New Training Method

You know I have a sweet sentiment and longing for your way of life. I admire and envy you so much that DARN IT you even make a tornado warning sound romantic there on the farm all huddeled close with your dogs.

LOL, just trying to bring some humor to your day, even if you dont get this until later.

Fingers and paws crossed for you and your family.

Well that was jolly good fun.  Nothing came here but it's church night and I'm curious to see whether it's still there - the path of the bad part of the storm went right through there.  That's about a mile from here, over the county line.  I'm just kidding, at least I think so!  No news is good new and all that.

We all had a nice-ish nap except the kids got a bit scared and joined us, which meant a couple of the dogs were displaced.  And the thunder did nothing for my migraine - but the Tramadol kicked in soon after and that DID help.  :)

Living here is kind of a tradeoff.  I do make it sound lovely, because I really love it.  However, we live 15 min from the nearest town, and over 30 minutes from a Wal-mart sized town, and an hour from "real" civilization. We don't eat out much, and I've had to learn a lot of household skills I thought the twentieth century left behind (cleaning bare wood floors with lye soap?  waxing?  what the hey?). 

We don't have TV, and most radio stations don't reach this far, especially after dark.  We don't go to movies.  This and a couple other dog forums are the extent of my internet time, except for reading some e-mail lists.   We subscribe to Netflix so we are not totally in the dark ages (LOL).  However, there are times when I wonder whether I should just go ahead and dress us like Mennonites so I won't have to treat anyone to blank looks when they ask my opinion about the latest TV phenomena or pop star scandal. 

All my dog friends live at least ninety minutes from me, and when gas prices went up, suddenly doing something fun together became a major budget buster.  I feel a bit isolated at times.  The landlord tolerates us but is not friendly.  I have church friends but they don't get the dog stuff, of course.   And my dog friends don't get the homeschool stuff, primarily because most of them are childless.

We are privileged to be able to live this way but we've spent twenty years working towards this lifestyle, and it's mostly about giving up stuff.

But you are right, there's a certain romance to snuggling with the kids and dogs on a stormy afternoon no matter how you slice it! 

Your life sounds lovely.  Ahhh...what serenity.  With the exception of the tornados of course. 

Are you near the Gulf Coast?  Major hurricanes aren't really my cup of tea - but there's a tradeoff for living anywhere.

My mom is a city person, she got the urban living genes from her mom and my great Aunt, who were socialites during the Depression and war years in SFO.  But, their mother was the daughter of pioneer parents, who packed the covered wagon (seriously) and moved every time the area they lived in got big enough to have more than one street in the nearest town.  My grandmother was one of thirteen kids who all stayed in Montana.  I'd love to live in Montana - my mom's been there, described it - she hated it (she says there are "miles and miles of miles and miles";).

My childhood obsession with Montana is what got me thinking about sheep farming, and sheepdogs.

Since then I've realized living in Montana would mean very long cold winters.  I hate winter.  And cold.  That would not be an acceptable tradeoff.  Plus, nevereverever seeing the ocean ever again.  Another non-negotiable.  Here the climate is mild and the ocean is within a few hours' drive, though civilization does keep chasing us down.

 Aside from the budget busting gas prices, I could very much enjoy your way of life Becca.  None of my friends 'get' the dog thing aside from one and of course the people here.  I don't really understand the homeschooling thing, but I 'get' it, if that makes any sense.  Oh what I wouldn't give to not worry about what the neighbors thought of this or that.  Someday......

Homeschooling is a great way to ensure the quality of your child's education. One of the first families to do it was a farmer in California. His son was admitted to Princeton at 17.

Critics will often ask about the socialization your child would miss. If a child of mine missed v.d., drugs, and how to strip a Glock 10 in 4 seconds, I could live with that deficit. Home schooling does not mean isolation. The children can still visit with neighbors and church members, or other dog crazy people. I don't see much value in being forced to "get along" with 800 other people. Other critics assume that the main reason some parents home school is to provide a rigorous religious education that would not be given in public school. Well, it doesn't matter what faith your family is, the child must still learn the material given in the guidelines and the test results such as state competency exams are still administered and proctored by the state. More importantly, a college entrance exam will have nothing to do with the First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow or Dry Gulch or Cleveland.

The other side of the equation is how much work it is for the parents. They must be minimally competent to at least handle the educational demands. Plus, there is more time with the kids, even when the parents would like a break from it.