Tuesday, August 12, 2014

I just did the math, send wine quick!

I know you have all heard the old saying 'Elephant in the Room'... Well I have an Elephant in the Room... It has been here for about 10 days, I see it every day, as a matter of fact all day every day, and yet I don't deal with it. You may remember that this past Spring we were struggling with the decision on whether or not we should send our kids back to Preschool... The ages in our home would make everyone a candidate for Preschool. We have one that turns 5 in September just missing that Kindergarten cut off, another turns 5 in January, and our youngest is 3. After great debate we felt that we needed to keep them all home for one more year. That also meant that I had to now take on the role of Teacher. Don't get me wrong, I was already doing that but now I have to up my game... Enter said elephant...
Then there comes that moment when you think... What did I agree to? When this box initially arrived I was so very excited. I felt like a kid at Christmas, I was truly excited. Lets just say it was short lived. By the time I had unpacked half of the box I was starting to break out into a cold sweat...
This can't possibly ALL be for preschool... Yet it is. I quickly placed all of it back in the box, which now sits on a coffee table in our living room. Summer is winding down (OK that was hard to admit) and I know I need to come to grips with this. It was a group decision after all, and I did have a 50% vote in getting us this elephant. Lets be real when we were making this decision I was sending kids off to Preschool 2 days a week, which gave me a bit of a break.... I have now had all three kids under my feet I mean home for two LONG I mean strait months. If I can handle all 3 kids home for the past two months, I can surely do this for another.... Really? I just did the math...12 months....... Send wine, quick!

Friday, July 25, 2014

I am burned out! Researching is highly over rated...

A few months ago we made the decision to keep all three kids home from Preschool this upcoming year. We agonized over the decision. Who would have thought that a decision about preschool would be so hard, but it was. We had a list of reasons to keep them home. Everything from not wanting to deal with the amount of illness that our family had to deal with this last year, to not wanting to spend over $400 a month for all three kids to attend preschool (the kicker is they would be in different classes, so at no time would I ever be kid less). The list of negatives was far outweighing the list of positives. Yet, I still wanted them to attend, because I know they enjoyed it. Shortly before school let out we made our decision to keep them home. Once we came to that agreement I actually felt a huge relief. It felt good to have resolution on it.

About 2 weeks ago, panic set in. The reality of having three kids home with me for another full year made me panic... Its not that I don't love them, they are my world, but two 4 year olds and a 3 year old at your ankles all day long is a lot. I am quickly realizing this as summer drags on. I have come to the decision that the only way we are all going to survive this (no, not a glass of wine every night, o.k. maybe a glass of wine every night) is if I get us on a good homeschool schedule. I have been doing research, lots and lots of research. Did you know that you can burn out while doing research. Ya, I am there. I think I am leaning towards Alpha Omega Horizons program.. If any of you mommas out there have ever used it, I would love to hear from you. Or if you have used another program that worked well for your family I would love to hear from you.

Our plan is not to Homeschool once they hit Kindergarten. We have already put in our petition paperwork for the school we want them to attend. If for some reason they do not get in, well then we will be looking at homeschooling full time. Which is why I want to set them up now with a good program, just in case we end up sticking with it. That will require a nightly glass of wine, guaranteed.