This is my baby boy.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Toffee
Here's a yummy toffee recipe that's healthy and extremely digestible* too. Obviously, if you don't do nuts, it won't work...
1 cup honey
1 cup peanut or other nut butter
2 tbsp butter
Boil the honey in a pan gently for about 8 minutes. It will froth up and go a golden brown colour. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and nut butter. Pour into a flat pan lined with baking paper, or spoon into candy cups. Refrigerate until hard, but eat at room temperature. Before it goes rock hard, cut into pieces. It will be difficult to cut once it has set.
*Honey is apparently more digestible than sugar because it is a one-molecule carbohydrate and does not need to be broken down. In fact, every ingredient in the recipe is a single-molecule, unless you use peanut butter with additives in it.
1 cup honey
1 cup peanut or other nut butter
2 tbsp butter
Boil the honey in a pan gently for about 8 minutes. It will froth up and go a golden brown colour. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and nut butter. Pour into a flat pan lined with baking paper, or spoon into candy cups. Refrigerate until hard, but eat at room temperature. Before it goes rock hard, cut into pieces. It will be difficult to cut once it has set.
*Honey is apparently more digestible than sugar because it is a one-molecule carbohydrate and does not need to be broken down. In fact, every ingredient in the recipe is a single-molecule, unless you use peanut butter with additives in it.
Why I'm in favour of dating
Dating these days seems to mean 'sleeping together'.
Chrisitans object to this, with good reason, and many Christians have therefore thrown out dating altogether. In some extreme cases, young people will wait to have a relationship ‘arranged’ by trusted mentors.
I will take a little detour to explain the reason why I am actually in favour of dating (with some obvious limitations).
Marriage is unique amongst human relationships as being in general the only relationship which spans all four spaces - the public, social, personal and intimate spaces. (For more information on the four spaces, check the links on friendship on the side of this blog.)
In a good marriage, a man and a woman need to relate well in the public space together. It helps if they have similar backgrounds and similar life experiences.
In a good marriage, a man and a woman need to relate well in the social space. It helps if they enjoy going to the same places, and have the same expectations of social interactions. It even helps if they understand each other’s relating style.
In a good marriage, a man and a woman need to relate well in the personal space. It helps if they have the same friends, or at least like each other’s friends.
In a good marriage, a man and a woman need to relate well in the intimate space. It helps if they enjoy their sex life and appreciate each other’s bodies. It helps if they can be truly honest without getting mean or defensive. It helps if they understand how to express their love so that the other person feels loved as well.
If marriage is a relationship that spans all four spaces, surely a reasonable knowledge in each space, of the person you are considering marrying is helpful!
I think it's good for a couple to learn about each other in as many ways as possible before they marry, so I am in favour of couples going out together.
Chrisitans object to this, with good reason, and many Christians have therefore thrown out dating altogether. In some extreme cases, young people will wait to have a relationship ‘arranged’ by trusted mentors.
I will take a little detour to explain the reason why I am actually in favour of dating (with some obvious limitations).
Marriage is unique amongst human relationships as being in general the only relationship which spans all four spaces - the public, social, personal and intimate spaces. (For more information on the four spaces, check the links on friendship on the side of this blog.)
In a good marriage, a man and a woman need to relate well in the public space together. It helps if they have similar backgrounds and similar life experiences.
In a good marriage, a man and a woman need to relate well in the social space. It helps if they enjoy going to the same places, and have the same expectations of social interactions. It even helps if they understand each other’s relating style.
In a good marriage, a man and a woman need to relate well in the personal space. It helps if they have the same friends, or at least like each other’s friends.
In a good marriage, a man and a woman need to relate well in the intimate space. It helps if they enjoy their sex life and appreciate each other’s bodies. It helps if they can be truly honest without getting mean or defensive. It helps if they understand how to express their love so that the other person feels loved as well.
If marriage is a relationship that spans all four spaces, surely a reasonable knowledge in each space, of the person you are considering marrying is helpful!
I think it's good for a couple to learn about each other in as many ways as possible before they marry, so I am in favour of couples going out together.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Back to school
My daughter goes back to school tomorrow and I don't want her to go!!! We've had such a wonderful time on holidays. I'm going to miss her so much... and so are her brothers!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
How much time is enough?
