Finished "The Prince"

I have to say I wasn't excited to read Machiavelli, but it proved to be a great read. The Prince reads much like political commentary today. Even though I was lost with the names and places of his time, the political schemes and reasoning were something you would hear on the political news channels and blogs today. I wouldn't say I loved reading it, but it is comforting to know that these things were going on 600 years ago and that the world will probably go marching along to a similar beat for many years to come.

The next book on the list is something I've never heard of, "Gargantua and Pantagruel" by Francois Rabelais. French guy. Obviously. Written about the same time as "The Prince". We shall see...

Convicted!

This was in my "A Year Through the Torah" book this morning and I have to admit I am pretty guilty of it fairly often...ok daily. I think I should reform though since it often brings me grief.

"Lashon hara means "the evil tongue", but it should not be understood exclusively as saying slanderous things about others or using profanity (though that is certainly included in the concept). No, lashon hara means saying something bad about another person even if it happens to be true. In other words, lashon hara is gossip, spreading evil (even if true) reports, or expressing a critical spirit about others."

I don't think that means that you should give a bad report if asked in court or to some other end. Like if someone asked me if they should hire the roofer we hired at our house in Anaheim. I'd say no, sorry, I wouldn't hire him again, and that should be enough. But being critical of others, just to complain about it, even if it makes me feel better is something I need to stop doing. It isn't getting anyone anywhere. In the future, if I just NEED to complain, I'll write it down in my top secret journal and then burn it in the fireplace!

A Misunderstanding

I watched two minutes of something I should not have, Dr. Drew on Unschooling. Ugg...I've seen this before. Every time I see someone on TV discuss unschooling, they always show clip after clip of children being...children. It is as if only unschooled, or homeschooled for that matter, children are capable of being rude and obnoxious. It just makes me crazy. They film all day at your house for several days, then make a montage of all the times you asked the kids to do something and they growled or all the times they interrupted. And they always show all the little ones, not the young adults.

I'm going to attempt to set something straight here. I don't homeschool my kids so that they will be perfectly regulated angels. I'll admit it, sometimes they are outright brats and they make me cry in frustration. But I'm fairly sure that public schooled kids do that too, especially the young ones. I don't expect them to be well behaved all the time. They are children and they are learning what is right and wrong, what is good and evil, and how to behave in a social group. To me, and many others, the way to teach that is by example. If you treat a child as a slave, with no individual rights, his humanity will rebel. He will get uglier than he is already. If you put a child in a totalitarian system, he will not learn self-government. If you use force on a child, he will use that force on others. Use force on a person and you get rebellion or submission, neither is a positive attribute in my opinion.

Two examples from our house.

Me: "Hey, Tom! Can you take out the trash when you get a minute?" (He's playing a video game on my computer.)

Dream Response (which I do get fairly often): Tom: "Sure, just a second." (Finishes level or gets to save point, runs out to the trash.) "Anything else?"

Me: "No. Thanks!"

Tom has learned that what he is doing is valid and he has been respected. He will most likely treat others this way. Maybe not always, or right away, but in the future for sure. And there is always the likely hood that he may just be wrong in his head and be an ass when he grows up. It's his choice and forcing him to do something when I say to do it regardless of his feelings will not change THAT.

Another Likely Response (of which I also hear very often): Tom: "Sure, just a second." (Keeps playing)
Me: "Tom? The trash? When? I'd like to read our book". or "We have somewhere to be today."
Tom: "Oh! Right! Sorry!" (Saves game. Does chore.)

And this response happens every once in a while, more often when they were younger. Tom: "I'm busy! I can't save!"
Me: "Ok, I'll do it this time, but breakfast will have to wait that much longer. I hope you aren't hungry."

This is where people freak out. He has no consequences for not doing what you told him to do! Yes, he does. His breakfast is late. And my cheerful attitude about doing more work while he plays usually gets his conscience and he loves me a bit and does something else to help. Maybe not the first time, but eventually.

Bottom line? I treat my children with the respect I treat adults. Their play is their work. Yes, it's a lot more fun than my work usually, but I took that on of my own free will and they will too eventually. And yes, it is working. My boys are 11 and almost 10 now. They help a lot more than they used to and never by force. I have heard often this past year, "I'll help you do your chores so it will go faster and we can go to Disneyland earlier!" They have personal chores they do, but they are chosen by them and usually revolve around them and what they like. Jake likes his bed made when he gets into it, so he makes it. Tom doesn't like jeans on the floor because he is afraid of bugs, so he folds them up in his drawer.

I don't have well behaved children. I have children. They are cute and that is what saves them many days! :)

Classic Moms Class

Last night was my Classic Moms Class online from Abigail Adams Academy. We were discussing "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. I've read the book before and really liked reading it again. I do wish I had taken more time to write down my thoughts as I read though. I feel like I remember so much more of the book when I do that.

During our discussion last night, someone brought up the class thing. The book is filled with class issues, Mr. Darcy's main hesitation about asking Elizabeth to marry him is because of her lower social class. What we were talking about was whether or not classes exist today. I don't think they do as they did then. I understand that people who are poor don't always have the chance to change that. There may be no influence to show them another way of life, but it isn't impossible as it was in the past.

Today, if a rich and well educated person were to go and find a family to "adopt" and help through tough times or someone from that family was able to get an education for themselves, raise their standard of living, or even become rich themselves, they are not excluded from activities and events given by other rich people because they used to be poor. Wow! Was that a sentence?

In the past there was a wall between the classes. If you were born a farmer and you became rich somehow, you were still not allowed to attend the ball of some aristocrat. You were of a lower class and did not belong.

Today, at least in our country, things are different. I agree there are economic classes, but they can be transcended, even if it is unlikely or difficult. Yes, there are people in our country who still think, "Well, he just recently became rich, unlike us, who had our money handed down for generations." But typically, if you can buy a ticket, you're in.

There is also a difference in the term "class". One can have class and not be rich or aristocratic. And one can be rich and have no class whatsoever. That was true then and now. The book has some great examples of that as well.

Little Protesters

Yesterday morning, I logged into FB, my email, and Blogger, as is my wont, but found something I was unaware of...a protest! Here are the details if you want to read about it. https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/
At first I thought, well how much will staying off the internet do to stop this legislation? Is it worth it? I figured I jump on the band wagon and stay off as well and then went to my books, which is also a morning routine. Then  I headed for the shower.

I thought about telling the boys about the protest and asking them if they wanted to participate, but when I emerged there they were, reading something on the internet. I got my coffee. My son asks me, "Mom, what do you know about the PICA/SOPA thing?" What?! How is he even aware? Turns out that a few of their favorite sites are shutting down for the day in protest. We discussed the bills and what they could mean for the internet. Tom worried that it was a violation of the first amendment. Me, still astonished. Both the boys decided they would stay off the internet as well. And that's no small feat around here, especially since Dad had to go into the city for work earlier and we had no car to take us on adventures AND Jake had been sick the previous day so he was in no mood to run around outside. Tom did get online long enough to change his webpage to point to Wikipedia's protest page. Here's a link to it http://kikapoogamez.weebly.com/

So we spent a lazy day watching a movie, playing XBox at Grandma's, reading our books, and making chocolate chip cookies. It was a good day. I even got a small knitting project done. We had teriyaki chicken and rice for dinner. The kids were a little tiffed at that since Dad wasn't home and we are supposed to have pancakes on nights like that, but I had already started the chicken before I remembered and Dad doesn't like teriyaki either, so it still worked.

Don't worry though. Dad got home! :)

A Blacksmith!

Ahhh! It's working! As my favorite A-Team member says, "I love it when a plan comes together." Tom has been thinking a lot about what direction his life will take. When he turned eleven this past October he began writing a journal on the computer. He said he had to start writing things down because "things were starting to happen to him" and he wanted to remember them.

Last week, he talked to me about being a Blacksmith. He's done a little work with a couple of Historical Reenactments and really loved it, besides he could make swords in his spare time. After a few days of thinking and talking to Dad, I realized that this could work. I could find those people at the Historical Museum in Big Bear and see where they learned, maybe they would need an apprentice. I talked to Tom about it and he said he would love it, but not the kind that Nat Bowditch got signed up for. He didn't want to be indentured!

Yesterday, I poked around the Internet and found the California Blacksmiths Association. I looked through their classes and found one right here in Yucca Valley! I emailed the guy about Tom. He called me back. And now Tom's signed up to go to the Novice class on Saturday afternoon! How awesome is that?! The guy was really nice. Their family homeschools too. He told me to bring him on Saturday and fill out the forms to be a member of CBA and $20 for the class and he can try it out and keep coming every month if he likes it. Dad is going to go with him so that he can learn a bit too.

