Smrt Lernins

Ariana asks, “How you deal with homeschooling the oldest while still caring for the two younger?”

I’ve written previously about my decision to put the Tank in a traditional preschool. I have arranged our two most rigorous curricula days to fall on two of the days he’s at preschool. Our away-from-home science lab is on the third day of preschool. This allows us to accomplish a lot while the Tank has a nice playdate. On days he is home, distraction is helpful. Sometimes he’ll do “table lernins,” working in a workbook or coloring book while Captain Science and I do school work. Sometimes I set him up with a snack and/or a movie. Sometimes he comes in and out incessantly, bothering us, until I snap at him and send him to his room. You never really know what to expect!

Babypie is a distraction for Captain Science. He loves her so much that it’s hard to keep him on task. Separation to another room (for him), frequent reminders to stay on task, or trying to arrange her nursing and napping time to coincide with his more important work all help. As she has gotten older, she’s shown a remarkable ability to self-entertain, playing alone with her toys for 20-30 minutes, easily. All I have to do is keep her away from the stairs and Christmas tree!

If we decide to home “preschool” the Tank next year, we’ll have to find some methods to keep both of the boys on task, especially with a busy toddler underfoot, but that’s a bridge we’ll cross when we come to it.

She ask wonders, “When, if ever, do you get time for yourself? Has what you choose to do with that time changed at all?”

I definitely have less “me time” than I used to. When Captain Science was in public school, I could be guaranteed at least an hour of quiet while the Tank napped. Now, it’s a crap shoot as to whether I get any quiet at all. On the plus side, Captain Science is old enough to be trusted with Babypie while I cook dinner…or use the potty in blessed peace and solitude. Trust me, with three children, making a tinkle without a pottience is me time, homeschool or no homeschool.

Officer Daddyman tries to make sure I get enough time to myself, but that’s hard to achieve. Someone always wants me, and Daddyman suffers from a distinct lack of ninnies for nursing a fussy baby back to sleep. Once a week, we go over to Patchfire’s place, and she and I head out for frozen cutard at Rita’s, leaving the kids with the daddies. That’s a nice little respite, however brief. Sneaking up to have a hot bath and a book (sometimes with a glass of wine) is a nice little luxury in which I indulge a few nights a week, though normally after the kids are asleep.

I definitely appreciate my “me time” more now, but I haven’t made any significant changes to how I use it. I’ve grown a lot closer with Patchfire, due to our bond over homeschooling, so I see more of her and her family than I used to, but I still enjoy the same things — reading, knitting, playing Pet Society on Facebook, watching a little mindless television (on Hulu or Netflix), playing a little Wii on occasion, and spending time with family and friends. An hour out with the girls is practically a panacea for mama-stress!

That’s how a [Smrt] Homeschooler balances time with all her kids…and still sneaks a little in for herself.

Do you have a question to ask a [Smrt] Homeschooler? Email them to smrtmama@smrtlernins.com!