Simple Woman's Daybook Entry

Outside my window... Beautiful sunshine for now, but it will be a hot one today...

I am thinking... oh my head is full this week... I am thinking about my upcoming ACL surgery and I still can't decide if I want a donor tendon or do a patellar graft.  I am thinking about how the craziness of house repair will most likely start while I am recovering next month (joy).  I am thinking about house repair.  The insurance adjuster totalled our roof, gutters, shutters, screens, some of the windows, some of the trim work, the paint, and maybe the garage door?  Luckily the contractor we will be working with can do all of the work, but it will be a headache to coordinate it all, get the new stuff picked out, get approval from the HOA and so on and so on...  I feel an urgency to get it all done NOW, before our contractor gets booked elsewhere, and we will still be waiting as the snow falls.  Our car is scheduled to get it's body repair work done - in NOVEMBER.  It will be in the shop for 16 days!  I have never made claims before, so this is all new to me and I am just astounded at the damage estimates.  Dean, the OK native, seems nonplussed by it all.  As I walk around the neighborhood, I see more and more roofer signs every day in various yards.  This is going to be one very noisy neighborhood for the next several months.  That really bums me out because I love to have the windows open in the fall, but it will be impossible to get any schoolwork done, listening to hammering all day.  

I am thankful... That Jordan's cell phone was found.  He lost it as he was packing up at scout camp this past Saturday.  The phone wasn't even supposed to BE AT CAMP.  This is also his third phone, so he got lectured inside and out by both of us.  To top it all off, he got home on Saturday, and was leaving in less than 24 hours to fly to OK to stay for the next month.  Not an ideal situation.   Jordan called both boys he was tenting with and asked them to search through their stuff - and they did - to the extent that any 13/14 year old boy knows how to search.  It was finally found it a couple days later (AFTER Jordan had flown back to OK and AFTER Dean had driven 2+ hours back to camp to search the tent site) in, of all places, a baseball gear bag of one of the boys.  He found it while at practice.  I can imagine that his stuff in his room must be in layers, and the camping gear was thrown on top of the baseball gear and the phone slipped out of wherever it was in the camping stuff and fell into the baseball stuff.  Dean had noticed at camp that Jordan and his tent mates had the messiest tent of everybody - so it is no surprise it got lost.

I am thankful that Jordan earned his Life scout rank while at camp.  His three merit badges that he earned while there which helped him over the hurdle.  I had no idea he was on the verge of that.  A long while ago I made the conscious decision to detach myself from his scout activities and badges and so forth.  It is his journey, his work that will get him where he wants to be, and he is in charge of getting there, at his pace.

I am also very, very thankful for insurance.  State Farm really came through with fair and accurate assessments of the damage.  I wish it hadn't taken so long, but I know now that it took time to get adjusters here from out of state, given the scope of the damage across the area.

From the Learning Rooms... I got a call from our principal at Calvert yesterday, and she went over the assessment tests and discussed placement with me.  It all went as I expected - Owen in K, Rylan in 2nd, and Jordan in 8th.  Jordan's math skills are coming in at a solid 7th.  I guess I was expecting that too, it's just hard to hear, and it's a huge hit on my personal pride - because it's my fault.  We have been too busy and too distracted these past couple of years and have fallen behind, and it is precisely why I have cleared the decks in our schedule, so to speak, for this coming year, and beyond.  The boy can run circles around me doing math in his head, but when it comes to the easy stuff - the stuff that always trips you up on a test, he stumbles every time.  I was hard-pressed NOT to look over his answers before I packaged everything up and sent it off last month.  We are ready for pre-algebra, and that is where she assured me he would start.  They use Singapore at Calvert.  I'm not a fan of Singapore, but I suppose it's not fair that I say that because we've never done it before, but in looking it over, it seems, well...a bit boring and very linear?  We love using MEP, and I think MEP does a fantastic job of stretching the concept all around in different ways to drive home how to approach an equation.   I refuse to drop MEP once we start Calvert.  It will be a supplement - I just can't let it go.  Anyway, the curriculum should be arriving just about the beginning of August.  That will give me the time I need to plug away at our schedule, and do a soft start with all of them.  It will be most brutal on Jordan, who will have done next to nothing all summer, with the exception of Minecraft. (the bane of my existance).

