For MY Trivial Pursuit Partner, I Choose....

Over the years, I've listened to lots of people talk about various educational paths for their child.  We ended up on the fairly radical end of the unschooling continuum, but others opt for a very rigorous formal academic program.  One program is called, "The Well Trained Mind."   When I listened to what their lives looked like and the goals they were choosing for their child, it always made me think of correlations.

• You could dance with your family - or you could do a dance marathon.
• You could swim and play at the pool with your kids - or you could make them train for the Olympic swim team.
• You could go for evening walks after dinner with your family as a way to have healthy exercise incorporated into their daily routine for life - or you could train them to run in the next Boston Marathon.
• You could read to them every night before bed, snuggling and immersing yourselves in the story - or you could create a booklist of classics and require your child to read a new one per week for years.

There's nothing wrong with The Well Trained Mind.  Just like there's nothing wrong with running the Boston marathon.  It just depends on what your goals are.  And how you want to spend your time.  And what kind of role you want to play in your child's life. 

Nurturer or Taskmaster?

Guide or Enforcer?

Model or Authoritarian?

These are all your options as a parent. 

By the quick look at the yahoo groups, it's clear that thousands of homeschooling parents disagree with me. And at the risk of saying too much or pushing too hard, I would ask these people a couple more questions.

If you find you are drawn to The Well Trained Mind, why is that?

Are you excited at the prospect of creating Super Smart Homeschoolers? 

Or do you feel learning the classics is the "correct" education? 

Do you wish you had learned this yourself? 

As parents, we have to be careful to check our egos at the door. Kids are not extensions of us. We cannot wear their accomplishments on our lapel as if they are OUR badges of honor.  And if you feel you have to outshine the neighbor's kids, think again. Someone else's kid will always do better, look better, seem better. As humans we want to compete. But resist the urge. Your child needs you to love them for who they are - not who you wish they would be. You don't really need to have that bumper sticker on the car professing your child's academic prowess.

For those looking at the "correct" education, by whose standards? And at what price? You might be interested in a peek at my idea of What Should They Learn? . It might be a little startling to those who like the Trivium. But there will be little time for these ideas if you are engaged in such a formal education at home.

If you wish you had learned it as a child, what's stopping you now? Realistically, I think this is the only answer that has any merit. If you enthusiastically take on learning  "The Classics," you will be able to share your enthusiasm with your children and they will learn a great deal of information they might not otherwise. 

Of course, all this might do is make them a really good Trivial Pursuit player.

And that would be a terrible trade-off! As a homeschooling parent, you have the opportunity to create a space for your child to love learning, to become who they were meant to be, and to get to learn and live right beside them in love and enthusiasm.  If you turn your world in to a high stress battleground, you forfeit all of that. 

My Interview

Debbie Harbeson, from Indiana, runs a blog that interviews homeschooling families:

Homeschooling: Freedom and Fun For Your Family

Catch a glimpse inside the lives of families living in educational freedom! This blog is a showcase of short, fun interviews of homeschooling families of all types from all over the United States and the world. These festive, frisky, friendly and frolicsome interviews focus on freedom, flexibility and fun for families, for I feel this is what makes homeschooling flourish. That, and I just like f-words.

So I thumbed a few recent interviews, just to see who she'd already interviewed. Unbeknownst to me, Debbie's been interviewing people for years! Her blog shows that she's interviewed 98 people, but I think there are more than that. I was scrolling back through and I'm so excited! I'll be reading about these for some time now! Some of the interviewees are people I know, and some are just people I WANT to know! I feel like I'm in a nice little circle of folks.

Grab a cup of tea and peruse Debbie's interviews. I'll be over there finding out things I didn't know about people I do know, and people I don't.... yet! And if you want to know more about MY family...here's a copy of Debbie's interview.

No Boring Lecture-Style Learning: Sue Patterson’s Interview

Today’s interview from Sue is great in so many ways. For one thing, her family homeschooled in Texas, California and Alaska and as you read her answers you can see that, no matter where you are, you’ll likely find other homeschoolers to share good times.

