SET PRIORITIES.Yes, Ma'am!
Today I'm pondering the first four points of her list called "Look Forward, Look Back" (again with the commands; you'd think she was the former Marine.) First of all, I've been thinking more about last year, what I can remember of it at least. It went by in such a blur of urgency and busyness, so to ask me what the biggest blessings of the year were is like asking me where I last placed my keys. Today, I did my best and hung the latter up, so I'll put the former in my sights too:
In 2010, our biggest blessings were times spent together during baseball, intensive ballet and soccer seasons; times spent lying around on couches and cushions while reading aloud from great and sometimes just-for-fun literature; times spent out-of-doors exploring or riding bicycles or just lying in the grass couting ants; times spent reading and memorizing bits of the Bible together; and, finally, times spent with friends.Even in the urgent, even in the busyness, we were blessed with quieter moments that we all very much appreciated. But, hand-in-hand with the blessings of 2010, we surely had some challenges:
Single-parenting, whether teaching your children at home or sending them off to school(s), is brutal stuff, and I don't recommend it at all, if you've a choice. Last year, our greatest challenges were truly my own: keeping our home and school organized and clean; keeping the children fed and bathed; keeping the exterior of our home from looking like a waste pit; keeping the chickens alive; keeping the kids on track with their lessons and getting them to their respective activities on time; parenting with grace instead of according to the letter of the law; and, finally, keeping myself from falling over from too little sleep or too poor nutrition or due to that wicked and deep well called discouragement.So, when I look back on the past six months (and the six before that when I double-dog-dare), I feel tired. My kids feel tired. And we're ready for something--anything--to change.
I FEEL LED TO COMBINE.
[Insert bone-chilling scream here.]As a long-time fan and non-paying patroness of Ambleside Online, I don't know exactly how I'll drag myself to do it: I love each and every one of the respective years we've climbed and conquered together. I look uber-forward to sharing great and trusty ol'books with my kids, going goose-bumpy all over during the bookshelf reveal at the start of each new school year. I've labeled and organized every lovely book for every darling year. I cannot imagine six months without my (pretend) friends. But I'm tired. And my kids are tired. So, I'm praying about it and hard.
[Insert soul-cleansing sigh here.]
Laura, remember the LESS IS MORE motto. AO can be TOO MUCH... doing less doesn´t mean mediocrity. Remeber CM didn´t like checklists, it´s easy to treat AO as a checklist, feel devastated for not completing the book list...
ReplyDeleteI have those moments of feeling too stretched and being tired. So when tired, REST. And please, DO NOT FEEL ANY GUILT for slowing down and living six months a la "unschooling" if you wish.
Silvia, thank you for your wise and kind words! Until now, AO never felt like too much, but this year, we transition to HEO annddd added my youngest, bringing my student total to four. Something beautiful gets utterly lost in this new mix, when I also carry 100% of the responsibility of everything else. I'm sure I'll find my way, creating a Single-parent's Survival Guide to HEO/AO, of sorts. I'll let you know how it goes... :)
ReplyDeleteI feel some of your pain - already had so many AO books purchased and ready but then realized it would send at least me over the edge if not the kidlets as well. I still glean from AO but switched to SCM in order to combine as much as we could, went textbook free for math, and relaxed sooo much more.
ReplyDeleteI just posted our new school schedule and, for the first time, it is without time boxes. Insert a double-sigh here. Starting our day with a heaping portion of Him with frequent check-ins is priceless.