Homeschooling Means You Are Giving Up

That's the message I got from the movie we watched last night.

But let me back up a bit.

You know Sweetheart is all about the American Girl Dolls. We have learned SO MUCH from history by reading the books about these characters, made to be representative of a typical 8-10 year old girl's life during whatever time period. The books are enjoyable, the dolls are precious, and I am really glad we have read the books. Sweetheart has learned a lot about things past and how life was in other eras.

I've been skipping the "Julie" books because they are set in 1974 and Julie's parents, true to the era, are going through a divorce. There's also some "anything boys can do, girls can do better" themes going on in the books. And of course, Julie is the only doll who comes wearing pants. Call me silly, but I prefer reading to her about little girls who wear dresses, and stitch on their samplers, and help their mother with chores. We can get enough of the other reality in, well...real life.

So what possessed me to order Chrissa Stands Strong from Netflix is beyond me. See, every year the American Girl company has a "Girl of the Year." This doll is only offered for the one year and is a modern doll, representative of today's girls. We have mostly focused on the historical characters, but Sweetheart saw the preview of this movie about 2009's Chrissa doll and wanted to see it.

Oh hindsight. Where were you when I needed you?

I really should have watched this movie first. I did warn her that the girls in the movie, and even the main character, Chrissa (who is the "good guy" in Sweetheart's mind) might not act like God would have them to. Chrissa might not even respond to the bullying in a godly way. We'll just have to see. After we watch it, I told her, we can decide if she acted like God would want us to.

But I really wasn't ready for what we saw. The bullying was BAD ya'll. And I have no doubt that bullying really is this bad and worse in many places. The girls were all 4th graders in the movie, but reminded me much more of middle school students. And it got intense sometimes. Sweetheart burst into tears during one scene and I had to hug her and remind her it was a movie about A DOLL which made her laugh. Then she accidentally blew some snot on my sweater and we all grossed out and pressed play again.

Family movie night. Good times.

Anyway, if you have a kid in public school, it probably is a good movie for you to consider. The ultimate theme I suppose is: kids can't handle problems by themselves all the time and they need to tell an adult and let them help. Which I have to agree is true.

So what's the problem?

The first day that Chrissa attends her new school the bullying begins. She goes straight home, gets on her laptop and Googles "Homeschooling 4th Grade." Which made me laugh out loud. Smart kid!!! At supper one night she tells her family she'd like to be homeschooled and gives them some quick stats on how homeschoolers perform better on tests. The idea is immediately dismissed and her dad even makes a bet with her.

"I bet you can't be on the school swim team if you're homeschooled," he says.
"Bet you can," Chrissa replies, after which they shake on it.

We never see anything come of the bet. Chrissa stays in school and joins the swim team. Hello??? Producers??? Writers??? Could we get some fact checking going on here? You most assuredly CAN homeschool and still participate in team sports!!!

Sigh. It's not even that. Normal kids go to public school and homeschooling is just something we aren't even going to consider. Chrissa stays home one day because she can't face going to school and when some friends come to check on her she tells them she is considering being homeschooled.

Her friend immediately tells her, "Staying home means you lose and they win." Now, to be fair, she was talking about skipping school because of bullying. But the fact that the comment came right after homeschooling was mentioned again just dismissed the idea entirely.

Homeschooling is like....a last resort....or not even a consideration and it's what you do when you want to give up. That's kind of the message that was given. And that's why I was disappointed in the movie. American Girls DO get homeschooled AND learn to deal with bullies. Sweetheart learned a lesson about bullies at the park the other day....with her mom right there to help guide the situation instead of her all alone trying to deal with it herself.

I don't know. I've just heard a lot of stories of parents who have HAD to pull their kids home because of bullying. And I've been told by others that "I can't protect them forever." Which always makes me want to ask them if they buckle their kids up in the car. If so, why? Why not just let them ride and pray God will protect them?

Any thoughts? Have any of you seen the movie?

Diary of a Room Makeover: Closet Completion

I used to blog about lots of things. Sometimes I even have deep thoughts. But until I dig my way out of these girls' rooms, this is all you get. Sorry.

April 6, 2009

This is the "before" picture but actually, I had already taken all the clothes and some of the junk out when this was snapped.

The "after" shot.

The closet is painted. It is clean. The clothes and shoes are put in place. S will build a shelf on the bottom for the shoes just any day month now. I plan to get bigger and better baskets for that top shelf, which will hold their mittens, scarves, hats, etc. Oh, and their karate uniforms.

So, it looks good, huh? What I like most is that this closet has ONE purpose: clothing. In the back recesses of the right-hand side are the tubs of out of season, don't-fit-yet clothes. And in the back recesses of the left-hand side is Little Bit's cash register. Because she set up a shoe shop and has been forcing us to come shop in her shoe store all weekend.

And I don't have pictures yet, but Sweetheart's closet has one purpose too: toys. It's so nice! I LOVE having all those tubs of toys out of sight.

But we are left with mounds of stuff to be sorted through. I got rid of Sweetheart's desk, otherwise known as "the dumping ground." Now to find a place for all the stuff that was in/on the desk. I'm not actually moving them from their rooms for quite some time, but for now they can practice using the new closets and putting things away nicely. It's a start.