In the kitchen... I am making rhubarb crisp this morning for breakfast.  I wound up with a ton of rhubarb when the hail destroyed my plant.  I was able to salvage quite a bit, and the plant is already making a nice comeback.

I am wearing... pjs.

I am creating... A calendar and chore chart for the kids.  I am annoyed by them asking all the time what we are doing and when, so I got a large white board calendar and color-coded dry erase markers to fill it in each month.  The smaller-sized kitchen calendar is too pretty to muck it all up with scribbles all over the place.  Plus, I want the kids to begin the habit of adding their own stuff.   For the chore chart, I am going with a piece of sheet metal in a frame, magnetic chore cards and lots of tape, so we'll see what I come up with.  Pinterest has been a great inspiration.  I promise I will post when it is done.

I am going... Physical Therapy this afternoon for me, and Rylan to the orthodontist after that.  She may be getting her lower braces on today.

I am wondering... How to manage the stress... I can only walk so far for so long.  I miss running.

I am reading... Still working on The Happiness Project, and then I picked up three new reads from the library: Firefly Lane and Fly Away, both by Kristin Hannah, and Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, by Richard Swenson.  I've seen that title referred to in the past couple of books I've read, so I am taking a look.  Dean also ordered a book from Amazon for me - Smart but Scattered Teens, by Guare, Dawson and Guare.  Jordan is really struggling with executive function, and I need this to help me ease up on him and get off his back.  His behavior has improved tons in past few years, but it still comes down to being able to focus - and as you can imagine, schoolwork, being able to finish a task and remembering to do things are the biggest issues.  I suppose it is timely because I also discussed this very issue with his psychiatrist at our last check-up.  I wanted some advice, routines, resources..whatever,  to help Jordan get some self-management skills in place.  First, he scoffed and said that even his patients in their early 20's still struggle with that.   And then you know what he recommended??  A sticker/reward chart.  Again.  Three years later, we are having THE SAME EFF'ING CONVERSATION.  I need this book, and we need a new doc.

In the garden... Nine, rather beaten-up tomato plants that have about a 50/50 chance of making it, chives that won't quit, and a really plucky rhubarb.  And a nice selection of weeds.  Still.  I know...

I am hoping... For patience.

I am looking forward to... therapy today (ready for some new exercises) and a summer movie tomorrow with the kids, followed by swimming.

I am learning... just for kicks, I looked up how to check your Google history to look up things I've been searching for.  And here is what I've found.  I spend waaaaay to much time on the computer.  I need to set a timer for myself!

I am hearing... Coldplay's Ghost Stories (I LOVE THIS ALBUM!), and the kids playing in the garage.  So far this morning Owen has shot himself in the eye with bug spray and had a shoving match with Colin.  I don't know why they like playing in the garage.  All they do is ride their bikes in circles, search for spiders and get into stuff they shouldn't.  

Around the house... lots of dust bunnies because Abby is shedding.  I will be contacting the contractor today to set up a time to look over shingle samples.  We aren't changing the color, but I suppose we need to pick something.  I really hope the HOA moves quickly on this.  I imagine their office is flooded with requests already.

I am pondering... how this will all come together, and when, and how much it will set us back, financially (the house, surgery, school)

One of my favorite things... Ice cold McAlister's Sweet Tea on a hot day

A few plans for the rest of the week... violin lesson, movie, swimming, a Luau party at our church and Rylan begins girl scout summer day camp next week.  I need to get her water shoes for the canoeing portion.

Here is a picture for thought I am sharing... 

