Siblings...

Sitting in a car, trying to focus on traffic is most annoying, when in the backseat two thickheaded children fuss and fight over something you had already told them wouldn't happen, so there really is no reason for them to fight over it. And yet, there they were, verbally abusing each other and unwilling to give it a rest. I took a few deep breaths and turned up the music. Much as I would have liked to break up the fight and restore peace and order in the universe, I have learned from experience that there is nothing quite as important and valuable as the bickering between siblings. They learn that another equal member of the family has a different opinion, and will voice them no matter what, and the argument will not find and end until it is broken up by the parents or until they use some creativity and compromise to solve the problem themselves.

I grew up with a younger brother who annoyed the crap out of me at times. He had to be wherever I was. He had to have the TV when I was watching. He quickly grew so tall that our physical fights ended up with both of us bruised and exhausted. We fought like Tom and Jerry, then made up like Tom and Jerry (every now and then).
But we also kept each other company, when no other kids were around. We took each other's sides when one of us got in trouble. We played the silliest games with each other for hours and hours.

By the time we were adults we had learned to appreciate each other, to enjoy the other person's company, and nobody can make me laugh quite as my brother does. This summer he's getting married. He has a beautiful little baby girl. He lives in a nice house in a child friendly neighborhood, and I am overwhelmed with happiness and love when I think of him. His happiness means everything to me. And even though he is over 6,000 miles away, this bond will last forever. Of that I am certain.

I used to know a family, whose daughters were not allowed to fight. The parents always got involved. Their arguments were always broken up by an adult who made the decision for them. Each of the girls felt like the other one was always getting the better half of the deal. As adults they don't speak to each other at all. They cannot get over their differences. They are still angry at each other and at their parents.

And so, while their bickering annoys me beyond belief, and I want to scream at them and tell them to shut up and get the hell over themselves, I will usually try to let them figure things out for themselves. Somewhere along the way I hope they will recognize just how important they are to each other, and that never again will there be another person like their sibling. :) (The picture is not new, but so darn cute!)

Rambling on...

1. Ladies and gentlemen, the flights to Germany are booked. This summer I'll be dancing at my brother's wedding. (Dancing at someone's wedding is a German saying.) Exciting news!

2. Spring has a tight grip on Portland. It's raining, cats and dogs, and some water too.

3. If I close my eyes, will all the terrible news I read every day just go away?

4. About a week ago I swore to myself that I'm never going to knit another sock. Then I went through my stash of yarn and realized I can't stop. The yarn is too pretty.

5. Neighbor J. and his religious fanatic views are crawling under my skin, and slowly destroying the last bit of respect I have had for the man. And the next time he unloads his crap on my children, I may have to give him a piece of my mind, and ask him to f-ing stay away from my children.

6. I love my work with Foundation Beyond Belief. Non-theists from all over the country are excited about the prospect of starting groups of like-minded people. It is such a rewarding experience to be part of this movement.

7. Nutella on toasted English muffins... there simply is not a better food out there, no matter what you might say. This is heaven right there. Lucky me.

8. Audiobooks rock.

9. Buying a new house is going on the backburner in this family. We are taking a break. What a liberating decision. I can move on with my life. Yippeee!!

10. Organizing a fundraiser that nobody signs up for sucks.

11. Blue Eyed Boy has his seventh birthday coming up. It occurred to me last night in bed, that I should start making plans, as his actual birthday is only a little over a week away.

12. My Ogre and I will be married 10 years on the same date as my son turns 7. And we may actually go on a honeymoon. I think after 10 years of  marriage we actually deserve one.

13. Toothless Fairy says her brain is so full of fairy stories she thinks she's going to explode. It appears to me the child needs to be a writer.

Happy Tuesday!

Individuality

Alicia from Magic and Mayhem got me thinking about individuality, when she posted about her Reason #3 she is glad to be homeschooling.
I must say, in our homeschooling community we have our fair share of children who live out their individuality, and I never tire of checking out what new fashion arrangements they come up with.

