Desiree Alonso and the Apron Chronicles

It's time for Tea!

2012-12-15T15:57:00.002-06:00

Oh I am so happy I found my newest inspiration. Although it is really not hard for me to be inspired...still, when it happens it's like.. "YES!!!"

Here it is. I CANNOT wait to share the apron creation that's gonna come from this! ;)

Stay tuned!

xoxo

INTRODUCING APRON 'RAQUEL'

2012-12-03T09:30:00.000-06:00

Oh... I 'heart' 'Raquel' :) I do. I really do. First let me say that the inspiration behind every single one of my designs is always, absolute love and adoration for two things, a woman's natural beauty and also my desire to highlight that same beauty. I don't know... but I actually think a woman is sexier not in heels and some costume like outfit mixed in with a lot of fuss and make up, etc... I truly think a woman can be sexy in jeans, sweats, boots, hair up in a bun, or maybe down and loose.. as long as SHE feels amazing, relaxed and pretty. And it is the designer's job to channel precisely THAT exact moment, and if done right.. voila!! you have a beautiful design and a beautiful woman excited to wear it and flaunt it.

I love the color red and as you can see, I use it in a lot of my designs. Not all of course, but it is perhaps one of the most prominent colors you will find in my design palette. I love red. There's no mincing with red, there's no hiding, there's no figuring, there's no hesitation, there's no doubt. There's just joy, confidence and to me, the word that screams when I see red is, 'Yes' and I love that!.

And thus one day I thought about this woman.. this woman who is successful, hardworking, confident in everything she does but also appreciative of the little things, like the handmade handkerchief her great-grandmother made her when she was a child and that she keeps on her dresser and can't help but notice it every day she brushes her hair or hangs her jewelry by the mirror. This woman does her best to plan meals ahead because time is of the essence, and she also does cartwheels with her children at a moment's request. And the more I thought about her, the more I wanted to dress her and celebrate her beauty and personality and in that moment, 'Raquel' was born (or perhaps conceived, depending on how you look at it :).

I ♥ 'Raquel'. I do. I really do :) and I hope you love her too.

DECEMBER GIVEAWAY!

2012-12-01T04:27:00.000-06:00

The time has come for us to host our first ever GIVEAWAY!! Yes, it is our first and if you are a fan of Desiree Alonso aprons, homemaking and all things Holiday, you have lucked out because you stand to win a FREE handmade designer apron. Not just that, but while other designers and shops who hosts giveaways pick the prizes for you, I am inviting YOU to pick your own favorite one out of the collection at www.DesireeAlonso.com. And yes, we will get it to you by Christmas so you can debut it with your loved ones and look absolutely spectacular!

So, read the rules.. best of luck to you, get set... and go!!!

Meet my sunbeam

2012-05-27T21:06:00.002-05:00

♥

Dezi
xoxo

Red is the only color we need...

2011-11-09T04:22:00.001-06:00

okay, maybe not.. but really... all we need is RED! Seriously, as far as I am concerned, all the other colors exist merely to compliment red ♥

Did I say I was busy?

2011-11-08T02:52:00.001-06:00

You know what's funny. Do you remember ( or perhaps you still do it ) when someone would tell you that they were unable to do something, i.e. make a call, or visit, or something along those lines because they were busy. And you just thought to yourself, "Yeah okay... whatever" Yep, well Lesson learned goddess of the universe, because I am now one of those people. You know you are over-reaching a bit when you are excited about that extra hour that Fall-Back gives you. I really was excited!! "Look! Look! I am getting so much done and is it really only 3 pm." Well, I need more than one hour. But I digress...

The point to my rant here my friends is that I miss you but I am really so insanely busy!!! HaHa! but it's worth it. Besides, how do we learn to manage time until we have a reason to manage time. Why do we need to manage time anyway..." oh no, forget it. I am not going down some Zen self exploring path.

All that matters is that I am happy making beautiful things!! Made some aprons that I cannot wait to share with you! Making some accessories AND I am reading a new book that I wanted to read for a while now... so I am happy to be picking it up finally. "How to practice the way to a meaningful life" by the Dalai Lama. Mmm... a wash of calm and peace suddenly washes over me as I type that.

Alright, friends, I cannot wait to come back here and write, and share with you all I have been working on!!

Lots of love ,

your friend,

Dezi ♥

Life is easy, quit complicating it.

2011-06-13T19:01:00.000-05:00

Living... Learning... Happiness...

is really not that complicated.

Really.

It is not at all complicated.

Be happy. Be honest. Be YOU and don't worry about what anyone else is doing.

I know, it doesn't sell books or make sexy headlines... but at the end of the day...

you know it's true.

