Just an Average Day

I am actually writing this post at the request of a homeschooling friend.  If you are not actually a homeschooler yourself you will probably be either bored or appalled by this, so if you find yourself in that category feel free to stop reading now..... but those of us who do homeschool seem to have an endless, nearly voyeuristic curiosity to know how everyone else is doing this (at least I do), so...

Still with me anyone?  Well here it goes one day in the life of the Enright Family Homeschool.  This would be Monday.

Our day begins, unfortunately at 5:45 am when I drag my butt from bed to get the three big boys to seminary.  You have heard my seminary story before, but now I am on the driving to seminary part of our carpooling rotation.  So, yes, I am on the road by 6 am, bleary eyed, barely able to walk, but in control of a 4 ton vehicle. Lucky for all, traffic is at a minimum at that hour, and we are big enough that most people just stay clear.  Monday, after I dropped off the boys, I came home and got back in bed.  Rhys had to be at work by eight though, so I couldn't sleep in too long.

When I headed downstairs at 7:30, all 3 seminary students were still up (not necessarily a given) and starting their days in various ways (Rhys was preparing his quick breakfast, Kegan was lifting in the basement, Amik was getting a head start on his math) and-bonus-Aislin was up and making muffins. Every morning about this time I am just so thankful not to be getting my kids to school by 7:40.  Okay I just made that time up...I don't actually know when the public schools start around here any more than I know what 'grade' my children would each be in (seriously, people, just don't ask), but I have a vague idea that Aislin baking muffins in her jammies in my kitchen at 7:45 on a Monday morning would not be happening if I was rushing 8 children to several different schools everyday.  The very idea exhausts me.

After I got Rhys to work, and tried to take note of all his instructions regarding what he would need for class when I picked him up, I came home and read scriptures with the kids still at home.  We are reading the Old Testament in the mornings and Monday was Samson and Delilah and Fionn drew an adorable picture in her scripture journal of this great big man with super long hair picking up a gate and carrying it off.  Morning Scriptures are not always everybody.  Kris is frequently already working (on Monday he had left the house early), various big kids may or may not be there, but the kids under seminary age are supposed to be there and supposed to keep a journal.

After scriptures and breakfast I did a quick check that everyone knew what they had to do that morning and then I went up to walk on the treadmill.  This is an imperfect system in a big way, essentially leaving the kids to begin school without me.  As soon as it becomes light enough and warm enough I will have to move my walk back to that time between seminary and before my kids are really up and functioning.  Which means no more morning naps for me.

So, while I walk, this is what the kids do: first there is a kitchen team that has to clean up breakfast before they start school, the others can get started.  Fionn and Liam can't do much without me, so they are allowed 30 minutes on either a math game site or a reading site and then can play outside, quietly inside or draw or read.  Ronan does his reading and his math.  Amik, Aislin and Noah can do their schoolwork in any order, they have a list for the week.  Kegan and Rhys are full time college students and for the most part run their own schedules.  And this is when I am acutely aware of how lucky my children are regarding access to computers.  Essentially everyone of my kids can be on a computer at once.  Which is good, because Kegan and Rhys each have a couple online classes and everyone down to Ronan uses Kahn academy for math and papers are all written in Google Docs and shared with me (which is super awesome by the way, even Bayley can share her papers with us there).

Are you still with me?  I told you this would get boring.  So while I walked I fielded complaints about who was and who was not helping in the kitchen and helped Fionn multiple times determine what she should do next.  Ronan came up at one point to complain that he wanted to do 'book math' again, so I had him take the first test in the pre algebra book because he finished Saxon 7/6 (or is it 6/7) in January and has been doing nothing but Kahn since.  And Erin came in to say goodbye on her way to work.  This is why I walk on the treadmill if I have to walk during the day instead of early, on Monday it was also super cold and windy out, but the ability to be available to them even in the vague way I am when I am upstairs walking in the corner is a huge advantage.

At about 10:45, when I should have been on my way to get Rhys, I was frantically printing up last minute papers for Kegan and photos of the still life Kegan and Rhys needed for art that day.  Kegan and I were nearly 10 minutes later than planned to get Rhys from work.  So Rhys changed out of his lifeguard clothes in the back of the van and ate his muffin on the way to class.  We stopped downtown on the way so the boys could buy paper and pencils for their new project and I got some cheap oil pastels for a project with the little kids.  I have been in this art store once a week for the past three weeks!  On the way we discover that Rhys's portfolio doesn't contain his preliminary sketch he needs for class that day (that would be my not quite getting all the instructions right that morning about what to gather from where, but hey at least we brought him pants--they were too big, but they were pants), it is too late to go back though, so he goes to class without it.

