freeedomm

Hi I am Jamie, I have been lurking since spring. I have 2 children
ages 5 and 2. We have been RU (thanks to advice from this group)
since June, I have been unschooling for about a year (I am not really
sure.)

I know this must have been discussed before, but I can't seem to find
it in the older messages.
Twice this week my a parent has mentioned my son's "behavior" First
was yelling for help as a part of imaginary play. I spoke up and
explained that he was just playing a game and his sister and I play
with him. She still kept insisting that it was like the boy "crying
wolf" and stated that it was upsetting her. Finally I asked my son
to stop saying help because it was distressing the other woman.

The other situation was with a woman commenting on his "baby talk"
which he uses sometimes (he is the five year old.) She asked him why
he was using baby talk? When I told her I was okay with it, she still
made a comment to him about not using baby talk when she comes over
to visit.

How do you deal with this? These situations upset my son. He loves
to play with the other children. I have not been able to find like
minded people where we live. I do not want my son to feel social
pressure to fit their little boxes as to how little children should
behave.

How do you stop people from going there with your child? I wish these
were the only two incidents but they are not!



Jamie

k

I quietly stop inviting such people into my home if at all possible.

~Katherine



On 9/5/08, freeedomm <insanity09@...> wrote:
>
> Hi I am Jamie, I have been lurking since spring. I have 2 children
> ages 5 and 2. We have been RU (thanks to advice from this group)
> since June, I have been unschooling for about a year (I am not really
> sure.)
>
> I know this must have been discussed before, but I can't seem to find
> it in the older messages.
> Twice this week my a parent has mentioned my son's "behavior" First
> was yelling for help as a part of imaginary play. I spoke up and
> explained that he was just playing a game and his sister and I play
> with him. She still kept insisting that it was like the boy "crying
> wolf" and stated that it was upsetting her. Finally I asked my son
> to stop saying help because it was distressing the other woman.
>
> The other situation was with a woman commenting on his "baby talk"
> which he uses sometimes (he is the five year old.) She asked him why
> he was using baby talk? When I told her I was okay with it, she still
> made a comment to him about not using baby talk when she comes over
> to visit.
>
> How do you deal with this? These situations upset my son. He loves
> to play with the other children. I have not been able to find like
> minded people where we live. I do not want my son to feel social
> pressure to fit their little boxes as to how little children should
> behave.
>
> How do you stop people from going there with your child? I wish these
> were the only two incidents but they are not!
>
> Jamie
>
>
>


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

Jodi Bezzola

~~Twice this week my a parent has mentioned my son's "behavior" First
was yelling for help as a part of imaginary play. I spoke up and
explained that he was just playing a game and his sister and I play
with him. She still kept insisting that it was like the boy "crying
wolf" and stated that it was upsetting her. Finally I asked my son
to stop saying help because it was distressing the other woman.``
 
This is an adult woman who was getting 'distressed' by a little boy playing???  I'm with Katherine on this one, I'd stop inviting her over.  I have chosen less friends and playdates instead of stressfull ones this year, and even though it sometimes has been a bit lonely, it's much more peaceful!  And my tongue doesn't get so sore from biting it for the whole visit <G>.
 
~~The other situation was with a woman commenting on his "baby talk"
which he uses sometimes (he is the five year old.) She asked him why
he was using baby talk? When I told her I was okay with it, she still
made a comment to him about not using baby talk when she comes over
to visit.~~
 
Wow, again, some people are pretty ballsy to request what your son's behaviour looks like when she comes into *your* home!  It wouldn't be okay with me for someone else to request something like that of my child, *especially* if they were a guest in my home.

~~How do you deal with this? These situations upset my son. He loves
to play with the other children. I have not been able to find like
minded people where we live. I do not want my son to feel social
pressure to fit their little boxes as to how little children should
behave.~~
 
I'm sure these situations do upset your son!  It sounds like they're upsetting you too.  Do you actually get any enjoyment out of these visits/playdates?  The cost sounds high to me.  I would venture that no playdates would feel better than ones like this!!!  It is a challenge finding like-minded people sometimes.  I've heard it said that you know you're a radical unschooler when your closest friend lives 100 miles away :).  But I see it as my job to be the intermediary between my children and people that don't have 100% respect for them...like my in-laws, which is why we don't visit very often at all, and why we had lots of 'words' during our last visit.

