“Poisonous Individualism”

If I told you that homeschool parents had established a leadership academy in their home, you might be surprised. Even most homeschool parents would be surprised because surveys show the two main reasons parents choose homeschooling are to avoid the negative peer environment of public schools and to teach from a religious perspective. Few homeschool parents identify training their children to be leaders as the reason they chose home education. But are they right? Perhaps many homeschool parents are training their children to be leaders without realizing it.

So begins this article by HSLDA President J. Michael Smith, recently published in the Washington Times. He’s right. We have four children, and they would all scoff at the suggestion that meekly following the agnostic and “whatever feels good, do it” crowd is even remotely desirable.* Our goal has always been to teach, lead and counsel, and always based on the truths of Scripture and common sense. Though they haven’t always been wise nor sinless, no one would say any of our kids are crowd followers.

To find out where the title of this blog entry comes from, read the whole article.

Guess we accidentally raised a bunch of leaders. Praise God! We are so proud…

*Even Andrew, our son who died several years ago in a tragic accident of his own creation, managed to do it by stepping out of the crowd. Later, at a Louisville Youth Choir function where his memory was honored, at least one person described how he had been a leader in ways we didn’t even know…

Now a member

Well, I have been forced and conscripted onto the blog by my wise and sometimes annoying father. I have been requested several times to take time out of my busy schedule to write a post, so here it goes. Life for the past several months has been an unending stream of school (now in my second year of high school) work, (at the kennel where Sarah, Lydia, and Andrew worked) and trying to clean the house and get some enjoyment out of life. Also Continue reading “Now a member”

My dear humans…

Due to some longstanding misconceptions about my position in the household, and in anticipation of the upcoming holiday festivities, I have decidedQueen Midnight to modify my normal policy of non-verbal communication and instruct my “owner”, Dad, to post a few comments for me. Of course, I don’t want to impose (beyond the normal requirements of royalty), but merely to clarify what everyone around me knows quite well already. If you, my humans, will be so kind as to read and carefully observe the few rules I have posted below, our occasional and unfortunate misunderstandings may be kept to a minimum:

  1. Some of you are confused about my weight; I have even heard the word “fat” used in my vicinity. My responsibilities include night patrols, in case you haven’t noticed, and it gets cold in the dead of winter. Keeping warm requires extra fur and a little extra “me”, shall we say. Comprende?
  2. I’m a carnivore… you know- meat. Icky green stuff from your plate, fruit, other such… please, let’s not be insulting. The catfood is OK, though boring. Milk is better; cheese is interesting; what we need more of around here is m.e.a.t.
  3. About those insufferable, wiggly goofballs with collars– must we have them? Yes, I know, one of them was homeless and … (the origin of the other escapes me). Mergle (God rest him) did do us all a great service by beating that one- the short one– up and chasing it around the yard. I haven’t gotten around to doing it myself; the teeth are a problem; but I have a mind to. Must they act like infants all the time?? Serena, I understand you are in charge of the feeding; could you train some sense into them as well? If you don’t mind, teach them to bow in my presence. Once we get that done, I will consider keeping them around … for entertainment, I suppose.
  4. Cats (that’s me) rule. Humans (that’s you guys) obey. Not to be blunt, but… occasionally, a little reality is a good thing.

That’s all for now. You may post your replies and (adoring) comments below. Above all, be of good cheer– I accept you.

Fondly,

H.M. Midnight

“Mom, do I have to do this writing assignment???”

Unlike her crazy sister who is working toward 2 majors and a minor, Serena does NOT like school. She endures it. She is generally diligent about getting it done, but she doesn’t enjoy a lot of it. So this post is just to have a record of a time when her mean ogre teacher (that’s me, by the way) dug in her heels and insisted Serena complete a certain writing assignment. While studying the expansion of Islam during the middle ages, she was tasked with creating an “Arabian Nights” style tale. Here, for all to see, is the evidence that she sometimes has fun doing school. (The astute reader will find plenty of take-offs here from other tales!) Continue reading ““Mom, do I have to do this writing assignment???””

Arabic can be annoying…

In the ancient Middle East, Arabic scholars could often be seen, head wrapped in a turban, bent over their low study tables with scrolls and manuscripts spread about. Behind full beards and bushy eyebrows, they would scowl or squint as they pondered the flowing script on the pages before them. Quill pen in hand and ink nearby, they would respond to a colleague or write a sermon in the same flowing script, all the while unaware of the intense scowl or pursed lips which might be seen by a discrete observer.

The Arabic ScholarThese days, Arabic scholars take a more direct approach. As one can see here, headphones are the new turban, and the beard is optional. However, scowling is the norm, especially when the scholars are serious and a tad bit annoyed. This particular scholar must be pondering a technical point, perhaps an esoteric reference or obscure construction, resulting in a peculiar intensity of gaze and clarity of effect.

Of course, this might also be a sign to go on the bathroom mirror which reads, “Do laundry on Tuesday!” I never enjoyed doing laundry, either, so I can relate.  Actually, it might read, “Dad, if you post this picture on the blog, I’m going to …”

Fortunately, I can’t read Arabic ;-).

California, Sep 6-13

Not the most interesting title, but then I’m trying to talk myself into actually writing this post. I’ll post some pictures, and make a few comments, because a picture is worth a thousand words, anyway, right? I guess the reason for this trip was family togetherness, though not the way you might think. Ted was taking a business trip and didn’t want to be there alone. He persuaded Beth to go along, and Serena wasn’t about to stay home while Mom and Dad were gallivanting around in California! As it turns out, she wouldn’t have been alone, for Lydia was there during her month off between SPEAC school and the start of freshman year at OSU. Lydia most conveniently house-sat and tended all the various life forms in our absence.
Continue reading “California, Sep 6-13”

They’re both photogenic, don’t you think?

Sarah & Dani

What a great picture… I wonder if that’s Port-au-Prince in the background? I had to cut this one down some; go to her blog for the real thing, plus a peek at our daughter’s “inner child”, who comes out when it rains suddenly at the end of a hot summer day and … 🙂

The License Plate Game

O.K., you’ve all played it, right? On a long trip, you have your kids keep track of all the different state license plates you can find. I forgot to write about it related to our trip to VA, but Serena and I did this in June. On an 11- day trip, driving through only 4 states, we found 44 states — all but Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Of course, we did drive slowly through the whole parking area at Monticello, and we did the same each day we left a symposium at the conference hotel in Williamsburg. There were people there from all over the U.S.! It brought back memories of many other trips. Hey, Sarah and Lydia, we even found a North Dakota license. See? North Dakota DOES exist! (Inside family joke).