The age old debate - how to school your children

David sent me a link to this blog today about the debate over Public School, Christian School & Homeschooling. Check it out here for the rest of this rant to make sense. It's long, but good stuff and entertaining no matter which side of the fence you sit on.

Warning - here comes a soapbox

Now that we're expecting, this has become more of a topic of discussion with David & I and my insecurities about what will happen in 5 years when this little one is ready to be enrolled in school. (Preschool and the debate for or against it is a WHOLE other issue.) I have alot of fear of judgement from other woman because of how I do things. I used to have deep seeded issues with the women in my life and the feelings of betrayal when they would share "my stuff" with other people. I think this got worse as I became a Christian and the women in my life would share "my stuff" with others under the pretense of "we need to pray for her". It took alot of time, prayer and counseling before I was able to move past this and really form solid relationships with women where trust was never compromised. I understand these are rare relationships, and am truly grateful for the women who know "my stuff" and I can be venerable with without fear.

But alas, I digress. The point of that rant was to say that when we moved to Atlanta I started to feel pressure. I felt, particularly at our last church, that I was harshly judged and misunderstood for being in my mid-20s, married for 4 years and having no children. The south can be a rough place for married women without kids and to find a place for yourself takes some work, even at church. Believe it or not though, that wasn't the issue that caused us to leave our last place of worship...it was the fact that our tithes and offerings went to support the church's christian school. I'm not sure you can call it a mission field if the parents need to profess faith on behalf of their 5 year old entering kindergarten and I was simply not comfortable with our tithes going to support their christian school.

In our new church there is a nice mix of singles, marrieds without kids and families - it's really nice and was certainly a welcome change. I have still, however, longed to fit in with the mommies in our church. Now that we're expecting I can't wait to join play groups, make play dates with the other moms in our congregation and enter a new phase of sharing with these women the struggles and joys of raising children. Really my only fear has been how I will be accepted when we discuss schooling.

David went to a few years at the Christian school, but then transferred to the public school where he spent some of middle and all of high school. I went to public school all 17 years (kindergarten & college included). I loved going to public school and actually (get ready for it) came to know the Lord THROUGH Christians going to public school with me. My testimony has always been my leg to stand on...the final statement that would end any conversation in my opinion on why I am pro-public school.

In my mind it has never been an option to even consider homeschooling (how lacking would my kids be if I was their sole educator - scary!) and if I was going to stay home, who was going to pay for Private School? Public School has really been the only option as far as I was concerned and thankfully David is in complete agreement. I think that the teachers all have the same degrees in both public & private schools and that all education needs to be supplemented by the parents. I plan to be in the PTA, be a room mom, field trip chaperon and whatever other options are available for me to be involved in the school, as well as helping the kids with their homework and studies. The same is true for what they will learn in Sunday School - everything needs to be reinforced at home and I plan to be involved...David too.

I have always feared reactions from others on our choice to send our kids to public school. In reading Jon's blog post I was convicted that I do believe some of the stereotypes in all 3 categories. I guess I need to be in prayer that while I fear judgement I won't pass some along to folks who feel differently than I do.

Catching up, again

This week has been super productive and for good reason, but first let me recap the last several days.

Last weekend we had some friends in town from Alabama. Marleah & I have been friends since high school and we try to get together with her, Randy and their daughter Avi when ever we can(but not nearly as often as we should). They came up Friday night and we hung out for a while before getting ready for dinner. We grilled out, which we always enjoy, and after Avi went down, we had a great time of playing board games and Wii as well as just catching up. Saturday I made us "fancy breakfast" before we headed out to IKEA for some shopping and Taco Mac for lunch. It was a great visit!! Here are a few pictures from Friday night.

Randy & MarleahAvi -love that crazy hair!

"The little one" (as we often refer to the baby) has been moving around SO much! I can feel the baby moving all the time and I absolutely love it. Alot of times he/she is the most active right before bed and whenever I stretch my legs out to read. I think the baby likes having more space and really stretches out when my body is elongated. We started swimming again last week and I think being in the water lulls the baby to sleep. I don't feel anything when I'm in the water, but once I'm home and showered the little one is very busy. :) It's so much fun!!

