Starting to Realize the Beauty of Unschooling

Today, I started to realize the beauty of unschooling. It was such a normal, simple, uneventful day. But for some reason, I really saw that all these layers have been stripped away from Tania lately, and her true personality is really shining through. And it's a great personality.

Joey left yesterday. I miss him so much, but we have spoken on the phone about fifteen times since he left. He has had good news every time, so I hope it will stay that way. We have had a few minor setbacks, but nothing too disheartening. His most important task is to find us a place to live. He may have something, but I really do not want to jinx it, so mum's the word for now. He is loving Portland though, and he says that he knows I will love it there too.

Well, since I feel like an official unschooler now, I should probably give a little recap of our day. That's what unschoolers have to do to prove to people that their kids actually learn. Oh, I'm just kidding. We have also been trying "consensual living," which basically goes along with unschooling, since unschooling has to do with consent to be educated and about what to be educated. So there are no T.V. rules in our house right now.

We woke up around 8:30. Tania rushed to the T.V. I took care of Talula's boobie needs, then put her in the sling to make breakfast. Right after we ate our eggs and whole wheat English muffins, I checked my email. Then I got a phone call from Joey. I had to fax him something, so we had to rush to get ready and jump in the car to go to the printing center.

After that, we went to get smoothies at Lanikai Juice, which Oprah loves when she's in Kailua, by the way. Since Talula was asleep in her sling, we took advantage of the time and went to this really cute baby store nearby called Baby Showers, Hawaii. I bought a couple of outfits for Talula and a swimsuit for my friend's little girl. They're moving back to Hawaii in two weeks. (Good timing.) Tania got two finger puppets, a little man-pig and a little woman-pig. The lady who worked at the store also gave her two more finger puppets as gifts, since we told her we were moving. Then we went to this store called Mary's Toys (I think). They have wonderful toys there: wooden wonders, chemistry sets, craft kits, puppets. Tania put on a puppet show for me while we were there. We decided to buy two puzzles. One was a 100-piece picture of ballerinas and one was a 500-piece map of the world. We also bought a little kit that has bookmarks to paint and bedazzle.

We went home and Tania immediately made two bookmarks. Then she put together her ballerina puzzle all by herself. Then she watched some T.V. Then, then, I turned my head to look at her for one second, and what did I see? Tania was turning off the T.V., opting to write in her diary and play with her finger puppets instead. Imagine my surprise and delight.

Later in the afternoon, it was getting ridiculously hot, so we decided to go to the beach. We drove to Waimanalo, since it's the best place to take a baby in the water. We had the best time! First, we all went in the water. Talula loves the water, as long as it's not too cold. Then we sat on the beach for a little while. Tania collected little trinkets and told me that she was a chef and that we were diners in her restaurant. She created elaborate meals out of leaves, broken pieces of plastic, water, sand, and anything that she could find. Then we walked down the beach to where there was a tire a swing and another swinging rope with a stick attached to the end. Tania spent about 45 minutes spinning around on that rope. She spent some time entertaining me with songs, dances, and impressions of people. Then she wanted to play a game in which I told her an animal to simulate and she pretended to be that animal. She pretended to be several different animals. The funniest one was a fish. She laid on the shore flopping around until a wave washed up and then she'd roll down with the wave. It was hilarious. Then she spotted some tiny crabs that she wanted to catch, so she spent some time chasing them around before giving up.

When we finally left the beach, we drove to Hawaii Kai. Tania said the cutest thing while we were driving. She said, "Mommy, Talula has such pretty eyes. They're blue with a brown firework in them." I thought that was the most adorable thing. We were going to Hawaii Kai because we wanted to go to Kale's Natural Foods (or something like that). It was our first time there. It's really small, but I like their vitamin and natural healing section. It's better than the ones at Umeke Market and Kokua Market. Unfortunately, Talula started screaming, so all I got out of the store with was peanut butter, taco filling, and yogurt-covered pretzels. I'll have to go back on a better day.

We drove home and I made dinner: whole-wheat pasta with butter and parmesan and asparagus. Tania said the asparagus was gross, because it was too crunchy, so she didn't eat it. (That's a frustrating thing about consensual living: you can't exert tyrannical control over your child's diet.) I guess she didn't eat any vegetables today, and the only fruit she ate was in her smoothie (a banana). Let it go, let it go.

We also watched So You Think You Can Dance. Benji's the big winner! I like him, but I liked Travis too. I knew it wouldn't be one of the girls.

Well, that was our day. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was such a nice day. I feel like I really enjoyed Tania today. The more freedom I give her, the happier she becomes and the more pleasant she becomes. I feel like I'm learning more about her every day, and learning more about myself, and life, and education too.