We are well into our third year of homeschooling. There have been some really great days, like the day Rebecca’s reading ability kicked in or the times I’ve been able to clearly explain an aspect of grammar to Michael and Amy. There have been the plays we’ve been able to see, the lazy, pajama mornings on Fridays, and the days we’ve worked really well together in the morning and had the afternoon to just play.
And, of course, we’ve had some really bad days. There have been days when I wanted to chase down the school bus and load up all three of my children and tell the bus driver, “I don’t really care where you take them; just take them away from me!”
But I think today I sunk to a new low. I fell asleep while teaching Amy grammar.
I knew I was tired this morning when I got up, but I figured after a few diet Cokes I’d shake it off and be just as bright and perky as those pretend homeschool moms you read about who make their own clothes and grind their own wheat for the homemade bread they bake each morning for breakfast.
But the perkiness never set in (I drank my trusty two diet Cokes but even those didn’t help) and by 11:30 I was still dragging. I decided Amy and I should do grammar in the big comfy chair by the fire to spice things up a bit. That’s how wild and crazy this homeschooling mom is: instead of sitting at the kitchen table let’s really shake things up and sit in the living room, a whopping five feet from the kitchen table.
So I was in the chair, Amy was sitting on the ottoman. She rattled off the answers to questions one and two and the next thing I knew she was telling me the answer to question nine. What the heck happened to questions three through eight?
I quickly surmised that I’d been out for about three minutes, and luckily, Amy didn’t seem to notice because she was rambling away about … something. Even now I don’t remember what we were supposed to be learning. When I asked her to go back and give me the answers I’d missed she said, “I wondered why you weren’t saying anything. Did you fall asleep?!” She was not amused.
I told Sean and he did not respond correctly. Apparently I am a never-ending fountain of joy for him. He was still laughing about it at dinner.
I have a feeling I am not going to hear the end of this one for a while.
And, of course, we’ve had some really bad days. There have been days when I wanted to chase down the school bus and load up all three of my children and tell the bus driver, “I don’t really care where you take them; just take them away from me!”
But I think today I sunk to a new low. I fell asleep while teaching Amy grammar.
I knew I was tired this morning when I got up, but I figured after a few diet Cokes I’d shake it off and be just as bright and perky as those pretend homeschool moms you read about who make their own clothes and grind their own wheat for the homemade bread they bake each morning for breakfast.
But the perkiness never set in (I drank my trusty two diet Cokes but even those didn’t help) and by 11:30 I was still dragging. I decided Amy and I should do grammar in the big comfy chair by the fire to spice things up a bit. That’s how wild and crazy this homeschooling mom is: instead of sitting at the kitchen table let’s really shake things up and sit in the living room, a whopping five feet from the kitchen table.
So I was in the chair, Amy was sitting on the ottoman. She rattled off the answers to questions one and two and the next thing I knew she was telling me the answer to question nine. What the heck happened to questions three through eight?
I quickly surmised that I’d been out for about three minutes, and luckily, Amy didn’t seem to notice because she was rambling away about … something. Even now I don’t remember what we were supposed to be learning. When I asked her to go back and give me the answers I’d missed she said, “I wondered why you weren’t saying anything. Did you fall asleep?!” She was not amused.
I told Sean and he did not respond correctly. Apparently I am a never-ending fountain of joy for him. He was still laughing about it at dinner.
I have a feeling I am not going to hear the end of this one for a while.
When diet Coke and other caffeine delivery systems fail, Doze-Alert may lend a helping hand. It's what all the cool homeschoolers are doing. http://www.sav-a-life.com/Doze_intro.htm
ReplyDeleteI said grammar was valuable; I didn't say it was a source of unending, can't-catch-your-breath excitement. But comfy chair by the warm fireplace? That's like curling up in bed with a nice thick theology book, sedating enough to more than offset 2 Diet Cokes!
ReplyDelete