Another bonus from Sue is a little update she gave on what her kids are up to currently. I have added that at the end.

Sue lives in Texas now and she has a blog A Life Full of Days where she writes about her current life as well as sharing “what we did, how we did it, what we learned, where we're headed.”

She has also been a board member for the National Home Education Network for over 11 years. I encourage you to check out their site, loads of good information!

But before you do, you really must hear about this family who didn’t need boring lectures because they were too busy having fun learning in other ways - like mummifying Barbies…

1. How long have you been homeschooling (or if finished, how long did you homeschool)?

We officially started homeschooling in 1996. Alyssa was 2, Katie 5, and Michael 7. We weren't one of those families who always knew they'd homeschool. I was a typical stay-at-home mom from the suburbs. But after Michael went to to Kindergarten and 1st grade, we noticed such a marked change in attitude. Our happy-go-lucky kid simply wasn't that anymore. Plus, he said things like, "You don't know, Mom. My teacher says to bring our questions to her, not our parents."

Great. The building of the wedge starts early! Like I wouldn't know the answer to a question by a 1st grader? Sheesh. The whole 2 years Michael was there, they kept pushing for me to take him to a doctor and be diagnosed with ADD. He was just rambunctious and didn't get enough physical activity there!

It happened that the military relocated us from San Antonio to Alaska. So I packed up Michael's school records and simply didn't reenroll him in school at our new home. We did send Katie to school that year, because I was so under-confident.

She went to 1/2 day kindergarten, while we dangled our toes in the homeschooling waters. But that was it for her. Alyssa went to preschool 3 days a week, because she wanted to ride in the neighborhood carpool. Then years later, she wanted to be on a drill team that danced at football half time shows. So she went to high school for a year and a half and did that. She was glad for the experience but quickly learned she didn't want to stay there. She really felt it was a waste of time and kept her from "getting on with her real life!"

So..you asked how long we homeschooled - since 1996.

2. One of the main benefits of homeschooling is the freedom and flexibility it allows. Can you give us a few examples of how this freedom and flexibility benefited you (your family)?

Well, homeschooling certainly gave us schedule flexibility over the years. We only had to work around my husband's work schedule if we wanted to plan road trips or vacations. And, as others have said, being able to plan these trips during the school year meant cheaper off-season rates and way shorter lines! We bought science and museum memberships and were able to go when there were no crowds, because most of them were in school at the time.

We also enjoyed flexibility in our day to day activities. Katie was able to participate in community theatre projects without having to worry about staying up late on school nights. She'd simply sleep in the next day. I felt badly for her fellow actors who were cramming math homework in between scenes at 11 p.m.!

Flexibility meant that Alyssa could spend hours wandering through horse stables with her dad and then later in California, hanging out there doing whatever ranch chores needed to be done. This ultimately led to riding lessons, owning a horse and taking care of it full time.

Later, because of Alyssa's flexible schedule, she was able to take on a make-up internship with a natural make-up company in Austin. She was available to work back stage at fashion shows and learn all about the industry that she loves.

Michael's flexible hours enabled him to work so he could save up enough money to go to Japan as an exchange student.

For me, freedom and flexibility are the most important advantages about homeschooling. Freedom meant we were able to decide the best for our children without others (with their own agendas) making those decisions for us. The kids were free to learn about their own interests and strengthen their passions.

Our lives were flexible enough that when we stumbled upon some gem we wanted to explore further, we were free to do just that. When park days lasted into the evening - we didn't have to rush off and get some scheduled learning completed. Life in general kept bringing learning opportunities. And our flexible schedule allows us to take advantage of all of it!

3. Another benefit of homeschooling is the fun factor. Can you give us a few examples of some especially fun times you had as a result of homeschooling?

