Eclectic Homeschooling: Weeks 6-7 of 2023

 Monday: Guess what I didn't do today? Take pictures. I also didn't plan out a science unit study for this week. I very quickly put together our weekly schedule and printed off the memory verse and song lyrics while Ira and Asa read to me. We didn't work on the memory verse, song, or do an art lesson. We didn't do our weekly Family Home Evening lesson. It was a beautiful day, and we didn't spend much time enjoying it. 

BUT, we did do all the individual work and read aloud books. We did have some delicious sourdough pumpkin muffins for lunch. I did get two loads of laundry hung up preparing for the rainy weather that might be coming our way later this week. The boys watched some Halloween related episodes of PBS Kids shows while I took a nap with Owen. We did get almost an hour of outside play in at the park before Matthew came home for dinner. I did make some seasonal minestrone soup before we went outside to fuel our bodies with something healthy. I did type out a story about myself that I needed to submit for a get-to-know-you Halloween party next week (probably my most proud accomplishment of today. I never can think of good stories, but I miraculously did today). I did clean my kitchen after dinner even though I didn't want to. And I am actually updating this post today instead of three nights from now. I even pulled out the laptop to do it because I write better on paper or typing on a keyboard than on my phone. For some reason my brain doesn't work well when I try to put thoughts down on my phone. 

I could have done better today. Managed my time better. But I sure as heck don't regret taking that nap, which threw things off. I don't regret sleeping in, so I had a slow start to my morning. I don't regret prioritizing the laundry. Really, it was quite the productive day. 

I listened to a podcast today. It talked about success without belief, which was good, but the part that stood out to me the most was when she talked about loving what you do, but not loving every aspect of it. I guess a part of me thought that maybe I still haven't found what I love to do because there is always something I hate. I love to bake and even cook sometimes, but there are those days (or multiple days) when I resent having to make all the food all the time. Or I want to bake with sourdough, but I hate feeding the starter once I am done. Isn't that silly? For some reason, it seems like this huge, horrible task that will make me ignore my starter for days. I love to sew, but I hate cutting out and ironing the fabric. I will put off projects just because I don't want to do those parts. 

I usually love being a mom and homeschooler, but then there are times/ days that I just really hate my "job". But I can't go search for a new one. This is one I am stuck with, no matter how sick of it I get. The mothering job can be the most suffocating one of all these "undesirable" tasks.

All that aside, I love what she said in the podcast. I am allowed to love what I do, and also hate parts of it. I am not bad at any of my jobs, or my hobbies, just because I don't always love it. It was really freeing to think that. I talked a little bit about this in a previous post. I am trying to be better about embracing not having the day I wanted to have. Of being in a time when my house isn't as clean as I want it and we watch too much screen time. To let perfectionism go. In the end, it just makes me miserable, and I keep doing the same things over and over again that I want to change, all because I feel bad. 

Well, maybe it is better that I type out my days on my phone. My posts are significantly much shorter, haha. But then again, I like this. I am not just documenting what we do. This is more like an online journal that I wanted this blog to be anyway. So never mind. My longwinded posts are serving the purpose they were intended to. 

Tuesday: Today was super relaxed. Ira and Asa did some individual work, but we cut it short in favor of watching a movie together before lunch/therapy for Ira. They usually watch a movie after our afternoon walk, but I always miss it because I get to cook dinner. I don't mind...honestly...but Matthew does. So I told him I don't mind sitting and watching movies, but we can't be doing it when I am suppose to be making meals. Last night I watched part of a video of a day in the life of a family of 10. I watched for when the mom got to sit down and rest, and so far there was no resting. There was always a chore to do, and a lot of them were in the kitchen. She was in the kitchen a ton. I helped me see that I don't need to be whiny about the days I don't get to sit down often. Having a bigger family and homemaking the way I want to means working harder. I choose that, so I need to not be resentful. 

I decided to take a nap during therapy, and unfortunately woke up with a mild sore throat. Now it has turned into a cold and a definite sore throat. I am bummed because I was just sick a few weeks ago. But I am glad it is Tuesday because hopefully I am all better by the weekend. I am going to bed early tonight, and hopefully the rest of the week, so I can heal up quickly. I think it is lack of sleep that contributed to my getting sick this time. 

I did manage to get some sourdough bread started before my throat and nose started to bother me too badly. We keep getting free potatoes, but I am the only person in the house that likes them. I have thrown away so many potatoes over the past few months because I don't know how to use them fast enough. Well, today I found a sourdough potato bread. I have looked into potato bread before, and the recipes usually call for only 1/4 cup mashed potato. This one calls for 1 whole cup. If it is yummy, I will be bulk baking some loaves before the baby comes to make sure we have several loaves of bread, and to use up the potatoes before they go bad...again. 

The rest of the past two weeks: My sickness went downhill really fast. I woke up on Wednesday morning not feeling all that great, and by the end of making breakfast I realized that I was dealing with body aches and fluctuating between heat flashes and body chills, plus a headache and sore throat. I pulled out our foldable foam mattress and put on movie after movie for the boys so I could just lay down except to get up to make meals. Matthew did all the cleaning for me. I took Tylonol to keep myself from being miserable when I did have to get up. And I slept the day away. I originally woke up feeling better on Thursday, so took Ira to therapy and went grocery shopping...that was a mistake. By the time I picked up Ira 3 hours later, I was so achy and tired that I crashed when we got home. It was a rough day. So I spent the rest of the week resting and taking naps religiously. 

I felt much better by the next Monday, but I felt like I was going to go crazy if I didn't do some deeper cleaning of my house, and I still needed daily naps. So we really didn't leave the house, and only got in a little bit of school in. And we played a crazy amount of Minecraft because I was feeling lazy, haha.

When I think about the past two weeks, it all feels like such a blur. It really feels like just one week. It was rough for me. But, in hindsight I am grateful for it. It is helped me see how my life really might look like in a few weeks from now until most likely sometime in January. I am going to feel easily tired and need daily naps. I am going to feel overwhelmed and behind in everything. I am not going to want to get outside. Just like I said in my last post, I need to accept that this is just a moment in my life, and embrace it. I want to be able to look back fondly at all the days we spend in our cozy warm house, watching movies, playing games, or just watching the boys play their elaborate pretend games while I adjust to life with another baby. Not regretting that we didn't consistently do school or get lots of outside time in. 

Mentioning the amount of play they have been doing, it has been loads of fun to see the depth of Asa's and Ean's pretend play emerge. Sometime in week 7, I was inspired by a video from Farmhouse on Boone to go through the toys again to see where we might still have too much stuff. She said that she thinks about what to do about certain toys when she finds herself having to pick them up over and over again. That is definitely a problem here, even though we don't have a ton of toys. So I reduced the amount of certain toys so there is less dumping and they can easily access what they actually use from their Fisher Price people and Duplo blocks (that is what is mainly dumped). Ever since I did that, I see them rush for the exact same couple boxes of toys, and play for hours together with them. They usually don't fight, and come up with some really in depth play scenarios. The only problem we run into is Owen wants to join in the play, but doesn't understand how to follow pretend play on that level yet. So, I have been getting a lot more alone time with him. I usually just sit on the ground in their room, and he will play by himself for at least half an hour. And then we need to clean up and move on to outside or reading books or something like that. He gets to spend a lot of time with me right now, which I think he really enjoys. Much more that picking on his brothers for sure.