Two things: First is Jordan's first GoPro YouTube video that he edited and set to music.  He must have figured it out how to do it all on his own - now he needs to teach me!  He just uploaded it this week, within hours of arriving in OK, and after conferring with Dean over the phone about the finer details of music credit and so forth.  This is Dean and I on the Mind Eraser (if you have vertigo issues - DON'T WATCH), in May.  We got the front seat, and Dean is wearing the GoPro.  I loved the ride, but screamed the whole way - thank goodness there is awesome music for you to listen to instead.

And here is a picture Colin took of Rylan walking by the pool at swimming lessons last week:

I love the splash and the reflection...

To read more entries and visit a variety of other blogs, go here...

Up to my ankles in suds...

photo credit

 

 

Yes we homeschool, so we kind of buck the cultural norms in that regard.  But we haven't relinquished our love of electricity, plastic bottles full of corrosive laundry detergent, liberal - even, dare I say, wasteful water usage, or a love of all things fabric softener.  Gain.  sniff.  ahhhhh.

 

 

Three years ago, we plunked down an obscene, OBSCENE, I SAY!, amount of money on a Samsung front loader washer/dryer combo.  After one week of use, they were no longer my favorite.  Even if they were shiny.  The washer took a ridiculous amount of time to do one, paltry load.  The dryer's magical damp 'sensor' wasn't so magical.  Three years have passed, and my disdain has only increased.  Whenever we travel to my inlaws and make use of their washer/dryer (on a daily basis during our visit because we have filthy kids...), I sit in awe.  I love my MIL's machines.  I want to ditch the suitcases, the children and the back seat and just take the machines home with me.  j/k   well...almost.

 

For the past month or so, our washer has completely under-performed.  As in... "I don't really feel like draining out all of this filthy water, or spinning or anything, so I am just going to sit here and beep at you every 30 seconds... all. night. long.  Out running errands?  Okay, I'll just entertain the dog and cat with the beeping.  I'm sure they will enjoy that.  Don't worry.  I'm sure you won't mind if your clothes fester in dirty water for a few hours..."

 

Samsung?  You suck.  So does the cheap plastic parts you put in your machines.  For the sheer pain of plunking down $1600 on one single machine, I expect better.  BETTER!

 

I am talking about the drain pump.  And the MAJOR PITA factor involved in getting to the drain hoses.  Which were caked in sludge.  I half expected to find a wayward penny.  Or a lego.  Or a button.  Nope.  Just a faulty part.

 

So, this past Sunday morning, I found my washing machine and all of its 40 respective parts, spread out all over the upstairs hallway.  Dean must have been busy.  Believe me when I say that stepping on metal screws hurts worse that those funky-shaped legos that stick out at all angles... you know the ones.

 

And the part that needs to be replaced?  Well, it should arrive sometime later this week.  We don't have enough clothes to last that long.  So my options are: stink.  No thank you.  Go naked.  again...pass.  Go to a Laundromat.  The last time I did that was in New Orleans when we vacationed there in 2010.  That actually wasn't sooo bad, once I got over my fear.  Dean took the kids for ice cream, and I washed and folded and watched my first episode ever of CSI on a little TV that was suspended from the ceiling.  Then the witchy owner-lady killed the TV 10 minutes before closing time, and no amount of eye daggers was going to convince her to turn it back on.  Another option would be to haul the dirty clothes to my mom's.  Nice idea, but I really don't have that kind of time, and I don't want to be a burden.  So... what option is left??

 

Ah-ha!!  The bathtub.  Bathtub you say?  Google it.  There is a whole (very scary) world out there of DIYers that has turned the act of washing your clothes out by hand into a modern-day art form.  It is culturally confusing however, to Google images of "Washing clothes by hand in bathtub", and see gleeful Preppers washing away in their plastic tubs mixed in with images of women and men slapping clothes on rocks next to a dirty stream. 

 

So, back to me (since it is all about me), I've got it down to a science...

