Read part of an article the other day about how perfect life was as a stay-at-home mom. I couldn't tell if it was satire or simply misleading. The author spoke of how she has so much time to keep her home spotless, herself and her kids well cared for, etc. I call a bunch of hooey.
So I thought I might try my hand at an honest look at life as a stay at home, homeschooling momma.
We wake up early (between 6 and 6:30am) in time to fix Daddy his lunch and wave goodbye as he leaves for work. Our toddler usually is starving at this point so we eat breakfast. Breakfast typically includes me telling our older two to "find something to eat, you know what we have, make a choice and come eat." I keep several choices on hand and don't have the brain power to cater breakfast time. Our little guy usually has yogurt or oatmeal with me.
After breakfast, the older two have kitchen clean up duty which includes sweeping, wiping down surfaces, and dishes. Since we are potty training, I take the little man to the bathroom and then get him dressed for the day. Some days he is the only one who makes it to the fully dressed stage besides Daddy! Then he usually asks for mommy to "play with you" so I hang out with him for at least 15-20 minutes while the girls finish their kitchen clean up. We go every 45-60 minutes to the potty...all day long. So interruptions are frequent!
After this, sometimes I have the girls watch their little brother so I can bathe. And, no, this is not a relaxing time for myself. It's often a mad dash to clean up so I don't feel grimy and get out before chaos ensues. On many occasions my little guy barges into the bathroom and starts throwing toys into the bath and begging/crying to get in and join me while his sisters are close on his tail trying to get him back out of the bathroom...when I am finished, my girls have to complete their morning chore of cleaning themselves up. They often stay in pajamas so they don't have much dirty laundry (and thus escape having to do their own laundry for a little longer). We did have to make a rule that hair and teeth get brushed, deodorant is applied, and clean undies are put on.
Around 8:00am we gather together to do our Faith & Character time where we have a bible lesson, learning scripture, or learn about a missionary, and on Wednesdays we do worship time using YouTube on the TV so our little guy can enjoy dancing to the music and we can learn all the proper lyrics!
Then if we're lucky, our little guy will play on his own a bit and I will do a Language Arts lesson with my younger daughter. My older daughter does her own individual work, and has also been assigned to entertain her brother if he is unable to play contentedly on his own while mom is busy.
The girls switch responsibilities next, and then while they finish some individual work, I do a learning activity with our toddler. Somedays everything flows smoothly and we have some free time before lunch at 11:30am. Other days, it's chaotic and we are pushing to get things done before lunch. The smooth days are where I get to start a load of laundry and possibly even get some folding done of clean laundry. Notice there has been very little down time for anybody except the little guy.
Lunch, sometimes we cook, sometimes we just pull out all the leftovers and I have to be bossy about making sure I'm not the only one eating the leftovers, and the kids make healthy choices. After lunch is the golden time of day when we put our little guy down for nap. He doesn't always nap, but he is good about staying in his room. I go through his nap routine while the girls finish their kitchen duty.
Then we get down to business with their math lesson. I teach the lesson from the book, they do some practice problems to show they understand the concepts, and then I have a few moments to myself while they do their homework problems for the day. This is usually when I scroll through Facebook or play my Facebook game in between their calls for help when they get to a problem that confuses them. It's inevitable. The moment my rear end hits the chair and my feet recline is the moment they say, "Mom, I need help!" Being pregnant does not make it easy to get back out of the chair! When my brain isn't already fried, I use my down time to make phone calls and accomplish my grocery list for the next week.
Math is followed by history and science, which we do together in the living room. I've organized our lessons on a Microsoft Word program, so we simply open up the document and click on the links to follow the day's curriculum plan.
After this, school is finished for the day. Anytime between 2:30 and 3:30pm depending on how things have gone and how time consuming the afternoon's curriculum was. I give the girls free time to go and play, when it is nice out, I kick them outside to get some fresh air and exercise.
If I'm lucky, I will have some time to myself before our toddler wakes up. When he does get up, I give him a little snack and we play. I've still not accomplished much housework and often have completely forgotten about any laundry I may have started earlier that day.
