Another wow day. I am just mad at myself because I have pretty much not taken any pictures. The talks and workshops have been mostly amazing, however, and very affirming.
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Orion slept pretty restlessly, but I managed to drag myself out of bed in time to go grab some free breakfast for everybody! It wasn't a bad spread, except the scrambled eggs had ham and cheese in them, which I tried to pick around for me and Orion. Then come to find out later, they make their eggs with cream. Oops. Poor kid is doomed to get alot of allergens this weekend I think. I have already stopped him several times from almost mooching Cheerios and such from other toddlers.
I was scheduled to work at the registration table from 9am to noon, but it was still awesome because I was in the same room where the talks were. That worked out well because I really wanted to hear Scott Noelle speak. We got a few people coming in and paying for the whole weekend just to come to his one main presentation! I started getting his Daily Groove emails awhile ago and agree with pretty much everything he says. I have forwarded them to Ron several times, and I wanted him to get the chance to hear Scott as well. So I was really glad he made it down into the main room right before his talk started. I think there is something more powerful about men hearing things from other men... at least when they turn out to be somebody Ron can relate to, and when Scott started his presentation with Beavis and Butthead jokes, I knew we were on the right track! I had no idea this was going to be the first time Scott spoke in public. He did a great job! He has an internal happiness about him that is really inspiring.
Lunch turned out to be a stroke of good luck. We were planning to head back into town somewhere, but on our way out we passed another attendee who told us the Chinese buffet right in the same parking lot as the hotel was decent. Apparently it took us a few minutes to process the information, because we still got in the car and were thinking we would head out. Instead we drove about 100 feet and parked closer to the restaurant LOL. Dang, that place turned out to be good! And Orion has discovered a love of shrimp.
More good stuff in the afternoon, and some not so good... I loved Diana's talk about When Mama ain't happy.... There have been so many times in my life when I hear something I already know, but somehow it strikes me differently. It is like getting a little reminder. There was a moment in Diana's presentation like that, when she was talking about seeing your child as a new indiviual each and every day. It just struck me as really powerful and deep. It has become like a little internal mantra for me, and I like it so much I want to write it on something and hang it up in the house. It also reminds me to treat myself the same way! I tend to beat myself up for alot of things, but I am working on letting that go.
Jan Hunt did a neat little circle on her Parenting Cards next. We each chose one and went around the circle discussing our topic. I got one about children's work being play - amen to that! At the same time, Ron was checking out the dad's group, and that did not go so well.... He got so upset he left in fact. Part of the reason had started brewing the day before. While this conference is for unschoolers in general, there is a large faction of people that consider themselves "radical unschoolers", and many of them have strong feelings about their way being the "right way". I guess I see myself as middle of the road in this respect. There are some aspects I am OK with, and others I am not.... Luckily, we have met several great families that share our values, so we don't feel like outsiders. And that is the way I would hope it would be for everybody, but apparently Ron said there were a few people that were coming across as very demeaning and arrogant toward anybody who doesn't make all the right "radical" choices.
That really bummed me out to hear, but at least he said there were a couple guys trying to act as moderator. He just hates that kind of thing and got disgusted and left. I am happy to say he still seems to be finding the overall experience quite valuble.
Dinner was Baja Fresh... gotta report on the food! Yeah, we should have done something local, but I didn't want to go far from the hotel. And then we did just a little bit of the talent show, where I ended up getting one of the biggest scares of my life! The stage was raised up and had a skirt around it. Orion discovered he could get under there, and I was thinking it was no big deal. I was pretty sure I was watching like a hawk around all sides for him to come out, but somehow I missed him. After several minutes, I got to thinking maybe I should check on him, and he wasn't under there anymore! I didn't panic at first as I figured he had headed for the toy room or the game room. Nope, and nope. So I started looking around the entire room, which was VERY crowded, and couldn't find him. That was when the panic slowly started setting in. I talked to some folks standing near the door and told them not to let him outside if they saw him. Then I started going over the inside more thoroughly and told a few people I knew to let me know if they saw him. Ron had gone up to the room already because his knee was bothering him, so I called to tell him what was going on. My biggest fear of course was that he had gone outside and taken off. After a few minutes, I figured I should at least look outside, and sure enough, there he was playing on the sidewalk! There were several older kids playing right outside the building, which I think made it look like the cool place to be. Oy, that is an experience I hope not to repeat, but what a relief when I found him!
I will leave you with one lonely picture from the talent show. Most of them came out blurry, but this one was kindof cute. And I can't imagine a post without a picture!
More ETA! This was one of the highlights of the conference, and I didn't even write about it. I was hanging out in the parking lot with Orion while he jumped in a puddle, and then Dad came over and decided to join him. Awwww
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