 

1. Fill tub to about 2-3" deep with water - the temp depends on what you are washing.

2. Add liquid detergent while it is filling.  I also add softener too, because I am too lazy to do that separately.

3. Dump in clothes.  I limit myself to about 15 items, give or take.

4. Get them wet, step in and swish around with your feet just a bit to work in the soap.

5. Let sit for 10 minutes or so.  Or until you remember that you left clothes in the tub in the first place..

6. Get back into tub and get a 10 min. cardio workout.  Dance, stomp, swish, pretend you are an Olympic speed skater - careful - water can slosh!  Do the Twist!

7. Drain.

8. Rinse.

9. Drain.

10. Rinse.

11. Get all of the clothes into a big pile at the back of the tub, and then place your hands against the front of the tub and puuuusssshhhh.  Do a couple wall push-ups.  Then puuuuussshhh some more.  Squeeze as much of the water out as you can.  Then....get the Salad Spinner!!!! 

12. Spin each item.  A mop bucket with a squeezer-thingy can work too.

13.  Either hang up to dry, or throw in dryer.  (thank goodness that is still working, at least)

 

Done! 

 

Bonbon anyone?

The Family Closet

This post has been over a year in the making... I am so excited to finally share the concept of the family closet with you and let you know how much our family has benefited from it.  The basic idea of a family closet is to consolidate all of the family's clothing into one closet - ideally using the largest closet or maybe even the smallest room (if you have a lot of clothing!) in the house.  All of the laundry comes and goes to one location, cutting down on needless trips back and forth to other bedrooms to retrieve and put away clothing.  It will take serious mettle to make the change and do all of the purging it will most likely require (it is not for the organizational faint of heart), but boy, is it worth it in the end!

Why did I do this??

A little over a year ago, I was in the later stages of pregnancy with my third child, soon to bring the total number of members of our family to six (me, my husband, my stepson, and our younger three).  I was already fighting a losing battle with clutter, housecleaning and most definitely laundry.  I would empty the dryer, and make five different piles of clothing on our bed that would then (ideally) go off to 3 - 4 different locations.  Lots of traffic back and forth to get the job done (not to mention time), so most of the time the clean laundry would sit, in a pile on our bed, only to be relocated to the floor on a nightly basis because I was just to tired to do it.  We would routinely go to the pile instead of our closet to find something to wear.

I bought baskets.  Lots of them.  I labeled each one with a different family member's name.  So the BIG pile was sorted into the different baskets, with the idea that each basket would be emptied (ie. PUT AWAY).  I was an organizational genius!.... with about 7 different laundry baskets, FULL of clean clothes, on the bedroom floor.  Day after day.  Lots of tripping and subsequent yelling was involved.

Something had to change.

Enter in rain gutter bookshelves.  Huh?  Well...Kimberly, over at Raising Olives, had a fantastic idea for a way to organize books.  So fantastic that one of the moms in our homeschool group (THANK YOU Gail!!!), was inspired and shared a link to the rain gutter bookshelf tutorial with our group.  I followed the link to the Raising Olives blog, and I was fascinated with how easy and creative these bookshelves were!  I wish we had the wall space for these!  Anyway, I can never seem to leave a new blog without exploring it thoroughly (remember the Rabbit Hole??), so I spent the better part of an afternoon learning a little bit about everything this mom (Kimberly) does to organize her large family.  We are secular, so I glossed over the religious aspects to the site, and just focused on searching for a more efficient way to do homeshcool and household stuff.  Then I came across her post for a family closet.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  The clouds parted, the sun came out and I distinctly heard trumpets blaring in the background.  My laundry problem was solved!  Now, I just had to get my husband on board.

Dean was not convinced that all of the reshuffling of clothing was going to create the desired change I was searching for.  He thought that this was just another lame attempt by me to create a huge mess under the guise of making an 'improvement' in our household.  He was right.  The process did create a huge mess.  It took about two months to sort it all out. 

Disclaimer: Anytime I come up with a project, I routinely fail to remember the fact that I have approximately 12 minutes of "free time" during the day.  So therefore, any project I take on takes a ridiculously long time to complete.

