Note: You can find the book I talk about here (this is an affiliate link): The Virtual Breastfeeding Culture: Seeking Mother-to-Mother Support in the Digital Age

Disclosure: This post may contain advertising or affiliate links which will generate a small amount of income for me if clicked.

Okay, so let me make a confession to you. I used to drain grease off of meat straight down the drain. Which I later realized/learned was horribly bad for your drain. When my (awesome) mother-in-law was here, she showed me how to pour the grease into a glass, let it harden (which after I saw it harden, I realized why it is so horrible for your drains – sorry all you poor drains! I didn’t mean to do that) and then scoop it out. Well, after a while, the glass got full and it was a pain to clean out. So that got me thinking, what if I poured it into something that I could just throw out when it was full, instead of cleaning it out? So now I keep an old container (of any kind, doesn’t really matter – my current one was a salsa jar in a previous life) and I pour the grease into there so then it hardens and when it’s full, I can just get rid of it, like I was going to do all along. Now, I’m still trying to learn if there’s anything I could turn that grease into (I mean, I feel like it has to be useful for something) but I’m not sure yet, but for now, that is my tip! I hope that helps you.

Disclosure: This post may contain advertising or affiliate links. 

51. That the weather is getting nice again!

52. That I’ve had almost a year with my sweet little baby

53. That he’s started to sleep through the night recently (hurray!)

54. Making new friends

55. Playing Life with Nick last night . . . even if he did beat me

56. Good party with friends

57. Getting an awesome deal on some e-books yesterday

58. Always having an abundance of food

59. Always having an abundance of books

60. The zerbert monster (aka, Dominic loves giving zerberts)

Disclosure: This post may contain advertising and affiliate links. 

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It is no secret that Nick and I plan to homeschool Dominic (as well as any future kids) someday. We’ve known this for a while. While at the moment, it can seem very far off, for me at least, I still try to prepare, even though I don’t really plan to do anything concrete for a while.

So these are my tips and tricks for preparing to homeschool. I know, I’m not a seasoned veteran or anything of homeschool, this is just what I’ve been doing to prepare myself.

Read. A lot. 

There are so many decisions to make about homeschool. What way are you going to homeschool? Are you going to try to do school at home or are you going to unschool? Are you going to use Mason or Montessori or neither? Are there certain things you are looking for in your curriculum? I think the more you read, the more it can help form your philosophy about how you want to homeschool. And, if the way you choose doesn’t end up working for you, at least you have a head start on knowing your other options. It’s also important to read up on the laws where you live. Different states have different requirements for homeschool and it will help you if you familiarize yourself with those rules.

Collect ideas and materials.

Even though homeschool is a ways away for us, that doesn’t stop me from collecting materials or ideas. I keep a pinterest board and a bookmarks folder, as well as some ideas that have come to me that I’ve written down. I’ve also collected materials, some books I’ve run across, for example. Or even other learning materials that I’ve found at consignment sales, thrift stores, or rummage sales. I don’t want to have to get all my resources all at one time, but if I slowly build my collection, I will have a decent stash when I’m ready to start.

My latest consignment sale find – a like new busy bugs set. I can think of so many uses for this!

Talk to other people who homeschool or who are planning on homeschool.

If you know other people who are planning to homeschool, I think that is a blessing. You are able to have conversations with them about what they’re doing, their struggles, etc. You can also pick their brains if you need some help or advice. Even if they may not homeschool in the same style you are planning on, you can still learn something from them or have something they say spark an idea in your head.

So those are three things that I’m doing to prepare myself for our future homeschool journey. Do you have any tips or anything you do?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate and advertising links, which will give me a small portion of the proceeds and which you are not obligated to click. 

She

• was born in 1913 and was born Rosa Louise McCauley.
• was a secretary several times (among other jobs), both for the Montgomery Chapter of the NAACP and for John Conyers, who was an African-American Congressman.
• was married.
• was a member of the Voters’ League.
• refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger on December 1st, 1955 in Alabama and it is for this that she is most famous, although she was not the first or only person to do this, but her actions helped to start the bus boycott in Montgomery that lasted over a year.
• was fired from her job as a seamstress for standing her ground.
• was called ”the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement” by Congress.
• started the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development.
• has a section of Missouri highway named after her.
• has a holiday in her honor in both California and Ohio.
• made a cameo in Touched By An Angel.
• had her death noted on ESPN’s bottom ticker, where usually only sports news is broadcast.
• laid in honor in the Capitol Rotunda upon her death in 2005, the 31st person to be laid there and only the second non-government official to do so (first American non-governmental official), the second African American, and the very first woman to do so.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rosa_Parks_Booking.jpg

