Today was terrible. First off, I have four kids. 1 in college, 2 in public school and then my 12 yr old, he's at home. It has been fine as long as it's just the 2 of us, since I'm new at this, it's been great just having 1 kid home. Anyway, today my 10 yr old has the flu, actually yesterday my 7 yr old stayed home too. So anyway, my 12 year old is home specifically due to his epilepsy and sensory issues. Any bright lights, loud noises...general chaos : ie: public school environment, and we wind up with a child who simply cannot function. So up till today it was all peace and quiet. Yesterday was ok even though my 7 yr old was home because he slept alot. Today with my 10 yr old here, she was a wreck! So while I'm trying to help my 12 yr old with his lessons, I was dealing with all sorts of chaos. So I thought, well...I'll have him 'watch' his lesson. Math-Finding the area of a triangle, para, etc...And then a review of metric conversion. His response: This is lame...I don't wanna....she's too loud...it smells like puke in here etc...:shock: Needless to say it took almost EIGHT HOURS to get through a 1/2 hour video! Every time my sick 10 year old so much as sneezed "She's being too loud". Now I know I'm just having a 'feel sorry for myself' moment. But today was just all around lousy. And here's the bad part. I found myself thinking: I hope she get's better soon or he's gonna fall behind. I know..selfish. OF Course I want her to get better because I love her to bits. But today was one of those days when I just starting feeling like a failure. I know I'm only my second week in...but I kept thinking...oh no! What if she's home for a week? We'll lose the whole week?!?!?! :cry: Then I started thinking: How on earth is this going to work? My son is one of those kids where it seems like only mom can understand him. Public School can't handle him because quite frankly, they don't have the time or space to set aside an entire classroom just for him. So I KNOW this is best and when he concentrates, it's great. He catches stuff with ease. He's always been that way. BUT...and here's the but...he has to be solitary in order to learn. Testing he handles well because it's always quiet. But regular book work etc must be very quiet. Which brings me to my next part. One aspect of homeschooling that I always loved was how people could take their time and the whole day if they pleased. But we're on a schedule. MUST be done by 3pm. No ifs ands or buts...That's when the other kids get off the school bus and all is lost in the realm of Quiet Land. Sorry to ramble...Just been going over things in my head. Like how I had this great kid, played football, straight A's, accelerated state tests across the boards. And then one day the seizures hit and they hit hard! It was like over night our lives changed. The meds...diazapam, trileptol, lamictol....memory loss being the number 1 side affect....And while we were able to get him off the meds, those affects linger. We were told they could last years or forever...why???? Why my kid??? I'm sorry, I'm just having a crappy day and figure typing into cyberspace...well...I don't know. Just needed to vent. Thanks for listening.
UGh...so sorry. Everyone has cruddy days. I hope things calm down for you early soon and you can get back on track.
If nothing else, we are always here to offer an ear or shoulder. Sorry to hear that today was not a good day.
Hope everyone gets well soon. I wouldn't worry too much about losing the day. Even on days that I wonder if we got anything done, they surprise me with what they actually did retain
Sorry that today was so awful. The first part of my year was pretty bad, too. You'll find as you go that you discover fixes and bandaids to get you through the rough days and don't worry about days missed. Your DS is still adjusting too. Maybe he is feeling out where the boundaries are. Over time, and with some direction, he may get used to the fact that it is a privilege to stay home with you and when things are not just perfect he'll have to suffer through as you and your other sick kids are doing. Hope tomorrow is much better for you!
Another thought I just had. Do you have a room that he can "sneak" away into to do his work? Maybe a special treat to be in your room, or even if there is a walk in closet big enough. Ds and I made a fort in my closet and had special reading time in there one week.
I'm sorry. It's wonderful to have a support system like this to vent your frustrations, but I know it's still hard. Everyone has hard days/weeks for a variety of reasons. I hope your week gets better!
We have all been there I am sure. I find it easier with just the one child too, mine is a year ahead but he too needs the quiet to work best. Or he has to add music with head phones to help him stay focused to blank out the other people noises. DD gets in a fuss over something and our school day is lost. I am learning to take it in stride after 16 plus years I finally get it! So I suggest you do not worry about any lessons not getting done, take a "sick day" you can do that when you home school! and take this HUG HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG and call us tomorrow hahah, just kidding but seriously it will be okay explain to ds that he needs a day off for her being sick. then adjust your schedule for the followin school day
I'm so sorry you've had a bad day. We all have them. Ask me how I know! :lol: I love being able to come here and vent, because I can't vent most places without it getting back to the parents of the kids I teach! Can't vent to dh - he's kinda busy fighting cancer at the moment, or he'd be there at school with us, sharing the bad day or helping make it not so bad... We all have bad days, and believe me, "this too shall pass". BIG HUGZ!!
Look at it this way, bad days happen in public school, private school, and homeschool. It is to be expected. It is also normal. Do not allow it to ruin your day or your kid will pick up on your feelings and view homeschooling in a negative light. When days like this come around, feel free to take the day off! Seriously! If this was the norm then I would think differently but your kiddo has been doing well. Even if you had to take the week off, THIS IS ALRIGHT TOO!!! Children take vacations in public school all the time. Allow this to be a day or week off of school.
Sorry your day was bad. I know how that goes. The whole seizures/meds/sensory thing can be so overwhelming at times. I've asked myself those same questions. Hope your daughter feels better and tomorrow is a good day. Things will settle down with time. You'll figure out ways for him to work when the others are home. And you are an awesome mom who is doing the right thing for your son.
Thanks everyone. I'm trying to get my head back on straight today. Still bumming about our crazy start to this week. I'm hoping today will be easier. My DD10 is still sick this morning and since PS gives out an enormous amount of work sheets...ugh...the make-up work will be insane! She's already stressed about it. She got up at 6am, still had a raging fever and said she had to go or she'd be to overwhelmed. I told her to forget it and go back to bed. She's on the honor roll, so what's a few meaningless sheets of repetition? After two days even if her grade drops to a B...SO WHAT?!?!? I'm so sick of the amount of schoolwork these kids are given! Funny thing...NOBODY remembers half of it. I also feel that the stress isn't helping her at all. The stomach aches etc... Everytime she gets a heavy workload...it never ends. She is TEN! Anyway, enough of my mindless rants. She'll miss today and we'll spend all weekend trying to make up the worksheets. She'll probably have an entire 'tree' worth of worksheets when she gets home tomorrow...if she's well enough to go. Meanwhile, I have to find quiet activity for her today so DS12 can focus. At least DS7 is going to school today.
Poor kid! This is one part of PS I don't miss. But then, I don't really miss anything about PS. Hope she feels better tomorrow.
