Today started off lousy. Real lousy. I was late getting dressed, late getting breakfast, and late getting in the groove for pretty much everything. In turn, the kids were late in getting the message-- that mommy was not prepared for antics of any kind. My patience was suffering and everyone else was too as a result.
L's school time was behind schedule which made me agitated because I hate when I'm not on the ball with that. S was acting up and not wanting to do ANYTHING constructive. Add to that a pile of laundry glaring at me while the dishes yelled my name. Ay carumba, my blood pressure was rising by the second.
Needless to say, at about the 11th hour (literally 11:00am) I could feel myself getting ready to toss in the towel for the whole day..... and then I remembered it. The do-over. I could do it all over. Namely, my attitude and outlook. I could choose to stop the madness. Relax, Michelle. Start your day over. Breathe. Pray. Breathe again. Now apologize to your kids.
I promptly told L we were taking a break to chill out before lunch. She looked relieved. Then, when we were done eating, we had school. And read a story. And made tee-pees while S played with playdough (for over an hour).
And it was so much better this time around.
The beauty of the do-over.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Divide and Conquer
One thing I've really been working on with the kids is gratefulness. Whining is a big no-no in our house. As is begging. They know mommy simply won't listen to it. If you wanna be heard, you better bring your voice down an octave or two, kid. And if you wanna throw a fit, I'm not just going to ignore you where you are. You have to go in your room (or, more often for Mr. Tantrum, be PUT there) and do that without an audience. If you try to come back out to perform, you'll simply be put back in. And honestly, after a couple times of that, it's squelched your whole goal. Irritating and time-consuming for mommy? Yes. Effective? Yes.
Lately, we've upped our chores around the house. L (5) always cleared the table of her plate, made her bed daily, and set the table on occasion, but now, since starting kindergarten, it's all more on a regular basis. She takes all her laundry back to her room and puts it away in the proper place. She helps me fold all the towels and blankets for the whole family. In addition, she dusts the living room now, and is in charge of straightening it for our small group Bible study that we host bi-weekly. She also washes the windows in the front rooms. Those are her regulars.
S (2 1/2 yrs) is responsible for clearing his plate and putting it in the sink since (yay!) he can reach it now! He also takes all his folded laundry back to his room for me and sets it by his dresser. (The boy tries to fold, he really does bless his heart, but it just isn't quite happening yet.) He's also an awesome shoe straightener, so our front room shoe rack always looks neat and orderly these days!
For now, N (9 mo.) is off the hook. :)
Tim and I went back and forth on whether we should pay L an allowance for the work she does. For now, we decided that we won't pay her. Our reasoning is simply based on the fact that we want her learn that, in this family, we all pull our weight and share the burden. Her working needs to be out of a heart of gratefulness and love for the family. Will we possibly give her an allowance in the future? Most likely yes. But for now, we want her (and S) to work simply because they need to contribute their part. I understand fully the logic of an allowance to teach proper money management. And we will get there. But for our children, and for our family, we felt the need to first instill the lesson of working just for the sake of accomplishing a task well.
All this to say, I've found that part of teaching my kids gratefulness is being loving myself--and that includes overlooking the "kid-like" way some chores are done. That stack of clothes S took to his room doesn't need to be straight. His hands can't quite manage that yet. And L's bed doesn't need to look perfect --that's not the point (after all, she is going to sleep in it again in a few hours). The point is to cultivate good stewardship and teach them to do their best, at whatever level that may be, and to do it cheerfully.
In teaching them, the Lord's teaching me.
Lately, we've upped our chores around the house. L (5) always cleared the table of her plate, made her bed daily, and set the table on occasion, but now, since starting kindergarten, it's all more on a regular basis. She takes all her laundry back to her room and puts it away in the proper place. She helps me fold all the towels and blankets for the whole family. In addition, she dusts the living room now, and is in charge of straightening it for our small group Bible study that we host bi-weekly. She also washes the windows in the front rooms. Those are her regulars.
S (2 1/2 yrs) is responsible for clearing his plate and putting it in the sink since (yay!) he can reach it now! He also takes all his folded laundry back to his room for me and sets it by his dresser. (The boy tries to fold, he really does bless his heart, but it just isn't quite happening yet.) He's also an awesome shoe straightener, so our front room shoe rack always looks neat and orderly these days!
For now, N (9 mo.) is off the hook. :)
Tim and I went back and forth on whether we should pay L an allowance for the work she does. For now, we decided that we won't pay her. Our reasoning is simply based on the fact that we want her learn that, in this family, we all pull our weight and share the burden. Her working needs to be out of a heart of gratefulness and love for the family. Will we possibly give her an allowance in the future? Most likely yes. But for now, we want her (and S) to work simply because they need to contribute their part. I understand fully the logic of an allowance to teach proper money management. And we will get there. But for our children, and for our family, we felt the need to first instill the lesson of working just for the sake of accomplishing a task well.