Others said

• “My God, look what segregation has put in my hands!” – Edgar Nixon, referring to the fact that Rosa Parks and her actions would be a perfect challenge to the system
• “One of the finest citizens of Montgomery—not one of the finest Negro citizens, but one of the finest citizens of Montgomery.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• “Actually, no one can understand the action of Mrs. Parks unless he realizes that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, ‘I can take it no longer.’” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• “You treated her with deference because she was so quiet, so serene — just a very special person … There was only one Rosa Parks.” – John Conyers, the Congressman that Rosa Parks worked for
• “By placing her statue in the heart of the nation’s Capitol, we commemorate her work for a more perfect union, and we commit ourselves to continue to struggle for justice for every American.” – President George W. Bush
• Rosa Parks’ singular act of disobedience launched a movement. The tired feet of those who walked the dusty roads of Montgomery helped a nation see that to which it had once been blind.” – President Barack Obama
• “The first lady of civil rights, the mother of the movement, the saint of an endless struggle.” – Rep. James Clyburn, Democrat from South Carolina
• “The medal, you could take it, put it on a mantle. But her being in the hall itself is permanent.” Rhea McCauley, a niece of Rosa Parks
• “She seemed to me a very — not shy, but modest. A very modest woman, and I wanted that to come through. That she wasn’t ever looking for attention or celebrity, but she was just doing what she had to do.” – Eugene Daub, sculptor of her statue in the Capitol.
• “She defied the odds, and she defied injustice. She lived a life of activism but also a life of dignity and grace. And in a single moment, with the simplest of gestures, she helped change America — and change the world.” - President Barack Obama
• “We do well by placing a statue of her here. But we can do no greater honor than to remember and to carry forward the power of her principle and a courage born of conviction.” – President Barack Obama
• “For some, Rosa Parks served as an inspiration to stand up against injustice. For others, she was a spur to reflection and self-examination, and the reconciliation of cherished ideals of freedom, democracy and constitutional rights with the reality of life as others lived it.” – Mitch McConnell, Republican Senator from Kentucky
• “We talked about what it was like and how important it was for her to do what she did. It’s so personal because I know what my aunt went through. And it was beyond just being physically tired. She was tired of the injustice.” – Urana McCauley, niece of Rosa Parks
• “The pursuit is not over. To honor Rosa Parks in the fullest manner, each of us must do our part to preserve what has been gained, to defend the great documents upon which those gains were obtained, and continue our pursuit of a more perfect union.” - Rep. James Clyburn, Democrat from South Carolina
• “She was not a meek woman. She meant to make something happen.” – Reverend Jesse L. Jackson

From http://www.achievement.org/achievers/par0/large/par0-018.jpg

She said

• I’d see the bus pass every day… But to me, that was a way of life; we had no choice but to accept what was the custom. The bus was among the first ways I realized there was a black world and a white world.
  
• My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest…I did a lot of walking in Montgomery.
• When that white driver stepped back toward us, when he waved his hand and ordered us up and out of our seats, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night.
• When he saw me still sitting, he asked if I was going to stand up, and I said, ‘No, I’m not.’ And he said, ‘Well, if you don’t stand up, I’m going to have to call the police and have you arrested.’ I said, ‘You may do that.’
• I would have to know for once and for all what rights I had as a human being and a citizen.
• People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.
• Back then, we didn’t have any civil rights. It was just a matter of survival, of existing from one day to the next. I remember going to sleep as a girl hearing the Klan ride at night and hearing a lynching and being afraid the house would burn down.
• I didn’t have any special fear. It was more of a relief to know that I wasn’t alone.
• I worked on numerous cases with the NAACP, but we did not get the publicity. There were cases of flogging, peonage, murder, and rape. We didn’t seem to have too many successes. It was more a matter of trying to challenge the powers that be, and to let it be known that we did not wish to continue being second-class citizens.
• The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in.

I did not want to be mistreated, I did not want to be deprived of a seat that I had paid for. It was just time… there was opportunity for me to take a stand to express the way I felt about being treated in that manner. I had not planned to get arrested. I had plenty to do without having to end up in jail. But when I had to face that decision, I didn’t hesitate to do so because I felt that we had endured that too long. The more we gave in, the more we complied with that kind of treatment, the more oppressive it became.

