Why I took my son out of School to Homeschool Again (And why I support BOTH homeschooling AND Public School)

Even before my son was born, I knew I was in for an experience.  He would kick all day and night, and while I was pregnant with him I wasn't sure he ever slept.  And sure enough, his birth confirmed our suspicions.  He inhaled some meconium, turned blue twice, and wouldn't cry.  When they finally got him to cry about 6 hours later, he didn't stop for a good six months.

No, seriously.  Anytime he was awake he was crying.

When that ended, he was often upset.  Loud noises upset him.  Strange people upset him. Crowded places upset him.

You know how they tell you to vacuum all the time around the baby so they get used to it?  Not my son.  No joke, I used my noisy blender EVERY DAY with him in my arms, and for two years he cried every time.  

Public washrooms? The noises were terrifying for him.  And when he finally got past the stage where he wouldn't cry anymore, he would cover his ears the minute we walked in one, anticipating the flush of a toilet or the noise from the hand dryers.

Around the age of two was the year we carried him kicking and screaming EVERY Sunday after church.  I'm not even sure why.  Too many people?  Too close to nap time?  

And over the years we've had people say things.  I was told he had a rebellious spirit at the age of one because he touched everything.  I had people look at his tantrums and point out to me that he cried over everything.  I've had people laugh when he would cry as they talked to him.  I've been told he was "playing me" as a screaming three month old.

I knew he was struggling.  For many years I didn't have a name for it, but I knew it went beyond the typical normal tantrums.  We had taken him to occupational therapy and to a pediatrician for help. They labeled him ADHD.  I didn't feel like that was an accurate diagnosis for him. At his age we all agreed no medication was the right choice.  But I still felt we were missing something.

Because of this, it came naturally that we would homeschool him.  And we did for two years (and his sister for four.) But my health was struggling, so I decided this year I would put him in school.  

But in the end, that just made things worse.  For most of the 6 months he was in school he would cry as I dropped him off.  He had the sweetest teacher, and excelled at work, but his anxiety was at an all time high.

And there it was.  I finally realized exactly what he struggled with.  

Anxiety and hypersensitivity.

And then I realized that I struggled with that too.  And not just as an adult, but my whole life.  I started to look back on my childhood and understand different things that occurred, different things I felt, and why I spent much of my life with stomachaches and headaches.

Even knowing this, I tried to push through with school for my son. I didn't want him to let the anxiety win. But after six months it was apparent that it was getting worse.  As he struggled, I watched my daughter thrive in school.  Their experiences were so different!

The truth about anxiety? It doesn't just "go away".  You can't just do the same thing over and over and expect that one day you won't feel anxious.  Anxiety sufferers need to learn coping mechanisms, and way to manage their anxiety in those situations.  I believe that comes with feeling secure, with age, and with experience.  

I started to pinpoint some of the reasons he was anxious.  I discovered the noise level at school, being surrounded by a LOT of other kids, and being away from family were all factors.  While these situations are not entirely avoidable in life, I felt that my son needed smaller, baby steps into conquering his anxieties and learning to cope.  After all, he was just a six year old little boy. 

Me with the boy.  No anxiety when he is out in nature!

While I know there are many who will disagree with me, I felt that I was trying to "teach him to swim by throwing him into the deep end."  It just wasn't sitting well with me.  After awhile he wasn't the only one with anxiety.  I had anxiety too at how he would react when I dropped him off and walked away from him while he cried.  It never got easier, if anything, it got harder for both of us.

What I discovered is that you can send your child to one of the best schools in the area, he can have what you believe is the best teacher in the school, along with some of the best families you know, but it doesn't mean he will thrive.  I know this because my son had an amazing teacher, a great school, and wonderful classmates.  But he still struggled.  Why?  Because each child is unique and different.  The "one size fits all" education doesn't necessarily work for everyone.  And it doesn't mean that there is something wrong with my child.  Or yours.  It means that a different approach may work better for him.