All this to say, I've found that part of teaching my kids gratefulness is being loving myself--and that includes overlooking the "kid-like" way some chores are done. That stack of clothes S took to his room doesn't need to be straight. His hands can't quite manage that yet. And L's bed doesn't need to look perfect --that's not the point (after all, she is going to sleep in it again in a few hours). The point is to cultivate good stewardship and teach them to do their best, at whatever level that may be, and to do it cheerfully.
In teaching them, the Lord's teaching me.
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Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Well, Hello There!
WHERE HAVE I BEEN??? Oh yes. Mostly here at my house! Ha. Well, it's been forever since I posted last and I thought this may be a good time to catch up on some of our happenings.
I've done a whole lotta school with L. It's been great so far (much better than I had anticipated in my mind) and managing S has been much easier lately. He's a really great communicator (aka, he LOVES to talk. a lot.), so I kind of feel like I'm involved in an endless game of 21 questions most days...BUT he really loves learning new things, so for that I'm thankful. And him being 99% potty trained now doesn't hurt either.
My curriculum is really easy to work with. We decided to use Sonlight because it focuses a lot on reading to your student, something L really loves. Here's my teacher's binder:
Looks daunting, right? Don't let the monstrosity fool you.
I've read L 5 chapter books so far, along with a smattering of other books that cover things like poetry, missionaries, world cultures, and true stories of a farm veterinarian(!). In turn, it's helped her recognize words and put her phonics into practice. She's been reading her "beginning reader" books to Silas these days, which helps her practice. Of course, we do Bible, math (which she likes much more than her mommy ever did) and handwriting. Science and history are covered on Tuesdays when she attends our church's homeschool co-op. The students also have chapel and PE on those days, as well as lunch and recess. The whole approach to schooling so far this year has been, dare I say, enjoyable!
I will admit, the colder weather has made it hard to have any quality "recess" time that bodes well with mommy's idea of an "enjoyable" outside experience. I did just purchase them rainboots for the season from a recently opened consignment store in our area so they can enjoy the puddles outside without getting their socks wet. L would go outside in a windstorm if she could. This girl is gonna be a mountaineer one day. She could care less how cold it is, or how rainy. She'd climb a tree even if it were covered in ice. Just send her outside and she's happy. Same goes for her brother, actually. And her sister.
Come to think of it, buying a farm would really make sense for my daily routine--well, as far as the vast, open expanse of land is concerned.
I could really do without any farm animals in my life right now thankyouverymuch.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
You Call That a Mess?
Sometimes learning is messy, and usually, if I've done a good job teaching, things are definitely out of place. And often, it "messes up" my house to some degree for at least some length of time. But learning is what I've gotta be all about. It's what I signed up for.
One thing I've learned is that messy is relative.
Things that I used to consider messy when I had no children (or one child) are no longer messy. Undone dishes for a couple hours? Meh. Laundry heaped on the living room couch? At least it's clean. Sparkly remnants of craft time strewn on the dining room floor? I've got a vacuum for that.
C'mon Michelle. Life is good. Life is great. Relax a little. (says my husband) And stop worrying about what others might think in that imaginary world you've created in your head.
I must credit my mom for being a living example of enjoying God's goodness in the little things and not stressing over mess that can be cleaned up, even if it means that, in the end, I will be more tired than I'd prefer. She was always so positive. Thanks mom!
One thing I've learned is that messy is relative.
Things that I used to consider messy when I had no children (or one child) are no longer messy. Undone dishes for a couple hours? Meh. Laundry heaped on the living room couch? At least it's clean. Sparkly remnants of craft time strewn on the dining room floor? I've got a vacuum for that.
C'mon Michelle. Life is good. Life is great. Relax a little. (says my husband) And stop worrying about what others might think in that imaginary world you've created in your head.
I must credit my mom for being a living example of enjoying God's goodness in the little things and not stressing over mess that can be cleaned up, even if it means that, in the end, I will be more tired than I'd prefer. She was always so positive. Thanks mom!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Hiccups
Some people have asked how I manage to homeschool L, yet make time to care for and mother my other two kids. Honestly, I'm not sure.
N the baby, is quite easy to handle these days. She loves to watch others from her pack 'n play or be on the floor, crawling about and getting into simple baby mischief. And sometimes she naps in the morning, but not often enough these days. For now, though, she's easy to manage, and I'll take it.
My son, S, on the other hand is less manageable and totally 2. Sure, he has his days where it's easy to commandeer him. But, in general, my creative hat is worn daily specifically for this dude.
Thankfully, he loves playdough. Colorful, pliable, MESSY playdough. He also loves playing with dry beans. The kind that find their home anywhere but inside their convenient Rubbermaid bin. He also loves throwing fits at the most inconvenient times. But the fit is usually thrown due to boredom (or his 2 year molars) and that's where I must rise to the occasion: I include him in storytime. I use songs to help him learn concepts with us. I send him on missions to make me coffee (!) or buy his sister some diapers (he loves pretend play right now). I build him a fort (or give him a box) to play in. I cut up tons of scrap paper into random shapes and let him paste to his heart's content using a gluestick. I set up a starting line for his "races" down the upstairs hallway. I could go on.
