Insanity.

I will not get into why exactly my brain has been so fried lately.  But let me just say that grief and depression coupled with a cursed home improvement project that just seems to go on and on has had me kind of in a tizzy both mentally and physically.   When we are stressed, our children sense it and it adds to their stress too.  Having stressed out children adds to our own stress and it becomes a vicious cycle.  

We started school back at the beginning of July and here I am at the end of July already discouraged and frustrated.  I have sent Asher to his room for the rest of the day today because he just couldn't do anything today without a rotten attitude.  Evie has been working through her school work diligently today and that is a good thing.  Small mercies...

But what do you do when your brain is completely frazzled, the children are all over the very last nerve you have left, and the house is in chaos?  Everyone says, "Take a break!  The kids will learn when they learn!"  But I took a break from basically April until the end of June.  Not to mention the 'break' I had back in March while attending an extraordinarily sad and stressful funeral in another state.  

Here is my question:  When stressful years happen (and I say years because 2009 has been a doozy) is it worth it to just do the bare minimum in your homeschooling journey and leave the rest for another time?  Do we just do core subjects like reading, writing, math and find fun activities to teach the rest?  At this point, that is where I am.  Science and History are important, but really, in the end, does it matter when my children learn the scientific names of animals, the periodic table of elements, the date of the last battle of the civil war, or how long it took Christopher Columbus to sale across the ocean blue back in 1492?  Does it matter when they learn it as long as eventually, they gain a basic knowledge of our world's history and the scientific method?   

Honestly, I think part of my depression and current self-doubt and loathing are because I am unable to get out of the house and do the things I normally like doing with the kids.  Play dates, trips to the park, walks at the greenway or the mall - I can't do those things during the day because of the bathrooms of doom.  I am, more or less, stuck at the house with the kids a good portion of my time right now and I am a person who loves to be on the go.  My kids beg me to go places all the time now.  I think I have conditioned them to desire movement and when we are still, they get restless.  And so do I.

Mouse Guard Roleplaying Game

Asher and Josh are trying to get together a Mouse Guard Roleplaying game.  Asher is making his first character for this and is really trying hard to get it right.  He has to develop some narrative around this character.  It is really his first foray into creative writing.  Up until now, he has written mostly non-fiction when I've been able to get him to write anything at all.  He's really taking this new game very seriously.  Here is what he has so far on his character, Caesar:

The Mice:

Caesar - 19 - Caesar is a mouse who is quick witted, nimble, sharp eyed, tough and likes weather.

Augustus - 14 - Caesar's younger brother likes to bug Caesar.

Romeo - 45 Caesar’s father  Romeo taught Caesar and Augustus the art of sword craft which built up Caesar’s toughness.

Julia - 42 Caesar’s mother taught him correct cooking skills for his journey when he became a guard.

Saxon - 28 - Caesar’s mentor and uncle.  Saxon is Romeo’s brother. Saxon taught him more sword craft after entering the guard.

Lieam - Caesar’s best friend in the guard.  Caesar and Lieam met during the defense of Ferndale in the Weasel War 2 years ago and have been friends since.  Lieam and Caesar are both being mentored by Saxon.

The Weasels:  

Brutus - 32 - The Weasel Overlord - He had a quick rise to power after he assassinated the previous overlord, Julius.  During the Weasel Wars he ambushed Julius and stabbed him through the back into his heart.

Cicero - 25 - Cassius’ mentor - Weasel Captain - Fought at the battle of Ferndale in the great Weasel War 2 years ago.

Cassius - 19 - Weasel Soldier - Mentored by Cicero.  Fought at the battle of Ferndale in the great Weasel War 2 years ago.  He battled Caesar & Lieam and killed their friend and a great warrior Mark.   Because of this he is Caesar and Lieam’s Arch Enemy.  

Tomorrow, he will be working on a story about all of these characters.  Really, a story about Caesar's life.  I thought his usage of Roman history was very clever!!    Two of the characters, Lieam and Saxon are from the Mouse Guard book.  He used them as inspiration for the Battles and part of Caesar's history.  

This is really such a new way of thinking for him and I'm so pleased to see this side of his brain developing!!

Dealing with fevers...

So 105.2 is a high temperature for a kid, right?  Oz has the Hand, Foot and Mouth virus.  It is seriously no fun.   He has been miserable since Friday - we took him to the ER on Saturday (what a fun fourth of July!).  They gave him fluids and ibuprofen, tylenol.  I now have a slight fever, head ache and feel pretty dang miserable. I am managing to get school done with the kids while I am sick.  All I have to say is thank goodness for Time4learning!  It is a blessing on days like this.  

I await the drywall contractor to come and do his touch up so the painting contractor can come and put on a second coat of paint in both bathrooms.  The new contractor has been wonderful and I am really hoping we will have fresh new bathrooms for games night.  It will be so nice not to have to worry if children are going to fall through the floor when accidentally opening the door!

Our first 2 weeks of school are going well and the kids have really accomplished a lot.  We are starting to find our groove.  Working out a new schedule has been really difficult, but it looks like we have it now.  

Off to take some medicine and hope my fever drops soon.