I have the right to make the choices I want to in regards to my family just as you have the right to do the same for yours. What I do NOT have the right to do is to expect or pressure YOU to make the SAME decisions or choices. And in turn I expect the same from you. What I am trying to say is friend or family, close or far, it is up to ME and KEN to make the best choices for the family we have created based on what we know about ourselves, our children and our situation. I think it is KEY to remember that we are all on the outside looking in when looking at other’s choices. There is NO WAY to know all the ins and outs of someone’s daily life when we are not there living it with them. Instead we need to have FAITH that they are doing the best according to that life to create a positive and prosperous environment. In fact, I believe I am! What I cannot prove to the world outside of our home and our support system is that it works. I am slowly coming to grips with the fact that there could potentially ALWAYS be someone friend or family as dear as they are to me that refuse to back us in this choice to homeschool, to have a large family, to live where we are and not here or there. I have had to face facts that perhaps I need to be less someone’s daughter, grand-daughter, niece, friend and more the mother of 5 and the wife of Ken… We have not jumped into the decision to homeschool blindly, in fact friends AND family should remember that I have been talking about homeschooling since I was pregnant with the twins in 2003. I honestly think people were assuming I would just give up on that “nonsense”… instead I spent months and years researching, collecting information, learning the legalities, talking to homeschoolers and the homeschooled alike. I was raised well (in my opinion), and have learned to ask questions, try and see things from all the angles, be adventurous AND not walk into anything blind. 

For all that negativity I have to draw attention to a bright light among the family (merely one of many if I am honest) in the form of my sister in law. She (and her mother actually) is very supportive of MY decision to homeschool our 5 (eventually) and in turn I am very supportive of HER decision to put her son into the public system. Our children have different needs. Hers is a VERY only child. He really needs and enjoys the socialization public school offers as well as the fact that he pushes all her buttons when they tried schooling BEFORE he was of age to enroll. My 5 are very social kids, able to welcome in another kid easily or join a group. What my twins require is one on one time to do their work. This is something those larger classes simply can’t offer them. I know my personalities here – Gavin is VERY sensitive to criticism… something I work on daily… and Zander is easily into being the more aggressive, assertive bullying type. This is another thing we struggle with but are making headway. I CAN put Zander into time out and take away things to deal immediately with the behaviour and with Gavin I can sit down and explain how being wrong is ok and correctable… after all there is NO red pens or permanent ink here!

I have reached out to the online homeschooling community and have found amazing support. It is crucial to realize that I am NOT alone in the issues with support with our family… that sometimes you simply have to go beyond being someone’s daughter, grand-daughter, niece, sibling and be the mom… the teacher… the adult. I need to realize that I am not going to get everyone’s support and adulation… it simply isn’t possible to appease everyone NOR is it really reasonable nor important to do so. Instead I have begun to rebuild our social and support system here in our new place as well as continue doing things that work and altering those that don’t… I have the freedom to do so here and am really enjoying the evolution of our schooling day by day. 

But enough about that! Now onto what I am SURE everyone has been waiting for – the past two days in the Reinsch-Johnson clan. Sunday was a HUGE excitement for all involved… first we bought some minutes for the pay for cell phone and activated it (thanks so much Adam!!!) and then took a portion of the pay for minutes and got me TEXTING! Woot! That covered us for our drive an hour and a half south to go pick up my nephew Jimmie for the first half of the week. We lucked out and Lauralee was free to spend a nice chunk of the day at our house watching the 4 bigger kids so that I could go with Ken (and Echo too). We only wanted to take as many people as could fit in any of our emergency contacts’ vehicles so that no one was stranded. We trust the van repair but we dislike going so far out of the city less than a week after a repair. This all had us out after noon. (thank you to everyone who said they would watch their phones)

We got TO my brother’s before 3 (remember we had to go to Tim Hortons to get a snack… of course!) and Ken had a nap while Echo got some one on one time with her Aunty Holly and Jimmie unpacked a few things to show me. We packed him all up and got out the door in pretty good time with a quick stop off at 7-11 for drinks and a big bag of pretzels and then home it was. We actually made it home right around 5 pm to be regaled in all that happened while we were gone. Apparently Lauralee is an AWESOME babysitter who played with them, fed them AND took them to the convenience store for treats (I made sure to leave some cash in case she wanted to). She has already been requested for a repeat performance by the masses!

This left us with dinner, play time, tv time and then BED TIME! Can you believe it Emanuel and Jimmie were up until midnight!! I stayed upstairs way longer than I usually do – until Karyn came over to share her folk fest adventures actually! And the little buggers waited until I went downstairs and then TURNED ON THE LIGHT! When Ken and I went up for our super late super he went in, had them clean turned off the light and BANG asleep in minutes!!

Even so they were up decently early this morning! Ken fed them breakfast and then woke me up to send them outside to play in the backyard… was that ever a great idea – burn off that energy… which apparently they have an unlimited supply of today!!

 Just as quickly it felt like, they were back inside to play play play… over the span of the morning we went through crafts, play doh AND trains… 

And then in the afternoon trainsets, colouring, marbles and kitchen set… bang bang bang… I finally  gave up at Echo’s short and late nap time and turned on the cartoons so I could escape upstairs to eat something and regroup! 

You add in one more high energy kid and it is like EVERYONE’S energy triples!! CRAZY. But even crazier was Echo in there on her own following along and plowing in. She had a blast until she got worn out or hungry. 

My one quiet child today was Gavin who has come up with a new project… He is working on individual illustrations, whatever he wants, on lined paper… and then we are picking out some words  that are in the picture, sounding them out and writing them in. These are all going to go into a binder. He does so much art this gives him the chance to really keep it all together instead of papers strewn everywhere!

There has been some requests to see work by the younger two of our very mobile 4… so here goes! First is a fridge favourite – Trinity’s colouring (in marker) of Lightning McQueen off of Cars… I am so proud of how hard she worked to stay in the lines.

And here is Emanuel (and Jimmie) with some of TODAY’S art! He is getting much more into scenes and such for his pictures and less random shapes!

So I DID sneak off, once Echo was down for her lunch time nap and the kids busy where Ken could watch and work, I snuck off to the convenience store and picked up milk (expensive) and a slurpee (to make me feel better about the above first few paragraphs). The walk is brief but it was blessedly quiet! Tonight the plan is to work on as many unfinished projects as possible… stocking, tutu dress, tidying, hunting down the still missing box of photos in frames… Tomorrow it is our busy day all over again (did I mention the boys let the neighbour boy in the yard without asking and then proceeded to fight… well Emanuel and Zander so we had an early back into the house after supper… not sure if it is the kid or the reaction to the kid that is the problem but with Jimmie here too I wasn’t about to test it). So today was a wild and crazy at home day… I think tomorrow we may do the same… the baby is a napper and going solo with 6 anywhere is daunting when she is so tiny. I may just have to pull out more boardgames and maybe a bucket of long lost toys… be a good reason to actually face the ever daunting tv room closet with its unknown contents! Stay tuned to find out! 

Oh, I also managed to finally paste down the pieces for a scrapbook page… Echo and Anna’s last visit before we moved. It feels good to get some crafting in!

But here’s hoping the kids are all asleep BEFORE midnight… hmm maybe?