So, we've started hs. The boys are blowing thru stuff and all is well. Except I"M EXHAUSTED. I didn't expect to be this tired. I'm in really good shape and eat regularly blah,blah,blah. The kids have designated times to leave me alone. The Man comes home and jumps in - even ooking dinner and helping with baths/bed. If I ontinue to be tired like this - I'm worried I'll lose my sanity. Sooo - thoughts? Will it go away once we're more into our schedule? Do I need to sleep more than 8 hours to keep up with my kids brains? Should I just cut my hair because maybe it's too long and heavy and just walking around is too much effort?!!! (Ha, just kidding.):roll: Whatcha think?
I'm with you!!!! I am exhausted after school, I can't wait until the last subject is done. yesterday i told dh that my brain was tired! I think that after you are more into the rotine of things it might help, but try to get everyone to help with chores and all, that might help, even if they are little. one thing by the end of the week like today, i am ready for the weekend and time to relax (whatever that word means around here!)
I bet you're not scheduling Mommy Time!!! BAD GIRL!!! LOL! Seriously, if you're not, that is probably the number one thing you can do to deal with exhaustion! Rules are simple: Kids do 30 minutes of Silent Reading in their rooms. (Do this when your little ones are taking a nap; if they don't nap, they go in their rooms, too. They can look at books, or listen to stories on tape.) If your kids are little enough to "train" (ie: "Mommy, is it TIME YET?"), set the timer and tell them they can come down when it goes off. If they keep bugging you, tell them you will set it for an additional five minutes if they do it again. (You can't just re-set it right then; they need to actually HEAR it go off, so they know "time's up", and THEN you re-set it and tell them that they need to wait until it goes off AGAIN, because they kept interrupting Mommy.... You only have to do that once or twice, and they get the idea, lol!) YOUR rules: No housework, no dishes, no lesson plans, no grading papers. You may read a book (if it's not school related!), have your Quiet Time, drink a cup of tea, visit here on the Spot (NO searching the Web for lesson plans!!!), talk on the phone, play a computer game.... The idea is that it's YOUR RELAX TIME!!! Yes, you can be flexible with it, but try hard to do it on a regular basis!
I dunno Jackie, she said there were designated times to leave her alone. But Jackie is right--during those times YOU need to relax and have NOTHING to do with school stuff! Once you all get the idea of how it runs, it starts getting easier. It takes some work, and some days you wonder why on earth you thought you could do this homeschooling thing. However, DON'T GIVE UP! It evens out, you start having more good days and bad, you and the kids get more used to it, and you sleep better, so aren't as tired. Do your best to fix what may not be going right, then give it time!
Mommy time? That really exist?? lol. I felt the same way the first year. Each year just seems to get better. Hang in there it'll get better.
I'll tell you what we do. I sleep in until I'm not tired anymore. Then we start school, usually I'm up by 7:00 and we start school at 8:00, but if I'm more tired I sleep longer. Then we're done at noon, end of story. I just can't deal with it for longer. Then if I'm really tired or sick or whatever I cancel school and never feel any guilt for the above. Even with my "sleep comes first" attitude we do more study time than kids in school and are way ahead academically and I'm sane even after six years and six kids! By the way, I have babies and still do this. My older kids are trained to get the younger ones up, change diapers, feed them breakfast. They make a mess and sometimes the diaper ends up on backward, but the extra hour (or two) of sleep is well worth it.
I definitely think there is tired and then there is brain tired. I think you have to get used to it. I am remembering the difference between the girls and boys...as littles the boys made my physically tired but the girls took so much emotion and brain stuff..and I was just as tired, just different. I think that for me some things that help are 1. exercise (ugh, I know...I hate it but...) 2. reading fluff. especially my old favorites that I almost have memorized...I can get into the story and just not have to think about it much. 3. a tiny bit of chocolate with a glass of wine. (well, really, for me it helps.) But mostly in getting in the swing of things. I felt pretty overwhelmed at the start of last year (our first hs) and again this year with ds2 who is hs for the first year this year...I think it will probably get better for you as you get used to it and everyone is in the groove.
