What's Been Going On: Monday, 4 April, 2022 - Wednesday, 6 April, 2022

 Well, it’s definitely been a grinding ‘back to the old grind’ this week! *cringe* I’d say I’m more than ready for the weekend, but it’s bound to be a busy one, so let’s just say I’m ready for summer and call that good, eh?

Phew. Kids are exhausting. Homeschooling is exhausting. Housework is exhausting. That’s basically the long and the short of it!

Here’s what I’ve been up to so far this week.

 

Monday, 4 April, 2022

After coffee, I edited and posted my Monday post, got dressed, then posted my review for Outsmart Waste on my book blog.

We started our school day with On This Day in History and geography (Macau), did some math (more coins!), then started a book about unusual schools around the world (our library has quite a few books on this topic; I think they’re good for my daughter to read so she can see how good she’s always had it, both in public school and at home). We read some more of her book on outdoor science, and then read more of Unbored. I like this book so much, I think we’re going to buy a used copy. : )

After lunch, I brought in a bag of chopped green pepper from the garage freezer and cooked a pan of onion, garlic, and peppers, then emptied and refilled the dishwasher.

Back to school! We did spelling (my poor perfectionist kiddo freaked out and I had to talk her down). We read more about the brothers Grimm, did two chapters of history, and read more about pirates. We did 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading, and then did 15 minutes of journaling. This is mostly so my daughter can practice her writing, but I’m guessing it’ll be good for me as well. : )

I prepared a breakfast casserole, collected and took out the garbage and the compost, and hauled the cans to the road. I replaced both trash bags (kitchen and bathroom), then filled and ran the dishwasher. The casserole went into the oven, and I knit while watching YouTube for just a bit.

After dinner, I did my Duolingo, biked for 30 minutes while reading Rescuing Jesus for my nonprofit’s bookclub, showered, put my daughter to bed, and read my other books. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Tuesday, 5 April, 2022

After coffee, I posted my review for The Intimacy Experiment over on my book blog. I got dressed, then tidied the living room and swept.

My daughter and I started our school day with On This Day in History and geography (Macedonia). We did math, and then she had a meltdown. I think she was hungry (she hadn’t eaten much of her breakfast), along with being tired and worn out from math (coins aren’t easy for her, so I think they cost her a lot of energy. Pun not intended!). I made her eat a banana, and then she snuggled on my lap while we did the rest of the morning’s work. We read from her book on outdoor science, read another chapter in the book on Passover, and then read more from her book about schools around the world.

After lunch, I chopped a bunch of broccoli and steamed it in the Instant Pot, took out the compost, and emptied and refilled the dishwasher. My daughter and I did spelling and Language Arts, then finished the book on the brothers Grimm. We did two chapters of her history book, did 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading, and 15 minutes of journal writing.

I got the pasta in the Instant Pot to make this Instant Pot Broccoli and Cheddar Pasta. My husband and daughter went for a walk, so I settled down to do some volunteer work, and of course after about 30 minutes, the internet died. So I ate early and headed out the door myself for what was probably a 4.5 mile walk. My hips were screaming by the time I got home, but it was worth it!

 

Our friend the heron has returned to the pond! Always nice when it comes back. : )

At home, I did my Duolingo, showered, put dinner away, and put my daughter to bed. I read for a little bit (my daughter kept coming in, so not much reading got done. I kept warning her that she was going to be tired in the morning and neither of us would like her behavior because of it…), and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Wednesday, 6 April, 2022

 After coffee, I made out my grocery list (solid meh. Nothing good on sale), and got dressed. We started our school day with On This Day in History and geography (Madagascar). We did math, and my daughter seriously dragged her feet doing her math problems, taking 20 minutes to only complete 16 problems (and these are easy things she absolutely knows, like 10+3. Sigh). We spent the rest of the time before lunch reading a really long book about the Plymouth colony and the Wampanoag Indians around the time what’s referred to as The First Thanksgiving was held.

After lunch, I emptied and reloaded the dishwasher. We did spelling, and once again, my daughter freaked out and threw a tantrum (and her whiteboard), so yet again, we had another really long talk about her behavior, about negative self-talk, and about how she’s cheating herself out of valuable education time when we have to spend so much time every day addressing her behavior like this. It’s exhausting for all of us. (And no, she wasn’t doing this at school when she was in public school, but there were a lot of days when she’d have an outburst or two when she came home. She’s really, really good at holding it in until she’s home with her ‘safe’ people, so this is absolutely nothing new. If something doesn’t go her way, tantrum. If she doesn’t get something perfect on the first try, tantrum. She’s been like this since she was born. It’s why I’m reading Self-Reg by Stuart Shanker now, to try to help her get on a more even keel.)

When I finally got her calmed down, we finished reading the book on Plymouth, and finished the book on schools around the world, and we called it a day. I left for groceries and ran into the thrift store while I was in the next town over. I grabbed my daughter two books for her upcoming birthday (a set of Judy Moody books and a book of fairy tales) and two pairs of shoes (what I was mostly there for). Groceries wasn’t anything too exciting; only about 30%, MAYBE, are masked, which is…disappointing.

At home, I put the groceries away, then sat down to start in on more volunteer work. I baked the pizza, and I kept working all throughout dinner and afterwards. I worked up until I showered, then I emptied and reloaded the dishwasher while beginning to listen to a presentation by Dr. Eboo Patel of the Interfaith Youth Core. He was speaking with the local parent education group (he also comes from this area!), and I’d read his book, Acts of Faith, last fall. Super fascinating guy, with an amazing message about the necessity for religious literacy in pluralistic societies. I was sad he only spoke for an hour!

I did my Duolingo, worked on this post, and read for just a little bit. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

And that’s it! We’re up and ready to do it all over again (hopefully with a little less tantrumming? Yes? Please???). I think I’m going to keep it simple for dinner tonight, maybe some lentil soup and corn muffins. It’s supposed to be rainy, so that’ll mean another indoor workout of some sort (I’m still SO sore from my other constant workouts lately. All these workouts better have me looking like the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition in a few months…), and hopefully some extra reading, since I’m so behind!

I hope your week is going a little smoother than mine! : )