There is the girl who wears this pettycoat, bright red and wild looking above her jeans. She wears a hooded sweater with it, and a mohawk hat her grandma knit for her. Nobody comments on it, nobody gives her funny looks, and certainly nobody tells her that she doesn't look good enough because she doesn't wear the right kind of shoes or clothes, or the right brand of whatever. She is a vital part of our community, and everyone likes her just the way she is.

My own daughter discovered her own unique taste as well, and every now and then she will throw together a combination that has me smiling, but that helps this little girl be her very own person who wears what she wants and feels confident about it. Years ago her aunt gave her a box full of dress up clothes. One hat, plastic and colorful has survived, and she no longer uses it for dress up. She proudly wears it slightly sideways, wraps a scarf around her skinny neck, and a teeny tiny skirt over a pair of leggings. She tops it off with a pair of black boots with a small heel.

My little Blue Eyed Boy couldn't care less about such things. He is the kid who will wear t-shirts year-round, because apparently he's too hot in sweaters. And if the t-shirt has anything Star Wars printed on the front, it's a winner. Easy.

I remember a time way back when... I wore jeans, that were slightly rolled up so you could see the tops of my converse. With the jeans I wore a white blouse and neon yellow suspenders with smiley faces. I did get lots of bad remarks from my classmates. I just wasn't all that cool. But well, I was not one to care. I never really did care what others thought of me... until of course I met a boy I liked and felt I had to look especially nice. Bye bye suspenders... bring out the heels. :)

Some of the adults in our community have a very unique taste in clothes, and sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I was one of them. I enjoy their creativity. But it appears I have become quite normal over the years. Nothing wrong with that either. :)

Who knew I could be a runner?

My entire life I have never been much of an athlete. At age 6 I joined a ballet school and lasted an entire 6 weeks. Granted though, there was a bully who wouldn't leave me alone, because I had short hair and looked like a little boy.
Then I went to gymnastic, and actually made it for about a year, before I decided that gymnastics just wasn't for me.

At age 12 my parents decided I should be a swimmer, and so I joined a swimming club and swam for a good three years... and then... well, I was a teenager and had better things to do. After all, there were boys, and school, and boys. Who had time for exercise?

After that I never found another thing to feel passionate about. And so my gym membership was put to good use. A little swimming, a little weight lifting, a little crosstraining...

And then along came this group of people who got me to go running with them every Saturday morning. And in the beginning I thought there was no way I could run two miles. And then they said we're training for a half marathon in April, and I signed up for it. We started training in November. It gave me plenty of time to work my way up to this, and yesterday for the first time in my life I went out to run 11 miles. No, I didn't run all the way. I took a few walking breaks... but I tried to keep them short, and I pushed myself harder than ever before.

As I'm entering a phase in my life where my face looks a little squished in the morning, and the strands of silver in my hair are more and more visible, I am about to do something that is more physically challenging than anything I've ever done before. I'm proud of that. I look forward to the race, which for the time being is not about time, about running all the way, but simply about finishing. I shall keep you posted.

Why do you blog?

Someone recently asked this question on Facebook. "Why do you blog? What's the attraction? Is what you have to say really that interesting?" Ouch to the last one. :) And yet it is a valid question, isn't it? I mean, what makes anyone think that anyone else would want to read what they write about? Still, the internet is full of us bloggers. Mommy bloggers, daddy bloggers, political bloggers, kid bloggers, religious bloggers, homeschool bloggers... and we all have things to say, and somehow we all manage to add new followers to our list.

So that leaves the question, why! I started out with a German blog. No special reason. Others did it, and I wanted to see what it was all about. Apparently I had good things to say, because I quickly went from 0 comments to 15 comments on every single blog post. How cool. People wanted to read about my spider phobia, about my homeschooling life, my children, my plans for the future. Oh, and yes, I loved the fame. :) No seriously, is there really anybody out there in the blogsphere who does not (even secretly) check their followers and make a little (if secret) happy dance when they realize a new follower?

