killing, gluttony, etc… Where did they lose their humanity? They are just like heterosexuals… they love, feel pain, breathe, bleed, grow old, etc…

Really, why are these God fearing parents teaching their kids to hate? Why is there such a fear of homosexuals? I don’t get it! I really don’t!

God or the Girl

There's a new "reality" show on A&E called God or the Girl.  I was a bit skeptical about how God was going to be portrayed in the show but as it turns out I really think the show is wonderful.  There are 4 young men who are struggling with the decision to go into the seminary to become a Roman Catholic priest.

I am not Catholic, I am a New Testament Christian, but I still am enjoying the show and seeing the struggle these young men are having with deciding just where God is leading them in their lives.  And that is a common thread between us... seeking God's wisdom and purpose in our lives.

I just wanted to post on it because I have seen a few things here and there about some people not being happy with this new show, though I couldn't say if their opinions were made before the show even started.  I find the show very respectful and very thought provoking.  Would I carry an 80 pound cross 20 miles for wisdom?

Journey to the Cross

For the past two years some active people in our church have set up Journey to the Cross on Good Friday. It is an interactive meditation of the events of Jesus' final days and His resurrection. There are 13 stations... each one has a focus on your walk with the Lord and his walk to the Cross where he laid down his life so that we could have eternal life with his father in Heaven.

I can't tell you how much this meditation does for me. I am so thankful to the few that put this together and set it up every year. You know, we can get so wrapped up in our own "stuff" and easily forget the price that was paid for us. Words just can't explain how wonderful this program is and what a blessing it is. It must be experienced to really know how powerful it is.

If you're local to me, I hope that next year you'll want to come and have this experience with the Lord and maybe even take this idea back to your House of Worship and be able to touch even more people.

eBay Rocks!

I've been selling off my textbooks that I either bought or collected in one way or another before we started our unschooling journey. So far most all of them have sold! Yeah! I've been listing other items, too, but so far mostly curriculum (because it's easier to stick the books on my scanner and edit the pictures than to have to use the digital camera and have to upload and edit... blah, blah, blah).

All of this is freeing up space for library books and craft items. And getting the clutter out of my house, which tends to overtake like weeds.

There's a link over in my side bar for my ebay items... take a look!

Why NOT Limits and Rules

There's a good discussion going on on one of the unschooling yahoo groups about limits and rules... here is a wonderful post by Joyce Fetteroll about how arbitrary rules really hinder our children's emotional growth.

In response to "But I have a different take on it, especially for young children. I view them (rules and limits) as a safety box, if you will." Joyce wrote:

You *can* view limits and safety that way. But it won't help you see
how helping kids get what they want -- like not get hit by a car, not
getting shocked by a knife put in an outlet-- is different than
putting a fence around them because of what you fear will happen.

Limits say "I don't trust you. You're not competent enough." For many
kids that's a challenge! They want to test themselves even against
things they wouldn't want to try. When the world is divided between
what you can and can't do, it's natural to want to test yourself on
what others believe you aren't capable of handling. But when the
world is divided between what you enjoy and what you don't enjoy,
there isn't a reason to do the things you don't enjoy.

Life is risky. But we can be there with them to keep them from
imminent death, to help them figure out situations as they arise.
That's how people learn :-)

Principles work a lot better. If the principle is safety and a child
knows mom will help them do what they want, there isn't a reason to
try to sneak to do something risky. When they're younger, of course,
we can't depend on them understanding the consequences of every
choice. Our presence is what's needed then, not rules and limits as a
subsitute for our presence.

I love that response. I see it all around me with kids. I see the light in their eyes slowly fade as parents bind them up with ridiculous rules and regulations. I see them either become robots and follow blindly or rebel and do everything they can to break free (and this is without guidance mind you). I have friends who do this to there own kids and it breaks my heart. I'm probably known as the "bad mommy" but I've always found arbitrary rules ridiculous. Why the double standard people? Why is it ok for you to eat your desert before dinner but not your kids? Why is it ok for you to stay up late to see that movie that you've been dying to see but not your kids? Because you're adults? Fiddlesticks! That's ridiculous and you know it.

