Homeschooling Voyage

evolution of a potter (and also, hi!)

So it certainly has been a while since I posted in this space.  I'll have more thoughts to share soon most likely as we're changing our navigation a bit.

Over the last year, First Mate has been learning how to throw on the wheel.  We kept several of his successful pots and you can actually see the progression in his skills. Pretty nifty.

These are the first ones he ever did. The first attempt (the one with the hole) is on the left:

And these are the next batch:

That last one is really darn good.  Especially coming from the tiny hands of a four year old.

We watched lots of YouTube videos of potters throwing and that was really inspiring for him. Much more so than me demonstrating. 

Along with these, he also made tiles that he stamped, drew on and otherwise added texture to. Then he glazed everything. 

Here is a small sample of his finished, glazed work:

We've been doing this out in the garage for almost a year now. It is reserved "special time" with just the two of us, Second Mate isn't ready for clay yet. 

Doing this with him has given me an important lesson. A lesson in patience. A lesson in stepping back and not interfering with what he is doing. As an artist myself, it is all too easy for me to jump in and say, "Oh, don't do it that way or xyz will happen!" When really he needs to explore the materials with freedom rather than have me constantly hovering over him and correcting. I've tried really hard to give that freedom to him with the clay.  I must have not screwed it up (phew) because he is still loving it and asking when we'll get a fresh batch of clay to start the process over again.

I have a serious storage/display problem brewing though. What on earth do I do with all of this 3D art?

 

 

sailing into summer & reflecting on the last year

So it is summer now.  Although many families are enjoying "summer break" nothing really looks any different around here.  It does feel different though.  I feel less...pressure.

It doesn't matter if your kids are in school or you homeschool or unschool.  Everybody is just having fun right now.  Everybody is hanging out at parks and the beach.  Those "schooly" questions don't even come up and I have to admit, it is a bit of a relief for me to not have to answer them or explain anything.

However, summer is also a time of homeschool reflection for me.  How did the last year go?  What were the hard parts?  What were the best parts?  What about next year?  

And the inevitable, are we going to continue with this?  Aren't we crazy to keep them at home another year?  Aren't we crazy not to?

And honestly, I'm still working out those answers.  

If there was a magical school that popped up that was everything I wish school was I'd consider sending my son there next fall. You see, I'm not in love with homeschooling or even the idea of it. I'm not.  I do it because if I'm being honest with myself I know it is the best thing for my family.  Is this enough?  I'm not sure sometimes.  

The schools are "fabulous" in my area, I'm zoned for a district that people lie about their home address to get into. So it isn't a matter of poor schools.  It is just that I can't imagine sending them to a traditional school.

Especially now that we've all tasted this freedom.  This way of learning on their own terms.  

On the other hand, last year was hard.  I have to remind myself that next year will be totally different since they'll both be one year older.  I get stuck in thinking that each year will be just as hard as the last, but really the challenges will be totally different as they grow.

Anyway, I just want to be honest about where I'm at in our homeschooling journey.  It really does seem (from the outside) that other homeschooling families are confident in their choice 100% of the time. I'm certainly not.  Which makes me question whether I'm cut out for this or not.  

 

What about you?  How are you reflecting on the last year?  Do you question your choice to homeschool?  

 

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PS - I noticed a whole lot of new subscribers after my illustrated posts got passed around.  The Parenting. Illustrated with Crappy Pictures™ has a new home now by the way.  What a fun way to reach other homeschoolers!  A totally unexpected bonus.    

(all those photos are from Balboa Island/Newport Beach, CA) 

 

 

 

learning from pirates

We've been in full on pirate mode lately.  Pirates, pirates, pirates.  Pretend play?  Pirates.  Tell a story?  Pirate story.  Hiking?  Searching for pirate treasure.  Everything is translated into pirate.  It is hilarious.  And also amazing to me how incredibly passionate my son is about them and learning about them.