I am excited to watch my son feel more at ease soon.  And as I teach him at home, my daughter who is thriving at school will continue to go.  My choice is the right choice for my family.  Every family has to decide what is best for them and their children.  I am for homeschooling.  I am for public school. I am for private school and Catholic school and Christian school. I see benefits to all.   But more importantly, what I see in most  cases is parents and teachers who have huge hearts for the children they teach, whether it be at home or school.  We are all aiming for the same thing - to raise well-rounded, happy, and educated children, so instead of declaring one is better than the other, can't we just decide we are all aiming for the same outcome?  It's time to support and encourage one another in our decisions to educate and raise our children, and not try and prove that one way is better for everyone.  It's time to walk alongside our friends and loved ones and raise each other up as we work hard to make the best choices for our little ones.  

Peace & Love. ;)

10 Reasons I'm Totally Excited to Watch Fuller House

Unless you live under a rock you have probably heard that Fuller House is coming to Netflix.  Call me nerdy, but I am counting down the days until I can watch it.  Here's 10 reasons why:

1. I don't care how cheesy it is, Danny, Uncle Joey, and Uncle Jesse singing together makes me smile every time.

2.  I want to hear all the catch phrases of my youth - Cut it out, how rude, You got it, dude, and Hello Tannerinos.

3.  Candace Cameron Bure is one of my favorite celebrities!!!!

4.  I really want to see what Aunt Becky and Uncle Jesse's twins are like.

5.  I need to know, is DJ and Steve finally going to get together forever?

6.  Kimmy Gibbler.  Enough said.

7.  Will they have laugh tracks?  If they have laugh tracks I will be in love.

8.  I can watch this show while my kids are still in the room.

9.  Um, can anyone say theme song?  Catchiest song ever.

10.  Corny as they may be, those heart-to-hearts they have give me warm fuzzies.

How about you? Do you plan to watch Fuller House? Or are you one of the ones making fun of us who are so excited to watch it??

6 Ways to Cure Wanderlust when you Can't Travel

I struggle with wanderlust.

Most days I dream of longterm travel with my family.  I want to join the thousands of other families who have made it a reality for themselves. They come in all different forms, from families with one child to twelve, single parents, people who work from their computers and those that work on the road finding odd jobs.  It's truly amazing the opportunities out there.

But what if it just isn't the time for your family?  One of the common themes I read online is that if you want it, you can make it happen.  But sometimes, I think it just isn't the right fit no matter how bad you want it. For us, it just isn't a possibility for us for a few reasons.  One of the biggest reasons is that my husband is currently in the process of getting certified as a carpenter apprentice.  This takes about 4 years, so until that is complete, there isn't even room for discussion of longterm travel.

And after that? I don't know.  I know that a lot can happen in 4 years so I don't even pretend to know what will be possible and what won't in 4 years.

So what does one do when they are most at home when NOT at home?  How do I ease the pain in my gypsy heart?

Let's just be downright honest - sometimes I selfishly sulk.  I dream of roaming cobblestone streets in Europe, eating exotic food in Asia, and walking among the palm trees in California.  

But when I am not sulking, I've come up with some other things to help the wanderlust in my soul.

1.  Go on weekend trips - Anytime there's a long weekend or extended time off of work for my husband, I am looking for places to go.  It can't be as far since we don't have as much time, but exploring a new area can be a lot of fun if you've never been there.

2.  Go on day trips -I love to explore little towns full of charm.  We have Prince Edward County just an hour from us, so we are always up for a day trip there.  Sometimes we like to go to Toronto or Ottawa for some city excitement.  

3.  Manage your money - One day you will have more time to take a trip farther away, whether it just be a two week vacation or something more.  Manage your finances so that when that time comes, money is not holding you back from being able to explore other areas.  Have a travel fund that you regularly contribute to.

4. Dream of the "BIG" trip -  Goals are good to have.  Like I said earlier, I don't know if longterm travel will ever be a part of our life, but one of my dreams is to take my family on a 6 week Europe adventure.  Even though the possibility may feel years and years away, it's time to start planning!  Even if your goal is not for 10 years down the road, there are little things you can be doing now to make it a reality.  Ask me in 7 or so years if this helped us reach our dream. ;)

5. Enjoy your area -  Sure, exploring another country is amazing (at least I think so, I've never been out of Canada and the US) while you are waiting for that opportunity, explore your own town or city.  We love the outdoors, and in the warmer months we are often out exploring local trails, rapids, and parks.  It sure beats sitting at home!

