Coffee Break II- and the way it really is

Today warranted another coffee break.

Kateri was still sick this morning and was heart broken when I told we'd have to skip ballet. It was a long painful recovery, somewhat hastened by the promise of making cookies after lunch.

Cyprian, I think, is truly getting sick too. Mostly evidenced by his super crabby outlook. And screaming.

I was talking with my older sister the other day about how you imagine what homeschooling is and should be and then set yourself up for  lots of frustration and hair pulling until you figure it all out. (Whenever that will be.)

You picture a nice Montessori-esque set up, with children eager to learn, because that is what children naturally do best. Sitting up straight, holding their pencil correctly, waiting for their thirst for knowledge to be quenched by   phonogram dictations and the multiplication chart.

And it works ok with the first child. The materials get used then put away, you have time to sit and make land formation books with them, study the parts of a flower. Do art. You even stretch it into the evening and cook dinner together. Sure it takes longer and is messier, but it is so rewarding.

Then number 2 comes along. And the home looks more like a daycare/war zone. Only no one came after the bombing to clean up and rebuild. They just bombed some more.

Knobless cylinders? They were used for torpedoes and one is stuck way under the fridge sot its kind of useless now.

The pink tower is a prop for a big earthquake and after someone gets hurt and the furniture and walls dented you realize they weren't really "getting" it anyway. So you toss it. Besides you can't have the tiny cube at the top around  because the baby will eat and choke on it.

Lunch mats? You're lucky you got a clean plate today.

 Art appreciation day? Well let's go look in the library. Number One went Number Two and then decided to smear it into the rug with a red crayon. Do you think it looks more like a Picasso or a Matisse? ( that was our old house, and we replaced the rug.)

Dinner? Seriously? You still want to eat after that?

Well this morning was kind of like that. But without the poop. Cyril decided he wasn't a sponge for enlightment as long as it  involved writing "ough" and saying "ah,oh,oo,uff,off,ow". Or if he could not start a "7" from the base line.

Kateri and Pippin were playing church and screaming

"He stole my Bible!"

So Cyril got involved and then it was,

"That's MY icon. Father gave it to me. Give it back."

Chasing, screaming, tackling ensued.

So I sort out the icons, prayer books, and Bibles. Send the little kids into the other room and sit with Cyril to finish our Bible story.

Cyprian and Kateri are good and quiet. So quiet I should have known. 

They had decided to do some transfer exercises. By "transferring" all of the recycle in the garage into the hall. Along with some styrofoam and other items they could carry. 

But we got all our work done. Cleaned up. Ate lunch. Made cookies. And because Pippin really is sick, they got to watch a movie. And I had coffee and cookies. Which is all very sensory. And Montessori.