SMH! Your Rights Are Slipping Away!

Wait, what?!?!?
Mom ARRESTED for leaving her 13 yo in charge of siblings?
Because the 4 yo wandered into a neighbor's yard?
Arrested? For real?
We obviously don't have the family's history to determine whether there was on going problem with an immature older sibling, or a negligent mother.
I must say, however, that my blood runs cold after reading this article.
Seriously. Arrested.
This isn't even about how old a child should be to be left alone. And it's only almost about determining the maturity of the child left to care for the others
It's definitely about American citizens losing rights.
C'mon, neighbor, walk the child back home.
If my neighbors can call police and have me arrested whenever one of my children wanders into someone's yard, I might have been arrested several times already.
Once, while I was nursing a baby and laying said child down for a nap, my 3 yo not only ran down the street, but let himself into a neighbor's house.
I'm not saying that isn't scary. It is seriously scary, and the child was made aware that such behavior is not acceptable.
However, the neighbor was kind enough to entertain my child until I found him.
Thank you, neighbor for being neighborly.
Parents, please vote.
Parents, please be aware of your rights, and the ones that are slipping away.
Parents, please be involved in your children's education.
Parents, please be aware of your child's safety.
Parents, please pray over your children.
Parents, don't allow your right to raise your children to be taken away.

Snarky Day

Yeah. That's the attitude that keeps pushing it's way to the forefront.
I am aware that I feel this way, and I don't want to.
I sure don't want to act this way!
There are bunches of little children in the house that pick that sort of thing up quickly.
Some of them were born with a natural ability for sarcasm. Go figure.
I don't outlaw sarcasm at home. I limit it, though.
It's important to me that the children learn how to banter and use sarcasm to be funny without being mean.
I had to learn that lesson the hard way, as an adult. When more than one or two people clue you in on a character flaw, it's good indication that you should examine yourself and make some changes.
I did. It hurt, I never did thank those people. I probably said something sarcastic and hurtful.
Sarcasm isn't really the problem, snarky is. Snarky doesn't necessarily mean sarcastic. Many people make snarky remarks without employing clever sarcasm at all. (see, that was kind of snarky).
Sometimes, I just feel like things that people in general say and do, are stupid. The phrase that marches through my brain these days is "What are you, stupid?". It's a struggle to keep from saying it out loud.
It isn't even as though I really believe people are stupid. I don't. It's not them. It's me.
It's that anger that's always rearing it's ugly head.
I'm pretty sure that the desire to scream and yell at people for parking crooked is no indication of righteous anger. It's definitely self righteous. I can be fairly certain that I have parked crookedly a few times myself. And fortunately, for me, no one screamed at me.
I will continue to fight the good fight, keeping the general public from being screamed at. At least by me.

Whether We Do, or Weather We Don't

Yep, it's raining again here in our little green corner of the earth.
It always rains through June.
Every year we complain about it, but in the 18 years I've lived out here, it's always the same.
We get a sunshine tease in May, then about three weeks of constant rain, it slows to a mist, then a big down pour during the first week of July. It usually clears up on the 5th of July.
There are two hot sunny Independence Days that I recall. Out of 18.
Where I live, our warmest, sunniest months are mid July through mid September.
We get a bout a month of slightly cooling temps, then a big October freeze.
Well, we still have a couple weeks of school left, and when those are over, I am going to take advantage of the rain factor, and put the older children to helping with a big spring cleaning...since it will still be spring-like here, anyway.
Gosh It'll be grand.
The kids at TheZoo, I'm certain, will be praying without ceasing for some sunshine!

Why I Have Green Hair

I do. I have green hair.
Just bits and pieces. Peek-a-boo high lights.
If we are being technical here, they are teal.
I have been asked several times if I had colored my hair in celebration of some holiday or another.
Really? Do people do that?
If someone makes some sort of unconventional change in their life, it must be due to a holiday?
"Oh, yes, I really wanted to make a big deal out of Administrative Assistants Day, so I had my nose pierced."
Seriously, folks, why, why, WHY would you ask that?

There is a perfectly good, and legitimate reason for my decision.

I did actually thing it through, because I wanted to be sure that I chose  color I would like seeing in the mirror.

I did not do it for a holiday.
I did not do it for a person.
I did not do it out of rebellion.
I did not do it to shock people.
I did not do it to fit in to a particular group.

I have green hair, because it is fun. It is lighthearted. It is whimsical. It is unexpected.

All things that I hope I am, anyway.

Now, we can all see it.

