I knew you knew it!

My wife, as many of you know, is a school psychologist. A good amount of her day is devoted to observing and testing kids. She often will just talk with the kids for a little while before she tests them. On one such occasion, one of her students informed her that he had just gotten a new bobble head of a football player. Amy asked what team they played for. Mistaking Amy for someone who followed sports, he said I'll tell you the colors and I know you'll know the team. So he told her the colors and Amy guessed the Bears. It wasn't the bears so Amy guessed the Packers. It wasn't the Packers. "Come on Mrs. Roller, you know this" said the student. Amy guessed about 10 more teams and finally guessed the one the student was thinking of. The student responded joyously: "See Mrs. Roller, I knew you knew it!"

I am constantly overwhelmed with how children are always willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. My daughter met the husband of her Awana leader recently. He's about 6'11. She was incredulous, that anyone can be taller than her dad. I'm 6'1, tops. My son thinks that I can fix or repair anything. I can't. He's always coming up with projects we can do together and he understands how to do them better than I do and he's 7.

SO what's my point, that my children are delusional? They may be, but that's not my point. My point is that our children are generally our biggest supporters. From their perspective, we can do anything. For me, it is a motivator to even at the grand old age of 44 1/2 to continue learning so I can continue to have not my children's awe but their respect.

What does this have to do with homeschooling? To me it means to branch out and step out of your comfort zone. DO an experiment that you are not sure will work. Bone up on a subject that you don't have a huge grasp on and then teach it to your kids. Because they know you know it.

To see morehome schooling posts click here to go to this week's carnival of home schooling.

Next time: Eliminating recurring charges.

Google is as Google Does

So, I googled myself recently. And, we all know how painful that can be. Here is what I found:

I get information on the Rabbi David Roller, The Reverend Dave Roller, The former professional football player Dave Roller (I would have mentioned him sooner, but he played for the Packers), and even a reference to Biker Dave's Roller Derby Blog. If I dig deep enough, there are references to this blog. What I don't see, and frankly I don't understand why not is: Dave Roller, Medicine Woman. Jane Seymour worked really hard to look like me, each week, and I am not sure why Google has forgotten this show.

I do have a few more thoughts on Google and some other things, so let's get right to them, shall we?

If you are doing a Google search on Clint Eastwood, don't you feel obligated to use the I'm feeling Lucky button?

Would Macgyver still impress us, with his compendium of seemingly useless, but life saving information, if google had been available to him?

I live in Illinois, and I must say that I am glad that they have taken the Rod Blagojevich Governor signs off the toll roads so quickly. However, there is another sign I'd like them to remove. Under our emergency stopping signs on the highway, there is a sign that says two hours only. SO, you are driving on the expressway and your daughter says "Stop the car, Dad I have an emergency!" You then have to say, "Well gee honey, how long do you think this emergency will take? Cause here, we have a 2 hour limit."

Along those same lines, I was at my local park district recently, and they wanted me to update my emergency contact information. So, I am filling out the paperwork and they asked for my emergency contact's address.

Could you imagine if sometime in the near future my Dad received this letter:

Dear Mr. Roller,

We wanted to inform you that your son, daughter in law and grandchildren were all involved in what we are officially calling a kick ball avalanche. You were listed as their emergency contact, please advise how you would like us to proceed. We are enclosing A SASE and eagerly await your reply.

Love,

The Locality Removed to Avoid Possible Libel Charges Park District

Well, that's about all I have for tonight. You've been a terrific readership. Drive safely.

Next Time: I knew you knew it!

WFMW

I was saving this post for next month. But today I learned that Shannon, at Rocks in My Dryer, is taking a break from the feature she originated some 3 years ago. Instead of shutting it down entirely, she is letting another blogger (Kristen from We Are That Family) continue her tradition. According to Shannon's post explaining the transfer, she recently received so much positive feedback about WFMW, she changed her mind about cancelling it altogether. So today, I would like to tell you all why Works For Me Wednesday works for me.

As a stay at home, home school dad, a few credits shy of his Home Ec. degree, WFMW gives me the first clue on topics I know nothing about, and the next step in areas that I am growing in.

WFMW is also, one of the best formats for me to do my writing. I like sharing what things my family has done that make our life more productive and enjoyable. I love seeing the comments on my blog that there are others who can find them helpful as well.

