I had a horrible day last week. The kids were terrible, they wouldn't nap, I hadn't been able to take a shower, and the apartment desperately needed to be cleaned (like, bad). I remember sitting on the floor holding two crying kids, thinking about calling my mom, crying, and asking her asking her to get on a plane and come and help me.
After a few minutes of self-pity, I realized that wasn't really an option (my mom lives in Kansas, I live in Michigan). So, I pulled up my big girl panties and tried to make the situation better. I made funny faces, and tried to tickle the kids, read books, tried turning on music and dancing, everything I could think of. Nothing worked. Eventually gave up I turned on Veggietales and that distracted them for long enough that I was able to take a shower and get some housework done.
While all of that was going on, I kept thinking to myself, "can I really do this for the next 15+ years?" and "is this what it will be like when I homeschool?" So, I got on the internet and googled all sorts of combinations of the words mommy, homeschooling, and motivation, thinking that I would immediately feel refreshed and renewed by reading some words of wisdom. Do you know what came up? NOTHING. At least, nothing useful. Plenty exists about how to get kids motivated while homeschooling and how to make them interested in the material, do their lessons, etc. Am I the only one who gets overwhelmed with the idea that I will be completely in charge of my children's education? Am I the only one who gets overwhelmed when the kids are a mess? What do those perfect homeschooling moms do when their kids won't stop crying long enough to get a few words in, let alone any sort of lesson? Where are the blogs about that, HUH?
I am working under the assumption that these bloggers want to keep up the illusion of a perfect house with perfect children and a perfect homeschooling day. The is not the case in my house, though, and I don't mind telling you that.
As I've mentioned before, I started doing a homeschool curriculum that is mailed to our house every month. I bought it partly because of the convenience factor and partly because of the creativity factor (namely, my lack thereof). It is a three day a week curriculum because Amita is only two and soon to be three and doesn't need to be spending too much time in "school". She's still my baby and needs free play. The part that I did not consider when I purchased this curriculum was the prep time - which is quite a bit (an hour or so) the first day it comes. It might not seem like a lot but when I'm by myself with the kids it is really hard to find uninterrupted time to complete the necessary prep. Then, I started feeling guilty because we spent money on a curriculum and I hadn't used it in over a week. Then, I got behind and wondered if I could do a lesson on clouds during any month other than April, as the curriculum stated. Surely, not, right? Then I thought, "why in the world am I wondering about this?" It is obviously not the most important thought I've ever had. I was getting myself worked up for no reason.
Last week at Amita's swim lessons, the instructor had the kids floating on their backs for 10 seconds. She would count to 10 in english and spanish. About three days later, we went to the grocery store and I asked Amita to count how many apples I had put in the bag. She promptly says, "uno dos, tres, cuatro, cinco." NO JOKE. I couldn't believe it. Then, to top off this moment, Ridhwi turns to me and says, "Amita is not being challenged enough". I was shocked. Then, I felt bad. Why am I not teaching her mandarin, japanese, german, or all the other languages? Should I start her multiplication tables? How should I challenge her? I had to shamefully admit to Ridhwi that I had not been keeping with my homeschooling routine after I had promised I would. Also, if I complete my walk of shame, Amita had been asking for "school" but I had said no a few times because we were out or I was doing housework. Amita really loves to learn new things - she yearns for it and thrives for knowledge. Then I thought maybe I should just throw her into a preschool, see what happens, and be done with this whole homeschool thing.
What I decided was that I needed some more organization. As hard as I tried, I was still pretty unorganized about the whole homeschooling thing. I blame Maxwell. No, really, I'm learning as I go. So, on a trip to Target, I decided I needed a filing box and folders (I also decided I needed new cups with neat sippy straws, plates, sunglasses, and shoes for the girls. Target is dangerous.). I then divided the folders into days and then went through the curriculum once the girls were asleep and split it up into each day. It was nice because if I had, for instance, a doctor's appointment one day, I could skip a lesson for that day and plan it for the next day. Since I planned ahead I knew I wouldn't get behind. I'm really excited to "start over" this month and if I have extra time I've got the lessons from the previous month to fill some time if I need.
Mommy motivation is something I struggle with some days. One thing I'm learning about homeschooling is that it does not need to be so organized. If I miss a day, I can make it up another day/time. That's the great thing about what I'm doing. I can plan my life around, well, life. My motivation is deep within me and I think once I find the right system I'll feel not as overwhelmed. While it is really hard for me to let go of some of my need for organization, I need to realize that the kids are not always at their best, much like me. It is better to be flexible with a large plan than inflexible with a small plan. Some days I will do nothing while other I will accomplish multiple lessons. When I look at the larger picture I feel less overwhelmed. I realize that this won't work for everyone - some people are awesome at winging it (I am jealous) but that's just not my teaching style. Not while I was teaching in school and not while I'm doing homeschool. I really think this system will work and once I get the hang of it, I'll have my mommy motivation back.