We went to some great homeschool conferences (HSC's Home+Education, Live and Learn, Rethinking Education) where the kids could meet kids from all over the state or the country. They were able to hang out usually for at least a whole weekend with each other. Many stayed in touch afterwards.

In Alaska, we banded together with other families to create regular park days, nature center excursions, museum field trips. We had days of sledding on hills that would have normally been packed - but the other kids were in school. We went berry-picking and whale-watching; we even spent the night in a penguin room at a museum in Seward. We had friends over throughout the week for hours on end. Moms created book clubs, shared ideas, or just chatted while kids played together.

In California, we joined groups that already existed. They had weekly park days at huge playscapes, and then we'd move to friends houses for potluck dinners. We had themed "Make & Takes" - families brought supplies for a small craft or food assembly and then the kids went from table to table making stuff and having fun.

My husband Ron volunteered to take Katie & Michael along with 20 other kids and chaperones on the Gaslight, a 108-foot square rigger, in the San Francisco Bay. They spent the day sailing around Sausalito and Alcatraz. He also helped with an overnight Civil War reenactment at Angel Island that the kids were invited to attend.

We had various "co-op" style learning activities with 20+ families usually. Some kids participated, others played along at the periphery. Each time we got together for these activities, they were completely engaging and fun. We didn't do boring lecture-style learning! We mummified Barbies, staged a Civil War battle, hired people to teach Improv, created musicals in our backyards…just to name a few!

In Texas, we did a lot with 4H. We helped grow a small homeschool 4H club. By being homeschoolers, we were able to work on most of the projects during the day - we did community service projects, theatre productions, nutrition quiz bowl, speech and vocal competitions - not what you'd think of initially when a person mentions 4H. But they had all kinds of things we could tap into if we were interested.

4. We all have funny experiences while homeschooling. Can you share one of yours with us?

One quirky thing that we do is quote movie lines. We've done it for years - usually throughout the entire dinnertime, but sometimes just when someone simply passes by. One person shares a somewhat obscure movie line and the others have to guess which movie it comes from.

But here's one funny story for each kid…

When Alyssa was about 5, she had joined a soccer team. One night, we were reading The Indian in the Cupboard, and the kids were all piled on my bed. Alyssa had fallen asleep wedged between Michael and Katie.

We came to an exciting part in the story that read, "He knocked some more!"

With that, Alyssa sat straight up , threw her arms in the air and shouted, "She shoots, she SCORES!" Never opening her eyes, she smiled and nestled back down into the covers.

We laughed hysterically - and repeated, "He knocked some more - she shoots, she scores!" for years.

When the kids were in Alaska, they were part of a performing group called The Sunshine Generation. They sang and danced in parades, at shopping malls, in performance halls, and nursing homes.

Katie, especially, loved the stage! At her first big performance, maybe there were a couple hundred people in the audience. She was up on stage getting into position. She was about 6. She scanned the audience looking for us and finally found her dad. It was as if she were playing her own private game of charades: she put her hands up to her face and motioned as if taking a snapshot with a camera, and then pointed to herself.

She continued to repeat this over and over - as if we were going to forget to take her picture! Ron just grinned and lifted the camera up so she could see he had it and was ready. She planted her bejeweled tap shoes firmly on the stage and gave him a double thumbs up. The crowd chuckled and a few of the audience members close to us whispered, "Good job, Dad!"

Michael played on a volleyball team in Texas. During one game, he missed the ball and the crowd fell silent. He turned to look up at his dad and me and shouted, "I lost it in the sun!"

The crowd laughed, because we were playing INDOORS!. But Ron leaned over to me and whispered, you know he just gave us a movie line, right?

We have so much fun with our kids - and still do! Life's always an adventure!

******************************************

Here’s a bit about what Sue’s kids are up to now:

Michael loved doing community service and learning about other cultures...now he's in the Peace Corps in Nicaragua.

Katie loved acting and did tons of it. She ended up getting an agent, did some commercials and a movie, and is now studying in NYC at the New York Film Academy.

