Happy New Year!

For everyone else in the world a new year begins on January 1st, but for anyone in education the new year begins the first day of school. Many children are eagerly awaiting the return to school with brand new backpacks and shiny new shoes. I remember as a girl I would double check all of my school supplies and pick out my first day of school outfit. I can still remember what I wore on the first day of all 4 years of high school. I loved school - I still love it.

I love the concept of learning, teaching, and discovery that happens at school. I love the idea of people shaping and expanding the minds of children, giving them tools for independence and understanding.

It makes me sad that school focuses on test taking, the importance of being able to take a multiple choice test successfully by disproving each incorrect answer and "getting the jist" of each silly paragraph. We think we are instructing children in the depth of curriculum but really we are teaching them a very limited scope of applied skills. Children today are not critical thinkers, they are over analyzers. We are teaching them to distrust their reasoning skills, and waste thought and time on proving why nonsensical answers are wrong.

I had a parent tell me this week that their daughter still uses a math chart to help her solve multiplication facts, and this makes her feel self conscious in front of her peers. I told them that the nice thing about that would be in just a few years learning to use a simple tool such as a calculator would alleviate all that needless worry. The teacher about jumped over the table at me and said - "Well we are not going to tell her that now!!! She cant use one on the TAKS test!" Her parents agreed - "Yes we want her to know how to do it all by hand!"

Dear Lord, When did the TAKS test become a chapter written in the Bible?

And when did such bullS**t become tolerable? I had to compose myself and did not allow myself the enjoyment of demanding that both teacher and parents demonstrate the efficiency and importance of knowing how to do it by hand by asking them to multiply 29083645 * 8479734. While I simply typed the numbers into my calculator. Really??? It's the equivalent of teaching kids how to run a telephone operating board to understand how the connections really work - when all you really need to know is how to program your contacts in your cell phone list.

Kids are technological learners. It is STUPID to teach them tedious and time consuming tasks that as adults they will NEVER use!! A magic 7 strategy for long division is STUPID when a calculator does it in seconds.

Maybe if we devoted more time in schools to teaching children lessons that are useful, encourage critical thinking, expanding creativity, and expressing their own ideas we may find that test scores don't even matter ----because our students would be such smart and talented thinkers they would perform spectacularly despite our best attempts to dumb them down with useless strategies that are easily replaced by simple technology.

So to every fellow educator - have a great start to the year and be the embodiment of stretching the boundaries of mediocrity and setting the highest of expectations for our future learners.

Bedtime Snacks

I am not sure how this trend started or why on Earth we have allowed it to continue - but our sons (Cade and Colt) have gotten into the habit of requesting bedtime snacks as they fall asleep.

It started over a year ago with small items like two grapes, or a few goldfish, or a cracker. But this nightly feast has grown into a second supper. The scene goes like this - both boys are tucked into their bunkbeds cozy and snug watching the movie of choice for that night. There has usually been some squabbling over which movie is going to be selected though we always take turns picking. Colt is easily convinced to like Cade's choices, but Cade is not so easily swayed from his opinion of Colt's.

Kisses are given, tight hugs passed out, the nightly "Sweet Dreams.." etc. Then no more than 10 minutes go by when we hear "Mommy"...."Daddy." Inevitably the request is for Pretzel sticks - not the puny little sticks but the huge Rods. Two each so they can pretend they are drum sticks. Another 10 minutes pass and the call for course#2 comes in. This usually is a cheese stick, but sometimes a repeat of pretzel sticks. Round #3 is almost always a meat course - typically a slice of ham. Occasionally the requests get outlandish and surprising here are a few of my favorites - popcorn, popsicles, hot dogs, chips, bowls of grapes, animal cookies, diet coke, goldfish, and gogurt.

I'll let it remain a mystery as to which requests were granted and which were rejected.

Trying to be "Green"

RJ has decided to transform himself into a fit and healthy person, so that generally means that the boys and I are tagging along occasionally on the health food train. Don't get me wrong - I am not a caveman (as they existed without the sustenance of potatoes, cheese, and Ranch dressing) but I am trying to set a better example for eating habits with our children, and in doing so am trying to show them better ways to take care of the world around them too. Does that mean we are Green?

The word green has several meanings - it could mean novice; newbie; or having little experience. Sometimes it means jealous; envious; coveting things of others. And in more recent times it means health conscious; environmentally friendly; recycler.

So we are trying to be in the latter definition of Green - which seems to be very trendy these days. We eat organic meats. We have vegetables with our meals. We have re-usable green bags for the grocery store. We buy used clothing. We hand down clothing from one child to the next. We bought and redid a used playescape. We have used cars. I nurse all of our children in lieu of formula. We borrow books from the library instead of buying them new. We cut our hair at home. We pay our bills online to reduce paper. We use organic oils, cleaners, and drink filtered water from the tap.

Does this make us Green yet?

Well here is what we do that may not be quite as Earth friendly. We don't recycle - Gasp!! Our trash company doesn't offer it yet - but we would if they did - still doesn't quite count. We use disposable diapers. We go on vacations. We use MANY rolls of paper towels - probably there is a small forest somewhere in Oregon that is devoted solely to supplying us. We get Sonic drinks in styrofoam cups often - but you gotta love that they don't get your hand wet and there is still ice in it after 20 minutes in the Texas heat. We have cable TV, Iphones, Internet, and Email. We drive two gas sucking SUV's that are not Hybrids.

So probably we are a slight shade of Aqua....not quite green yet but still trying to get closer.

Sheer Gratitude....