By 4:30pm, Daddy is home and I'm needing to start dinner. One of the girls is my helper with cooking and preparing dinner while the other one plays with their brother. My hubby is often sore and retreats to his ergonomic chair and heating pad until dinner time in hopes that he will be able to spend some family time after dinner instead of needing to go back downstairs to try and take care of his back again.
Once supper is finished -anywhere between 6:00-6:30pm, our remaining time is much more flexible and spent together. Sometimes the kids go off and play on their own. Sometimes I hang out with my toddler and hubby. Other times, I'm spending more time with our little guy until he goes to bed. Once he is in bed, the girls have quiet time where they either read books or play quietly together until their bed time. Then my hubby and I spend time as adults...ideally without kid interruption. We usually watch shows together, or on nights like tonight, his body forces him back to his ergonomic chair and I spend time doing my own thing: researching homeschooling stuff, working on lesson plans, putting my feet up and spending time on the computer, etc... (not doing housework, unless it is me rearranging something). Housework is mostly done on Saturdays and Sundays, or assigned as extra chores when the kids misbehave. It's not a perfect system, but it works for now. Next fall we'll add a baby to the mix and this whole typical routine here will not be the same.
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Life Update
I'm sitting on the couch wasting time on my computer...I'd rather be putzing around the house doing some more organizing or setting up. But, that requires moving, and my pregnant self doesn't want to move either. It's a no win situation. LOL!
Pregnancy is going smoothly so far. My fingers have only recently begun to swell on occasion. Nothing like the swelling I experienced last time. I'm also finding my legs feel better wearing my compression stockings on a more regular basis. My increased weight forced me to buy another pair in the next size up. I'm also going to have to go shopping this weekend to get some more maternity clothes -outgrowing what I have! The funny thing was that I just hit the 160 pound mark - I've gained 20 pounds this pregnancy - but 160 was my starting weight with my last pregnancy, so it still feels like a small number to me!
I've been spending my free time on the phone and doing research for homeschool stuff, pediatrician stuff, tax stuff, etc. It seems this is the time of year that everything needs doing. We are going to have our girls take a standardized test this year to meet their homeschooling requirement to "prove" they are learning. They only have to get a 13% to continue homeschooling...craziness. I'm curious to see where they land as compared to their public schooled peers.
So far this year we have done well with homeschooling despite time off for moving and other little life interruptions. I've been researching enrichment program options as well as curriculum options, although I think I'll wait to order any new curriculum until after they take their standardized test. Just in case it reveals something specific we need to address.
I'd love to be able to purchase a ready-made preschool curriculum for my little guy, but knowing me, I still would not be happy with that and want to make my own tweaks and creations for his learning. I'm just struggling finding the time and energy to think that far out of the box. With my older kiddos, we have an outline to follow at least, so even if I deviate off the learning they provide, I have topics and goals to aim for. It seems all my years in early childhood have escaped my pregnant brain when it comes to curriculum for our son. I'll get there. I know I will. We do activities and games, just not as structured as I am dreaming of.
We also need to start looking into landscaping for our yard in the next month or so. My brain knows this, but it hasn't comprehended that to make it happen we have to actually start making phone calls and thinking about what we want to accomplish. Too many things on my mental plate!
Hubby has been fighting with the pharmaceutical company trying to get his new medication figured out and started. We think we got it finally figured out after several weeks of misunderstandings and failures on their part. My fear is that it will cause the same type of allergic reaction as the other medication he was on. If so, we start at square one again. His rash has lessened and decreased significantly, but it hasn't disappeared and he continues to have new spots appear. It is nothing like how bad it used to be, and I've been asking him to talk to his doctor about what they think about it not being gone yet. His health has deteriorated significantly being off his medication. He's back to using his cane and really struggling getting around. Part of it may also be that we've deviated from his diet since selling the house and moving. Life is still not settled yet and I'm finding my bearings slowly.
