Even a mom can learn from a field trip.

I kind of laugh when I think about the fact that we are officially a "home school family".  C'mon, don't tell me that there aren't certain things that pop into your mind when you think of homeschoolers.

The Duggars
floor-length skirts
girls with long, straight hair
outdated clothes
organic
perfectly behaved children
a perfect mother
and I'm sure there are many more.

I will admit that I pretty much buy all of my kids clothes at resale/consignment shops, but I think they look nice.  And while there was a time that I was sworn to floor-length skirts, or at least knee-length, that is no longer. 

We recycle, but we're not organic.  Can't afford to be, really. 

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am certainly not the perfect mother.  I do my best, like we all do, trying to juggle everything, be productive, spend quality time, make memories and all that good stuff.  But I'm not a good cook.  I'm not even good at baking.  Recently, in an attempt not to waste food, I've been using our overly ripe bananas to make banana bread.  Let me tell you, it is SO good.  With that said, I've been making it for years, and I've made more half cooked, over cooked, or completely inedible than I have good ones.  I think I'm just getting to where I'm even.  Once I misread that directions and only put 2 tablespoons of flour in.  I should have been able to look at it and tell something was very off, but it took until I pulled it out of the oven an hour later to realize that I had pretty much baked a pile of mashed bananas and sugar for an hour.  It wasn't pretty. 

And while I may think, at times, that my children are perfect.  Ok, forget it.  It's pretty obvious that they aren't either.  But nobody is.  I would like to have seen the footage of the Duggars when she had 5 children who were 5 and under.  I'm sure nobody would have thought they were perfect then.  If I had 4 teenage girls around all the time to help watch little ones and make meals, my life would be a lot smoother too.  Just sayin'. 

Playing with play money.  Learning the names of the coins.

Austin loves doing school in his Batman pajamas.

Madison putting numbers in order.

One of my favorite things about homeschooling so far is the extra time that we have together.  And with that, there are field trips.  And when you are homeschooling, you can justifiably entitle any outing, FIELD TRIP. 

"Hey, kids!  We're going on a field trip.  To the grocery store!"  Haha.  Just kidding.  But we did go to the Sheriff's office:

What did I learn on this field trip? 

• Hand cuffs provide endless entertainment.

• My son is charming even while sitting in the back of a police car.

• A line up of babies next to a police car is adorable.

• Don't ask young children what they know about police officers unless you are prepared for them to say............. DONUT

(One of the younger siblings said something that sounded an awful lot like donut.  We never did figure out what he was saying, but that's what it sounded like.  Talk about awkward.)

And a fair:

Oh, so many things to learn from the fair:

• Watch where you step and where you push your stroller, or you will have animal poo attached to your wheels for a week.

• It's fun to make friends with a goat.

• Avoid areas of baby animals with their mommy if you are not prepared to answer questions like, "Mommy, why does that pig have all those big boobies?"  And loud comments like, "Look, Mommy, all the baby pigs are sucking her big boobies!"

• If there is a cow getting ready to go into a ring to be judged, she may get really nervous and open the flood gates right as you start to walk by her.  And your children will be so amazed at this sight that they will stand there and get splashed with cow urine before they move.  So you better have quick reflexes to grab them, a stroller, and yourself out out of the way.  And through all of this, the cow will be completely unphased and the girl holding the cow will look at you like you are the stupidest person in the world and then say nothing.

• If there is a giant tv screen playing a video of the live birth of a calf, do not stop unless you are prepared to answer even more awkward, uncomfortable questions.  I am perplexed and dumbfounded about my children asking questions about birth and reproduction.  So when my 5 year old wants to know why that calf is coming out of that hole when I told her that babies come from a mommy's tummy, I completely avoid the question and tell her not to look at it.  To which her response is, "I can't stop looking." 




Yeah, for field trips.  Such learning experiences.