Of course then I thought, "well, if people like reading me, maybe I can make some cash with it too". So I made a half-ass attempt at making a few bucks on the side by adding an Amazon advertisement thingy on the sidebar. I made a quarter!! How exciting! As you can tell from the sidebar, the Amazon link is gone. I don't do well as Amazon Associate. ;-)

In the meantime I decided that I really don't want to make any money blogging, because I do this for fun. Yes, I still enjoy the followers, and after each post I wait impatiently for comments. I love the comments, and it feels like I know my readers, because I read them as well. It is a bit of an online community. It's whole different world, and I'll enjoy it as long as it lasts. Thank you, bloggy friends, for coming back again and again and reading all the "important" things I share. :)

Reading

I started reading books when I was around 10 years old, and someone gave me a stack of books with stories of twins in a boarding school. These books were full of adventure, mystery, friendship, and fun. And of course the 13 year old twins were oh so very cool, and I really wanted a twin. For a while I read horse stories. Then I found my dad's Stephen King books, and inhaled those. The first Stephen King book I read was Misery, followed by IT. I was a captured fan. (I can no longer read Stephen King today.)

I still enjoy reading fiction, although I have mostly been reading such books as "Learning all the time" or "Stumbling on happiness" or "Raising your spirited child". I love historical novels, but haven't read one in about a year. And I miss it. Anybody want to recommend a good historical novel?

I always hoped that my children would be readers. I can happily say that they both are. It is still amazing though, how they both arrived at reading so very differently. Toothless Fairy and I sat down together every single day and learned to read with Hooked on Phonics. She was quite the talented little reader, and within six months she made it through all 5 Hooked on Phonics boxes. I ordered HOP Master Reader, which starts of with a computer lesson, and is followed by a story. After the red "chapter" you read a book. Toothless Fairy loves to read. She has been reading Harry Potter and Emily Windsnap and of course a bunch of those Rainbow Fairy books. She still likes those.

Blue Eyed Boy was not having any of that phonics stuff his sister learned with. It was a long process before he understood that letters make a certain sound, and that you could chain them together. So we quit that and left him alone for a while. Then my friend HerbiFaery recommended BOB Books to me. Blue Eyed Boy was initially excited about those stories. He read one story after another. It still went slow, but he read. I finally brought out the Hooked on Phonics boxes again. Blue Eyed Boy liked the books, and read through all of them in 5 days. He was not interested at all in any formal instruction. He just wanted to read the books.
His reading really took off though, when Ogre brought home a Star Wars beginning readers book. The boy read this story over and over again, and easily figured out unknown words as well. He will now check out a bunch of these beginning readers books at the library. He is at level 3 now, and thoroughly enjoys to read.

Wow! I find it rewarding to have two very different children, who both teach me just how they tick, and what is right for them. It's a challenge sometimes. But boy, how awesome is it to have the ability to adjust to their style completely. I love this homeschooling life, even during those icky times, when I'm convinced that school is the only way to go. I snap out of those times quickly, when I experience such moments of success. :)

When you have nothing to say... shut up and show some pictures of your beach trip

House hunting the 4,379th...

I hate house hunting. House hunting is terrible, awful, grueling work, and as we rule out one property after another, it actually gets worse. Seriously... after a while you lose track of which house you've seen, which you haven't, and which you ruled out and why you ruled it out. You look at thousands of pictures, and they all just melt together into one big house blob. And you have no idea which house it was that had that really nice kitchen you fell in love with.

Every now and then a house listing comes along that has you jump up and down with excitement. You are sure this is the one. You HAVE to see this house. You make an appointment with the REALTOR, and she agrees to meet you the very next day first thing in the morning to show you your new palace. You arrive, you walk in the house, and you smell dog... and you smell cat... and two of the rooms are filled to the brim with the previous owner's crap. He's left in a rush, and he hasn't cleaned the place in what seems like years. There is a sippy cup with old milk sitting in the middle of the master bedroom.

Suddenly it occurs to you that the listing only showed the kitchen and the living room and the beautiful yard. Every other room in your dream home is trashed. Let's not even get started on the bathrooms, because those are simply beyond repair.

Maybe I'm just too impatient. Maybe my expectations are too high. Maybe I need to snap out of it, relax a bit and give it some time, because the right place will come along eventually. This doesn't change the fact though, that I HATE house hunting.