Sunday, June 27, 2010

Late night life

I have always been a late night person, I feel better at night. Over the years my kids have been staying up later and later.

Our kids have never had a set time that they had to go to bed. We have evolved into really late nighters more and more.

It has been so hot lately that they are staying up all night and sleeping late in the day. I think this will pass as time goes on and the seasons change. Isn't that life? Growing and changing with the times and seasons literally and figuratively.

Lately we have been going out at night around the neighborhood, last night we went out at 10:30pm. I walk and the kids all ride bikes. It's a way to get a little exercise and fresh air when it's a little more tolerable. Did I mention we have been in the high 90's with heat indexes in the low 100's, it was 104 last I checked. So the weather is having a bearing on our activities and times we do them.

We have lots of late night talks. We discuss all sorts of things. We sometimes play games or watch tv, a few might be on a computer, or drawing or playing.

They get pretty creative and play and make stuff up. The other night they were drawing, looking up how to draw ____ on the computer. They made all sorts of cool pictures that were left for me to see when I got up.


Pretty much what you do during the day we do at night. Learning happens all the time, life is 24/7 you should choose when you want to be awake and sleeping. The world is always awake, we have 24 hour stores and people who work the night shift. We do need people who are night time people to help the world run smoothly.

I remember a time several years ago ( like 8 or 9 years ago) that we used to prompt Kieran to start winding down or head to bed around 10pm. It wasn't a bedtime it was just a suggestion. Well Cassie was a toddler and she was up well until midnight running around. One night he asked why he had to go to bed while his little sister didn't.

Well Hello!      Lightbulb!

You don't HAVE to go to bed, you can go to bed when you want, I never thought of it, it was just a routine. What I think happened is he realized he wanted to stay up and so he did.

He would be asleep by midnight or earlier but because he wanted to. Actually Kieran still goes to bed before the younger kids, he is 15 now.

 It is important to listen to our internal clocks. Mine is all messed up after years of getting up for school even though I couldn't fall asleep until late at night.

I suffered migraines and insomnia because I had to conform to something that wasn't natural for me.

Right now Cassie is going through changes, she has herself on a really different  sleep/wake schedule. She has been staying up all night and sleeping all day. Then all this week she was getting up at like 7 am and going back to sleep around 10 or 11 am and then sleeping the whole afternoon. She has been really tired and requiring more sleep, I believe it is body changes, possibly the start of puberty?

What I do know is that she is tired and is requiring more sleep than usual so she is listening to her body and sleeping regardless of what time is on the clock.

My husband does have a day job and he goes to bed when he is tired and he gets up in the morning to go to work. He is a morning person but he also stays up later than most people who get up for work do.

Whenever daddy goes to bed that means it's time to quiet things down so he gets his sleep. Once in a while they will forget and get loud and wake him, but most of the time he sleeps undisturbed.

When they were babies they slept and woke on their own time, we never messed with that. So many people have kids and try to make them fit nicely into their lifestyle and schedule. Well I think that causes problems, babies know when they are tired and hungry or wet etc.....  We need to continue to trust and foster that as they grow.

Why do we have to live on an 8-5 work/school/day, bed by 9pm, up at 6am. I guarantee you that only a small percentage of the population actually thrive on that schedule.

School has set our young people up to live on their schedule regardless of what is natural. I know we as unschoolers do not live on any type of school schedule.

We live and learn naturally, we sleep when we are tired.

"I can't help noting that no cultures in the world that I have ever heard of make such a fuss about children's bedtimes, and no cultures have so many adults who find it so hard either to go to sleep or wake up. Could these social facts be connected? I strongly suspect they are."







~John Holt~ Teach Your Own

Saturday, June 26, 2010

This might get personal

I used to blog about all sorts of stuff...unschooling, public school, parenting, politics, hormones, whatever the hell floated my boat.

Then... my life took a turn...

I have been really... kind of... well... miserable.... My hormone imbalance has pretty much taken over my life. Then we had unemployment and lots of stress and we moved and all that is over now.

