I was in a bit of a funk last week. We were exceptionally busy, with something every single night. Twice we had different events happening concurrently in two different locations. REAL moms on Wed night. Furnace shopping. Soccer games in the rain and in the dark. We were so happy to get a real paycheck that we were a bit too vigorous in paying outstanding bills, leaving me with not enough grocery money to get us easily to the next paycheck. So I was trying to figure out dinners I could make with ingredients on hand, that were also easy to eat in the van or at a soccer game. Ugh. I was physically and mentally exhausted by the end of the week.
After seeing my husband off to work while it was still dark, I twice went back to bed and slept until the children woke me. I needed that little release so I'm choosing not to feel guilty about it, but it did mean school was less organized last week and more on the fly. One of the few things that sometimes gets me down about homeschooling is that so much depends on the mom/teacher. My children are not going to be organized without me. The younger ones are not going to stay on task without me. Rarely do things get done without me saying that they need to get done. So when I'm not on my game, they're not either.
On the other hand, I love that homeschooling is not just what we do between 9 and 3. It's our lifestyle. It naturally ebbs and flows. Last week it ebbed. Maybe this week it will flow!
One day last week I sent C and Little Man upstairs with a math game involving marbles, which they happily played together for nearly an hour. After a while I realized it had been rather quiet so I went to check on them and found this:
C is feeling confident enough in his reading to begin reading to Little Man!!! What a blessing. Moments like this make it all worthwhile. And I would have missed this if they were both away at institutional school. I am so thankful that the homeschool lifestyle is forgiving of "funk" weeks. I am so thankful that God loves our children more than we do, and that He allows them to thrive in spite of and in the midst of life circumstances that are not always ideal.
I'm so glad He loves me.
Dear Lord, thank you for loving me even when I'm tired and grumpy and cold and whiney. I don't know why you love me so much, but I know you do. And it changes everything for me. Help me to redeem the time this week. To be faithful in homeschooling, as you have called me to be. Help me to put the children above myself, and to balance discipline with mercy as I parent and teach. Thank you that the tasks you have given me are not too great for your strength. I depend on You, oh Lord. Thank you for being so dependable. I love you. Amen.
I have had an awful time with allergies in the last few weeks, causing general yuck in the throat and laryngitis. On top of that, adjusting to new contacts and I've been out of the loop. I've slept in later many a day, and also have had the sacrifice of time in school. We were at CW this past weekend and met some Indians for a new program and one was a Christian who had same philosophy of education I had and he was so totally in support of homeschooling. I also met a cartographer in the Continental Army and he is a school teacher in real life, about to retire. He said if he and his wife had it to do again, they'd private school or homeschool. Hang in there! Oh and I know about being too aggressive paying bills, etc. I'm sorry that happened and hope you can figure out a good budget! I'm still trying to figure out our budget up here!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Laurie
{{{{Hugs}}}}
ReplyDeleteWe all have those weeks. (((Pam))) We have taken this week off. I had high hopes for accomplishing much - but I've done nothing much. I just needed a break!
ReplyDeleteI love the pic of your boys! Too sweet!
Blessings
Leslie