I love being at home with my kids and being able to teach them - I really do! But, I admit there are some days when teaching these young rascals gets very frustrating. This morning was one of those days...
I crawled out of bed this morning tired and unmotivated. The cloudy weather didn't help. Still, I pressed onward to try and accomplish our daily goals.
The kids picked up on my lack of motivation, and they both took their time with morning chores. Thus, we got a later start with schoolwork. JJ asked,
"Can we skip school today?" Hmmmm, very tempting, but no. It's important to teach the kids that sometimes we must do things we don't want to do. Its just part of life. So, onward we went...
Spelling was first on the agenda. JJ, who has always had trouble with spelling, was frustrated about our English language and how the spelling rules just don't make much sense. I tend to agree with him on that. But, what can I do? Its just the way things are, and its something we have to learn.
Next, we did English. EL needed help putting words in alphabetical order and became stressed out over that. At the same time, JJ was working on cursive and, once again, voiced his frustrations.
"They are just a bunch of squiggly lines. Who made up cursive, and why do we have to learn it?" (sigh)
After English came Science. We have been learning about flowers (botany), and today we learned about the fascinating way God used the colors in flowers to attract bees and other insects. Bees need flowers in order to survive, and flowers need bees in order to survive. JJ drew on the white board while I read aloud; EL sat on the floor and tried to comprehend what I was saying. Her comprehension, unfortunately, has declined since she started taking seizure meds. This is very frustrating for me because I have to keep repeating everything, have her repeat it back to me, and then sometimes she still doesn't comprehend it. (sigh) I know its not her fault, but its still frustrating.
We moved on to History and I read about George Washington at Valley Forge. Comprehension was once again a difficult task - for both kids. JJ's tics have been highly active lately and he just couldn't sit still, so I allowed him to continue drawing on the white board. Some days, that works out well. Other days, like today, his imagination overtakes him and he hears the words I read as
"blah blah blah blah blah." More frustration on my part.
I finished up with History and decided to try a drawing lesson for Art. Since we are learning about the Revolutionary War, I used a book that gives directions for drawing a cannon. EL became grumpy and didn't like that idea, but I asked her to do her best. Then, JJ told her she was drawing it wrong and she grew irritated with him and began to mumble under her breath. We tell her its not polite to mumble, but she continues. I tell her to stop, and she yells, "I can't stop!" She threw her pencil onto the floor. I made her pick it up and told her that behavior was not acceptable. That led to a complete meltdown/tantrum - basically screaming at the top of her lungs and crying in frustration. I reacted negatively and raised my voice to her as well. Of course, that helped out a lot - NOT! She was DONE with school for the day, and so was I.
Suffice it to say, this morning was not what I would call a good morning; but, thankfully, we always have tomorrow to look forward to. I am not a perfect mom, and I do not have perfect kids. But, we love each other, and that's what matters most. After some cool down time, we all gave each other hugs and said we were sorry. Things were mostly good again... and tomorrow will be even better.