Back at home I finally got in some math with Liam and Fionn before lunch.  Fionnula was learning two digit addition for the first time. So I got out some play money and showed her how to do 42 + 34 by counting out each number in dimes and pennies and then combining them and counting again.  We did one together and when I tried to help her with the next she pushed my hand away and said, not in a very nice tone, "I can do it!" And she did.

We did a quick clean up, lunch (which featured whatever they could find in the kitchen), another quick clean up, and then we started an art project.  Art is planned around Ronan, Liam and Fionn and as such is optional for Amik, Aislin and Noah, but even so, Noah and Aislin usually participate.  Amik prefers to just continue with his own work. We drew dinosaurs with black oil pastels and then painted them.  They were awesome and lots of fun, I will have to feature our art projects in a separate post.  Art is also quite messy, so we cleaned up yet again.  Then I listened to Fionn read out loud and checked in on what everyone else had thus far accomplished from their lists and then it was time to pick up the big boys again.

On the way to pick up the boys I talked to Bayley for a bit since she is conveniently on her way to class at the same time as I am driving on Monday and Wednesday afternoons.  And after she arrives at class she usually works on a crossword puzzle and so Kegan, Rhys and I field texts from her all the way home with crossword clues.  But half way home my phone battery, which had not fully charged the night before, probably due to the fact that I was texting Bayley well into the night and apparently pulled the cord from the wall doing so, died.  Sometimes one or more of the kids at home will ride with me to drive to and from the college but this day they didn't.

Back at home we got started on chores and dinner.  Kris surprised us all by getting home before 5 so he and I decided to go on a walk right about the same time that Rhys realized that the new sketch he had completely redone and improved at class was still at the college.  He called his art teacher who agreed to meet us back at the school at 6 to get us into the classroom before the project was tossed by a well meaning custodian.  So Kris and I took our walk, and then I left Aislin with some instructions about dinner and Rhys and I left to head back to the college about the same time Kris left for an evening board meeting.

Home again, I finished dinner, we ate late.  Clean up crew (different one) cleaned up.  We sat down to read a chapter book together.  Kris and Erin each came home somewhere in the midst of this and each arrival was accompanied by lots of chaotic greetings and hugs and yelling and showing off of dinosaur paintings, but eventually we settled down, finished our chapter, read scriptures (Book of Mormon) together and sent kids under 12 to bed with some success (which means that Liam and Ronan went to bed where they continued to make lots of noise and Fionn just mostly blew us off).  Thirty minutes later or so the next shift went to bed (that would be Amik, Aislin, Noah). Kegan, Rhys and Erin go to bed when they go to bed and it is frequently later than Kris and I.

At some point that night I managed to look at the completed work so that I knew who had to do what the next day.  Ronan aced that pre-algebra test, only missing one of the roman numeral questions and seriously--who cares?  I think I got in the hot tub.  I know I watched Doc Martin and texted Bayley and talked with Erin for a bit.

Things I didn't get done:  didn't sew, didn't even do personal scripture study, never got to science with my younger 3, honestly didn't really clean my room even, didn't make more granola like I said I would, didn't touch a violin, never had a chance to sit down with Amik to edit his writing and didn't catch up on the history or reading assignments that I insist my kids keep up on but which I frequently am far behind on, didn't call the oral surgeon to schedule that stupid wisdom teeth extraction for Kegan....  it's a long list, but you get the idea.

So, there it is, long and boring (though in the actual living of it it seemed a little more crazy and chaotic and loud than boring) our Monday, in some ways representative of a typical homeschooling day and in others...well probably our days just don't have a 'typical.'

Confessions....

I have a lot of guilt.  Bayley reminded me recently of an incident when she was seven.  We had recently watched The Sound of Music and she had been apparently mesmerized by this beautiful design she saw on all the flags in the movie.  I came into my girls' room one night to kiss my three little girls good night and discovered to my horror a perfect swastika carved into their bunk bed.  Now, had I been a reasonable person with much experience of seven or eight year olds, I probably would have realized that no one in this bedroom could possibly have a clue what that symbol meant, and may have focused a little more on the wanton destruction of property.   But Bayley was only my second 7 year old, and Erin was barely older and I hardly knew what I was doing and was certain that this could only prove that we were harboring little Nazis in our home.  My reaction may have been a little severe. I may have scared Bayley out of her wits and probably destroyed all her ambition of ever pursuing a career as a wood carver.  So, like I said, guilt.  I have a lot.  I carry it about with me everyday.  So let me unburden myself a bit.

