Busy Social Schedule & Toys Toys Toys

I thought I'd be posting all the time while we were here but that obviously hasn't been the case. Our social schedule is so much busier here than it ever was at home. I know part of that is due to the fact that we're in another country and we're supposed to be exploring, discovering and having fun. But when you think about it, as unschoolers,  shouldn't we be doing the exact same thing at home!? Of course we should! So that's something I plan on doing more of when we get home--exploring, discovering, having fun and being much more social.

Another thing I've noticed being over here, and actually, I noticed this when we started hanging around more homeschoolers in L.A. too, is that when Jerry was in private school we were part of a culture of people who buy a lot of stuff--and a lot of stuff for their kids. I'm not a big shopper and we really are pretty frugal, at least compared to the other families in the private schools of Los Angeles. But now that we're not spending as much time around that circle of people I find myself constantly embarrassed at the amount of stuff Jerry has. It really bothers me! One of the kids over here took a look at all the games Jerry has for his DS and said "Wow! Are you a millionaire!?" Granted those games are $75 each over here, but still, he does have lots. Too many maybe.

So I've been saying no more when he wants to buy things (going against the "say yes more" rule of unschooling)--and he always wants to buy things! He really likes to have stuff. I've always thought that if he wants something and there's no pressing reason not to buy it we should go ahead and get it. But when I think about his playroom (yes, there is an entire room in our house dedicated to his "stuff") I wonder if maybe I've made a mistake. Maybe I should have said no more and put that money in savings instead. Or purchased stocks with it. I don't know. I do know that Jerry has more stuff than any kid I've met since we left the Waldorf School and it worries me.

We're off to Rotorua tonight for a weekend in a hotel with Warren and then a few nights with some homeschooling families down there. We'll be seeing lots of geothermal activity, riding in the Zorb, taking a gondola ride up to a luge track, visiting the Agrodome and more!