I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day, but I don’t think there is any such thing as complete happiness. It pains me that there is still a lot of Klan activity and racism. I think when you say you’re happy, you have everything that you need and everything that you want, and nothing more to wish for. I haven’t reached that stage yet.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rosaparks.jpg

Awards and Honors

• NAACP Spingarn Medal for 1979
• Presidential Medal of Freedom
• Congressional Gold Medal – “Mother of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement”
• Rosa Parks Boulevard  and Rosa Parks Transit Center  in Detroit
• Martin Luther King Jr. Award
• Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame
• Part of Interstate 475 outside of Toledo, Ohio is named after her
• Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award
• Academy of Achievement’s Golden Plate Award
• International Freedom Conductor Award (the first one to receive it)
• Detroit-Windsor International Freedom Festival Freedom Award
• Named one of the 20 most influential and iconic figures of the 20th century by Time magazine
• Alabama Academy of Honor
• Governor’s Medal of Honor for Extraordinary Courage
• At least two dozen honorary doctorates from universities and colleges around the world
• Alpha Kappa Alpha honorary member
• Rosa Parks Library and Museum at Troy University
• Named one of the 100 Greatest African Americans by Molefi Kete Asante
• Part of Interstate 10 in L.A. is named after her, as well as a station in the Los Angeles County MetroRail
• A Statue in the Capitol’s National Statuary Hall (first full length African American in the Capitol)
• Part of Interstate 96 (Detroit, MI) is named after her
• Rosa Parks Hempstead Transit Center in New York
• Rosa L. Parks Boulevard in Nashville
• Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids, MI
• Rosa Parks Drive in West Valley City, Utah
• United States Postage Stamp (I think when I run out of stamps these will be next on my list, currently I’m using the Pixar ones)
• Rosa Parks Freedom Award established in her honor
• Rosa L. Parks Scholarship Foundation – for high schoolers in Michigan

Books (Note, I haven’t read them, I just found them)

• The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
• Rosa Parks: My Story

If you want to know more about Rosa Parks, the Library of Congress has put together A Guide to Materials on her.

Sources:

• Rosa Parks – Wikipedia
• Rosa Parks Biography – Academy of Achievement 
• ‘Strength from Stillness’: Rosa Parks Statue Unveiled in Capitol – NBC News
• Remembering Rosa Parks – Time for Kids
• Statue of Rosa Parks Is Unveiled at the Capitol – New York Times
• Explore Capitol Hill – Rosa Parks
• Rosa Parks Statue Unveiled – The Hill

Disclosure: I have recently learned this should be at the top of my posts and not the bottom. So you are aware, this post may contain advertisement or affiliate links. I’m not sure I like putting it at the top either as I don’t want to disrupt the reading experience, but you got to play by the rules. If it bothers you, know that this part will always stay relatively the same and you can skip to the non-italicized part. 

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Dear mothers,

As much as I read about breastfeeding, I have come across many stories like this and this and it’s made me think a lot about formula feeding and breastfeeding and everything like that. And I know I talk a lot on this blog about breastfeeding and everything like that, but in case it ever comes into question, I want to clear something up ahead of time.

I respect you. I think you are a great mom and I know you love your baby.

I know some of you have chosen formula and never looked back.

But others of you I know desperately wanted to breastfed. And for whatever reason – not enough milk, lack of support, misinformation and myths – you couldn’t. And I want to let you know, it’s okay that you couldn’t. Your baby was still fed and loved and nourished, even if you couldn’t do the thing you most desperately wanted to do.

I want you to know that you are not failures. Breastfeeding is hard and for some women, even impossible. And at the end of the day, your baby needs to get fed. You can’t ignore your baby’s needs. You are taking care of your baby in the best way that you possibly can. And I have come to understand and know and recognize that is different in everyone’s situation.

So I want you to know that I won’t stop supporting breastfeeding here, but that I will also support you, because guess what? You are taking care of your baby and loving them and nurturing them and at the end of the day, that is the most important thing. Babies need love to grow, much more than they think about what is filling their bellies.

You are a great mom and I love and respect you. Come alongside me and we can talk about how we are raising our kids to be great people, in our own unique ways.

Because I know motherhood is hard. And everyone is making the choices they need to.

With all my love and support,

A Mama Just Like You

This video to me is really sweet. Makes me miss Mister Rogers. But I also point this out because I think it’s very important that breastfeeding be normalized and shown in society, not hidden away. We have plenty of science now to show that breast really is best for babies, but our breastfeeding rates are still lower than they could/should be. A lot of the reasons women stop are reasons that are completely preventable. I think it would go a long way if we could normalize it and make it acceptable. That’s why clips like this on Mister Rogers are so great.

Disclosure: This post may contain advertising or affiliate links.