And Alyssa who loved fashion and make-up is now going to a Vidal Sassoon Cosmetology School and will have her license to do hair and make-up at 18.

Just some of the things that happen when kids are allowed to follow their interests. 

Hurricanes on Multiple Fronts!

I wasn't writing much because I was knee-deep in preparing for one of the most difficult things a mother like me can do: Getting my kids ready to leave home.  Michael had graduated from college, was accepted by the Peace Corps, and had an assignment in Nicaragua. Katie had been accepted to the New York Film Academy.  My little unschoolers were ready to go off to explore their dreams. Unfortunate for me that they couldn't do this a little closer to home, but...roots and wings, right?

Sue's Meticulous Plans

So my little house of cards was set up. After shopping and packing and prepping - and lots of tears from mommy - we had a plan! I'd take Katie to NYC on a Thursday, we'd stay together for a day or two, find the grocery stores nearby, practice on the subway, etc. She'd check in on Sunday, I'd fly out on Monday. I'd be home in time for some last minute time with Michael, who would fly out of Austin on Tuesday morning at 6 a.m. Short, fast, do-able.

Slight glitch. I had forgotten about Alyssa's first fashion show with Avenue Five. It was scheduled for Friday night. Luckily, Priceline was lovely and simply changed my departure date to Saturday morning. We'd all go together to the fashion show, along with family, friends, & Alyssa's boyfriend's family. We'd pack ahead of time and be ready to go out the next morning, 8 a.m. That would leave one day for Katie and I to figure it all out, but we could do it. Packing it in was our style anyway, right? Crisis averted.

And what is bad when you build a little house of cards? A breeze.
My breeze had a name:  Hurricane Irene.

 We had been watching the hurricane on the news, but it seemed so unlikely that it would hit NYC.  We looked at it as an adventure that Katie would be sharing with her roommates, and they'd always remember that they were the group that blew in with Hurricane Irene. It was starting to look a little ominous that I might not be able to get back on Monday, in time to see Michael off, but I *could* get Katie settled before the storm arrived. Michael had traveled before, so that's how I prioritized it. Still, I wasn't that thrilled with the idea of missing him.

As we were all dressed and walking out the door to the fashion show, Katie received a text from the dorm in New York: "Evacuating residents. Registration/Check In for Sunday is CANCELLED."

I could regale you idioms like "best laid plans of mice and men" or other such things. But my brain was on overload.  I picked up the phone and called the dorm, "Really?? I just spoke to someone there saying that the kids COULD check in, changed the flight, etc." They were really patient with me, because I must have sounded like a lunatic wanting to send my child INTO a  hurricane!  I was like a hurricane in reaction to a hurricane! We knew that the mayor had decided to shut down all public transportation. Our car service emailed saying that if you can get here, we will drive you anywhere that's available. But the dorm guy said, "Listen, it will be very unlikely that you'll even GET a flight to come into JFK tomorrow at all. But if you get her here, we'll take care of her. Everyone didn't evacuate. And it is the north end of Manhattan."

 So we stuck our head in the sand for a couple of hours.

We went to the Fashion Show, unsure of what our next 12 hours would look like. How does one predict the path of a hurricane anyway? The show was awesome. Alyssa did some great work on the models. We skipped going out for dessert afterwards, and just ate ice cream at home with the family, Grandma, and Josh.  Turning on the computer, we discovered that the dorm guy was right, all flights to JFK were cancelled.

Ron could see that I was dangling from the end of my rope. So he sat on the phone for hours, first  trying to reach Priceline, then trying to figure out the best flight to rebook.  I tried to cancel the pricey hotel I was going to stay in, but because I used a service to book it, they couldn't unbook it. I had visions of being charged anyway.  Suffice it to say I have no extra money laying around. I canceled the car service and rebooked it to the later date Ron was able to get.

The next morning, I could get the booking service for the hotel. They were working from their homes because they had all be evacuated. No charge, no problem. Whew.