Here is my WFMW routine:

1) I keep a list in my notebook of future WFMW posts. My goal is to have at least 4 post ideas written down at the beginning of each month, so I am not scrambling at the last minute for an idea. As of today, I have post ideas from now until 4/15/2009.

2) Sometime Monday evening or Tuesday morning I write my post for that week and save it as a draft. This morning when I began to write about gloves, I noticed Shannon's above referenced post and took this idea, which was 3 weeks away from my notebook.

3) When I come home from my Tuesday night home group, I publish my post and wait for Shannon to post hers. My goal is to be one of the first 25 posts on the list. My secret ambition, is to be in the top 10 every week. My dream, is to be the first one on the board. My dream that is so special you don't say it out loud (I am only writing this, NOT saying it out loud), to be asked to headline and be a guest blogger on WFMW.

That's not gonna happen. But, I was #10 two weeks ago. Shannon tricked me last week, I was all ready to link my wife's post when I saw Shannon's post about locating states. I got so into doing that, that I didn't get my post linked until the second 25.

4) After WFMW is posted and I am linked to it, the real fun begins. I read all the posts linked before mine. I always try to leave a comment where appropriate. As a man, I would feel very silly commenting on posts about make-up.

5) When I get to mine, I will sometimes read a few more before retiring for the day. On Wednesday morning, I check my post for comments. I will then read those posts, If I have not already. I spend the rest of the day between school and home stuff checking out as many posts as I can.

6) I am always looking for one idea that I can implement immediately. I don't want to say what last week's was. Let's just say I now have a sink that shines without any dishes in it.

So, that's why WFMW works for me and why I am so glad that Shannon started this tradition that Kristen is continuing. Blessings to you both. If you still don't know how to get to Rocks In My Dryer for Shannon's final pre-sabbatical WFMW, click here.

Next Time: Google is as Google does.

Guest Post-by Amy Roller: Perspective

Back in 2001 when we moved to this town, Emma was two, and Charlie was yet to be born. Lucy was yet to be considered. One thing Dave and I have in common is our love for reading, books, libraries, etc. So, before we even bought this house, we sought out the local library. It's a good one. When Emma was two, she didn't like to go places or leave them. She would cry both times. Going to church: cry. Leave church: cry. Go to grandma's: cry. Leave grandma's: cry. You get the idea. Same was true for the library.

Many hours of training produced little result. "Okay, Emma, we're going to play at the library. When we're all done, we will stand by the lady and wait our turn, and give her the books, and she'll give them back." What? I have to give the books to the librarian? I just spent hours picking them out, listening to you read them to me, and planning how many book parties we are going to have at home, and NOW, you want me to GIVE them to this lady with the long blond hair? She might TAKE them, hide them, put them away, mom, I'm quite sure, I'll NEVER see them again. No, I won't do it. Screaming ensued. Every. Time.

Okay, finally after a year or so, Emma gets the idea. Then comes Charlie, who tended to be calmer than Emma. Same thing. Crying, tears, shrieks, etc. Couple years down the line, Lucy does the same thing, but to a lesser extent. She watches Emma and Charlie's reaction to handing the books over, and discovers that they always give them back, that nice blond lady, especially.

Flash forward to today. I spent my day at the library working on some reports for work. I was tucked away in a far corner, but I could still hear those two year olds shrieking. MOM! I need that book! I LOVE that book! NOOOOOOOOOO! Now, give it to the nice lady, and she'll give it right back, dear, like we practiced at home. Why mom? Why can't I just keep it? I promise I'll bring it back next time? Sorry honey, like I told you at home, I....MOMMMMMMMMM!!! I didn't chuckle, exactly, so much as, said a silent "thank you" for being past that stage...

Next Time: WFMW

It's Not Uncommon, It's Not our Problem.

When I lived in Russia, someone sent me a copy of an article from the English version of a Moscow newspaper. The story told of hundreds of bags of undelivered mail being dumped into a lake near Moscow. When some Russian government official was contacted, his comment was: "It is not uncommon, it is not our problem."

As I approach my 45th birthday, it is natural for a certain world weariness to creep in from time to time. When you are younger, you seem to have boundless energy to solve all the problems of the world. As you begin to see the same problems over and over again, it is easy to get the "not uncommon, not my problem" mentality.

Empathy covers apathy in the same way that paper covers rock. As the world and its worries harden your heart, putting other peoples' troubles in front of your own soften it. So, next time you have the opportunity to help someone in need, tell yourself it may not be uncommon, but I can make it my problem.

Next Time: Perspective