One project we've been really into is creating maps.  Thanks to pirates, First Mate can sketch out the layout of our house and read maps with ease.  He'll draw paths for me to follow, wandering from room to room.  

Last week I filled a tiny wooden treasure box with a handful of hard candy "jewels" and hid it in the yard, tucked under a tomato plant. Then I drew a map of the backyard and rolled it up and put it in a bottle.  And tossed the bottle in the yard for the Mates to find.  Which they did.  Imagine the look on their faces when they realized it was a map! A pirate treasure map!

Oh, the giggles and excited squeals that followed, I could drink their happiness.  

There is nothing more fulfilling than making my kids happy.

 

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So I've been terribly quiet here, for reasons I shared on my personal blog today, and also because I've been so "in the moment" that I haven't felt inspired to capture anything on camera.  I wanted to keep all these fleeting moments to myself for a bit.  Drink it all in.  

I hope you are welcoming the month of June and summer with open arms!  I know we are!      

 

first mate gets a grown up camera

First Mate got a new camera as a gift from his aunt two weeks ago and he is in love.  A real camera.  One that isn't made for kids, but for adults.  He takes good care of it, uses the wrist strap and even puts it away, out of Second Mate's reach.  He also insisted upon sleeping with it next to his bed the first few nights.  

I've mentioned his interest in photography here and here and I'm so happy that he is having so much fun experimenting with it still.  Even more, I'm enjoying downloading the photos (and videos!) and looking them over with him.  He is learning about framing photos, keeping still, focusing and about when to use a flash or not.

Here are some of his photos from last week:

That last photo of the bags of sugar in the grocery store cracks me up.  Although I do remember him having the camera there I really don't remember him taking that many photos but he sure did.  He is stealthy about it.  A good trait in a photographer I think.  

Then he started learning about all the different manual settings on the camera, like white balance.  Some of his experiments with that are my favorites, in an artsy way:

The "other" photos that I won't be sharing publicly are the ones that really make the camera worthwhile.  Papa sleeping and a whole series of my butt while I'm bending over changing Second Mate's diaper on the bed.  Good grief.  Not to mention that the camera shoots video and he'll casually stroll into the room recording and we have no idea that he is.  Talk about candid videography!  These little snippets are sure to be very precious in the coming years.  

I'm thinking about a way to preserve and keep track of all of these, either seperate them all on discs for him or have the favorites printed in book or something.  As it is now, they are all just mixed in with my stuff in my iPhoto library.  Any ideas?  

 

 

 

glimpses of beach season

We have entered the start of beach season for our family and the end of the school year is nearing for many others.  There are little glimpses all around that hint at it that I've been enjoying lately.  

Like swim trunks and towels on the line out back.

And little hands cooperatively rinsing a bucket of treasures.

There is something about the end of the "school year" nearing that still affects me very deeply, even though we are homeschooling so it makes no difference to us at all.  It is like a sigh of relief.  The start of freedom.  I guess these are leftover feelings from my own childhood, that summer was fun and exciting and stretched wide open with possibility while the school year was...well, not.

I think about my own two boys and realize that they may never feel this way.  They could celebrate the change of the seasons with just as much excitement as the last.  Summer wouldn't be special in the way that it would mean freedom because they'd get that freedom year round.  

This is a pretty incredible difference.  

 

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What about you?  Do you have feelings of "Ahhhh, summer!" left over from your school days?  

 

 

 

renaissance faire & what to do with a four year old who is good at shooting stuff

We went to the Renaissance Faire last weekend and we all dressed up because we are huge dorks like having fun.

First Mate was in love with the whole experience.  He loves dressing up so going to a party where lots of people are just a weird as we are was pretty fun to say the least.

Plus, he got to shoot a tennis ball air cannon and dump a bucket of water on a pirate by aiming at a lever.  It was hard to hit.  He hit it.  Twice.