So after all of this chaos and drama, everything worked out. Just like a hurricane - crazy wild when you're in the middle of it, then the next morning, the sun comes out, and if you're as lucky as we were, it looks like nothing ever had happened.

Michael's flight to D.C. wasn't canceled, and I was able to take him to the airport to go off on his adventure.  While I have received a couple of emails from him since then, his last text to me as he was boarding the plane from Miami to Nicaragua was, "Off I go, into the wild blue yonder..." Air Force people will know that line. Mothers do not like to hear that though.

 
Katie got to spend more time with her boyfriend. We left on Wednesday, and got her settled. We checked out a few grocery stores together, ate at some cute cafes, and then I came back the next day. She figured out everything else  on her own, no problem.
I, on the other hand, cried in the car all the way back to JFK airport. The driver kept looking at me in the mirror, but stayed silent. Probably for the best. 

I love my kids. I love their sense of adventure. I KNOW where they get that! But sometimes I wish we could scale it down a bit. Don't some kids just move out into an apartment nearby? Would that have been too much to ask???

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know.

See Genius!

"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world...are the ones who do."


I absolutely love this video. It comes from the Humanity Healing Network. The writings are from Jack Kerouac. Doesn't this make you think about raising children to be who they are MEANT to be? Not just "successful" or "likeable" or "employable"...

It makes me think that our whole purpose as parents should be to help them get so comfortable in their own skin that they can do what they've been put here to do. No fear. Eyes open.

Cydney reminded me that a smaller version of this was part of an old Apple computer commercial. No wonder it seems so familiar.

Father's Day!

 

This is so cool! We took all kinds of pictures over the years. But we've pulled out a collection of Ron with the kids. 

Enjoy the video!

Michael's Graduation

 

Today, Michael graduated Magna Cum Laude from Texas State University!

His degree is Mass Communications - Journalism
with a minor in Anthropology.

We are so proud of him!

He had a wonderful experience at Texas State, even though it started out a little rocky. He was always on the Dean's List, he joined a bunch of clubs, worked on the school newspaper, even hosted his own radio shows on the school's radio station. It was a fantastically successful experience!

Looking on with disbelief!

With Alyssa and Katie

On the Big Screen in the auditorium

New York City (Day 1)

This is our 4-day trip to NYC. Our primary goal was to see where Katie wants to go to school and get it all set up. Additionally, I wanted to take another trip with Michael before he leaves for the Peace Corps, and since the last NYC trip was primarily theatre-focused, to let him find more fun in New York. And, since Alyssa didn't make the first trip with us, I wanted her to have the experience as well.  But because my memory is terrible blogging seems to be the way to go.

Up at 4 a.m. Two cars to get us to the airport. With our boarding passes already printed, we got through with no problems. Actually, Alyssa found that she had gotten through with a tiny pocket knife in her purse! And they did want to check Michael and Josh's carry-on bags - they're such suspicious-looking characters!  But mainly, we slept on the airplanes. American airlines, connecting flight at O'Hare then on to LaGuardia.

Carmel Car Service - great service. With 5 people, it was cheaper and faster than the Super Shuttle (@$16/person). We had a minivan for $50, plus the $6 toll and the tip. We made it from LaGuardia to Times Square in under 30 minutes each way.

Marriott Marquis
2nd time at this hotel on Times Square. Didn't splurge on the Times Square view. Still, the 42nd floor let's you see pretty far - glimpses of the Hudson River, John's Pizzeria, Jersey Boys, American Idiot, and the Golden Hand at Madame Tussard's! Lovely room. Really convenient for tourist stuff.


Hell's Kitchen Flea Market
Not very big, so not too great. Josh found some great boots, but they were too small. Still it was a fabulous place for some NY people-watching. Many were all decked out in their VERY extravagant Easter "bonnets."