Potty training has been an adventure, my first time training a boy at home. He's gotten used to going potty when the alarm on my phone rings. Sometimes he fusses that he has to stop playing, but he typically will go. I'm waiting for him to start taking some initiative too...if the alarm doesn't ring, he simply doesn't care if he is wet or not. We've discussed just putting him in underwear to see what that does, but haven't decided if we're ready for it or not. I need to do some more research to remind myself the stages and developmental milestones of potty training. He doesn't react well to negative feedback and will regress for a day or so if I lose my patience with him, so I've been working on that too. I haven't been as strict with him in a discipline sense, so the tactics I've used in the past don't work as well because he isn't used to them. Parenting is challenging!
Pregnancy is going smoothly so far. My fingers have only recently begun to swell on occasion. Nothing like the swelling I experienced last time. I'm also finding my legs feel better wearing my compression stockings on a more regular basis. My increased weight forced me to buy another pair in the next size up. I'm also going to have to go shopping this weekend to get some more maternity clothes -outgrowing what I have! The funny thing was that I just hit the 160 pound mark - I've gained 20 pounds this pregnancy - but 160 was my starting weight with my last pregnancy, so it still feels like a small number to me!
I've been spending my free time on the phone and doing research for homeschool stuff, pediatrician stuff, tax stuff, etc. It seems this is the time of year that everything needs doing. We are going to have our girls take a standardized test this year to meet their homeschooling requirement to "prove" they are learning. They only have to get a 13% to continue homeschooling...craziness. I'm curious to see where they land as compared to their public schooled peers.
So far this year we have done well with homeschooling despite time off for moving and other little life interruptions. I've been researching enrichment program options as well as curriculum options, although I think I'll wait to order any new curriculum until after they take their standardized test. Just in case it reveals something specific we need to address.
I'd love to be able to purchase a ready-made preschool curriculum for my little guy, but knowing me, I still would not be happy with that and want to make my own tweaks and creations for his learning. I'm just struggling finding the time and energy to think that far out of the box. With my older kiddos, we have an outline to follow at least, so even if I deviate off the learning they provide, I have topics and goals to aim for. It seems all my years in early childhood have escaped my pregnant brain when it comes to curriculum for our son. I'll get there. I know I will. We do activities and games, just not as structured as I am dreaming of.
We also need to start looking into landscaping for our yard in the next month or so. My brain knows this, but it hasn't comprehended that to make it happen we have to actually start making phone calls and thinking about what we want to accomplish. Too many things on my mental plate!
Hubby has been fighting with the pharmaceutical company trying to get his new medication figured out and started. We think we got it finally figured out after several weeks of misunderstandings and failures on their part. My fear is that it will cause the same type of allergic reaction as the other medication he was on. If so, we start at square one again. His rash has lessened and decreased significantly, but it hasn't disappeared and he continues to have new spots appear. It is nothing like how bad it used to be, and I've been asking him to talk to his doctor about what they think about it not being gone yet. His health has deteriorated significantly being off his medication. He's back to using his cane and really struggling getting around. Part of it may also be that we've deviated from his diet since selling the house and moving. Life is still not settled yet and I'm finding my bearings slowly.
Potty training has been an adventure, my first time training a boy at home. He's gotten used to going potty when the alarm on my phone rings. Sometimes he fusses that he has to stop playing, but he typically will go. I'm waiting for him to start taking some initiative too...if the alarm doesn't ring, he simply doesn't care if he is wet or not. We've discussed just putting him in underwear to see what that does, but haven't decided if we're ready for it or not. I need to do some more research to remind myself the stages and developmental milestones of potty training. He doesn't react well to negative feedback and will regress for a day or so if I lose my patience with him, so I've been working on that too. I haven't been as strict with him in a discipline sense, so the tactics I've used in the past don't work as well because he isn't used to them. Parenting is challenging!
