What If

American Public Schools Taught about.............

1.) What Americans need to know about the European Debt Crisis?

2.) Money Management and Living within your means on a cash only commitment?

3.) Tolerance and understanding of religious differences, financial backgrounds, special needs children?

4.) How to have a successful and happy long lived marriage?

5.) Unit and Price comparison shopping and how to save money at the grocery store?

6.) Entrepreneurship and building your own businesses?

7.) How to become a Millionaire or how to retire early?

8.) How to think out of the box?

9.) Understanding the Society we live in?

10.) How to problem solve in real life situations?

11.) Obesity in America?

12.) basic wilderness survival skills?

13.) Consumerism and it's impact upon the environment?

14.) No lies but straight up American history?


Share with me your What If schools taught ideas in the comments below!

How to screw up Unschooling

1.) Live too much in your own "little world"

2.) Have no interest in learning new things

3.) Say NO all the time

4.) Have a bunch of arbitrary rules

5.) Get in your child's way

6.) Compare your child's learning to school peers and the public education model

7.) Say not now, I am busy too often

8.) Don't take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves

9.) Let fear dictate your decisions

10.) Criticize the child

11.) Devalue the learning in activities the child chooses to do

12.) Try to fit the child into the mold you have in your image for them

13.) Do not interact, play with or have conversations with your child

14.) Ignore the child much of the time

15.) Do not bring new and interesting things into the house

16.) Do not seek out new experiences

17.) Focus on the future of where your child may go rather than focus on the moment

18.) Do not celebrate the child for who they are in their authentic form

19.) Panic and throw textbooks and worksheets in front of them

20.) Do not facilitate a learning environment or fun activities

Hair, Hair, It is JUST HAIR!

My 365 Day Project of Extremes was kicked off November 1 and what better way to kick it off with an extreme and radical hair cut? After all it is JUST HAIR and I do not see how a stupid haircut can say so many things about a person. Americans place so much emphasis on image that has led to Plastic Surgeons getting wealthy it is almost surreal.

Why does hair have such a social implication? How does one hair say so much about a person? When did society determine the "proper" look based on hair styles and clothing? Why does hair have so much impact on another image of you? Why does hair establish your social standings, groups you may be involved with or bring negative attention to you? Why does our hair have so much to say?

I did this to my hair knowing I was to have a house full of family visitors the very next day, as I do not get out much, I needed to get re-actions somehow so used my unsuspecting family members as part of the experiment! No, I had not been drinking or doing any weird drugs, although if I had been, I am sure I would of gone WAY more extreme than I did and would have at least had some sort of lame excuse!

Nope, no excuse here other than that was the  first extreme thing I could think of that would push me way out of my own comfort zone of already leading a life that many consider extreme in several areas. I wanted to do something that was so not me, that was quite harmless and who knew it would turn out to be OMG FUN FUN FUN!

It became a hair cut day all around with the girls, each doing their own versions of extreme, my adult daughter announcing now that my 365 day project of extremes has become a duel between us two! Now THAT sounds fun! Corin even got in on the fun with leaving a front section of her hair long, although not as extreme as us two older woman, it is something she is comfortable with that she considers extreme, although  I consider it to be simply a more modern hair cut for girls.

When family arrived and after posting these photos on face book, oh and a trip to Walmart's I am for sure amused by reactions over HAIR.

I have heard,

"Why are you drawing negative attention to yourself?"

"It shows you are not grown up and are a teenager still"

"It is okay for your daughter but you are too old and need to grow up"

"Why would you do that for?"

" Only troubled teens do stuff like that to their hair"

"Were you drinking?"

"What the hell?"

I have also gotten a few AWESOME, COOLS and Wows but those were much fewer and tend to live out side the box already.

At Walmarts I must admit, I was in frugal shopping mode so I was so heavily concentrated on making affordable purchases and totally oblivious to onlookers. I did however hear in the car from a giggling hubby and my oldest daughter about the looks we had received! Yet how do they know I did not just have brain surgery or some other operation where they needed to shave my head? Is this what it feels like to have something noticeably different about you that brings disapproving, nasty looks from others?

Why does hair have any social role to begin with? IT IS HAIR, only hair and my hair should be done with what ever I will of it and really should not even be noticed as weird, unacceptable or just freaky to others. Why is it okay for a teen to color their hair in funky colors and have a variety of hair cuts but not someone in their 40's? What does age have to do with hair?

Hair can determine out of assumptions that

You are a Redneck , Lesbian, Monk or Certain Nuns, Slave, Poor, Troubled, Military, Jamaican, Hippie,Punk and more! Haircuts can tell if you belong to a certain subculture and has a long history of social and religious practices.


I see it as an outlet for creative expression and it should be up to  the person that it is growing on to decide what they would like done with it. Hair can be fun, if you don't like what happened, well it can grow back!

I decided I really would not look all that bad if I had completely shaved my head, maybe not as nice as Demi Moore looks shaved but still............not bad, not bad at all. From a frugality point of view......no more shampoo or conditioner needed, no need to feel the need to dye my gray hair. No more complaining family members as my hair sheds worse than a dog about my hair being all over everything, no more putting my hair up when I go for a bike ride, or prepare a meal ( to ensure hair is NOT part of the diet for dinner!)

From  a Frugal mind set.............. shaved hair makes sense!

How does hubby feel? Why he helped me cut it this way in the first place and told us to just call him Rico, our hair stylist! and in true hubby fashion makes me feel like a beautiful Goddess , gotta love a good natured man!

A 365 Day Project:EXTREME

I will be creating another tab here 365 for another page you will be sure to want to check often! I have been thinking of doing something for a 365 day project that I will be starting NOVEMBER 1 ! 

I was having a hard time coming up with ideas, I was thinking something to do with green living, early retirement, unschooling etc when my daughter Nicole came up with the idea to use the theme of EXTREME for my project and I must admit, this intrigued me greatly!  After all many of my lifestyle choices would be considered radical and extreme by mainstream conventional thoughts. So BRILLIANT it sounds like a plan that is bound to be interesting as Extreme and radical are broad categories that can cover quite a variety of ground!

I will be challenging myself to try new EXTREME things and challenge conventional thoughts doing something daily that may be considered extreme or radical, I already have a few ideas in mind to kick it off but would LOVE for you all to share ideas for me to try during this year long project!

So share your ideas for me in the comments here or if you want to join me in this challenge leave a comment with a link to your 365 page as well! Bound to be an interesting year full of surprises!