Education has been on the back burner of my mind since Jonathan was just about 2 years old. Gabe and I both entered marriage with glorious dreams of homeschooling our children. Both of us were homeschooled and felt well prepared for further academics. With college degrees under our belts and (for me) an interest and calling to teaching (albeit older grades) we had a plan and thought the decision was made.

But the best laid plans don't always mesh with reality, and for the past 2-3 years I've wondered, and oscillated, and stressed, and cried, and worried about how to educate our kids. I'm not sure I'm any further toward a peace filled decision than when I started.

Jonathan is a passionate child, full of will and energy and action. He needs routine and structure to help him channel all that energy, but he also needs wide open space and time to explore and play and run. He loves people and would happily play with friends all day, every day, unless someone hurts his feelings (and that takes a lot of care to help him process). He and I have an often stressful relationship, and I wonder if having me as his teacher (as well as mother) would be too difficult for both of us. But would a teacher, with 20 other charges, be able to see him as anything other than a difficult and hyperactive little boy?

I read articles like this one and I think that I will never put my child in school. My best friend, a vocal proponent of public schools for all the years I was against them, decided this year to homeschool her oldest for many of the reasons outlined in the article: too much pressure and not enough play. I find it amusing that she and I have switched positions, but am happy to see that so far it seems to be working well for them.

And have I really switched positions? Not exactly, since I do still think that homeschooling can be wonderful. I'm just not sure about doing it myself, with my child. Will Jonathan enjoy doing "real school"? Or will it be an ongoing battle? And then there are all my personal fears, like how I can fit it into my already too-crowded days, and still give my small ones enough attention, and keep up with laundry and housework and getting dinner on the table?

There are so many options now, which is wonderful and terrifying at the same time. Would we use a Charlotte Mason approach, or Montessori, or go classical and teach them Latin? Math-U-See or Saxon or something else entirely? Printing or cursive and which of the myriad of styles? I swear that there are at least sixteen different methods to teach a child how to read. And where do art and music and science and languages fit in? Is it best to just pick a curriculum and follow directions, or should I try to put together a hand-selected mix (terror says follow a curriculum, guilt says hand-pick it all).

If I'm honest, I think that I don't want to do it. I'm afraid of the whole process - all the decisions, trying to fit it into our often overwhelming days, the potential for more conflict with Jonathan, the responsibility.

And yet, and yet...

When I think about sending him to school, after the initial relief of "someone else will take over", I run into all the worries about pressure and lack of playtime and not being allowed to be an energetic little boy because TESTING is so all-important.

And when we do spend time learning together I love it. Once past all the fear and the dithering and the stress of dirty floors and underwear, when we sit down and do it, it is wonderful.

So maybe I had it right in my early idealism. I'm quite sure I overlooked the realities of implementing it in the midst of real life with children, but maybe my job now is to figure out a way to pull it off anyway.

I could really use some writing on the wall this coming year.

Every year in December this version of the 12 Days of Christmas gets passed around the internet a lot, and for good reason! It is fun! Straight No Chaser started as a college a capella group and ended up going professional. They re-recorded the original 12 Days hit ten years after the first one. Here they both are: which do you like best?

The original (1998)


Re-done (2008)

Amazon rolled out an interesting promotion this month: they offered a free trial of Amazon Prime to anyone and everyone for the duration of December. Amazon Prime, which usually costs $79 a year, gives you free 2 day shipping on all purchases. For the December deal they didn't even attach strings, as such promotions usually do; they gave you an easy option at sign up to choose not to continue as a paying customer in January.

Interesting.

I signed up. Why not? But then I proceeded to surprise myself by how very much I did end up shopping at Amazon. Yes, it is the Christmas buying season, but I had finished nearly all my gift purchases so I did not expect this.

Take a look:

December 4th - a book about St. Nicholas
December 8th - sippy cups
December 9th - dvd/coloring book set for kids
December 10th - rain boots for Jonathan

The fact of the matter is that when I know that I'm not going to be paying for shipping, my first place to buy is Amazon. St. Nicholas' day is coming up - get a book on Amazon! Need sippy cups? Don't bother going to Target, just get them on Amazon. Find a great deal on something you had no intention of purchasing before you saw it? It would be fun and there's no extra shipping charge, so why not? I think you get the picture.

Because the shipping is free (and I don't even have to hit a $25 minimum order amount) I found myself buying things on the spot as I remembered needing (or wanting!) them. Shipping fees have always been a built in "slow down" factor for me (after all, who wants to pay $6 shipping on a $4 item?) and once removed I found that I had much less incentive to slow down and think twice about my purchases at all!

What I think is fascinating is that I, who am so very budget conscious and always looking for a good deal, reacted this way. So I can only imagine that many, many others did so as well, probably to the tune of many more dollars than I did. I'm sure that this is exactly what Amazon is betting on. And I wonder if it will work for them. I also wonder if it will work well enough for them to try it on an ongoing basis.

They have to cover their costs, of course, which might mean raising their prices a bit more. But what if the sippy cups cost $8.99 at Amazon, and $7.99 at Target? I'd buy at Amazon in a heartbeat! Paying an extra dollar on an item to skip the extra trip out would be absolutely worth it.

I don't know anything about the ins and outs of running a large scale business like Amazon. But given my own reaction to this promotion, and assuming that there have to be lots of others like me, I have to wonder if it might be just a little bit brilliant.

Dr. John Mark Reynolds has written a really powerful essay on Anna and her role in the Christmas story. Who is Anna, you may ask? (I couldn't remember right away, either.) But I don't think I'll forget her now, and I hope that I won't forget what she teaches us. Go, read.

I made banana bread today, and learned something in the process.

Baking soda is important.

And one more thing from the Thrifty Mama - she's giving away two $25 Amazon gift cards. All you have to do is go leave a comment on her post. Although I do highly recommend browsing her site, because she is really good at posting deals.

If you have a Vons card, go here right now to add an e-coupon for a free box of clementines to your card. Because it will be pre-loaded to your card, it should come off automatically at checkout.

The coupon is limited to the first 25,000 people who put it on their card, and the coupon is only available to use TODAY. Also, a minimum purchase of $25 is required.

Thanks to Crystal, The Thrifty Mama (and one ofy very favorite thrifty bloggers) for pointing out this deal!