Unschooling NYC

Woke to 80 degrees and sunny.   Will go to bed, heaters blasting, amid 4 degrees and snowy…    But no matter what, it’s always good to be home.   As Maya said in the car on the way back from the airport, “Whenever we get back from a trip, no matter where it is, do you always feel like you can breathe again?”  Yes, indeed.

So my favorite thing about coming back (one of them, anyway) is getting to go through the mail – I know a lot of people think that’s weird – and the papers.   I love the Times.   Some … Read more

At first it is the thrill of the unknown, and the element of danger.    Especially on slides like the Leap of Faith, but also the Serpent, which is a mostly dark tunnel you traverse in an inflatable ring before being shot out into a sort of river-like tube that goes through the shark tank and finally dumps you into a shallow pool.     After maybe the second day of full on water sliding, the thrill changes to the fun of the expected;  you know the rush of the initial descent, the turns and the types of waves and water you will … Read more

It struck me today as I sat on a beach chair in front of the Challenger slides, watching my kids fly down them at breakneck speed, how much more fun this vacation is now than it would have been even a year or two ago.   Both my kids can swim, and both are old enough and confident enough to not need my presence every second while we are here.  I’m able to go on the slides as much as I want, and then take a break, sitting in the sun while they go together, checking in now and then to … Read more

These are some of the things we’ve learned as a result of two days on massive waterslides:

1)  The force of water against skin when you are moving at high speeds can actually cause bruising on the part of your body you use for sitting.  (thank goodness I brought the arnica)

2)  The presence of waterslides does not lessen, but rather emphasizes the unique personality traits of each of my children.   For example:  Ben is happy going down his favorite slide with or without my and Maya’s presence for as long as we choose to let him.    Maya checks in … Read more

There is something surreal about being surrounded by ice and snow, driving through freezing rain to get to the airport and then sitting on the tarmac for almost two hours waiting for the airline to de-ice the plane so that it can take off, only to de-plane less than 3 hours later in sunny 82 degree weather, surrounded by palm trees, white sands and the clear blue water that reigns in the Carribean sea.

We are staying at the Atlantis Resort, which is a little like Ceasar’s Palace South; it is a completely self-contained place, with everything from the famous … Read more

Tomorrow night, hotel wifi willing, I’ll be blogging from the balmy Bahamas.  (how’s that for lovely alliteration?)   We’re off for five days at the Atlantis Water Resort on Paradise Island.  41 acres of water park and a beach.   My entries may consist solely of photos….

I love traveling, but don’t much care for the day before we travel.   Even when there’s not much to do, it feels like there is a lot to do.    And a 5am wake up call to make a 9am flight doesn’t help matters.   At least if I can’t fall asleep I won’t be driving!

So … Read more

Having an ‘overnight’ tonight in Ben’s room.   Maya’s friend Greta is staying over, as tomorrow is a holiday from school, so he always wants me to sleep in his room on those occasions.   Which today is fairly easy to do, because this afternoon we purged, and I mean purged, the junk and unused, broken or otherwise neglected toys and stuff from his room.   Ben’s room is good-sized – maybe 12′ x 15′ or so, but the amount of junk we took out of here was truly astounding.  EIGHT 30 gallon Hefty bags full of stuff that went straight down to … Read more

WARNING:  This blog contains rants and criticisms that some may find offensive and politically incorrect.   If you choose to read on, consider yourself warned….

Hello dear friends!   Today we are going to talk about the latest fad parenting book to hit the stands.  I wrote about it yesterday, in fact.   Amy Chua’s  “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother”, which the Times Magazine says “…aspires to become a battle plan for a new age of re-empowered, captain-of-the-ship motherhood.”   Hurrah!  Finally, no more oohing and aahing over that crap your kid brings home from Arts and Crafts.   Now you can just tell… Read more

I don’t know if any of you have heard about or read Amy Chua’s article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior”.   If you haven’t, here is the link:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111504576059713528698754.html

While you’re there, please also read Ayelet Waldman’s rebuttal, entitled “In Defense of the Guilty, Ambivalent, Preoccupied Western Mom”.  (here’s the link just in case you can’t find it:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703333504576080422577800488.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_lifeStyle

Chua writes that the reason Chinese kids are stereotypically successful is because their mothers will not allow them to be anything less.     She starts by pointing out things her daughters were never allowed to do.    They … Read more

Part I

Snow day.   Are there two more magical words for schooled children?  (besides maybe ‘summer break’)   Apparently the 9 inches of snow in New York City Tuesday night had most kids thinking they were going to hear those words Wednesday morning.  But they didn’t.   Let’s be honest, in New York City a snow day is never really necessary.   (Maybe the Christmas storm of 27 inches would have been cause, but everyone was out of school then for the holidays anyway.)   Many kids walk to school and usually the sidewalks are cleared overnight.    And in fact the Times related this … Read more