Sloth, Actually

Today is day one of two days of slothdom. We haven't planned exactly which other day this week day two will fall on. TV for the kids and 'puter for mom. Today, we also have swimming planned for the kiddos and slothing, I mean soaking, in a hot tub for mom. So we won't be complete sloths. At some point we may actually have to walk somewhere for food as well. Or just not eat until supper which could be a plan as well. If the kids can make it.

Now, onto other things on this post. Kerflop posted about a fight she had with her hubby. It has touched me utterly. I often feel like other people have perfect days of perfect bliss with their perfect families. This makes me feel like my days of-well, let's just call them imperfection-look even worse to me.

So, in an effort to also be transparent, I have confessions to make.

• I homeschool my children. This does not mean I love my children more than anyone else loves their choldren. Sometimes, I think people perceive our lives as school work, story time, craft time and then homemade cookies after we bake up our homemade bread.(THIS IS NOT WHAT OUR SCHOOL DAY LOOKS LIKE!!) Homeschooling does not mean that my children are always perfectly well behaved. (PLEASE THOSE OF YOU THAT KNOW MY CHILDREN, DO NOT LEAVE EXAMPLES OF THIS IN THE COMMENTS!!) It does not mean that our family time is spent doing science experiments and canning vegetables for our homestead.(Sometimes we do find a little science in the fridge though.) Some days, I must confess, this is my perception of what homeschool should be for us. (I must also confess I could never live up to it for more than a day or two.) I battle with myself much more than I battle with others. [Deep down in my heart I want to be Ma Ingalls and I want Erik to be Pa (or the Rock)]. (Just kidding honey, not any more than you want me to be Rachel Ray!) (Haha Erik, her page doesn't have pictures!!). However, we are just ordinary flawed people doing the best we can. We have ordinary children that we hope to raise to be productive citizens (please God, voting, believing productive citizens). My children are somewhat sheltered, but not as much as I would like them to be. (I do try on this one though!!) I don't hate public school. (Most days I give it some very serious thought.) I am more critical of public schools than alot of people, but I do not believe homeschool for everyone is the answer. I've wanted to homeschool my kids for as long as I can remember. It was not a result of immersion into the school system. I fully realize this strong desire to homeschool made me super-sensitive to any and all public school flaws. I wish other homeschoolers would recognize this supersensitivity as well and we would all get off our high horses. I am thankful God crossed my path with the most annoying homeschooler in the world yesterday. She made sure to read "The Well-trained Mind" during the library activity and also to correct me when I said, "I think I've read that book before." , by pointing to the copyright date and assuring me it was a new edition. Her daughter was only 4, so she couldn't really complain too much about the school system-but she did complain extensively about both preschools they attended. Seeing exactly what it looks like to be on a high horse really softened the blow of falling off of mine. I hope I never act like, look like, sound like or post like that lady sounded. (I do have my judgemental hat on, sorry!) We parents are all making the best choices we can and that is something to be respected and encouraged. For some it will mean public school, others private. Some will homeschool, others will unschool and ultimately, we all hope to help our children become wonderful functional grownups.
• My marriage is pretty good these days. We still have fights. We are not perfect. We don't always communicate well. We have vices together and apart. We are not perfect parents. We make huge mistakes. We parent wrong. We parent right. Over all though, we are doing the best we can and God helps us do a little better everyday. In 14 years, I have learned to love, honor and respect the man I married. Most days this comes easy. Other days it is almost impossible and I fail completely. Our kids won't grow up expecting us to write a parenting or marriage book because we did such a great job raising them and being perfect marriage role models. They will grow up knowing that we love them and love each other. (After a couple years of therapy, anyway.)

Wow, what a long post. I love the Hallmark channel. Little House, Touched By An Angel, AND Seventh Heaven?? Too good to be true. National Geographic and The History channel are awesome as well. Very good to have lots of neat channels for sloth days. So glad we only have 13 channels at home or we would be tempted to have sloth days everyday!! Coming soon, swimming and hot-tubbing. After my 11:30 nap. My husband is awesome for letting us vacation while he works.