Shut off the noise. Live Life. Love your children. Be Present.

Really. Sometimes the answers... are not that complicated.

♥

The problem as I see it..

2011-06-12T18:20:00.000-05:00

"Meee... Meee... Meee... Meee..."

=D

A New Category, I AM.

2011-05-31T15:49:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it is a bit hard for me to write about being a home ed parent and just about my experiences overall. Why? Because I don’t think we are doing anything else besides simply living life. How does one define that? how does one categorize that? I am far from a Homeschooler, but I am also not comfortable calling myself an unschooler. There are many reasons for that. One of them is that I feel that when we say, “we are unschoolers” there is an implication that we are still “doing something”. We are still ‘checking a box’. I am not doing anything, I am just simply living my life. My kids are not doing anything, except being children and living their life having me as their mother.

We wake up, we brush our teeth and get ready for the day. I sometimes ask them what they want for breakfast. Sometimes I don’t. I put on my favorite Talk Radio host and wash dishes while I listen to the kids play, eat and chat at the breakfast table. They clean up and then we do whatever I feel we should do, while also also going with the flow and trusting whatever happens. If the day is nice, we go out and play with the dog, until my son decides he wants to play with his cars, my oldest daughter suddenly sits on a chair and begins to read her newest “Judy Moody” book, while my two year old climbs on me to nurse. However, the day before that spent almost two hours doing what some would call, “doing math”. My oldest daughter loves the program “Math U See” and she sat there with my laptop, her notebook, her cuisenaire rods and learned a new way to understand addition. My son meanwhile had a blast with his “Mazles” books ( that’s his word for his Mazes and Puzzles books ). My two year old loves to mimic the older two so she grabs some paper and crayons and smiles after every doodle she draws as she looks for my cheers and applause.

I write when I am inspired, and I raise all kinds of hell when you mess with my freedom and my children’s freedom to BE. I am too honest not to speak. I also sew and design, I love pretty things. I produce a radio show that is fun, important and unique. I research, I read and I write. I manage my husband’s business, a business consumed in cartoons, drawings, humor, stories and lots of hard work. I am very impatient when cooking, but I love to eat. And I truly believe god is a painter, comedian, poet and musician.

Just what am I? What are we? I don’t know and I honestly don’t care. We live life, and we learn in the process. We learn in the process of living. That’s all. I don’t quite know if we can categorize that and I won’t dare try. Seems a bit small to me. We don’t do or NOT do anything. We just live life, on our terms. Free of any expert advice or artificial systems. We live life and do so happily, with no one else to answer to but ourselves.

I simply AM. And my kids just ARE. That’s good enough for me, and should be good enough for anybody.

Post was originally posted in UnpluggedMom.com

Listen to this!!! "The Dog Days are over."

2011-05-05T22:11:00.000-05:00

So it has been a while since I have shared a musical gem that has crossed my path ( Yes, this post is about a song :) The last post about a band here was back when I first discovered, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. One of the best unheard of bands out there right now. And if you haven't heard of them... get on you tube now!!! and look up Edward Sharp's "Home" or "40 Day Dream" for starters. Anyway, I don't mean to digress... like I said, this post is about a musical gem that found me today. Talk about chicken soup for the soul! ( and no, I have never read those books :)

So today was that day that in the middle of the fabric store, while picking fabrics and choosing between this thread and that thread... that I found myself hypnotized by what I heard coming from the store speakers and there... I was introduced Florence and the Machine's "The Dog Days are over".

I am IN LOVE!!

Looooooooooooooooove this song!!!! so if you know them, awesome! and if you don't, then check them out!

Today's moment of zen

2011-03-16T19:47:00.000-05:00

Action: My children hopping around.

My question: Why are these kids hopping around?

A better question: Why aren't I hopping around?

Answer: Exactly.

Have you accomplished it?

2011-03-04T11:48:00.000-06:00

Here's a little off-topic inspiration today for all us "unplugged" folks :) The concept speaks to me and I hope it does you as well... keep swimming!

There is no such thing as "getting there" and this is why there is sometimes a perpetual feeling that we aren't "accomplished". We actually are accomplished, over and over again, but each time we reach that point - a new level undulates before us! This occurs simultaneously so we usually don't even realize that we've gotten to that proverbial "top" because as we're getting there, we're already manifesting a desire to keep going further! It's an ongoing thing but it's such a wonderful thing!

Some say to "never look back", but I think for many of us it's necessary once in a while to take a moment to look down the road we've just walked in order to be reminded of just how far we've already come! And when sometimes that road seems to go on forever beyond the horizon...well...it should never be daunting because truly the infinite road is good news! It means there is no limit to our potential!

