A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

  It has been an extreme week around here.   Life has been either extremely joyful or extremely challenging. For example, tonight my crew are playing with the wooden trains.  Mister Man is reading a new library book, and older kids are doing their own thing, but 5 of the 6 young ones are playing with complete cooperation and solid problem-solving skills. It has been an extremely joyful hour. On the other hand, Pixie is not doing well; quarantine, covid, a broken foot, and the impending end of the semester have conspired to crush her into a serious depression.  We pick her up in a week, and I've got an appointment scheduled with the doctor for the first day we're home.  In the mean time, I'm checking in with her several times a day, and I've been encouraging friends to check on her as well. But I'm worried. Reading the scriptures with Baymax--extreme joy!   Then Ladybug is just collapsing under the holiday season.  Wretched old behaviors are back. ...

I wrote my weekly post and somehow deleted it. AAAARGH!!!!!! I can't find it anywhere.  I don't know enough tricks to pull it back out of cyberspace. And it's for sure not in my brain because I wrote it piecemeal so that I'd be sure to remember what was important and what would be a blessing to document. Sooooo . . . Morning Meeting We spent the week finishing our review of The Living Chris t.  It got a little long to sing so much each day, but it was a blessing, and the kids are happy to review The Family:  A Proclamation to the World next week. We finished our Bible storybook .  I like this one very much because it includes messages from the prophets and pieces of the epistles instead of focusing only on the stories.  We've been reading it every morning for at least a year.   We're going to re-read Book of Mormon Stories next. We put away the October primary theme, scripture, and Article of Faith , and we pulled out the November set. ...

The focus of this week has been Ladybug's baptism.  We know she is truly not ready to make and keep the covenant of baptism; she is mostly keeping a social/cultural form.  However, we have pondered, prayed, and counseled with our bishop about this, and all accountable adults involved feel that allowing her to go ahead and be baptized at this time will open the door to further progress for Ladybug. So today, Saturday, is the big day.  She'll be baptized with two of her friends from her primary class, and we will have a big family lunch back at our house afterward. My mom and dad saved the family lunch. Here's how: This week Sir Walter Scott got a flu shot.  As a nurse he gets one every year, and they usually don't bother him, but this one threw him for a loop.  He felt terrible all week, but as he'd already taken a day off last week because of Rose Red's non-emergency, he didn't feel he could take another one so quickly (they get points for every time...

Our summer rhythm was broken by weather, illness, negative behaviors, and social events. It was a growing week. Growth is not always comfortable, and Ladybug's week was a case-in-point.  I'll not write out the details, but I'll generalize in saying that her behaviors are escalating in not dangerous but very frustrating ways. Her therapist is seeking professional support and is gathering some referrals for us. I, too, am doing some of the leg-work to get some professional support for Ladybug . . . and Brother and Beowulf as well.  The coming weeks will be something of a whirlwind of medical appointments with the goal of evaluations that will eventually get us referrals to get the diagnoses we need to ensure long-term support. Basically, I'm finally mustering up the energy to continue the paper trail I tried to start two years ago. I've been on the phone a lot. I'll be on the phone and in offices even more over the coming months. I am praying for t...