How much time do you need to spend with your children?Here's a great mathematical answer I found on a homeschooling website.
"When a baby is born, before he's a year old, spend 23 hours a day with him, or thinking about him, or sleeping with him, or carrying, or feeding him.
When he turns one, spend 22 hours a day with him (and gradually less). For two hours you might be in the shower or sleeping without knowing you're asleep.
Let that time slide at a steady pace until he's ten or eleven, and you're spending half of it, twelve hours, with him, on him, in his presence, doing things for or with him. Steadily slide that back until he's 20 and then one hour a day is plenty.
No cheating. If you aren't diligent in the early years, the 20 year old will be gone in a huff or might have slunk away sadly."
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Playing catch up
I went to morning tea with a group of friends from an old church recently. The purpose of their gathering was to see me (which was nice) and I was really looking forward to it.
However, I discovered that if you really want to catch up with people, you should do it in smaller groups! There were seven of us in the room and I hardly got to ask them anything about their lives now. I was able to see how all their children had grown and exchange information about where we all were living now. For their part, they asked cursory questions of me, but that was about it.
It was nice, but a little disappointing.
However, I discovered that if you really want to catch up with people, you should do it in smaller groups! There were seven of us in the room and I hardly got to ask them anything about their lives now. I was able to see how all their children had grown and exchange information about where we all were living now. For their part, they asked cursory questions of me, but that was about it.
It was nice, but a little disappointing.
Know-it-all
I think I'm turning into a patronising know-it-all snob. I'm not happy about it but it's really hard to stop doing it. (Perhaps I've always been this way?)
When people start talking about subjects I know a bit about or am enthusiastic about, I feel myself taking over and adding just a little extra bit of information here and there. I bluff over things I don't know and I can feel the ego creeping in.
At a birthday party the other day, my friend had made delicious meatballs with flaxseeds in them. I had seen the recipe already, so I knew what was in them.
"What are the seeds?" her sister asked her. And instead of waiting for my friend to answer, I chimed in "Flaxseeds. Great source of Omega 3 and 6. Very good for the brain. You can get LSA mix in the supermarket which is also really great."
Why? Why can't I just keep my mouth shut and wait to be asked? I just so don't want to be a know-it-all, but it is a temptation which I almost cannot bear.
I'm not sure that this blog is much good in stemming the tide of know-it-all-ism either. Here I've got a forum which is almost unchecked!
The root of it must be a desire to be better than others, which comes out of a lack of love for others and a feeling of inadequacy.
Does anyone else have this problem?
When people start talking about subjects I know a bit about or am enthusiastic about, I feel myself taking over and adding just a little extra bit of information here and there. I bluff over things I don't know and I can feel the ego creeping in.
At a birthday party the other day, my friend had made delicious meatballs with flaxseeds in them. I had seen the recipe already, so I knew what was in them.
"What are the seeds?" her sister asked her. And instead of waiting for my friend to answer, I chimed in "Flaxseeds. Great source of Omega 3 and 6. Very good for the brain. You can get LSA mix in the supermarket which is also really great."
Why? Why can't I just keep my mouth shut and wait to be asked? I just so don't want to be a know-it-all, but it is a temptation which I almost cannot bear.
I'm not sure that this blog is much good in stemming the tide of know-it-all-ism either. Here I've got a forum which is almost unchecked!
The root of it must be a desire to be better than others, which comes out of a lack of love for others and a feeling of inadequacy.
Does anyone else have this problem?
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Noises.
Our dog snores.
And it drives me crazy.
Just like:
dripping taps
ticking clocks
people breathing
Richie Benaud's voice
fingernails on chalkboards
any noise that's small and regular and shouldn't be there
And it drives me crazy.
Just like:
dripping taps
ticking clocks
people breathing
Richie Benaud's voice
fingernails on chalkboards
any noise that's small and regular and shouldn't be there
Friday, January 18, 2008
Bed
Actually, this is completely untrue. I just like an extra half hour in bed. My eyes are always completely shut, and I'm usually half way around the world in some odd but amusing dream situation.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Division
“You’ve got to have clear boundaries between work and home.”
