jessteronimo

Home Schooling, Or You Wanna WHAT?

This morning as I was leaving for work, Ben handed me a piece of paper and told me I needed to get it notarized. It was announcing to the school district that we were going to be home schooling our children for the foreseeable future. What the....?

The three of them have been supposedly joking about this prospect for months now. Now it appears it wasn't a joke. The girls dreamed this idea up, and Ben is surprisingly on board, even though he'd obviously become their full-time teacher. He argues that the education our girls are receiving is abysmally subpar. Duh. Of course, that's not why they go to school! They go to school to learn how to live amongst others in this wacky world, how to follow rules, resolve conflicts, hit deadlines, and stick to schedules--and to learn HOW to learn. Admittedly I haven't known too many people who are homeschooled, but the ones I have known have been just plain odd and not all that super educated, no matter how hard their parents worked at it. I just shudder to think this might happen to my girls--and right as my oldest enters junior high! Ugh!

To me, this idea is wrong on SOOOO many levels, but I need ammo, so everybody chip in and help me with the arguments, okay?

I've Gone Grrrrrrrrrrrrreen!

On Friday I tested in front of the AKKI karate black belt board and received my next belt, green. I worked really hard for this belt, so it's quite the accomplishment for me. I've learned so much and I've come so far. Yet each time I reach a milestone I've been shooting for, more opportunities for growth open up to me, and I realize once again that I have so far yet to go.  It's exciting, not discouraging. I like to think that this art will always present such challenges to me, that I will always be learning and growing and perfecting what I've been taught.

The karate camp was three days long: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I tested better than I ever have. The energy level was up, which motivated me to really move like I know I need to. I was able to calm my usually frantic mind enough to focus and remember the things I'd learned and practiced hundreds of times. I was on, and it felt addictive and wonderful! The seminars seemed much varied from last time, so I felt like I was learning a lot of new material. With my new belt, I felt a renewed confidence, like I was starting another journey. And so I picked up weapons for the first time: the knife and the clubs. I have always hated and feared knives, but wielding and twirling my new dull-edged practice knife filled me with an odd sense of wonder. But it was the clubs that sucked me in. From the moment I picked up my new wooden clubs--a marvelous gift from a close friend--I knew I was home. Slightly longer than my forearms, these sticks whirl elegantly and make the most fascinating, heart-racing sounds as they flash rapidly and strike together like a thunderclap. I keep carrying them around with me, I'm so in love with them.

As always, it was great to see old friends and meet new ones, to be surrounded by the excellent instructors and their students, to conquer my fears and test my skills once again, and to absorb the knowledge being shared so willingly. I can't wait for the next camp!

Sadie, Sadie, Married Lady

Congratulations to my dear younger sister for tying the knot this past weekend with a wonderful man who promises to take care of her. May you both be blissfully happy for the rest of forever!

A Civilized and Quick Yet Thorough Ass-Kicking

A few years ago, I blogged about my daughter's chess skills. Tonight I was reminded of those skills when she obliterated me in mere moments. She was helping her sister kick my butt, so I got to hear it all play out in living color to the quick and brutal end--no question left that it might have just been luck. Have you seen the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer? (Everyone should see that movie, btw.) Tonight my daughter reminded me very much of the kid in that show. She spoke like they do in that movie: she talked about seeing many moves ahead in the game, about leading her opponent into traps (even when she spoke one aloud, I'd find myself walking into another one trying to avoid the spoken one), using language like "queen's knight to king's bishop 3" and "sacrifice your rook to queen your pawn," and she described chess rules I had never heard of. Ben and I just grinned at each other proudly throughout the whole game. In short, it was an amazingly satisfying ass kicking, every parent's dream!