I am the first one up everyday, by at least an hour. This morning, on the door to the bathroom that is in the hall next to my 7 year old daughter’s bedroom, I found this note prominently displayed. Why would my sweet little girl do this?
Well, she has a sense of humor.
Empathologism 
Obvious shit-test is obvious.
[Apt words indeed]
Haha, I just realized you can see a first attempt at the sign through the other side of the page. I guess she didn’t think her “No” symbol was big enough the first time around.
I hope you save that Empath. Items like that become treasures when children grow up. Or at least, that is what my parents told me.
I have 4 kids, ages 22, 20, 16, and 7…..all mine and hers, not blended. So yes, I have boxes and boxes of things like this.
Very funny.
We have boxes of stuff that our oldest three made as well. Our youngest two are just starting to build their collection. Our five are 19,18,18,7,5.
Are you homeschooling the youngest?
No we are not. We did the others for varying lengths of time. One stretch i worked from home and we had this too massive house with enough rooms where we even hade a school room in it (and a gym and arec room plus a game room and 6 bedrooms and etc etc etc), dedicated. That was before we collapsed financially. Thing was, I worked from home and we were all home all the time, it was truly an amazing time in our lives.
Our present circumstances with 2 in college, one a junior in HS, and us recovering $, we need wife to earn real money or we will never ever have a returement of subsistence, let alone anything at all nice. So….the child misses home schooling, and it stinks
Off topic:
I heard on the news this morning that a school district in Southern California will be allowing children from grade levels K-12 to be able to choose which gender bathroom and locker room they want to utilize based on the gender they opt to be.
Our culture further slides down into the abyss. Any ideas how to stop this??
I can only imagine what the teenagers will choose to do….
…
[?]
@Vascularity 777
I do have an idea, involving politicians, a wall and a magine gun, but I had to discard it as not Christian.
@Empath
When I saw the title of this post I first thought that you had been to Christian Forums again. Seriously though, I know how you feel. The number or times one or other of my children have said “Oh! Dad! Do you have to…”
So sad that our electorate chooses this type of pathology for our children and our society. Unless the folks awaken, there is not much hope for change. Of course we have our faith in Christ, but it seems He has given us, to a point, the power through elections to vote for what we want.
Our present circumstances with 2 in college, one a junior in HS, and us recovering $, we need wife to earn real money or we will never ever have a returement of subsistence, let alone anything at all nice. So….the child misses home schooling, and it stinks
It’s requiring a leap of faith for us to homeschool with three kids in college this year, so I understand where your head is. Thankfully our eldest earned enough in academic scholarship money that we haven’t been hit as hard as we could have been.
We’re hoping I can re-enter my entrepreneurial pursuits within the next 2 years and haven’t given nearly as much time and energy to retirement planning as we should outside of employer based savings plan. That may be foolish, but it is what it is.
That said, I actually know a single mother who homeschooled her son through high school. Not sure what she did with him all day. Ah, I remember. He stayed at his grandmother’s house. Not everyone has such a setup available though. We don’t, as both our mothers are long deceased.
http://www.k12.com/
has a good reputation for a computer based on line home school option……
I don’t think retiring is a realistic option for most amercians as the “nation” keeps doubling down on stupid nor do I think it’s Biblical. It’s not like God says “thou shall retire at 67”. I save money for bad days ahead, perhaps old age will be that bad day, but not working sounds like a bad, bad idea
Dude, I would have fallen down laughing at a sign like that. I’d tool her up because that’s what fathers do, but I’d be laughing on the inside
@Vasc
K12 has a good reputation because it puts the public school education and emphasis (bad) into the homeschool arena. While public educators and its adherents despise homeschooling they tout this so they can at least get a foothold into the minds of those who would otherwise be shielded from infection (good).
That is all largely besides the point. Empath and his wife are chasing a fairytale–as he should well know by having already lost a fortune. Protecting and preparing children is a secondary effect of homeschooling.
Worse than that this is enables many evils. The primary effect of keeping children at home is for the improvement and discipline of the mother. Outside education fundamentally short-circuits God’s instrument to teach women not to be worldly, solipsistic, self-centered, haughty, and unsure of the usefulness of husbands and fathers. Without public education this world we rail against could not exist.
We will reap what we sow, and wealth can fade extraordinarily fast.
My situation is unique due to my son having a disability that continues him from being able to attend school. He was enrolled in the home school computer program within our local school district, which was pretty good in my opinion. But he was not able to get enough done last year, so his mom and me recently decided on K-12. I like what I read about it so far. My son will begin the curriculum in the near future.