~~How do you stop people from going there with your child? I wish these
were the only two incidents but they are not!~~
 
It's your choice really.  You can be direct and perhaps lose friends, or you can be indirect and not invite them over.  Is this really the kind of company you want to keep??
 
Jodi







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

Nicole Willoughby

How do you deal with this?>>>>>>>>

My house my rules. Get over it or get lost.

Hrmmm.......... maybe thats why I dont have a lot of friends



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

k

There might be some negotiation you can do. I think this sounds pretty
unreal though. But it depends on the strength of your friendship.

I've had trouble with kids mouthing off and putting Karl down recently that
was just too far over the top. After trying to keep the communication lines
open between me and Karl about it for a long time (something like 3 years
and for most of that time it wasn't that bad), it finally went too far. By
then it was very hard on Karl either way... continuing to play with the kids
who seemed to be getting meaner and meaner every visit who he had kinda
grown to like (who seemed more and more frequently unable to show they like
him) or not having them as a play option. I want to think there's some
other way to deal with over the top stuff but even the adults were over the
top in this regular play situation, and that is what was really making it
unworkable. The good thing is I had the excuse of distance to bow out
with. So I managed to stay civil and cut ties, with lots of comforting for
Karl. It was not easy because by then he was very accustomed to their crap
and at least half believed it was ok that they behaved in extreme ways
toward him (and others). The other part of it was that me and Brian had
been separated for about 1 1/2 years of that time period. So I wasn't even
in the same state until these last 4 months. Not an easy thing to come home
to deal with.

Pam Sorooshian was very helpful and so was Kelly Lovejoy in encouraging me
to seek out and start other social opportunities for Karl. So I'm working
on that now. I am starting a local chapter of CampFire USA for Boys and
Girls here to host at our place, and I hope to have events in a few weeks
for the beautiful fall weather. (It's to be in Campobello SC --Spartanburg
county-- for those who might be interested in passing on the word. Any
folks nearby or willing to drive are welcome to bring their kids.)

~Katherine



On 9/5/08, freeedomm <insanity09@...> wrote:
>
> Hi I am Jamie, I have been lurking since spring. I have 2 children
> ages 5 and 2. We have been RU (thanks to advice from this group)
> since June, I have been unschooling for about a year (I am not really
> sure.)
>
> I know this must have been discussed before, but I can't seem to find
> it in the older messages.
> Twice this week my a parent has mentioned my son's "behavior" First
> was yelling for help as a part of imaginary play. I spoke up and
> explained that he was just playing a game and his sister and I play
> with him. She still kept insisting that it was like the boy "crying
> wolf" and stated that it was upsetting her. Finally I asked my son
> to stop saying help because it was distressing the other woman.
>
> The other situation was with a woman commenting on his "baby talk"
> which he uses sometimes (he is the five year old.) She asked him why
> he was using baby talk? When I told her I was okay with it, she still
> made a comment to him about not using baby talk when she comes over
> to visit.
>
> How do you deal with this? These situations upset my son. He loves
> to play with the other children. I have not been able to find like
> minded people where we live. I do not want my son to feel social
> pressure to fit their little boxes as to how little children should
> behave.
>
> How do you stop people from going there with your child? I wish these
> were the only two incidents but they are not!
>
> Jamie
>
>
>


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

Meredith

--- In [email protected], k <katherand@...> wrote:
>
> There might be some negotiation you can do. I think this sounds
pretty
> unreal though. But it depends on the strength of your friendship.

I've had good luck with those kinds of negotiations - but just like
with kids, it helps to wait for happy, friendly times, outside of
any kind of conflict to open the discussion. In the meantime,
perhaps you could meet to play somewhere more spacious - like a
playground - where the mom is less likely to be so critical of
behavior.

> I've had trouble with kids mouthing off and putting Karl down
recently that
> was just too far over the top. After trying to keep the
communication lines
> open between me and Karl about it for a long time (something like
3 years
> and for most of that time it wasn't that bad), it finally went too
far.

We've had similar trouble with one homeschooled girl we use to visit
frequently. In our case, though, Mo wasn't happy with ways the girl
was behaving and asked to stop playing with her. For awhile I
continued trying to have a relationship with the girl's mom - we
have a lot in common *outside* parenting - but more recently I've
been letting that lapse. I'm getting tired of questions about when
Mo will be coming to play again and of course we'll be at the dd's
birthday party? Er... briefly, just long enough for the girl to
thoroughly insult Morgan's rather idiosyncratic speech. Ugh.

