My Crazy Mixed Up World

I hate staying at home. It makes me so lazy. I swear I don't do anything when I'm home for several days in a row but lay around and want to sleep. I know that this time could be much more valuable for us than it is but I'm also having a hard time with homeschooling lately. I just can't get on the ball and I'm not sure why. Sure there's a lot of different things that I could blame it on but what it comes right down to is being more disciplined. I know that it isn't hurting dd to not do bookwork - heck she's almost 2 years ahead now and has been playing a lot of educational games online lately but it just really bothers me that we're not doing what I think that we're suppose to be doing. Hopefully I'll get us back on track now that activities are back in swing but this child led stuff really isn't working too well for my home. I tried the unschooling route and now I see that it's not for us. While I do a lot of educational and time worthy things for myself, dd just isn't motivated to do the same for herself. This just proves to me that unschooling doesn't work for everyone and that my dd won't play with things unless I show her them or encourage her to do so. I really need to get back in gear here and I'm feeling really bad that I haven't been doing so. Of course this doesn't mean that we have to do textbook work each and every day but hell I need to start doing something. We did some stuff yesterday but Monday and today were a total waste. Anyhow, I really need to stop beating myself up here and get back on the right road. Thanks for letting me vent!

Random Thoughts Of A Madwoman

I started writing my new (second) ebook today. It feels good to do this research and I can think of more homeschooling books that I'll publish eventually. Can you tell how much of a nerd I really am? I spend my time writing, reading, drawing and cross stitching. All of these things are fun for me while most of you would pass them up in an instant LOL

I need to start my website soon. I own the site homeschool4us.com and have BIG plans for it but since I'm writing full time and homeschooling full time as a single mom I'm just not getting too far with that. However, someone just pointed out to me tonight that I really have to get a move on it.

I have a lot of stuff that just keeps piling up and boy I'm lousy at keeping up with it all. I really think that it's because I have too many plates that I'm trying to keep spinning but there's really not any that I can do away with.

It's suppose to snow a lot here tonight so I'll be home tomorrow so here's hoping that I can start getting things set up so that I can get ahead with my life :-)

Too Many Plates Spinning Too Little Time

I've come up with a metaphor recently that a lot of my friends seem to like. As the title suggests I am using plates to signify the different things that I have to keep up with (keep spinning) in my life. Of course, there is way too little time to do it all. I know that I'm not the only homeschooling mom that feels this way but I wish that I could find a way to better manage them. I keep trying but so far not so good LOL

Feast Or Famine

That's my life as a freelance writer. I don't get it. Either I get too much work or not enough. It just doesn't make sense and I wish I knew a way to control it better. It seems that when I stop looking for work I go through a famine until I start looking for work then I get too much to feast on. Thankfully I have a friend who is also a freelance writer who can help me or I'd be stressing out majorly right now LOL I just need to learn how to balance it better LOL

So Far So Good

This has been a good week. I kind of relaxed after seeing that I was driving us both nuts last week. Then I spoke to an evaluator that I plan to use and seeing what she wants has helped me to relax even more. We've done more reading, crafts, games, and such this week than anything else. DD is really enjoying it even though she still hates sitting still for me to read to her but we're slowly trying to find an activity for her to do with her hands while I read. We're using the Charlotte Mason approach there though now that I understand it better. I was asking questions before but now that I understand it better I can see that she's suppose to tell me what she thinks I said - in her own words. I'm also glad for the true friendship that I've been developing with a local homeschool mom. So, all is good in my world except for this stinkin' snow LOL

Welcome Tuesday

I love these days when we're home in the morning because I can get up and start working. I can easily do 3 hours of work straight off while dd entertains herself, then I'm done for the day and I can grab a quick shower before we homeschool or do whatever else we need to do for the day. I really wish that we had more days like this. It'd sure be a lot easier, especially since we're not morning people and so we can also sleep in. Nonetheless, I'm just about done working for the day YAY!

A New Week...

...is here and hopefully now that we've changed "curriculum" we'll be able to feel much more relaxed. I haven't been feeling good for a few days but I really think that it's the weather, which reminds me that I really need to check on 1 of my friends who suffers from depression. Thankfully we don't have nearly as much stuff scheduled to do this week so things should go smoother. It also helps that I've figured out how to use the library computers so that times like right now I can do work instead of sitting around doing nothing. I'm hoping that these few changes that we've made will be good for us. I just hate being stressed out all of the time because I know it's bad for the both of us. Anyhow, it's lunch time so I better go round up dd and feed her before her next class starts.

