more thoughts on kindergarten

I know many people who homeschool their children. I admire them, and sincerely hope I never have to be one of them. But maybe I will. I just can't forsee the future; often life presents you with situations you never expect.

Yesterday I was driving in the neighborhood of a friend who homeschools her first grader and kindergartener (with a preschooler and toddler at home as well). I thought, maybe I should ask her if I can observe her one day, just to see what she is doing...

And then that thought was cut short by the realization that homeschooling Kiddo is completely unnecessary. The blessings of school for her are the things I could never provide for her at home: friends, knowledge in art, expertise in various child-friendly subjects, friends, independence, and friends.

She is learning, she is enjoying, and her favorite thing each day is an experience I couldn't recreate at home. Kiddo loves kindergarten. (which I always type "kinderfarten" then have to correct...)

homework

Kiddo is in kindergarten. Every day she has a short homework assignment. Yesterday she was asked to find the letters in her sight word "like" three times, then glue those letters into her notebook. I anticipated this would take her about five minutes. I gave her an old Ensign, and left her to her work.

30 minutes, 45 minutes, later she was still not done. What was going on? She was reading the Ensign (a magazine from our church geared toward adults). I'm glad she was learning about church history. I wish she would have finished her work.

Does anyone else see the absurdity of her reviewing the word "like" while getting lost in catching up on her adult-level reading?

(But, she is learning other things, and really enjoying herself, so kindergarten is OKAY.)

priorities

This is my boy. He weighed 14 lbs at his last check-up, two weeks ago. He is 97th percentile height and weight. So the fact that he refuses to sleep in his crib, except at night (thank goodness for that), and needs to be rocked to sleep either in my arms or my new Ergo carrier (thanks to my grandma for the money for it!) cramps my style. At least he smiles like this at me. And coos a lot. He likes me, but I think I deserve it.

In addition, I have two girls. One is largely self-sufficient, especially since she is at kindergarten for most of the day. But, there is an intense hour in the morning trying to get all of us out the door so she will be on time, and then a rigid end time where I have to be there again to get her home. (Whoever said 'never wake a sleeping baby' clearly only had one child - possibly two, but definitely not three.)

The other refuses to potty train, and two mornings a week attends preschool. For reasons that can only be described as personal revelation, it is a preschool I am running. (Although thankfully I only teach every three weeks. There is a reason I am not a preschool teacher.) 

In addition we have this house. I spent all my free moments, and many of my non-free moments, for two weeks cleaning it, in preparation for the visit of family for the Boy's blessing, then a semi-annual brunch we host. My visiting teacher and friend even came over two days to help me clean. You cannot tell that I did that... Well, maybe if you squint you can, we're slightly better organized, and thanks to my dad the good will stuff we had is gone.

My point is that I have no time. My "free time" is spent nursing a baby, or playing dolls with my three-year old, or perhaps sleeping just a bit, or feeding myself, so I can feed my baby. Am I poorly organized? Am I unrealistic in what I should be doing? Have I forgotten that all I really should be doing with an infant in the house is cooing back at him? I think so.

1st day

Kiddo had her first day of school, real school, kindergarten school. She was completely ready. (It was three weeks ago.) She made a friend, was intrigued by her friend buying lunch (she got strawberry milk!), and generally enjoyed herself. She's not really a detail girl, so that's about all the information I got.

One reason I wanted to buy this house was we could walk to school. I spent the week before school started wondering if that was such a good idea. I mean, this is what we look like as we walk to school... Well, not really. Usually I'm pushing a stroller with Babs inside. And often the Boy is struggling to free himself from the wrap. And if it's after school, Kiddo may be standing on the back of the stroller, also being pushed, uphill (no really, the walk home is uphill - except in all honesty, I make her walk on the hills). Plus I've lost Babs' sunglasses, making her less amenable to the walk. So perhaps this is the ideal version of the walk.

And, given the kids' ages, it's entirely possible I'll be walking to the school two times a day for the next seven or eight years. But, I won't be pushing a stroller the entire time.

But back to Kiddo. She loves school. She's made friends. She follows directions and comes home happy every day. This is our school girl.

keeping up

it didn't seem so easy the first time...

As I prayed for a blessing on my breakfast, I also asked that my husband would be blessed at work, and Kiddo at school, and Babs at preschool, and I realized that some day my whole family will be out of the house.

But today it was just most. So after dropping Babs off at her preschool, the Boy and I went to the grocery store. He compliantly stayed in his carrier in the cart while I shopped. I walked at my own pace, not slowed down for little legs. I never once said "stop that!" or "be careful" or "I told you that was a bad idea!" I could think my own thoughts. It was really amazing.

As I drove home I thought, I could actually get something done with this arrangement. Last time I only had one child at home I wrote a dissertation. I wonder what I will do this time?

the thousand words

This picture illustrates two major themes of my life right now.

1) This is the last day that all three of my kids are home together as a rule, instead of an exception. Kiddo starts school tomorrow, and while there will certainly be plenty of days where they are all home again (like say, the day after tomorrow, which is a Saturday), most days Kiddo will be at school. What will our life be like, just me, Babs and the boy? What is the new normal?

2) My house is a mess. I spend much of my "free" time working on the mess, but it's like bailing in a rainstorm with a thimble - less effective. Part of the mess is the girls that enjoy their toys a lot (a good thing). Part of the mess is that not everything has a place, or is unpacked in the right spot. Mostly we use our time differently. I remind myself that we have years here to find order, so be patient. Also, the major place I spend my time currently is on that little head just peeking out of the swing. I feed him. I hold him. He prefers to nap in my arms, and the swing is only sometimes an acceptable substitute.

But he is only this small once. So I am trying desperately to locate the fine line between enjoying him in my arms as much as possible, and not going crazy that this 10 lb child is the only thing I do. I recite often the important lines: "I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep."