First off, I suppose I should say a little something about Hurricane Harvey. How could I not right? However, I will keep it short and sweet as we are all trying to get back in rhythm and look to the future.
As a person who was born and raised in Houston, I am one of the millions who call this "my city." I remember speaking to a National Park Ranger once on our road trip when he asked where we lived. When I said Houston he said "oh man you should move." Now, I'll admit, I froze. I was a little lost for words. In a way I agreed with him but my mind was telling me you love your town. In the end, my answer was "well my husband has to work." The absolute truth is that I do want to move, but I do not want to move far. I just want some property. Some quiet. Less hustle and bustle. I want to move to a more rural area outside of Houston, but where people still consider Houston their city. Tomball, Waller, Magnolia, Montgomery, Cleveland, etc.
Here is how I should have answered his question (only thought of in hindsight after pondering the hurricane and subsequent response of the people in Houston).
Houston may not have the most beautiful scenery, the most beautiful lakes, rivers, or mountains. But do you know what it does have? It has the most beautiful people. We are the most diverse city in the United States and we get along. We love our neighbors whether they are black, white, hispanic, Indian, Korean, Iranian, Nigerian, Polish, Christian, Muslim, or Jewish. We live together, we interact on a daily basis and therefore we have no reason to fear each other. We are friends. We are neighbors. In many cases, we marry each other and have beautiful little Texan-Yoruban babies. We are an example to our country and Hurricane Harvey has put us on display. I am proud to be from Houston and I have no desire to leave (further than 50 miles :)
What has Hurricane Harvey taught me?
These are not new. Just reinforced.
Become more self sufficient. Find land and grow your own food. Keep livestock. Make your own everything. Do everything you can to not contribute to global warming. For those that think global warming is a hoax or they are skeptical. So what? Why would you not help contribute to a more sustainable way of life? Do the oceans have to be rising? Do storms have to intensify? Just do it because it's the right thing. Live on less. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Buy local as much as possible. Stay home as much as possible (no the irony is not lost on me that I am telling myself to stay home while posting pics about how we drove across the country).
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Back to Unschooling
After much thought, I think we are unschoolers. It's just not your typical fly by the seat of your pants unschooling. I need rhythm. Serious rhythm. If I do not have it, I don't do things for so long that they become a burden and a hassle. After cultivating habits, life is easier...for me. I am never too far behind. My toilets are never too dirty. My kids' hair is never too tangled. My plants are never too thirsty. I do not enjoy being overwhelmed. The habits help me to have more focused and enjoyable down time. I don't have other things on my mind. I am truly present and in the moment because I am caught up on the everyday tasks.
So I have three things on my fridge. A weekly meal plan, a weekly cleaning schedule, and a weekly rhythm. If I can mostly stick to these, we are golden. The meal plan is to make sure I purchase enough food for the week and that I cook the food that may go bad sooner rather than later. The cleaning schedule is so that I can clean a little each day and never feel behind. The weekly rhythm is for comfort. It allows us to have tons of free time and yet still get to those things that we value as a family.
I need these three things on my fridge because, above all, I am an idler at heart. I want to idle and I want to idle in peace. I cannot have Ayo's knotted hair nagging at the back of my brain screaming "BRUSH ME!" while I'm trying to read my escape novel and drink a beer.
All of this unschooling talk has led me to our label. Yep. I actually want a label. The label helps our family always remember what it important to us.
Drumroll please.....
Rhythmic Unschoolers!
Yep. It's a thing.
I will leave this unschooling talk with a quote from an unschooling mother found in Teach Your Own by John Jolt.
"We never ask our kids to do things that we don't do ourselves, and consequently we inspire each other. We all read a lot, we all write a lot, we all speak very broken French, we all practice the piano, etc. People are often amazed at how 'selfless' I am. They think they could never spend so much time with their kids, do all the necessary preparation it must take to 'teach' all those subjects, etc. Actually, I have never been so self-indulgent. I always wanted to learn French and take piano lessons and when Ishmael asked to do these things, I knew that here was my chance! As for math, I can barely balance our checkbook, so I enjoy learning along with Ishmael. And he is teaching me spelling and history (don't tell!), so I am feeling very alive and full."
The subjects and names may differ for our family, but one thing that I believe all unschoolers can say with confidence is that they feel very alive and full. The kids and the parents.
_____________________________________________
These are the last photos from our trip! Finally.
We stayed at the Excalibur hotel in Las Vegas which was like nothing my kids have ever experienced. Walking the strip and seeing the showgirls with little stickers on their nipples was right up their alley. They LOVED it!
After two nights in Vegas, we said goodbye to my sister and the cousins as well as Grandpa one last time. They had to fly back to Houston so the Freedom Seven set out on their own.
We drove by the Hoover Dam.
And onto the Grand Canyon! We were only able to camp one night in the canyon and our campsite wasn't that great. However, the hiking trails looked super rad. Maybe not something to do with a tribe of hooligans (I can see them falling to their deaths), but something to think about for the future...
We drove through Petrified Forest National Park on our way to Socorro, New Mexico. There are no campsites in the park, but you can pitch a tent near these teepees right outside the park for free. It was a bit too hot in August for camping anyway.
The Painted Desert.
