Has Anyone Seen My Rose Coloured Glasses??

I was all set to call this blog post 'Back to the Grind' but that would imply some grinding being done in the recent past.

The 'official' end of our Winter holiday happened a week and a half ago. To appease the minions, I schedule our school year according to the local school calendar. I suppose it works out well as the school days are measurable in case I was ever asked to speak to the amount of school work we do. However, by following the local schedule, I'm also constantly reminded that although it seems that society is brainwashed into believing that school is a consistent variable in a child's life, school attendance is actually very inconsistent. There are very few 5-day school weeks in the 36-week schedule. But I digress. My point is that we should be back to a full complement of school work by now.

Every day I've been dreading the work that hasn't, and isn't, being done. Throughout the fall, I gave up on one thing after another. My planner pages are blank for more of weeks 1 through 14 than not. World history stalled at week 3. Miss K's math was a disaster that still hasn't been solved. And The Boy Child's science - other than self-directed experiments in gravity, density and trajectory, the engineering of forts (indoor and out) and some theoretical dabble in time travel and astrophysics - has been nonexistent....never mind.

I suppose my point is this: I've failed miserably on the measurable outcomes in Scheduled Paper Work Land. But if I do some careful observation, I know that learning and other valuable work is being done. I just have to figure out why I'm being so hard on myself about the whole situation.

But I've resigned myself to a steely attitude of stick-with-it-ness no matter the cost. And the cost today very nearly had me swerving into the high-school parking lot I was driving past to be front and center at the 'Open House For 8th Graders' they were hosting in the gym. Crossing against three lanes at lunch hour was the only thing that stopped me. Later, I was thinking that I probably won't break Miss K in just one dismal-ish year of homeschooling. It was the thought I had when she was 6 (minus the dismal) and we were just embarking on this homeschooling journey. I just thought I'd have things down pat by year 8.

Sometimes stick-with-it-ness is depressing. But I think it is better than the alternative - throwing in the towel. So, I will look forward to another homeschooling day tomorrow. Even though I'm not having a good academic time right now, I still appreciate each and every day I have my kids at home with me.

♥Mrs. A.