Lonnie’s Recent Tests
This will be a “flash post” of sorts — I’ve got a ton to do today but wanted to give an update on Lonnie.
He got a call yesterday from his oncologist, who informed him that his “bad” proteins were the highest they’d been since he was diagnosed. Other proteins they look for in the labwork were high, as well. By way of explanation, high levels of certain proteins usually signifies that the cancer is getting more active. There are no plans for treatment yet — he’ll be going in for his next lab tests in April (a month sooner than usual). If the numbers remain high or continue to rise, his doctor may suggest the next course of action, or refer him back to Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.
If you’re new to this blog, you may not know that Lonnie was diagnosed in early March of 2006 with Multiple Myeloma. He received the call with this news the day before Bethany turned three weeks old.
You can learn more about Multiple Myeloma by going here: MultipleMyeloma.org.
Prayers for Lonnie would be appreciated!
Sometimes it’s Okay to Quit
I have never let my schooling interfere
with my education.
~ Mark Twain
From childhood, we are told it’s a sign of weakness to be quitters. Admittedly, there are plenty of things that are bad to quit without good reason…such as marriage and jobs.
And college.
(Some people even decide to quit living…and that never turns out well.)
“Once you start something, finish it!” We’ve all heard that noble saying. But the mistake lies in making that statement all-inclusive, because sometimes it is okay to quit.
Last summer, we “quit” homeschooling in favor of online public schooling. The boys’ school, Insight School of WA, despite its glitches, has been working out pretty well. Not so with Erica’s school. The number of hoops (a.k.a., busywork) that Washington Virtual Academy (WAVA) wants parents to jump through as ”learning coaches” is over the top. I won’t go into it all here (let’s just say I had less work when I was homeschooling her)…but I made my concerns known to Erica’s teacher (who was really wonderful), and maybe WAVA will eventually get a clue. Hopefully before enrollment starts dropping astronomically.
Don’t get me wrong–WAVA is a good school, and many families are happy with it. WAVA uses the K12 curriculum, which is one of the best around (I was very happy with their representation of Jesus and Christianity in Erica’s world history course). It just wasn’t a good fit for us. For something that was supposed to make things easier around here, it actually became a camel on our backs.
And, so, we find ourselves…once again…quitting. But it’s a good thing, this quitting. You see, my gut instinct originally was to keep homeschooling Erica through junior high, so this is a confirmation that I should have stayed on that path.
But sometimes you just don’t realize how well something’s working until you give it up.
Nevertheless, I’ve appreciated this whole experience. Why? Because it’s made me so grateful for educational choice. I will never, ever tell someone that they must give their child a certain kind of education, whether it’s public, private, charter, alternative, homeschooling, or online. There shouldn’t be just one way. We started out as private schoolers (with Joel in preschool) who became homeschoolers who later had the choice to switch to online public schooling. I so appreciate that I was still able to keep my kids at home, but was able to let go of the burden of doing the teaching (with the exception of WAVA). I wasn’t forced to put them in a brick-and-mortar school.
So, I guess you could say we’re a “mixed-education” family! I will always fight for the right of people to homeschool their kids, but even more, I will champion their right to choose their desired form of education. There is no one form of education that is right for everyone.
If your child isn’t thriving in school (wherever/whatever that school might be), it’s okay to take a look at other options. Don’t worry about what your friends and extended family think. (If, for example, you decide to quit homeschooling against “their” wishes, are “they” going to run right over and teach your kids?? I think not!) The important thing is to do what’s right for your family, even if that includes quitting.
Just don’t forget to start again on a better path. 
It’s a New Year!
I’ve really neglected this blog, so to bring it up to speed, I’m going to make this a quick ”bullet point post.”
- Lonnie’s still “stable” — he goes in for his regular testing tomorrow (blood, etc.). He’s been doing some travelling, and I’m worried that the stress of his job and the sales trips might wear him down. He’s a strong guy, though.
- I’m having fun learning a few different things all at once: copywriting, html, css, and JavaScript. I’m also in the process of figuring out how to switch one of my websites, http://www.homeschoolinganyway.com, over to a WordPress.org blog.
- I have a private label rights (PLR) article site. Still writing articles and trying to really get it off the ground. I have made several sales already, so that’s encouraging.
- The kids are doing well in their online schools. It’s such a new thing, so there are some frustrations, such as not having face-t0-face contact with their teachers, and confusion over how their points are tallied (and how those points affect their grades). They do like that they still have the freedom, time-wise, that they had when homeschooling.
- Bethany is almost potty trained. She now mostly shuns her little potty for the big one, and hasn’t fallen in yet. She still does her #2 business in her pull-ups…so that’s the final potty training hurdle that we need to get over. She’s growing up…can’t stop it, I guess. Sometimes her face still has that “baby look” — and I hope she doesn’t lose that too soon. She’ll be three on Valentine’s Day. Decorating for her parties is always easy (hearts!).
- Lonnie and the boys are watching the Super Bowl. Rooting for Kurt Warner and the Cardinals, of course. (Duh!) Rooting for the Steelers (ahem…Stealers…) is not an option in this house.
- We’re hoping to turn our garage into a couple of bedrooms this summer. This house is getting just too small for all of us. It would be nice to move to something bigger, but…well, we’ll see.
- Kiki is still kicking. She’s our old lady cat who’ll be 18 this spring. Old as she is, she has some trouble eating hard food, but loves getting her little bowl of milk and her canned food. Chico, our 4 year-old cat, likes to chase her around the living room, and it’s probably those daily rumbles that’s keeping her young.
