Why did the Student Cross the Road?

I don't know, but they didn't look both ways.

I did some work today on the campus of a local university.  There were lots of pedestrians, of course.  I'm not a pedestrian.  I live near nothing.  In my neck of the woods, I have to drive to get everywhere.  Not out of laziness.  I wish I could save some gas and money just by walking to get places, but most places are miles and miles away.  Even if it's not too far, the speed limit is 55 and these drivers are dangerous.

I've gone off topic again.  That's always a problem here.  I was talking about pedestrians at a local university, right?  I can't begin to tell you how many of them just walk out into traffic without even looking in either direction.  Texting while crossing the street.  Reading while crossing the street.  Looking behind while crossing the street.  I understand that it's a pedestrian friendly area, but really?  I still always look for a crosswalk and MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO CARS.  I remember discussing safety the first week of kindergarten.  You look both ways before you cross the street.  It should be common sense.  Are there no requirements to get into college?

The Classics

I'm a Nintendo fan.  Not the new stuff.  NES.  25+ years after the original release, it's still my favorite game console.  Then again, I've never personally owned a newer console.  I've played consoles belonging to my friends and I've played my husband's PS2 before his accident, but they were never as appealing to me as good old NES games.  We recently bought our first flat panel TV, and after a three year hiatus, there is nothing like Mario 3 on the big screen in HD.  Well, The Legend of Zelda.

I'm introducing the world of Mario and Luigi to the children before allowing Wii into their lives.  My husband has long been a proponent of the hand-eye coordination school of thought.  I believe we're teaching the kids important problem solving skills and allowing creative thought never allowed by 3-D gaming.

We limit screen time, of course.  I don't want Kaiya to start thinking she's earned star power and is now somehow indestructible.  I don't want Ronin to jump on Tanith like he's Luigi and she's a Goomba.  For now, he's content to hold a disconnected dogbone controller and yell at the TV.
Below: gratuitous picture of the baby, just 'cause she's cute.

Secret Identities

Ronin has started telling people his name is Peter Parker.  He still spells his name R-O-N-I-N, or "Awwah-O-Enn-Oi-Enn" but he wears a Spider-Man, Venom, Transformers, or Captain America costume most of the time.  When people ask his name, he informs them, "It's Peter Parker, actually."  When I make his name tag, he tells me to make sure I put Peter Parker on the tag so no one knows his secret identity.

We went shopping the other day, and Ronin wore his usual Spider-Man costume, complete with mask.  We were making our potty run mid-trip, and a girl about his age exclaimed, "Look!  It's Spider-Man!" to which he replied, "How does she know my name?"  It was followed by an evil stare in her direction.

If you had a secret identity, what would it be?

Homeschool rant #1

This will be the first of a long series of homeschool rants.

Why do people feel the need to weigh in on homeschool's effect on the social development of my children?  Maybe I think your child is an insufferable brat, but I keep my mouth shut.  I don't blame public school for their faults. 

Sure, my oldest child is shy.  Kaiya has always been shy, but she's started to overcome it since she left kindergarten.  She approaches other children and plays with them now.  She's not being forced to socialize with rabid little beasts who seem to have been raised by wolves and then left outside to catch the bus.

Ronin's only four, so not of schooling age yet, but people still blame homeschool for his tendencies.  He seems to be acting a lot like a four year old boy at the moment.  Ronin learns best when he's not sitting still.  Last year, I was attempting to teach Kaiya to tell time, I showed her a clock and asked for the time.  He breezed by on his way to the playroom and yelled over his shoulder that it was "tooelf o'cwock".  What the crap, man?  He was 3 and I hadn't even worked on numbers past 10 with him at that point.  He's the type of child who simply cannot sit still and learn.

I went to public school.  What's my excuse for being socially awkward?

Little kids with glasses can be so cute. . .

Until you find out that your kid is next.  Not the gentle, easygoing child.  Ronin.  He's a four year old little wild thing.  I don't know how we're going to keep them on that noggin of his.

I've always been that parent who takes each baby for an eye exam before their first birthday, then every 1-2 years after.  I was the kid who couldn't see until I was 8.  In January, during his yearly physical, his vision was bad enough to make the pediatrician tell me I would need a referral.  Since we are using Medicaid and it's been less than a year since the last proper eye exam, we were told it would be a bit of paperwork.

A bit of paperwork would be fine.  I called the insurance office and asked what would be needed.  I was told to go to the optometrist and have them do the paperwork.  I stopped by and they'd never heard of the paperwork.  They called my insurance and were told to have me contact the pediatrician and have them do the referral.  After several attempts at phone calls, I stopped in and was told that they'd never heard of how to do that either.   One nurse said she would call Medicaid and see what was needed.  She called me back and gave me a number to call.  When I called, I was told that patients weren't allowed to call that line.  Guess what?  I called.  I was then told that I would need to have my optometrist do the referral.  What the crap, man?  I called the optometrist and relayed this information and they told me I could come in the following Monday.

When I went in yesterday, I was told that Medicaid was only allowing a "medical" visit, so they wouldn't cover the actual vision test.  Fine, I'll pay out of pocket.  My kid's been complaining of headaches for 2 months now and it's because of his vision.

The actual exam was fun.  A few quotes:
"I can't see the weddahs because of your big fat fingas."
"I don't wike diss wine of weddahs.  Wess wead the big ones.  That's E."
"I don't know that weddah.  I know the big ones."
"I can't see it now, but I can see that weddah if I scrunch my nose and make my cute face.  See my cute face?"
"Mama reads to me so I think she should tell."
"I can't say that weddah.  It's a secret."
"Those big weddahs awe my fabrit.  Wess wead that wine again and then we can do the small ones."
"I used to wear glasses, but then I got bit by a spider on a field trip with my school.  I took his pictcha."

Then came the dilation.  Not so fun.  They put in the drops and we ran to the bank.  After about ten minutes, he was crying because I didn't look like Mama and looked blurry and I was scary.  Five minutes later, he was crying because he was "starbing" and wanted a cow tale.  We made it back to the optometrist and he refused to finish the exam.  I had to do a bit of bribing and tell him that if we didn't hurry, someone else would buy all the cow tales.

 End result: The boy needs specs.  We get to play the waiting game with the insurance company before we get them.