Consider Yourself Warned (Again), Homeschoolers

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We spent most of our homeschooling years in Illinois. If they offered virtual schools there (state-sponsored school work kids do at home), they were too busy raiding the teachers’ pension fund to take the time to let us know about it. But here in Wisconsin, we regularly receive mail from virtual schools.

Virtual schools are not homeschooling, no matter what they tell you in the ads. If you don’t believe me, read this excellent post by a homeschooling mom of 14 (#15 is on the way) who has seen what happens to families who fall for the freebies offered by virtual schools.

BTW, many long-time homeschoolers (the Kasemans were among the first) warned everyone about this. But it’s worth repeating for those who are new to homeschooling, or might be considering it.

His Mom is an Angel

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I was pretty fortunate. I fell in love with my son from the time I learned he had been conceived, and when I found out (eighteen hours after his birth) that he had Down syndrome, I loved him even more. But it doesn’t work that way for everyone.

One mom I knew felt she couldn’t cope with raising a child with Ds, and wanted to give her new baby up for adoption. But her husband refused, saying there was no way he was giving up his first son (there were already two daughters). That family has thrived since then, more than ten years ago….Mom just had a case of fear of the unknown, I think.

But then there is this gal, who blames a lack of support from her family and friends for her reluctance to raise her baby with Down syndrome. But as I’ve written before, God looks out for his precious ones. In this case, He sent an angel named Alex Bell.

I love this true story. You will too 🙂

A New Look Without New Furniture

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I think it’s sad that today has become a retail event. It’s just one more reminder of the commercialization of Christmas.

While flipping through the sale flyers stuffed in this week’s newspapers, I was struck by how many furniture stores are having sales. I guess the idea is to impress your holiday guests when they come over by having new, up-to-date furniture.

I’m not one to update furniture much. I’m emotionally attached to most of our furniture (ok, not the sofa or loveseat, but pretty much everything else). Also, I just can’t see paying good money to buy furniture made in China when I already have good furniture made in America.

But I understand that change is good. Even I, sentimental and cheap, like a change of decorating sometimes. But my husband freaks out at the idea of change, especially if it costs a lot of money.

Some years back I discovered a book that satisfied the urge for change without replacing the furniture. It’s called Use What You Have Decorating by Lauri Ward.

I found the book long before real estate staging came into vogue, but both use the same room design principles. I was not familiar with those principles until I found this book. It taught me that the “push all the furniture up against the walls” decorating method I was raised with is definitely not the way to do things. Instead, Ward suggests better ways to rearrange your furniture and accent pieces.

This book taught me basic room design principles, and gave me the courage to use them. Of course, my husband doesn’t like it, because it advocates change. But I think it’s a great book!

 

“Young Frankenstein”

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I think it’s hard for anyone born after 1975 or so to understand how exciting movies used to be.

Going to the movies was an event, because we didn’t have all the television channels there are now, nor access to DVD players, Netflix, or online movies. If you saw a movie you absolutely loved at the theater, you knew you wouldn’t see it again unless you lucked out and it was eventually shown on network television. Back then, the only two ways to see a movie were in the theater and on television. Or so I thought.

When I got to college, I discovered that different campus groups had access to movies as fundraisers. They’d reserve an auditorium, obtain a movie and show it on a Friday or Saturday night for 75 cents a person. Each week there would be flyers all over campus advertising the coming weekend’s offerings.

That’s where I first saw “Young Frankenstein,” in an auditorium packed with rowdy college students. And it was so much fun! Some kids had seen the movie enough times on the weekends (the groups tended to show the same films over and over) that they yelled out the best lines as they occurred. It made for an entertaining evening. After that, I often saw my favorite movies two or three times, just because I could.

We watched “Young Frankenstein” here the other night. The audience was just three of us. But the movie is so funny that we laughed out loud pretty often.

The film is a Mel Brooks original, which means it’s a spoof. In this case, it’s poking fun at the original 1931 movie “Frankenstein” and also “Bride of Frankenstein” (1935). So if you’ve seen those films, you’ll fully understand why Brooks made “Young Frankenstein’ the way he did.

We were always pretty strict about which movies we allowed our kids to watch (I can hear my adult kids now chiming in from two different states, “You sure were!”), and so I can’t recommend this movie for the under-16 crowd. But it’s a stitch for older teens, and for 50-year-old parents who still remember their fellow classmates whinnying loudly in the Auditorium every time one of the actors mentions “Frau Blucher.”