Coupons and Kids

I thought you should know.
I'm not a coupon queen.
It seems like I should be, right?
Single income, a Zoo full of kiddos, homeschooling, church going, faith declaring, penny pinching.
Okay, I use coupons. I use them when I find them for things I actually buy anyway.
I tried the whole coupon craze. I grew up on coupons.
I don't remember my mom agonizing over newspaper inserts and trading coupons and seeking out sales to match them with. And I'm not THAT old.
So, I have a general idea of what I usually purchase from the grocery store and how much it will cost. Of course we don't always eat exactly the same things, there are changes, but why would I get extremely excited about coupons for a premium item that I don't use. Ever. Show me some coupons on cabbage, heads of lettuce, and red bell peppers, and I'll be all over it.
I definitely follow coupon junkies on face book, blogs and twitter. I like to find a great deal. We're frugal here, just not crazy.
There are a lot of demands on my time, and spending hours organizing coupons and hoards of money on ink printing them out and making out a strategy like a battle plan to go from store to store with the right rewards cards and catalinas and coupons all the while dragging six children along is not something I am willing to schedule in.
I have my one favorite grocery store in town. Another that I go to when I'm searching for something specific. But, no coupon freaking here.
Unless, of course, you say there are Starbucks coupons.
I'm all over that.

Keeping the Tiny House Clean

People seem to think that having a small space to clean is easier than cleaning a larger space. Like a house.
Less square footage, less mess and dirt, right?
It must depend on how many people live in the house.
It's fairly easy to clean up behind nobody. It's 'not me' and 'I don't know' that are hard to clean up after.
I do actually remember cleaning the floors once a week, doing dishes once a day, deep cleaning the bathroom once a month, doing laundry for a couple of hours one day a week.
Those memories are like a fairytale to me now.
Dishes three or four times a day, clean the floors everyday, and keep them swept up a couple of times at least. Laundry every day, deep cleaning the bathroom happens every week, and sometimes it seems it should happen every day.
Those things I used to care about and notice only get notices when people are coming over.
Dusty blinds and window sills, dust on the door frames and hinge pins. that line of dirt that I can never scrub up at the back slider door, the way things have been crammed into the bookshelf in the living room just to get them off the floor.
Well, we all live here everyday. And it shows.
Right now, we have a potty training chair in the living room. It gets cleaned out every time it is used, but still by the time the child goes to use it again, it has a thin layer of dirt and debris in the bowl.
You would think we are all lumber jacks pounding our dirt caked boots through the house several times a day.
Nope. We take our shoes off at the door, even.
I'd like to tell you that I keep up with it all, merry of heart, light of step, and a song on my lips.
The truth is, I tend to glare at the dust that I don't have time to deal with.
I grumble when it's time to vacuum down the cobwebs.
I detest putting away laundry for ALL those people.
I clean, not because I have a fondness for cleanliness (truth is, I can stand some clutter), but because I don't want people to take ill from a dirty house. I don't want insects in my house if I can have anything to do with it, and I really have a problem with tripping over and stepping on things!
I do enjoy walking into a tidy house, waking up to a shiny clutter free kitchen.
I have had to train myself to do certain things everyday.
I grew up doing chores. Lots of chores. I fancied myself to be something of a Cinderella. My parents both worked, it was essential that we kids helped keep the house up.
But then, I rebelled.
You know, a bathroom can get pretty nasty if it is used by six people and not even wiped down for a couple of weeks? Oh yes, it can.
I don't every want to see that again.
Do you know how quickly a large family can clutter up kitchen counters so that there is no longer space to prepare food? It takes an average of two days.
Do you know how much stuff can slide under a couch on a hard surface floor in the space of two weeks? I believe every book, dvd, hotwheels car, every second shoe, every lost sock, and a hairbrush are what we clean out of there each time.
So, I suppose my message is this.
Visit me, but be aware, the ceiling fan and the blinds will be dusty. The windows will have fingerprints, and the shoes will be scattered, BUT, the toilet will be clean, the kitchen will be clean, and the coffee pot (so important) is clean.
Remember how many people live here, and enjoy your visit.

Wonky Wednesdays

Have I ever mentioned that Wednesdays are rough here at TheZoo?
They are!
And it's my fault. I will own it. I don't want to, though.
It's so rough, that even though I had an early start, I burned an entire dozen eggs and had to find something else for breakfast. It's a good thing we like muffins. Those are easy and quick.
When I set up our school schedule with the parent partnership program, we ended up with one kid having a 9 am class on two days opposite the other kids' class.
I decided that as long as we were leaving the house for one, two more could take a morning class. Wednesdays start early and end late.
There is lots of waiting around with the younger set. From 9 am until 2 pm.
Hurry up and get lunch, breakfast and snacks out the door for six kiddos.
Hurry up and find everyone's shoes. You know, the ones that were all set neatly by the door the night before. (*snork* yeah, right!)
Hurry up and brush everyone's teeth.
Hurry up and grab packpacks, diapers, sippy cups, coloring books, etc.
Hurry up and wait.
It's a bit too far to drive the four kids back home between 1st graders class and the end of the other kids' class, so...we wait.
Then, we get home and hurry up with chores.
Hurry up with making dinner.
Hurry up with baths
Hurry up with getting things ready for the next day.
Then, finally, thankfully, and blessedly...
Hurry up and go to sleep!
Happy Wednesday!
Here's to changing up the schedule for next school year!