FAQ
These are all actual questions that I’m asked quite frequently, so to save myself time and refrain from using the canned response feature in Gmail, here are my best answers to all of your lovely questions. Does this mean I saying, “Stop emailing me?” No.
Feel free to contact me with any additional questions you may have. I enjoy communicating with each of you. This is just a place you can come to get the information you need quickly.
Who is Hannibal?
Hannibal is my husband. We’ve been married for three years. Here is more on Hannibal.
Who is Mooch, and how old is she?
Mooch is my eldest daughter. She was born in January of 2004. She just turned eight. Here is more on Mooch.
Who is Fuss, and how old is she?
Fuss is my youngest daughter. She was born on New Years Eve in 2009. She just turned two. Here is more on her.
Does Mooch go to school? If so, are you doing supplemental work with her at home?
Mooch now attends an independent private school. She was homeschooled for five years and began regular school at age six in first grade.
I definitely supplement her work, particularly in math. I always will. I don’t believe any school will give my children the balance and edge that they need to get ahead. Hannibal reads to her each night. We discuss literature, science, history, and politics. The math supplementation is typically drilling basic facts, but there are some online math games I like for her to take advantage of as well.
How did you get Mooch into all those commercials?
The short answer is that she got herself into them. Mooch has wanted to act since age three and I told her to wait. I wasn’t sure she’d handle “rejection” well back then. She was persistent. At age six, she asked again, and I told her I would try my best to open doors for her.
We had pictures taken by Mike Quain — a local photographer, who took my pictures when I was in my early twenties. I put her in acting classes and discussed the importance of honing her craft. I submitted her photo to agencies that represent children, and we got several calls. The first one she interviewed with wanted her. She began to audition and booked the very first audition she ever went on. Mooch has been hooked ever since.
Though I do, she never tires of the audition grind. She has done four more commercials since then, and she is now in the union. It wasn’t magic. I don’t have connections. The fact that she’s only auditioned about thirty two times and she’s booked five of those times shows that she is simply hungry for it and committed to it. The moment she is not, she won’t be doing it anymore.
Is Fuss an actress, too? I saw her on Sesame Street.
No. Fuss is incredibly shy. It may be a phase, but given my shyness as a child, I don’t think it is. We get asked all the time, and Mooch’s agent wants to represent her, but I don’t believe she would enjoy it. I’m not really into pushing kids in a direction they aren’t trying to go.
Fuss did one segment of Sesame Street back when she wasn’t shy at all. It was through a relative, and she had a blast! She was only one at the time.
What is your exact schedule with Fuss everyday?
Here is her daily rhythm:
6:30am Wake
7:00am Dressed, etc.
7:30am Leave to take Mooch to school
8:00am Breakfast in car
9:00am Circle Time
Includes about 4 songs (1 pertaining to season or theme, and others teaching months of year, days of week, name spelling), Calendar, Weather, Feelings, Feeding Fish, Watering Plants
9:20am Work Time
She chooses activities off of the shelves and does them on her mat or at her table. She usually finishes about 5-6 of them, but sometimes she spends the whole time on one. It’s up to her.)
10:15am Snack
10:25am Outdoor Play (Usually with her friend Camila — our next door neighbor)
11:20am Wash Hands, Set Table, and Pour own water
11:30am Lunch
12:00pm Book Nook (As many stories as she wants, but I usually have to cap her off at 5)
12:20pm Potty
12:30-2:30pm Nap
2:35pm Potty and put bottoms back on
2:40pm Leave to pick up Mooch
2:45pm Snack in car
3:00pm-4:00pm Getting Mooch and taking her to an extracurricular activity most days.
4:00pm Park (2nd Outdoor time — slide, swings, etc.)
5:00pm Home
5:15pm Block time (I build with her, so Mooch can have homework time)
5:30pm DEAR Time (Drop Everything And Read) Mooch reads silently, and I play sight words games and/or read with Fuss
6:00pm Fuss sets the table and Mooch puts water on the table for each person (while I plate the food, which was likely prepared during nap)
6:30pm Dinner
7:00pm Bath with Hannibal (while I clean the kitchen)
7:15pm Cuddle time for Fuss
7:30pm Sleep (Free time for Mommy and Mooch)
From 8-8:30pm is when we read to and cuddle with Mooch. After that, we are free to do our own stuff.
How do you stay so organized?
It’s really just who I am. I was the kid who was inspired by Hello Kitty pencil boxes and three-sectioned hampers. I don’t know how to be any other way. I manage my time effectively and plan a lot. I email myself lists. I also have a calendar both on the wall in our command center and on my phone. I can’t really teach anyone how to be this way, but here are a couple of sites that can! iHeart Organizing and Organizing Junkie
When do you do your family menu?
I do it on Sundays just before grocery shopping for the week. Then I post it on our fridge — like this. 
Do you let your kids watch television?
Absolutely. I believe in balance. They watch very little, but they are allowed to watch on the weekends. Mooch likes Zula Patrol, Little Amadeus, The Cosby Show and Biz Kids.
Fuss is too young to watch television, and she really isn’t interested.
Do you have a smartphone?
Ha! Yes, my first smartphone was a Palm Treo, and boy do I miss that phone! Now I have a G2, and the calendar on it fits my needs. I’m with T-Mobile.
I love your ideas! What other mommy or marriage blogs do you recommend?
I don’t have a lot of extra time, but when I do, I get a lot of mommy ideas from Pinterest, and from Counting Coconuts, and from The Princess and the Tot. I don’t read any marriage blogs, but if you know of any good ones, do recommend them.
