It's still summer time. Public school starts at the end of August. We never really stop having school, but our lessons seem less formal during the summer months. If there is an opportunity to go do something fun, we do it. If it is 120 degrees (I'm not joking), the kids can't safely play outside, and so that's a good time for copywork, stories, watching movies, etc.
This particular morning, we all got our sleepy heads up around 9a.m. Don't homeschoolers get up around 5a.m. to feed the animals? We don't have a hobby farm or ranch, even though I did acquire four little chickens yesterday. Basically, we get up when we feel like it, but I try to not let the kidlets sleep past about 10a.m. If you see how late we stay up at night, you will understand.
Melody had a friend come over to remove the alternator on my expedition that has been out of commission for several months. My mom mobile has been a disaster lately. Hopefully, replacing the alternator is the magic fix (crossing fingers).
The same friend took Melody out to lunch.
I got Abbey to help get Tarja and Ivana ready to go out to a lunch of our own. Tarja and I won a salsa making contest last Saturday, and one of our prizes was a gift certificate to her favorite restaurant. While getting ready, Abbey got Ivana to use the potty, which was no easy feat. I got their hair done and we were off to go buy a bag of chicken scratch for our new pets and then to our lunch date.
Lunch was great. We got through the entire meal without our usual terrible two year old temper tantrum. The one that got the most food on her shirt was me. How does that work out?
Ivana used the potty again. She wasn't happy, but she did it. Yay!
We got home, changed my shirt, put a load of laundy away, let Tarja go over the living room and hall way floor with the Dirt Devil (she loves that job for some reason). Abbey helped me get plastic covers on some baby clothes that I made for sale. She and Tarja got the chickens fed, watered and loved on. I started a new load of laundry and nearly got the kitchen table cleared of the crochet and craft stuff. (The kitchen table is my design studio). I also repaired a shoe that Tarja tore after wearing it for only one day.
Ivana can now open all jars and bottles......and somebody left a nail polish bottle down in her reach. She is now silver and glittery all over. Abbey got some of it off of her. It's nap time......but nobody is napping.
Tarja and I went over her reading/copywork lesson that I took directly from McGuffy's Eclectic Primer. I played the Overature from The Nutcracker for her. Now she is watching a movie while Abbey and I work on Abbey's Alison.com courses.
This is just half of our day, but we've got it sewn up so far.
There is something that concerns me about homeschooling families, bloggers, and writers. We feel the need to present our families as perfect, trouble free, drama free families. It's not true. We have bad days. We have excellent days. We have days where we wonder if we have the right to be mothers, much less homeschooling mothers. We blame our troubles on everyone around us. Honestly, I know that one of my children would be shy, whether she is homeschooled or not. One is quite confrontational. It wouldn't have mattered where she attended school. One is quite lazy. Would she not have been just as lazy in school? Sometimes, I have to give up on getting the house cleaned up, because we have lessons and activities to do. Sometimes, I have to answer to my husband, when he gets home and wonders why the house is a wreck after he spent 12 hours working in the heat. Sometimes, dinner isn't until 9pm, although I try to make it well worth the wait. There are days when our 9pm dinner is a crappy meal of chicken nuggets and chips. I have to make choices every day to make things work out for my family.
I am spontaneous, creative, pragmatic, and busy. If something isn't working out, I will change it up in a heartbeat. Schedules, rules, routines, regimentation! You won't find that in this blog. You also won't find me complaining. I might state facts such as the nail polish incident, but I have no complaints. My life was and is being designed by me. I am truly grateful for all of my friends, family and blog readers/followers. This has been a wild ride that has spanned over fourteen years of my life and I am always excited about having the opportunity to share our lives with you.
Have a Great Day!
Laurel Santiago
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