Baby cries in the crib while I take ten minutes to blog an SOS.
Tips needed! How does one survive homeschooling whilst keeping up with a super mobile and busy baby? He's either too busy to be left alone (aka he's eating too much paper or trying to pull lamps on top of his head) or he's overtired and clingy. I used to just put him down for his nap and then start school. But now those morning naps are hit or miss. He seems to be transitioning to one nap a day I guess. So yesterday he took a good morning nap before church (which hasn't happened the past few Sundays). But today he has resisted a nap even though he clearly needs one. Nurse him, lay him down, let him scream a few minutes, pick him up, change his diaper, let him play, let him eat, play some more, clingy again, cuddle him, nurse him, lather, rinse, repeat. In the mean time there's phonics test, math test, spelling test, creative writing, english test, feed the four-year-old, let her draw, answer her questions, then boom--tension is released as she happily interacts with the busy baby--then clinginess sets in---lather, rinse, repeat.
Usually we don't take all those tests in one day! Oops.
Did I mention that multi-tasking ranks like #456 on the list of the "Things I'm Good At"?
So we go ahead and do as much school as we can, but then we take a break since it's like doing mental jumping jacks, mental yoga, and mental backbends. I sometimes feel like my poor first grader is getting the leftover scraps of my attention span.
Any tips? Besides the obvious solution which would be "Enroll child in the awesome public school that's three feet away."
Ok time to go pick up the wailing baby. Call me a softie, but I can listen to the crying for only so long before I crack.
6 comments:
Amen sister! I have a 4 year old HS'ing pre-k and my 2 year old is quite the distraction. For some reason I don't think it will be getting any easier for me when we welcome #3 in May. However, when we are reading and my 4 year old is grabbing my 2 year olds finger to count items on a page or teaching him colors or letter sounds I awe at the gift of what HS will be like in the future as their lives will be so interweaved together. I can't give you any tips, except to encourage you that your doing a great job and to press on! You do not labor in vain!!! (PS - I have an award winning elementary school 2 blocks from us…I chuckled at your comment!) PPS - if you have not heard of Seeds Family Worship - you MUST google them and buy ALL of their CD's. Just as good or better than the CD I sent you and straight scripture music - total gold! PPPS - I get nervous writing comments on your blog because your such a grammar queen. How many mistakes have I made? tehehehehe - Ana
I'm so glad you commented, Ana! It is always good to know I'm in good company on this journey. Haha, no pun intended! I miss you! And please keep commenting! Trust me- I am not in editor mode when I read comments! I love hearing from you:) Excited for you as you welcome #3!
I homeschooled for 3 years. By the end of the 3rd year I felt like I was just barely getting the hang of it with two small children. It was the hardest thing I have ever done - hands down. I will say that if I did it now it would be A LOT easier because Lily is so much more independent. When no one is independent yet momma runs around like a chicken with her head cut off but I am sure if you hang in there things morph. You are working for the long haul results not necessarily the short term checklist.
Give yourself some grace- either direction. I "homeschooled" for an entire year of high school. I put it in quotes because I didn't do anything. I went right back to school without missing a thing. Your kids are smart and likely absorbing enough that they won't be behind.
Outsource- look into Veritas or some kinds of educational videos or apps. I don't advocate you use that to replace all schooling obviously, but it can be an addition to what you do.
Or enroll him in school for one year. That's okay too. Part of my decision to NOT homeschool was because I didn't want to sacrifice my relationship for education. And based on our current needs/personalities/etc, it's best. Instead of spending my days engaging in a battle of wills over school work, I can spend my afternoons reading books together and making crafts. Building a relationship instead
I don't mean to imply that all homeschool is sacrificing relationships, some people are building them that way. I was only speaking to our particular experience with one child. Just wanted to be sure to clarify!!
At this stage in your life, you might need to adopt a mantra of flexibility, which could look mean that today when E takes his morning nap, you do as much school as possible, take a break while he's awake, then do what's left during his afternoon nap. But tomorrow, he might not take a morning nap, which means you'll have to cram school into the afternoon nap. Do the most mindless things while he's awake, so that when he's sleeping you can give your full attention to the core subjects like math and reading. If you only do history and science twice a week or even only once a week, it's fine. Also, I find it helpful to fill the love tanks of the youngest and neediest first, then they are less needy and clingy when I move on to the older ones. You could also have A play with him for a few minutes while you work with C, then move him to an independent activity in the pack and play set up nearby, then have C play with him while you work with A, lather, rinse, repeat. I wouldn't give up his morning nap time, even if he won't nap. Put him in there with books and toys and some music on a CD for a short time, he'll get used to it even if he cries for a bit. I remember those hard days of schooling with a toddler. It will get better, I promise! And I apologize for my jumbled thoughts. Feel free to message me or call if you need more encouragement!
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