That’s a piece of advice we received frequently while we were studying at Bible college. With husbands working largely from home, making the distinction between what was work time and what was family time appeared to be very difficult for many other couples we heard from.
I’m starting to think that this sharp divide between ‘home’ and ‘work’ may be a false distinction – or at least a mildly unhelpful one.
Other advice we received drew similar distinctions. “Get enough exercise, eat properly and have a weekly date with your wife so you can talk to each other.”
Up until now I think I have seen my life divided up into boxes: work vs family, children vs my time, housework vs fun, exercise and diet vs playing and eating, education vs holidays.
Reading about homeschooling has given me a new perspective though. It seems obvious now that I say it, but it wasn’t obvious before. It’s all just life! What we do, what we love, how we live, where we go… all of it is just part of living, with no distinctions made.
My husband loves reading books about spiritual growth in the evenings. I could say “that’s work” and make him put it down, but it inspires him and he is moved by it.
As he ‘works’ in the day, he comes in and out of the living areas of our house, talking to the children and to me. We often have some of our most important discussions during the day. It might be nice to go out for a ‘date’ but the purpose would not be to ‘talk’ to each other.
So am I saying that ‘workaholism’ is ok, as long as you’re passionate about what you’re doing? Well no. I think workaholics are escaping something else – perhaps relationships, perhaps pain from the past.
What I’m talking about is living holistically – seeing all of life as important and integrated, not focusing on some things to the unbalanced exclusion of others. Workaholics do not ‘live’ – they work. (Although, having just watched Amazing Grace.... was William Wilberforce a workaholic?... Why do the people who achieve most seem most unbalanced?...)
It seems to me that the only distinction the Bible makes is between the six days of normal life and the one day of Sabbath rest. Without trying to be legalistic, I am challenged to rest as God intends and find out what that means and how it feels.
For now, it’s exciting for me to see the barriers I had erected melt down before my eyes.
That’s a piece of advice we received frequently while we were studying at Bible college. With husbands working largely from home, making the distinction between what was work time and what was family time appeared to be very difficult for many other couples we heard from.
I’m starting to think that this sharp divide between ‘home’ and ‘work’ may be a false distinction – or at least a mildly unhelpful one.
Other advice we received drew similar distinctions. “Get enough exercise, eat properly and have a weekly date with your wife so you can talk to each other.”
Up until now I think I have seen my life divided up into boxes: work vs family, children vs my time, housework vs fun, exercise and diet vs playing and eating, education vs holidays.
Reading about homeschooling has given me a new perspective though. It seems obvious now that I say it, but it wasn’t obvious before. It’s all just life! What we do, what we love, how we live, where we go… all of it is just part of living, with no distinctions made.
My husband loves reading books about spiritual growth in the evenings. I could say “that’s work” and make him put it down, but it inspires him and he is moved by it.
As he ‘works’ in the day, he comes in and out of the living areas of our house, talking to the children and to me. We often have some of our most important discussions during the day. It might be nice to go out for a ‘date’ but the purpose would not be to ‘talk’ to each other.
So am I saying that ‘workaholism’ is ok, as long as you’re passionate about what you’re doing? Well no. I think workaholics are escaping something else – perhaps relationships, perhaps pain from the past.
What I’m talking about is living holistically – seeing all of life as important and integrated, not focusing on some things to the unbalanced exclusion of others. Workaholics do not ‘live’ – they work. (Although, having just watched Amazing Grace.... was William Wilberforce a workaholic?... Why do the people who achieve most seem most unbalanced?...)
It seems to me that the only distinction the Bible makes is between the six days of normal life and the one day of Sabbath rest. Without trying to be legalistic, I am challenged to rest as God intends and find out what that means and how it feels.
For now, it’s exciting for me to see the barriers I had erected melt down before my eyes.
Education again...