Then he got to shoot another cannon that shot tennis balls directly at the pirate guys on stage.  This one he did three times.  The guys jump around and yell funny stuff at you, pretending to be on the other ship.  The funny thing?  He was really good at it.  Like really, kinda scary good at it.  The workers couldn't believe it and they weren't just being nice.  They were sincerely shocked at this tiny four year old's extraordinary aim.  He was better than any of the adults playing.  It is all he can talk about or think about now.  

So what does it mean exactly when your son has a natural aptitude for, um...aiming and shooting stuff?  Gulp.  We haven't ever bought toy guns.  We've avoided it completely and since he was never exposed to it this hasn't ever come up.  Early on in my parenting days I wouldn't ever even have considered encouraging something like this.  But now?  Well, now that I'm homeschooling and my goal is to provide opportunities for my kids to have fun and learn and grow, well now I'm brainstorming ideas that would allow him to enjoy aiming and shooting.  But without buying him a toy gun.  Yet.  Gulp.  

I say "yet" because I'm intuitively opposed to making them taboo.  Do I want toy guns in my house?  No. Will I "not allow" it even if he absolutely begged and wanted one more than anything?  Well, that certainly doens't feel right to me either.    

But for now, his goal and interest isn't in a toy gun, it is in aiming and shooting a target and I don't think he cares what that looks like exactly.  

Dart board?  One of those marshmallow shooters?  A catapult?  Slingshot?  Anyone have any other ideas?  Are these just gateway drugs to guns? (lol)  What would you do?                             

are we sailing fast enough?

Funny how when I am in the middle of a random day these worries creep in just because Captain Papa and I have a conversation about physics and the space-time continuum.  Are we doing enough?  Are they being exposed to enough?  Are they learning enough?  

bubble solution making

I have a preschooler and a toddler so we are basically unschoolers at this point.  They are still just babies so I have no secret agenda as far as reading or math or science.  My only agenda is for them to find joy in exploring and to hopefully foster a love of learning and discovery.  So for the most part I remain calm and confident.   

Still.  The worries.  Creep.  In.  

Physics!  Space-time continuum!  So many fascinating things my husband and I can have conversations about because we learned about them at some point.  How does a child go from learning to count to ten to knowing stuff like this?  You mean I'm in charge of making sure he learns everything?  You mean I have to be sure he can add and subtract in order for him to learn the next thing?  Good grief, it seems daunting.  I'll have to spend a lifetime teaching the Mates all the stuff I know.  I better get started!  Quick!  Panic!

Deep breath.

I'm a perfectionist at times.  This is both a strength and a weakness for me.  I also have this terrible habit of getting stuck in what I call "the forevers" which means I'll start imagining how small choices I make now will impact the rest of our lives.  It is crazy making because it is all just speculation.  I have to just look at now because now is all I have.  I also have to remember to look towards them when the worries creep in.  Are they happy right now?  Are they learning right now?  The answer is always yes.

body painting

I think often about the different methods of homeschooling.  Traditional academic approaches for example.  Should we be doing more?  Will we do more when they are older?  It all feels like such an unknown at this point in our journey but I've come to realize that this is our strength, not our weakness.  We are fortunate that we don't have their academic path carved in stone.  A stone cracks and shatters under pressure because it can't adapt to change.  Flexibility is needed for change, and if there is one thing people do it is change.  I have no idea what ten year old First Mate is going to need to learn.  If I thought I did I'd be a fool.

Plus, at some point, he will take charge of his own learning and in fact he already has.  Besides, how will he not learn about theories in physics if he hears his parents talking about it?  

And when I realize all of this, I feel better.  The worries fade and we enjoy ourselves again right now.  

Do you ever get "the forevers" and panic?  What do you do?       

 

the engine room (or, beautifying where we create)

When we started homeschooling I swore we wouldn't be "one of those families that sits around the dining room table all day" doing worksheets and believe me, we aren't.  However, I've realized that the Mates do need a clear space for projects, to make cards and to do art.  And where is this happening?  You guessed it.  The dining room table.

