Home School Hazard
I love that Tracy puts the time and considerable effort in home schooling our kids. I love her passion for the curriculum and community and her drive and desire to make sure that each and every one of them gets the attention they need. I love that she gets to spend so much time with each kid, and that they very quickly learn how to read their lesson plans for the day and get school done. I worried how Dorian and Alli would do attending SoHi full-time for the first ever as sophomores. It turns out my worries are in vain, as they are doing exceptionally well. However, there are some hazards. You see since they don’t “go” to school, they do their experiments, and art projects all at home, and while that is usually great, there are times when it is a little discomforting.
Imagine coming home after a long day at work. Your stomach grumbling just a touch, that hollow empty grumble that demands immediate attention. You walk into the well stocked pantry, reach over to the right and flip on the light switch. Immediately you see that plastic little drawers reserved for “dad” with his special snacks. Three steps later you are in front of the drawers and in your face you see the following:
Which molds quicker, wet bread, toast or dry bread? And why is it on "my" snack drawer.
This was Kassie’s experiment. The experiment was to see which molds quicker, wet bread or toast. I love that she had to put the sign up to make sure nobody touched her experiment. What I don’t love is that she hung it on my snack drawer, and I was hungry enough that it actually looked pretty decent.
So even though it is great to see the projects, art work, home work and lessons for the day, I have learned to be wary of home school hazards. And the first time I reach into the fridge for my after work snack, and pull out a half dissected frog, it will be time to re-think this whole home school thing, as soon as I finish my frog legs.
My new career as a bus driver.
Almost every parent goes through the first day of school blues / excitement. We are a slight exception. As most of you know, last year was the first year that any of our kids attended public school, and that was Alli & Dorian. They attended High School for 2 classes a day as a trial run. Other than Dorian not finishing his wood-shop project ( wood working 101) they did pretty good. So this year we have decided in the interest of Tracy’s sanity, and for other noble reasons they will attend Soldotna High School full time this year. Today was the first day. I know it was a big day because I saw people moving around the house at an hour when I am always the only one awake.
Eagle River circa 2000
Dorian Kodiak circa 1999
Alli, typical of a high school girl, budgeted about an hour and half to get ready. She was extremely excited to see her friends and get the year started. Dorian, typical of a high school boy, budgeted about 1/2 hour to get ready. Dorian likes, loves his sleep. To him, the worst part about school is getting up before 1 pm, and I am not joking. For a kid that likes hunting and fishing so much, he sure can sleep. Then our surprise guest was mom, up at the crack of dawn, getting lunches ready, nervously checking every last detail, holding back the tears as they walked out the front door.
2000?
Missouri 1997
The plan was for me to drop them off on my way to work, which I did. I felt like I started my new career as a bus driver of two, and I can’ t say I liked it all too much. The roads are slow, the lines are long, there are 16 year old drivers and giant yellow buses all over the place, with kids darting in, over , under and through cars all around you. A little stressful for a man with a low patience tolerance such as myself. The second part of the plan was that Tra would pick them up every day after school. We went to plan b. I had to come home early due to minor health issues, so I called and told Tra I would grab them on the way home. Let me tell ya, pick up time is much much worse than drop off time. The kids are faster, the buses slower, the parent drivers more impatient and the lines much longer. Finally, after a quick text sending the signal I was amongst the throng of plastic, metal and rubber in front of the school, they emerged from the school and found me.
First year of football in Eagle River 2001
2000
I was very excited to hear the exploits of the day. During the drive in I shared stories from my days as big man on campus, excited for the new adventures they would experience. As they got in the car I blurted out “so, how was it?” Dorian – “uh, Okay I guess” Alli- ” I hate all my classes, my teachers are mean” . Well we are off to a great start! Eventually, after much interrogation, sighs, “I dunnos” and “I guesses”, I was able to ascertain that things went well and that they found a lot of their old friends. Alli seems most excited about Drama class, which in my opinion was a natural fit. Dorian seems most excited about playing basketball. Me? I am most excited to find out that the real bus runs right by my house.
1998
my all time favorite picture of Dorian & Alli, circa 1999
