Remember my posts from the first quarter of the school year? Remember our great daily schedule? Remember all of the fun trips and activities?
Our current school situation looks nothing like that right now. It's amazing how rapidly things can change.
I'm going to be very frank here: juggling a fussy baby and a busy toddler while trying to simultaneously teach pre-k, 1st grade, and 4th grade is proving to be quite the challenge. I am currently running my household like the triage of an emergency room.
"Oh, you're hungry? Take a number"
"Need help rinsing the shampoo out of your hair? I'll get there when I get there."
"What time is dinner? Sometime between 5-9pm"
"No clean socks? Just look for your least dirty pair and make do"
"Can't find the car keys? Take 2 aspirin and call me in the morning"
Having 5 young kids can be stressful. And then on the other hand, it is kind of a cure for stress simply because you choose to care less and less. Yesterday I got Evah-Kate dressed for church in a cute black and white polka dot sweater dress with a pair of teal leggings. And then she added a coral tu-tu skirt under her dress and chose to wear one black suede slip on with one brown leather Mary-Jane. And she would not let me comb her hair. I would have never let Abby be seen in public looking like that, but 4 kids later I look at the bright side: at least she had shoes on.
That same attitude has carried over to our homeschool. We make a list of priorities, and we do our best and let everything else fall by the wayside. We always complete math and our read aloud. Most days we fit in phonics and spelling. Some days we even squeeze in Latin and penmanship.
It's comforting when I'm reminded that the kids are still learning even without formal lessons. Beckham asked to go in the dollar store for a candy bar last week, he said he had his own money. When the cashier said his total was .91¢, he placed a handful of loose change on the counter. When the cashier counted the change it was exactly .91¢. The cashier was shocked (So was I!). I asked him how that happened, and he said "What? I just remembered it cost .91¢ last time, and I counted out my change before we left the house." He didn't know how to count change at the beginning of the school year!
So, we will keep moving forward, making progress little by little.
You are an amazing woman and mother, Betsy! Your kids are going to have great memories! These hectic days will soon turn into weeks, months and, far too soon, it will be years from now! They will be grown and you will see that you did a fantastic job raising them, and you will be such a proud momma!
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