Car Schooling

That's what I swear I feel like I've been doing this week and it truly stinks LOL I know that I claim to be an eclectic homeschooler who borders on unschooling but we're not getting anywhere besides burnt out this way. I need to really look at what we're doing and how we're doing it. It's time to check things out again. I think that we need to do more reading and games than we're doing because those things would fit in a lot better than this let's do worksheets approach. I must admit that I still do like doing lapbooks and so does my daughter so we should still do those. Which reminds me that I actually have a bunch of games to assemble LOL Guess I'll go work on that for a while, thanks for reminding me, but I did want to catch up here too :-)

What a nice day :-)

We had a really nice day today. We spent it with my dd's friend's family. First we had lunch then the children played games with my dd's friend's dad while my dd's friend's mom and I went shopping at the book store. I got some AWESOME buys. I got a science kit with 100 experiments in it for only $12; a computer curriculum for 2nd grade for $6; and 2 workbooks: living math and a geography one, both really thick, both only $2 a piece. Then we came home and made a winnie the pooh cake and used a variety of food colors mixed in white icing to decorate the cake. In there sometime I also got a new writing gig and this one sounds like it could keep me really busy. So, all is right in my family's world tonight :-D

S-L-O-W

That's how you could describe my writing business right now. I'm really unhappy about it because I need the money but what can I do. There's really not a lot to do around here either. I've been doing crafts like I mentioned but I'm really starting to get bored. I don't know what to do but I do hope that it picks up soon. Homeschooling and behavior are finally getting better though. DD has calmed down a lot since I implemented the new behavior system. She's even getting her schooling done in 30 minutes, most days. At least there is that which I can rejoice about. Thanks for letting me rant and praise today LOL

Feeling Crafty

I have really been getting in touch with the things that I enjoy doing. It's nice when I have to only work a few hours a day because that leaves me with so much extra time to be able to do the things that I enjoy. I'm finding that I really like to do cross stitch and to draw cartoon type figures. I also enjoy doing puzzles. Since we only homeschool for 30 minutes per day, and even that is broken up throughout our day, that leaves my dd with plenty of time to be around me to see me doing these things. I think it's really helping her because she's started to color and do puzzles with me. It's nice and enjoyable for the both of us. Of course, I do need to find more time to read and work on my next book. I think that this time will come though. I honestly think that my excitement about these other hobbies is what's taking up my time right now. Eventually I will learn not to spend all my time doing just one thing. I know that I can always depend upon Mondays trip to the library to work on my book. I can cross stitch at night after dd goes to bed. I just need to stop earlier so that I can read. My drawing will fit in throughout the rest of the day. Two hours of work and 1 hour of housework each day really isn't all that much. I love how homeschooling doesn't only allow you to learn new things with your child but it also helps you to rediscover yourself and the things that you enjoy doing. It's just a matter of finding the time to do all of these things since we're involved in so many activities but it will all work out in the end :-)

Lazy day

We're having another lazy day here but this time I refuse to fight it. I'm just going with the flow. I think that seeing that this is normal sometimes has really helped me to relax and feel better when it happens to us. I must say though that my daughter sure has shaped up since I started the new behavior plan. I don't know why but it's definitely helped. Basically I've been setting the timer for an hour and then when she misbehaves telling her to choose between a coin or misbehaving. If she doesn't misbehave she gets a coin, if she misbehaves she doesn't get one. The coins are given out at the end of the hour and the timer is then reset. When she gets 10 coins she gets to put a sticker on the behavior chart. When she gets 10 stickers she gets $1 for in her piggy bank. I'm not sure why it's working but I'm glad that it is. Anyhow I know that I said I'd share this with you so there you go.