So when we find ourselves thinking "when will I ever get there?" The answer should be - NEVER! Because that would be sad wouldn't it? It would mean there is a ending and that our potential is limited... and honestly there is simply no limit to our potential, therefore no limit to that road and we make it so with every new desire we have to achieve a new goal! Therefore we will keep moving and enjoy the ride!

If you find yourself saying 'when will I get there?' First, realize that you've probably already gotten 'there' again and again! The thing of it is that the 'there' keeps getting better so you just keep moving!

--Laurette Lynn
Unpluggedmom.com

"Just keep swimming just keep swimming..." -Dory the fish

Leave the labels to boxes.

2011-03-01T01:15:00.000-06:00

I was asked once, " So I saw your blog and I wanted to ask you, are you a Buddhist?"

My answer? I don't know what your definition of a Buddhist is so I can't really answer that. I thought to myself, I don't want to marry myself to someone else's idea of Buddhism. Or any "ism" for that matter. My Blog is not about being a Buddhist, or about *being* anything, it is about BEING. Pure and simple. Just BEING. Furthermore, I really don't like labels.

Could I have easily answered, "Yes I am" or "No, I am not."? Sure, but then I would've just been looking to end the conversation rather than give an honest answer.

This idea of boxes and labels is not exclusive to "spiritual" aspects of ourselves, but it is an agenda that is pushed everywhere. Even by the ones who consider themselves to be radicals and to be enlightened. I mean, what is the point to getting out of the box... to only then, jump into another box. Why? Because that box tells you only the cool ones jump in here? the rebels? It has all the answers?

Case in point,

Are you a homeschooler? Are you an unschooler? Are you a radical unschooler? Make sure you are careful when you enter this arena because you risk offending just about anyone. Are you a Buddhist? are you a liberal? are you conservative? are you a libertarian?

I don't see how it is possible to BE everything of ONE thing. It just doesn't seem logical, human and frankly, honest. And it is absurd to demand that of yourself and of another human being. Whether you admit it to yourself or not, there are a million nuances within those millions of choices that you make every day that contradict the label you've put over your head. Maybe some of us are better at fitting ourselves into boxes. It feels safe and it is what we, for whatever reason need at that particular moment. But I really don't respond well to labels, being labeled, labeling or seeing people try so desperately to do what... well, what the label says.

Why see people through a narrow prism of black and white?. Most importantly, why see yourself that way? A life where your actions, my actions are decided, valued and judged based on which box we are in. Based on whether or not I am meeting all the bullet points in your mental clip-board? The Uncool box? Or the Rebel Box? Why? Because it meets some need to be "right"? to feel superior and correct and like we have all the answers. Let me say this, I don't worry about the people with all the questions... I worry about the ones who think they have all the answers. Militant views fail the person who has the views, more so than the one who is receiving them.

For the record,

I home educate my children. I am not a homeschooler.
I love, know and trust my children to learn. They are free to learn and Be. I am not an unschooler.

I don't subscribe to -isms and I am certainly not a box. Don't label me.

I am a happy, box-free, dust of the earth made up of stars busy being.

I AM. I simply AM. And it's okay...
to just BE.

To "Offend" or not "Offend"... is that really the question?

2010-10-18T03:07:00.000-05:00

Why do people take the time to get offended?

I don't really understand that. Granted, sometimes I fall victim to similar behavior... of being affected by someone else's statement. I get annoyed, sure. I particularly get annoyed when a person makes an assertive statement they know absolutely nothing about. The statement can range in various topics, it could be politics, education, parenting, etc... sure, I get annoyed with intellectual laziness. That's just a personal peeve of mine. But what I don't understand are the words and the attitude that goes along with, "I am offended by that." I mean, even as I write those words... I can't help it but laugh. I mean, who is telling you to get offended? To me it is no different than if I stood up in the middle of a dull film and stated, "I am bored by this! How dare this movie bore me?!" well, get up and walk out. No one is forcing you to watch it.

And that's the thing right there. NO ONE is forcing you to watch, listen or read ANYTHING. So why are you complaining? What? You don't like what I have to say? Well, then don't listen to me. Trust me, I will not come knocking on your door. I am not talking about "obscene" statements here.

I just read an article that GLAAD found a statement from a new *COMEDY* offensive. Want to know what the statement was? Ready? are you sure? I don't wanna be responsible for offending you by repeating the statement here? If you are to be offended I suggest you stop reading. If you are still here, I guess you are either morbidly curious.. or just have nothing better to do. So I will indulge you, while you indulge me. Want to know what the statement is?
"That car is too gay"

Yes. That is the "offensive" statement that must either be banned or revised AND it damned well better be done with an apology letter attached to it. Because otherwise, you never know, banning might not be enough to repair the broken identities and souls which resulted from that statement.