After a few minutes of self-pity, I realized that wasn't really an option (my mom lives in Kansas, I live in Michigan). So, I pulled up my big girl panties and tried to make the situation better. I made funny faces, and tried to tickle the kids, read books, tried turning on music and dancing, everything I could think of. Nothing worked. Eventually gave up I turned on Veggietales and that distracted them for long enough that I was able to take a shower and get some housework done.
While all of that was going on, I kept thinking to myself, "can I really do this for the next 15+ years?" and "is this what it will be like when I homeschool?" So, I got on the internet and googled all sorts of combinations of the words mommy, homeschooling, and motivation, thinking that I would immediately feel refreshed and renewed by reading some words of wisdom. Do you know what came up? NOTHING. At least, nothing useful. Plenty exists about how to get kids motivated while homeschooling and how to make them interested in the material, do their lessons, etc. Am I the only one who gets overwhelmed with the idea that I will be completely in charge of my children's education? Am I the only one who gets overwhelmed when the kids are a mess? What do those perfect homeschooling moms do when their kids won't stop crying long enough to get a few words in, let alone any sort of lesson? Where are the blogs about that, HUH?
I am working under the assumption that these bloggers want to keep up the illusion of a perfect house with perfect children and a perfect homeschooling day. The is not the case in my house, though, and I don't mind telling you that.
As I've mentioned before, I started doing a homeschool curriculum that is mailed to our house every month. I bought it partly because of the convenience factor and partly because of the creativity factor (namely, my lack thereof). It is a three day a week curriculum because Amita is only two and soon to be three and doesn't need to be spending too much time in "school". She's still my baby and needs free play. The part that I did not consider when I purchased this curriculum was the prep time - which is quite a bit (an hour or so) the first day it comes. It might not seem like a lot but when I'm by myself with the kids it is really hard to find uninterrupted time to complete the necessary prep. Then, I started feeling guilty because we spent money on a curriculum and I hadn't used it in over a week. Then, I got behind and wondered if I could do a lesson on clouds during any month other than April, as the curriculum stated. Surely, not, right? Then I thought, "why in the world am I wondering about this?" It is obviously not the most important thought I've ever had. I was getting myself worked up for no reason.
Last week at Amita's swim lessons, the instructor had the kids floating on their backs for 10 seconds. She would count to 10 in english and spanish. About three days later, we went to the grocery store and I asked Amita to count how many apples I had put in the bag. She promptly says, "uno dos, tres, cuatro, cinco." NO JOKE. I couldn't believe it. Then, to top off this moment, Ridhwi turns to me and says, "Amita is not being challenged enough". I was shocked. Then, I felt bad. Why am I not teaching her mandarin, japanese, german, or all the other languages? Should I start her multiplication tables? How should I challenge her? I had to shamefully admit to Ridhwi that I had not been keeping with my homeschooling routine after I had promised I would. Also, if I complete my walk of shame, Amita had been asking for "school" but I had said no a few times because we were out or I was doing housework. Amita really loves to learn new things - she yearns for it and thrives for knowledge. Then I thought maybe I should just throw her into a preschool, see what happens, and be done with this whole homeschool thing.
What I decided was that I needed some more organization. As hard as I tried, I was still pretty unorganized about the whole homeschooling thing. I blame Maxwell. No, really, I'm learning as I go. So, on a trip to Target, I decided I needed a filing box and folders (I also decided I needed new cups with neat sippy straws, plates, sunglasses, and shoes for the girls. Target is dangerous.). I then divided the folders into days and then went through the curriculum once the girls were asleep and split it up into each day. It was nice because if I had, for instance, a doctor's appointment one day, I could skip a lesson for that day and plan it for the next day. Since I planned ahead I knew I wouldn't get behind. I'm really excited to "start over" this month and if I have extra time I've got the lessons from the previous month to fill some time if I need.
Mommy motivation is something I struggle with some days. One thing I'm learning about homeschooling is that it does not need to be so organized. If I miss a day, I can make it up another day/time. That's the great thing about what I'm doing. I can plan my life around, well, life. My motivation is deep within me and I think once I find the right system I'll feel not as overwhelmed. While it is really hard for me to let go of some of my need for organization, I need to realize that the kids are not always at their best, much like me. It is better to be flexible with a large plan than inflexible with a small plan. Some days I will do nothing while other I will accomplish multiple lessons. When I look at the larger picture I feel less overwhelmed. I realize that this won't work for everyone - some people are awesome at winging it (I am jealous) but that's just not my teaching style. Not while I was teaching in school and not while I'm doing homeschool. I really think this system will work and once I get the hang of it, I'll have my mommy motivation back.
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| Surely this will motivate ANYONE, right? |
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| Did you notice that I even put the little cards up for each day of the month? I WILL do this! |
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| I planned the whole month in advance with every lesson. I left at least a day in between in case I need to drag out lessons or something comes up and I can't do a lesson that day. No more feeling overwhelmed! |
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