My kids headed up to Kenai with my husband early this morning to hang out with relatives for a day before having some fun skiing at Alyeska tomorrow. This left me a day without kids!
Whoa! When was the last time this happened?? Never this year! The silence was delightful; I got a lot done and could really focus on my tasks. This was what life was like before homeschooling. Now I cannot imagine having this kind of time to myself every day. Today was great, and tomorrow will be nice, but then I will be ready to have my kids back. Just as kids need a break from school and adults need vacations from jobs, I think parents need breaks from kids, especially the parent who does the bulk of the work when homeschooling. It can be hard, in a way, to take that. The level of commitment to the kids is high, and one doesn't always "feel" like they need a break. I didn't when I decided yesterday to stay home and let the rest of the family go play. But when a friend at church today mentioned that I looked very peaceful and relaxed, I realized that I needed it. Now I just have to coach myself not to feel guilty about it!
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Friday, April 2, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Squabbling!
Gee, of course I didn't plan on my kids squabbling now that we homeschool, but it does erupt at times. This morning was a good example. We got one desktop computer through Connections for the kids for homeschooling. It wasn't too much of a problem at the beginning of the school year because both the kids did much of their writing in notebooks. Recently, though, Denver started blogging and Aurora is writing a very long story (now at 25 pages single spaced!) on top of history research and typing and whatever else comes up. The kids' agreement is that whoever gets out to the cabin first and turns on the computer gets to use it first. This morning Denver fell back asleep after his alarm clock went off so Aurora made it out to the computer first. Denver flipped out because he is virtually always the first one out and he has his routine: he checks his email, updates his blog (http://seymours.wordpress.com/) and does his Type Right! When Aurora gets on it is usually an hour before she is done.
Denver's routine was broken and he was mad. Many times I am so busy with my work I don't want to deal with their squabbles; I let them work them out on their own. Today I had the time, energy and gumption to get involved. I asked how they could work this out. Suggestions were not forthcoming. I offered to let them use Dad's computer; neither liked that option. Finally, after 10 minutes, Denver calmed down and stated, "Well, I guess I'll do my work," and he went to his desk and found something else to do.
I really hoped the kids would get along better now that they are homeschooled. Sometimes they do, but many times they don't. Their personalities are just so different, and they both have very strong personalities in their own way. I'm pondering adding "Interpersonal Communications" to their courses for next year--the class I teach online! ( :
Denver's routine was broken and he was mad. Many times I am so busy with my work I don't want to deal with their squabbles; I let them work them out on their own. Today I had the time, energy and gumption to get involved. I asked how they could work this out. Suggestions were not forthcoming. I offered to let them use Dad's computer; neither liked that option. Finally, after 10 minutes, Denver calmed down and stated, "Well, I guess I'll do my work," and he went to his desk and found something else to do.
I really hoped the kids would get along better now that they are homeschooled. Sometimes they do, but many times they don't. Their personalities are just so different, and they both have very strong personalities in their own way. I'm pondering adding "Interpersonal Communications" to their courses for next year--the class I teach online! ( :
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Found Out!!!
This blog has been my forum for thinking through and airing issues related to homeschooling for me. I write about my kids a lot, and I really didn't care for them to know that I was blogging about our journey. I'm just more comfortable writing without them as an audience (I was actually a little self-conscious about my husband reading this too. Go figure). Thus, I was annoyed the other day when my son piped up, "Hey, mom, I'm reading your blog about homeschooling!"
I replied, "Where did you hear about that?"
"Oh, there was a page with it on your iphone."
Found out! I told him to delete the page and that I'd rather he didn't read it. Being the good kid he is, he promptly deleted it. This may not last forever....hey, are you reading this, Aurora or Denver?? X out right now!
One of the side effects of homeschooling is that my kids are getting very tech savvy. They can do things on the computer now that I certainly never taught them, partly because they use the computer a lot more now, and partly because they have more time to just play around with it. For the most part I think that is a good thing, though of course I keep my parent antennae up about this to make sure all's well.
I replied, "Where did you hear about that?"
"Oh, there was a page with it on your iphone."
Found out! I told him to delete the page and that I'd rather he didn't read it. Being the good kid he is, he promptly deleted it. This may not last forever....hey, are you reading this, Aurora or Denver?? X out right now!
One of the side effects of homeschooling is that my kids are getting very tech savvy. They can do things on the computer now that I certainly never taught them, partly because they use the computer a lot more now, and partly because they have more time to just play around with it. For the most part I think that is a good thing, though of course I keep my parent antennae up about this to make sure all's well.
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