Unfortunately, our dining room was dark and dreary.  The room with the least natural light.  My least favorite room in our home.  So a few months back I slowly started making changes and saving pennies for more.  I wanted to create a learning space for them that was calm and one where they felt welcome in.  To create their own "space" within a shared room of our home.

The first thing we did was to hang an entire wall of their art using strings and clothespins.  I also made an effort to keep the table clear of random clutter.  Next, we had a solar tube installed to let in more natural light.  And finally, I painted the china hutch to make the whole room more cheerful and explained that the bottom drawers and cupboards are now theirs.

The entire bottom level of this cabinet is now dedicated to storing arts, crafts and suppplies for the Mates to use when they like.  (Yes, I'm aware that I took this photo before I put the hardware back on...oops)  Having things like dough and paint and paper accessible at all times has been such a joy for them.

I can't tell you how much it has improved our use and love of this room.  No, we are still ususally out and about on adventures or digging in the garden in the backyard, but on quiet days when we are "one of those families" (ha!  such a stigma to hang out at home!) I'm happy to have this cheery space.

 

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Are you making any changes this spring to your home for your kids?          

 

charity and math

Today First Mate made careful piles of coins and counted them.  Four quarters make a dollar.  Ten dimes make a dollar.  Each dollar was a mark on the paper and in the end he counted those up to see how much he had.  This all suddenly made sense to him for the very first time.  It was a great thing to witness.  

This was all sparked by Japan and our thoughts heading there.  I made several items that I'll be selling with proceeds to go to charity and he decided he was ready to give the money he has been collecting too.  It all added up to $10.65.  He has been collecting these coins out of the pockets of others for the last few years - mostly from guests to our home since we rarely use cash anymore.  Coins he found on the street made their way in there too, he is always picking up pennies.  I never gave him any money for his bank so for him to have collected $10.65 out of nothing is quite a feat for a four year old.  I think I'll advise him to start asking for the green paper stuff next.  Fundraising in his future?    

I joke, but really, I think giving (even when small) is a lesson worth experiencing.  And the math was cool too.  

 

 

four year old's Las Vegas photos from the road

I have always let First Mate take photos with my iPhone.  He messes around with the various filters and I don't think anything of it until I download the photos later and discover the ones he saved.

These were all taken by him from the backseat of the car, while going home after our Las Vegas family trip.  Somewhere between Vegas and Los Angeles.

These photos capture the essence of what that drive is like way more than any photo I could have taken.

 In fact, these are my favorite photos from the whole trip.  And I'm not just saying that because he took them.  He takes plenty of duds too.  

He has always been interested in taking photos.  I shared his first photos when he was two from the kiddy camera he got as a gift.  He has continued to show an interest so I'm thinking it is time to upgrade him to a "real" digital camera soon.  

Living in a time with digital photography is so much fun, isn't it?  How different from when we were kids!  I don't think my parents were handing me their film camera at age two and letting me play around.  Getting film developed was such a luxury, I don't think many kids were allowed to take photos until they were much older back then.  The first photos I ever took were with a Polaroid camera and they were of my cat, Gypsy.  I think I was seven or eight.  

What about in your family?  Are your kids interested in photography?  (And any cheapish digital camera suggestions welcome, too.)      

ship's log (from last week)

Sometimes I'll just post snippets of what we've been up to and call it our ship's log.  So this was last week:

Been keeping up with my goal to go on a new "ferryboat" adventure each week!  Went to the Getty Museum with a group from the Holistic Moms Network.  The most exciting part was riding the Tram.

 

We are going on day five of First Mate dressing up as a chimney sweep.  Black makeup on his face for soot and everything.  We have been out to eat twice with him in full costume as well as countless other places.  Only one concerned questioner so far, a woman asked if he fell down.  She thought his face was all bruised up.  The real explaination gave her a laugh.

 

A bit of gardening.  We are mostly prepping the soil to get ready to plant next week but we also planted more rosemary and lavender since it has done so well in our yard.  

