thoughts of needing to buy textbooks:(

I am on the steering committee for my local homeschool group and we had a meeting today. One mom brought her biology book and lab book that she is using with her 9 year old daughter. Another mom had her plan book with her, which I had a glance at. Her son has to take tests this year. I just stayed quiet while they all discussed how difficult it is to get their children to do any work but that they have to or else they will have to go to school.

Maybe someday I will have the courage to mention and discuss our homeschooling path, unschooling. But for now I will just wear my new Live and Learn conference T-shirt and carry around my tote bag and if they ask... well then I will talk about what we do, or rather what we don't do. We are a minority in our group, but we are accepted, and included and not singled out or anything and I am grateful for that. I love our group, but it brings up that anxiety in me of "He's not learning anything that's in that book" or "OOh, that book looks like it would be a great book for science" all those original homeschooling ideas I had that just don't work for us.

I have definetely come a long way in the last year. Last year after a meeting like today I would have freaked out and made H do some kind of school work and probably tried to make him do something on the sly, trying to make it seem like it's one of his interests. Or would have tried to take one of his interests and turned it into some kind of curriculum that included at least reading, writing, and history. But today I have no such compulsion and I am glad. There is a little voice in the back of my head that is saying, "but he won't be prepared for college if he wants to go" and it's also saying "what if he never wants to learn what all kids are supposed to know" but then luckily I have to ask that voice "what should all kids know and by what age and do they really need to know it?" A lot of that school stuff is just fluff, just extra facts, that we all forget eventually. Some things stick, but do they make our lives more joyful, well maybe if we are fact buffs like me. I love odd pieces of knowledge, but H doesn't. He isn't good with facts.

So for now I am feeling pretty good, not giving in to that little voice and just letting H be H and allow him to learn what he wants to, in his own time without my baggage or anyone else's baggage about what he should be learning because he is 9 years old.

I gave up..

Man, so last night I couldn't sleep and I came down here to my computer thinking... Hey I will blog. So I am typing up this blog, even doing hyperlinks:) and my computer decides it's going to do an update and I am about 2/3 the way done with the post and my puter shuts down!!!!

I sat there in awe as it beeped and flashed pretty colors at me...

So here goes trying to repost what I worked on last nght:

I gave up. I am no longer trying to make my own dishwasher detergent.
After having so much white residue build up on my dishes and glasses, I just couldn't take it anymore and decided to give it up. I tried adding vinegar, but learned that the best way to use vinegar is to add it in the rinse cycle. Well excuse me, but I am not that in tune with my dishwasher to know when it is entering into it's rinse cycle.

So now I am using seventh generation dishwasher detergent and am so much happier:)

I am still using borax and washing soda for laundry detergent and that is working great! I use Fels Naptha soap for stains and it does a great job.

I have found some sites for recipes for making some good smelling and working laundry detergent and I found a big bucket to make some, just got to get off my ass and make some.

Also need to figure out fabric softener... I have heard that vinegar is a good fabric softener, but it doesn't have the best flavor smell. Also I am wondering if there is any natural cure to static cling, cuz once the winter comes I will need something to get rid of it. Although I can manage with it.

Okay now in my post last night there would have been some hyperlinks to the different laundry detergent recipes but I don't have time this morning so will have to skip it.

live and learn conference

Oh wow, just got back from the L&L conference and it was a wonderful experience. I met some new friends and just feel really filled up. It was hard for us to come home, we were all sort of grumpy on the drive home. I think each of us was feeling the loss in our own ways.

I took away a lot of great information from the conference and am looking forward to more get togethers in the future. Will have to write more later. I am exhausted.

night