One of the things Ray found, after about a year of deschooling, was
that he didn't like school kids anymore, in part because of their
sort of constant negativity. So most of his friends are adults or
the odd homeschooler he meets. He met a few recently at a summer
solstice event (okay, not all that recently, I guess!) and he's been
keeping contact over the internet.

---Meredith (Mo 7, Ray 14)

k

The kids that were bugging Karl were being homeschooled but had gone to
school for the most part, and though none of them could read that is what
they were carrying on about with Karl... him not being able to read. So
yes. The negative is very much school based stuff. But there was other
stuff on top of that too. Glad to leave it behind.

~Katherine


> One of the things Ray found, after about a year of deschooling, was
> that he didn't like school kids anymore, in part because of their
> sort of constant negativity. So most of his friends are adults or
> the odd homeschooler he meets. He met a few recently at a summer
> solstice event (okay, not all that recently, I guess!) and he's been
> keeping contact over the internet.
>
> ---Meredith (Mo 7, Ray 14)


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

freeedomm

> --- In [email protected], k <katherand@> wrote:
> >
> > There might be some negotiation you can do. I think this sounds
> pretty
> > unreal though. But it depends on the strength of your friendship.
>


Me: I really thought telling her I was okay with what ds was doing
would be her que to drop it. I hate speaking up, which is something I
have got to just step up and do if I am going to prevent people from
destroying my sons authentic self.

Jamie

Meredith

--- In [email protected], k <katherand@...> wrote:
>
> The kids that were bugging Karl were being homeschooled but had
gone to
> school for the most part

The homeschooled girl we used to play with is very active in her
church - so all her other friends are schooled and she's used to the
way they do school at church (twice a week). So her social behavior
is very "schooly".

> and though none of them could read that is what
> they were carrying on about with Karl... him not being able to
read.

That's just weird. It makes me wonder, though, the girl in question
doesn't have the strong local accent that all her friends have.
Maybe she's been teased about the way she talks and is passing the
behavior along? I'll hold onto that idea as a way to have more
empathy for the girl, anyway.

---Meredith (Mo 7, Ray 14)

lyeping2008

Hi Jamie,

I am very aware and consious of my son's differences and proud of
it. I believe we all have neeeds, some of us handle it better, so
don't. I always explained or inform beforehand of my son's
quirkiness/ needs. And because of my son, I am always aware and
understand and accept the reason why certain people act the way they
do, very differently to ours. For I believe there is always 2 sides
to a story.

Like your kid, my 8 yrs old son can have very good imagination. He
can go on blabbling away scripts from movies, and fall into a role
quite convincingly. It's called Creative Imagination, and it's
healthy for a child.

I think perhaps your friend is having issues of in-ability to
differentiate between a real cry of help or play-acting, an
uncomfortable feeling of losing a sense of control? She already said
it stresses her out. If we were to put your enthusiatic son in a
costume and on a stage, she won't be seeing it as crying wolf,
instead she'll quite happily and safely accept it as stage-play.

Option 1 - express your opinion. I do this if I feel I don't really
need that person's friendship that badly enough, because for me, in
all friendship, it's about give and take, and if I feel so and so is
not willing to make some compromisation, then I don't need sucha
friend. It will be too painful and detrimental to try to maintain a
lop-sided relationship.

You can tell her that in your OPINION, the issue is more with her
nerves (LOL) rather than your son. Acknowledge that she is effected
by your son's enthusiatic play-acting, but because it is your house
and your rules and you know enough to understand the concept of
crying wolf, and this, to your OPINION, is most definetely not.
Explained that she's hurting your feelings and your son's, by
challenging your assessment of the situation for surely you know
your son best, and by imposing HER limitation onto you guys, "it is
rather like teaching you how to parent your son?"

The downfall of this is she might refuse to accept your opinion of
this scenario (for nobody likes to be told they're wrong but she
has, in not many words, told you you're wrong to allow this!), and
will huff-of and not come back with her children. Or she might
surprised you and see the other side of her actions and learn to
trust you, and back-off. That's the word, "Trust". Why does she not
trust you when you're in your home and you said it's ok and
everything is fine?

Or.....

Option 2. If she's worth keeping, then You compromise.

You can talk to your son about acceoting HER needs and limitation,
if he wants to play with her kids. Hopefully he'll understand that
his acting is "just too good" (and someday he'll make a fine actor,)
and it sounds so convincing that everytime he cries for help, She
DOES think he is in danger and in pain, and this causes her un-
nessecary worries that she can't even enjoy her cup of tea. She is
afterall the guest. But if he says NO, he's not willing to
compromise, then I guessed you already have your answer - her kids
were obviously not that important enough for him to sacrifice his
play-acting.