“For generations we have tried to make the world a better place by providing more and more schooling but so far the endeavour has failed. What we have learned instead is that forcing all children to climb an open-ended ladder cannot enhance equality but must favour the individual who starts out earlier, healthier, or better prepared; that enforced instruction deadens for most people the will for independent learning; and that knowledge, treated as a commodity, delivered in packages and accepted as private property, once it is acquired, must always be scarce.”
– Ivan Illich, 1974
Human beings are by nature curious, active and exploratory. People learn in real-life situations by problem-solving and by interacting with their environment. Learning occurs in random and informal ways. It is motivated by the needs and interests of students, therefore education should not be forced to submit to an obligatory curriculum.
– John Glazebrook
– Ivan Illich, 1974
Human beings are by nature curious, active and exploratory. People learn in real-life situations by problem-solving and by interacting with their environment. Learning occurs in random and informal ways. It is motivated by the needs and interests of students, therefore education should not be forced to submit to an obligatory curriculum.
– John Glazebrook
Jesus takes us as we are
I’ve been reading the story of Jairus, the man who pleads with Jesus to come and heal his daughter. We’re not told if the little girl has been sick for a long time, or if her illness is a sudden thing, but I can imagine Jairus’ desperation at seeing her close to death.
A parent will do anything, try anything, spend anything and go anywhere to save their child. Jairus would have seen Jesus as his last hope. “If I can just get him to come, he might be able to save her,” I can imagine him thinking.
Jairus did not come to Jesus because he was interested in his teaching, or because he wanted to see what all the fuss was about, or because he’d heard of how he answered the Pharisees. He didn’t come because of the theology. He came because he thought Jesus could do something for him and he was absolutely desperate for the result.
In the middle of this, we meet another desperate person – a woman this time, who is suffering from a chronic illness with not only physical effects, but also emotional and spiritual and social effects. The bleeding makes her an outcast from society and from practising her religion because she is continually ritually unclean.
She has spent everything she has on doctors and cures, and has ‘suffered much’ because of them. She’s a woman with no future, and she’s desperate for a change.
She doesn’t even ask Jesus to help her. She sneaks around the back and takes what she can.
What is Jesus’ reaction to both of these desperate people? He does what they need and are desperate for. He treats both of them with respect. He takes them as they are.
What he doesn’t do is also notable. He doesn’t require them to know or understand anything more of him. The faith that they have is enough – at least for now.
Desperate people come to Jesus today for a whole lot of reasons. He takes us as we are.
A parent will do anything, try anything, spend anything and go anywhere to save their child. Jairus would have seen Jesus as his last hope. “If I can just get him to come, he might be able to save her,” I can imagine him thinking.
Jairus did not come to Jesus because he was interested in his teaching, or because he wanted to see what all the fuss was about, or because he’d heard of how he answered the Pharisees. He didn’t come because of the theology. He came because he thought Jesus could do something for him and he was absolutely desperate for the result.
In the middle of this, we meet another desperate person – a woman this time, who is suffering from a chronic illness with not only physical effects, but also emotional and spiritual and social effects. The bleeding makes her an outcast from society and from practising her religion because she is continually ritually unclean.
She has spent everything she has on doctors and cures, and has ‘suffered much’ because of them. She’s a woman with no future, and she’s desperate for a change.
She doesn’t even ask Jesus to help her. She sneaks around the back and takes what she can.
What is Jesus’ reaction to both of these desperate people? He does what they need and are desperate for. He treats both of them with respect. He takes them as they are.
What he doesn’t do is also notable. He doesn’t require them to know or understand anything more of him. The faith that they have is enough – at least for now.
Desperate people come to Jesus today for a whole lot of reasons. He takes us as we are.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Tagged...
Don't know what a meme is, nor how you tag someone, but it's happened to me, so I'll answer the questions below with some attempt at being amusing and interesting.
1. Were you named after anyone?
Great-grandfather Cecil and my father's first schoolboy crush. She was much older than he was and once took him sailing.
2. When was the last time you cried?
Last week. Honestly - why enumerate it? It happens so often.
3. Do you like your handwriting?
When it's legible.
4. What is your favourite lunch meat?
Ham.
5. Do you have kids?
Yes and I adore them.
