SUBSCRIBE BELOW TO GET POSTS BY EMAIL

Enter your email address:

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

I'm Baaaaaaaaack (for today anyway)


Hi, friends! Remember me? (There's a good chance you don't...and if so, please just find the unsubscribe button somewhere around here and click it.) I will be totally and completely un-offended. I haven't blogged in a year so this is somewhat akin to a high school friend popping in unannounced for dinner. It's totally fine to kick me out.

But if you're my Nana, or my GranAnn, or one of my aunts, or you're just interested in re-living the good old days - let's talk!

Life has been crazy, nutso, for the past 18 months. I truly never imagined back when my days looked like this that I'd find myself here, 7 years later, wishing for those days of nap time and endless laps around the neighborhood while waiting for BJ to get home. I miss the boring, monotonous simplicity of that girl's life.

She'd probably kick me in the face if I said that to her.

These days I wake up before dawn and head out for a work-out, then come home at 7:30, kiss BJ good-bye, and tackle either work or homeschool - depending on how many kids are awake and how many fires I need to put out work-wise.

I have zero boundaries erected for work or school. If this seems like a bad idea to you, I assure you it is. I pick up my phone and respond to urgent Slack notifications during math lessons and I cover the receiver and whisper how to spell A-M-A-Z-I-N-G to my 2nd grader in the middle of phone calls about podcast advertising. Sounds fun, right?

Elijah turned 10 last week and has just finished 4th grade, during which he learned how to write a 5 paragraph essay, worked out long division and multiplying fractions and is budding into a pretty spectacular little artist if I do say so myself.

Britain is 8 and a half and finished 2nd grade about 3 months ago. I honestly need to challenge this child more but I was just grateful this year to have one kiddo who didn't need anything explained to her twice and who does not delight in living room wrestling matches when I am trying to work. She taught herself cursive, typing, and is keeping a diary of gourmet cupcake recipes that we are supposed to begin making this summer. If anyone wants to volunteer to come be a substitute mom for that project, I'm taking applications now.

Ben. Oh Ben. Let's just say reading has not come easily to my little first grader. We struggle daily to get through short lessons and he has no interest (and a stubborn streak a mile wide) in putting in more than the very least amount of effort required. To say I'm struggling and questioning my ability to teach him is an understatement. Silver linings in the academic arena with this kid include general math competency, a unique lens through which he sees the world and an infectious amount of charm. Wait, that last one's not academic.

Jude decided he was ready to read last week and is already 1/4 of the way through the book Ben and I have been slogging through for 2 years. Praise Jesus for miracles. I don't know if I could wade through that book at a snail's pace again. Academics will not be an issue for this kid. Submission to authority on the other hand, is a whole 'nother ball of wax.

We wrap up our school day around 1:30 on any given day and then I try to fully turn my attention (ha!) to work from 2-5. I am typically just finding a groove (aka done checking Instagram) right around the time BJ lets me know he's coming home and so I pivot from spreadsheets and emails to dinner and karate.

The kids stay up later these days (we were putting a recalcitrant 4 year old back to bed at 9:30pm last night) and I fall asleep earlier unless it's a Sunday night and Game of Thrones is coming on.

...all of that to say, life is kicking my butt these days. I consider dropping homeschool and/or work weekly but so far I haven't gotten clarity that either of those is the right decision to make. I miss blogging even though it's become this whole THING since I started writing because I needed contact with the outside world in 2009. It's funny that while I work daily to blog for pay for someone else and know the ins and outs of how it should be done to garner a following and gain traction - I have zero desire to do that here.

I just like this whole public diary thing. I want to connect with you guys and share my heart. I just want to write. We took at pretty epic vacation last week and I want to share the details of it all with you guys - so be on the lookout for another post prior to 2020.

Again, sorry for barging in on you like this, but man, I've missed you!


 
site design by designer blogs