After placing more thought into this new ‘project’, I will be just posting whatever and whenever it comes to me. There might end up being a method/form to it or it might be just as scatterbrained as I am! The only thing that I know for sure is that I will probably keep posts to one, maybe two, per month. My only apology for this month is that I don’t have pictures to share

This post is for Ren’s August Blog Carnival.

A Day in the Life of a Radical Unschooling Family – August 4th, 2008.

Today I was greeted by the Sunshine streaming in and Elijah standing in our bedroom doorway with an odd/goofy expression on his face. It’s 11:30 am and it’s morning around here. I’m up to feed the cats, make breakfast, pack lunch for hubby (who will be off to work shortly) and leave Elijah snuggling in bed with Daddy.

Halfway through breakfast being done…

E: I’m starving. Aren’t you going to feed me?
M: Um, I think you are capable of feeding yourself, but I am making food for you to eat.
E: What’s on my plate? (looking slightly suspicious of the harsh brown on his plate — first one he’s ever eaten!)
M: It’s a hash brown…a fried potato cake or patty thing.
E: I love potatoes…and apples and kiwis and…tofu scrambler again?
M: Would you prefer something else?
E: No, this will fill my tummy

After food is consumed and Daddy is hugged off to work, we settle in at the computer for about 2 hours and play various online computer games. Today we were big on puzzle type games where you had to move things in the right order to make the right things happen and so on.

There was more food to be had…always learning…always moving…always hungry!

I checked emails and read over some unschooling discussion forums in my office, while Elijah built various obstacle courses with his Kapla blocks and wooden marble run blocks across the hall in his room. I could also hear him playing with his Leapster some. I was done once Elijah came and announced that he wanted to see the Sun!

We chugged a bottle of water together and ran around the front yard and played various games with a couple balls. We examined how many tomatoes were growing on our plants in the front and ate some broccoli right off the stalk! We talked about why our grass was turning brown and what we could or could not do about it. We reexamined the squirrel nest that had been blown/fallen out of one of our White Pine trees last week. Elijah was fascinated that squirrels would use plastic bags for nesting material. We were thirsty again and decided to go back inside.

Elijah needed a snack and I was hungry too…

E: I want another hash brown.
M: Oh, no. We ate the last ones during breakfast.
E: Why didn’t you buy more…you knew I’d LOVE them!
M: I’m not sure. Do you know what you want instead?
E: I still want potatoes.
M: I have some waffle cut fries I can bake for you.
E: Sure.
M: You know what you want with them?
E: …just surprise me.

We looked up the unschooling conference cruise for next year again and Elijah wanted to watch the video again! He’s totally enamored by the idea that there’s going to be a never ending spread of fruit 24/7! I think he cares more about the fruit than the idea of getting to meet and run free with other free kids and their families. We also played a couple more online games.

Around 8:30 pm I decided that doing that load of laundry was a good idea. Elijah wanted to watch the Thomas The Tank Engine movie while I did laundry and made dinner. I brought him something to eat about 1/2 an hour through the movie, which made him extremely happy. I got laundry done and food cooked and eaten.

After the movie was over, Elijah went back to alternating between tweaking the things he built earlier and playing his Leapster. I wrote in my journal and wrote some more for my book. I read a few blogs and by this time Elijah was asking me to read the next chapter in Wind in the Willows to him.

Daddy came home from work around midnight and he was hugged and sent to bed — not to sleep; he’s still up working away on music or reading blogs right now at almost 2:30 am! I read to Elijah and he was asleep by 12:30am.

Well,  I guess that’s a pretty ‘normal’ day. We didn’t do anything really fun or exciting, but that will happen tomorrow when we go by the community garden and check out the reopening of our favorite coffeeshop…hope it ends up still being our favorite!