I don't know who is more excited, me or Tom. The only bummer is that we have family coming over on Saturday, but my brother is staying all weekend so Tom won't miss him and he can fill everyone in on his adventure when he gets back.

So, what's "working"? My own education and research in homeschooling led me to the unschooling idea of leaving them alone to be kids. We read together a lot. We talk about life a lot. We go to museums, parks, and other local (and not so local) stuff. We've never sat down for "lessons". They play games most of the day. But they are voracious readers, excellent mathematicians, and well versed in history. And now, at eleven years old, Tom is looking into what he wants to do with himself. He is feeling puberty coming on. He is self-aware and knows that he is growing up. He is taking a class to learn something because it interests him, not in a classroom with a textbook, but with a real mentor working in the field. As he actually works, he will feel his purpose in the world. He won't be waiting until he is 18 to start his real life. He has been living it the whole time. I'm excited for him. If blacksmithing proves to not to be his life dream, so what? He will have some skills to use. Not just blacksmithing skills, but pride, communication, and confidence that he can use in his next endeavor.

New Years' Party at Old Dale

We spent New Year's weekend at our favorite camping spot since the weather was so warm for January. It seems that there were a lot of other people with the same idea! We could see three other campers from our spot. One of them had a TV and generator, which they ran all night. Seriously?! When we drove back into the mines there were several people camped back there, too. Crazy busy!

We got a Baja Bug last week, so we just had to take out there and play with it. The last few times we've been out have been all about target practice and skeet shooting, but this time it was all about driving! All three kids did a great job driving the bug and it's a manual transmission so that's saying something. Jake and Tom have fallen in love with the stick shift! Nikki could do without it but it has given her a new appreciation of how much easier it is to drive the truck.






Dan told Jake to turn around in a spot that proved to be VERY deep sand and they got stuck. So stuck, that Nikki and I had to drive the RV out as far as we could and then walk out to them with the jack and some pans to dig them out! Dan got out though and the adventure was very exciting!

We attempted to do some exploring farther back in the mines as we had done before, but going up that road more than once proved to be more than we had the guts to do. The bug can only seat four so Dan had to ferry Jake and I up and then go back for Nikki and Tom, but after going up that nasty road once, we decided not to tempt fate and do something else. We all messed around looking for new places to explore, then went back to Virginia Dale to poke around. While we were there we saw a guy (with an awesome Jeep) come down that same road with a trailer!! I couldn't watch.

Tom and I decided to hike around the mines while Dan took Nikki and Jake back to camp but then we decided we would try and walk back. We had the best time! It took us about an hour walking straight across the desert but it was so fun and we saw a couple critters. Funny that we rarely see any animals, not even birds. We see lots of tracks though.

The next morning, Dan ferried Jake, Tom, and I out to another spot we wanted to explore and we walked back from there. We got to the top of this big hill and could see a ravine, so we walked down to that and checked it out. You can't see it at all from the road or camp. Good place to hide! :)) The best part of that walk was the long philosophical discussion we had on the way back. All that walking and quiet solitude really gets those boys to talking.

The last day we were there, Dan got the bug stuck again but this time closer to camp. Things we need on the bug: a jack, a piece of wood, a shovel, and a piece of carpet. That ought to keep us rolling! And I need a bug of my own! Ha!

Oh! On the way home, the bug started smoking bad and Dan had to pull over. Luckily, Tom and Jake had their walkie talkies on and Tom called us and told us to stop by a van on the side of the road. They were in front of us quite a ways and when the bug broke down, a guy pulled over to help them. I would have seen them too late and had to turn around on the highway if Tom hadn't have radio'd us right then. The guy that stopped was so cool! His name was Clark Cravy and he lives out there. He knows all about bugs and was going to help Dan fix it right there on the road. It wasn't that bad though. It just got hot going too fast up a grade. We took it easy the rest of the way home and it was fine. Dan has fallen in love with the bug though and now he just has another reason to spend time on it. The guy told us to look up the UCC Connection when we got home. He said he tells everyone he meets to look that up. Turns out he is "one of us". The site is article is great and Freedom-School.com has lots of great stuff to read too.





We're all home now and the laundry has begun! I can't wait to go out again though. Every time we take the RV out for a short trip, I long for a big ol' road trip even more!

Happy New Year Everyone!