6. If you were another person would you be friends with you?
If I answer one way I sound more arrogant than I am, if I answer another way I sound more pathetic than I am. Probably. I'm friends with most people.
7. Do you use sarcasm alot?
Far too much. Not everyone gets it.
8. Do you still have your tonsils?
Yes. What is the point of this question?
9. Would you bungee jump?
No way. It reminds me of a photograph I saw in my modern history textbook of Mussolini's body being hung upside down in the street and set upon by a mob after they killed him. Very icky.
10. What is your favourite cereal?
Homemade granola with lots of seeds, nuts and raisins.
11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Rarely.
12. Do you think you are strong?
I'm an amazon. My muscles have developed because of having to carry my heavy boy babies and toddlers almost everywhere for various reasons.
13. What is your favourite icecream?
I try not to eat it, but a good quality vanilla is hard to go past.
14. What is the first thing you notice about people?
What they are wearing and if they look happy.
15. Red or pink?
I made lots of decisions about my life directions when I was about 14, one of which was never to wear red - because it is too strong and arrogant. Pink actually suits me anyway.
16. What is the thing that you like least about yourself?
Mildly obsessive personality and a couple of very annoying phobic type traits.
17. Who do you miss the most?
A friend I adored who I've now lost contact with. Also my great friend from uni - we don't talk often but it's great when we do. There are lots of people from my past I'd love to spend time with too - Deb and Eunice for example.
19. What colour pants and shoes are you wearing?
Grey sports shorts, no shoes. It's hot.
20. Have you ever re-gifted?
Regifting is my life. It may also be one of the reasons I lost touch with the aforementioned great friend.
21. What are you listening to right now?
TV detritus and the hum of the computer.
22. If you were a crayon what colour would you be?
Who can answer a question like that? Obviously not red.
23. Favourite smells?
Roast lamb, a surf beach, pine trees, chicken kurai.
24. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
Big brother.
25. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
Yes. Obviously.
26. Favourite sports to watch?
Gymnastics and ice dancing. They say ballroom dancing is a sport as well, so I'll go there!
27. Hair colour?
Dark brown. It gets darker when I'm pregnant too.
28. Eye colour?Brown
29. Do you wear contacts?
No need. I have great vision.
30. Favourite food?
Fruit salad with no banana.
31. Scary movies or happy endings?
Scary movies make my body tense. I try not to watch.
32. Last movie you watched?
Next with Nicolas Cage. Cool concept. A little bit laboured in the script.
33. What colour shirt are you wearing?
White. $5 from Big W and it looks like it too.
34. Summer or winter?
The reason I got married in winter is because I cannot keep a face of makeup on in summer. The sweat pours down and I get red and sticky. So, yeah, winter.
35. Hugs or kisses?Hugs.
36. Favourite dessert?
fruit salad
39. What book are you reading now?
Some novel set in Jamaica, several on homeschooling and a few different cookbooks about gluten free diets.
40. What is on your mousepad?
We don't have a mouse pad.
41. What did you watch on tv last night?
Survivor - my favourite show and Wife Swap - my second favourite show.
...gee, there are a lot of questions. I'm getting tired.
42. Favourite sound?
birds and surf
43. Rolling stones or Beatles?
Beatles. I got addicted to them once when I was 13. I had to keep listening to Sgt Peppers' album over and over!
44. What is the furthest you have been from home?
Waco, Texas. Yes, ma'am!
45. Do you have a special talent?
I can fit my whole fist in my mouth.
46. Where were you born?
Tamworth, the home of Country Music. Yee ha!
In order that they may waste as much time on this as I have done, I tag Fairlie, Andrew and Jess.
1. Were you named after anyone?
Great-grandfather Cecil and my father's first schoolboy crush. She was much older than he was and once took him sailing.
2. When was the last time you cried?
Last week. Honestly - why enumerate it? It happens so often.
3. Do you like your handwriting?
When it's legible.
4. What is your favourite lunch meat?
Ham.
5. Do you have kids?
Yes and I adore them.
6. If you were another person would you be friends with you?
If I answer one way I sound more arrogant than I am, if I answer another way I sound more pathetic than I am. Probably. I'm friends with most people.
