homeschoolers on Wife Swap and suchlike
Sandra Dodd
It's not the first time, but there was a homeschooling family on Wife
Swap the other night. Not just homeschooling, but SCA, it seemed.
Marty and Holly called me to look. Marty said "Re-enactors." I
looked a minute and said "SCA," and he asked why I thought so. Only
the SCA combines the Renaissance with belly dancing. But they
didn't mention the SCA as far as I heard, and when the dad named the
places the kids get out and are with other people, he said hiking and
gaming conventions. No mention of feasts or tournaments. Maybe they
were involved in Renaissance Fairs; that's possible. He didn't
mention those either. They did play D&D at night (and Marty pointed
out that it was the original D&D book, nothing current or recent).
Anyway...
They traded that mom (who was portrayed as somewhat of a nut, and I
don't know how much editing or coaching goes on to edge them nutty-
ward) with a mom who was a teacher and had a second job in a
restaurant (doing books and cooking, apparently; not cooking books, I
don't think <g>).
Much embarrassment ensued, and the school-focussed family ended up
adapting more from the homeschooling family than the other way
around. The mom cut down on her hours, quit her second job or
something, and the family was spending time together which the kids
seemed happy about.
Marty was saying "We should be on this show!" Holly and I were
saying "NO, not possible."
While they were sure they could handle some other mom's rules for a
week, I wasn't sure I could handle some other family's... FAMILY for
a week. Marty said "They'd probably switch you with some lawyer or
something." Yeah, that's not too bad, but if I had to go to a job
where I had to dress up, wear heels, MAKE-UP... Yuck. <g> Marty
said I could really change some people's lives doing that switch.
Uh... Yeah, but maybe not. They could probably just edit me to look
nutty, old, crazy... And the mom who traded with us would have to
go online every day and talk to people about unschooling. (Oh! That
would be fun for you all to discuss with her what my kids were
accustomed to, and to remind her to be quiet until Holly wakes up
naturally. <g>)
For years and YEARS we had no monday-through-friday schedule, except
that Keith usually worked then and not on weekends, but for most of
four years, Keith worked in Minnesota, not from home. He'd be home
ten days a month, and those were fun days, and the rest were fun,
unscheduled days too. Since December, though, both Kirby and Marty
have worked exactly and precisely Monday through Friday, and not on
weekends. WEIRD. So now they can tell weekends from weekdays for
the first time ever, and I can too. It's just me and Holly mid-days,
and Holly's usually asleep.
Anyway, the schooly family only stayed home from school one day, and
on that one day the mom was trying to get the teenaged boy to make
some boots for his costume (she had them wearing Renaissance
costumes). That made sense to me, because their costumes came from a
costume shop, and he was wearing goofy jester's shoes, and I wouldn't
blame him for not wanting to wear them. So it seemed she was
helping him make some better shoes, but that made the dad mad because
it wasn't academic.
Weird. Weird ideas, weird that the producers so sadistically find
families SO different. I hope the participants make good money doing
that. It seems like a dangerous shake-down of peaceful situations to
me. And it's not really WIFEswap, it's mom-swap. The husband
probably hardly ever sees the visiting mom and where does she sleep?
Where does he sleep? Where does the filmcrew sleep? <bwg>
Holly likes the glimpses into other people's lives. I feel I've seen
enough weird families to last me, starting with my own weird
relatives on my mom's side. But Holly loves the social peeks.
Sandra
Swap the other night. Not just homeschooling, but SCA, it seemed.
Marty and Holly called me to look. Marty said "Re-enactors." I
looked a minute and said "SCA," and he asked why I thought so. Only
the SCA combines the Renaissance with belly dancing. But they
didn't mention the SCA as far as I heard, and when the dad named the
places the kids get out and are with other people, he said hiking and
gaming conventions. No mention of feasts or tournaments. Maybe they
were involved in Renaissance Fairs; that's possible. He didn't
mention those either. They did play D&D at night (and Marty pointed
out that it was the original D&D book, nothing current or recent).
Anyway...