I began by designating which portion of our closet/soon-to-be the 'family closet' the kids would take over.  I have probably moved things around at least a dozen times since the initial go, (driving everyone crazy), but at last we have what works for us.  Don't forget, we had a new family member to work in as well, after it was all set up.  I was determined to make the closet totally accessible to the little kids so that they could take on the task of dressing/undressing themselves totally on their own.  So the lower clothing rods were for the little kids, and the lower shelves were theirs as well.  We are lucky in that the closet came with four rods at various heights, and one wall had floor-to-ceiling built-in shelving.  It was such a bonus to not have to factor in purchasing any special shelving to make this project work.  We did end up purchasing one organizer, a unit that hangs from the rod and goes down to the floor.  I think the intended purpose is for storing shoes, but Dean and I use it for our socks and underwear. 

Then I took every last bit of clothing out of each of the kids' closets and sorted EVERYTHING.  This meant all of Jordan's current clothing, a massive pile of his older clothing that was to handed down to Owen (and Colin), everything in his dresser, all of Rylan's clothing and all of Owen's.  I dumped out and reclaimed all of the clear storage boxes in the basement (creating another mess, for another time).  I sorted out every piece of clothing by size and put what was to be kept into its designated box.  Everything that was of current size was hung up/folded and put away in the family closet.

As I mentioned, each child got a shelf (about 4 feet long).  A small bin is there to hold socks and underwear/diapers, and then all of the items that would routinely go into a dresser (pjs, shorts and pants).  By stacking them on a shelf, each item is easily seen and you can find what you need quickly.  I always hated how small items could get buried in a dresser drawer and then get forgotten about. Since the dressers were cleaned out, that meant that they could be repurposed or gotten rid of.  Jordan's dresser and nightstand were sold in a garage sale, thus freeing up a ton of floorspace in his room.  This meant that he could now have a bigger bed and pass his twin bed onto Rylan.  The dresser that housed some of Rylan's things is also the changing table, so it wasn't going anywhere.  We could repurpose it though, and it now holds all of the children's bedding and baby blankets (thus freeing up a lot of shelf space in the linen closet). 

Initially, I put the clothing storage boxes into neat stacks in the now-empty closet in what was Rylan and Owen's room.  It stayed that way for the better part of year.  Also in that closet were their baby keepsake things and baby stuff that would soon be put in use when Colin arrived.  In Jordan's closet I left behind a massive pile of clothing that he was currently growing out of, all of his keepsakes, extra bedsheets, and about 10 thousand household odds and ends.  One of the important benefits of clearing out these closets is that you are freeing up that space to store other things, or creating a new purpose for them.  They could become a private hide-out for the kids, a place to keep their special things, or a place to store their toys.  I have other ideas for these two closets.

My goal had always been to get every piece of clothing, either in current use or soon-to-be-used, into the family closet.  I wanted the clothing bins in the family closet so that they would be easily accessible.  The final push came just after Christmas when we started to clean out the basement.  The kids had swapped rooms and roommates, so out came all of the nicely-labeled clothing bins from Rylan and Owen's closet.  Piles of clothing that needed to be added to those bins had grown over the previous year, and were located all over the house.  And I mean all over.  A pile sat on the kitchen counter for the better part of two months.  For whatever reason, it was just too difficult to drag out the bins and put stuff away when it was located in a different closet.  The newly removed bins sat in the upstairs hallway and in our bedroom for about 4 weeks, waiting to be sorted through again, as I added stuff.  When the clothing bins got the boot from one closet, it was only natural that they should go into the family closet.  They are now up and out of the way, but totally accessible when I need to get in them - AND there is a step-stool available at all times, so no excuse for random clothing piles anymore! 