Here is a thought! If it offends you, DON'T WATCH IT!! Here's another thought, if your concern is that it somehow "portrays" homosexuals in some sort of negative light... which to be frank I don't know how since we are talking about a car here, then I suggest you spend more time heartening and emboldening the community you claim to support and love, instead of policing every word that you don't like because you have some unfinished insecurity issues to deal with. It's not society's duty to convince you of your worth.

People, words are words. We can't ban what we don't like. But we can promote and nourish the things we believe in and love. Let's channel our energies in more productive ways. You promote what you like and believe and I will continue to promote what I like and what I believe.

And no this post has nothing to do with mothering lol except in the fact that I am raising my children to be honest, to be themselves and to be in charge of how THEY feel, not how others feel. Our own journey and personal happiness is enough for one person.

So,
BE.... Confident, Empowered, Honest, Happy, Free... or... BE offended. It's your choice.

xo

'Post-it' of the day.

2010-09-24T18:40:00.000-05:00

Thank you babies... for the privilege of making me your mommy

2010-09-24T00:29:00.000-05:00

Thank you my Serafina... my Tookie. You convict me every day. I grow everyday... because of you. You are beautiful, sweet and the most amazing little girl in the world. Thank you for being you. Thank you for blessing my life with your love, your brilliance, your welcoming pure heart, your sensitive eyes, your unique humor and giggle, thank you for giving me the privilege... of making me your mommy.

When you laugh I think... gosh... I wanna laugh like that.

You are love... and I think... gosh... I wanna be love like that.

When you discover a new tune that you sing out loud in public... I think... gosh... I wanna sing like that.

When you look at me... with your eyes reflecting nothing but pure innocence, joy and love... I think, I wanna love myself like that.

Thank you my Serafina... my Tookie... for giving me the privilege... of making me your mommy.

Thank you my Santino... my Sonny.

My little man... there is nothing I love more in the world to do than building lego worlds in your room.

" Mommy, this part goes here. Look! I made a city!"
" kisses mommy... kisses." My little man... with the biggest.. most consuming heart I know.

Those hypnotic eyes... eyes that are like some rainbow lace that dress up my life... thank you... for looking at me with those eyes.

You are love.
You are joy.
You are the giggle of my day and the dream of my tomorrows.
Thank you my little man... my Sonny... My Santino... for giving me the privilege of making me your mommy.

My Ofelia...

My Okie, My Okieliscious

keep teaching me honey... keep teaching me to spontaneously dance... the second the mood strikes.

Ooooh... bounce honey... bounce to The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Lady Gaga.

Thank you for being the epitome of happiness.

Buddha has nothing... on your wisdom and Zen.

Tomorrow when you wake me... with your kisses and squeezes... when you mumble, "mawning mommy" and I thank all that is life for giving me this new day to love you, all three of you... all over again... I shall thank you once again... for giving me the privilege of making me... your mommy.

Thank you

Thank you... for giving me the humbling, magnificent, unbelievable privilege.. of making me your mommy.

♥

If I had my child to raise all over again.

2010-09-05T19:37:00.000-05:00

If I had my child to raise all over again,
I'd build self-esteem first, and the house later.
I'd finger-paint more, and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.
I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I'd do more hugging and less tugging.

~Diane Loomans, from "If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again"

And after a day of yard work?

2010-09-04T19:41:00.000-05:00

Watermelons!!!

Yum!!!

♥

The Dropout Economy

2010-08-30T07:57:00.000-05:00

The following article was published in TIME Magazine on March 11, 2010 and you simply must read it. I attached it here in it's entirety. ***PLEASE read*** Every 10 years TIME magazine writes a piece on what it sees as "The most important trends of the new decade." Us homeschooling, unplugged, living-off-the grid, unschooling "weirdos" wanna read this, trust me :)

The Dropout Economy by Reihan Salam

Middle-class kids are taught from an early age that they should work hard and finish school. Yet 3 out of 10 students dropped out of high school as recently as 2006, and less than a third of young people have finished college. Many economists attribute the sluggish wage growth in the U.S. to educational stagnation, which is one reason politicians of every stripe call for doubling or tripling the number of college graduates.

But what if the millions of so-called dropouts are onto something? As conventional high schools and colleges prepare the next generation for jobs that won't exist, we're on the cusp of a dropout revolution, one that will spark an era of experimentation in new ways to learn and new ways to live.