 

Cookie, cookie and cupcake baking.  Truly, we made chocolate chip cookies, molasses cookies and cupcakes all in one week.  I had a sweet tooth this week!  First Mate pretty much does all the active work with baking.  Measuring, mixing, pouring, etc.  I help with the oven and the eating.  

 

Enjoying oranges as fast as we can, knowing the season is almost over.  Orange juice, orange sherbert, orange cream frosting on cupcakes, orange glazed chicken...

 

And just plain eating oranges.  Lots of them.  

 

I love this time of year!  We're going on a little road trip soon so I'll be quiet in this space while we're busy being tourists.  First Mate's wish has come true, we're heading back to Vegas for a couple days.  No gambling for us, just Thai food, kids games, crazy Vegas style scenery and that feeling of freedom and bliss you get only while on vacation.      

 

 

 

 

 

 

ship greetings & mail (aka - learning to write)

First Mate has been very into making cards for friends and family lately.  He makes a batch of cards daily.  They involve drawn pictures, stickers, stencils, stamps, glitter glue and writing names and sometimes simple messages.  

After the 5th batch of cards this week (and running out of stamps again) I almost told him to consider making something else for a bit.  Fortunately I caught myself.  Why not roll with it?  So I marched us down to the craft store and got more card making supplies.  

He has really become more confident writing letters, remembering how to spell a few names from memory and even sounding names out a bit.  Goodness, he is learning to read and write from these cards!  All on his own.  To think I almost got in the way.  All of you experienced homeschoolers are rolling your eyes at me, saying, "Well of course he is learning" and you all are right.  He doesn't need to trace the alphabet on boring worksheets when he is writing names and words on artistic cards that he can give to people.  So obvious.      

I share these "obvious" realizations I have with you because I want to be honest in this space about our journey.  I'm a total newbie with all of this and trying to be mindful about my own misconceptions about homeschooling.  

Anyone want some sparkly, sticker filled cards in the mail?     

 

 

toddler on board

I always wondered how families homeschooled when they had toddlers at home too.  Heck, how families did anything with an older kid plus a toddler at home.  Now I know the secret.  A very messy house.  

This is a typical day: 

I make breakfast while Second Mate pulls out everything from the cupboards.

 

After breakfast they play with clay which is now permanently embedded into the cracks of our hardwood floors all over our entire house.  So why not add more?  Second Mate is tasting some in this photo which cracks me up.  

 

 Second Mate picks a new hiding spot in the hutch I'm painting and notice that he is playing with my keys.  The same keys I can't find later when it is time to return the overdue library books.  

 

And finally, Second Mate gets into a bag of foam stickers that First Mate is using to decorate cards with.  He proceeds to stuff as many as possible into his diaper which accounts for a treasure filled surprise at the next diaper change.  At least now I know how all that fun stuff gets in there.  

And that is just the half of it.  Usually days involve at least one meal that winds up like this:

Fortunately for my kids, I've never been a good housekeeper so all the chaos doesn't bother me much.  And it sure is fun.  Especially when I remember to take a picture.   

 

 

 

 

 

the egg that hatched life, death & sex...discussions

Our neighbor found an unbroken egg lying in the grass yesterday and gave it to First Mate.

This little discovery has lead to all sorts of discussions on life and death and sex.  With him asking me hard questions.  Questions I stumble on.  Things like "Is it sad that the bird inside didn't get to grow and become a bird?"  Followed up with "Well is it sad when we eat eggs for breakfast?"  Which of course led to talking about fertilized versus unfertilized eggs.  And how that happens exactly.  "The rooster does what?"  

Don't get me wrong, I'm not squeamish about talking to my son about life, death and sex.  I'm squeamish about scaring the crap of out him about life, death and sex.  I'm still learning to walk that fine line between just answering his question in a simple way that a four year old can understand and rambling on and on and confusing matters.  Just answer the question and then shut up.  Wait for them to ask another question.  Or not.  