Any prayers for my son are appreciated. He is a wonderful person.
Hang in there Empath. I do not know your personal circumstances, but for all who believe and trust in Jesus, our circumstances will invariably lead to His glory. Perhaps I will get accused of sounding “churchian”, but I can take it.
[not churchian sounding at all, churchianism cannot corrupt truth. It is not churchian to believe God for provision,thank you for the kind words]
Empath and his wife are chasing a fairytale–as he should well know by having already lost a fortune.
Not really. Just want to pay all my back taxes and someday when I cant work anymore, not be a burden on anyone. If thats a fairy tale, ok, Im chasin’ that
I do not know anything about K12. Online was not an option when we home schooled our older kids. We used the Christian curricula that are likely still popular, if memory serves….Abeka, and some other math one that was widely used.
That’s the fantasy.
You are the contrarian extraordinaire. it keeps me thinking. But I’m not going to equivocate on that one. Some things are just as simple as they are
If I had known my litttle homeschool query was opening acan of worms, I’d have withheld it.
My dad is 81, excellent health, well set, with a young (60) wife. We keep trying to get him to travel, relax, enjoy the fruit of his labors. He laughs at us.
He has no interest in slowing down. Between church work, volunteering and being a crossing guard, he is always on the go.
Full retirement is the farthest thing from his mind. We want to follow his example and keep going until we breathe our last.
@Empath
I didn’t equivocate. I told you that–from what I see–you’re making a mistake. I could be wrong, but I’m not simply being contrary.
Real time communication by blog….
You didn’t equivocate. I meant that I would not do so in response, not that you did.
The mistake you refer to, if it is about not home schooling, and rather investing in worldly things even if those things are getting out from under the govt’s thumb, getting liens off me, etc….yes you may well be correct. So….I guess I did equivocate.
I decided to expose my under belly here, and I do not fault you for seeing it.
We’ve had this conversation, the one about exposing self online (with or without identity). Let it be telling that I too have found a limit, and it is not completely unlike those women who say that about divorcing. They say they found their limit.
It is an unlikely banner (this post) under which to say all that but I’m glad I did.
If you were referring to the homeschooling then no, you were not “just being contrary”, perhaps a bit obstinate. If you were not referring to not home schooling then I am either totally lost, or you are being contrary. Sometimes you gotta say what you mean so folks (like me) can get it. I’m interested to know so maybe drop me an email about it.
Elspeth, neither do I have any interest in stopping work. I’m wound tight as a clock spring, type A++++++, to a fault. i used to stand and watch TV when I lived alone and was single. Its not normal. But it does mean I am not the retiring type. Thankfully we have no policy where I work that insists on it. A guy retired last October at 76. There are also many things to do besides earning money. This stuff is all boiler plate.
If we were all women sharing a discussion there would most likely not be disagreement, there would most likely be agreeing even if the agreement were not genuine. I prefer to have genuine disagreements as in that way I have an opportunity to learn and improve. I can clearly see there will be no empathogasm on this blog tonight.
I can clearly see there will be no empathogasm on this blog tonight.
Gold star!
And you are exactly correct. I like head on disagreement, especially when I know the person(s) I have it with actually have my interests in mind, not just bickering. Cane raised this topic of bickering recently on his blog, and you have to take my charge of being contrary for what it is. It means that is how he communicates sometimes. Its very effective if, when its unclear, we chase it down….and we will. He is a smart guy, but not a smart alec.
If we were all women sharing a discussion there would most likely not be disagreement, there would most likely be agreeing even if the agreement were not genuine.
I’ve been guilty of that, I confess.
At Starbucks 12 gold stars equals a free food item or free drink. What would the manospheric equivalent be? Hopefully the free item won’t be a third wife for me. Having a third could possibly be construed as a collection. The only collection I desire these days is when the garbage truck arrives Wednesday mornings to collect my trash.
I know, too many silly posts for one day. I gotta finish cleaning the kitchen while listening to Neil Young .wav files. Then hopefully to sleep early.
I will definitely send you an email now that you’ve suggested it. It was on my mind to do so, and now you’ve confirmed it.
My reference was certainly centered on homeschooling, but these lifestyle things are all packed together: public school; working mothers; retirement…Disneyland.