I am seeking answers for my physical/emotional issues.

I have been making dietary changes, off of wheat and gluten for two weeks now. I stopped using my estrogen cream because it turns out that I am way overdosed. My estrogen and progestertone are sky high and many other things were revealed in a saliva test that I did.

I have just been living in a fog, trying to just do what I can... dishes, laundry, take care of my kids.... That's about it, really, I'm struggling with lots of pent of emotions and physical discomfort. I'm visiting another doctor next week, searching for answers.

I am still here, still advocating unschooling! I just haven't been able to write much about it.

My kids have grown so much, I'm in awe, it is happening way too fast. I really just want to enjoy it, enjoy them... I want to get well and be healed so I can live instead of just survive.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Bob the cat

This is Bob, he has adopted us. He started hanging around about 2 weeks ago. The kids started to play with him and give him milk or something to eat. He kept coming back everyday and now he is here most of the time.
 I was at Petsmart buying dog food and bought cat food and a dish for him.

I think he is here to stay until he finds a better gig.

I am allergic to cats and the kids have always wanted one. I used to say we could have one if it stayed outside, and he just happened to find us.

Unconscious Mutterings

  1. Executive :: order
  2. Director :: movies
  3. Dress :: up
  4. Studio :: recording
  5. Accountant :: number cruncher
  6. Unit :: of measurement
  7. Engaged :: interested
  8. Safety :: first
  9. Post :: after
  10. Dialogue :: conversation
Luna Nina

Saturday, June 05, 2010

Hey Media! Leave unschoolers alone!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_bvT-DGcWw


If I was a talented song writer I would make an awesome parody.

I've come up with a few lines but Hey media leave us unschoolers alone is sufficient for me at the moment.

Friday, June 04, 2010

Unschooling and the mainstream media

Here is the latest mainstream blip on Nightline trying to discredit unschooling. Here is Dayna's explanation of what happened.

Personally I do not want unschooling advertised via maintream media to the general public. I truly believe that they can't handle it because it is so different than the box they are in.

The general public has a hard time accepting homeschooling as a viable educational option. Many believe that we need strict laws and government oversight. I do not understand this thinking, I went to school just as they did and I do not want to subject my children to that.

Unschooling brings in all sorts of misconceptions. If children are free to eat, sleep, wake and do what they want how will they ever learn to live in the REAL world.

I don't know about you but school is about as artificial as you can get. There is no real world in school. Being locked up in a cell with 30 kids your own age being forcefed useless facts and moving to a bell. How is that the REAL world?

We live and learn in the REAL world. Our kids learn about real life as they live it.

Our kids learn to listen to their bodies to know when they are hungry, tired or have to go to the bathroom.

They learn about current events as they are happening in the REAL world.

They follow their interests and learn according to their own personal time frame and ability.

They read when they are ready by living in a world full of words.

They write, they do real life math, they learn about history and geography by living and questioning.

Kids are curious...So many questions, all day, everyday. Google is our friend.

Kids do not need to be taught, they don't need lesson plans and curriculum and scopes and tests and comparisons.

They need freedom to grow and learn and be and do and question and answer and explore and just LIVE!

They need parents who are willing to allow them the freedom to grow and learn and be facilators and guides and mentors and partners.

I say question everything, do not take my word at face value.
My kids are thinkers and questioners.

They live and learn in the REAL world without school.

School doesn't exist in our lives but REAL learning does.

We just want to be left alone to live and learn and enjoy our freedoms without anyone taking them away.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Mocking Birds

Baby birds squeaking for food, May 22nd.

Here they are May 29th.

May 31st and then they flew.

Mama Bird watching us watch them.
We had another nest in our yard, it was right outside our bedroom window.

There were 3 little baby birds. They squeaked every hour on the hour for mama to feed them. She must have been exhausted. I know I was cause they kept waking me up.

It has been really neat to experience the life cycle right outside our window.