It has been rainy lately and I figured I would share some of my favourites… first some that I personally enjoy and then the kids and their movies… all foreign based but hey… oh and I am going to make you all do the work yourselves. If you put in the names of these in search you can find them on your own! Just remember all the first section are ones I found on CRUNCHYROLL!!! Love them! 

First off… get yourself a Crunchyroll subscription… I have an anime one, you CAN get a drama (I am tempted every week) but without it you can still watch the bulk of the videos. There are minimal commercials. I watch mine on the iPad.

Now for the comedies….

• Bug Me Not
• Dry Wood Fierce Fire
• Magic Kitchen
• My Left Eye Sees Ghosts
• Women from Mars

Animes… Keep in mind these are MY preferred… NOT the kids

• Rozen Maiden and Rozen Maiden Zuruckspulen
• Gatchaman Crowds (the only mech I have ever watched through! Though there IS violence)
• Silver Spoon (agricultural and educational with fun)
• Moyashimon(another educational one)
• Servant X Service (based in a ward office)
• Folktales from Japan (awesome)
• The Eccentric Family (I love this one with Tanuki and Tengu and all that stuff)
• Ginatama (not for kids but hilarious)
• Un-Go (a mystery series)
• Wagnaria!! (based in a restaurant)
• Natsume Yujin-cho (demons and names… seriously check it out!)
• My Little Monster (awkward romance)
• Say “I Love You” (another romance… this is an ongoing for manga as is My Little Monster)
• Cuticle Detective Inaba (hilarious and irreverent)

Oh and for the kids!

• Poyopoyo
• Chi’s Sweet Home (both of these are about adorable cats!!!)

If you don’t want to READ your tv… Studio Ghibli has some amazing movies…

• Spirited Away
• Castles in the Sky
• Kiki’s Delivery Service
• Howl’s Moving Castle
• Porco Rosso
• Ponyo
• The Cat Returns
• There is a story before The Cat Returns called Whisper of the Heart. Definitely more of a romance with some bittersweet moments. The Cat Returns is a semi-spin off.
• Ok so more mature but definitely worth a watch if you want to be amazed! Princess Mononoke
  

  An a screen shot from one of my all time favourites… Spirited Away

The movie for the night was Princess Mononoke. There is a line early on that struck me as… well… amazing. Now keep in mind it is a TRANSLATION, but the main characters (Ashitake) explains his showing up at the Ironworks village as being there “to see with eyes unclouded“… To not be motivated by rage, or hatred, to see what is there and not what is told or shown.Can we come to life from that viewpoint? Can we see other’s choices and motivations without putting our own judgement and standards first? Can you see MY choices and life plan as unique to me and not as a threat to your own or a hindrance?

Every day more and more I am reminded how different we all are. Especially now that I am a total fish out of water in a country with major differences to what, for the entirety of my life previous I considered the norm. I have talked to other parents (both sides of the border) who homeschool differently than I do, parents who wish they could, others who have absolutely no interest in considering the option… Now how does that affect my choices and my life? Well… if I look at it with my eyes unclouded it does nothing but enhance my life.

That mom who never ever planned to homeschool does teach her kids things, she has ideas that are helpful. That mom who totally unschools… she has amazing ideas for discipline or spontaneous education… and that parent who wishes she could does more than she things and is a huge support.

Brave Writer had some amazing advice on her blog (well as usual but still…) about who is in charge of  you, your life and your homeschool (you can read her entire post HERE titled You’re In Charge of You)…

YOUR standards are the boss of you.
Your vision.
Your children.
Your beliefs about education.
Your aspirations for your family.
Your flexibility and your rigidity.
Your weaknesses and your strengths.
Your joys and your personal pains.
Your vision and your limited sight.

This is YOUR homeschool.

YOU ARE THE BOSS OF YOU.

You get to have the homeschool you choose. In fact, you already DO have the homeschool you choose.

Embrace it.
Love it.
Feed it brownies.
Share it confidently.
Live it boldly.

You do you.

Why not? No one else can.

Now, like Princess Mononoke, I think you can extrapolate from this advice from different areas in your life. Ok, so you don’t homeschool… but who is in charge of your heart? I think the answer is the same…

Here in the United States the current debate seems to circulate around same sex marriages… let’s look at that issue from these two quotes’ point of view: When you look at the issue of two people, in love with each other and willing to commit to each other for life, with eyes unclouded of hatred or preconceived notions… what say should I truly have over their proclamation of love? And in return how much should they have over mine? Of course this is a CONTROVERSIAL issue so please keep in mind… your opinion, my opinion… they are our own and should not cause strife.

When I look at my new life here in the States from these two quotes I see that I must simply take control of my life and go forward. That I need to keep what is best from my past and then see the world as it is for the future. Not as “not Canadian”… though I will always have that comparison to deal with. I wonder how our children see the world, as out of anyone… THEY are the ones who see things as they are!

Taa—daaa here we are!