Friendly Backlash

After the crazy media colliseum events of a week and some ago, unschooling is doing well this week, even though some of the benefits apparent today from my house started days, weeks or months ago.

Yesterday Heather/swissarmywife got this note stuck on her windshield in response to an unschooling bumper sticker on her van:


The details are here.

This morning when I woke up there was an offer of a trip to Maui in my e-mail. An unschooling family offered to bring me out for stress-recovery. I accepted!

A trip to Hawaii *could* potentially mess up my New Year's sort-of Resolution, were it not that I went to Santa Fe in January (two counties over by the freeway), and then Holly and I went and visited Jill Parmer and family in northern Colorado in late February. And I have tickets to go to Montreal in June and to New Jersey from there, so adding another trip between that and California in August is just one big bonus, rather than a resolution breaker. I believe probably I will be in Atlanta in October. Basically I'm saying that the "I'm not leaving the county" plan didn't quite take.

For 2011 I'm having company in January and going to the U.K. at some point for several weeks.

These things are all exciting and awesome, especially the gift of a trip to Maui just to sit and rest and *be.* (Albeit being with wireless internet access, so being in the unschooling chats and all...)

It was wonderful having little kids, and now I'm finding some wonder in having grown kids! I get to sleep more. I get to read for long periods of time, and I get to start projects and become engrossed in them sometimes without knowing what time it is, without needing to drive someone somewhere! Yesterday I didn't even come out of my room until after noon. There was a time I thought I would be nursing babies and tying shoes forever and ever and ever. Of course I kind of miss that, too, but most of the aforementioned out-of-town trips will involve being with other people's babies, toddlers and young children and I'm looking forward to that!

ALSO today, when the mail came, there was a great thank-you card filled with beautiful words and a gift certificate to Amazon. SWEEET! I get guilt-free, love-soaked books and movies.

Compared to most of the past two weeks, today was blue-sky, sun-ray heaven. And I got to speak with all three of my kids, too, by various means. It was like a holiday, like a birthday, like a... OH YEAH! Keith took me out to breakfast. It's not even dark yet. Maybe more good surprises will come. But even if I do nothing else but sit in the back yard hot tub with the bright moon above and then crawl into a familiar bed with Keith, it will be one of the best days for a long time.