They traded that mom (who was portrayed as somewhat of a nut, and I
don't know how much editing or coaching goes on to edge them nutty-
ward) with a mom who was a teacher and had a second job in a
restaurant (doing books and cooking, apparently; not cooking books, I
don't think <g>).
Much embarrassment ensued, and the school-focussed family ended up
adapting more from the homeschooling family than the other way
around. The mom cut down on her hours, quit her second job or
something, and the family was spending time together which the kids
seemed happy about.
Marty was saying "We should be on this show!" Holly and I were
saying "NO, not possible."
While they were sure they could handle some other mom's rules for a
week, I wasn't sure I could handle some other family's... FAMILY for
a week. Marty said "They'd probably switch you with some lawyer or
something." Yeah, that's not too bad, but if I had to go to a job
where I had to dress up, wear heels, MAKE-UP... Yuck. <g> Marty
said I could really change some people's lives doing that switch.
Uh... Yeah, but maybe not. They could probably just edit me to look
nutty, old, crazy... And the mom who traded with us would have to
go online every day and talk to people about unschooling. (Oh! That
would be fun for you all to discuss with her what my kids were
accustomed to, and to remind her to be quiet until Holly wakes up
naturally. <g>)
For years and YEARS we had no monday-through-friday schedule, except
that Keith usually worked then and not on weekends, but for most of
four years, Keith worked in Minnesota, not from home. He'd be home
ten days a month, and those were fun days, and the rest were fun,
unscheduled days too. Since December, though, both Kirby and Marty
have worked exactly and precisely Monday through Friday, and not on
weekends. WEIRD. So now they can tell weekends from weekdays for
the first time ever, and I can too. It's just me and Holly mid-days,
and Holly's usually asleep.
Anyway, the schooly family only stayed home from school one day, and
on that one day the mom was trying to get the teenaged boy to make
some boots for his costume (she had them wearing Renaissance
costumes). That made sense to me, because their costumes came from a
costume shop, and he was wearing goofy jester's shoes, and I wouldn't
blame him for not wanting to wear them. So it seemed she was
helping him make some better shoes, but that made the dad mad because
it wasn't academic.
Weird. Weird ideas, weird that the producers so sadistically find
families SO different. I hope the participants make good money doing
that. It seems like a dangerous shake-down of peaceful situations to
me. And it's not really WIFEswap, it's mom-swap. The husband
probably hardly ever sees the visiting mom and where does she sleep?
Where does he sleep? Where does the filmcrew sleep? <bwg>
Holly likes the glimpses into other people's lives. I feel I've seen
enough weird families to last me, starting with my own weird
relatives on my mom's side. But Holly loves the social peeks.
Sandra
nellebelle
=-=-=-=-=-=-=Marty
said I could really change some people's lives doing that switch.
Uh... Yeah, but maybe not. They could probably just edit me to look
nutty, old, crazy... And the mom who traded with us would have to
go online every day and talk to people about unschooling=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
They would probably switch you with some neat freak and she would get rid of all your cool stuff while she was there.
They always seem to choose polar opposites for that show!
Mary Ellen
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
said I could really change some people's lives doing that switch.
Uh... Yeah, but maybe not. They could probably just edit me to look
nutty, old, crazy... And the mom who traded with us would have to
go online every day and talk to people about unschooling=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
They would probably switch you with some neat freak and she would get rid of all your cool stuff while she was there.
They always seem to choose polar opposites for that show!
Mary Ellen
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Angela S.
<<Holly likes the glimpses into other people's lives. I feel I've seen
enough weird families to last me, starting with my own weird relatives on my
mom's side. But Holly loves the social peeks.
Sandra>>
My kids and I both love to peek into other people's lives by watching shows
like Wife Swap and Trading Spouses. I am pretty sure they edit them by
taking the most extreme thing someone utters over the course of a week and
focusing on that. They try to make the families look as nutty as possible
which is one reason I would never go on one of those shows. I would find it
facinating to swap, but I would never leave my kids with someone who I did
not know for a week or two weeks, esp. someone with completely opposite
parenting ideas from mine.