Junior's.
 It started raining and we ran across the street to Junior's for sandwiches. We were running late so we got them to go. Not that great for the money. Probably because we had to carry them a little ways before we ate.  Waiter comments from Bubba Gumps were that we should only get our cheesecake from Junior's and get our Pastrami Sandwiches from Katz.

Squeezed all 5 of us into a regular sized cab (after a little begging on my part), $5 to get us to The World Comedy Club on 53rd. Good news, we had a coupon for $10 each tickets. We knew we had to have a 2 drink minimum, but we were a little surprised when the bill came - $82!  Bottle water - $10, Beer $16-18, Soda $20. They let us bring in our sandwiches from Junior's, and the 90 minute show was funny. Good first night entertainment!

Found The Food Emporium on 49th & 8th on our walk home from the Comedy Club. Picked up fruit for next day breakfast....even though we ate most if it that night! The rain had stopped while we walked, storm rolled in again afterward.

Walking back toward hotel

A rainy night in Times Square

Still busy there, even if it rains!

Just back from the Comedy Club!

NYC Day 2

Foggy Monday Morning....

CitySights NY bus - a hop-on hop-off bus tour. We bought the discounted price for 3 days through Priceline when we did the airfare. This was a good way to get off in different parts of town. Good for first timers, ESPECIALLY good if you get a good tour guide. Josh and Alyssa jumped on it one day and had a great older Bronx New Yorker who told them the good and the bad of everything he passed! One time we had a younger guy who told us only stuff about TV shoots, movie locations and celebrities. CitySights only has an upper deck, sometimes covered in plexiglass or partial plexiglass. The red busline has all open air top, which looked breezier. Also, ours stopped running at 6 p.m, and the red one seemed to keep running.

Paesano's on Mulberry Street in Little Italy  was delicious and not outrageously priced for lunch.  Outdoor dining was full, but indoors was quaint and old world feeling.

New York Film Academy (SoHo Campus); we walked there and met Barron, Katie's new counselor. Did a tour, sat in on an acting on stage class. Chaotic, but fun. It's going to be pricey, but Katie liked it.


The 1760. We hopped in a cab because we were trying to make the 3:30 tour of the dorm where the NYFA students have 2 floors. We had to get from SoHo to 97th street. We made it with 5 minutes to spare, and $20 cab fare. Really nice safe neighborhood. Typical dorm room, but it does come with TV, microwave, fridge. There's a doorman, weight room, study rooms, library, laundromat, mail room, community kitchen with convection oven and stove.

  Rockefeller Center Walked over from the Marriott.  Lots of people there for Easter.

 We had Top of the Rock tickets, but the line was really long on Sunday. So we decided we'd do it Monday or Tuesday night. That never happened because THICK fog rolled in on Monday night, then Tuesday night, we were just worn out! The idea of waiting in any lines for a great view of the tops of buildings didn't really appeal to us at that point. Another time. ;)

John's Pizza for dinner. Chris Romano's recommendation. They have 4 restaurants now, and Chris's fav was on Greenwich/Bleeker, we ate at the convenient one near Times Sqare. Viewable from our room. Really great pizza! Service was not so great, probably better in the original location. Still, we'd do that again. 

Hershey Store. Went over thinking there was a tour of some kind. But there wasn't. Just a lot of chocolate for sale, shirts with M & M, mugs, Reese's lunch boxes, etc. Not great.

NYC Day 3

Finally a morning with no fog! Our plans were a little up in the air, hinging on the weather. So we were off and running!

Harbor Cruise.
A 90 minute guided tour down the Hudson River, lots of explanations about the viewable buildings, history, skyline, bridges, and then up the East River. Up close to the Statue of Liberty. GREAT tour!! Booked it through Priceline with the Airline tickets. This might have been our favorite tourist attraction.

These two pictures are blurry because I haven't figured out the scanner yet. They were taken by the Harbor Cruise photographer as we boarded the boat.  Not to worry, we took a lot of pictures from the boat - pictures of each other, shots of the skyline and the bridges.  So I just created a slideshow for it. Seems a little dramatic, but I'm just learning how to do this.

