Eleanor's journal entry for that night was "It was a tuf day."
Charlotte and I didn't even write.
After sending Eleanor to two years of school and Charlotte to a year of preschool, I decided to jump into unschooling with both feet (as I'd been interested in doing from the start.)
So it's been a week. I laid down a few rules that added to an already teetering stack of expectations and required adjustments. No TV or video games during the week and keep a journal before bed each night.
I found that I use TV as a crutch (or tool, however you want to look at it) to get things done (mostly relax) and I may have missed it more than them. By the end of the week though, and a Friday afternoon viewing of Finding Nemo -with popcorn, their complaints had subsided. It was also my first of three weeks off between semesters. And finally, it was the first week my husband went back to school which meant I was on my own every waking hour. That's a lot of uninterupted togetherness between me and the ladies.
My biggest reason for pulling them out of school is that Chris works second shift and I teach an after school program, so last year, we only saw Eleanor at the beginning and end of each day. To make things worse, the girls went to a different sitter each day of the week because that was all I could get.
The district where we live scores poorly and has a gang problem. We can't afford private school. I believe in the unschooling philosophy. And I want to form bonds with my children. It's gonna be OK.
Monday we went to Great America with friends. I was really proud of Eleanor for going on the Eagle.
Tuesday we met with the local unschooling group for the first time and it was a great success. We stayed nearly six hours. The moms were great, the girls made instant friends, and I delighted in watching them climb trees with the other kids. It suited my vision for idyllic childhood time. Instead of having the good sense to go straight home after this, I took them to the teacher's store for maps and flashcards, where Charlotte had a total meltdown because I wouldn't buy her a webkinz. After all this gas guzzling mayhem, I buckled to pleas for Wendy's.
Wednesday we went to the library. That was a nightmare. Gracie is at the perfect age when one wants to swat everything to floor. Like shelved books. And run screaming like a banshee - in delight - through the quiet rows of said books. When we'd finally escaped, I asked each girl to take half of the books from me while I had Gracie writhing on the other arm and Eleanor grabbed Charlotte's half, naturally Charlotte's pile would be more appealing, and all the books crashed on the sidewalk and I looked up to see a whole stopped bus watching me bubble up with overreaction. I was so drained and frustrated, my last gasp of patience squeezed from my chest, that when we arrived at our playdate, I paused in a parking spot, then rolled on to Portillo's, for some comfort food for all (and no new people.) Our first four days of homeschoolong, including to and from Great America, culminated in a shameful 6 trips through drive-thrus. Because after Portillo's and the library, I drove all the way across town just to go to an Oberweiss that had a drive thru, to get milk for our cheese making project without having to get the kids out of the car. My Catholic style guilt for all of the sins against sustainability that I committed this week weigh heavily. Back at home, I laid on the couch and Eleanor criticized me for laying around and not teaching.
Thursday we went to the Japanese gardens, ran some errands, and ended up at Whole Foods, where Charlotte had another meltdown because I would not buy her a SIGG bottle right then. I hadn't been there in a while and it seems even more gourmet than ever. My philosophy is to stick to their store brand, avoid value added products I could make myself (apparently including cheese, now) and eat enough samples to even it out with a free meal.
Friday we went to the children's museum (mostly to avoid the approaching tropical storm Charlotte,) which is a difficult place to visit on a 3:1 ratio of excited kids with different interests to one well meaning, patience-waning mom. Afterward, I made the girls eat homemade chicken soup for the third of the last four meals but also made the most delicious muffins, so it was OK.
Most Delicious Muffins
Preheat oven to 350
handful of bob's red mill 8 grain cereal, run throught the vita mix
big handful of white flour
palm of baking soda
big pinch salt
two eggs
one slosh vanilla
handful of brown sugar
2 handfuls of oat bran
mix together with enough milk to get a muffin batter consistency
bake till the centers are no longer soft in the middle to the touch.
Sometime after this, *I* had a meltdown over the mess level of the girls' room and their refusal to participate in cleaning up, so I shoveled EVERYTHING except one blanket and one pillow per girl into the living room, breaking the broom in half in the process. I'm sorry I was so mad. It did give me the energy though to stay up until everything was tucked away for the salvation army, garbage, or basement.
Today was Saturday, so I took my brood to the Farmer's market, stopped at home to drop off this new local organic milk that I'm excited about, then took the kids to the park, then to the butcher to pick something special up for Chris after a rough week, then to the Mexican grocery for produce, then dropped off the meats at home, then to Wal-Mart, to get what I couldn't get elsewhere. Before we left, the girls and I made a spreadsheet in Excel of our meals for the week, then rolled into the driveway yelling gloriously "Nada! Nada!" referring to how we would buy nothing more all week - not a single purchase, even of gas. The first thing Chris did was go to the store to get different buns. (Audible sigh of surrender.)
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