It's important to keep in mind that behavior that seems irrational from a middle-class perspective is perfectly rational in the face of straitened circumstances. People who feel obsolete in today's information economy will be joined by millions more in the emerging post-information economy, in which routine professional work and even some high-end services will be more cheaply performed overseas or by machines. This doesn't mean that work will vanish. It does mean, however, that it will take a new and unfamiliar form.

Look at the projections of fiscal doom emanating from the federal government, and consider the possibility that things could prove both worse and better. Worse because the jobless recovery we all expect could be severe enough to starve the New Deal social programs on which we base our life plans. Better because the millennial generation could prove to be more resilient and creative than its predecessors, abandoning old, familiar and broken institutions in favor of new, strange and flourishing ones.

Imagine a future in which millions of families live off the grid, powering their homes and vehicles with dirt-cheap portable fuel cells. As industrial agriculture sputters under the strain of the spiraling costs of water, gasoline and fertilizer, networks of farmers using sophisticated techniques that combine cutting-edge green technologies with ancient Mayan know-how build an alternative food-distribution system. Faced with the burden of financing the decades-long retirement of aging boomers, many of the young embrace a new underground economy, a largely untaxed archipelago of communes, co-ops, and kibbutzim that passively resist the power of the granny state while building their own little utopias.

Rather than warehouse their children in factory schools invented to instill obedience in the future mill workers of America, bourgeois rebels will educate their kids in virtual schools tailored to different learning styles. Whereas only 1.5 million children were homeschooled in 2007, we can expect the number to explode in future years as distance education blows past the traditional variety in cost and quality. The cultural battle lines of our time, with red America pitted against blue, will be scrambled as Buddhist vegan militia members and evangelical anarchist squatters trade tips on how to build self-sufficient vertical farms from scrap-heap materials. To avoid the tax man, dozens if not hundreds of strongly encrypted digital currencies and barter schemes will crop up, leaving an underresourced IRS to play whack-a-mole with savvy libertarian "hacktivists."

Work and life will be remixed, as old-style jobs, with long commutes and long hours spent staring at blinking computer screens, vanish thanks to ever increasing productivity levels. New jobs that we can scarcely imagine will take their place, only they'll tend to be home-based, thus restoring life to bedroom suburbs that today are ghost towns from 9 to 5. Private homes will increasingly give way to cohousing communities, in which singles and nuclear families will build makeshift kinship networks in shared kitchens and common areas and on neighborhood-watch duty. Gated communities will grow larger and more elaborate, effectively seceding from their municipalities and pursuing their own visions of the good life. Whether this future sounds like a nightmare or a dream come true, it's coming.

This transformation will be not so much political as antipolitical. The decision to turn away from broken and brittle institutions, like conventional schools and conventional jobs, will represent a turn toward what military theorist John Robb calls "resilient communities," which aspire to self-sufficiency and independence. The left will return to its roots as the champion of mutual aid, cooperative living and what you might call "broadband socialism," in which local governments take on the task of building high-tech infrastructure owned by the entire community. Assuming today's libertarian revival endures, it's easy to imagine the right defending the prerogatives of state and local governments and also of private citizens — including the weird ones. This new individualism on the left and the right will begin in the spirit of cynicism and distrust that we see now, the sense that we as a society are incapable of solving pressing problems. It will evolve into a new confidence that citizens working in common can change their lives and in doing so can change the world around them.

We see this individualism in the rise of "freeganism" and in the small but growing handful of "cage-free families" who've abandoned their suburban idylls for life on the open road. We also see it in the rising number of high school seniors who take a gap year before college. While the higher-education industry continues to agitate for college for all, many young adults are stubbornly resistant, perhaps because they recognize that for a lot of them, college is an overpriced status marker and little else. In the wake of the downturn, household formation has slowed down. More than one-third of workers under 35 live with their parents.

The hope is that these young people will eventually leave the house when the economy perks up, and doubtless many will. Others, however, will choose to root themselves in their neighborhoods and use social media to create relationships that sustain them as they craft alternatives to the rat race. Somewhere in the suburbs there is an unemployed 23-year-old who is plotting a cultural insurrection, one that will resonate with existing demographic, cultural and economic trends so powerfully that it will knock American society off its axis.

Salam is a policy adviser at the nonpartisan think tank e21, a blogger for the National Review and a columnist for Forbes.com

Thank you!!!!

2010-08-30T01:19:00.000-05:00

Wow... my first blog award!! woohoo! =D I accept!! I am very honored and humbled to accept this very cool award. This place is a little of me, a little of what I think, of what I feel and so much more...above all, it is a place for inspiration, reflection and humor and I can only hope it inspires you too. Whether I write a passionate rant about living freely and cage-free, or share a quote, or a picture or tell you about the coolest song I just heard and simply had to share!!! :) And you can either chuckle, smile, nod or want to know more about, than I feel I have done good!!