On Friday, he was a challenging handful. Today, he was wonderful handful. He's a ball of energy that must be managed and engaged, and the Lord has given him to me...to enjoy. My husband reminded me the other day that S is tenderhearted, needing much more demonstrative displays of affection than L ever did (cuddling, conversation, calm tones of speech lest his feelings be hurt). I needed that reminder.
Friday was an OK day for S. Today was a good day. I'll focus on today.
N the baby, is quite easy to handle these days. She loves to watch others from her pack 'n play or be on the floor, crawling about and getting into simple baby mischief. And sometimes she naps in the morning, but not often enough these days. For now, though, she's easy to manage, and I'll take it.
My son, S, on the other hand is less manageable and totally 2. Sure, he has his days where it's easy to commandeer him. But, in general, my creative hat is worn daily specifically for this dude.
Thankfully, he loves playdough. Colorful, pliable, MESSY playdough. He also loves playing with dry beans. The kind that find their home anywhere but inside their convenient Rubbermaid bin. He also loves throwing fits at the most inconvenient times. But the fit is usually thrown due to boredom (or his 2 year molars) and that's where I must rise to the occasion: I include him in storytime. I use songs to help him learn concepts with us. I send him on missions to make me coffee (!) or buy his sister some diapers (he loves pretend play right now). I build him a fort (or give him a box) to play in. I cut up tons of scrap paper into random shapes and let him paste to his heart's content using a gluestick. I set up a starting line for his "races" down the upstairs hallway. I could go on.
On Friday, he was a challenging handful. Today, he was wonderful handful. He's a ball of energy that must be managed and engaged, and the Lord has given him to me...to enjoy. My husband reminded me the other day that S is tenderhearted, needing much more demonstrative displays of affection than L ever did (cuddling, conversation, calm tones of speech lest his feelings be hurt). I needed that reminder.
Friday was an OK day for S. Today was a good day. I'll focus on today.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Why Homeschool?
So, I figured I'd get into why I do what I do. Honestly, if you'd asked me 5 years ago, homeschooling was not even an option. It wasn't on my radar. I remember telling Tim, "I'm just not that type of mom...I think kids should go to a building for school. Another building than here." :) Well, obviously I changed my mind. My husband did not change my mind, although I would have listened and complied had he asked me. I really believe the Lord changed my heart so that I would consider all my options. And that He did so in order that I would have joy in my decision.
Now, I want to be sure I make myself clear---homeschooling is not, I believe, the end all-be all. It is, however, what I prefer. This year. And right now. So, I've chosen to do it. Not because I don't think public school provides a good education. We're in a great school district. Not because I think it's the only Biblical way. God gives us grace in making these decisions and I don't believe there is one RIGHT way. Honestly, it's because I want God to be an integral part and obvious focus of my child's education and I know that will not happen in public school. I also know that I can not afford private school for all my children, and if I could, I still wouldn't want to spend the money. Since I went to Christian private school (only because my mom worked there), I know that even private school has its faults. I also know that I have my faults. To put it bluntly, any school environment has its faults. But, I've determined to put aside my insecurities and try to teach my children. Try with all my might. And have some confidence in how the Lord's gifted me. And take it a day at a time. Because who knows what tomorrow will bring.
Now, I want to be sure I make myself clear---homeschooling is not, I believe, the end all-be all. It is, however, what I prefer. This year. And right now. So, I've chosen to do it. Not because I don't think public school provides a good education. We're in a great school district. Not because I think it's the only Biblical way. God gives us grace in making these decisions and I don't believe there is one RIGHT way. Honestly, it's because I want God to be an integral part and obvious focus of my child's education and I know that will not happen in public school. I also know that I can not afford private school for all my children, and if I could, I still wouldn't want to spend the money. Since I went to Christian private school (only because my mom worked there), I know that even private school has its faults. I also know that I have my faults. To put it bluntly, any school environment has its faults. But, I've determined to put aside my insecurities and try to teach my children. Try with all my might. And have some confidence in how the Lord's gifted me. And take it a day at a time. Because who knows what tomorrow will bring.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Learning as I Go
Take 2. Obviously I need help with this blogging thing already. My first post didn't show up, so I will attempt to reiterate everything word for word. Or not.
I told my husband I'd never do this, but here I am. Partly because I want to chronicle my homeschool experience and learn from it as I go: every wonderful, crazy, maddening, character-building moment of it. But mostly because I hate the idea of writing things out by hand and having to store some random notebook of happenings somewhere in my house just so I can misplace it or spill coffee all over it, losing every painstaking memory that lies within.
So, here goes. My journey as a homeschooling mom...and every other journey in between.
By the way, the title of this blog is a reference to my personal outlook on life: the "seasons" of childhood and motherhood require different attire as you go--creativity, ambitiousness, flexibility, steadfastness, patience and numerous other traits. So be prepared! Dress for the Season! And hold on to your hat!
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