7. Do you use sarcasm alot?
Far too much. Not everyone gets it.
8. Do you still have your tonsils?
Yes. What is the point of this question?
9. Would you bungee jump?
No way. It reminds me of a photograph I saw in my modern history textbook of Mussolini's body being hung upside down in the street and set upon by a mob after they killed him. Very icky.
10. What is your favourite cereal?
Homemade granola with lots of seeds, nuts and raisins.
11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Rarely.
12. Do you think you are strong?
I'm an amazon. My muscles have developed because of having to carry my heavy boy babies and toddlers almost everywhere for various reasons.
13. What is your favourite icecream?
I try not to eat it, but a good quality vanilla is hard to go past.
14. What is the first thing you notice about people?
What they are wearing and if they look happy.
15. Red or pink?
I made lots of decisions about my life directions when I was about 14, one of which was never to wear red - because it is too strong and arrogant. Pink actually suits me anyway.
16. What is the thing that you like least about yourself?
Mildly obsessive personality and a couple of very annoying phobic type traits.
17. Who do you miss the most?
A friend I adored who I've now lost contact with. Also my great friend from uni - we don't talk often but it's great when we do. There are lots of people from my past I'd love to spend time with too - Deb and Eunice for example.
19. What colour pants and shoes are you wearing?
Grey sports shorts, no shoes. It's hot.
20. Have you ever re-gifted?
Regifting is my life. It may also be one of the reasons I lost touch with the aforementioned great friend.
21. What are you listening to right now?
TV detritus and the hum of the computer.
22. If you were a crayon what colour would you be?
Who can answer a question like that? Obviously not red.
23. Favourite smells?
Roast lamb, a surf beach, pine trees, chicken kurai.
24. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
Big brother.
25. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
Yes. Obviously.
26. Favourite sports to watch?
Gymnastics and ice dancing. They say ballroom dancing is a sport as well, so I'll go there!
27. Hair colour?
Dark brown. It gets darker when I'm pregnant too.
28. Eye colour?Brown
29. Do you wear contacts?
No need. I have great vision.
30. Favourite food?
Fruit salad with no banana.
31. Scary movies or happy endings?
Scary movies make my body tense. I try not to watch.
32. Last movie you watched?
Next with Nicolas Cage. Cool concept. A little bit laboured in the script.
33. What colour shirt are you wearing?
White. $5 from Big W and it looks like it too.
34. Summer or winter?
The reason I got married in winter is because I cannot keep a face of makeup on in summer. The sweat pours down and I get red and sticky. So, yeah, winter.
35. Hugs or kisses?Hugs.
36. Favourite dessert?
fruit salad
39. What book are you reading now?
Some novel set in Jamaica, several on homeschooling and a few different cookbooks about gluten free diets.
40. What is on your mousepad?
We don't have a mouse pad.
41. What did you watch on tv last night?
Survivor - my favourite show and Wife Swap - my second favourite show.
...gee, there are a lot of questions. I'm getting tired.
42. Favourite sound?
birds and surf
43. Rolling stones or Beatles?
Beatles. I got addicted to them once when I was 13. I had to keep listening to Sgt Peppers' album over and over!
44. What is the furthest you have been from home?
Waco, Texas. Yes, ma'am!
45. Do you have a special talent?
I can fit my whole fist in my mouth.
46. Where were you born?
Tamworth, the home of Country Music. Yee ha!
In order that they may waste as much time on this as I have done, I tag Fairlie, Andrew and Jess.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Holt on learning
"Children learn from anything and everything they see. They learn wherever they are, not just in special learning places...We can best help children learn, not by deciding what we think they should learn and thinking of ingenious ways to teach it to them, but by making the world, as far as we can, accessible to them, paying serious attention to what they do, answering their questions and helping them explore the things they are most interested in."
From Learning All the Time by John Holt 1989, Perseus Books
From Learning All the Time by John Holt 1989, Perseus Books
Thursday, January 03, 2008
2008
This year I would like to:
- complete my book and find a publisher
- improve my ability to teach and guide Bright Eyes in his therapy.
