Since the birth of our children, I had to add a new word to my vocabulary—flexibility. This is very important in balancing my day-to-day life and school. Things crop up all the time that interrupt our day, and I have had to learn to accomodate things into our schedule on a moment’s notice.
A prime example of this would be something that happened a year and a half ago. I went to take my morning shower while the children got dressed and started chores. They have been told not to interrupt my shower unless I need to take someone to the emergency room. I had no sooner got into the shower when there was a loud banging on the bathroom door. Our then 5-yr-old had jumped from the top bunk onto a double bed and hit the headboard with his mouth.
After getting out of the shower very quickly, I decided that he was going to need stitches for the gash in his lower lip. He had cuts inside and outside of his lip. So I dropped everything to take him to our pediatrician. I called my DH to meet me there, and our oldest child watched the other boys while we were gone. The pediatrician said she could not do the sutures, since he had a cut that extended into his lip. So we were referred to a plastic surgeon. We arrived at his office and were wisked into a treatment room.
After he was numbed and stitched, we were sent home with a boy with a very fat lip and lots of stitches. I don’t think much school work was done that day, but we worked together as a team to take care of the immediate need.
I was flexible with my schedule that day, because I had to be. But there are other days when it is better to visit an ailing grandparent in the morning and come home and do school in the afternoon. And there are days when we do school work very early in the morning, in order to do something later in the day.
We have also added two babies to our family since we started homeschooling. And for a time, it was more productive to do school in the evening with Dad home. Does it matter what time of day we sit down to read and write and do math? No, not really. And if we miss a day or two, will it hinder them for the whole year? No. We are being flexible with our school in order to live our lives, and I have not seen any negative repercussions from doing that.
Have a blessed day! Tami
Part 1 in the series – http://www.tamifox.com/2008/02/overcoming-obstacles-while.html
Part 2 in the series – http://www.tamifox.com/2008/02/overcoming-obstacles-part-2.html
Part 4 in the series – http://www.tamifox.com/2008/02/overcoming-obstacles-part-4.html
Part 5 in the series – http://www.tamifox.com/2008/02/overcoming-obstacles-part-5.html
