Today is just not happening

-
Today is one of those days when I just can't...get it...together.

I can't. I have been back to bed twice, hoping that pushing the reset button will make it all better, but it's not working.

Today was supposed to be a kind of back-to-the-grind day, as we've been on "Spring Break" for about a month (yay, homeschooling!!) So I stuck to my (fading) guns and we got school & piano done, and even did some of the things that we don't do on lesser-motivated days. We took a series of photos observing our new garden.We planted seeds in our little greenhouse box, we went outside and tried out the new skateboard, we foraged through the fridge for lunch (instead of defaulting to PB&J).

I think one of the hardest parts of homeschooling is that (I feel like...) when I'm not at the top of my game, everything suffers. Or at least I'm surrounded by the evidence of everything suffering. I don't get to leave my house behind and go to work and just make it through a day, planning to deal with home later. I am reminded with every glance that my house is winning, and of all the things I need to do to get it back in order. (didn't I just do all of that on Friday??) And the kids who make the mess...I don't get to send them away for 8 hours so that I can tackle things while they're gone. So while wandering around the house being reminded of my shortcomings as a house elf, I am being pestered by the very creatures responsible for its chaotic state. And not only are they here, they are in need of an education - that I have vowed to give them. So if I choose to tackle the house, I'm neglecting school. If I choose to do school, I'm neglecting the house. If I choose to rest, I'm neglecting everything. Some days I have the right perspective and none of this gets to me.

Other days, like today, I need some chocolate, a babysitter, a housekeeper and a school bus.

Comments

Rhoda said…
Thanks for the encouragement on homeschooling Charis!
March 22, 2011 at 7:57 AM
Amy said…
Sorry Rhoda - I thought this might encourage those friends who are already in the middle of it...to know they're not alone. But, now the secret's out. Not all days are awesome. :)
March 22, 2011 at 8:33 AM
Allison Murphy said…
I want to say maybe 50% are awesome:) Haha! But seriously, here was what happened to me on Monday during 'homeschooling.' Sam (our 3 year old) locked me in the laundry room (I have to believe not purposely) while Emma, in an attempt to forge ahead on the science experiment I had asked her to hold off on until I was done switching the laundry, by mistake lit a paper towel on fire. Meanwhile I am LOCKED IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM!! Luckily no harm came to us, they let me out pretty quickly and the paper towel fire had fizzled out. However, many kids were punished that morning!! Well, hope that makes you feel better :)
March 23, 2011 at 11:42 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Where is Mister Rogers When You Need Him?

-
Image
It has been said that I am easily amused. Little things fascinate me. I like to know how things work. I like factory tours and behind-the-scenes stuff and those specials on Discovery Channel. I was definitely brought up this way: I remember my brother telling me about a conversation he'd recently had about "Jet Puffed Marshmallows." Topics covered were: What does "Jet-Puffed" mean? How big-a-jet are we talkin? What keeps the marshmallows from exploding when "jet puffed"? Several weeks ago, the girls and I caught an episode of the rarely aired Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. In that one episode, the inimitable Mr. R shed light on two very interesting processes when he visited a sleeping bag factory and a dollmaker's workshop. Have you ever thought about how a sleeping bag is assembled? Me neither, but now I know, and I am a better person for it. So here are a few jobs I would like to shadow for a day (or watch Mister Rogers shadow them), because ev...
Read more

An Open Letter to Everyone's Favorite Morning Radio Host

-
Image
Dear Mr. Morning Radio Host, How dare you, Mr. Morning Radio Host , while thinking out loud on air, suggest that we all turn around and give our tax refund checks to Compassion International? It's an economic stimulus package! Didn't you think of that? How will sending our money to poor people out of the country stimulate the US economy? Huh? That's just an un-American suggestion! You are proposing that we send our economy into further tumult, just to satisfy your whim of feeding orphans! If we don't use our money to consume more stuff, or go on little vacations or invest wisely, then, well, the package will be all for naught, and we will all be guilty of treason, or something. What are you trying to do? Save the world or something? Start a movement? You are a danger to this economy, sir. Sincerely, Amy Wright, who is thinking that there may be something to this, and will soon be investigating ways to encourage people to do it, provided the Senate approves the plan.
Read more

Ask me what I did last night.

-
A few of us have been wrestling a little bit lately with what it means to live in the grace of God. What does it mean to live fully covered by the Gospel? To embrace the freedom Christ secured for us on the cross? For me, last night, it meant big hair and hard rock. See, over the summer, I'd started to get a little self-conscious about my holiness. I was part of a study at church that consisted of mainly older, wiser, more conservative and traditional women. While I still felt largely like a voice of dissent - a raging postmodern compared to this crowd - there was a certain feeling starting to set in. An old nemesis. I can't believe I didn't recognize it, as we' spent so much time together in the past. Guilt. Guilt that I wasn't the teetotaling, perfect homemaking, gentle-speaking mother that I was being mentored to be in this class. I used my powers of wit and sarcasm to mask and suppress it, but with each chapter and interaction the guilt seeped deeper...wit...
Read more