I have took this route before many times, and it's help my son learn
to understand the side of the story, and he's learn to accomodate
other people's needs, for I cannot constantly go round and force
other people adapt to my son's needs. Not everyone is so
accomodating, and the last thing I want is for my son to think
he's "done something wrong" again just because some poeple is so
fixated with thier version of parenting! By talking to my son, he
has an opportunity to weigh the pros and cons of any social
situation and is in control of the decision whether to take the
relationship forward or not. Sometimes he's very sure of Not, but
othertimes, he'll say "let's give it a try and see what happens".

As for those baby talks. You're kid's only 5, what does this other
lady expect? A presentation?!!? My kid's 8 already, and he STILL
baby talks with me. It's called bonding, and me and my son's bond is
very STRONG!

Jamie, be confident about your child's differences and innocence.
Learn to di-resgard what other people remark or say- "one ear in,
one ear out" as the saying goes. It's just a negative reflection of
thier "flawed and trained mind", of which, when reflected onto us,
it shows how far down the positive route we are on by unschooling
our kids. Everytime someone makes a negative remark to you, be
grateful and thankful that you are free from such negative thoughts,
free from such constraints and pains of rules following, and is
living your lives as freely as you want it to be.

Or....

You may want to fight back such "barb" by offer your OPINION!! Go
on, the next time that lady make the baby talk remark again, just
casually remark that that you enjoy your son's baby talks and you're
fine with it. But out of curiosity, ask her what makes she thinks
it's un-acceptable for a 5 yrs old to be baby-talking? Infact, how
should he be talking?

When you keep an open mind, you will find it's because they
remembered being told off for not "talking " properly when they are
young! What a sad thing isn't it? That these people never really had
parents like us, who respect our kids for what they are and
celebrate them for who they are. You have to symphatise with them,
for we too, understood that pain of growing up with loads of un-
neccessary pressure of un-met expectations placed on us to.

We're the lucky ones, for we seeked, and found our way out!

Hope this helps.


HUgs,
SharonBugs.



--- In [email protected], "freeedomm"
<insanity09@...> wrote:
>
> Hi I am Jamie, I have been lurking since spring. I have 2
children
> ages 5 and 2. We have been RU (thanks to advice from this group)
> since June, I have been unschooling for about a year (I am not
really
> sure.)
>
> I know this must have been discussed before, but I can't seem to
find
> it in the older messages.
> Twice this week my a parent has mentioned my son's "behavior"
First
> was yelling for help as a part of imaginary play. I spoke up and
> explained that he was just playing a game and his sister and I
play
> with him. She still kept insisting that it was like the
boy "crying
> wolf" and stated that it was upsetting her. Finally I asked my
son
> to stop saying help because it was distressing the other woman.
>
> The other situation was with a woman commenting on his "baby talk"
> which he uses sometimes (he is the five year old.) She asked him
why
> he was using baby talk? When I told her I was okay with it, she
still
> made a comment to him about not using baby talk when she comes
over
> to visit.
>
> How do you deal with this? These situations upset my son. He
loves
> to play with the other children. I have not been able to find
like
> minded people where we live. I do not want my son to feel social
> pressure to fit their little boxes as to how little children
should
> behave.
>
> How do you stop people from going there with your child? I wish
these
> were the only two incidents but they are not!
>
>
>
> Jamie
>

k

I can't remember who said this earlier in something I read today somewhere
online. If we have some way of reacting that is a rebuttal, where before it
was an acquiescence of ours during childhood, then there is a middle ground
(after processing our feelings and needs) that is neither rebuttal nor
acquiescence but a synthesis, an understanding of how we really feel and
what we really want. Not just a reaction.