I thank Laurette from, The Unplugged Mom for this awesome award! And to every single reader, THANK YOU!!

The BuddhaMommyHood's philosophy in ten words:

Celebrating through living! Because wisdom and joy don't need a lesson-plan.

Here are the award rules:

Thank the blogger who awarded it to you
Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, or experience using 10 words.
Pass it on to 10 other blogs which you feel have real substance.

And those 10 blogs with substance are!

Free Spirit Learners
" We try to follow a child-led education, unschooling ourselves as parents a little bit more every single day and homeschooling our three kids in the most natural and organic way we can... nature is our teacher and the planet, our classroom."

Do it your own Damn self

"we homeschool, unschool, worldschool- whatever. I’d like to get the word ‘school’ out of it altogether. mostly we rock."

Organic Learning

"Organic Learning is a space for us to record and muse upon our adventures as an unschooling family."

Free-Range Kids

"How to raise safe, self-reliant children ( without going nuts with worry) "

The Stone-age Techie

"Aspiring a natural life and a technological world. "

Unplugged Parenting

"Stress-free living and simple solutions for a connected, family-based lifestyle."

HomeSpun Juggling

" Life is not black and white. I only draw it that way. This is the story of our homeschooling life in comic strips and my thoughts, which often wax philosophical."

Unplug your kids

" Living a TV-Free life... with a few crafts and books thrown in. "

The Homefront lines

" An account of the wicked Pickles family life and the wicked Picklets quest for knowledge on a non-traditional path... because home is where their story begins."

And Special Thanks to Laurette, The Unplugged Mom!!

The Unplugged Mom

"The healthiest way to eat is naturally and organically. The healthiest way to live is naturally and organically. The healthiest way to learn... is naturally and organically!!"

BFF's not allowed

2010-08-28T04:08:00.000-05:00

So here's one!! just when you think the school system and child "experts" can't possibly sink any lower, they can't possible destroy our children any more than they already do on a continuous basis... it is simply not possible!! right? Well, they have proven yet once again just how paramount, how critical, independent education is today, and just how URGENT it has become for parents to pull their kids out of the school system and to do it IMMEDIATELY.

The following is an excerpt from a piece published in The New York Times on June 16th 2010. The title of the article, The End of the Best Friend? You must be kidding. ( I urge to please read the article )

" But increasingly, some educators and other professionals who work with children are asking a question that might surprise parents: Should a child really have a best friend? Most children naturally seek close friends... the two special pals who share secrets and exploits, who gravitated towards each other on the playground and who head out together everyday after school - signals potential problems for school officials intent on discouraging anything that hints of exclusivity, in part because of concerns of cliques and bullying.
'I think it is the kid's preference to pair up and have that one best friend. As adults - teachers and counselors - we try to encourage them NOT to do that. ' said Cristine Laycob, Dir. of Counseling... 'we try to talk to kids and work with them to have big groups of friends and not be so possessive about friends. Parents sometimes say Johnny needs a special friend, we say he doesn't need a best friend."

and how might you ask they go about this? read on...

through the assistance of "friendship coaches" " if two children seem too focused on each other, the camp will make sure to put them on different teams, seat them at different ends of the dining table, or perhaps, have a counselor invite one of them to participate in an activity with another child whom they haven't gotten to know. ' I don't think it's particularly healthy for a child to rely on one friend.' says Jay Jacob's, the camp's director. ' If something goes wry, it can be devastating. It also limits the child's ability to explore other options in the world.'"

If you have not read the article I urge to please stop reading right here, click on the link and read it in its' entirety. Reading an excerpt does not really capture it...even remotely. This "thing", this "movement" is not the idea of one Health professional, one school, or one camp. It is a systemic and ever growing enterprise determined to beat whatever humanity and normalcy there is still left in our children today.

I have to admit this hit close to home. I am already disturbed by all the childhood-micromanaging epidemic that has taking over this country but this... this was one that I didn't see coming. I was disturbed... truly disturbed and angry after reading this. This is no more than a sophisticated form of child abuse. There is so much wrong here I don't even know where to begin. Since when is something as special and natural as forming that best-friendship bond, the cause for bullying? If these people really had a functioning brain cell they would know that 'bullying' in children's behavior is the direct result of parental failure. Yes, you heard that correctly. A child who is a bully has more than likely witnessed that type of behavior at home. The habitual abuse from one older and larger individual over the younger and or smaller ones. A bully thinks it is perfectly acceptable to treat others in a cruel and hurtful way, and you know why? you'd be shocked to learn it is not because they have a best friend... they think it is okay because they have grown up in an environment that makes it permissible. Perhaps beyond permissible, in some instances it is a matter of survival.

