Before commencing, mom contacts HSDLA to see if there is a legal loophole to change a lightbulb without first asking the local department of education.

She then contacts the co-op to see if there is enough interest to have a field day to watch the changing of the lightbulb.

The co-op then forms a committee to determine whether this is a homeschooling or unschooling type of activity.

Then, mom checks three books on electricity out of the library, then the kids make models of light bulbs, read a biography of Thomas Edison and do a skit based on his life.

Next, everyone studies the history of lighting methods, wrapping up with dipping their own candles.

Next, everyone takes a trip to the store where they compare types of light bulbs as well as prices and figure out how much change they’ll get if they buy two bulbs for $1.99 and pay with a five dollar bill.

On the way home, a discussion develops over the history of money and also Abraham Lincoln, as his picture is on the five dollar bill.

Finally, after building a homemade ladder out of branches dragged from the woods, the light bulb is installed.

And there is light.

So the answer is: No less than 5.

What I find most endearing, and completely frustrating about children, is that despite our efforts to warn them about the perils and consequences of certain actions, they still HAVE to try said-action.

By now, you already know what I’m talking about. One glance at the photo in this post says it all…yes people, we had *THE* incident with the scissors! Why I thought I’d be immune, I have no idea! I found Dawn today sitting down quietly cutting out a sheet of paper into a rainbow to colour.

I mindlessly went over to the trash only to find several dark clumps of hair on the ground…

“Dawn, why did you cut your hair?”

“No I didn’t!”

“I see your hair on the ground… Where did you cut it?

“Right here,” (pointing to edge of bangs).

Anyway, apparently since ‘baba’ is constantly cutting her bangs, she decided that she should give it a try. I have to admit that she actually did a pretty good job…just has more bangs on the side to grow out.

Is it just me, or does every child have to try the hair-mutilation thing? Can you recall any children who didn’t do it? It seems that growing up will require many more such experiences, such as scalding oneself with hot water, or sticking a tongue or other warm and damp body part to a piece of metal in winter.

Life is full of surprises, but at least I can live with the knowledge that it will be Emily’s turn to chop off her hair in a year or so.

It’s not unusual for me to take a nap during the day. Life with MS seems to make every day quite unique, but one thing that consistent is the incredible fatigue that can overwhelm you. 

After a busy day, I found that I I could barely move or keep my eyes open. Hubby was home (day off) so I saw a change to grab some sleep. The girls came with me, but quickly decided that they’d rather play. I fell asleep and they certainly took advantage of the situation. 

Leave it to a man to find a way to blame the sleeping mother for what her children do during that time; even though he’s the one who should be watching them at the time.

After waking up, the house had that eerie quietness that only means that the children are up to no good. I went downstairs and took a quick survey of the basement. My first reaction was to yell at them; there was paper everywhere, open PERMANENT markers sitting on the couch, the table was blue, as were quite a few other things! Once I gave myself a second or two to digest what I saw, I realized that it wasn’t so bad. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed or if it couldn’t, it wasn’t so important that it was a big problem.

Emily "looking innocent!"

The best though, were Dawn’s hands! She was in the corner with baby wipes, furiously trying to get the permanent marker off her hands to no avail. I told her to come to me and afraid of my reaction, came slowly, eyes down and hands behind her back. I smiled and she finally found the courage to show them. From wrist to fingertips, there was nothing but the dark blue permanent marker! My response to that was “your hands are going to be blue for a few days.” She giggled, apparently pleased at the idea. 

My daughter's ascent into smurfdom.

Sparkles carpeted the floor. She apparently couldn’t resist the container of sparkles I had stored in my desk drawer and my abcense made the temptation too strong. For those of you who remember the beanbag chair incident, well this one was worse! Unfortunately, as good as my new camera is, it wasn’t good enough to capture all the sparkles that were lying around everywhere.  I made a good attempt to vacuum, the there’s now a toss up as to what I will be finding longer…polyethylene balls or sparkles…

In the meantime, Dawn decided that her hands weren’t blue enough, so she went back downstairs as I was preparing diner to “reinforce” her efforts…and did it agian this morning. She’s now been informed that we’ll be going to the museum tomorrow with her blue hands. She’s not too happy about it, but withthe workers coming in to change the windows tomorrow, there’s not much choice about the matter.

And thus, passes another day in the Beaudin household. I’m now waiting for my husband to come home so I can go out and buy some magic erasers in hopes that they’ll remove all those blue smudges blanketing the walls from the basement to the second floor (gee, I hope my landlord isn’t reading this!).

Chris Brogan flagged this one down from twitter. 

One of Playmobil Toys‘ more err…interesting releases recently is the Airport Security Checkpoint which lets children move their plastic men through airport security on their way to catch their flights. It’s kinda sad when such a toy is developped to make children more at ease with travelling.  I guess that the only reason they didn’t include a “terrorist” doll is the potential for law suits (tongue in cheek)!

Even better than this product, are the comments below it. Please take the time to read what people have to say about this product, but make sure that you’ve emptied your bladder first! I love the snarkiness that people used when they reviewed the product and these are more entertaining than the product itself!

I found this online and had to share. The artist, Jason Holm is very talented and I think this shows exactly one of the reasons that I homeschool. He sells this cartoon as a T-Shirt or bumper stickers on his website here.

Schools are for fish!