@Vasc
I wanted to be clear that K-12 e-learning is certainly better than actually being in public school; provided your (ex?)wife is involved, and you two are in agreement. You’re no dummie though, so if you want to do better it’s possible. Being a teacher isn’t about knowing the answers, or even how to solve the problem. It’s mostly about diligence. It’s a lot like being a student. There’s a good effect on the parents in putting together a curriculum. Facing head-on the (relatively small) task of choosing what materials to present to your child will bring into focus exactly how important the task that we’ve subbed-out to Godknowswho just so we can get them off our plate.
I expect you have some experience with phenomenon already since you have the blessing of raising a child with disabilities. Those disabilities tend to reveal more about our own short-comings than they do about the one with the ailment.
Anyways, I’m a newbie at homeschooling. I read most of Elspeth’s old posts on it before we began. She’s a good resource.
This K-12 program has the entire curriculum. His mom and me won’t have to provide any additional materials. His mom is not a Christian, so a Christian curriculum is not an option. Last year I was sitting with my son during his other online lessons and kinda tutored him. I am an inquisitive person and like to read, so doing that with my son was a joy for me.
Out of respect to both my son and his mother I will be less open about anything that directly regards her.
In many ways I have life easy now, but I also experience anxiety about my son’s future due to his disability. He was born when I was 35 years of age; 13 years ago. That is our picture together back then. I want to remain healthy to be available for him for as long as possible. If I didn’t have him my life would have so much less meaning.
Now I’m off to bed so I can get up early to work out before church. I’m hitting the weights hard again. I feel better when I lift as opposed to just doing hours of aerobics every day.
In my opinion there is not much beyond very general advice that is transferable, family to family. Cane is right, and he deals with one of the biggest misconceptions we heard, “how can you do that, you have no training, you know nothing of pedagogy, etc. BS.
In the very worst case even a near moron can do it. the curricula are designed to work alone with minimal actual teaching. Just discipline and supervision. My oldest home schooled even her junior HS year.
The thing to make clear is that home schooling is an odds reducer, but not a guarantee that kids walk the right path. As evidence I offer the most strident home school family i know, my wife’s sister and their seven kids, all home schooled. Only one of them has a drama free normal life, married, with kids, she seems in for penny and pound as a wife and mom. Another is separated, another, boy, is a screw up, yet another, boy, went to the air force but was pushed out after 6 mos.
Contrast to the son of yet another of wife’s sisters. Home schooled until 10th grade, went to public school specifically to get scholarship for football (being 6’5” and 250-300 pounds), got it, attended college on scholarship, excelled athletically and academically, married college sweetheart, has three kids, he is……….wait……..a public HS teacher and football coach in TX.
Of the five children SAM and I have, the oldest (completely public schooled and most involved in HS life) demonstrates the strongest faith and ability to think.
Empath is correct that a lot of the curriculum is designed to require minimal teaching but the education is till far and away better than anything offered in the public schools. I have been flabbergasted in recent years as how much my kids, who took AP classes and graduated with honors’ diplomas, don’t know.
I admit that for this math this year I chose the very highly reviewed Math-U-See precisely because it requires so little of me in the way of teaching. I am more comfortable teaching language based subjects.
That said, the benefits of homeschooling are as great if not greater for me as a mother as they are for my children. This was Cane’s point, I don’t think it can be overstated.
I do not disparage homeschooling in the least. Yes, its choice number 1. One wonders why people do not come to the decision from the birth of their first child.
Teaching in 3-4 concentrated hours instead of the time wasting soul stealing 8 in public schools is another benefit. Extending the school year at public schools is doubling down on dumbing down.
I know it would be wildly inappropriate but I would be tempted to put a sign on the doors of the house (Daughter X, BANNED) and see if she could figure out how to get to her room while contemplating the irony of her position. It might spark a worthwhile discussion.
At 7, yes it would be. She has few if any opportunities to even approach the house unaccompanied.
Besides, this is her humor, and because she is 7, with 3 much older siblings she dishes this kind of “potty humor” as well as more sophisticated humor that seems to reflect intelligence that I do not wish to make a lesson of, rather to encourage her in her vocabulary and subtle understandings of things.
Besides, Dad is un-bannable, well lets not go there about divorce etc…..if only dads were so
as well as more sophisticated humor that seems to reflect intelligence that I do not wish to make a lesson of
I relate. My 7-year-old is similar.
@Empath
Yeah, I would approach the sign with humor. “The bathroom is your only escape. You better stay in there!” Unstoppable tickling would ensue.
Oh, I would definitely let her know that I was teasing too. Maybe if she were 11 it could be carried off without permanent psychological scarring……my family has always had a dark sense of humor.