If you click a picture, the video will open at the beginning in another tab/page. Otherwise, it starts rolling the minute you enter the blog. If you place the cursor over a photo, without clicking, it will show whatever comments we have about that particular photo. We're not really sure about the buildings and the bridges, sorry, we just took them when we were on the Harbor Cruise. The captain was wonderful, explaining everything...if only I could remember what he said!!

City Bus
The Harbor Cruise offers free shuttle back and forth to Times Square. But we wanted to go to SoHo to see the NY Fire Museum. We considered walking, but Michael and Josh spoke to the Cruise Captain who showed us where to just hop on the city bus for free and go to Bleeker Street. We stood at first, then rode a little past Bleeker. We did see Cydney's recommendation of Two Boots Pizzeria , but we got off and walked on to Spring Street.


NYC Fire Museum
Great museum. Operates on donation, so bring cash. Lots of photos, old equipment, engines, gear you can try on. Clearly a "school trip" kind of place, but we liked it a lot. Very moving videos about 9/11 taken by the firefighters there.
Michael took a bunch of pictures in there, so we'll probably add another slide show! lol

Union Square
My foot was hurting, so Alyssa, Josh and I took a cab to Union Square. When we got there, we found a great Chocolate Restaurant, Max Brenner's http://www.maxbrenner.com/home.aspx although we had a rather rude Russian waitress. Still, the restaurant smelled FABULOUS, and the desserts were totally decadent! Michael and Katie wanted to do some more exploring, so they took the subway to Union Square. They got on going the wrong direction, hopped off, then got back on going the other way. They ended up at TGIF, because it was familiar and we didn't know what street we had turned off the square to get to our restaurant. So when we finished, we met them at TGIF.

NYFA Union Square campus
We walked over to the campus where the behind-the-scenes classes are held, as well as the counselor's area and where Katie will have to go when she first "checks in" in September. We met Barron there and also met the Housing coordinator for The 1760. They let us sit in on an acting course. Katie felt like she'd be just fine in those kind of classes.

Subway
Since Michael and Katie had already ventured into the Subway, we decided we'd take it back to the hotel. We tried to use the credit card to purchase single pass metro tickets, but it wouldn't take it. So we put cash in one at a time, which took a little while, and I'm sure made it clear to one and all that we were tourists. Josh and Alyssa watched a drug deal, while local kids were clearly letting friends in and out the emergency exit. The alarms were being ignored and live music was being played around the corner. So everyone got there cards and we started through the turnstiles. I mistakenly pushed mine forward because I didn't want to have to squeeze into the smaller area. But unfortunately, I was then trapped in between, unable to go either way. So Alyssa ran her metro card and I went on through. That left her on the opposite side of all of us, unable to get through! So initially I handed her my credit card and told her to get in line for another card. Josh noticed that drug dealer was still watching us and this did not sit well with him. So he reached over and opened the Emergency exit we had seen people use, pulled Alyssa through, alarms sounding, and we were off to our train!  We were still a little unsure which train we needed, but we made our best guess and we were right.  Upon arriving in the midtown area, Michael found musicians to photograph. Then we headed up to the hotel. Quite an adventure!

Wonderland
Katie bought her own ticket to see this show. She played Alice when she was 13, so she feels she should see all things Alice in Wonderland -related! She liked the show and it was right in our hotel, so that was great! Her seats were in the 6th row!

Pompeii
Michael got tickets to the Discovery Museum which was also right off Times Square.  Great exhibit!!



Shopping on Times Square
Josh and Alyssa went shopping for a purse and phone cover from the street vendors. Success! The purse was huge, the phone cover was pink - all was right in the world. The streets were packed because all the shows were running on Tuesday night. (None on Monday, and only a few on Sunday night)

Bubba Gump Restaurant 

We decided to splurge on seafood in Times Square. Drinks, dessert - the works! Alyssa even got a glass that lights up!  Service there was great. Food was delicious. Desserts were HUGE!  Yes, it was fun. Yes, it was waaaay overpriced. But...New York...

