After breakfast we started school. We're hoping to get a violin lesson in this morning, so we changed up our order of business a bit. This went over moderately well. Someone was less than pleased to have his schedule altered without ample warning. Oh, well...at least we're on track for moving onto a new violin song. It's been way too long and I'm just as tired of hearing "Hello Mother" as they are of practicing it.
Memory work was interrupted by Jeremiah hitting Rachel on the head. He thinks it's a funny game. I'm pretty sure he's doing it to get a reaction. He wasn't very happy with the response he received, though. Correction is never fun, I guess. And still he went back for more. I wonder if we'll ever have a kid whose will isn't as strong as steel. Time will tell...
We've started a BIG geography project. Memorizing all of the countries and capitals of the world sounded like a lot of fun, so we've started with North America. I didn't realize this would include a million and three tiny islands in the Caribbean. But after a lot of research, I now know more about the geography of that part of the world than I ever dreamed of knowing. This week we are on North and Central America. The kids are learning. I know this becuase I've heard Joshua walking around chanting "Belmopan, Belize. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. San Salvador, El Salvador." And Abby was wandering around the house yesterday shouting out, "Guatemala City, Guatemala!"
I want to write a post about our latest attempt at homeschool pysical education. It's been interesting and haphazard, but I think with some perseverence we will be able to incorporate some more physical activity into our days. Today we did some circuit training which went over so well that the kids wanted to keep going even after snack time. There were a lot of giggles as we tried crab walks, superman pose, and some other exercises. It gave me a workout, too, which is always good!
I thought I was going to stay on top of the laundry today. I actually switched it to the dryer in a timely manner (without leaving it in the washing machine for hours on end). Then I found it. The laundry's nemesis - a disposable diaper. Yes, someone had left it in the dirty laundry basket. And do you know what that means? M-E-S-S. Little gel-like pearls all over the clothing. It's pretty hard to get rid of as well because it's designed to absorb moisture. I'm trying the sanitary cycle with two extra rinses in hopes that some super hot water will get rid of it. Ugh...
As of this writing, I'm still feeling the grumpies. I keep thinking that I'd love some time to myself. The freedom to get dressed and use the bathroom without little visitors, and the ability to wake up without a baby and a toddler crying for me. But we still have a math lesson, violin lesson, checking of independent school work, lunch, history, "rest time" (not so restful for Mom on most days), dinner prep, snack, and at least 100 more corrections. No wonder Claude and I feel so tired every night!
Tantrums, the insides of diapers spewed all over the clean laundry, and reigning in wild kids all day is tiring. Exhausting. I can't stay on top of meals, naptimes, nursing, or schoolwork. I get angry with the kids. I yell. I come close to tears out of sheer frustration. I leave the laundry until late at night when Claude finishes it off. And yet, I can't think of how I'd rather spend my days. Maybe in a little cabin in the woods, in front of a fire place, with a good book in my hand, and quiet all around? I think I'd last about 30 minutes before things would seem to still...I might even get bored. And then I'd think of these little (and some growing to be not-so-little) guys and say, "It would be fun if they were here. They'd love the fire. The snow."
No, I'm right where I need to be. Right where I want to be.
But I'll be honest...I'm still feeling a bit grouchy this morning. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment