Sinus Update

So, I ran out of those pills for my sinuses, and I am now taking them again.  But while I am waiting for them to take effect I am paying attention to my allergy symptoms more.

The other day after a day of fogginess and a sharp headache that didn't let me move far I had finally gotten the headache down to a slight dull ache in the top of my headache.  I was ready to get moving again when we had a short light shower of rain.  Not much, hardly enough to wet the car or the grass, but it was enough of a change in humidity for all the recently mown lawns to react in some way.  In the space of five minutes I went from feeling fairly normal, able to breathe, move and see to blocked sinuses, gasping for breath, a splitting headache and puffed up eyes streaming with tears.

I get it now!  If that is the severity of reaction to grass allergies that I have been living with for the past 15-20 years then it is no wonder that days have passed in a fog with nothing worthwhile done.

This year I will be working on my health.  It seems to have been the biggest factor in my "failure" to do the things I have wanted to do.  At least I am partway to a solution with these pills.

Best wishes
Jen

Factors in Failure for Me

I have been thinking (or overthinking as some would call it) about the past 10 years of not doing as much as I would like.

It seems to me that there have been 3 major factors to blame. 

1. Grass allergies - more serious than I had thought.  I hadn't realised until this last week just how often I have been sick and/or tired due to the symptoms of my grass allergies.  About a week ago I ran out of some herbal allergy tablets I had been taking.  As the budget was a little tight I didn't replace them immediately.  I have now got one doozy of a sinus headache and probably an infection as I have had a fever too.  My eldest tells me I was tired and "duh" a lot before so that can explain a lot of missed opportunities.
2.  Irregular habits - I am not the best at going to bed at a set time each night or getting up at the same time each day.  After tracking my sleep times on an Android app called SleepBot I have also realised I would be lucky to make 7 hours sleep a night (and that doesn't take into account all those years of baby interruptions as well).  Meal times are also a bit wobbly depending on how I feel (see above) or what I choose to cook.  I think that having this framework to my day would have helped me to be healthier and less tired and to be able to place other actions in "their time slot".
3. Guilt - On the good days in between the bad days caused by the above factors I would have guilt overload from all the things I felt behind on.  I could get some work done when I wasn't sick and/or tired but I couldn't ever feel like I was even reasonably close to "caught up".

 So, I am not a person to wallow in the problem once I am aware of it.  My solutions are to never, ever, never run out of my herbal allergy pills again and I am going to set myself a bedtime and wake time like I had as a child and stick to them. 

Hopefully the guilt will ease as I am able to function better and I will get things done, with better expectations of what "caught up" means to me.

Best wishes
Jen

Freedom of Homeschooling Maths

One of the reasons I love homeschooling is the freedom to make maths applicable.  To me it is one of the easiest subjects to teach because it can be very practical.  I truly believe maths is not that hard if you make it real instead cerebral.

Today we are learning how to do "of" in fractions.  Sonshine, being a stubborn Aspie, doesn't know why we should multiply the numerators and denominators.  It isn't something that I can exactly explain, it is just something I trust.  So the deal was either he just trusts the process or we do some work with some maths manipulatives to see if the process works.  And once he trusts the process we can get on with pen and paper again.

Here is the result of our conversation.  Apparently M&Ms were actually meant to be maths manipulatives.  lol

This particular calculation is finding 1/8 of 20.  Did you know that is 160 M&Ms?

Well, once we complete today's fractions I think we will be working on subtraction!  Wouldn't you?

Best wishes
Jen

After 10 days of Public School

Well, ten days have passed and my boys are still okay.  Tired, and sometimes overwhelmed but okay.

I am getting uniforms done although I must admit to a few days of them coming straight out of the dryer and onto bodies.  Ironing never was a strong suite and I am trying to do it so the boys learn good presentation but some days are just a bit too short on time.

Lunches are another thing.  I am so used to doing hot lunches, sometimes admittedly left overs and some just pasta with peas, corn and salmon thrown in but still hot.  Making sandwiches every day gets a bit boring.  I am trying to add variety in other ways. 

On Tuesdays we are doing a Trashy Treat Tuesday lunch box.  I wouldn't normally give my boys any of those wrapped bars, muesli or not, and definitely not lollies or flavoured drinks.  We drink lots of water at home.  Not juice, and only occasionally a glass of milk!  So far for last Tuesday they had LCM bars, cold pizza, chocolate custard tubs, and a little pack of lollies.  Their drink was a 100% juice drink.  I couldn't bring myself to giving them a 35% fruit drink.  Yuk!  This week it will be a muffin bar, lollies, vanilla custard tubs, pizza and strawberry milk poppers.

I figure this way there are some limits on how much junk creeps into their lunch boxes due to peer pressure and herd mentality.  :-)

DS2 (10, almost 11 yo) is probably the one having the hardest time.  He has asked every night if he has to go to school tomorrow.  He doesn't want to keep going.  And this weekend he had a big sobbing cry on my lap.  I know it will be a big deal for him.  So many changes and he tears up easily anyway.  The male teacher tells him there is no need for tears (which is almost exactly the words  I use, so that isn't an issue) but I do wonder how DS2 is going to go long term.  And will his teacher lose patience with him if he doesn't settle?

In other activities his tears have gradually gone after a week or two and he has gotten on with enjoying the experience. I do hope he does cope with this big change in our lives with time.  I am very much looking out to make sure he is okay.  I know the little bird needs to leave the nest sometime and I have told him I am here for hugs anytime.  I just don't want to push him too hard and have him go splat! IYKWIM!

This kid is the one who still wants his teddy and has big long cuddles.  He also doesn't like change and gets upset at even the thought of it.  I want him to learn to flow with change a bit more and to not get overly stressed.  Time will only tell if public school is the way for him to learn these skills.

Best wishes
Jen

Fading dreams and grieving!

I had these wonderful ideas of what type of homeschool I would have.  Between moving around a lot, a limited income with a large family, and a depressed and unwell me, it just hasn't happened how I hoped. 

I have been cleaning bookshelves and moving books around.  I am finding the emotions to be similar to those of doing the final pack up of the baby clothes when you know you won't likely have anymore.  Regret for what hasn't happened, a loss of hope that the wonderful stuff will happen, and grief that my chances are gone. 

I know, we could go back to homeschooling, but I will very unlikely never get the chance to try out those wonderful Montessori ideas that I had great hopes of using with my preschoolers.  There was always a young baby in the arms and I just didn't have the energy to do more than keep everyone healthy and happy and safe.

Maybe I will cull some of those books.  It may be time to let go!

But not just yet!

Jen