Leaving Oz

Halloween Aftermath

The week after we went trick or treating, I noticed Rex was a bit off.  He was more fragile, whinier, touchier, and hadn't eaten more than two bites of any meal.  Yes, he went trick or treating.  Yes, we allow the kids to take one or two candies from the bag during the day.  No, we don't lock the bags up or store them in high places where they can't be reached.  The cute felt bags which their grandmother had given them this year were in full view and very accessible in our kitchen. 

I felt the honor code was working well.  They asked me if they could have a treat, and I would either say yes or no.  Accordingly, they would eat or not eat.  At least, that is what I thought...

The Birds, the Bees, and the Silkworms

Against my better judgment, or at least my self-serving nature, I found myself driving to a fellow homeschooling mom's house to pick up silkworms.  She had called me up and invited me to take some of the worms off her hands, and although I protested politely, she was very persuasive.  The kids, having recently lost their pet fish, were beside themselves with excitement.

We brought our share of worms home along with a week's supply of mulberry tree leaves, and I banished the whole colony to our playhouse in the backyard.  They were fascinating in a gross way.  Pale white and as long and wide as my pinky fingers, they ambled around the cardboard bin, chomping away at the leaves. 

The lifecycle of a silkworm moves along at a good pace: larva, pupa, moth, reproduction, eggs.  The children watched daily and made new and interesting observations.  They even named all the worms, although I'm not certain how they were able to keep track of them.  Nana was the baby silkworm, and my girls held it aloft on their finger and petted it, cooing at the white worm friend.

Free the Captive?

Mom, I HATE this camp.  I want to quit!” fumed my 13-year-old son Erik when I picked him up after his first day of Computer Music camp.   

I signed him up for this camp because Erik is addicted to computers and video games and is used to being bathed in computer-screen radiation.  He also hates being exposed to the elements and doing anything that requires unnecessary physical exertion.  And because of the computers, I figured it would be indoors and air-conditioned – his preferred habitat.  He’s also talented at music, so it seemed like a good idea to give him a chance to try putting computers and music together.  But it obviously wasn't working out for him.

The next morning, I spoke with the instructor to see if he would be willing to spend a little more time with Erik since he was a beginner.  The instructor assured me that he would and then divulged that the first day they had encountered numerous computer problems which made the day more chaotic than it should have been.  I left feeling hopeful that the second day would go better.

But it didn’t.  If anything, it got worse.  My husband and I now faced a parenting dilemma:  Do we let Erik quit, or force him to continue to go, subjecting him to several hours a day of torture for the rest of the week?