Tag Archives: schedule

ABCs and OCD

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Today, everyone but baby and me had a video call at the same time. The three older children were spread out between two rooms and my husband was at the dining room table.

I know it may be hard to accommodate, but are we really taking into consideration the people with multiple children when scheduling these things?

I normally have Q attend the afternoon session her teacher offers as to lessen the overlap, but the teacher is making the kids do presentations and asking all children to attend both sessions.

First, let’s address this problem. You are asking a large group of kindergarteners to attend two meetings per day – at least an hour long – where they have to listen to their friends stumble and mumble on a subject they may not care about. This event is difficult enough to accomplish when they are in the classroom. But to be doing it online? Q cries and begs not to log on, and I don’t blame her.

Second, don’t get us used to a schedule, just to upset it whenever. Between Q and EM this morning, I thought I was going to lose my mind. Both my girls were on silent, but their classmates WERE NOT. There were blaring TVs and barking dogs. It was sensory overload. And through the din, they were supposed to be listening to the presenter and teacher, respectively. Yeah, right.

Third, does anyone think about the mom in my situation? CJ was having a video call because he is still working. He may be physically present in the home, but it’s not like I can constantly bother him for help with this school stuff because he is WORKING. This means, not only do I have to keep the baby occupied and quiet, I have to bounce around three children, on three different devices, making sure everyone is logged on, doing their work, and just paying attention. It is mentally exhausting, and if the baby is having a rough day, physically exhausting as well.

At the best of times, I’m a pretty anxious person. I have had to schedule therapy sessions for myself once every two weeks throughout this and sometimes that doesn’t even feel like enough. (Thank goodness for the telemedicine though, right?) Although my therapist is AMAZING, she is not a miracle worker. There have been days when my OCD symptoms have reared their ugly head and I just don’t have the will to fight against them. I know I’m not taking good enough care of myself and I’ve put on weight.

Well, thanks for sticking with me and any tips for survival at the moment would be appreciated.

Too School for Cool?

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Today, we entered the world of homeschooling using materials and resources CJ picked up from school yesterday. This morning, we had a conference call with a teacher and quite a few classmates, we’ve used online learning sites as directed, and did many worksheets. I hate it.

As you’ve seen in my unfinished summer posts, I always make sure we are doing some kid of learning on extended time off. In preparation for the weeks ahead when they closed school, I made up schedules and lesson plans for us, to make sure the kids were still learning something; to keep their brains active.

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I would like to point out, the movie is a Disney movie and was chosen ironically. Also, they love it. And maybe I do too.  🙂

This schedule was super easy to follow and had a format my kids were used to. We were already doing really well with it. Today has been a mess though. Like, seriously.

We did science and math on Monday and Tuesday in the form of a hand washing experiment and spine demonstration (using cut straws and pipe cleaners) and did some baking and measuring.

We didn’t do anything I had planned for today, opting instead to just go all in with what the teachers had provided. This method, unfortunately, leaves the younger two out. I cannot fully devote myself to either faction that has been created. The two younger ones distract the older ones, as they just want to touch the devices that were sent home, and I can’t focus on keeping them otherwise occupied since the older two require instruction to get their work done.

I plan on finishing out the week, to see if things get any better. If they don’t start to go more smoothly, I may back out from what the teachers are asking (sorry!) and just stick to my own planning. My kids may end up a touch behind in lessons once school resumes, but how much can they really be absorbing with such frequent interruptions? Also, it’s not like they weren’t learning anything. They just didn’t realized they were learning.

This experience has once again made it clear to me that I made the right choice studying adolescent versus elementary education. God bless our teachers!

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After having survived visiting both sides of the family in a single weekend and numerous hours in the van, we still had plenty to get ready for at home. We had the beginning of school for MJ and Q, the end of my job at the hospital, and the beginning of babysitting for one of my girlfriends. We have been an exceptionally busy household.

Most days, it’s been the level of busy where you feel really accomplished by the end of the day, but you’re too tired to do anything else other than binge on DramaFever before bed.

There have been a few highlights since school has started. One of the things I loved was one morning while driving to school, as we passed the cemetery, Q waved out the window and said, “Hi, Baby Riley.” It was just that simple; just that sweet. And now they always do it. It makes me both happy and sad at the same time. The other thing has to do with MJ. One of the other mothers was in his classroom for a birthday. She pulled me aside at pickup later that day to tell me how impressed she was with how well-behaved and polite he is. I was shocked. And so excited. I can deal as long as he’s only naughty at home lol.

So today begins my attempt at a better, more structured writing schedule – squeezing it in between life and everything else. Hopefully I will be as successful as I would like to be.  Wish me luck!

Update

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CJ and MJ are out having a father and son date. My sister and her children just left. My girls are down for naps. For the first time in a very long time I am “alone” in the house. So what am I going to do? Well, I already started a load of laundry, so I figured an update was well past due.

So much has been going on lately. There have been strides toward improvement in therapy. The kids are registered for school and uniforms are ordered. (Still can’t believe two will be in school.) CJ and my cousin are almost done with the construction on our second floor. MJ is almost done with speech for the summer. He will also be going on his first vacation soon.

Letting him go on this vacation was huge for me. He will be gone to OBX for one week with my in-laws. I’m already nervous about it, but I told CJ I should get extra mommy bonus points for agreeing despite how I feel. I trust them implicitly, but he’s five. And it’s for a week. Ah!

As my schedule settles over the rest of this week, I am going to work on a more defined plan for posting here and finishing my current draft of Becca’s War so I can move on toward publication. I hope everyone is as excited as I am.  🙂