And what exactly is a 'bully'? and who makes that determination? Are we talking about the kid who picks on all the little ones during lunch because he gets no attention at home and no one has bothered to be a positive example of kind behavior? or perhaps because he himself is bullied at home and so he wants to feel superior somewhere and picks the playground as his stage?. Or are we talking about the teen girls who snicker and make fun of the other girl who is not as popular or as pretty as they are and they do so because they wanna fit in with the crowd? and they don't want to risk not being 'cool' in front of their 'peers'. What and who exactly are we talking about here? There is nothing I love more than the one-sweeping-cure-to-all-society's ills approach that the school system, health professionals and children experts love to engage in. These institutions have the market cornered on group-think and let's keep everyone on the same average level so no one feels left out and THEY now feel that a simple, special, natural and old as the concept of family, part of human relationship building is TOO exclusionary???!!! are you serious?!!! what's next? The bond between parents and their child is too exclusionary because the children from a one single parent home feel left out?? and that has the potential to lead to what?? hurt feelings?

Let me say this, and here is a little something a lot of parents might not want to hear so if you have sensitive ears I suggest you take some deep breathes, if one of my children allow some jackass to make them doubt their worth and beauty as exceptional human beings, to the point where they will harm themselves as a result, that is MY failure as a parent. Yes, MY failure. Not the result of any clique or bff's. My children will experience pain, that is part of life. They will experience heart break, betrayal, disappointment, my job is to teach them through my words, but most importantly through my example, how to best handle such things. They are experiences that help us grow, they are not experiences that we have to fear and avoid.

Is this seriously the cure? to restructure the entire human experience? I mean, what... just what type of culture are we becoming that we now have a school system where teacher's duties now include bff splitting?

I love how that one Doctor expressed, "I THINK it is the child's preference to pair up have that one best friend" Really?? You think? wow. I also love how she goes on to say, " PARENTS sometimes say Johnny needs a best friend, but WE tell them he doesn't." It was at this point where I really wanted to punch my computer screen. She, THEY know more than the parent. Classic.

All I kept thinking as I read the article were three simple words, "How dare you?, how dare you?!" How dare you treat children like some puppets in your little science project for the perfect society? These are human beings with their own personalities... filled with thoughts, emotions, uniqueness and identities... and you feel you have the right to superficially orchestrate bonds that are natural and essential for emotional growth and development?

But you know what, every time a parent drops off a kid at a public school or some new indoctrinating camp from the glue factory, they have completely given up any rights to that child whatsoever. Don't believe me? Did you read the article? Do you need more evidence? Public Schools are not even pretending anymore to be simply a place for which to implement compulsory education. No, they are a test tube for the next generation of ill-informed, drugged, overly medicated, morbidly obese consumer; devoid of any independent thought, creativity, courage and individuality.

Am I making too much of this? I don't think so. That's the problem in this country. If you ask me, parents in this country don't raise enough hell. Does this affect my family directly? of course not. My family and I unplugged from the matrix a long time ago. But I am sick and tired of the what is being inflicted upon children this country. And in my not so humble opinion, child abuse comes in many forms... even in very sophisticated ones.

So I shall end my rant by saying please, please... this insanity has to stop. If you love your kids my god, get them out of these buildings RIGHT NOW.

btw, my bff inspired me to write this ;) oh how did I ever live with a bff? I don't know how I ever got through those very difficult times of having someone close to me that understood me and helped me when I needed it the most... to feel safe and like someone 'got me' when I felt like I wasn't part of the crowd. I dedicate this post to my bff now in my adulthood and my bff in my childhood :) Thank god!!!! for bffs ♥

Loving my man Carlin

2010-08-22T01:06:00.000-05:00

Homeschool Community... how do I love thee..

2010-08-17T00:07:00.000-05:00

Let me count the ways!!

I love...

...Our Unplugged Educators community. Our homeschool "group". Love it!! I am totally in love and so very proud of the community my bff, myself and a bunch of us homeschooling mama friends have built for our families. Today was awesome!! I loved it so much. We met and made all the plans for the upcoming Fall/Winter season AND Spring/Summer. It has been exactly a year and I love it more and more everyday. It felt so good to sit there amongst other cool moms who absolutely love their kids, love their roles as homeschooling moms, are proud to live out of the box and do things a little different. Proud to be crunchy-grow our own food-living our lives unplugged from the mainstream-raising our bright "unsocialized" awesome kiddos!!