This last week has been super busy for me, but also very productive. I'll be gone much of the rest of the month and I had alot of errands and things to do around the house before I can go. (Of course that didn't stop me from reading Twilight in one day, but that's ok. I'll wait to start book 2 until I'm on vacation - lol.) I'm looking forward to time with both sides of our families over the next 2 weeks. It's always wonderful to get to see our loved ones and I'll even get to meet my sweet nephew Grady on Tuesday - can't wait!

Last night we had some friends from church over and we had a great time of fellowship and hanging out (and their 2 older boys enjoyed the Wii). We are very blessed to have such a wonderful church family...nights like last night remind me of that. Today David & I went to see Harry Potter. It was really good. We waited until we could go to a matinee and save ourselves $4...it was worth it. Highly recommend it.

We'll have Internet access while we're gone so I'll see if I can't get a post up here and there as I travel. If not I'll have a slew of pictures and lots to say when we're back in August.

Little Kicks

Last night we were reading in bed and I was on my side cuddling on my glorious Boppy pregnancy pillow that my cousin Jenn recommended (and I LOVE!!) when I started to feel the flutters that I've been feeling for weeks. All the sudden, I was kicked (or elbowed, punched, something!) and it was definitely the baby. I was so excited I started to cry. Of course, yesterday was a hormone charged day and I shed tears for far less important and monumental things, but I was so overjoyed. I grabbed David's hand to try to get him to feel it as our little bean did it several times, but alas it's too early for him to share in this with me. It was so very exciting though!!

When we were trying to get pregnant this was one of the 2 things I really wanted to experience that I would miss out in any other type of child rearing - the other is nursing. I have such fond and vivid memories of feeling my nieces and nephews and dear friends babies moving around inside and I absolutely love it! Most recently I got to feel my little Jane Dare who is due just 10 weeks before our bean moving around in Lacey's tummy and it was so awesome. Since I don't believe that pregnant bellies are public domain, I always have loved sharing this with the women in my life and the children I came to love long before I knew them and now I am experiencing it myself. God is good! Of course, in typical Red fashion, I prayed that I would never begrudge feeling the baby kick me and that I would retain this joy...even in my last month at 3am when I'm exhausted and can't get comfortable enough to sleep. :)

First Belly Shots

This morning before we headed off to church David snapped a few pictures of my rapidly expanding midsection...


We're at 20 weeks tomorrow and I can't believe how big I am already. This baby really popped out sometime in the last week, but I feel bigger and bigger every day so I can't pinpoint exactly when this happened. I guess it was Wednesday that David came home and really noticed my belly for the first time. :) I am still convinced I won't have that adorable basketball belly, but I'm pleased that I at least look pregnant now.

Ahhh...Diet Coke

Those of you who know me well know that I LOVE me some Diet Coke. If it was available in IV form and I could still taste it, I'd be permanently hooked up. ;) I had a brief period in college where Diet Pepsi rocked my world, but those days were numbered and haven't been seen in over a decade.

I am such a snob when it comes to my Diet Coke. When I go to a restaurant that only serves Pepsi products, they automatically go down a notch. Could be great food, but without Diet Coke it just isn't a quality dining experience. When I'm in David's hometown, all the restaurants serve Pepsi products - yuck! I'll stick to Lemonade or Water, thank you very much. And all Diet Coke is not treated equally either. The best Diet Cokes in Atlanta come from one of 2 places - Chick-Fil-A (and bonus for them - they have caffeine free on tap!) and Zaxby's. I'm told the reason their Diet Coke is so unbelievable is because they actually follow the coke recipe - what a novel concept. The worst Diet Cokes hands down are from McDonald's and gas stations/convenience store fountains...probably because they are cheap and water down their mix.

Anyway, during this pregnancy (and in 2 week increments for the years we TTC) I have given up Diet Coke. I know I don't have to, but we both thought cutting out the caffeine and the nutra sweet from my diet during pregnancy would be a good idea so I've made the sacrifice. Hey, David is 100% responsible for the cat litter, so we're both making sacrifices. ;) Well the last few days I'd been seriously craving a diet coke. I made it through Tuesday, but yesterday I was out and about and I caved. I hit the CFA closest to my house and got myself a large diet coke. Sweet nectar - I thoroughly enjoyed it throughout the day.

There isn't really a point to this rant, I just wanted to share and give some props for my favorite drug of choice, Diet Coke.