We made it through the first 5 days of school. To be honest, I did not have high expectation so I guess there was no disappointment to be had at the end.
I don’t believe they actually learned anything educational, except that they will not get games, computer or TV until each subjects’ video has been played from beginning to end and the seat work has been finished and handed in. It has taken from 8-noon each day, which is what I was hoping for so we could get our butts back to work before anyone noticed we were gone. I think once the boys realize that Home-school is a real thing and that it is going to happen every weekday, they might grasp the concept of “the faster you do THIS, the faster we do THAT.” Are my hopes to high?
So far it has been 4 hours each day of “That’s NOT my teacher!” “This ISN’T my school!” “I HATE this!” “I don’t WANT to do THIS!” Every morning I think we made a mistake by setting them up to be in the same room as each other. They are super distracting to one another. I’ve run different scenarios through my head in the middle of the night while I am trying so hard to sleep. Should we split them up? Should we start them at different times of the day? Face them different directions? Buy an office style partition and separate the playroom into two classrooms? Should we give up? Should we just make martinis for breakfast and let them run around like feral children?
The Hardest Part
Having patience is the hardest part. Both of us want to yell at them for not sitting still, for not focusing, for spending more time drinking water and eating animal crackers than just paying attention and getting it done. I’ve yelled at my husband for yelling at the kids, and vice versa. We have to keep reminding ourselves that we have our laptops, we are getting work done, and technically-they have ALL DAY to finish their work. What does it matter if they need to pee for the 74th time? Its not like we are in a rush to get anywhere.
We have the classroom set up so they each have their own desk area with an iPad and headphones. They have all the posters, maps, markers, crayons, pencils, and books they could possibly every want. Turns out, they don’t want what is on their desk they want what is on the other ones desk. And the iPads? In the air, on the floor, turned upside down, turned sideways. The headphones? The headphones? Twisted around the iPads, wrapped around the chairs, falling out and pausing the video, on their heads, around their necks…you name it, everywhere but where they are supposed to be. And the SWIVEL chairs??? How could a parent be such and idiot? I like to think of myself as an intelligent adult (short of some bad choices in my younger years,) but SWIVEL chairs for kids? In a classroom? Come on.
By Tuesday morning we had placed orders for iPad mounts for the walls so they could touch them and zoom in on Mrs. Turners feet. Wireless headphones so we are not untangling everyone every 5 seconds. And stationary chairs. For everyone’s sanity.
When Thursday Comes Around
I kept my daily tracker up on the fridge. We made the responsible choice to not have a glass of wine, or a beer or even 1/2 a bottle of tequila shots Monday through Wednesday. On Thursday we needed to get out of the house and go somewhere for a bit of silence. We decided to stop at the local brewery that just opened in town for a drink and then grab dinner. It was a nice 3-day streak. We vow to do better this week.
We walked the neighborhood every morning before we started school. It’s a tad less humid at 7am than at any other part of the day when it is hotter and more humid than you could ever imagine Hell to be. While I am not counting this as “exercise” on the tracker, it is nice to get some fresh air each day and it certainly tires the dogs out.
Again, I am an absolute PRO at flossing daily. #healthyteethgoals?
Tomorrow the treadmill will get dusted off and put back to use. There’s generally about an hour between 3 and 4 each day where work dies down for just a bit. It is always the same time of day that I can feel my body get so tired. My eyes want to close, and it takes everything I have to not crawl back into bed for a nap. I am going to start using that time for a 3 mile “speed walk” and shower. I am hoping to be able to check those boxes off on the exercise tracker each weekday going forward.
Other than the tread mill and making it a point to wait until Friday before we hit up a new Citrus IPA, I will focus on making sure we are showing the boys as much patience as we possibly can. I am going to throw in some additional snack breaks and a “real” recess. We are also going to wake up later. I had my heart set on waking up at 5 to get in one hour of peace and coffee before we woke the kids up at 6, feed them, had them do their chores and get dressed. I am aiming for 6 at the earliest this week and getting them up at 630. Nothing will ever run as smooth as it should if everyone is running on fumes.
I weighed in at 251 this morning. I am going to assume that is because we didn’t eat nearly as much as we usually do during the day.
Perhaps with a few tweaks here and there, the weight of homeschooling, working full time and dropping pounds all at the same time might not be so bad.