~Katherine



On 9/7/08, freeedomm <insanity09@...> wrote:
>
>
> > --- In [email protected]<unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>,
> k <katherand@> wrote:
> > >
> > > There might be some negotiation you can do. I think this sounds
> > pretty
> > > unreal though. But it depends on the strength of your friendship.
> >
>
> Me: I really thought telling her I was okay with what ds was doing
> would be her que to drop it. I hate speaking up, which is something I
> have got to just step up and do if I am going to prevent people from
> destroying my sons authentic self.
>
> Jamie
>
>
>


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

Kim Zerbe

My cousin's nanny told my son, who was playing on a big rock outside in the
backyard, to come inside and put his shoes on! (What?!) She also mentioned
that he should really not even be on the rock. He just looked at her like
she was crazy. I was doing dished but looked out the window and told her (as
I moved to be near the door so he could her me) that he was fine. He plays
barefoot at home all the time, plus I trust him on the rock because he is
always careful and has excellent balance. It's actually easier to feel the
rock that way. (Like what else is the rock even doing there if not to play
on?!) I think she thought I was crazy, said she was just trying to help. I
thought it was important for my son to hear some praise (if he was even
listening) and know that I had his back! ;)

Kim Zerbe
in Oregon

This email was sent on 100% recycled electrons.


_____

From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of freeedomm
Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2008 9:56 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Dealing with "other" parents




> --- In unschoolingbasics@ <mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com, k <katherand@> wrote:
> >
> > There might be some negotiation you can do. I think this sounds
> pretty
> > unreal though. But it depends on the strength of your friendship.
>

Me: I really thought telling her I was okay with what ds was doing
would be her que to drop it. I hate speaking up, which is something I
have got to just step up and do if I am going to prevent people from
destroying my sons authentic self.

Jamie






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

Tammy Curry

My son loves going "footsie" instead of with shoes. Actually he prefers to go around in his birthday suit, but is wearing clothes to go outside. My daughter was the same way, actually she probably still would except that she is maturing and getting used to her body's new look and is a bit embarrassed about some of the changes going on.

In our old neighborhood we had some parents complain about my son's lack of modesty. Typically I just smile at other parents and tell them that they know what's best for their children and I know what's best for mine.

Tammy C.



----- Original Message ----
From: Kim Zerbe <kim.zerbe@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, September 9, 2008 1:35:12 AM
Subject: RE: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Dealing with "other" parents


My cousin's nanny told my son, who was playing on a big rock outside in the
backyard, to come inside and put his shoes on! (What?!) She also mentioned
that he should really not even be on the rock. He just looked at her like
she was crazy. I was doing dished but looked out the window and told her (as
I moved to be near the door so he could her me) that he was fine. He plays
barefoot at home all the time, plus I trust him on the rock because he is
always careful and has excellent balance. It's actually easier to feel the
rock that way. (Like what else is the rock even doing there if not to play
on?!) I think she thought I was crazy, said she was just trying to help. I
thought it was important for my son to hear some praise (if he was even
listening) and know that I had his back! ;)

Kim Zerbe
in Oregon

This email was sent on 100% recycled electrons.


_____

From: unschoolingbasics@ yahoogroups. com
[mailto:unschoolingbasics@ yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of freeedomm
Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2008 9:56 AM
To: unschoolingbasics@ yahoogroups. com
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Dealing with "other" parents

> --- In unschoolingbasics@ <mailto:unschooling basics%40yahoogr oups.com>
yahoogroups. com, k <katherand@> wrote:
> >
> > There might be some negotiation you can do. I think this sounds
> pretty
> > unreal though. But it depends on the strength of your friendship.
>

Me: I really thought telling her I was okay with what ds was doing
would be her que to drop it. I hate speaking up, which is something I
have got to just step up and do if I am going to prevent people from
destroying my sons authentic self.

Jamie

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






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

lyeping2008

Hi Tammy,

When climbing around, my child prefers no shoes too. and me too.
It's so hard to climb and balance on anything with chunky shoes on!
You just can't grip and balance yourself out. I can't understand the
logic of it!

Smiles,
SharonBugs.