If I had to choose one of those families to be, I would definitely choose
the homeschool family, although they were portrayed at anti-social with no
friends on the one hand, (the dd had her first ever friend over for dinner)
but in another scene at the beginning they had a party with some of their
reenactment friends and showed them around a lot of people. But they were
very close to each other and they seemed very respectful of the kids,
although the did still have to do school work for 3 hours per day.
The school focused mom actually told the reenactment family that every time
they mentioned the middle ages that she would smash one of their game pieces
and she did do one, to which the older boy (handsome boy too) challenged
her, "are you going to pay for that?" That woman was SO RUDE! She thought
it was ok for her to be rude because she was an adult, but it certainly
wasn't ok for the son to challenge her back. (even though she was so in the
wrong) Fortunately, I am not around people who have so little disregard for
children because I would certainly challenge them. I wouldn't be able to
help it.
But the thing is, (and I felt this way about the homeschool dad) that I am
fairly articulate in writing, but when I am challenged verbally, I have a
hard time articulating what I am trying to say, esp. if I'm under fire.
Angela
game-enthusiast@...
enough weird families to last me, starting with my own weird relatives on my
mom's side. But Holly loves the social peeks.
Sandra>>
My kids and I both love to peek into other people's lives by watching shows
like Wife Swap and Trading Spouses. I am pretty sure they edit them by
taking the most extreme thing someone utters over the course of a week and
focusing on that. They try to make the families look as nutty as possible
which is one reason I would never go on one of those shows. I would find it
facinating to swap, but I would never leave my kids with someone who I did
not know for a week or two weeks, esp. someone with completely opposite
parenting ideas from mine.
If I had to choose one of those families to be, I would definitely choose
the homeschool family, although they were portrayed at anti-social with no
friends on the one hand, (the dd had her first ever friend over for dinner)
but in another scene at the beginning they had a party with some of their
reenactment friends and showed them around a lot of people. But they were
very close to each other and they seemed very respectful of the kids,
although the did still have to do school work for 3 hours per day.
The school focused mom actually told the reenactment family that every time
they mentioned the middle ages that she would smash one of their game pieces
and she did do one, to which the older boy (handsome boy too) challenged
her, "are you going to pay for that?" That woman was SO RUDE! She thought
it was ok for her to be rude because she was an adult, but it certainly
wasn't ok for the son to challenge her back. (even though she was so in the
wrong) Fortunately, I am not around people who have so little disregard for
children because I would certainly challenge them. I wouldn't be able to
help it.
But the thing is, (and I felt this way about the homeschool dad) that I am
fairly articulate in writing, but when I am challenged verbally, I have a
hard time articulating what I am trying to say, esp. if I'm under fire.
Angela
game-enthusiast@...
Schuyler Waynforth
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
on the first American Wife Swap, and she says they are almost nothing
like they turn out. It is so important to manipulate the image to
make the story.
And it is weird because editing makes all docu-drama stories, we were
watching the most recent David Attenborough narrated wildlife show
that runs for 45 minutes and then they put the DVD extras on
(presumably it is so it can fit on network television in the U.S.) for
the last 15 minutes, the behind the scenes stuff. They'd done a story
about snow leopards that began with the mother leopard chasing down a
mountain goat, but in the diaries section the big chase scene was the
last bit they filmed. So the whole set up had been contrived by the
editors to make a more appealing setup for the viewer.
Anyhow. Lots of editing, and you don't get to choose how you and your
life is presented.
Schuyler
>Lots and lots of editing. My sister-in-law is an editor, she worked
> Anyway...
> They traded that mom (who was portrayed as somewhat of a nut, and I
> don't know how much editing or coaching goes on to edge them nutty-
> ward)
on the first American Wife Swap, and she says they are almost nothing
like they turn out. It is so important to manipulate the image to
make the story.
