Holding Pattern
This week has been so completely non-descript. I could go into some emotional turmoil but I'd rather discuss our daily family events then dredge up a whole pot of steaming crap!
So quite simply our family is in a holding pattern. The kids don't start back to school until next Tuesday... And while it may seem completely unheard of, we'll be heading out for our annual beach vacation next Saturday. I know, you're thinking, "WAIT! How could you pull your kids out of school barely a week into the new year?" They go to The New School, remember? A place where they don't sit behind desks and aren't given written tests to go over subjects they might have missed. Yes, their school is challenging but they encourage 'family time' and 'experiences' outside of school. It's a huge benefit for us, as the rental price on the beach house drops substantially after Labor Day. It's also a wonderful opportunity for the family to bond as Grandma will be there and Aunt Pat, along with friends staying and dropping in throughout the week. There will be beach walks, sunrises to watch, kite flying, swimming (if it isn't freezing), family cards games to play, poker, laying around reading books, shopping, cooking together and just general bonding. 5 days after we return from vacation I'll be heading out on my own personal get-away to visit 'Atlanta Rose' to celebrate her 50th and enjoy some serious 'Girl Time.'
So back to our 'holding pattern.' We know there's a whole lot of busy-ness and FUN, just around the corner and like the Olympic Relay Runner, we're just sort of jumping around in place waiting for that baton to come into view. It's exciting but it's also quite boring at the moment. Sure, I could go off to America's favorite box store and start stocking up on paper goods and snack items for vacation but I stand firmly mired in my outstanding abilities to procrastinate.
Maybe I'm just enjoying these quiet moments at home. However, I have the distinct feeling we should be doing SOMETHING, ANYTHING before school starts. We thought about going to see a movie together but 'The House Bunny' looked like our only viable option... And while 'Bunny' might well be a fun 'romp' it's probably not worth the money in tickets and popcorn and let's be honest, what sort of redeeming value are my kids going to come away with for having seen it.
So we wait... It's Friday, we do have a few things scheduled for the weekend... I think I see the runner coming around the turn and there's a baton in her hand... It won't be long now before our race begins!
So quite simply our family is in a holding pattern. The kids don't start back to school until next Tuesday... And while it may seem completely unheard of, we'll be heading out for our annual beach vacation next Saturday. I know, you're thinking, "WAIT! How could you pull your kids out of school barely a week into the new year?" They go to The New School, remember? A place where they don't sit behind desks and aren't given written tests to go over subjects they might have missed. Yes, their school is challenging but they encourage 'family time' and 'experiences' outside of school. It's a huge benefit for us, as the rental price on the beach house drops substantially after Labor Day. It's also a wonderful opportunity for the family to bond as Grandma will be there and Aunt Pat, along with friends staying and dropping in throughout the week. There will be beach walks, sunrises to watch, kite flying, swimming (if it isn't freezing), family cards games to play, poker, laying around reading books, shopping, cooking together and just general bonding. 5 days after we return from vacation I'll be heading out on my own personal get-away to visit 'Atlanta Rose' to celebrate her 50th and enjoy some serious 'Girl Time.'
So back to our 'holding pattern.' We know there's a whole lot of busy-ness and FUN, just around the corner and like the Olympic Relay Runner, we're just sort of jumping around in place waiting for that baton to come into view. It's exciting but it's also quite boring at the moment. Sure, I could go off to America's favorite box store and start stocking up on paper goods and snack items for vacation but I stand firmly mired in my outstanding abilities to procrastinate.
Maybe I'm just enjoying these quiet moments at home. However, I have the distinct feeling we should be doing SOMETHING, ANYTHING before school starts. We thought about going to see a movie together but 'The House Bunny' looked like our only viable option... And while 'Bunny' might well be a fun 'romp' it's probably not worth the money in tickets and popcorn and let's be honest, what sort of redeeming value are my kids going to come away with for having seen it.
So we wait... It's Friday, we do have a few things scheduled for the weekend... I think I see the runner coming around the turn and there's a baton in her hand... It won't be long now before our race begins!
posted by EmBee at 1:50 PM
4 Comments:
nice that you're able to take advantage of that opportunity. our race starts this tuesday.
The new school sounds so interesting. My husband and I would like our youngest to attend a private school but we just cannot afford it. Neither one of us could home school as we have horrid grammar. Plus, I work too many hours to do it and don't have the motivation even if I didn't work much. Have the kids attended it before? I'm going to love following your thoughts on their education.
Have a great time on your vacation!
Hi Angels,
The school is a wonderful and fascinating place. This will be my sons 9th year in attendance and year 7 and 1/2 for my daughter (we took her out of public school mid-way through the year when she was in 3rd grade, because having learned what we had about TNS with my son there, public school just didn't make sense anymore.)
Here are a couple of other posts in which I wrote about our experiences with TNS, if your interested:
http://thepapertreehouse.blogspot.com/2008/06/tns-tuesday-case-of-spitter.html
and
http://thepapertreehouse.blogspot.com/2008/07/tns-tuesday-teaching-old-dog-what-she.html
I might add that money is often at issue for parents who send their kids to TNS. It's often the case that the majority of people who can afford a private education are most interested in academics and how well the school will prepare their child for college. The main focus of a TNS education is to prepare the student for Life. The school teaches the principles of philosophy... The affect we have on others... The choices we make and whether they are good or bad and why?... The idea of educating oneself and why would we ever want to stop doing so just because we reach a certain age?
There's so much more to an educations at TNS than I can fully describe. You can look at their website at:
www.thenewschool.com
However, even after 9 yrs. there we're still learning every day the benefits of this type of education.
Thanks for the vacation wishes... Hopefully I'll bring back some quality pictures to share!
:-)
Congrats for a wonderful family beach holiday trip, I'm so glad for you.
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