--- In [email protected], Tammy Curry
<mamabeart00@...> wrote:
>
> My son loves going "footsie" instead of with shoes. Actually he
prefers to go around in his birthday suit, but is wearing clothes to
go outside. My daughter was the same way, actually she probably
still would except that she is maturing and getting used to her
body's new look and is a bit embarrassed about some of the changes
going on.
>
> In our old neighborhood we had some parents complain about my
son's lack of modesty. Typically I just smile at other parents and
tell them that they know what's best for their children and I know
what's best for mine.
>
> Tammy C.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Kim Zerbe <kim.zerbe@...>
> To: [email protected]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 9, 2008 1:35:12 AM
> Subject: RE: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Dealing with "other" parents
>
>
> My cousin's nanny told my son, who was playing on a big rock
outside in the
> backyard, to come inside and put his shoes on! (What?!) She also
mentioned
> that he should really not even be on the rock. He just looked at
her like
> she was crazy. I was doing dished but looked out the window and
told her (as
> I moved to be near the door so he could her me) that he was fine.
He plays
> barefoot at home all the time, plus I trust him on the rock
because he is
> always careful and has excellent balance. It's actually easier to
feel the
> rock that way. (Like what else is the rock even doing there if not
to play
> on?!) I think she thought I was crazy, said she was just trying to
help. I
> thought it was important for my son to hear some praise (if he was
even
> listening) and know that I had his back! ;)
>
> Kim Zerbe
> in Oregon
>
> This email was sent on 100% recycled electrons.
>
>
> _____
>
> From: unschoolingbasics@ yahoogroups. com
> [mailto:unschoolingbasics@ yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of freeedomm
> Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2008 9:56 AM
> To: unschoolingbasics@ yahoogroups. com
> Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Dealing with "other" parents
>
> > --- In unschoolingbasics@ <mailto:unschooling basics%40yahoogr
oups.com>
> yahoogroups. com, k <katherand@> wrote:
> > >
> > > There might be some negotiation you can do. I think this
sounds
> > pretty
> > > unreal though. But it depends on the strength of your
friendship.
> >
>
> Me: I really thought telling her I was okay with what ds was doing
> would be her que to drop it. I hate speaking up, which is
something I
> have got to just step up and do if I am going to prevent people
from
> destroying my sons authentic self.
>
> Jamie
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

amberlee_b

Thanks for sharing this! I love to be barefoot and so does my eldest, now. He used to
hate it! He wore his shoes all the time. I tried not to say anything about it, but my mom
would mention it sometimes....but mostly because my other son wanted to be barefoot all
the time and mom thought it was crazy. I used to joke I did that all the time. She of
course would point out all the things that got stuck in the bottom of my feet....but I loved
it anyway.

--- In [email protected], "Kim Zerbe" <kim.zerbe@...> wrote:
>
> My cousin's nanny told my son, who was playing on a big rock outside in the
> backyard, to come inside and put his shoes on! (What?!) She also mentioned
> that he should really not even be on the rock. He just looked at her like
> she was crazy. I was doing dished but looked out the window and told her (as
> I moved to be near the door so he could her me) that he was fine. He plays
> barefoot at home all the time, plus I trust him on the rock because he is
> always careful and has excellent balance. It's actually easier to feel the
> rock that way. (Like what else is the rock even doing there if not to play
> on?!) I think she thought I was crazy, said she was just trying to help. I
> thought it was important for my son to hear some praise (if he was even
> listening) and know that I had his back! ;)
>
> Kim Zerbe
> in Oregon
>
> This email was sent on 100% recycled electrons.
>
>
> _____
>

k

I used to think nothing of walking on gravel or getting thorns in my feet.
I was a skinny bit of nothing as a kid and nothing goes in very far without
much weight on it. Now that I'm heavier, I'm not as brave about it. ;)

~Katherine



On 9/9/08, amberlee_b <amberlee16@...> wrote:
>
> Thanks for sharing this! I love to be barefoot and so does my eldest,
> now. He used to
> hate it! He wore his shoes all the time. I tried not to say anything about
> it, but my mom
> would mention it sometimes....but mostly because my other son wanted to be
> barefoot all
> the time and mom thought it was crazy. I used to joke I did that all the
> time. She of
> course would point out all the things that got stuck in the bottom of my
> feet....but I loved
> it anyway.
>
> --- In [email protected]<unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>,
> "Kim Zerbe" <kim.zerbe@...> wrote:
> >
> > My cousin's nanny told my son, who was playing on a big rock outside in
> the
> > backyard, to come inside and put his shoes on! (What?!) She also
> mentioned
> > that he should really not even be on the rock. He just looked at her like
> > she was crazy. I was doing dished but looked out the window and told her
> (as
> > I moved to be near the door so he could her me) that he was fine. He
> plays
> > barefoot at home all the time, plus I trust him on the rock because he is
> > always careful and has excellent balance. It's actually easier to feel
> the
> > rock that way. (Like what else is the rock even doing there if not to
> play
> > on?!) I think she thought I was crazy, said she was just trying to help.
> I
> > thought it was important for my son to hear some praise (if he was even
> > listening) and know that I had his back! ;)
> >
> > Kim Zerbe
> > in Oregon
> >
> > This email was sent on 100% recycled electrons.
> >
> >
> > _____
> >
>
>
>


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