The OLD days
So I'm a college student. I'm a student on my own time and in my own home. Sometimes I think I might have jumped the gun on finishing my degree though. I thought having children in school would give me all kinds of free time in which to do college-type homework. Turns out not so much. Somehow my days fill up and I get distracted. I'm halfway through the time allotted by the college to finish my lowly degree program (8 years, General Studies) and according to my original plan, I should have finished by now. Instead, I'm only halfway through. Sigh. Children continue to be a major TIME SUCK even when they are in school! Who knew? Especially high school students who like to sign up for extra curricular activities (I'm looking at you, Kate. And Paul.) (On the other hand, I've enjoyed spectating at the extracurricular activities so I don't feel too guilty about putting aside my homework for my children)
Anyway, this post isn't so much about venting on my current state of parenting that I thought would be more free (Yeah, somehow I thought teenagers wouldn't require supervision? You need super vision to keep track of those sneaky little buggers. Stay OUT of the chocolate chips! Where are you? When to plan on coming home? Is your homework done? Leave your sister alone! Where are you again? Who are you with? Prove to me that your homework is done! I said quit teasing your sister! No you cannot eat a burrito now because we are about to eat dinner! And don't talk on the phone and drive! Dangit, you are making your sister cry--STOP IT. You want to drive WHERE by yourself to meet up with your friend? Iowa??!!) (uh, I'm digressing again) as it is about one of my classes.
I'm taking a Scottish history/family history research class, which has turned out to be very interesting. I spent 15 hours in the Family History Library when Jim and I went to Utah to visit Katie to help her move (the move only took a few hours). I could have spent hours scrolling through the Rathen Parochial Registers and the Rathen Civil Registers on microfilm for names of ancestors. I'm captivated by the handwriting in these books. Sometime they are hard to read, like the time I thought Peter Masson was Peter Mapan--seriously! Check out this entry! Whoever entered this made twin Ss look like a single P. You can see it on the word "witnesses" too. It looks like "witnipes." (5 points to the person who comes up with the most amusing definition of "witnipes")
(Yes I realize that is how they wrote. They also liked to enter children of unmarried parents as "begat in fornication" too. How would you like that on your birth certificate? In the civil registers those entries were changed to "illegitimate." And 99.9% of the "illegitimate" entries I saw, the mothers were listed as domestic servants. Ladies, this is why I am against having a maid come clean my house)
This is a civil register entry of a brother of one of my direct-line ancestors.
This class requires a 20-hour research project and I could EASILY take twice that for the family members born just in the 1800s. It will be hard to stop doing this project.
College is fun! Even if you have to stop what you are studying occasionally to meddle in your children's lives.
Anyway, this post isn't so much about venting on my current state of parenting that I thought would be more free (Yeah, somehow I thought teenagers wouldn't require supervision? You need super vision to keep track of those sneaky little buggers. Stay OUT of the chocolate chips! Where are you? When to plan on coming home? Is your homework done? Leave your sister alone! Where are you again? Who are you with? Prove to me that your homework is done! I said quit teasing your sister! No you cannot eat a burrito now because we are about to eat dinner! And don't talk on the phone and drive! Dangit, you are making your sister cry--STOP IT. You want to drive WHERE by yourself to meet up with your friend? Iowa??!!) (uh, I'm digressing again) as it is about one of my classes.
I'm taking a Scottish history/family history research class, which has turned out to be very interesting. I spent 15 hours in the Family History Library when Jim and I went to Utah to visit Katie to help her move (the move only took a few hours). I could have spent hours scrolling through the Rathen Parochial Registers and the Rathen Civil Registers on microfilm for names of ancestors. I'm captivated by the handwriting in these books. Sometime they are hard to read, like the time I thought Peter Masson was Peter Mapan--seriously! Check out this entry! Whoever entered this made twin Ss look like a single P. You can see it on the word "witnesses" too. It looks like "witnipes." (5 points to the person who comes up with the most amusing definition of "witnipes")
(Yes I realize that is how they wrote. They also liked to enter children of unmarried parents as "begat in fornication" too. How would you like that on your birth certificate? In the civil registers those entries were changed to "illegitimate." And 99.9% of the "illegitimate" entries I saw, the mothers were listed as domestic servants. Ladies, this is why I am against having a maid come clean my house)This is a civil register entry of a brother of one of my direct-line ancestors.
This class requires a 20-hour research project and I could EASILY take twice that for the family members born just in the 1800s. It will be hard to stop doing this project.
College is fun! Even if you have to stop what you are studying occasionally to meddle in your children's lives.
Comments
Your Scottish ancestry class sounds really interesting. I can't wait to see what else you come up with.
Jake