Decisions

I've decided that I'm definitely going to give homeschooling Nick a try. It occurred to me last night that his behavior at home during the summer is so much better than it is during the school year. School is such a stressor for him and stress causes his behavior to breakdown.

I found this website and since it has a two week free trial, I signed up. It's similar to Adrienne's charter school, in that everyday there are things to do. It isn't super rigid though, which is a good thing. It's only math, language arts and science. I think Nick will enjoy it. In my heart I want to unschool him, just let him totally lead his education (Adrienne, too.) But, I'm afraid. What if I screw them up by not teaching them what the regular school kids know? What if they turn out to be lazy kids who only want to paint their nails and play video games all day long??? What if....well, you get the picture.

So, we'll start here and see how it goes. I think I'm going to try to buy a family annual pass to the local children's museum. They have an exhibit right now call Dragons and Fairies about Viet Nam that sounds interesting. It'll cost $70 for the five of us. An added bonus is that there's a library attached, so we can catch two birds in one net.

Yesterday I ate three Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream cones. Something has to give, my stress level is too high. I can feel it in my back and shoulders, like big knots of "this is just too much." What has to give is the expectation that we can move this fall, and Nick's school. It's not what I want, but maybe it's what I need. I have to take better care of myself. Why is that so hard? I'm going to take a walk with my kids today. To the park I think. Maybe we'll have a picnic dinner. How fun does that sound? The weather in late September in Las Vegas almost makes up for three months of temperatures the devil would feel at home in. Almost.