Lessons

It's Wednesday. We are on Lesson #93 of 160. Ugh. 67 lessons to go to complete our PreK curriculum from The Calvert School. I am still following the lessons for the most part but I have found the "games" activities forced and I have added other elements. We have been learning the Pledge of Allegiance. James is almost there. He definitely remembers the last line, "...and justice for all!". That's his favorite part. We even started doing math and leaning some sight words today. I wanted to see if he was ready without pushing him too hard. He did well with adding and "taking away" the money I got from the money jar. Also, I had some tiny flash cards with words on them I had printed for a Bingo game so I picked out all the one- and two-letter words, 15 in all. He was working hard to sound them out and was getting them right. I told him to "mash the sounds together". The list included a, an, do, he, I, in, is, it, my, me, no, so, to, up and we. Lately he has been pretending to do homework since his neighbor has homework each night and can't come out to play. He picks up his Spider-Man book and flips through the pages and talks to himself.

I am feeling so tired lately. I wonder how long I can keep up this crazy schedule. Working til midnight 4 nights a week and being woken up each morning around 7:30 is wearing on me. Nap time is not the same as it used to be either. I used to be able to make up for the lost sleep but James doesn't need naps like he used to. I knew this day was coming but it's not easy. And even though it's just me and him, you would think I would have all sorts of time on my hands but I always aim to carve out some time for myself each day by reading. I often want to get lost in my books but... There is schooling each day, cleaning the kitchen, doing laundry, mowing the grass, managing our finances, grocery shopping, field trips & making time for James and cooking so that Chris has a good meal every day. He eats like crap during the day. On top of it all, at any given moment, someone could request a showing on the house and I have to hustle to get the house show-ready. So far, I have had plenty of time to clean and clear things away and make arrangements for the dogs.

I can't help but wonder what life would be like if we had two children. I think it would be easier. James is such a talker and he spends a lot of time talking to me. I rarely have a quite moment. I shouldn't be complaining and, trust me, I send up silent prayers every day for him. I am grateful that he is healthy and bright and funny and curious and stubborn. I can appreciate that he doesn't want to do much of anything alone. He needs a sibling and I need another child. Our life is not settled yet. It's good we want the same thing. Sometimes we talk about it. And sometimes it's just an underlying current running through our day. When we were visiting my cousins over the weekend, he got to see my cousin's 7-month-old son up close. He had the curiosity you would want a first child to have towards a new baby. He said he would be a good helper in all things...except changing diapers. I couldn't help but smile.

Homeschooling one is a new endeavor in the world of homeschoolers I think. Most families I have met have at least 3 children. I know more couples are choosing this for their singletons for the same reasons the couples with large families do it. But it's different. I suspect the challenges are quite different. How am I supposed to entertain one all day? I mean, his attention span is very short so teaching him all day long is not an option. Plus, I would lose my mind. Should I feel such guilt if I am not with him every single moment of the day? Moms with large families can depend on the older children to help out when she has to start dinner or take a shower or mow the grass.  I feel like the alpha and omega. We kept our neighbor during her spring break from public school a couple of weeks ago and it was bliss! I loved it! We went to the park, they played together most mornings and napped a couple of days for a long time because they were so worn out with the playing. It was wonderful. Right now, as I write this blog post, James is running in  and out of the Fun Yellow Room where I am, making noise and doing any and everything to get my attention. He is waving his little American flag in my face. He is now stabbing the front door with it, locking and unlocking the front door. So, my time is up. The next blog post will be about my progress on choosing a curriculum.