6.  Go camping -  Camping, no matter how close or far from your home, always helps my wanderlust.  And for my three small kids it is a favorite vacation choice!  

You may not be able to afford that trip across the world right now, but in the meantime you can feed the wanderlust with some of these tips.

What about you? Do you struggle with wanderlust?

How to Save Money in February

Okay, so the title of this post is a little misleading.  What I am going to share with you today is a way you can save money any time of the year.  However, for me, I have applied this practice to this month-February.

Last week you might remember that I posted about how we were doing a spending freeze.  You can read more about that HERE.

Our spending freeze has been uber successful, so now that I've built momentum, I am not ready to stop.  Not only am I not ready to stop, but I wanted to take it one step further.  How could I save more on top of freezing our spending?

I decided the best way was to cut our grocery bill.  And aside from not eating, which is not optional for anyone in this household (seriously, anyone of us misses a snacktime and we get HANGRY) it seemed to me the way to decrease our grocery bill was to make some convenience food items myself instead of buying them.  I knew that by purchasing less pre-made food it would lower our expenses.

Homemade bread and almond milk

So what have I made so far?  I did start this at the end of January to prepare for the first week of February.

I've made my own:

Bread
Granola (can you say goodbye $4 boxes of cereal that lasts two days in this house?)
Greek yogurt
Tortillas (This was WAY easier than I thought it would be!)
Muffins
Granola bars
Almond milk

Taco night with homemade wraps and greek yogurt, along with a cucumber-mango salsa recipe you can find at Imperfect Homemaking.

On top of repeating the above list throughout the month, I am wanting to make my own chicken broth and I also have some whey from the yogurt I made so I am hoping to ferment some kind of food!  Fermented foods are great for your digestive system.

Doing this long-term would definitely help our budget, but I don't want to set myself up for failure. Life is busy, and it can be hard to find the time to make a lot of stuff at home.  So right now my goal is to do this for February.  I am hoping at the end of the month I will have gained momentum in this area too and commit doing this on a regular basis.

What about you? What do you make at home to save some money?

Take the Spending Freeze Challenge

It seems like every December, after Christmas I declare that January is a "no-spend" month.  Christmas, no matter how much we try to cut back, always adds extra expenses.  But no one generally jumps up and down in excitement when they decide they need to do a spending freeze.

Why would anyone want to challenge themselves to do a spending freeze?  Well, it not only can help you save money, it can help you track and get a handle of where your money is going, how much you are spending on "extras", and also it can help you work towards your financial goals, whether it be to pay down some debt, save for a trip, or make an emergency fund.  

We started our freeze after the first week of January, and already I have found 200 extra dollars to pay towards some debt, and some extra money for a much needed oil change for one of our vehicles.  On top of that, this month I have not stressed about not having enough money, and that is WITH us down one pay cheque in the first week of January due to my husband's work holidays, but had not accrued enough holiday pay as he just started at his place of work last Summer.

And just so we can make sure you have the facts here, so that you see that a spending freeze can help ANYONE, let's just be clear - we don't make a ton of money.  My hard working husband is a first year carpenter apprentice.  The early stages of a new career.  Yet, somehow, we still have managed to find extra money by just NOT SPENDING.

Here's how you can make a spending freeze more tolerable.  Heck, you may even have some moments you actually full out enjoy. ;)

1.  Pick the right time for a spending freeze.  My family likes to spend warmer days out and about, doing things that make it easier to spend a little here and there.  If we were doing a spending freeze in the Summer it would be very difficult.  January, February, and March are really good times for us because not only has Christmas depleted us financially, but emotionally as well.  We are more than happy to stay inside in the coldest months of the year. 

2.  Stay out of the stores, stay off the shopping sites.  Seriously.  Don't just go in to "browse".  You don't need that kind of temptation in your life.  The less you are in the stores, the better.  For me, right now my stores I visit are pretty much narrowed down to grocery stores.  

