… is open.

It’s beautiful! Spacious and sunny, layout well thought out, filled with books and books and books (of course!). It makes me want to go back to my old project (that will forever be unfinished) of going through every single picture book there is, just to ferret out the gold nuggets. Sigh… it’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it. I’m glad I get to share the load with other homeschooling moms.

My observations:

1. They had slots to drop in the books you’re returning, 2 for adult books, 1 for children’s books, and 1 for “Everything else”. To make things easier for library patrons visiting today (opening day), they had an USHER telling everyone coming in where the Book Return was! They sure could have made it easier on themselves if they had just placed a huge banner up top proclaiming “Book Return”.
2. They now have an OVERDUES office! An office! With a door, and a chair and a desk with someone sitting behind it. Scary. I wonder if it would feel like being sent to the principal? “You’ve got overdues? Step in here, please. We need to have a talk.” Yikes. I wonder if we will be getting an overdues report card at year end. Mine will say, “Funded 3 self-checkout computers as of 12/31/08″.
3. Let’s go over to the TEEN section… hmm… seating area, lots of selections but uhm… wait, WHAT? what is THAT doing over there? “THAT” is a large poster of Twilight featuring the male lead (sorry, too lazy to google who that is). Ooooh, and flanking the poster are…. books! Both sides with a very provocative LABEL on top, just to make sure you don’t inadvertently miss the whole display! It blares, “Vampires”…. in bold black calligraphy on a neon orange background. Like those weirdly-dressed mascots of some store that always manage to catch your eye, standing at street corners in shopping areas, advertising the latest and greatest discounts. Come on in! Huge closeout sale going on now! They’re ugly and out of place, but apparently, they work, since the stores keep using the same tactic over and over.

   But yeah, back to the vampires sign. I was just musing as we walked around the new library that my 13-yo seems so excited to be a TEEN, given license to finally explore the teen section by himself. Given that the teen area is just a few steps off of the children’s area, I wonder how many kids are just waiting for their 13th birthday so they could officially saunter over and cross that invisible line, anxious to sample the literature that heretofore was not necessarily recommended for younger eyes and minds? Okay, maybe that doesn’t happen. Maybe it’s only in our family that kids are waiting for their debut into the world of older literature… my 10-year old keeps on asking, when do I get to read THAT? Here, we actually consider age as the more arbitrary determinant of when certain things are allowed. If I had to pre-read much of the literature that made it to my 18-yo’s shelves when she was 13, my efforts have to be doubled now. But again, back to the topic at hand.

   Where was I? Oh, yeah, the vampire books display. Isn’t *anyone* concerned that this is easily seen from the children’s area? What do parents say to their little kids when they ask, “Mommy, what’s a vampire?” Or is this the type of information that most little kids these days already know? Hmm… I probably already know the answer to that question, I just want to remain in denial for a while.

   More questions: if that were a Jesus display instead, would people comment and complain? How is it at your library? At our local ones I see displays for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Valentine’s Day. Rarely, if ever, do I see a Christmas display. There are some, but usually mixed in with Kwanzaa, Diwali, and Hanukkah. There’s an Easter display sometimes, but often the rabbits and other secular Easter-themed books (IOW, nothing to do with Christ’s resurrection) dominate the grouping.

   And I can’t help but think — this Christian/Catholic thing is so offensive to the secular world… is it because it’s such a specific belief? Are we only into brand names when it’s clothing or cars, but we don’t want to be told exactly what or who to believe in? Not that Jesus Christ is a brand name, but is it that “vampires” is supposed to be a religion-neutral thing? Is it that Twilight can be attractive to Christians/Muslims/Jews/atheists alike, so that it doesn’t offend anyone, or maybe offends everyone instead, as opposed to only a few?

   I don’t know… I’m not really complaining anymore. Just… observing.

4. On our way out, another poster… this one, announcing that there will be an anger management lecture that parents might want to attend if their kids are getting out of control.

   Hmmm… culture of death anyone? Would it occur to any of the library people that maybe, just maybe, what the children are READING are contributing to their anger? I am somewhat amused that the two most prominent “announcements” in the building were for vampire books and for anger management. Wonder if things would be different if we advertised saint books and unconditional love instead?

When we first started homeschooling the boys, one of my biggest concerns was physical activity. They’re active enough kids that even without sports or other outside activities, they’d still be getting their daily circulation boost just by running up and down stairs, chasing each other, jumping on beds, etc., etc.