There is an art to this I think.  My husband in particular was terrible at this.  He'd answer a question with an entire biology 101 class.  He meant well.  He loves teaching and explaining things but even he realized that this method doesn't work too well on a four year old who was off playing with blocks by the third sentence.  So we are both working on this.

It can be hard.  Especially when you are new to homeschooling (like we are) you have this desire to seize any potential learning experience and run with it.  To teach the hell out of it.  Which totally ruins it and robs it of any magic it may have had.  

Take this egg for instance.  When our neighbor first handed it to him I had visions of looking up different eggs online with him.  Of figuring out what kind of bird it was from.  Of wondering why the egg wound up on the grass.*  However, he didn't want to do any of those things.  At first I was dissappointed but I forced myself to shut up.  Let him lead.  He wanted to talk about other stuff.  You know, silly stuff, like life, death and sex.  Oh what this child teaches me when I let him!  

I'm thankful I didn't press the issue of what kind of bird layed the egg.  I can see now how frivolous that was in compared to the questions he was grappling with.  

Let him lead.  Let him lead.  Let him lead.  Trust.  

 

 

 

*It was a mourning dove egg and the nest was probably disrupted by the Cooper's Hawk that I've been seeing and hearing lately.  The hawk swoops down and pisses off all the birds in our yard on a daily basis.

 

 

 

 

 

70 knots...going so fast! (time, that is)

Been so busy living time that I haven't had any left over to post.  Like I mentioned, my mom was here so the Mates were in bliss all week.

My mom is the most patient, calm person ever.

Which means she has this magic quality that she can get any child to sleep on her.  Which means they aren't sleeping on me.  However, rather than use my freedom to post I decided to do other important things.  Like sit in the sun and do absolutely nothing.

But now my mom has gone home and the sun has left too.  So we are back where we left off.  Saying yes to playing in the rain.  Going on our weekly ferryboat adventure too, a thrift store trip that I wrote about on my other blog a bit.  

 First Mate picked out books (at .95 each, I love getting books at thrift stores!) and got The Kissing Hand, which I had heard of but didn't know what it was about.  Turns out it is a book about a raccoon who doesn't want to go to school so the mama raccoon kisses his hand so he can always have the kiss so he feels reassured when he is alone.  Apparently, it is the ultimate "help your kid deal with separation" book.  I was curious to see what his impressions were since he doesn't go to school and when he stays at his grandparents house he practically pushes me out the door to leave - no kissing hands needed.  So I asked him what he thought of the book.  I love to discuss books with him, he always has insight that opens my eyes a but more to his world.  

"I think it is good that he always has the kiss from his mama to help him when he is scared."  So then I asked him what he thought about the raccoon going to school.  He replied, "He has to go to school so he can learn."  I asked him why he has to go to school and couldn't homeschool.  He explained, "If he was homeschooled he wouldn't need the kiss goodbye and there wouldn't be a story."  Um.  Oh.  True.  I love it when my four year old makes me laugh and feel like a simpleton at the same time.         

So we are setting sail again & I'll be back as usual next week.  

this (homeschooling) moment

(This is a regular Friday theme, à la SouleMama's this moment, with a homeschooling flavor.  Something from our week that inspired learning or is a snapshot of the "why" behind our choice to homeschool.) 

all hands on deck (grandmothers)

Our homeschooling voyage will sail the smoothest when we have a strong crew that includes our extended family and friends.  Our "deck hands" maybe?  Those people that bring their own unique lives onboard that in turn, enrich ours.

Like grandmothers.

So today I walk into our kitchen to find my mother-in-law up on a step ladder and First Mate perched in his learning tower (in his underwear no less) digging through the spice cupboard, tasting everything.  

 

 Second Mate (who I was holding) joined right in, dipping his finger in assorted vinegars and spices.

 

The funny thing is, I remember doing the same exact thing with my grandmother, yet it hadn't occurred to me to do it with the Mates.  Must be one of those magical grandmother things.  There are a lot of those.

