attitude adjustment

When we first started homeschooling 7 years ago, I only had to teach one child Kindergarten. While it took a little more effort because Will was sporting a cast on his left arm, it only took 20 minutes a day to finish the book work. The rest of the day was filled with reading stories, playing games, and trips to the grocery store. As the years progressed and we added more kids to our lives it took a little longer, then a little more, until we were beginning school at 8:30-9:00am and finishing right before lunch. Last year was the first time we needed to take a lunch break and start back up again. Almost 3 weeks into the academic year, I am realizing that our days of having every afternoon free to play are at an end.

5th and 6th grade are hard, Mary has 11 subjects to complete daily including 7 in language arts: English, reading, vocabulary, phonics, spelling, handwriting, and Latin. Tim keeps reminding me that starting in a few weeks their piano lessons begin again. Apparently the days of practicing for 30 minute are over, their teacher wants Will playing for 50 minutes a day. And, while I don't have the stress and anxiety (okay, sheer terror) of having my husband overseas in a war zone, Tim has informed me that his work load has increased to the point of not being able to leave before 6-7pm every night. (The folks in military medicine are among the few in our capital who earn every taxpayer dime they are paid).

I will be taking care of 6 small children, educating 4 of them, running them to activities, doing errands, and cleaning a large house all by myself for the next 2 years. At one time, these were the work of a large staff. What I wouldn't give to be living in Jane Austen's England with a cook, maids, errand boy, gardener, and a governess? Now it is all on one person: me. If I complain, Tim asks, "Do you want to hire a nanny?" knowing perfectly well that we can't afford to hire any help in DC and last year's babysitters were almost more work than they were worth.

What I can do is tackle this problem with a better attitude, knowing that homeschooling for the next few years is going to be harder than it ever has been, but the rewards will be great. If I buckle down and help the big kids learn routines and how to work more independently, then the high school years will be clear sailing. When I announced yesterday evening that the new routine will be breakfast at 7: 30 and begin work by 8 there was some grumbling, but the girls grabbed their books to get a head start.