After spending the night in Socorro, we drove to Carlsbad Caverns. We took the elevator down and hiked out of the natural entrance. It was quite a hike. Lots of switchbacks. I was not expecting to be so tired.
After the cavern, we drove to and slept in Pecos, Texas. Balmorhea State Park was our last stop the next morning on our final stretch of road home.
And that's it! The end! Now back to life in the present here on the blog.
Here is how I should have answered his question (only thought of in hindsight after pondering the hurricane and subsequent response of the people in Houston).
Houston may not have the most beautiful scenery, the most beautiful lakes, rivers, or mountains. But do you know what it does have? It has the most beautiful people. We are the most diverse city in the United States and we get along. We love our neighbors whether they are black, white, hispanic, Indian, Korean, Iranian, Nigerian, Polish, Christian, Muslim, or Jewish. We live together, we interact on a daily basis and therefore we have no reason to fear each other. We are friends. We are neighbors. In many cases, we marry each other and have beautiful little Texan-Yoruban babies. We are an example to our country and Hurricane Harvey has put us on display. I am proud to be from Houston and I have no desire to leave (further than 50 miles :)
What has Hurricane Harvey taught me?
These are not new. Just reinforced.
Become more self sufficient. Find land and grow your own food. Keep livestock. Make your own everything. Do everything you can to not contribute to global warming. For those that think global warming is a hoax or they are skeptical. So what? Why would you not help contribute to a more sustainable way of life? Do the oceans have to be rising? Do storms have to intensify? Just do it because it's the right thing. Live on less. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Buy local as much as possible. Stay home as much as possible (no the irony is not lost on me that I am telling myself to stay home while posting pics about how we drove across the country).
________________________________________________
Back to Unschooling
After much thought, I think we are unschoolers. It's just not your typical fly by the seat of your pants unschooling. I need rhythm. Serious rhythm. If I do not have it, I don't do things for so long that they become a burden and a hassle. After cultivating habits, life is easier...for me. I am never too far behind. My toilets are never too dirty. My kids' hair is never too tangled. My plants are never too thirsty. I do not enjoy being overwhelmed. The habits help me to have more focused and enjoyable down time. I don't have other things on my mind. I am truly present and in the moment because I am caught up on the everyday tasks.
So I have three things on my fridge. A weekly meal plan, a weekly cleaning schedule, and a weekly rhythm. If I can mostly stick to these, we are golden. The meal plan is to make sure I purchase enough food for the week and that I cook the food that may go bad sooner rather than later. The cleaning schedule is so that I can clean a little each day and never feel behind. The weekly rhythm is for comfort. It allows us to have tons of free time and yet still get to those things that we value as a family.
I need these three things on my fridge because, above all, I am an idler at heart. I want to idle and I want to idle in peace. I cannot have Ayo's knotted hair nagging at the back of my brain screaming "BRUSH ME!" while I'm trying to read my escape novel and drink a beer.
All of this unschooling talk has led me to our label. Yep. I actually want a label. The label helps our family always remember what it important to us.
Drumroll please.....
Rhythmic Unschoolers!
Yep. It's a thing.
I will leave this unschooling talk with a quote from an unschooling mother found in Teach Your Own by John Jolt.
"We never ask our kids to do things that we don't do ourselves, and consequently we inspire each other. We all read a lot, we all write a lot, we all speak very broken French, we all practice the piano, etc. People are often amazed at how 'selfless' I am. They think they could never spend so much time with their kids, do all the necessary preparation it must take to 'teach' all those subjects, etc. Actually, I have never been so self-indulgent. I always wanted to learn French and take piano lessons and when Ishmael asked to do these things, I knew that here was my chance! As for math, I can barely balance our checkbook, so I enjoy learning along with Ishmael. And he is teaching me spelling and history (don't tell!), so I am feeling very alive and full."
The subjects and names may differ for our family, but one thing that I believe all unschoolers can say with confidence is that they feel very alive and full. The kids and the parents.
_____________________________________________
These are the last photos from our trip! Finally.
We stayed at the Excalibur hotel in Las Vegas which was like nothing my kids have ever experienced. Walking the strip and seeing the showgirls with little stickers on their nipples was right up their alley. They LOVED it!
After two nights in Vegas, we said goodbye to my sister and the cousins as well as Grandpa one last time. They had to fly back to Houston so the Freedom Seven set out on their own.
We drove by the Hoover Dam.
And onto the Grand Canyon! We were only able to camp one night in the canyon and our campsite wasn't that great. However, the hiking trails looked super rad. Maybe not something to do with a tribe of hooligans (I can see them falling to their deaths), but something to think about for the future...
We drove through Petrified Forest National Park on our way to Socorro, New Mexico. There are no campsites in the park, but you can pitch a tent near these teepees right outside the park for free. It was a bit too hot in August for camping anyway.
The Painted Desert.
After spending the night in Socorro, we drove to Carlsbad Caverns. We took the elevator down and hiked out of the natural entrance. It was quite a hike. Lots of switchbacks. I was not expecting to be so tired.
After the cavern, we drove to and slept in Pecos, Texas. Balmorhea State Park was our last stop the next morning on our final stretch of road home.
Hi Megan,
ReplyDeleteCan you please shoot me an email? I have a question for you.
http://fearlesshomeschool.com/contact/
Thanks,
Kelly.