Joni Zander

Oh! I'm SO GLAD someone else on this list saw that show! I thought it
was going to be completely awful, but I found it to be wonderful
because of the fun mom. I kept thinking of this list as I watched the
show - it was like they were talking about 6+ hours a day curriculum vs
radical unschooling only it was more about housekeeping and parenting.

And you know, I don't really blame her for telling Perfectionist that
she hated her. She was doing great until she found out that
Perfectionist had sent 22 of their family members away! That was such
a hateful thing to do.

Interesting, it didn't change the Fun family one bit (well, they do now
eat together sometimes), but really help the Perfectionist family by
leaps and bounds. I think participating in that show was the best
thing the Perfectionist family ever did for themselves! (I learned a
thing or two, also!)

It just reinforces what I'm learning here amongst all of this WISDOM!!
You all are so amazing!


Joni Zander
FotoCEO@...
Check out my website for great ideas, events, and current product:
www.creativememories.com/jonizander

On Sep 27, 2004, at 10:52 AM, [email protected]
wrote:

> There was a horribly named show in ABC last night, called "Wife
> Swap". It
> was on after Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which always moves me to
> tears,
> so I watch it. I thought I would search for something else when Wife
> Swap
> came on, but they pulled me in. It's where two families switch
> mothers for a
> couple of weeks to see what happens.
>
> The one mom was the perfectionist mother who cleaned her house for 5
> hours
> EVERY day. The other mom, well, she was absolutely GREAT, until she
> lost it
> at the end and said she hated the other mom. I kept expecting her to
> say that
> her kids don't go to school, that they're unschoolers. I couldn't
> tell what
> the school situation was, though. She didn't clean, she didn't cook
> (the
> dad it all). She let her kids do whatever they wanted and they had
> fun with
> her and there were always extra kids there, playing guitar and
> everything else.
> They also had 25 pets, including groundhogs and a kangaroo and birds
> and
> cats and lots of other things. Most of the pets had the run of the
> house, and
> so you can imagine.
>
> Some of the comments that the teenage boys made were VERY telling, and
> it
> was such an example of respectful parenting (on the one unschooly-ish
> mom's
> part).
>
> The teenager from the perfectionist's mom kept saying, "We never
> talk." "We
> spend time alone in seperate parts of the house." The woman had put
> lists
> all over the house about what the other mom was supposed to do
> (including
> cleaning the house 5 hours a day), and this boy had written on the
> list on his
> door "Get me a cute kitten." So, of course, the other mom went right
> out and
> got the boy a cat!
>
> The fun mom's teenager said, "You made all these changes without
> consulting
> me. I'm not fine with this." And, "These animals are part of our
> family.
> You can't get rid of them."
>
> All the perfectionist mom did for the other family is clean the house
> AND
> she got them a dining table so they could have dinner together.
> (Besides
> putting 22 of the pets with a sitter for a couple of weeks, without
> asking.) She
> insulted the father and told him he wasn't a parent, but a "friend"
> to their
> kids. She made him put the 2 yo to bed at 8:00 p.m., and of course
> she
> wasn't sleepy and cried her eyes out. To his credit he let her out
> of the bed and
> that didn't happen again.
>
> By the end of the show, the uptight family was having food fights in
> the
> kitchen with the fun mom, and the dad, who had been required to play
> his jazz
> guitar with headphones on because his wife always insisted on quiet,
> got up in a
> restuarant and played his guitar with the band.
>
> That woman was SUCH a great influence on the uptight family. If she's
> not
> an unschooler, she should be.
>
> Karen
>

Sondra Carr

After reading this, all I could think was "I wonder what happened that night
when the husbands and wives reunited. I would watch THAT as a reality show.

Interesting stuff.





*
> There was a horribly named show in ABC last night, called "Wife
> Swap". It
> was on after Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which always moves me to
> tears,
> so I watch it. I thought I would search for something else when Wife
> Swap
> came on, but they pulled me in. It's where two families switch
> mothers for a
> couple of weeks to see what happens.
>
> The one mom was the perfectionist mother who cleaned her house for 5
> hours
> EVERY day. The other mom, well, she was absolutely GREAT, until she
ct to the Yahoo! Terms of <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> Service.



