My Life – Page 11 – a hippie with a minivan

happy holidays…

Tonight is the eve and we are all getting ready to get dressed up and have a supper together…

We are having a favourite here tonight… Chinese Fondue…. thin strips of meat that you cook in a flavourful broth on the table… accompanied of course by homemade dipping sauces, veggies, cheeses and homemade sourdough bread…

Then we are going to read “The night before Christmas”,watch a movie, cuddle and then put their kids in their beds after they have fallen asleep and then finish the preparations for tomorrow morning (still a few gifts to wrap) and then cuddle again with eggnog in hand and relax together…

If you are reading… have a great night what ever you are doing…

On the sidelines…

Last night I went out for a supper with some of the ladies from the homeschooling group…

We were to go to a fine Italian restaurant (Restaurant Laöra in St-Hilaire to be exact) and have a supper and talk and share… it was awful…
not the company, not the food, though it wasn’t amazing… but the atmosphere…

The restaurant had booked another group that were having a x-mas party and were really partying… and it was so loud that we had to scream to be able to talk… it was just really unpleasant… I wish they would have at least told us that there was another group and that there would be live rock music we could have made the choice to go elsewhere…We asked them if they could put the volume down just a bit and they ignored us… awful… really awful…

but something else happened last night… and I really felt pushed to the sidelines because of our choices…

The local group have been getting together for the kids to do things and they assumed that I wasn’t interested… and maybe I would have been, maybe not, but I don’t think it was their decision to make… I have to admit that I am pretty hurt because one of them is a good friend.

They just really don’t get the way we do things… So I wrote an e-mail this morning saying that I was pretty hurt that they made the decision for me and my children and that unschooling isn’t about doing nothing, it is about having resources and activities available and letting children make their own choices about what they want to do with them. That even if we were invited, it wouldn’t guarantee our participation but at least the kids would have the option and they might very well be interested… and even if they didn’t do it they might like to hear the other kids do it and would love to get to play with them after… (they were doing oral presentations)

Though I truly believe in the way we are doing things I am getting tired of being in the sidelines all the time… having people misjudge what we are doing yet not wanting to learn more. Trying to explain and instead of being listened to having the person go into a defensive mode and see what I am saying as judgement instead of opinion…

The friend whom I am close to called me after she got the e-mail and said that she really felt bad about it and that I could of course come over… but I didn’t go… I would have felt too uncomfortable and I am feeling a bit too hurt by the whole situation…

one of those days…

Lately I have been feeling a bit cranky and sensitive to noise…

and three boys = loud…

They are acting normal…They fight, they scream when they are upset, when they are excited and when they play… they run, they jump, they twirl, they fall, they talk nonstop and they laugh…

If the snow outside was nice and not slush, I would send them out to play… but on a day like today they would come back within a few minutes because they would be sopping wet and cold…

I would put on a movie but no one can agree what to watch so they rather watch nothing at all….

So I fed them and then sat down and told them I needed a few minutes to myself, and that I need a bit of quiet time… and with that said they headed downstairs to play on their own accord…

and now they are playing nicely, no screaming, no crying… just laughing and making the sound effects for the stories they are making up… sounds that I don’t mind at all… and even more… love to hear…

I am having tea and a slice of banana bread that just came out of the oven and just these few minutes of peace will give me the refreshment that I need…

just got home…

If it wasn’t for NabloPoMo I wouldn’t be writing right now.. I am so tired…

I had a great day today… I left this morning and went to pick up a few things and then headed to my friend Gen’s house… We went out for Sushi in St-Anne-de-Bellevue at a great little restaurant with great service…

After, we went back to her place and I set up a little makeshift studio and took some pics of her… I think that there are a few that turned out great… I can’t wait to start editing…

Then we watched a movie, sipped tea and had left over Sushi… I would have loved to stay longer but I had an hour of driving to get home…

Great day… it felt really good to be out…

The holidays are coming…

November is quickly coming to an end (Khéna will be 2 on Friday!!!) and of course that means that December will soon be here and the holidays will seem much closer…

Today we had our first snowfall that stuck for more than a few minutes… there is still snow on the ground and I have a feeling that more will be coming soon…

Anyway… the more that I think of the holidays, the more that I just want to boycott them…

Simon and I have already decided that we are not doing anything special, we are using the time he will be at home as family time… we are not inviting anyone over for the eve, and if people want to come over on other days we are not going to make a big deal of it…

Though I like the spirit of the holidays, all the pretty colours and I love taking out our decorations and making the house look all warm and colourful…I am tired of all the expectations… I am done with buying gifts just because I am expected to buy them without really wanting to, or knowing what someone wants or needs…I am tired of getting gifts that I don’t want or need and just end up cluttering space somewhere… and I am tired of people buying toys for the boys that are cheap, boring, loud or the kids are just not interested in…

I don’t think I would give up the holidays for our small family… we’ll keep the tree and a few choice gifts, we’ll keep some old traditions and continue to make new…

but there are things that I am ready to give up…