Friday, March 8, 2019
Struggles with Faith
Someday I will learn how to appropriately respond when it comes to my passion in my faith. Particularly the differences with my own personal faith and the Catholic faith as of late. I shared some of my feelings on it and am wishing I would have kept my mouth shut or a bit more censored...I don't want to create animosity within the body of Christ or make others stumble because of my own personal convictions. It's hard when I haven't completely reconciled all my feelings about it in my own mind.
My one big disclaimer is that I know true heart-felt, devoted believers who are Catholic, as well as many who are not. If you choose to participate in the Christian faith as a Catholic, I have no problem with your choice as an adult.
I have had problems attending mass myself and also watching some of my own family members raised in the Catholic church where there is so much difference and sometimes what feels like misleading information represented. I am quite thankful that my nieces have finally finished the Catholic rituals that require my attendance as a loving aunt. It was very difficult to sit quietly and participate in some of the rituals and traditions as a supporting family member.
A few years ago, I was able to connect with an acquaintance from high school on Facebook who is Catholic and ask her why they believed what they believed about infant baptism. Before that, no one was interested in explaining to me why some of their traditions and rituals were different than the protestant ones I grew up with. Basically, it comes down to theology differences and the passing down of beliefs from priests and Catholic scholars of old.
One single bible verse was referenced in a 15-minute long youtube explanation of the Catholic belief. The priest explained the interpretation from one of their earliest scholars and how the entire ritual and belief that baptism saves babies was based on it. No other bible verses were used as a reference or support for the given interpretation. I have always been taught that Scripture Interprets Scripture. To hear and see that an entire tradition and belief was based on one single verse and interpretation of that verse simply because the man who made the interpretation was a respected clergy member, made me realize that our foundational systems were quite different.
After that I stopped asking her questions (she was hoping I might convert), and let her know that I appreciated all her candid answers in helping me to understand some of the differences in our two Christian faiths, but that with differing interpretations of the bible, I didn't think it was wise to continue to debate our differences. The important thing remains our shared faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
That is one point a pastor made long ago that I really respected. Doctrinal differences will be solved in Heaven. As long as our foundation of salvation is belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the rest -while important- is not a determining factor for salvation. Arguing faith doesn't often result in non-believers coming to know Christ personally. Sharing your faith and personal testimony does.
My one big disclaimer is that I know true heart-felt, devoted believers who are Catholic, as well as many who are not. If you choose to participate in the Christian faith as a Catholic, I have no problem with your choice as an adult.
I have had problems attending mass myself and also watching some of my own family members raised in the Catholic church where there is so much difference and sometimes what feels like misleading information represented. I am quite thankful that my nieces have finally finished the Catholic rituals that require my attendance as a loving aunt. It was very difficult to sit quietly and participate in some of the rituals and traditions as a supporting family member.
A few years ago, I was able to connect with an acquaintance from high school on Facebook who is Catholic and ask her why they believed what they believed about infant baptism. Before that, no one was interested in explaining to me why some of their traditions and rituals were different than the protestant ones I grew up with. Basically, it comes down to theology differences and the passing down of beliefs from priests and Catholic scholars of old.
One single bible verse was referenced in a 15-minute long youtube explanation of the Catholic belief. The priest explained the interpretation from one of their earliest scholars and how the entire ritual and belief that baptism saves babies was based on it. No other bible verses were used as a reference or support for the given interpretation. I have always been taught that Scripture Interprets Scripture. To hear and see that an entire tradition and belief was based on one single verse and interpretation of that verse simply because the man who made the interpretation was a respected clergy member, made me realize that our foundational systems were quite different.
After that I stopped asking her questions (she was hoping I might convert), and let her know that I appreciated all her candid answers in helping me to understand some of the differences in our two Christian faiths, but that with differing interpretations of the bible, I didn't think it was wise to continue to debate our differences. The important thing remains our shared faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
That is one point a pastor made long ago that I really respected. Doctrinal differences will be solved in Heaven. As long as our foundation of salvation is belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the rest -while important- is not a determining factor for salvation. Arguing faith doesn't often result in non-believers coming to know Christ personally. Sharing your faith and personal testimony does.
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