Elemental Meridian

Show one, Cookie's class (silver marten)

We bought 3 rabbits at the Virginia State Fair, rabbits we bought under the condition that Martina could show them. Two months later we went to our first show, the December Richmond Rabbit Breeders Association show at the Richmond International Speedway.

Our rabbit are Netherland Dwarfs. Dwarves? Either way, the entry fees were low and preparation time minimal compared to the horse show agenda we are accustomed to. Martina almost talked me out of going but when I finally wheedled out of her what the problem was, we decided to get up early on Saturday and go. She was upset with herself for not working with her rabbits a lot more. I guess she thought that she needed to train them…

What we learned: this was a carrier show. All of the rabbits stayed in their carriers until their class was called. At that time they were carried to the judging table and placed into cages or boxes on the table with the other rabbits in the class. The judge ranked them and if there were several, sent all but the top two (I think) back to their carriers. Then the best of variety, best of class and best opposite (opposite sex from best of class) were awarded. We learned that a Senior Netherland Dwarf doe can only weigh 2.5 pounds. ZsaZsa, our black otter doe, weighs a whopping 3 pounds. Fat ass. She was DQed.

We learned that there are a LOT of people who are rabbit crazy! People drive all up and down the east coast and into the midwest going to rabbit shows 3 or 4 times a month! There’s a bunch of money going into the Rabbit Industry, which I didn’t even know existed until yesterday. There are cages made for transporting the maximum number of rabbits in the minimal amount of space. Feeders and water bottles, brushes and toenail clippers, grooming tables and rabbitry wear. There were embroidered chairs all over the place with rabbitry names. T-shirts and bags. Rabbit grooming supply carrying cases. And we showed up with our rabbits in cat carriers lined with newspaper. We have a huge ‘maxivan’ though, driving up in a Prius would require that the bunnies fit in the least possible amount of space.

And there were rabbits for sale *everywhere* at the show: Mini lop; mini Rex; Flemish giant; in colors with names like: squirrel; chestnut; chinchilla; and ruby eyed white.

Stormy

"William" needs a new name.

There was a raffle. A gigantic raffle with tables and tables filled with items and cages of rabbits all with numbered bags for you to drop your raffle ticket into. Martina dropped all three of her tickets into the bag on top of the cage containing one chinchilla Netherland Dwarf buck. She won. I put one of my tickets in there and two in the bag on top of another cage containing a black otter Netherland Dwarf buck. I won that one. The tickets were 3/$1. So the cheapest thing we did all day was get rabbits for .33 cents each.

She named her new bunny Stormy. Mine came with the name William but it’s got to change. I think I’ll name him after a Norse god or a character from Beowulf. Braggi perhaps? I don’t want to entice the spirit of Loki into our rabbitry, that’s certain.

We had a great time and are going to join the ARBA (American Rabbit Breeders Association) and intend to go to many more shows. It was fun. The people were very nice and the spirit of the thing was low- stress, supportive and kind of sweet.

As for ZsaZsa the Fat? She’s going to be a mommy soon because the one thing the judges did say about her is that she will make nice, nice babies. Anyone want a bunny?

Things do get gnarly sometimes

Some days, some weeks even, are supremely difficult for homeschoolers. Normal SAHMs have all day during which to clean, shop, cook, run errands, take their demented mothers to driving simulation tests and such. Homeschool moms have to do all of these things while concurrently trying to teach a 4th grader not to be so intimidated by the ‘N’ in that damned math problem. (An aside: Is being intimidated by the ‘N’ hardwired into some of us?)

We do manage to get more done in less time per student than schools do. We have fewer students to deal with, fewer distractions and fewer personalities, learning styles and issues. Still…it gets rough out here sometimes.

So world, yes, there are days when we are not at home tidily doing our times tables at the kitchen table. Days when lunch comes out of a greasy sack and the books are skidding around the floor of a van zooming from point A to point B (should that be point ‘N’?) and sometimes it sucks trying to hold it all together. Sometimes we don’t hold it all together and we just leave the books at home and zone out on the Smart Phone while attending to life’s little curve balls and segues. Whatever. I’ll take this over the big yellow bus any day.

Yesterday I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting another Waldorf mommy. My girls and I have a table set up at Norfolk’s Fair Trade Festival and are selling our handicrafts. This young mama and I connected over some needle-felted dolls and gnomes on my table. Once we figured out that we were both Waldorf moms our conversation found its way to the pressures and performance anxieties that often plague us and the online groups with their Perfection Mavens, which if taken to heart, can make these anxieties even worse.

Apparently I’ve reached either the age of I Don’t Care or the age of being the Giver of Unwanted Advice. Hopefully I wasn’t obnoxious but I really do believe that we must set our goals and live by them. By our own goals and standards, not by those dictated by someone who has read someone else’s words and is filtering them for us.

Most children who are involved with this educational approach go to Waldorf schools. Then they are picked up from school by one of two parents who work full-time and go home to a typical American home. They eat out, watch TV, have tons of toys. Certainly some parents who pay tuition at Waldorf schools make the effort to have a gentler, less media-centered home but probably not all. In fact I suspect that it’s probably not most of them.

So if you’re homeschooling your kids and using a Waldorf approach here is what I think: Do your best and forgive yourself when you don’t get it all just right. Not one of us does and most of our kids come out just fine. Love and intention go a long damned way. So does self-forgiveness. If you are tired or stressed or sick and you let your kid watch cartoons for 12 hours straight one day then pat yourself on the back. You needed the break and your kid will be just fine. The final product that most parents are hoping for: intelligent, caring, capable adult children, is never going to be dependent on whether or not you had one bad day.

Forget the naysayers and guilt mongers and go for it. If we do the best we can things are going to turn out okay.

Yes, we are still doing our school work! Still, we have been quite busy in the afternoons and evenings making Christmas crafts. We started out with soap and bath bombs.

Thanks to Martha Stewart’s fabulous website, we used up a lot of our melt and pour glycerin soap making these candy cane striped and peppermint scented loaf-pan soaps.

an
We had a little glycerin left over so I added lavender and chamomile scent, some lavender blossoms and blue coloring to it then poured into our snowflake mold. Aren’t they adorable?

Now, got to go start that blueberry cordial! What are you crafting this year?