Our community is exactly that, a "community". We are not about numbers or recruiting as many homeschooling parents as we can so that pretty soon we are just names on an email list, instead of a community of kick-ass happy, quirky moms who really appreciate one another and totally love dancing to our own beat :) and who above ALL else, live putting our children first!

It's been exactly a year that this community came about. I love it. I love our kids, I love our moms, I love that we can all sit and laugh and plan our year and feel completely at home :) I love that we are unabashedly proud to be "unplugged" from the mainstream, proud to be different than the rest... we carry our "unsocialized" happy and healthy label with pride!

I love the home we have built for ourselves. A supportive, healthy, uplifting, friendly community is hard to come by... so when it is found, it is treasured.

I love being part of something special and unique. Most of all, I am really happy that I can give this to my kids :) I am thankful and I am proud.

I love our community.
I love what I am a part of.
I love what I helped create.
I am a happy lady.
I am happy with my choices.
I love it all.
Life is good...
Life is great!!

xo

Obsessed much?

2010-08-11T21:50:00.000-05:00

Yes I am! and here is the object... or rather, the tune of my obsession :) Enjoy!! and really... ENJOY!! because if you don't, well then you need a lesson on happiness and coolness :) lol

Edward Sharpe and the magnetic zeros

40 Day Dream

I been sleepin for 40 days and
I know Im sleeping cuz this dream’s too amazin
She got gold doorknobs where her eyes used to be
One turn and I learned what it really means to see

(Chorus)
Ah – It’s the magical mystery kind
Ah – must be a lie
Bye bye to the too good to be true kind of love
Oh – I could die
Oh now I can die

I been sleepin for 60- days and
Nobody better pinch me
Bitch I swear I’ll go crazy
She got jumper cable lips
She got sunset on her breath now
I inhaled just a little bit
Now I got no fear of death now

(Chorus)

OhhAhhYeahYeah Yeah Yeah

HOME

2010-08-07T13:30:00.000-05:00

Okay, this is one of the best songs ever. I can't get enough of it. What a beautiful song. Just... beautiful, joyful, profound, simple, amazing... amazing!! Listen, just listen!!! and get ready to get happy :)

Edward Sharpe and The magnetic Zeros *Home*
[Her:]
Alabama, Arkansas,
I do love my ma and pa,
Not the way that I do love you.

[Him:]
Holy, Moley, me, oh my,
You're the apple of my eye,
Girl I've never loved one like you.

[Her:]
Man oh man you're my best friend,
I scream it to the nothingness,
There ain't nothing that I need.

[Him:]
Well, hot and heavy, pumpkin pie,
Chocolate candy, Jesus Christ,
Ain't nothing please me more than you.

[Both:]
Ahh Home. Let me come home
Home is wherever I'm with you.
Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome.
Home is wherever I'm with you.

La, la, la, la, take me home.
Mother, I'm coming home.

[Him:]
I'll follow you into the park,
Through the jungle through the dark,
Girl I never loved one like you.

[Her:]
Moats and boats and waterfalls,
Alley-ways and pay phone calls,
I've been everywhere with you.

[Him:]
We laugh until we think we’ll die,
Barefoot on a summer night
Nothin’ new is sweeter than with you

[Her:]
And in the streets you run afree,
Like it's only you and me,
Geeze, you're something to see.

[Both:]
Ahh Home. Let me go home.
Home is wherever I'm with you.
Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome.
Home is wherever I'm with you.

La, la, la, la, take me home.
Daddy, I'm coming home.

(Talking)
Him: Jade
Her: Alexander
Him: Do you remember that day you fell outta my window?
Her: I sure do, you came jumping out after me.
Him: Well, you fell on the concrete, nearly broke your ass, you were bleeding all over the place and I rushed you out to the hospital, you remember that?
Her: Yes I do.
Him: Well there's something I never told you about that night.
Her: What didn't you tell me?
Him: While you were sitting in the backseat smoking a cigarette you thought was gonna be your last, I was falling deep, deeply in love with you, and I never told you til just now.

[Both:]
Ahh Home. Let me go home.
Home is wherever I'm with you.
Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome.
Home is where I'm alone with you.

[Him:]
Home. Let me come home.
Home is wherever I'm with you.

[Her:]
Ahh home. Yes I am ho-oh-ome.
Home is when I'm alone with you.

[Her:]
Alabama, Arkansas,
I do love my ma and pa...
Moats and boats and waterfalls,
Alley-ways and pay phone calls...

[Both:]
Ahh Home. Let me go home.
Home is wherever I'm with you.
Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome.
Home is where I'm alone with you...

♥♥I don't know about you... but I am definitely HOME!!!!!! ♥♥