Oh, the lies...

So there's a discussion going on (on one of the yahoo groups I'm a member of) about the influences of the media on our girls self-image...  but the thing is, that what we see is not real.  Here an example of those lies that we view everyday...



Even those "stars" that are so idolized in the media don't really look like that... they are made up with make-up, clothing that camouflages, they have hair stylists, etc... get real!  It's all fiction!  I'll try and find some pictures of what these stars look like without all that done to them... they look just like the rest of us... or worse a lot of the time because many of them abuse their bodies because they know that if you pay enough money, you can look flawless.

Today's Fun

We slept in (as usual) and then headed out to my Dad's to help him clean and pack stuff. He's getting married in June and he's been getting his house ready to put on the market. So we headed out to help him with some clean-up. We're heading back there on Saturday afternoon to do some more. It's the least I can do for him... he's always helping me out in one way or another.

My dad is the best ever.

Hope in the Darkness

My small Bible study group ended up going to a program hosted by a little church (Summit Avenue Baptist Church) just down the road from where I live. One lady in my group is the mother of the part-time pastor at that church.

The program was called Hope in the Darkness. A group of local Christians from different churches put together the group to spread the hope that the Lord brings to each one of us as we walk through the valleys that life can bring to our lives. It was a wonderful program.

Sue B., the lady who is facilitating our homeschool book group, and her daughter are part of the production. As well as, Linda L., who is the mom of Dancer's dance teacher and who is always highly involved in the Nutcracker in the fall.

There were times when it took all I had to not break down into red-eyed, nose-running, sobs. It's a beautiful thing to have the Lord's hope and love spread in such a wonderfully touching and proactive way.

Wildflower Hike

Dancer and I went on a nature hike yesterday, with Sarah, her kids and her mom, through some of the trails at Fort Daniel Conservation Area which was about 5 minutes away from my friend's place.  It was so nice to be out in the spring weather and see the early wildflowers coming up.  We learned about the names and some of the uses of the plants.  We saw lots of deer tracks along with the occasional racoon track and even deer hair where you could see a deer had laid down on the trail.  The kids had fun learning about the plants and flowers and eventually running ahead of us like they like to do.  We let them play on the playground, when the hike was over, to enjoy more of the afternoon.  We had to cut the afternoon short at about 4:30 because a few of us had small group Bible study to get to.  We all had a lot of fun and we surprised that only one other family with really young kids showed up (who cut their walk short because the little ones were so young).

There really is so much to do and get involved with in our area.  I try to let everyone I know where to look for things to do and how to get involved.  I think we're going to volunteer to help with the conservation district.  It will be a good way to learn about the plants and animals in the area along with the problems and issues in the natural environments and at the same time be involved in helping others and our earth.

They finally deleted my blog...

I was wanting to xfer some of my links from my "old" blog over to here but I see that they've finally deleted my blog from there. And I didn't even have to ask them to do it.

Now there's no association between myself and those that support beating children and staying with abusive (and sexually abusive) spouses.

Book Club

Dancer and I joined a homeschool book club through the library. We're reading the book together... it's The Captain's Dog by Roland Smith. I've read most of it out-loud to her, she still has doubts about her reading ability (which I suspect is a result of Public School and the Accelerated Reading Program). We had a bit of catching up to do in the reading Wednesday before the talk on Thursday. Dodger read a bit of it to her that night after I left for work and she finished up on her own (yeah for her!) Thursday morning before the talk.

I caught up on the parts I hadn't read over the last few days. It's such a great book and I'm so glad that we're involved in the book club. We would have never picked up the book if it weren't for the club.

The library also has other book talks for kids as well as adults. There's one I'd love to sit in on but it's at the same time that our homeschool book club meets next. That talk is about Nickel and Dimed in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. Which I do have a copy of but just haven't read yet.