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The school year is nearly over.
Overall, I feel good about it. I learned a lot while teaching my grandkid. We had difficulties at first but now she can read, she knows her addition and subtraction, she can read an analogue clock. I hope my daughter decides to sign up for another year.
The greatest value was seeing the curriculum. I was able to see that teachers are supposed to teach collectivism to kindergarteners. I was able to see the effect of trying to teach reading by teaching the kids to read pictures.
Midway through the year we trimmed the fat and ended up putting all of our focus on reading and writing. Now she is a top student and is processing written words when she sees them and reacting to them without me reading to her.
I am psyched for summer reading sessions and games of Scrabble.

Got into it with the grandkid this morning over French toast, of all things.
Night before last she had a sleepover with a group of unruly kids and yesterday returned to her mother with a chip on her shoulder.
Last year, after we started keeping chickens, she took a principled stance on eating chicken. She said she can't do it. Ok, that is fine. She is ok with anyone else eating chicken, she is ok with chickens being used for food. She also doesn't eat eggs as a stand alone but has known for a long time that eggs are used in foods that she enjoys eating. She knows because she has been watching and helping in the kitchen since she was 10 months old.
This morning she tried saying that she did not know I used eggs in French toast.
Bullshit! She absolutely knew. This is a continuation of a food struggle that has been ongoing for about 2 years when she woke up one day and wouldn't eat anything except toast, bacon, cheese, fruit, and noodles.
First I got mad because I was rushing through things but once I had a minute to sit with her, I did.
I explained that I use duck eggs for the French toast and we have no boy ducks. She knows the eggs are not fertile and will not be fertile. I explained that the ducks will lay the eggs whether we use them or not and that not using the eggs wastes the energy the ducks used to create them. I also explained that refusing to eat eggs that will not ever be fertile is not a reasonable ethical stance because our ducks are not being exploited or abused. The eggs are a by-product of choosing to have pet ducks.

Friday we bought our Thanksgiving turkey. Right now it's tiny.

Busy morning. I like busy, but sometimes miss idle.
Balance the budget.
Feed the animals.
Breakfast.
School; reading and math today.
Beachcombing at the lake, mostly seeking shells for the fish tanks.
Take the little kid home.

Can it all be completed by noon? Maybe but probably not.

I am tired.
I have been trying to determine the cause and I think it is diet.
Last week we made poor choices and screwed up our budget. This affected our grocery shopping.
Solution, we will make better choices this weekend.

COMMENTS

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TheArtistRose
14:29 Mar 11 2026

Good luck! Hope you feel better

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My husband talked me into 4 more chicks. They are in a tote in the bathroom, with the budgies. The budgies have decided those are their babies so every time we go in the room, those crazy birds start swooping us and trying to scare us away.
On the bright side they are willing to land on us too.
We bought the two budgies, thinking they might already be social and they weren't. They were traumatized from being chased with a net whenever they were loose in the house. We leave the door open and let them fly free. It has made them happier.
I think baby chickens tipped the scale in our favor.