As for the newly-emptied closet in what is now Jordan and Owen's room, every last bit of Christmas stuff was brought upstairs from the basement and sorted, purged, organized and stuffed into that closet. (we are currently emptying out the basement so that we can finish it)  The closet is now full from side to side, floor to ceiling with Christmas stuff.  This means two things: 1) Since it is full, I can no longer ADD any more Christmas paraphernalia, unless there is room in an existing storage tub.  So, for items like ornaments, there is still tons of room in each child's ornament box.  2) It is an excellent use of space that we only need access to once or twice a year.  This means that furniture can go in front of the closet doors, adding sorely needed wall space in that room.  Currently, Owen's bed, nightstand and bookshelf are in front of the closet doors.  This could definitely be a future post topic!

Jordan's old closet (which is now a part of Rylan and Colin's room) still holds some of his mementos, and the random household items.  We had initially brought up all of the ski gear to store in this closet.  It became apparent that this wasn't a good idea when Dean was preparing to go skiing earlier this season, and realized late into the night that he needed to retrieve his gear and the kids were already asleep.  So...Now, everyone has their own bin/drawer to put their ski gear in -in the family closet.  Snow pants are on hangers, and extra hats, face masks, mittens and gloves are now in these drawers.  We also moved all of my sewing stuff, fabrics and craft supplies into this closet (again, to empty out the basement).  It is in total disarray though, and needs to be sorted and organized. - at some undesignated time in the future.... when I have some free time.  ;)

The last of the transformation came in the past few weeks.  I moved all of the suitcases and duffel bags (from the basement) into the closet.  Packing/and unpacking can happen right inside the closet, on a folding table.  I also moved in (just yesterday) all of my and Dean's memento-type clothing (wedding dress, suits, Dean's late-father's Naval uniform and pea coat, etc..), and about a bazillion coats - I'm not thrilled that they are there, but there is really no other place in the house that makes sense - and the basement is off-limits.   We do have a minuscule coat closet just off of the garage door, but it isn't really conducive to holding coats - it is for storing all of Dean's commuting/biking gear, the vacuum, diaper bag, and small cooler(s) for picnics.  Dean mounted 2 rows of coat hooks (six each) for day-to-day coats, but really, this only works if there is 1-2 coats on each hook.  Add the 24 different coats that we could potentially use on a daily basis (in the winter time) and the whole ease-of-use concept just breaks down.  It doesn't help that Rylan's dress-up princess dresses take up almost the whole lower row of hooks.  (We really need a child's-sized coat tree for the playroom).

Well, anyway, I can now call this project OFFICALLY complete, and I can present my video to you to show the finished product:  Enjoy!

Barometer Soup

We have a cold weather front that is in the midst of moving through. I don't even have to look outside though, to confirm that. You can tell just by listening to the kids. I remember that during my public school teaching days, I hated days like this. The kids were always off kilter and it was a classroom management nightmare. So it is with homeschool. Here it is, four in the afternoon and I am done. Done, done, done. I don't care if the to-do list says I'm not, I'm saying I am. I sent Rylan to bed about 45 minutes ago, and Jordan is keeping Owen entertained in the playroom. Maybe my sanity will collect itself if I keep sitting here, writing. I even put on some soft, classical music (Bach) to smooth the edges. It's sorta working.

A major frustration of mine is that Jordan cannot stay on task to get his stuff done. In my ideal world I have scheduled for him about 4 hours worth of lessons/independent work each day (gotta make the education police happy...) and I swear we have not had a day yet (in 2 years!!), where we have completed EVERYTHING. Weirdly enough, science always gets the short shrift, even though that is Jordan's favorite subject. Each day, at about mid-afternoon, I reach my utter frustration point because there is still a mound of school work to slog through, and my own work load hasn't been attended to even in the slightest, save the load of laundry that was thrown in the wash before I came down to make breakfast. And there it sits, festering in the washing machine, long forgotten...