And look! I found out the closet doors CLOSE!!! Did you know they could do that?

And all that shot does is prove how much other junk is in the room to be sorted through. Can you see dinosaur world over there? What you can't see is the pile on the bed. It's bad in here.

Next step: finding fabric.

Also, I ordered this from Uppercase Living. I won a giveaway at Carrie's blog and I was so excited!!! My first bloggy giveaway win! I think it will look good in the new room.

And just as soon as I hack my way out of the mess we've created, you can remind me why I'm doing this.

OH YEAH!!! So Wal-Mart's design department can get to cracking on their year 2014 room decor.

Brenda, The Trendsetter

Sweetheart wanted a turquoise and hot pink room a few years ago. Two years ago we painted it and I started yammering about a duvet cover.

I only finished that duvet cover a little over a year ago. I cannot believe that! It seems like much longer ago that I did that but that could be because I talked about it for a lifetime before I actually finished it.

Anyway, I knew I wanted stripes on the comforter and I could just picture it all in my head. However, I couldn't FIND what I was picturing. At least not for less than a down payment on a car. So I ended up sewing that duvet cover made out of decorator fabric from Hancock.

It's really pretty and just what I wanted.

Wouldn't it have been great if Wal-Mart had offered a bed-in-a-bag striped comforter that I could have just plucked off the shelf, pulled out of the bag and thrown on the bed?

Like, say....this one:

Thank you Wal-Mart. You are about 2 years late.

It's not the first time that has happened to me either. I decorated Sweetheart's nursery in Raggedy Ann and Andy. I sewed and scoured antique shops and internet sites and worked my tail off for that nursery. Nothing came easy. (I know...I loved it.) And then when she was about 2 or 3, Wal-Mart came out with a very cute nursery in a bag of Raggedy Ann and Andy.

Grrrr.

But wait! There's more!

When I was pregnant with Little Bit, I dreamily looked through the Pottery Barn catalog until I couldn't stand it. Even if we were richer than kings, I couldn't spend the money they charge for some of their stuff. But I found star fabric EXACTLY like the PB catalog at Hobby Lobby and sewed curtains. And then my sister and I re-created these letters painted on canvas for the wall (MUCH cheaper than PB! Sister and I obviously need to go into business.)

And now, Wal-Mart has caught up to us:

FIVE YEARS WAL-MART!!!! WHY ARE YOU RUNNING BEHIND ME LIKE THIS????

I know, I know...I'm SUCH a trendsetter that America's largest bargain shopping chain can't keep up with me.

Not sure what to make of that, really.

Diary of a Room Makeover: The Closet Update

I'm painting the inside of the closet white.

It's not impressing me so far.

But I think the point is to have it organized in such a way that the doors stay closed 95% of the time.

Or at least I've heard that's how closets work.

I've never seen that in action.

Clean Home Carnival---Well, Clean Room Anyway

OK so after reading JulieMom's Clean Home post this morning I very nearly decided that there is something wrong. With her. HOW can someone with 3 little ones, who homeschools, and does missionary work, make a statement like this:

My whole house is now organized. There isn't one area that I feel is out of control, including the kids' closets.


I'm forming a mob to fly over there and mess some stuff up. Wanna come?


I can make a statement too. Are you ready?


My whole dining room is now organized. There isn't one area that I feel is out of control, including the napkin holder.


I KNOW you are impressed.


Now, on to those pictures!


Here are some before picture of our dining room. I was going to tackle this room that day, and about 5 minutes into cleaning I remembered JulieMom's challenge and grabbed the camera. I always choose rooms like the dining room and the bathroom because they are small and I feel like I can accomplish something quickly. So, here is how it looked that day.



That pile on the floor was from a day I decided to get all caught up on paperwork and then I had to clean off the table for supper and.....well, you get the idea.

And here is the side of the fridge that you see when you are sitting at the dining room table. I try to keep all the magnets and stuff on this side because it makes the kitchen look tidier.
However, it doesn't seem to help the dining room.

I started with the ceiling fan. We are already using the fans here in Texas and I wanted to get all the dust off before we turned them on.


Then the girls wandered in and asked to help. I looked at the bottom of the walls and noticed some red splashes on the wall. I asked them to scrub the walls. The more we looked, the grosser it was. Goodness sake! I began to wonder if even 50% of the food I serve ends up in anyone's mouth!!! It reminded me of the time 8 month old Sweetheart sneezed with a mouth full of baby food at my mom's trailer. The wallpaper pattern was such that we were still finding that baby food dried on the walls months later.




Anyway it's a mystery to me how this much junk gets splashed on the walls, but they are clean now.

Sweetheart was sent outside to clean the windows while I cleaned the inside.
I dusted everything.



They scrubbed the table and chairs.



Then I used this stuff on it. This is GREAT stuff. The wood table just drinks it up and the kids think the table is wet for days afterward.



I also mopped and cleaned off the side of the fridge. It's still clutter-y but that's because I have kids. One day it will be nice and clean and I'll be sad. The magnets stay.



And now it's lovely.






Thanks JulieMom for encouraging us!!! Now head over there and join in the fun! You'll feel so good!