So, at the end of last "school year" I had made up my mind to be done dealing with people who just want to bitch. I will say it has worked pretty well, and that chapter of my life seems to be over. I will say that it was trial by fire, and I feel that I learned a lot and am much stronger now...
As for my great relaxing summer... well, that didn't exactly happen. Bear got asked again to be on team at her gym, and this time she was begging me to let her. I was so excited when Q-bert decided to quit competitive dance that I almost cried at the prospect of another competitive sport. Still, I couldn't crush her little dreams, and so we spent the summer at the gym. She was on the pre-team so she only had to practice 10 hours per week spread over 3 days. Yeah, I said only. As you move up through the levels the girls practice more and more; eventually, they practice for over 20 hours a week!
She loves it, and although I thought it was an awfully big time commitment, Bear was begging for more. She spent her free time doing flips on our trampoline and practicing her vault on my couch. Towards the end of the summer they decided to move her up. This was a great honor, but since we were expecting her to be on pre-team for a whole year I was thrown for a loop. Now she will be competing this year! Once again she is pleased as punch, and I am being supportive. I am really so proud of her!!!
As I mentioned earlier, Q-bert decided competitive dance is not for her (at least not right now). She is the least competitive person I know, and the past two years have nearly killed her love of dance. Luckily I think she can get that love back. We have switched to a new studio because she needed a fresh start, and I think it will be just what she needs. She has been working on choreographing a lyrical dance, and I must say it is beautiful. When it is finished we plan to help her find opportunities to perform it. She is also taking theater again this year which she is so excited about. She took it once, but her dance schedule prohibited her from ever taking it again until now. She will have several of her best friends in the class with her too. Her last activity will be at the library. They are hosting something called "Tween Scene". It is programming specifically designed for her age group. They will alternate between gaming (which she isn't sure she wants to do), crafts, writing workshops, and book club. I am not sure if she is going to like it because her favorite librarian left, but she is ready to try it.
That leaves our homeschool group...
I am not sure you would call what we have a "group". It is more of a collection of somewhat like-minded individuals who get together sometimes. Is that vague enough? My plan is to schedule some type of field trip every week, and anyone who wants to come is welcome. We are also bringing in an art teacher, a dance teacher, and possibly a Spanish teacher once a month. I am going to run a book club for the older kids too. The cool thing is that everything is ala carte. The group will not be an all or nothing endeavor. You want to come on a field trip; great, join us. Art isn't your thing; no problem, we'll see you at book club. I think that one of the problems last was that we tried to make sure every opportunity was open and enticing to every person. This year, if you want to do something, plan it and invite the rest of us. Those who want to do it will; those who don't want to won't. We don't have to do everything as a giant mass of people. At least that is my theory. We will see how it goes.
So that is where we are at. As I say every fall, my plan is to blog more regularly. I even made it look pretty to entice myself. Once again, we will see how it goes.
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