I agree that "getting in a groove" can help! Kids know what to expect next. (Even if that means you feel you have to "sleep in" on occasion )
I don't know...I don't mean to sound like a pessimist, but we're in our third year and I still feel extremely tired by the end of most days. Sometimes I think it's the sheer weight of the responsibility, coupled with never really getting much of a break from the kids. (And I do tend to sleep in since they're older, and I do take a little time in the middle of our day for myself.) I think if I could figure out a way to have a whole day to myself once a week, to truly refresh myself, it would be better. Of course at the moment, being 34 weeks preggo and hormonal as heck, not sleeping well at night, isn't helping matters. :lol:
I am normal.. the rest of the world is crazy LOL. I work evenings 3-11 pm with a half hour drive home. I sleep in until about 730 or 8 every morning. The girls are big enough now to get themselve up and dresses and breakfast. By then I am up and we do chores then start school around 9. We are usually done by 12 or 1 Then it is time for me to get ready to go to work. On my days off I do take a nap in the middle of the day. Usually the girls do to or read. I agree with everyone else that it will get easier with time. Keep up the good work you will all benefit in the end.
These are my two things that I do regularly. I HAVE to workout before I start my day or I am done for. My son is a sleeper, so we start school late. He doesn't usually start until 9. You will find your groove and it will get easier. You know that old saying "Time heals all wounds"? Well, time works the same way for homeschool. :lol: You do have to "train" your kids to work independently though, most will never migrate into that without being taught. Mamamuse - pregnancy takes lot out of you - I can see why you are still tired after three years! To be completely honest homeschool didn't become "easy" (and I do think it is easy now) until we were in year 5. Before that I was in grad school or working outside the house. But since I've started wokrking at home, school is so much better. Sometimes the wrong curriculum choices make school harder too. Whenever it seems like I am putting in more effort to teach the subject than the kids are in completing the assignments, I know it is time to switch.
What a great topic! I noticed I was beyond my normal tired at the end of our first week! It helps to know that I'm doing what seasoned moms suggest and that it will get easier as we settle into our routine!
DH and I are schooling Other People's Kids. This is our ninth year, and we're a week in right now. That first week was horrendous! I was actually physically sick during the week, nothing contagious, but I couldn't manage much -- not like I can usually do. We have five kids this year, including a first and a second grader who just take tons of teacher-time, a new fifth grader, and a returning sixth and eighth grader. One night DH was in bed and asleep for 6:30!!! And the other nights he was not up much longer than that! I'm about done with my antibiotics, my blood sugar is coming back under control, and I'm beginning to feel human again, so I'm anticipating a much better week, starting tomorrow.
This is really hard though. I'm still exhausted. My Dh pointed out that whenever I have stayed home with the kids (I have worked on and off) I have ALWAYS been asleep by like 9 - he said he thinks its just the sheer physicality of keeping up with 4 small humans. My BIL pointed out he doesn't know how I can even begin to keep up with 4 FT jobs (1 for each kid) let alone a FT teaching job and a FT housecleaning job....and still knit. So I have perspective, and am getting into a schedule, but still have the constant feeling I'm not getting enough done, and not teaching enough. ugh.
I totally will agree with the groove things. I get over tired these days on certain days because I am teach one class out twice a week .. then trying to do too much, the first week I blew a few gaskets, then second week I adjusted a few things and observed how ds liked his new school work... I let him choose what when, and I just told him how much. That too my brain strain away! Not sure if you mentioned ages but as they get into a groove of when the lessons are and how long to do them it gives you less to think on and your brain can get a break too. for me that means getting up earlier and making sure things are listed and set up for ds, so he can check off his list retrieve what he needs and on days we go out he gathers his list of what he will do out so we can work on that if we need to stay at the church/school hours at a time before or after class or whatever I have for us. He puts that together in a back pack or breif case he took from my old one and is enjoying carrying his case when he goes from gathering to working. Do you use the box method or anything that would help if you had it set up ahead of time?