My own blog is not really supposed to be a mommy blog. It just sort of happens that way, because I’m a mommy.
When do you have time to design anything, because I’m having a hard time balancing work and kids???
My kids are both out of the equation by 8:30. For the first hour and a half, my husband and I spend time together. Some nights, that is only an hour, so we can get a jump on work. After that, we work and social network (which builds our brand) until about 11pm. He often has to work even later, because he doesn’t get to write during nap time like I do.
We devote three nights per week to ourselves entirely. Monday, Thursday, and Saturday nights, we do not get on computers at all unless we’re watching TV shows on one.
How were you able to afford so many Montessori activities, because I find them expensive?
Gradually is the best answer. I also make a lot of stuff. I figure out the goal of an activity and create it out of things that I have. My kids get a lot of educational stuff for birthdays and Kwanzaa. Here are some places I’ve shopped: Kid Advance and Montessori Services.
Is your husband pesco-vegan, too?
No, he eats chicken and turkey also, but he doesn’t do dairy either. My menu normally accommodates that about once per week. There are so many crossover meals — tacos (w/ vegan meat substitute), spaghetti with TVP, salmon, and casseroles — that I don’t have to cook meat every night. He eats what the rest of us eat. When we eat out, he may order chicken, but lately he has been on a fish kick.
When do you change the activities on Fuss’ shelves?
Every two weeks. I used to do it weekly, because she was getting bored with activities faster. Soon, I’ll switch to monthly. I plan her year in advance — theme-wise.
Do you have a housekeeper?
Heck to the no. I clean this joint with the help of my loving husband, who washes dishes regularly, cleans the stairs, takes out the trash, and supports me endlessly. We don’t have the luxury of having a housekeeper right now. I do floors every other day, and I tidy up every day. It also helps when every one puts things back where they go. For that to happen, though, things have to have a place to go (see the paragraph about organizing). Side note: My windows aren’t clean.
Do you spend all night blogging, lesson planning, and researching?
No. I blog during nap. I lesson plan on Sundays, and I change her activities that day also. I research education in most of my spare moments. I’m obsessed with it.
When is there time for you and Hannibal to hang out and you know … ?
We hang out specifically three nights per week — Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.
Every night, we put in at least thirty minutes of face time during our cuddle time from 8:30-9pm.
You say Montessori a lot. What books have you read? Do you use any other curricula?
I’ve read The Montessori Method by Maria Montessori, Teaching Montessori in the Home, Teach Me to Do It Myself: Montessori Activities for You and Your Child by Maja Pitamic to name a few. I have also studied Reggio Emilia and Waldorf, but Montessori remains my favorite in terms of freedom, results, and remaining grounded.
Do you tell Fuss what to get off of the shelves? How can you be sure her learning is balanced if you don’t?
No. She goes where she pleases and I follow her. The classroom is designed so that as long as she makes her way around it by the end of the two week period, she will have met our goals. If not, I can put the same materials out in a few months and revisit them. She’s only two. There is time.
You must have a huge living space if Fuss has her own classroom. Where do you store your materials? Is that room the kids’ playroom also?
Mooch decided she wanted to share a room with her sister several months ago. First, we used our spare bedroom for our office, which we loved. I was drowning in supplies and doing homeschool in the living room or hallway each day. As she got older, we needed a space that was devoted to school time. We sacrificed our office.
There are absolutely no toys in the classroom. Those are in their room. They can play anywhere besides our bedroom and the classroom.
Do you follow a set curriculum?
Not really. We have Waldorf dolls and we follow some of its methods. We also have some Reggio materials. Though our method is largely Montessori, I supplement that to suit both kids’ learning styles. If I see something on Pinterest and it looks useful, I won’t reject it because it’s not Montessori.
Have you monetized this blog?
No. I don’t monetize my personal blog, because I want to keep the space sacred and realistic. Blogging is my therapy. I don’t do it for comments or money or giveaways. We monetize our other website, Komplicated.com, which is devoted to geeks of color, and has nothing to do with marriage and family.
You have said Fuss is shy. Do you attribute that to homeschooling? Don’t you think your children need socialization?
Both of my kids were homeschooled, but there is NOTHING shy about Mooch. Kids are different. I spent all of elementary and middle school shy, and “regular” school couldn’t change that. I think she inherited it.
There is a difference between socialization and socializing. Socialization is the process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs, and ideologies. Socializing is interacting with other people or coming together for a common purpose. My kids get tons of the latter, and I’m not interested in the former, quite frankly. No one in this family really conforms, and I’m okay with that.
They have neighbors, family, friends, and extracurricular activities. That’s enough.
Does Hannibal agree with homeschooling?
Absolutely. When I got pregnant with Fuss, he said, “Can you do with this one whatever you did with that other one?” I laughed, and responded, “l’ll try.” They are very different kids and that is noticeable already. Fuss is definitely thriving in homeschool, though. Hannibal is impressed with her development and he trusts me completely.
-
Flickr Photos
More Photos Very Pinteresting
This text is not inteneded to be seen. Rather, it is junk text to force themes with auto widths to extend to there full measures. This text is not inteneded to be seen. Rather, it is junk text to force themes with auto widths to extend to there full measures. This text is not inteneded to be seen. Rather, it is junk text to force themes with auto widths to extend to there full measures.
Connect
My Sites
Who am I?
Author: Myshell Tabu
-
