How do you stay on top of everything a mom has to do? Sometimes I get overwhelmed with all of the things I would like to do with my children and teach them, compared to what I actually can do and teach them. It's also a time when I get a little freaked out about adding more children to the mix, when I can't seem to do everything with the ones I already have.
First there's schooling. We spend about 3-4 hours a day doing school, some more and some less depending on amount of focus and work load. But still I wonder if they're actually learning, if they're learning the right thing, should I try a different curriculum or approach for this person and subject? Will my children be the above average homeschoolers that everyone brags about, or those ones people whispered about that should go to a "real" school.
Then there's raising well-behaved children. Obviously other people are much better in this area than I am. It probably has a lot to do with my temper and my predisposition to bouts of laziness. I would much rather sleep than wake up early and be prepared for dealing with my children! It is so stressful to constantly be training and teaching the children to be well-behaved. Sometimes I feel like all I'm doing is admonishing and they're going to grow up hating me.
What about teaching them basic recreational activities like sports? My son is 9 and can't throw a ball. I don't even know if the girls have ever jumped rope, and they're 7 and 5. I can draw a pretty good stick figure, but how do I let them explore an artistic ability and not go berserk over a huge mess of glue, glitter and paper?
And of course, there are the "bragging skills", things parents like to brag over their kids about. "My daughter can play Beethoven's 5th and she hasn't had her 5th birthday yet!" or "We have a new CD, all of our children play a musical instrument they taught themselves." How about this one: "Our family is writing a series of short stories based on our adventurous life raising 10 animals and growing our own food. All the while learning every subject available and sewing our own clothes made from cloth we wove ourselves, from cotton we grew in our backyard."
How do you keep up? How do you decide what is important for your children to learn and do? And how do you stay sane and not die a young age?
I'm stressed just writing this blog post.
This made me smile! Even though Klayton is just about to turn a year, people with babies already brag about what their child can do, for example: "Klayton has been walking with assistance"..."Oh, really (insert name) has been doing that for months now!"
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