A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

Soccer games started. M13 is the one in white on the right. E15 is the one with the bandana on her head--right in the middle of the action. S12 is #3. The girls have a winning season so far. M13 injured her ankle 2 minutes into the second game.  Assuming it was just mildly wrenched (like the last time she hurt it--while dancing) we wrapped it, elevated it, and watched it.  Looks like she might need a doctor. And on her way home from watching a soccer game at the field across the street, A8 fell and broke her arm. They let her wear the hospital gown home from urgent care. We're waiting to hear from the orthopedic dept about when we get to take her in for a real cast and to find out how long they estimate it will be on.  She's supposed to be baptized this coming Saturday . . . so thank goodness they make waterproof casts these days! We got the news that we're officially waiting for really big news.  We're preparing for a very-likely-but-the...

Even though I know better, I am feeling the lure of beautiful curriculum packages.  I wish I could find: photo credit (If you follow the photo credit link above, you'll find a great post!) I wish I our school shelves could look like this: photo credit And I wish our days could look like this: photo credit So tidy and color coded and organized! I've been sucked into those perfect packages before. They're never perfect. They always cost too much money. And no matter how pretty they are, real life is, well, real life. Our school shelves look more like this: photo credit (And that's on a good day.  Often they're much less tidy.) It's just that this has been a hard year so far, and I wish someone could take me by the hand and lead me through the decisions and work that are ahead.  It's nearly time to end our undefined break and get organized.  I'm rather afraid of the responsibility. Those beautiful curriculum pack...

I did get in to see my doctor, and I scored 20 out of 27 on the depression screening.  This shows I'm not terribly, dangerously depressed, but as any score of 15 or higher is cause for concern we discussed medical treatment.  I accepted a prescription for Zoloft which is the anti-depressant I've taken successfully in the past for my prior experiences with PPD. I knew I wasn't okay, but I didn't realize how much of a fog I was living in until I began coming out of it.  It's only been 4 days, and the meds have not had time to reach their full effect, but already I feel less anxious and weepy.  I can think more clearly.  I have more energy.  And S12 keeps looking at me warily and saying, "You're in a really good mood, aren't you, Mom?" I am still very easily overwhelmed, and I have to fight off panic/tears every evening, but I am able to fight them off.  That's real progress. I'm essentially making all of the milk that Baby L needs, ...

After one conversation with my husband, another with my mother, and too many days of tears and self-recrimination I am admitting that I need to be screened for post-partum depression. (There, that will make me accountable for actually making an appointment to see my doctor in the week ahead.) As for the past week . . . *I read chapter 2 (Honesty) of Standing for Something with the older girls. *We continue to have morning devotionals.  For the little ones we sing a primary song and read a Book of Mormon story .  For the older ones we read and discuss a General Conference talk from the October 2014 conference. *We watched a few documentaries:     Life in Cold Blood     The Bear Family and Me (This one was really, really good--even if it was a little bit hard on hunters).     How Things Are Made (this was a re-watch as some of the kids missed it the first time) *Soccer practice continued. *Dance rehearsals went on. *We att...

I spoke to a treasured old friend about how to cope with pumping 'round the clock--she's been-there-done-that.  She had several good suggestions, one of which was, "Watch documentaries with your kids." That is what we're doing. Textbooks, workbooks, pencils, pens, and notebooks are put away because I simply cannot keep up with them.  The computer monitor (we don't have a TV) is out on display, and we're watching DVDs borrowed from the library. This week we learned about: Meerkats Lions and Cheetahs The Statue of Liberty American Founding Fathers Cultural differences in how babies are raised and how people live around the world (The movie Babies is so outstanding!  I cannot recommend it highly enough!) Komodo Dragons Polar Bears Caves Dolphins How Things are Made (roller skates, ice cream sandwiches, strobe lights, etc.) Our dinner table conversations are more interesting than they've ever been as I ask leading questions and the kids ...