Thursday, September 5, 2013

Well, we're all still breathing

Well it was a hurkey-jerky start but school is underway! Here we go!! The first day of school is NOT my favorite. Granted today could have been made easier by better prep on my part. Perhaps I'll remember that when the time comes NEXT year. ;) But honestly, we just needed to dive in and get 'er going. So that's what we did. I felt a bit like a chicken with it's head cut off running around between 2 boys trying to work through various issues like not being able to find the earphones, not being able to hear the teacher, not being able to move from one video section to the next without the whole thing starting over, the computer "spitting out" the DVD's, not having crayons, needing a pencil sharpened... you get the idea. :) Plus now I have an almost 3 year old little girl who doesn't know what in the world to do with herself now that there is no one to irritate or no one irritating her all morning. Plus having to work in the feedings and diaper changes and naps for the twins. Yes, I was ping-ponging all over the place today. So no, the first day(s) of school are not my favorite. Once the lads know their routines, and we've got all the technical glitches worked out (some of our computer components are pretty old and finicky) and once I've got some better ideas in the bag for keeping lil/big sis out of everyone's hair and occupied and engaged, then I think it'll be a nice thing to have school to keep us all busy. For now however, it's enough that we're all still breathing at the end of the first day!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

School Begins... almost

Today was supposed to be our first day of school. I guess technically the day BEFORE was because that was the day AFTER Labor Day. Is that confusing or what? But the twins had a checkup, complete with shots, on Tuesday and the grandparents were here to help out with all of that. All of that to say that school is actually going to start... tomorrow. ;) Yep, it seems pretty late to some, but I like to enjoy our summer as I've mentioned. And as of now we don't have any extended vacations planned, 2 infants remember, so I don't anticipate missing too many days. We'll see. Life happens ya know, and the benefit of homeschooling is flexibility! Oh yeah! Anyway, I did manage last week to finally go through the boys school books and organize them in the cabinet. Some of them thrilled me, like the reading books my 1st grader is going to be using! Aesop's Fables and some poetry and lots of cool readers that I even remember from school! But then I caught a glimpse of the "speed drills" book and got knots in my stomach. They are using the same curriculum that I grew up on, remember? It's been updated and changed of course, but I still remember certain things like speed drills and how much I loathed them in school. School wasn't something I enjoyed but rather endured. So occasionally those feelings will come back! Still I'm mostly optimistic about this year. I think that having the 2 boys occupied with learning during the mornings/early afternoon will be good. Plus I think the fact that they are both doing it will help my less than enthusiastic one feel more like doing it. Maybe?? One can only hope I suppose. So I'm mentally gearing up for school tomorrow. Once again I don't feel like I'm completely on top of it. The computer isn't yet set up on the desk for one of them, and I haven't even glanced at their video manuals yet. But, thanks to my mom, they have something "special" to greet them for their first day of school and that's something. :)