And it is weird because editing makes all docu-drama stories, we were
watching the most recent David Attenborough narrated wildlife show
that runs for 45 minutes and then they put the DVD extras on
(presumably it is so it can fit on network television in the U.S.) for
the last 15 minutes, the behind the scenes stuff. They'd done a story
about snow leopards that began with the mother leopard chasing down a
mountain goat, but in the diaries section the big chase scene was the
last bit they filmed. So the whole set up had been contrived by the
editors to make a more appealing setup for the viewer.
Anyhow. Lots of editing, and you don't get to choose how you and your
life is presented.
Schuyler
Sandra Dodd
On Mar 15, 2006, at 10:36 AM, nellebelle wrote:
goes. Or not...
Hey, maybe Marty's right! I should be on that show!
Holly reminded us last night of one when the show was new (and
might've been the other similar show) in which a family had lots of
crazy pets, wandering through the house, including a kangaroo. The
trade mom packed them all up in crates into a truck and sent them
away on the week that was to be done by her rules. Holly figures the
show paid to have them cared for for that week. Poor pets! Poor
kids who might've been afraid they'd never see them again. So I
guess if she packed me up it would be sorted and stored.
One of you should try it first. <g>
Sandra
> They would probably switch you with some neat freak and she wouldProbably, and then I'd have to unpack it and put it all back where it
> get rid of all your cool stuff while she was there.
goes. Or not...
Hey, maybe Marty's right! I should be on that show!
Holly reminded us last night of one when the show was new (and
might've been the other similar show) in which a family had lots of
crazy pets, wandering through the house, including a kangaroo. The
trade mom packed them all up in crates into a truck and sent them
away on the week that was to be done by her rules. Holly figures the
show paid to have them cared for for that week. Poor pets! Poor
kids who might've been afraid they'd never see them again. So I
guess if she packed me up it would be sorted and stored.
One of you should try it first. <g>
Sandra
[email protected]
Our family talked about the possiblity of participating in one of these
shows.. My son decided that he didnt want me to becuase they always have a normal
mom and a psycho mom.. he figured that since I am the normal mom , they would
be stuck with the psycho one. LOL I have to say I am glad I was picked as
the normal mom. :) sometimes you are not sure which one you are. LOL
Cathey Jones
Change your thoughts and change your world.
Norman Vincent Peale (1898 - 1993)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
shows.. My son decided that he didnt want me to becuase they always have a normal
mom and a psycho mom.. he figured that since I am the normal mom , they would
be stuck with the psycho one. LOL I have to say I am glad I was picked as
the normal mom. :) sometimes you are not sure which one you are. LOL
Cathey Jones
Change your thoughts and change your world.
Norman Vincent Peale (1898 - 1993)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Krisula Moyer
Re: homeschoolers on Wife Swap and suchlike
=-=-=-=-=-=-=Marty
said I could really change some people's lives doing that switch.
Uh... Yeah, but maybe not. They could probably just edit me to look
nutty, old, crazy... And the mom who traded with us would have to
go online every day and talk to people about unschooling=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
They would probably switch you with some neat freak and she would get rid of
all your cool stuff while she was there.
They always seem to choose polar opposites for that show!
Mary Ellen
==============================
Yeah, My kids had a good idea. They said the best thing to do is lie like a
rug to the producers and make yourself out to be a controlling neat freak
who makes their kids tow the line. You'll get "matched" with a nice relaxed
person and then you can go about your swap being nice and unschooly. <eg>
wha ha ha
Krisula
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
=-=-=-=-=-=-=Marty
said I could really change some people's lives doing that switch.
Uh... Yeah, but maybe not. They could probably just edit me to look
nutty, old, crazy... And the mom who traded with us would have to
go online every day and talk to people about unschooling=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
They would probably switch you with some neat freak and she would get rid of
all your cool stuff while she was there.
They always seem to choose polar opposites for that show!
Mary Ellen
==============================
Yeah, My kids had a good idea. They said the best thing to do is lie like a
rug to the producers and make yourself out to be a controlling neat freak
who makes their kids tow the line. You'll get "matched" with a nice relaxed
person and then you can go about your swap being nice and unschooly. <eg>
wha ha ha
Krisula
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]