(the teacher and her aid during outside playtime)
The next morning, Chase came downstairs with a sad face, knowing he would have to stay home. He was looking and acting fine - unlike a few days earlier where he laid in a comatose state on the couch all day long - but I just couldn't chance taking him out anywhere that day. I knew it would be a long day. I knew I had to take some action.
After breakfast and a few games of UNO, I announced that we would be having preschool that day. I was to be called teacher and the students were Chase and Mia, with Lyla as a teacher's aid.
And preschool we had. The kids signed their names in and put lunchboxes in cubby holes. We made an art project. During playtime we built a pretty cool train track. We had lesson time. We made and ate snacks. We had outdoor playtime and rode bikes. We did share bag time where the kids gave us 3 clues as to what was in their bag. We packed our lunches and went in the backyard to eat them. We had more outdoor basketball playtime. We had storytime. And then at one o'clock the kids went "home".
At the end of the preschool day, Chase announced that this preschool was better than his real preschool. Later that night, I made the mistake of sharing that comment with Matt who immediately suggested homeschooling, saving us some heafty tuition every month, and allowing our 2 year old to attend.
Although I do love having days like this every now and then, I will also say that I didn't shower til 3:30pm, the house was a wreck, and Mia may have never changed out of her PJ's all day. Which makes me think that people who really do homeschool are
But I have been struggling lately with figuring out a good balance. I either have days where I throw all to do's to the wind and just entertain my kids - which is great, but then my house is a mess, I am a mess, I don't get a workout in and I just feel blech. Or I have a day where my house is clean and organized, I get some exercise in, I am showered and presentable - so I am feeling good, but then I feel like my kids are neglected. Do I alternate days -- kid day, Laura day? Is there a better balance day to day? Seriously, would love to hear some input. And no advice to homeschool...because that ain't happenin.
5 comments:
i think you sound like a great teacher!! we could go back to the idea of me being your nanny, i think that could help with the balance. however you have to offer more pay than just free dinner...
My only comment other than, that sounds like a pretty awesome day, is that I don't think your kids are ever neglected. Even on the days that are spent running errands, watching cartoons, or whatever, you have to remember that they'd rather (in the long run) be home with you than carted off to day care (where there might be more playing and less errands). But I think that sounded like a great day that your kids will remember.
I agree with Kelly, your kids aren't neglected. like claire told me long ago, hey look at the pioneer children, and other children around the world, our kids are fine.
my favorite book the potentially sane guide to raising young children by tamara fackrell talks about quantity vs quality of time and quantity wins.
that said, my kids really remember the occasional out of ordinary fun things we do.
When you figure this one out let me know because I am homeschooling for preschool (what can I say, I'm cheap and have a degree in education)...we had to have movie time so I could shower because I do not do well without a shower. I've tried alternating between one Rex/preschool activity, one mommy chore...it works ok.
What a good mom!
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