- learn more about the way people learn and/or teach
- read a lot of books
- read more of my Bible
- have relaxing days off (child-free) with my husband
- talk to lots of people
- lose 3kg and start Pilates again
- stay in Mittagong (but that's not really up to me)
- complete my book and find a publisher
- improve my ability to teach and guide Bright Eyes in his therapy.
- learn more about the way people learn and/or teach
- read a lot of books
- read more of my Bible
- have relaxing days off (child-free) with my husband
- talk to lots of people
- lose 3kg and start Pilates again
- stay in Mittagong (but that's not really up to me)
Things I did today
Made plum jam (we have a plum tree).
Ate three strawberries, a cucumber and a yellow baby squash from the 'patch'.
Did the grocery shopping with three children. They were great helpers!
Cleaned out the fridge after seeing that nothing fitted in it when I went to put the groceries away. It was disgusting. (Next is the pantry cupboard???)
Stewed six peaches, rescued from the back of the fridge. Inedible fresh, but fine to cook.
Three loads of washing done from dirty, through to wet, hung out and then folded and put away.
Experimented making banana pancakes for Bright Eyes. He wouldn't eat them, but his sister loved them.*
Went for a swim in the neighbours pool.
Had a hot bath after the swim. (It was freezing).
Therapy with Bright Eyes.
Talked to my children.
Wiped up several litres of water from the kitchen floor. The baby loves to pour and re-pour from pot to kettle. He makes a mess, but he has fun, and it keeps the floor washed.
HAD NO NAP!
I feel normal again.
*Whizz a banana, an egg and some almond meal (or substituted flour or carbohydrate). Fry as per pikelets in a buttered pan. Apparently yummy, although I don't like bananas so I didn't partake.
Ate three strawberries, a cucumber and a yellow baby squash from the 'patch'.
Did the grocery shopping with three children. They were great helpers!
Cleaned out the fridge after seeing that nothing fitted in it when I went to put the groceries away. It was disgusting. (Next is the pantry cupboard???)
Stewed six peaches, rescued from the back of the fridge. Inedible fresh, but fine to cook.
Three loads of washing done from dirty, through to wet, hung out and then folded and put away.
Experimented making banana pancakes for Bright Eyes. He wouldn't eat them, but his sister loved them.*
Went for a swim in the neighbours pool.
Had a hot bath after the swim. (It was freezing).
Therapy with Bright Eyes.
Talked to my children.
Wiped up several litres of water from the kitchen floor. The baby loves to pour and re-pour from pot to kettle. He makes a mess, but he has fun, and it keeps the floor washed.
HAD NO NAP!
I feel normal again.
*Whizz a banana, an egg and some almond meal (or substituted flour or carbohydrate). Fry as per pikelets in a buttered pan. Apparently yummy, although I don't like bananas so I didn't partake.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Rebelling against the system
Because of my newly-found interest in homeschooling I have been doing lots of reading, including books by people I would formerly have dismissed as radical anarchists.
One is John Taylor Gatto, who presents in his book Dumbing us Down, his take on the seven things that you really learn at school.
1. Confusion.
Everything taught is out of context. Most curricula have a lack of coherence. Too much is taught, each thing unconnected to the next. Slavery, adjectives, dance, choir, computers, standardised tests, planets... the list goes on.
2. Class Position
Students stay in the place they are allotted to. Children are numbered. Everyone has a proper place in the pyramid and there is no way out of your class.
3. Indifference
Children are taught not to care too much about what they do. They are expected to be keen and enthusiastic about the lesson, but only for as long as the lesson takes. When the bell rings they must switch enthusiasm, turn on and off like a light switch.
4. Emotional Dependency
Privileges can be earned by pleasing the teacher. Children are taught to surrender their will and their self-worth to the predestinated chain of command.
5. Intellectual Dependency
Good students wait for a teacher to tell them what to do. The expert makes the important choices. We've built a way of life that depends on people doing what they are told because they don't know how to tell themselves what to do.
6. Provisional self-esteem
A child's self-respect should depend on expert opinion. What does the report say about a child? That's what they are worth! The lesson of report cards, grades and tests is that children should not trust themselves or their parents but should instead rely on the evaluation of certified officials. People need to be told what they are worth.