Library days

I love going to our local library. Actually it's about a town away but it's such a great library that we still go there. We spend from 10AM til 1PM there on Mondays taking 2 different classes and getting books for the week. Anyway, I find that a lot of the time it is just as fulfilling for me as the craft and exercise are for my daughter. Today I met a homeschooling mom who has an 8yo son with ADHD. I spoke with her for about 15 minutes but that 15 minutes was VERY helpful. I was asking her how she managed to homeschool her son since he's so hyper (I witnessed it for myself LOL) She told me that she breaks the school lessons up throughout the entire day and also does a lot of book reading. I asked her how she managed to have her son sit still for a book and she said that she let him play. Well, I voiced my concerns about this as it was something that I've heard about other families doing and she told me that even if it's just their subconscience listening that they're still learning. This made me feel a lot better about letting my dd play while I read a book to her. I am also going to start trying to do the worksheets throughout the day instead of all at once. Hopefully this will work out better for us. I know that my attention span is short unless I really get into something so I'm sure my dd is the same way so unless she really gets into something I'm going to do 1 worksheet at a time. We're also going to get back into the swing of playing educational file folder games. I think this will make things better for the both of us. I'm tired of arguing with my dd so I'm trying to find ways around it. I've also implemented a new behavior chart so hopefully that'll also work. I'll have to tell you more about that later though because right now I'm off to unpack our stuff from the library. I also got some great books that I'll have to be sure to tell you about too.

The Weekend

This weekend went really fast. I figured out that I spend 2 hours preparing lessons for the week. I spent most of Saturday by myself as I sent my dd to my parents. I couldn't take any more sassin. Well she's back home again so it's back into the swing of things we go - especially since this is the week when all of her activities start up again. I've been so tired lately that I really should go get some rest so that I'm ready to get going this week. 'Nite!

The effects of weather

I've noticed that not only does nasty, grey, wet weather effect how we feel, but it also effects our homeschooling lives here as well. Both my daughter and I couldn't get motivated to do much today. I wish we could plan not to do schoolwork or anything else on days like this but where we live we get so many of these days that we'd never get anything done. I simply am going to have to find a better way in which we can work with these days. I'd love to hear some suggestions though. Thanks!

Random babblings LOL

It's been another busy day. I don't really have too much to say about it. We managed to accomplish everything on our list which is good, but I'm wondering just how good of an idea it is to do morning things. My daughter is really going to have to get use to it I guess. Neither of us are morning people but such is life. I got a new homeschool book from the library to read. I haven't finished the other 2 or so that I own but I'll get there. For some reason when I know that there is a due date for a book I read it quicker. Well, the week is almost over. I can't believe it and yet next week is going to go even faster. I do know that dear daughter really likes being out and about but I prefer staying home LOL What a difference there is between the 2 of us and she's only 5 LOL Oh well! In some ways it's nice to see her developing her own personality.

A better day today

I'm not sure why we're having a better day today. I didn't do anything much different. I had my daughter's therapist have a long talk to her about her behavior and that helped some. I also got out of bed when I was suppose to and so we've gotten a ton of stuff done today. We were out and about a lot though. While this isn't good for my business it seems that this is something that my daughter really needs. I think that next week, when all of her activities start up again, will be good for her but I don't know about me LOL I'll survive somehow though. I am actually looking forward to it all though if she keeps this attitude up because we'll only be home 2.5 days. At least I have a business that can be packed up and taken along with me. Speaking of which, my business is slowly starting to grow and do better, which makes me quite happy. Anyhow, enough of my random babblings for now. I do like to blog though because it really gives me some time to think through things. Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to do so.

Goals for this "semester" of our lives

Things are getting busier and busier around here now that the holidays are over and all of our activities are starting up again. This is going to be a big balancing act as our schedule will be different this semester because of the scheduling of these activities. We only added one new thing but in actuality we are only going to be home 2 days out of 7 now. I don't want to do all of our schoolwork in just 2 days though. However, I do know that the things we are involved in are important activities that will be beneficial. Luckily we can do most of our schoolwork in 1/2 hour per day. It just concerns me how everything is going to work out between school, housework, activities and my writing business. I know it will work and that I'm a proven worrier but still it's going to take some time to get use to before I will be able to relax and go with the flow. One thing that I really need to work on is getting out of bed and getting moving in the morning. I keep setting my alarm for 7 thinking that I'll get up and get showered before my daughter wakes up but instead I just sleep until she wakes me. This is something that I really need to work on fixing because this hour could really benefit me immensely. I just don't know how to change it. I think I'm going to move my alarm away from the bed tonight and give it a try. Wish me luck!

Happy New Year!

I don't have much to share today but did want to wish all my readers a happy new year. I can hardly believe that it's 2007 already. This year is off to a good start and I think that this is going to be a really good year for my family. I hope that you will also have a very nice year.