Sometimes...I throw away my kids' drawings.  But even worse, if they find them in the trash, I disavow all knowledge.

I once completely lost a 2 year old at an outdoor graduation ceremony, and unlike other incidences in which I have momentarily misplaced a child, when we found him he definitely knew he had been lost and I am sure was damaged for life.

I have been known to steal candy from Easter baskets and Christmas stockings.

When a well-meaning nurse gently informed me that they needed to take my newborn away and check his oxygen levels, I may have thought and even said things about how stupid the nursing staff was being.  That would be the nursing staff that saved that newborn's life. Yeah.

Pretty sure every one of my children has had their head whacked on a door jamb as infants.

I once slammed a car door on a toddler's fingers.

My children frequently sleep in the same clothes they wore all day... and sometimes still wear them the next day.

Once I left for the library and got a block before realizing we had left the toddler at home, another time I went to the park and had actually unloaded everyone and sent them off to play before realizing that one child was at home.

I have been known to sneak away clothes, toys, or books I don't like and pretend they mysteriously disappeared.

It is not unusual for me to let my kids stay up to ridiculous hours just because we are having fun, and then be frustrated the next morning when they won't get up.

There is actually video footage of me forcing a tearful child to just get in the family picture already so we can get this over with.

So, yeah, guilt.  I have a lot.  I think I will go make some cookies and call them dinner.

Found The Camera Cord!

So Erin cleaned her bedroom and found my long lost camera cord. And I emptied the photos on my camera into my computer for the first time in months. And was sometimes surprised by what I found there. A sampling:

A couple of our Jack O Lanterns this year. I assure you, neither of these was mine.

What Fionnula and Liam claim is the ONLY snowman I have ever helped them build in their short miserable lives.

Indy.

A close -up of our nativity scene.  You didn't  realize  Flora, Fauna and Merryweather were there I bet. 

Our white-board. For writing important messages on. 

Paper snowflakes, the classic winter-time window  decor.

The back window too.

Goofing around on Grandma's porch.

This looks suspicious.

No Snow Days Here

Today is a snow day for our local school district.  I won't mention that there is approximately 3 inches of snow on the ground or that the streets are relatively clear and perfectly navigable... the powers that be in school district 11 have declared it a snow day, and thus it is.  Snow days are a bit of a conundrum in our school.  The basic logic of a snow day is that it is too cold or too unsafe to get kids to and from school, so they should stay home warm and safe right?  Not really a concern when school is at home.  I know some homeschoolers take snow days with the public school kids and treat it as a holiday.  We really don't.  I mean, seriously, if I get to be in charge of when we have school and when we don't, I would way rather take off the beautiful sunny days and go play outside than to declare a free day on a day when they are most likely trapped indoors most of the day.  Which is why on Tuesday when the temperature was over 60, my kids could be found happily bouncing on the trampoline and playing in their playhouse most of the afternoon, but today they are inside...cleaning.

Ha ha!  You thought they were doing math didn't you?  See, it's Friday, which at our house is always a day off of school.  But the reason it is a day off is because it is the day we clean.  So there you have it...my secret to why no one protests my 'no snow-days' policy, it is because I have trained them all that a day off of school means a day of intense cleaning and wouldn't you rather do math too?  I would.

Don't feel too badly for them, the little ones are currently having a cartoon break, and this evening they all get pizza and movies.  Not too shabby a trade off for a few hours of cleaning.

Pink Lego? Heck Yes! Bring It On!

On Saturday we took Fionn to Target to spend her birthday gift card (thank you Grandma).  And Fionnula very excitedly ran straight to the display of new pink and purple Lego Friends and picked out two sets.  Yes I have read the various articles screaming about the new "lego for girls" and how it is limiting the interests of little girls, yes I have seen little Riley rant at the toy companies for making all the 'girl' toys pink while boys get all the other colors, I've even read through the relatively long-winded petition on change.org demanding that Lego "go back to advertising and offering all LEGO to boys and girls!"  Really?  Really?!

