Mall of America

Since we don’t have school anymore, and I can earn a living from anywhere, we went to Mall of America.

I gave a speech at the University of Minnesota’s Business School, and I ended up bringing the kids and spending three days enjoying the fact that the amusement parks are empty during the school day.

My sons went on each ride three hundred times while I answered emails near guard rails and contemplated the expense of homeschooing when you buy two, thirty-dollar wrist bands three days in a row.

Our favorite part of the park was this rope contraption that simulates climbing up the masts of a pirate ship. The kids had safety lines, but they seemed to serve mainly as psychological assurance. There was a park employee whose job was to rescue stuck kids. Since mine were the only ones there, they got private instruction on how to climb all the different types of rope ladders. The boys were so excited to learn something new. And I was so excited to watch someone else teach them.

/3 Comments
3 replies
  2. karelys davis
    karelys davis says:

    yesterday someone commented about the contradiction that you believe navigating social situations is better than learning about square root of everything but you took your kid out of school because he got terrified that bullies beat the skin off his best friend.

    I was considering what I’d do in your situation. I was wondering if anyone would ever learn anything or move past terrified when facing bullies.

    Probably not.

    Social knowledge is super valuable but I don’t know if there’s any learning while getting beat up. I don’t know if it’s worth at the expense of getting bullied and teachers not doing anything about it.

    I wish you’d address that comment a bit more so I get a bit more to think about.

  3. Lori
    Lori says:

    even if homeschooling didn’t offer superior education, it would be totally worth it for the release from the school calendar, the ability to see movies at 11:00 a.m. on a tuesday in an empty theatre, the opportunity to camp at national parks during the week in september, etc.

    we do everything off-schedule from the rest of the world and our lives are blissfully laid-back.

    i love walking through a museum when there’s only one or two other people around – and sometimes another hs’ing family.

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