Thoughtworthy (Stocking Stuffers, Homeschooling Paperwork, RIP Tea Kettle, and MORE!)

This post contains affiliate links.

:: 1 ::

I don’t know about you, but I’ve begun collecting stocking stuffers for Christmas. (I know some of you started back in January, but if I start that early, I forget what I’ve bought and end up with Problems.) Anyhow, this year I’m giving deodorant. (Teenagers, remember.) I had been eyeing the deodorants from Primal Life Organics, but I didn’t like that they contained baking soda. Lo and behold, I was checking on my tooth powder order and found that they’d completely reformulated the deodorant without baking soda! I’m game, so I bought a collection of little Black Lavenders and Black Rogues and everyone gets one in their stocking this year.

What interesting stocking stuffers are you giving?

 

:: 2 ::

If you are in California and homeschooling independently, it’s time to file your Private School Affidavit! I did mine on Tuesday and it took me about five minutes. It’s super simple, especially if you use the instructions from HSLDA.

Don’t forget! October 15th is the deadline.

 

:: 3 ::

RIP my tea kettle. It was a disappointing demise. I had about half a kettle full of water left from making coffee, and was about to boil some pasta. It seemed like a good idea to pour that leftover water into my pasta pot. When I did, there were all these specks in the bottom of the pot. That’s strange, I thought to myself. So I opened my kettle and looked into its dark recesses and discovered … a rust spot! Oh horrors!! It was about the size of a dime and I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed it except that it was in the place I was least likely to see.

Naturally, I spent a quarter hour googling whether I could die from drinking rust in my coffee. When I discovered it was toxic, but not that toxic, I turned my attention to finding a new kettle. I decided on a glass one — no rust or mold or other deadly enemy will be able to kill me with this perfect view. Plus, I can run it through my dishwasher.

It’s possible I’ve over-corrected, but then again it also felt like a good deal for something that wasn’t planned in the budget, so I’m happy.

 

:: 4 ::

This month in 2017:

Still one of our all-time most popular posts, Dawn introduces you to the Best Christmas Book Tradition EVER.

 

:: 5 ::

This week’s links collection:

• Empathy, Accuracy, and Credibility from National Review
  • THIS is my concern about the whole Ford/Kavanaugh thing:
    

    The “process” of memorializing Ford’s testimony involved a strange inversion of constitutional norms: The idea of a statute of limitations is ossified; hearsay is legitimate testimony; inexact and contradictory recall is proof of trauma, and therefore of validity; the burden of proof is on the accused, not the accuser; detail and evidence are subordinated to assumed sincerity; proof that one later relates an allegation to another is considered proof that the assault actually occurred in the manner alleged; motive is largely irrelevant; the accuser establishes the guidelines of the state’s investigation of the allegations; and the individual allegation gains credence by cosmic resonance with all other such similar allegations.

• You Yell at Your Kids Because It Works from Homeschooling Without Training Wheels
  • Did I share this because the title made me laugh? I won’t say it wasn’t an influence!
  • Good points here about replacing a bad habit with a good one.
• America Is Living James Madison’s Nightmare from The Atlantic
  • Revisiting arguments against democracy can’t be done often enough these days, I don’t think.
• 1922 Time Table from Charlotte Mason Educational Retreat
  • Worth reading — made me consider giving my younger two more writing than I’ve been giving them lately.