The 3 Amigos’ behavior has dramatically improved the farther we get away from January. I guess that’s why I decided to take the boys to Raleigh (sans Daddy) on 2/20 for a day of politics, activism, history and sightseeing.
The 3 Amigos take a break outside of the North Carolina House of Representatives chamber in the Legislative Building in Raleigh.
“Parents Know Best”
The main purpose of our trip to the Capital City was to participate in Education in Action Day. This was an event organized by the North Carolina Coalition of Home Educators (NCCHE), a political homeschool group that lobbies state representatives for pro-homeschool legislation.
“Parents have a natural and inalienable right to educate their children, publicly or privately, as they see fit, and that right should be recognized and encouraged.” — Ronald Reagan
Our first order of business was a group meeting with Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who is a proud homeschooling dad. I was a big supporter of his during the last election, so it was really cool for the kids and I to rub elbows with the second most powerful man in the state.
After that, the boys and I wanted to visit with Phil Berger, who is our state senator, as well as the Senate President Pro Tempore. Unfortunately, he was in a meeting. In fact, we accidentally walked in on the seemingly serious sit-down. Whoops. Next time, I’ll be sure to make an appointment.
Houston snaps this photo of a painting of the baptism of Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the Americas, who died in the mysterious Roanoke Colony.
In our defense, Berger’s office had just been relocated, so the mishap wasn’t entirely our fault. Plus, Berger was cool, and we chatted instead with his gracious assistant, Beverly. Interestingly, as it turns out, she homeschooled her grandson. We are everywhere!
“If there be a people on earth given to sober second thought, amenable to reason and regardful of their plighted honor, I believe that … it is the people of North Carolina.” — Zebulon Vance, Confederate military officer, Governor of N.C. and U.S. Senator
The dudes and I passed along the four school-choice issues that we’d like our good senator to address in upcoming sessions of the general assembly:
- Give homeschool kids access to participate in sports or other extracurricular activities at their local public school, which their parents fund and support through their property taxes;
- Change the currently vague and often narrowly interpreted state homeschool definition to include outside resources, like online classes and co-ops, if parents choose these means to enhance their child’s educational experience;
- Offer tax credits for homeschool families as to eliminate double taxation of homeschool and private school parents. It’d be like a voucher, but better! In fact, a tax-credit bill was filed with the NC House of Representatives just two days after our visit to Raleigh … seems the 3 Amigos made an impression!
- Put parental rights language in the state homeschool statute, which would give additional protection for parents to make all decisions for the child, which would, of course, include education.
The dudes pose w/ North Carolinian-born statesmen who have served as President of the United States: James Polk, Andrew Jackson & Andrew Johnson.
A positive sign on the latter is the recent passage of Virginia’s Parental Rights Act, which codifies that “a parent has a fundamental right to direct the upbringing, education, and care of the parent’s child.†So, once the VA governor signs the bills, the rights of parents in my home state will be secure, even if a federal court decision tries to erode said rights.
VA’s Parental Rights Act “recognizes parental rights as a fundamental right and requires strict scrutiny in their protection.” — Michael Ramey, ParentalRights.org
Later in the day, we had the opportunity to meet with a few other pro-homeschool members of the General Assembly and a NC Supreme Court justice who home educates his kids.
But I figured the boys had gotten their fill of activism early that morning. Instead, we proudly donned our “Parents Know Best” stickers as we toured the Legislative Building and explored the capital grounds on this crisp, sunny day.
The kids check out a statue of a Saura Indian woman, whose tribe lived along the Dan River in North Carolina’s piedmont region.
After munching, we hit Pullen Park and let off some steam with a couple carousel rides and lots of outdoor play. After all, politics and history require a great amount calm, quiet and maturity, and the dudes delivered, so I figured I owed ’em!
Visits with grandparents
Back during the last weekend of January, Gabe’s basketball game was postponed due to bad weather lingering from the day before. Temps were actually higher and the driving conditions improved, so Stephen took the boys to see Granny and Grumps. It was a nice break for me and a treat for our mountain kin.
Then last weekend, I repaid the favor and took the 3 Amigos to see Gramsey and Papa. Stephen got to recharge with a little alone time, and the kids and I had a great time seeing lots of our Virginia family, especially Cousin Kara, who is always a blast!
Gabriel stands atop the staff of the goddess Liberty, who is part of the State Seal of North Carolina.
Trekking around town
On 2/16, Stephen and I treated ourselves to an hour-long couples massage for Valentine’s Day. It was quite the relaxing, therapeutic experience. Of course, we dutifully undid all the detoxifying by following up the session with lots of Mexican food and drink, but hey, it was a date night not to forget!
On 2/25, I took the dudes to their semi-annual dental appointments; but as it turns out, we were there a month early. Oops! The boys were kinda bummed ’cause they actually love going to see Dr. Mike. (He’s always voted the best pediatric dentist in the area.)
So, I figured we might as well try to make the most of our trek into town. We played at the park, met up with Daddy at a doc appointment he happened to be having the same day, and then feasted at the new Mellow Mushroom downtown. Yum!
In casual cowboy-boot style, Zeke looks dapper leaning against this cannon wheel.
And today, Stephen and Mr. Logan took off work so that they could accompany Miss Christie, all the kids and I to CC community. Our families had to do a group presentation during the opening, which was a vocal rendition of “Who Did Swallow Jonah?” while I accompanied on guitar.
Stephen and Logan got to see what it is we do every week at CC, the kids were ultra-psyched to have their dads around, and then we finished off the outing with yet another Mexican feast. Good times!
Improved attitudes abound
As mentioned earlier, everyone’s behavior (including my own) has been on an upturn lately. Good attitudes just make for happier homeschooling and a happier home.
During a lesson on the area of circle a few weeks back, Houston said, “You make it easy to learn, Mommy.” Wow, that was music to my ears and a definite improvement from some of the bad-attitude-laden comments I had had to endure during our school days earlier in the year.
Houston closely soaks in the sobering image of this Vietnam War memorial, quickly realizing that war is a lot different than the way it’s portrayed in video games.
And then when doing our “highs and lows” at dinner recently, all the boys’ highs were that day’s math lesson: measuring and comparing liquid equivalents and differences. That’s quite an amazing shift our rough month of January, which I’m sure included some homeschooling lows from the peanut gallery.
Another thing that abounds is Houston’s appetite. Case in point: dinner one night last week was chicken noodle soup and with pears for dessert … then cheddar cheese and crackers … then a couple bowls of cream of chicken soup … and then a grilled cheese sandwich. He’s a bottomless pit!
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