We Started Off Okay but Then . . .

The first week of school started great. We've got a second grader, a first grader, a kindergartner, a two-year-old who thinks he's a high schooler, and a three-month-old who doesn't want to miss out on any of the states and capitals or the doubles plus one facts or narration about Gilgamesh and Hammurabi.  Here's here for all of it. 

We eased in. Handwriting and blob mapping and poetry memorization for a couple days, then added in math, then added in First Language Lessons, then math, then Writing with Ease. I was feeling pretty confident. All we have left to insert is Classical Conversations weekly work. 

 

 

And then disaster struck. One morning, it seemed like the only work being accomplished was dealing with poor behavior. And answering questions that had nothing to do with what we were learning. And all the math problems were wrong. And no one could remember what "th" sounds like in reading. Or how to correctly differentiate between 6s and 9s. Then someone clogged the toilet. Then someone spilled Mom's coffee. Then I texted my sisters, texted my homeschooling friends, spilled it out to my mom, and then declared us all fine. FINE. We're all FINE. 

And we are. That's what each one of them told me: that it's normal to have hard days, that part of homeschooling isn't just learning facts but that it's also learning how to be human, and that there are days we do more "home" than "school" and days we do more "school" than "home."

So I unclogged the toilet, poured another coffee, sat the sobbing two-year-old on my lap, and we got back after it. Not for the whole day, but just long enough to remind ourselves that sometimes it's like riding a horse. You have to get back on or you won't remember that you actually can. 

 

I also ate peaches and cheese balls for lunch that day. You don't have to judge me. I judged myself. 

After I put the kids to bed, I cleaned my kitchen and started some bread, and the next morning, I popped it in the oven and the house smelled great, and my sister reminded me that Anne Shirley once said, "Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it."

I reminded her that the quote is actually, "Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it YET." :)

 

There will be more days like the one we had, because while we are given to do this task, it isn't always an easy one. But in it, the Lord has reminded me that all hard things are worth it. He sees us through--one carb, one text from a friend, one iced coffee at a time. And that really is great.