There’s a special treat at the bottom of this post. To be able to watch it, all you need to do is either a) leave a comment responding to one of the questions below or b) ignore that invitation and scroll down and press play (I’m not nearly committed enough to enforce the rules with some techy lock thing!).

SBJ and I are going on holiday! My mum and dad have just retired and are having a nomadic year of celebratory travelling. They’re currently caravaning around the southern South Island and we’re going to join them for a week.

SBJ in Queenstown at five months. He doesn’t fit in that frontpack now, that’s for sure.

I’ll have a bit of internet access no doubt, but publishing on the blog will be either difficult or annoying or both without my laptop. So I basically need you to do my job for me, ok?

Whenever you feel like checking in, please come to this post and remind yourself what’s active at the moment.

First up, I’m planning a series on the broad subject of how children learn and how that overlaps with ‘education.’

It’s going to cover learning, schooling, homeschooling, unschooling, and anything else you suggest. I’ve recruited a marvellous primary school teacher to contribute guest posts, and I’m working on other guests. So please tell me:

• what topics you would like us to discuss
• what specific or general questions you have about your kids’ education, or education in your country
• your suggestions of who would be good to write a guest post in this series, perhaps about their experience of learning and education, or their kids’ or perhaps from some professional point of view.

Thanks! It’s going to be great, I think. Please add your thoughts to the bottom of this post.

Next, here’s a summary of the different threads that are in the middle of conversations or awaiting your suggestions and ideas. It’d be fab if you could add a comment to a different one each time you visit over the next week or so, to keep things moving in my absence. Good plan, eh?

• You are Brilliant and Amazing! Join the dozen people who have bared their brilliance to encourage us. Go on…
• With no new posts to catch up on, you’ll have a bit of time, if you’re a parent, to write a patchwork parenting manifesto, and tell us what works for your family.
• What would make parenting easier? What tips do you have? What discussions would you like us to have?
• Tell us about having good neighbours and how to get to know them.
• How do you manage to get enough sleep? Tell us what works for you, or what you’d like to do (and we can keep you honest!)
• Who are your fictional mentors? Which characters in books or movies have inspired you to be like them?
• Have you ever given up anything for Lent? Tell us about it, and think about what we could maybe do together this Lent.
• And if you have anything else you’d like us to discuss on Sacraparental, drop you idea in the Suggestion Box.

Thanks! Once you’ve done one of those, your reward is below. It’s a medley of six-ish-year-old Karen’s spiritual journey in the British show Outnumbered. I saw it years ago and was reminded of it this week. Still hilarious, I reckon.