How is Lego NOT offering all its toys to both boys and girls?  One article actually said that the 'cool' lego is in the 'boy' aisle at the toy store.  It isn't the boy aisle!  It's the Lego aisle, and I assure you, no one will stop you from purchasing things from these shelves based on your gender.  Really.  Girls can have the Harry Potter Lego or the Sponge Bob Lego or the Alien Quest Lego.  Maybe the problem isn't with Lego as much as it is with everyone's perception in the first place that Lego and action figure aisles are FOR boys.

Also, I noticed that everything I read against the Lego Friends sets complained bitterly that the girl sets were all about girls in beauty shops and girls performing music and lounging by the pool. No where did I see mentioned one of the sets Fionn picked in which the minifigure is an inventor in a lab full of chemistry sets, tools, a microscope and a robot.  It is a relatively pink lab.  But SO WHAT?!  I was sitting by Fionn when she played with this set today.  She told me that her 'inventor' worked at a museum and was identifying the 'potion' which Fionn had carefully placed under the tiny microscope.  This same set comes with a tiny laptop which all of Fionn's Lego fan brothers seriously envy.  I assume none of the tirades against Lego bother to mention this particular set because it goes against one of their main points--that Lego is narrowing the realm of possibilities in little girls' imaginations to traditionally 'girlish' occupations and past times.

Kris asked Fionn before she bought the sets, why she liked them so much, and she shrugged her shoulders and said matter of factly; "because they have girls in them."  Ah ha.  She didn't say because they were pink and purple even though those are her favorite colors (in fact, those are also favorite colors of a couple of Fionn's brothers!), She didn't say it was because of anything the girl's were doing, whether that be designing clothes, or singing into a microphone, or building robots.  She said she liked them because they were all about girls.

So.... how is it different to tell our little girls that they SHOULD NOT want the pink and purple toys than it is to tell them that they SHOULD.  The simple answer is it isn't different.

Back to Seminary

I am not a morning person.  Many of you are cracking up right now because that is such a huge understatement.  Homeschool works well for me because no one has to be dressed and fed and anywhere at 8:00.  Well, except for Kris sometimes, however he is pretty self-sufficient.  But a few years ago something new crept into our homeschool...early morning seminary.  So, from now on, until Fionnula graduates (which is 13 more years if you are curious, plus the 5 we already put in), someone will always have to be somewhere, mostly dressed, but not necessarily fed, at 6:15 am.  Seriously.

So, try to picture a typical school day morning at my house;

First, we can't leave out the detail that anywhere between about 1:30 and 4:30 Fionnula has more than likely crawled  into my bed and burrowed her wicked cold fingers and toes into my body.  Despite the total shock to my system I go back to sleep.  I am resilient.

At 5:45 the first alarm goes off.  That's right the first alarm.  This is the alarm that tells me if my boys aren't up yet they better be soon.  So I stumble, half blind and mostly incoherent (because neither my feet, nor my eyes, nor my brain function at 5:45) down to their room to ensure they are awake.  Usually at least one of them is, but sometimes I begin to hear their alarm as soon as I round the top of the first flight of stairs and arrive in a pitch dark basement to find 3 soundly sleeping boys.  Hence the need for MY alarm to go off at this ridiculous hour.

Then I go back to bed, grab my cell phone on the way and turn on its already pre-set alarm for 6:45, crawl under the covers and go back to sleep.  I am vaguely conscious when the boys each kiss me goodbye a few minutes later.  You see, this year, we are part of a blessed 3 family carpool, which means that every third month, I don't drive AT ALL.  Which is beyond awesome.  But this month, I am driving the pick up after route.  Which means I can go back to sleep for another hour.

At 6:45 my cell phone alarm goes off.  I have my routine perfectly timed, it takes me 5 minutes to be out the door, it takes me 5 minutes to drive to the church, but...  it takes the bus at least 10 minutes to warm up enough that humans can safely ride in it on a January morning.  So, the 6:45 alarm is the start the bus alarm.  I can do this remotely from my bedroom window.  But sadly not from my bed.  Then I......you guessed it.....go back to bed.  Really.  I sleep for another 5 minutes.  THEN I get up, get dressed (and I use the term loosely folks, sweats, jammies, almost anything will work...a swimming suit.  Ok not really.), brush my teeth and am out the door.

Essentially, within five minutes of arriving at full consciousness, I am driving an 8,000 pound vehicle around the neighborhood.  More than likely on ice.  Be scared, be very, very scared.