3. Say no to situations where you know you might spend money.  All those invites to those home sale parties?  Just say no for now.  The girls want to go out to eat?  Just say no, and then cry a little.  I know, it doesn't seem fair, and you are itching for a night away, but it's temporary.  Next month (or whenever you decide to end the spending freeze) you can go out with the girls again.   

4. Find ways to socialize that don't involve spending money.  Invite your friends over to your house for some coffee, tea, and baked goods.  Or if you are like me right now, you are so thankful to one of your friends who planned a girls night at her house that only involves the cost of bringing your own wine which is optional - and yes, ladies, as hard as it is for me to say this, wine IS optional.  I will not be bringing it to this girls night.  Water it is for me.  

5. Think of intentional activities at home.  I have three young kids who can get cabin fever pretty quickly.  and that gives ME cabin fever.  But I find if I plan fun things to do at home, like play board games, have a movie night, cuddle up and read Narnia, or teach them how to cook or crochet, we all end up enjoying our time together, and don't have to spend a dime!  Not even gas money!!!  During the week I have made mental lists of things to do with the kids on the weekend.

Hot Chocolate at home with my boy instead of going out for treats allows some one on one time that fits right into a spending freeze!

6.  Decide what IS and ISN'T a necessity.  A spending freeze still allows you to spend money on the basics because, well, you gotta live!  So decide what is and isn't a necessity.  No, those cans of paint on sale at Home Depot are NOT a necessity - your dining room can wait one more month before it gets a fresh coat of paint. ;) (okay, so I may be saying this to myself....)

A spending freeze can be tough, especially when there are so many beautiful things to buy, delicious restaurants to try, and interesting places to go.  But I promise you, it will be worth it.  Remind yourself daily of your goals in doing this, and remember that it is only temporary.  Yes,most want to spend less in the future as a whole but you won't always have to say no to that Starbucks latte - you will just discover how to enjoy it as a treat, and not a daily event!

So how about it?  Will you commit to doing a spending freeze challenge?

Peace & Love. ;)

Tips for a Frugal Trip to Great Wolf Lodge

I have been hearing about Great Wolf Lodge for years now, as it seems everyone with kids makes at least one trip in their lifetime to it, but it really hadn't been on my radar, mostly due to cost.  But this year we decided it was time to take the kids after we had to use some money from our "go south when it gets cold for  vacation" fund for our rust bucket on wheels (aka, family van.)  So, we figured this was a nice compromise to not completely disappoint the kids, but not go into debt taking a family trip.

So here's my tips for doing Great Wolf Lodge, frugal style. :)


1.  Book During off-season. My first thought was to go to Great Wolf Lodge at Christmas time.  The Christmas atmosphere would make it magical! But when I looked at prices I noticed that if we went at Christmas instead of a slower time we would be paying $240 dollars more a NIGHT!!!!  Wow.  No thank you.  And the more I thought about it, the more I realized the crowds would drive me crazy anyways.  It was busy enough on a slow time for me.  I can't imagine the lines and the room in the pools at high peak times.  Going the first week of November was a perfect and frugal time for our family.  Weekdays of course are slower too.

2.  Find a coupon. I was fortunate enough to have a friend who received a coupon in her email that she forwarded to me.  It seems like if you sign up for their newsletter as well you can receive coupon codes.  The coupon we used was 30% off!!  So put the word out to friends, search online, sign up for the newsletter, check groupon...find THAT coupon!!!

3.  Bring most of your own food.  The rooms are equipped with a microwave, coffee maker, and mini fridge.  We brought most of our own food to make meals in our room.  You can't have microwave popcorn though...:(  discovered this after I brought a bunch. :( )  We made oatmeal in the microwave, Kraft dinner for the kids, had bagels, taco salad that I made at home and assembled in the room, and lots of snacks!

Eating breakfast in our hotel room.

4.  Eat at the LUNCH buffet.  Because my husband and I are HUGE foodies, i knew we would want to eat at least ONE meal at an onsite restaurant.  The buffet is pretty popular for breakfast and dinner, but it is a LOT cheaper at lunch.  Sure, you don't have as much options during lunch, but there is still plenty of food to fill you, plenty of options to please the whole family, and you don't have buyers remorse after you leave.