Well, I came up with an idea this afternoon, just after I escorted Rylan to her room for her nap (she wasn't exactly a willing party). I needed to spend some time in the kitchen to whip up some meringue for a pavlova tonight, and I thought to myself how nice it would be if the rest of the day were mine. I could get done what I needed to get done, without any guilt of what I should have been doing for/with Jordan. Several weeks ago, I made some changes to how we schedule our day. A fellow homeschooling mom gave me some advice (thanks Dalliss) about how she got her kids to do their daily chores. She posted a list for them to refer to so that they wouldn't be constantly in her hair. I took her advice to heart, and configured a list of my own. I had also been reading up on Rebecca Rupp's Home Learning Year by Year, to make a database for myself (to feed my quest for order in the midst of chaos) for what kinds of items we needed to address as far as Geography, World History, US History and Science goes. We have had such a spotty record for staying with a routine (having a baby in the midst of all of this did not help much) that I needed to get an idea of where exactly we were and where we needed to go. So, I came up with this.



We have had a good first run with this, but it needs some tweaking. "The List" seems to dominate the entire day. I added the 'Independent Work ' list for good reason: Jordan desperately needs to develop some self-management skills. He seems to do much better when he has the list to refer to and keep him on track. It also stresses the need for him to take some responsibility in his daily work. The months that passed between the final weeks of pregnancy and throughout Owen's infancy were left unstructured. Jordan (and Rylan for that matter) was pretty much left to his own devices about what he would learn and when. I guess you could say it was an experiment in unschooling. It did not go well, in Jordan's case. He would wander aimlessly about all day, and if he cracked open a book, it was a miracle. And it was not like interesting stuff wasn't dangled in front of him. We went to the library weekly. Yet all Jordan wanted to check out was Garfield comic books. He was not motivated to learn anything of consequence. All he wanted to do was to play video games, and I was not going to give in to that. Here we are about a year later, and Jordan has matured quite a bit. He will pick up his chapter book frequently (without being asked) and he will constantly rummage through the picture books (which is a complete library in it's own right...). We began to structure our days again around mid-January, and it has been better for all of us, ever since. Since the inception of this schedule, it has removed much of the burden from me of seeing to it that Jordan is on task and trying to remember what else it was that he should work on. It also meant that subjects like Earth Science wouldn't be shelved for weeks on end. We have a different version for each day of the week (so that all subject areas are addressed over the course of a week), and each day has it's own rhythm. Each day has been printed out and housed in a plastic sleeve. We use a wet-erase pen to mark things off as we go - it just washes off at the end of the day.

Well - back to the thought of the day. My complaint is that the burden of completion falls squarely on my shoulders, when it really should belong to Jordan. My portion of the work, the 'Lessons' part, is my only sole responsibility. It can involve any number of things - demonstrating a skill, reading out loud, handling materials for an experiment, ect. . It is this box that is continually left undone, when it is (IMHO) actually the most important box as far as keeping up with the knowledge base we should be continually building. It occurred to me today that I should enforce a time limit on this box in order to preserve a portion of the day for me that is 'lesson free'. If I say that it needs to be done by 3 pm, then I can ensure that my part is done, and I can go about my business for the rest of the day. It stands to reason that we should make good use of the portion of the day that Owen will take a reliable nap. Since Owen will typically nap from 11am - 2ish, that is the best time frame within to work in our lessons. Addressing the subject of History (World & U.S.) during lunch time works especially well, because we can read & discuss while I am making lunch. Our world map also makes for a nice 'tablecloth'. One fun game is toss a spoonful of peas across the map and see how many different countries you can land a pea on...

I admit it may sound like over-the-top authoritarianism, but structure is what holds the tears/frustration at bay in our home. Jordan's ADHD is very difficult to manage (at times). I have done my best to come up with solutions that we can all live with. We opted for homeschooling because of all of the problems that the ADHD behaviors presented in the classroom. The most frustrating of which is impulsivity and high-distractability. Having a schedule to refer to helps to suppress some of the impulse to get up and mess around. Some days though (like today) are absolutely impossible, no matter what tools are in place. Sigh.