Coming Up For A Breath

Thank you for your advice in Tuesday's comments, my loves. No, I would not like to borrow a teenage girl OR twin toddlers thankyouverymuch for your kind offers. And yes, having a huge backyard with many trees is a boon.

My life has been FULL! of STUFF! but not much is Blogworthy. I went on Wednesday and had my Aura Straightened and Chakras Redecorated and Magnetic Field Thingied, and am now on a strict detox diet and have been given a stern lecture on the evils of Bottling Up My Emotions. Apparently I should yell more and throw tantrums, but y'know, I am not REALLY the tantrum-yeller type. Except when I am pregnant or exhausted by sleep-deprived baby-rearing.

Maybe I should get pregnant?

Har har.

So I need to practice some visualization-meditation-type stuff for releasing vexation and sorrow in a non-tantrum way. Otherwise I will make myself sick. So that's my self-help project for the month of May.

In homeschooling news, all is well. The boys have been ramping their bikes and getting injured. They look like battered children, all leg-bruises and suspicious burn-type scars from the jellyfish stings, and they refuse to have a haircut. They are ridiculously happy though. They aren't sick of each other yet, and even more strangely, I am not sick of them! Our days pass in (mostly) joyful harmony.

I have been getting their math up to the internet homeschooling level: many homeschooling sites do times tables up to 15, and use negative numbers, in really cool games. So they are learning the extra times tables and stuff in order to play the games. Blowing up aliens and whatnot. There are word problems and so on online as well, all set up in a fun way which really makes Sam want to do math all day. Max has been learning fractions, cutting stuff up into equal pieces and putting them back together again. Also learning "half past" and "quarter to" and "quarter past". Chas has been doing the exercises in his school math test book, to keep his brain working and so that he doesn't forget all of the PxRxT=SI and whatnot.

Max is reading for me every day, sometimes twice a day, since that is his weak spot. He still reverses letters, but is improving steadily. He has been practicing his cursive handwriting every day too. He has Sam's great memory for numbers and love of math, which is a good thing.

We are learning Caribbean History, which is really high school stuff, but since they will be in England at school next, they might as well learn Caribbean History now. It's fun!

We have English covered, as I am a nerd like that. We like to recite poetry.

Sam has planted tomatoes. Chas is learning to cook. There is MUCH playing of guitars.

I think that Max is missing his school friends. I am arranging for him to spend more time with them.

Next week, we will start going to Taekwondo once again, and make an effort to hang out with friends of all boys AND ME! I had a terrible pining for my friends on Friday afternoon, but when I called them they were all too busy out having FUN and I cried "O WOE IS ME!" I nearly abandoned my children with a grandparent but I have become too lazy to make the 2-hour trek into town. The trek I used to make every single day. I do not miss it.

My other plan is to check with School and make sure that I am not missing out anything important in the syllabus, and I will check the UK syllabus as well. We may well continue "school" over part of the summer holidays, since we are enjoying it, though I am a firm believer in the nothingness of the long holidays. This way, we do not have to panic to cram everything in before the end of term. I had also promised my Primary 5 art students that I would do a ceramics class with them last term, and I would like to go back and do that.

The future looks busy!

Meanwhile, PRAY that all of our UK paperwork comes through so that ALL our family can move to England together: Sean and me, Chas, Sam and Max. The UK Visa people for our area are now based in New York, so I am nervous.

Comments

Wacky Mommy said…
Nan, just read this post, and the other, too. Your writing is so good, but I know I've already told you that on several occasions. I feel like I'm right there with you.

Just a few stitches = not too bad?? Except for mama? So glad you're all playing and having fun and not getting (too) bruised up.

Wish I could send you some fresh, clean H20 from PDX, we have plenty.