Day 3 and Already Learning

Today was day 3 of Frank being home. In my brain I had a definite image of how things were going to go in our house once I had all the kids home. I made up a schedule that our day would follow. It's a really pretty schedule with sticky notes for each half hour block. But reality is almost never like what we imagined.

So far I have yet to stay home all day with the kids. Monday we did our work quickly so we could goto the zoo and enjoy the sunshine. (We've had a really horribly cold fall, so sunny and warm is a huge treat) Tuesday we had to go grocery shopping, then I squeezed in some school work before running off to playgroup. Today we finished our work and I decided we would finally make that trip to Toys R Us on the other side of town that I've been putting off for almost 2 months (Frank got a gift card for his birthday and has asked to go spend it almost every day, but TRU is about 20 minutes away, so we rarely get over there). Tomorrow isn't looking very promising either. I have school books on hold at the library that will only be on hold until Friday.

In 3 short days I have learned a few things:

1. Frank is a know-it-all and it is impossible to do school work with both of my kids without him butting in and giving Natalie the answers. So he is officially banned from the room when I am trying to teach Natalie to read. If I even spell the word for her and Frank over hears it in the other room, he will shout out the word.

2. Natalie is not ready for 1st grade level work. I have been including her in Frank's read-alouds for history and literature and she just cannot sit still and pay attention. I am definitely learning that she is not an oral learner. Which is good to know for future curriculum purchases. If the book doesn't have pictures, forget it.

3. When I assign my kids their own day to help me in the kitchen, it suddenly makes kitchen duty desirable to the point that they fight over who gets to help me make the meal, who gets to do the dishes and who gets to sweep the floor. Kinda strange, but helpful.

4. My kids are a lot more excited about waking up every morning because they want to see what we're going to do today. Not being predictable has its upsides.

5. The trick to getting Allison to sit still during Bible/Prayer time is to give her a picture Bible of her own to look through while I read the "grown up" Bible to them. And to also have her sit right next to me with my arm around her. She is now very adamant that she wants her own turn to say a prayer as well. A week ago she wouldn't sit still to have Bible/Prayer time. She would scream, cry, whine, or yell rather than sit and participate.

Overall, it may not be what I was envisioning, but the kids are learning and so am I.