7. You can't hideS
Students are always under surveillance and there are no private spaces or private time for children. Homework continues the surveillance into the home. The meaning of this is that no-one can be trusted and privacy is not legitimate.
I feel like I'm exploring a whole other way of thinking. What do you think?
One is John Taylor Gatto, who presents in his book Dumbing us Down, his take on the seven things that you really learn at school.
1. Confusion.
Everything taught is out of context. Most curricula have a lack of coherence. Too much is taught, each thing unconnected to the next. Slavery, adjectives, dance, choir, computers, standardised tests, planets... the list goes on.
2. Class Position
Students stay in the place they are allotted to. Children are numbered. Everyone has a proper place in the pyramid and there is no way out of your class.
3. Indifference
Children are taught not to care too much about what they do. They are expected to be keen and enthusiastic about the lesson, but only for as long as the lesson takes. When the bell rings they must switch enthusiasm, turn on and off like a light switch.
4. Emotional Dependency
Privileges can be earned by pleasing the teacher. Children are taught to surrender their will and their self-worth to the predestinated chain of command.
5. Intellectual Dependency
Good students wait for a teacher to tell them what to do. The expert makes the important choices. We've built a way of life that depends on people doing what they are told because they don't know how to tell themselves what to do.
6. Provisional self-esteem
A child's self-respect should depend on expert opinion. What does the report say about a child? That's what they are worth! The lesson of report cards, grades and tests is that children should not trust themselves or their parents but should instead rely on the evaluation of certified officials. People need to be told what they are worth.
7. You can't hideS
Students are always under surveillance and there are no private spaces or private time for children. Homework continues the surveillance into the home. The meaning of this is that no-one can be trusted and privacy is not legitimate.
I feel like I'm exploring a whole other way of thinking. What do you think?
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Really Useful Engines
I'm not a big fan of 'Thomas the Tank Engine theology'. It happens a lot in churches. People are only valued for what they do or their level of usefulness.
On the Island of Sodor, Thomas the Tank Engine's home, the engines are for the most part happy and contented little things... as long as they are working hard and being busy, but most importantly, following the orders of the Fat Controller.
The Fat Controller is King. He runs the show and tells everyone what to do. In one of our stories, he tells Thomas to go and pick up some new carriages.
"But..." says Thomas.
And, "Really Useful Engines don't argue," says the Fat Controller sternly, and Thomas wheeshes off sulking under his breath.
The engines have little opportunity to show initiative or individuality of thought. They certainly don't take holidays. Busy is best!
Sometimes it's easy to get into Thomas mode in church, where we all obey the minister, follow orders and don't think too much. As long as we're keeping busy and doing what we're told, we're valued, by the church and by God, apparently.
To a certain extent, of course church life must be a little bit like the Island of Sodor, in that we all have gifts we can use for the good of each other. Working together is better than individually. We are a body, and we are not to be lazy, in our lives or in our salvation. The trouble comes when we forget about rest, initiative, respect for all and the fact that we are all unique.
On the Island of Sodor, Thomas the Tank Engine's home, the engines are for the most part happy and contented little things... as long as they are working hard and being busy, but most importantly, following the orders of the Fat Controller.
The Fat Controller is King. He runs the show and tells everyone what to do. In one of our stories, he tells Thomas to go and pick up some new carriages.
"But..." says Thomas.
And, "Really Useful Engines don't argue," says the Fat Controller sternly, and Thomas wheeshes off sulking under his breath.
The engines have little opportunity to show initiative or individuality of thought. They certainly don't take holidays. Busy is best!
Sometimes it's easy to get into Thomas mode in church, where we all obey the minister, follow orders and don't think too much. As long as we're keeping busy and doing what we're told, we're valued, by the church and by God, apparently.
To a certain extent, of course church life must be a little bit like the Island of Sodor, in that we all have gifts we can use for the good of each other. Working together is better than individually. We are a body, and we are not to be lazy, in our lives or in our salvation. The trouble comes when we forget about rest, initiative, respect for all and the fact that we are all unique.
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