Adrean Clark

I am very nervous as my mother-in-law is visiting this weekend. She is
of the "children must mind" mold and tends to think homeschooling
produces unsocialized kids with strange behaviors. She's the Deaf
grandma and we love her and her strong opinions, but I am very
nervous. I don't have the luxury of a husband to help smooth things
over this time. Any suggestions to help the (short one-nighter) visit
go well?

Adrean

--
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diana jenner

On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 10:43 AM, Adrean Clark <adreanaline@...> wrote:

> I am very nervous as my mother-in-law is visiting this weekend. She is
> of the "children must mind" mold and tends to think homeschooling
> produces unsocialized kids with strange behaviors. She's the Deaf
> grandma and we love her and her strong opinions, but I am very
> nervous. I don't have the luxury of a husband to help smooth things
> over this time. Any suggestions to help the (short one-nighter) visit
> go well?
>
>

Breathe deep. Again. Often.
Remember it's only a short one-nighter.
And the consequences of smothering her with a pillow are too great to risk
:D
My favorite mantra for these folks: Your concern is appreciated, your
approval unnecessary.
--
~diana :)
xoxoxoxo
hannahbearski.blogspot.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Cameron Parham

I am very nervous about my own parents' upcoming visit, and am all too aware that if  they are determined to see the negatives that's what they will see.  Still, for a short visit maybe you could plan to avoid activities that worsen the conflict and try to identify one or more activities that all can enjoy with little conflict. For example we do well with a visit to a park or a mountain trail, and poorly with a shopping trip. Just a thought... Cameron


----- Original Message ----
From: diana jenner <hahamommy@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, May 1, 2008 12:31:15 PM
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] Mother-in-Law visiting...


On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 10:43 AM, Adrean Clark <adreanaline@ gmail.com> wrote:

> I am very nervous as my mother-in-law is visiting this weekend. She is
> of the "children must mind" mold and tends to think homeschooling
> produces unsocialized kids with strange behaviors. She's the Deaf
> grandma and we love her and her strong opinions, but I am very
> nervous. I don't have the luxury of a husband to help smooth things
> over this time. Any suggestions to help the (short one-nighter) visit
> go well?
>
>

Breathe deep. Again. Often.
Remember it's only a short one-nighter.
And the consequences of smothering her with a pillow are too great to risk
:D
My favorite mantra for these folks: Your concern is appreciated, your
approval unnecessary.
--
~diana :)
xoxoxoxo
hannahbearski. blogspot. com

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

-----Original Message-----
From: Adrean Clark <adreanaline@...>


I am very nervous as my mother-in-law is visiting this weekend. She is
of the "children must mind" mold and tends to think homeschooling
produces unsocialized kids with strange behaviors. She's the Deaf
grandma and we love her and her strong opinions, but I am very
nervous. I don't have the luxury of a husband to help smooth things
over this time. Any suggestions to help the (short one-nighter) visit
go well?

-=-=-=-=-

Mother-in-law is visiting when her son is out of town? Yuck! <g>

I'd make sure the house is clean and that all the food is *very*
kid-friendly (so you don't have to field concerns over their not
eating). Better would be to eat out somewhere where the kids would be
happy and easily pleased---*IF* they handle restaurants well. For us,
Panera is very family-friendly---casual enough for the kids (and mine
like the food), yet "fancy" enough for the adults (at least it's not
Chuck E Cheese! <G>).

I'd try to stay out of the house as much as possible---like a trip to
the zoo or a museum the kids like. Something she would consider
"educational."

Otherwise, I would be sure she knew you only have to "school" 180 days
out of the year, so this is one of the 185 you DON'T have to "do
school." She's *visiting* after all! It's a *vacation" day! "School"
can be "put on hold" while grandma's in town.

If the kids can make a cute card or other crafty-something for her that
would be nice. Or make breakfast in bed for her with flowers from the
garden. Muffins and cut up fruit with coffee---or an omelette.

Do they like to put on plays or puppet shows? Grands like that kind of
thing---plus, it looks "educational."

Maybe set up a craft everyone can do together---grandma too.

The busier everyone is, the better---for us, anyway. Less "downtime"
for serious discussions to begin. <G>

Whirlwind her in and out, and she won't have time to judge or complain.
*That* can come after she's back in her own home. <BWG>

Have fun!



~Kelly

Kelly Lovejoy
Conference Coordinator
Live and Learn Unschooling Conference
http://www.LiveandLearnConference.org

Melissa

Teehee! on the pillow.

I have to say, my own MIL was amazing and awesome, and unfortunately passed before we
started unschooling. My own parents are the scary ones, my dad is mostly okay with
unschooling, but I got the hint yesterday that he is not okay with the radical part. Mostly in
an obscure discussion about manners. <shrug>

In addition to Diana's lovely mantra, I like to pull out Kelly's "You raised your children, now
let me raise mine"

Melissa
--- In [email protected], "diana jenner" <hahamommy@...> wrote:
>
> Breathe deep. Again. Often.
> Remember it's only a short one-nighter.
> And the consequences of smothering her with a pillow are too great to risk
> :D
> My favorite mantra for these folks: Your concern is appreciated, your
> approval unnecessary.
> --
> ~diana :)
> xoxoxoxo
> hannahbearski.blogspot.com
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>