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Dawn Adams

Joni writes:
>Oh! I'm SO GLAD someone else on this list saw that show! I thought it
>was going to be completely awful, but I found it to be wonderful
>because of the fun mom. I kept thinking of this list as I watched the
>show - it was like they were talking about 6+ hours a day curriculum vs
>radical unschooling only it was more about housekeeping and parenting.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I loved the fun mom. She did disapoint me on one count however. She got that vase with the Betta fish and the lily. They're sold on the gimmick that the lily with keep the water clean by using the nitrites the betta produces and the betta will blissfully nibble on the roots for food. But bettas are carnivores and so will likely barely survive or die. And... A plant that practically plugs the surface of the water does not allow for oxygen to travel through the water's surface into the water. A betta can live in water with very little oxygen because it can go to the surface and gulp air but not if the surface is blocked by roots. Nevermind the poor betta has barely any space (okay, my little guy is in a bowl but as soon as we get a big tank for the two goldfish, Rainbow will be in his glory in a 10 gallon tank) but he's living in a deathtrap. For a women with 25 animals, some exotics, I expected a little more research before purchasing a pet.
Anyhow, I'll get off my soapbox.

Poor little fish.

Dawn (in NS)







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[email protected]

In a message dated 9/28/2004 5:08:10 PM Eastern Standard Time,
Wishbone@... writes:

>>Poor little fish.

Dawn (in NS)<<
*************
Dawn, I didn't see the show, but I agree...

We have 3 tanks in our house, with one male betta in each tank...They are
very active when given the space!

Nancy B.







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kayb85

> I loved the fun mom. She did disapoint me on one count however.

I liked the fun mom too. I think maybe she could stand to cook for
her family a little bit more. Unless they exaggerated a lot it
seemed like she relied on her hubby a bit too much to prepare food.
But then again, they seemed happy with their routine.

The compulsive mom getting rid of the animals for the week didn't
upset me nearly as much as her making the 2 year old cry it out in
bed at her new bedctime of 8:00. At that point I felt like the dad
maybe should have put his foot down and said, "Game or no game, we
don't treat members of my family like that..."

Sheila

Dawn Adams

Nancy writes:
>We have 3 tanks in our house, with one male betta in each tank...They are
>very active when given the space!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
And have a ton of personality I bet! Rainbow always greets me in the morning with his "food's a comin'!!!" dance. :)
I was a little snobbish and didn't think they could have half the personality of a goldfish but you're right, given the chance to thrive, not just survive, they're really lovable little guys too.


Dawn (in NS)


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[email protected]

In a message dated 9/29/04 7:59:50 AM, Wishbone@... writes:

<< And have a ton of personality I bet! Rainbow always greets me in the
morning with his "food's a comin'!!!" dance. :) >>

At the Natural History Museum here in Albuquerque, in the kids' hands-on
room, there is a slimey tank in the middle with a lungfish. Poor guy is ugly
looking and boring, and his name is Kirby. He usually just sits there looking
like a prehistoric eel and we wonder if maybe that will be the day he will just
die of boredom with slime-water.

But the last time we were there, they fed him some snails. MY GOSH he
frolicked! He chomped and drooled snail stuff. He was joyous. He was ugly,
eel-looking and joyous.

Sandra

[email protected]

I agree. One one hand, I can understand the interest in the show, but I feel sad and even angry that real kids with real feelings are dragged through things like this for the sake of adult "games" and TV entertainment. After all, the adults are really the only consenting participants.
Tess
> The compulsive mom getting rid of the animals for the week didn't
> upset me nearly as much as her making the 2 year old cry it out in
> bed at her new bedctime of 8:00. At that point I felt like the dad
> maybe should have put his foot down and said, "Game or no game, we
> don't treat members of my family like that..."
>
> Sheila
>
>
>
>
> "List Posting Policies" are provided in the files area of this group.
>
> Visit the Unschooling website and message boards: http://www.unschooling.com
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

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Dawn Adams

Sandra writes:
>But the last time we were there, they fed him some snails. MY GOSH he
>frolicked! He chomped and drooled snail stuff. He was joyous. He was ugly,
>eel-looking and joyous.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

That made me smile. I'm really discovering I have a thing for fish (not in a Troy McLure sense mind you) and I loved the thought of that fish, full of joy.


Dawn (in NS)


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