Those first few years, dh put them in Tang Soo Do and that kept them occupied for a while. For several years they worked 3-4 times a week, memorizing forms, sparring, learning some Korean terminology, burning off steam, getting confident, etc. as they moved up the belt hierarchy. Even after we moved back to Cincinnati we still drove to Pennsylvania, back to their old school, until everyone could earn their black belts. So yeah, there’s 4 in the family. I got left behind as I stopped at yellow — karate’s just not my thing, and 7-yo was too little at the time to get started.

And then we moved here. No Tang Soo places nearby in the same organization, so dh and I were looking for SOMETHING for the boys to get involved in that would be good for them, and perhaps would fill in some gaps that were missing in our homeschooling. Enter scouting.

They started out in ’06 as cub scouts, and my thinking at the time was that it was mostly fun stuff, some patriotic lessons, etc. but mostly just FUN. Which is probably how most cub scout programs are. They participated in Pinewood Derbies and popcorn sales. Those were the biggies if I remember correctly. Oh yeah, they also did some Thanksgiving baskets for the needy, which was really nice.

Our oldest son soon moved up to Boy Scouts and that’s when I started to see and really appreciate what Boy Scouting is all about. DH was a Boy Scout when he was younger so he was already sold. I had to be convinced that this was going to be a positive influence on our boys long-term. I’m all about long-term. Honestly I was also concerned that the kind of negative influence (in terms of icky peer pressure) we had been trying to avoid through homeschooling would be a natural part of the — in my eyes — secular world of Scouting. Boy, was I wrong.

Every single family in our Boy Scout troop is Christian. That shouldn’t surprise anyone who already knows that Scouting’s roots were Eagle projects and contributing their skills and talents to local parks, churches, etc.

Of course, the fact that dh took over as Scoutmaster after his predecessor resigned helps a lot. I have great faith in his capabilities as leader. He’s just made for this. Our children are just truly blest that they have a father that’s THIS involved. I used to resent the fact that they were spending so much time outside the home, but with prayers and discernment and, yes, seeing the fruits in our boys, I have been slowly convinced that Scouting is indeed a blessing. Every Boy Scout I’ve met in our son’s troop is respectful, confident, faith-filled and just — overall — kids their parents can be proud of. Scouting, for our family, is a huge investment in terms of time, money, energy, but so far, it has been truly worth it. I’d even go so far as to say that it’s one of the best organizations that work really well with homeschooling. One last plus: I hear that Scouting is a wonderful addition to one’s resume, and that the people that approve scholarships and jobs give high points to Scouts. Looks like we’ll be doing this for a long time still.

Today I made a new discovery — the Scouting website and, tadaaa!!! The Scout Shop!! Online! Perfect for Christmas shopping for all my scouts — adult and children alike.

____________________

I said “one last plus” but I just thought of another: Boy Scouts can also work towards Parvuli Dei and Ad Altare Dei emblems. This Catholic mom is mighty pleased by that.

Pythons by Mary Ann McDonald
Badgers by Joan Kalbacken
Anacondas by Linda George
Rattlesnakes by Mary Ann McDonald
Hawks and Falcons by Maria Mudd Ruth
Hawks by Wayne Lynch
Hawaii Volcanoes by M.C. Hall
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Raptors by A Bobbie Kalman Book
The Middle Ages by Don Nardo
Future (DK Eyewitness) by Michael Tambini
The Middle Ages by Sarah Howarth
Hawks by Tom Warhol

Pythons by Mary Ann McDonald ***
Badgers by Joan Kalbacken ****
Anacondas by Linda George ****
Rattlesnakes by Mary Ann McDonald ****

Robinson Crusoe *** 1/2
The Middle Ages by Don Nardo *** 1/2
Future (DK Eyewitness) ***
The Middle Ages by Sarah Howarth ** 1/2 (some anti-Catholic sentiment, but mostly fair)

woke up and brainstormed with kids.

i want a smartphone.
we want a cheaper internet plan. (we are currently paying $46.95 a month).
13-yo will need a phone eventually (he wants an iPhone 3GS but he doesn’t NEED it, ykwim?).

so i found this plan and this plan (see the cheapest ) and thought — perfect!

but then 18-yo goes, “that nights and weekends thingy is great.”
me: everyone offers that!
18-yo: no, not EVERYONE has that.
me: WHO doesn’t have it?
18-yo: -names a friend she talks to-
me: can’t you just Skype?
18-yo: but it doesn’t do group video chats!!
me: i’m sure someone does that!
18-yo: no, you can do group audio chats, but you can only see one person at a time!
me: googling…. look what i found!!

ooVoo

guess how i found it: #1 google result if you search for “group video chat”

so is my ex-homeschooler kid a socially anxious person? hahahahaha….

BELL TOLLING for the Swine Flu (CAMPANAS por la gripe A) subtitled from ALISH on Vimeo.