Last week India and I were discussing her bedroom and the new redecoration plans (I’ll resume painting as soon as I finish writing.) Discussing her massive-amounts-of-Webkinz-all-over-the-bed, to be exact. There are a lot of them (“No Mom, only 21.”) That’s a lot of stuffed animals on one bed (And a heck of a lot of babysitting money that she’s dropped on animals that are not even very cute.) She replied that her friend, let’s call her Courtney, has over 35 Webkinz. I pointed out that Courtney’s parents are going through a rough patch and that they feel bad about it. They hope she’ll feel better if they give her extra toys. She just got a strange look on her face and said, “but Mom, what if Courtney’s Love Language isn’t gifts*?”
So who cares that we’ve kind of dropped Math from our curriculum (it’s like the blind leading the blind!). She’s got the relationship-thing down pat.
* Have you still not read the Love Languages book? I’ve only talked about it 50 million times. Just buy a copy already!
My life on November 20, 2008 (or thereabout)
Where all the magic begins:
Although it’s hard to believe I have any sort of self-discipline, I usually get up at 5 a.m. I like to walk/run while I blog and watch old episodes of The West Wing (I have all the seasons on DVD. When I finish them I’ll probably have to stop working out.)
I like to be showered and dressed by the time I wake the first batch of kids up at 6:45 (otherwise I completely forget and leave the house with no make-up and greasy hair. Yeah, scary). I grew up fixing myself cereal for breakfast because my mother was a night owl and didn’t get up with us. I hated it, so I usually make the minis a nice from-scratch breakfast.
The elementary schoolers start an hour and a half before the middle schoolers. I think it is just too cruel to wake anyone up even a second before it’s necessary, so I read the scriptures twice (Plus I like reading twice because I’m soooo spiritual. I’m a big fan of reading while the kids eat. There is no fighting or fidgeting that way.)
Phase One:
Phase Two:
After getting everyone else off to school, it’s time to start India on her homeschooling. I pretty much just assign her something and she goes off and takes care of it herself. It’s easy to get her to do her work because she studies what she likes. This week we’re working on plagues and pandemics. And Mesopotamia. And drawing.
While she studies I’m supposed to be working on this:
(the dreaded Cave of Laundry)
Guys, do I need to mention how much I despise the laundry? It’s my most hated household chore.
But I usually work on this: (because if you ignore laundry long enough it will simply disappear!)
By snacktime Jasper has usually stripped down to his skivvies
He falls apart shortly afterwards. Which leads to the most blessed period of the day: NAPTIME!
Ada plays and I spend the next few hours doing I don’t know what until . . .
. . . the kids roll in from school. Mayhem and messiness ensue.
Snacks and homework
Then it’s time for my little minions to check the chore chart and do my evil bidding
After chores it’s time to play. Why get out all the fancy European toys we’ve bought over the years when there is bubble wrap to be jumped on? We’re simple folk around here.
Just because I make a nice breakfast doesn’t mean I necessarily make a nice dinner. Tonight it’s frozen orange chicken from Costco along with rice (medium grain so it’s nice and sticky) and green beans (also frozen and from Costco). Hey, at least it’s not pizza!
Arabella is the dinner helper tonight.
I get more and more peevish as the night wears on. I try to hold it together until everyone is in bed and I can spend some time in a vegetative state. Usually I read. Tonight’s laugh-a-minute book:
Then it’s time to check on all the sleepy-heads (usually Mister’s job)
Then I’m off to fight cavities and wrinkles, and finally to go to sleep.
(Notice I squeeze the toothpaste from the middle. I like to hang free and loose that way. As you can guess, Mister is a squeeze-from-the-ender. We have never been able to compromise so we each have our own tube. Don’t even get me started on peppermint vs. spearmint. It’s one of the fascinating games we play to keep the marriage fresh.)
We have several “day in the life” people playing: (you might need to give them some time to get everything ready, so check back again if they haven’t posted yet. Or just mutter “loser” and go on to the next blog.)
Arianne at
Little Pink Houses (highly recommended because she’s my sister and she’s funny)
I wrote the letter to withdraw India from school. Yes, I got up the guts to pull her out of 7th grade. After listening to her cry and beg endlessly* to be homeschooled, I decided that I’m up to the task.
Friday is her last day. I’m a bit nervous, but at least I’ll have a babysitter during the day. Anyone care to join me for a movie at noon?
Just kidding, truant officers! She’ll be hard at work from sunup to sundown!
*she honestly said, “mom, pleeease can I be homeschooled? I really want to learn Latin and do a lot more writing and geography.” She was dead serious.
Remember how I was thinking of homeschooling Finn and India this year? No? Well, I was. But unfortunately I chickened out. or rather, Mister decided that it is just too “weird”. I’m tired of getting into a spat with him, so I just let it slide. i’m going to give this school year a try, but I’m mentally preparing to pull them out at Christmas. Give me that much time to work on Mister and I’m sure he’ll be on board. The nice thing about being married for 16 years is that you know your spouse well enough to convince him of your ideas without him realizing it. I know all the Jedi mind tricks that work on Mister.
We have to get Finn’s dyslexia testing done first and then we’ll be set. India already got her schedule for 7th grade and despite begging and pleading for art, they put her in drama instead. No big deal except she lives and breathes art. So right off the bat she’s already peeved.
This time next week I’ll be trying to convince the kids that although it’s still perfectly light out, it’s time to go to bed. All the better to wake up at 6:45 a.m. I’m kind of looking forward to having a schedule again (we’ve read scriptures twice this whole summer. I blame that on our fluid grasp of time over the last couple of months.) But I’m not looking forward to getting up so disgustingly early. I really like to be showered, dressed and made-up before the children are awake, but if I want to work out in the a.m. that’s going to mean waking up at 5:15. Frankly, I don’t possess the willpower to get up that early. I can tell myself that I will, but I know how it works. At that hour nothing seems vital enough to get out of bed for. Nothing.