I woke up this morning and thought about what I was grateful for....because, admittedly, many mornings I wake up and wish upon wishes that my kids would sleep just a teency bit longer. Yesterday was a day where I caught myself being short-tempered and impatient with my children. I didn't teach them much except that I can whip up a healthy dinner with even the barest of cupboards and refrigerators (another blog topic).

So when I went to bed last night after a large glass of wine, I decided to mentally take stock of the good things in my life. This was inspired by the large glass of wine and the theme of the 11:00 showing of Kai-lan on Nick Jr. (since Colt was still awake then). Don't think about what you can't do but what you can.

So I slept on this toddler theme and woke up feeling refreshed in spirit and ready to tackle more mommyhood. Here is what I am grateful for today - the amazing smile Cohen gave me when I sang him the "good morning" song at 6:57. The quite minutes of solace we shared after I nursed him back to sleep for a post-dawn nap. The cuddle hug Colt gave me when he woke up, and the lessons to learn about incentives on using the potty in the morning that I worked on with Cade.

I am grateful that RJ gets the coffee ready even before he leaves the house, so I have 2 cups ready when I eat breakfast. I am grateful that I got to take a shower and get dressed without too many interruptions while daddy was working, and that when I was done Cade told me I looked beautiful. I am grateful that I love to read and try to instill this shared love in my boys - though they are sometimes lured more heavily by the temptations of toys and computers.

I am grateful that it only took three rounds of the kitchen timer for Colt to become used to the idea of sharing the old iphone (aka toddler puzzles and matching games) with his brother while learning to taking turns. I am grateful that I have a strong partner to walk with in life and that he shares many smiles and concealed laughs as our kids test the waters and begin to ask interesting questions.

I am grateful for my mother who helps without qualm whenever asked, and who often doesn't wait to be asked but offers her help freely. I am grateful for the lavish getaway we have planned next week, and though I will miss our sons terribly, am planning to squeeze indulgence and serenity into as many moments as possible during that time.

Mostly I am grateful for the opportunity to self reflect on my misgivings and become a better mother and wife.

Who said you can't go home?

I think it was Tom Wolfe who said that a person can never go Home again. Somehow Home is embodied by the memories we created at that time and place. When we leave Home those memories become the soft focused blurry edged images of what we once knew. The comfort, familiarity, and routine of Home are locked in those memories, and though we can return to the physical place we call Home we can never return to the era of memories that truly embody it.

When the 30 year old me, returns to the small town I grew up in I don't feel like its home. I bring with me age, experience, and judgements that can't connect with the youthful memories that I recall when I revisit my hometown. People say they go home to find themselves, but I think the truth of the matter is this --- the person you are cannot look to the person you were to define who you want to be.

Maybe for me it's because the Home I have created now with my boys is exactly where I want to be. Home is not something or somewhere I once knew and want to return. Home for me is the continual creation of moments with my children, the ebb and flow of my marriage, and the acceptance that comes with age and growing into myself. Tom Wolfe was right...I can't go home because I am already here.

Who wants a Guinea Pig???

So this morning my husband rolls over and says - "I think the boys would love a new pet. How about a turtle?" I can think of many other things I would want him to tell me first thing in the morning, but this was intriguing. All I could imagine was our rowdy bunch of boys dressing the poor turtle up in a blue bandana and jabbing it with plastic swords convinced if they fed it pizza and flushed it down the toilet it would become a Renaissance Mutant that could teach them karate.

Over breakfast the talk of a pet morphed into a different type of reptile...perhaps a lizard, frog, or newt. I hate all of the above members of the animal kingdom and again my overactive imagination pictured a lost lizard, frog, or newt somehow appearing in my bed, shoes, purse, or coffee mug.

On the drive to the library this discussion took a more tame turn as we thought about what fun a gerbil might be. But remembering my 4th grade experience where my friend Kim J. tucked Mrs. Shuff's gerbil into her front T-shirt pocket for safe keeping and then it peed all over her, I nixed that idea right away. Hamster was mentioned, rat was dismissed immediately by mommy, and then we thought GUINEA PIG!!!

So we headed to Petsmart to try out a guinea pig addition to the Strauch House. I gave many instructions about being gentle and holding them with soft hands. Little eager eyes peered into the glass case and little toddler hands reached for the furry critter. Colt demanded to hold it, but soon lost interest. Cade was more apprehensive and began to cry when its tiny little "claws" touched his skin. Off the hook!!!! Guinea pigs were a bust. But who can leave without touring all the animals?

Never will we have a bird or sneaky reptile pet. Did you know that turtles could live up to 35 years? No thanks!!! Off to a more civilized pet - a goldfish? While admiring the hundreds of fish cramped into the 20 gallon aquarium, Colt decided to try to catch one and stuck his arm inside the tank. Really Petsmart??? You put the goldfish in an open container on the ground level???? No fish for the Strauch House either.

After a momentary lapse of insanity we decided a kitten would not work either. In the end we settled for a look at all the dogs in the Pet Hotel and left empty handed (a minor miracle).

Three rowdy boys, two dogs, and one husband is enough for this mama.

Entering the Blogdom

I'm not technologically advanced, nor do I have a technological disability. I am somewhere in the middle of the bell curve of techno mediocrity. Since joining the facebook universe I have also discovered this online nation of Blogdom. I have been intrigued and hesitant to jump into the craze, but finally decided it would be a great way to document my thoughts. Read by others or kept just for me, writing things down makes them more real and believable. So in entering this blog I vow to stick to the following self imposed guidelines:

1. I will write when I want and not feel pressured to blog for the sake of blogging.

2. I will not over indulge myself by chronically posting only about my children.

3. At the request of my husband I will not write about subjects that should remain private.

4. I will always be honest, attempt to be humorous, and share my humiliations whenever possible.

There I have it - my first entry....now on to some more happenings...