5.  Buy the Paw Pass.  Now, this may get mixed reviews on whether it is a frugal option or not, but hear me out. The Paw Pass is a deal you purchase where you pay about 65 dollars and it gives you about 120 dollars worth of activities and items for your kids.  There is so much more to do at Great Wolf Lodge besides the waterpark, but most of it costs extra money.  I knew if we went without a plan we would feel overwhelmed at what extras we would allow our children to do and in the end probably pay more money than we had planned mostly because we had never been there and were uninformed.  With the Paw Pass the kids were told before we went that they were not to ask for anything else.  Not only did the kids love everything on the Paw Pass, and did not ask for anything extra on top of it. (well, except the 3 year old who didn't really "get" a lot of it. ;) )  And it was often a nice break from the waterpark.

The ears and stuffies were part of the Paw Pass

Magiquest is a fun game that is also include in the Paw Pass.  The basic wands are included but there are an insane amount of "extras" that you can buy, including toppers, fancier wands, capes, etc.  We, of course told the children the basic wand that was included was what they were getting.

6.  Find other ways to save for your trip.  For those of you who shop at No Frills, you most likely collect PC plus points.  We had been saving ours since the beginning of the year.  We had 80 dollars worth of points.  Do you know you can redeem your points for gift cards that No Frills sells?  We redeemed them for some Mastercard gift cards and used this to pay for our gas.

We also saved all our change for awhile and used that to budget for our two meals we ate out (one at the resort, the other was cheap pizza on the way home.)

Other ways to save?  Let family know you are going to GWL and would LOVE some GWL gift cards for Christmas or birthdays! :)

7.  Avoid the crowds.  I already mentioned earlier that booking during off-season will give you less of a crowd.  But I found that even during off-season it was busy enough for me.  My husband and I are not fans of crowds though.  However, we figured out on the last day that if we went to the waterpark during meal time, like dinner, it was less busy.  Everyone was eating, and we were having fun with barely any lines for the slides!!!

All in all our weekend was filled with a lot of fun, and we stayed under budget. ;)  Our 8 year old could go on every ride which really made it fun for me!  I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much if we had went when all our kids were younger, as our three year old couldn't go on a lot of the slides.  There was no shortage of things for him to do, but as someone who loves rides it was definitely way more fun going on the big slides with my 8 year old.  My husband and I were able to take turns going on the bigger slides with our oldest and middle child.  We probably will go to GWL lodge at least once more in our lifetime, but will wait for the next time to be when our youngest can go on all the slides.  I think it all depends on your personality - if you love wild rides, or if you are content hanging in the wave pool with the little ones.

So go to Great Wolf Lodge to enjoy your mini getaway. ;)

Peace & Love. ;)

A Day in the Life of a Mom (or at least, THIS mom.)

A day in the life of a mom.

Let me show you what that looks like. ;)

7:00 a.m. - The husband gets up to go to work.  I pray the noise doesn't wake up the three year old in our bed.  Yes, that is right...middle of the night, he crawls into our bed...just like every night. I remember the time I said I would never have kids in the bed....yeah, if you guessed that comment was made BEFORE I had kids you would be right. ;)

7:15: -The 6 year old comes into my room and asks if he can play video games.  I give him the same answer I give him 9 out of 10 times -NO.  Guess he is banking on it being that 1 out of 10 time I say yes.

7:45 - I hear the two older kids singing together and playing in their room.  I smile to myself as I make sure to enjoy this moment.  I mean, wasn't it yesterday I woke up to a child screaming so intensely I was sure we were dealing with a broken bone, or a deep injury of some sort?  Turns out it was only a moment of screaming anger at his sister.  I'll take the singing, please.

8:00 - The three year old wakes up.  This is rare.  Usually he is up at 7.  I'm pretty sure this means it is going to be a good Monday.  Either that or he will make up for it by getting up at 6 tomorrow.

8:05 - By this point the kids have already asked me for breakfast 3 times.  I fumble around to feed them some toast, yogurt, and banana.