NYC Day 4 (Last Day)

WEDNESDAY
Preprinted the boarding passes in the Business Center at the Marriott. This is such a great time saver - plus you can change your seats around a little bit if you need to.
Starbucks in the hotel for coffee and croissants.
Carmel Car service back to pick us up. Got us to the airport in about 20 minutes.

LaGuardia Airport - hardly any lines. No extra security checks like there were on the way to NYC. I even forgot to pull out my liquids in my little quart bags, they just went on through. (Alyssa got through the Austin airport with a pocket knife in her purse, but both Josh and Michael had to let someone go through both their bags on the way TO New York.)  Funny flight attendant chatted with us all the way to Dallas. We were right near the galley. Then on the flight from DFW to Austin, there wasn't enough room for all the overhead baggage. Josh took his backpack out and let someone put their suitcase in his spot. He was wearing an Aggie hat, so everyone just attributed his kindness to that. ;) Then another man was pacing the aisles, getting angrier about not finding a place for his bag. He told the flight attendants to "shut up and do your job," along with a few more insulting comments. We were thinking he was about to pull down someone else's bag when he turned to the flight attendant and pounded his fist into his hand, as if to indicate he was about to punch her. Moments later, he was being escorted off the plane. Someone came back and got his wife and his other bags, and that was that. Very exciting though! lol

Parking
Last little surprise. We didn't pay attention to the prices for the parking garage. We were sleepy and Michael was parking the car after we were all dropped off on our way out of Austin. I realized he had parked in the covered parking and expected it to be expensive, like $40. Nope. Try $80! Probably won't do that one again.

Then Ron came to take Michael back to Texas State where he had to finish up a paper and start a take-home test. Katie had to be dropped off at Ballet Austin for dress rehearsal for her shows the next weekend. Alyssa, Josh and I came back to the house, unloaded and went out for some good ole Tex-Mex!

All in all a great trip!!!

Friends on facebook suggested a variety of things we never got around to. But we will in the future. Thanks! Here were the suggestions:
Art Student's League on 57th street; Mood fabrics, united nations tour, toysRus times square, life cafe (from Rent), NBC store, FAO Schwatrz, Union Square Cafe, Spirit for $10 flights, and
http://ask.metafilter.com/184245/How-to-Spend-My-MidSpring-Staycation

What Should They Learn?

I read a blog about "What should children learn?" They were trying to think outside the box. They wondered if the focus on traditional subjects is really all that important. Seeing the responses was interesting. I had an inkling that my list would not resemble too many others, but with 3 teenagers, and 2 grown step-kids with children of their own, here's what I think are the most important things children should learn:

• Kindness and compassion. Learn how to put yourself into other people's shoes.  When everyone else jumps on a bandwagon against something someone did, hold back a little bit.

• Live in the moment. Realize that there are about 16 waking hours in a day. And when they're gone, they're gone. There's nothing wrong with having a little "down time" but make sure you have some "up time too."

• Listen to people when they talk to you.  Give them your full attention.  Think about what they're saying but also why they might be saying it to you.

• Learn healthy eating choices and find exercise that you like and can do nearly every day. You're going to be in this body for a while - longer if you take care of it

• Learn your strengths and your weaknesses. Do something about or with both. Take time to get to know yourself.

• Learn about the nature of advertising and marketing. 

• Learn how to pursue your interests. Learn how to find information on the internet.

• Be brave. Try new things. You never know what you might actually like.

These are what come to mind when I think about what children should be taught.  In school curriculum, I think they call these "threads." They are supposed to permeate different subjects year after year. I like the idea of these topics being the important threads.  I believe the reading, writing, and math will present itself.  And if you need these more traditional "subjects" for a job you'd like to pursue, that's why we have community college.