We've been homeschooling nearly 5 years now. I like to think I have it all together, and I have learned a lot in how to homeschool. But today was the biggest bust of a day I've had in a long while. And it was the first in a long time that I had very little influence in how it went.
Last week we had our first week-long break of the year. I spent last night planning what I thought would be a smooth transition back into school. We were going to do an easy science lab in the morning and a short history lesson in the afternoon. Just two subjects. Easy, right?
The day started out great. We had a short study of what Rosh Hoshannah is and what Yom Kippur is. My preschooler dressed himself and helped make his bed without complaint. All good!
Then it fell apart. Somehow, the easy lab resulted in huge stress and a terrible attitude from one of my kiddos, who very vocally and physically displayed her emotions concerning the horrible experience it was. Not fun for me to deal with, but it was dealt with and we pushed through, I wasn't going to let a bad attitude get out of doing the work.
I let everyone have a short break before we started our history. My preschooler refused to do any activities he was allowed to do on his own. He wanted my attention and a playmate. I got him settled and started our last chapter of our read aloud book for history. Enter in 3-5 interruptions from him and his brother, so I put my littlest down for a nap and got my preschooler finally quieted. We finished our chapter and the doorbell rings loudly. Not once, but twice in a row. Election years are the worst for solicitors!
So, now we had a cranky baby after a too-short nap. I realized that the history lesson that I had planned just wasn't going to happen, so I set my older kiddos up for a historical movie from the WW2 time frame (Sound of Music!), and tried to play with my littles. Turns out, not only is my littlest tired, but he is teething with molars coming in. Nothing we tried helped until I gave him and his brother a bath. It was the first smiles I had seen from him since his failed nap.
Finally, it was time to start supper and I realize that the sink was full of dishes, and I had a chicken to clean. No one's fault other than the dishwasher didn't release the soap the first time it was run, so we couldn't do lunch dishes like we normally do and then we forgot about them.
It was the last straw for me. I felt myself shutting down and called my hubby up and asked him for help (he had just finished work). He took over with the kids and my girls helped do the dishes. Then I told everyone I wasn't there and to talk to Daddy if they needed help.
Nothing I planned worked today. Nothing I planned was necessarily poor planning, it was just one of those really bad, horrible, no good days. Thankfully these kinds of days are few and far between. Tomorrow is a new day, and God willing, it will go better.