8:10 - I told myself I would start my day out with a green smoothie.  Whatever, it's Monday. Where's the coffee....

9:12 - Walk the kids to school.  How many years until I can let them walk themselves?

9:37- Drive into town (25 minutes away) to run some errands.  This includes a trip to the thrift store to get a cover up for over my bathing suit for the few days we will be away next week.  I know what you are thinking, stay-at-home mom soaking up the sun on a beach somewhere.  You can push that thought out of your head and replace it with a waterpark full of kids, noise, and, well, definitely no relaxing.

10:10 -Get in the thrift store, right to the aisle I need when the three year old announces that he "has to pee!"  Make a bee-line for the bathroom because we all know how long a three year old can hold it. Somehow, even though we make it to the toilet the kid still manages to pee on his clothes.  I spend the next 15 minutes cleaning up his pants and drying them under a public bathroom hand dryer. I give myself trouble for not bringing an extra pair of pants.  He's lucky he's cute and keeps flashing me grins like this all day:

11:30 - Stop at Walmart and buy some candy to hand out on Halloween.  Stand in the aisle and contemplate the wiser choice - cheaper candy, or better candy? Do we REALLY want to be that house that hands out the least popular candy?  My bank account says yes.  Sorry, neighbourhood kids. :(  

12:30 - Finally home!! How did a few simple errands turn into 3 hours? I'm beat.  But the kid wants to eat.  So lunch time it is.  During lunch I help the 3 year old memorize his verse for Awana Club tomorrow. I squeeze in washing a few dishes.

1:00 - Do some work on the computer (and another visit to Facebook of course) for the church Christmas play I am running while the 3 year old watches Paw Patrol. Write some emails, respond to some messages, and feel like I got something done finally!

1:45 - Work on some pallet sign orders.  But only for 15 minutes because now I remember that I need some power tools to build the sign and they are with the husband at work.

2:00 - Wait a second...when was the last time I had a shower? Friday? No, definitely Thursday.  4 days ago.  I was going to do some housework but I'd really like a shower instead.  What the heck, shower it is.  I silently pray that I get no pop-in visitors until I get the front hall swept and cleaned up.

2:02- The 3 year old is still watching Paw Patrol while I shower. (don't judge.:) )  Except, I'm a worrier, so I yell out to him every few minutes to make sure he is okay.  I'm clearly overreacting as he doesn't move from the couch the entire 7 minutes I am in the bathroom.

2:45 - Gotta throw some cookies in the oven for an after school snack!  Thankful I got the "cheater" cookies this time.  Pre-made balls of dough ready to pop in the oven at a moment's notice.  takes me 12 minutes and makes me look like a supermom with fresh baked cookies.

3:30 - How is it 3:30 already?  Speed walk to school to not be late picking up the kids.

4:00 - Feed the kids their snack and time for homework.  Homework shouldn't be allowed on Mondays.  I'm convinced our mom brains need at least until Tuesday to figure out how to help our kids with academics. But the 8 year old's project is due this Friday, so work away we must.

5:00 - Dinner!  Yay for leftovers!  Husband walks in the door.  I quickly fill him in on all the day's events, including an incident a child got into at school.

5:45 - Out the door again to swimming lessons.  Make sure to grab my book to catch up on my reading that needs to be done by Thursday night Bible study.  Sit on the bench and rotate between reading and looking up and making sure the kids know I'm paying attention.

7:30 - Sigh of relief that we are home again as the kids decided they wanted to know everything about puberty on the way home from swimming lessons.  Awkward mom managed to answer all their questions. The kids exclaim that they are hungry for the 100th time today.  Bananas for everyone as I start packing their school lunches for tomorrow.

8:00 - Husband puts the kids to bed.  Every. NIGHT.  I love that man.  I do some work on the pallet signs while he is tucking them in.  I make sure he doesn't forget a single toy the 3 year old needs to sleep with.

8:30 - Start thinking about all the things I need to do tomorrow but decide I am done for today so I sit on the couch.  And write this blog. I. AM. EXHAUSTED.

Until tomorrow, when I am back at it again...;)

Peace & Love. :)