So far, it's worth the no media rule

We love our son's new school.

How could we not? On the first day, the kids shucked dry ears of corn to grind into cornmeal to make cornbread. There's a nature table in the room, and a loft. They play outside for an hour every day. Later this month, they're going on a field trip to an apple orchard. Next they're going to make their own butter.

The parents get together to learn how to waterfelt and talk about how they get teary-eyed just walking through the doors to this wonderful utopia of joyful learning (maybe it's partly due to the lovely picolo music that one of the teachers plays in front of the building every morning):

"I just knew this was the right choice for us when the teachers knew that our daughter's name meant Earth."

"We knew from the minute she was born that we wanted to send her to a Waldorf school."

The bookstore sells organic yarn, beeswax, and uber-cute knit hats.

I'd probably cry out of happiness, too, if it were part of the Minneapolis Public School system (on that note, please vote YES for the referendum in November...)

Best of all, when I proposed bikepooling with another family, feeling slightly nervous that they'd think I was crazy for wanting to bike with two 3-year-olds and a 1-year-old, the first family I talked to readily agreed to the plan. In fact, they were already planning the same thing. True to the Waldorf spirit of promoting learning through physical acitivity, the bike rack is full every day.

I think we're going to fit right in.

The Results Are In

I know you've been on pins and needles waiting for this announcement.

Grand winners: Team Emily/KC, with a combined 242 minutes!! Congrats! And as part of the prize package, KC will host the next ab contest on her blog, The Savvy Mom. Look for it there for Sept., and back here in Oct.

Runners-up: Team Gena/Sheila, with 155 minutes.

Next up, and winning the kegel division: Team Mary/Molly, with 62 minutes

And, if Jamie reports in, she could help Team Jamie/Pat, with a current 68.5 minutes, with only one team member reporting.

Congrats and thanks to all for the inspiration!!