some self talk

I want to be completely honest.  Homeschooling is a lot of work.  Work isn't really even a good descriptive word.  "Work" implies a bit of drudgery.  It makes me think of something monotonous and unpleasant.  I wouldn't call it any of those things.  I will say that it is time consuming.  Like, really time consuming.

     

One of my friends asked me the other day, "So when you are teaching the girls their lessons do you just sort of ignore the phone and the laundry and stuff?" She was asking because she is doing some pre-school work with her 4 year old son. She was trying to figure out how to balance it all. My answer: yes. There is a portion of my day that is devoted solely to schooling (usually from 9am-2pm), whatever remains after that is when all the other issues of home-managing are addressed (ie. phone calls, emails, dishes, laundry, cooking, cleaning...need I go on- you all know what I am talking about).  Some days, that portion of time is but a few hours.  

Where am I going with this?  The truth is, with baby #4 on the way I have already begun to feel a little overwhelmed. I am entirely in touch with reality this time around. Sometimes I think a little ignorance would be blissful. But being that I am feeling a little "seasoned" at this mothering gig- the logical questions I have asked myself are: "What will have to change?"  "Can I really do all of this"  "Could I simultaneously nurse AND make homemade hand-dipped candles for a project in history relating to the medieval times?" "Is there enough of me to go around in this capacity?" "WHY, AGAIN, ARE WE DOING THIS?"

This post (lovely blog!) brought it all back to me.  It helped me so much.  I wanted to share it with all of you that are homeschooling or may be considering it.  It really sort of encapsulates my thoughts of the "why" of homeschooling for us. This one helped too. And while you are there, you might as well read this one as wel.  So freeing. I went back and read my own thoughts when we were first starting out.  And before long other little reasons (our own family's reasons- not saying that homeschooling is right for every family) started cropping up.

Including reason # 493...

Pumpkin cookies and cocoa in our slippers,

sometime between math and spelling.

I'm gonna slip in some other reasons as I recognize them from time to time.  Just to remind myself- we are doing this.  We are doing it day by day.  It is working and I'd like to think that it will continue.

Thanks for indulging me in a little self-talk.

By the way, I have already decided that pumpkin cookies totally count as a vegetable!