Grandmothers seem to be natural teachers.  When I say "teacher" I don't mean someone who gives lessons though.  I mean someone who shares, listens and says yes more often than not.  So obviously "teacher" isn't the right word.  Hmmmm.        

We are very fortunate to have Captain Papa's parents close by.  My own parents, on the other hand, live far away in the land of cold and winter awfulness.  Minnesota.   The escape from which gives them an extra excuse to travel here each winter though.  They will arrive this Wednesday in fact, so I'll probably be quiet in this space until next week.

 

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Do you have a special memory of something your grandmother shared with you?  Or taught you?

this (homeschooling) moment

(This is a regular Friday theme, à la SouleMama's this moment, with a homeschooling flavor.  Something from our week that inspired learning.  If you do this too I'd love to see a moment from your week!) 

non-candy handmade Valentines

There are a few things I am sad about when I think about the Mates not going to school.  Valentine's exchange is one of them.  I loved this as a child in elementary school.  However I realize that not only was that me (and not them) it also doesn't mean much in the scope of things.  I think it was the making of the cards and the getting of candy that was the cool part...and that can happen anywhere.

Still, I was a tad relieved when our homeschool co-op decided to do an optional Valentine's card exchange tomorrow at the park.  Only there is one rule.  No candy.  No problem, we understand.  Not all parents let their children have candy, not even for Valentine's day.  Plus, there are a few kids with special dietary issues and allergies in the bunch so no candy makes it easier.  

Handmade was the method of choice this year and First Mate had the idea of making jewelry for everyone, likely because last year he picked out a bacelet for me with Captain Papa's help.  He had 15 kids to craft for so we had to come up with something simple and affordable.  

He painted some wooden discs and then stamped the first initial of each kid's name on them.  Instant Valentine's jewelry!  He even made an "M" one for Mama.  

So no candy at the exchange but don't you worry, we'll be having a few sweets at home.  I even bought a new heart shaped cookie cutter for the occasion.  Must. Go. Bake. Cookies.

Happy (early) Valentine's Day if you celebrate! 

 

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What do you do for Valentine's Day with the kids?

weekly "ferryboat" adventures (exploring new places)

A ferryboat is a people carrier = my car.

In order to combat seasickness, we have started going on one new ferryboat adventure a week.  One new place that we've never been.  Just one.  A new store, a new museum or a new park for example.  Just somewhere totally new to us.  

It is great for the Mates and honestly, I'm really excited about challenging myself this way.  In all honesty, I hate to drive and most especially to new places.  Like, really hate it.  I could get lost!  I could make a wrong turn!  I'm such a nervous driver, always have been.  I'm a total homebody at heart too, which doesn't help.  However, I'm looking forward to exploring our area and stretching myself to expand my comfort zone.  Expand what feels familiar and find new favorite places.  We moved here a year ago and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what is available even in just a ten mile radius.  

This week we checked out the Conejo Valley Botanical Garden and did it on my first day (followed by night) of solo parenting after writing my last post on choosing joy.  It was joyful.  Truly wonderful.  We had a picnic and wandered around on the trails, smelling the desert sage we brushed up against.  

Going on these adventures with the Mates has also done something I didn't expect.  It has strengthened our bond.  Ignighted a sense of comraderie even.  We are in this together.  It isn't a mama taking her two boys somewhere, it all of us, equally going on an adventure.  Together.  Which really is what parenting is all about.  Or at least it can be.

I still hate to drive.  Sticking to the familiar places still feels much easier.  But stretching myself feels good.  And I expect it will get easier with time.  At the very least, our "familiar" places will have increased. 

And the nice thing about going on a ferryboat adventure is that you can always hop back on and head home again.     

 

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What are you doing to stretch yourself right now? 

 

*sorry for the poor phone pictures, hey, it was my first official ferryboat adventure and I was packing light with no bulky camera!