Diary of a homeschooling mother... with a head cold
1 am - Wake-up, realize I'm still sick, roll over (to clear the other half of the sinuses), go back to sleep.
3 am - Wake-up, realize I'm still sick, roll over, go back to sleep.
5 am - Repeat
6:30 am - Wake up, realize I'm still sick and getting up to go out and exercise is NOT what I want to do. Add feeling like a slug to my list of woes.
7:30 am - Wake up, drink coffee (which doesn't taste nearly as good as it usually does), try to convince myself I can get up and face the day.
8:30 am - Stagger downstairs, still in pajamas, eat some breakfast, answer email. Children are playing with the Spirograph and making things out of cardboard. (Check 'arts and crafts' off homeschooling to-do list.)
9 am - Son asks me if I want to come outside and play a raucous game of tag. I ask for clarification of the question because surely I must have misheard. Son decides I don't want to join them. Children go outside to play raucous game of tag. (Check 'PE' off homeschooling to-do list.) Call the Illinois Tollway to update credit card info. Because if you are already miserable...
9:15 am - Since some bigger people are out playing along with the smaller ones, I go upstairs to get dressed. Decide to put in contacts thinking that they will counteract the pressure being exerted on my eyes from inside my head. Take a very hot shower.
9:30 am - I feel good for approximately 5 minutes because the steam from the shower cleared my head. Get dressed. Choose clothes that are as comfortable as I can get without actually wearing pajamas.
10:30 am - Having no idea what happened to the last hour, decide that I should read some history to the masses so we A) do something constructive and B) keep up with our school schedule. So, I read about castles.
Noon - Lunch. Happily let big people get lunch ready. I begin blog post that tries to find something amusing about feeling as though the inside of ones head is slowly expanding and will soon not be able to be contained by ones skull.
12:45 pm - Eagerly waiting until 1 pm when I can take more sinus decongestant.
1:10 pm - Read pre-quiet time books to little girls and then tuck them into their beds. (This is a very long and involved process.)
1:30 pm - Give one last hug to L. and race out of the house with TM to head to his therapy appointment an hour and fifteen minutes away.
1:35 pm - Realize that I got distracted by multiple things and forgot to take the decongestant.
2:50 pm - Buy large cup of hot tea from the coffee store.
4:00 pm - Finish with TM's appointment and feel better for a few minutes. Almost as though I'm getting well. Of course, talking withmy TM's therapist always does have a positive effect on me.
5:30 pm - Arrive home. Not feeling quite so much better as I was an hour an a half ago. The house smells lovely, though, since it is HG's night to cook. Everyone should be grateful for that fact because if it were up to me, they would be having toast and scrambled eggs. (J. teaches late tonight, so is unavailable to help with dinner.)
I anticipate the rest of the evening going like this.
6:15 pm - Eat dinner. Tell various children to stop shouting. Tell other various children to use their silverware and not their fingers. Tell at least one child not to sing.
6:40 pm (or thereabouts) - Finish dinner and send everyone upstairs to get ready for bed.
7:30 pm - Read to younger group and let the older group (once again... I've haven't felt well enough to read for three nights now) watch something on the TV.
7: 50 pm - Tuck the younger group into bed.
8:00 pm - Get ready for bed myself and take a decongestant.
8:15 pm - Read my fourth book in 48 hours (I really didn't do very much on Sunday) until it's time to say good night to older group.
9:30 pm - Turn out lights, go to bed, and hope I feel much better in the morning. Mothers should not be able to get sick.
3 am - Wake-up, realize I'm still sick, roll over, go back to sleep.
5 am - Repeat
6:30 am - Wake up, realize I'm still sick and getting up to go out and exercise is NOT what I want to do. Add feeling like a slug to my list of woes.
7:30 am - Wake up, drink coffee (which doesn't taste nearly as good as it usually does), try to convince myself I can get up and face the day.
8:30 am - Stagger downstairs, still in pajamas, eat some breakfast, answer email. Children are playing with the Spirograph and making things out of cardboard. (Check 'arts and crafts' off homeschooling to-do list.)
9 am - Son asks me if I want to come outside and play a raucous game of tag. I ask for clarification of the question because surely I must have misheard. Son decides I don't want to join them. Children go outside to play raucous game of tag. (Check 'PE' off homeschooling to-do list.) Call the Illinois Tollway to update credit card info. Because if you are already miserable...
9:15 am - Since some bigger people are out playing along with the smaller ones, I go upstairs to get dressed. Decide to put in contacts thinking that they will counteract the pressure being exerted on my eyes from inside my head. Take a very hot shower.
9:30 am - I feel good for approximately 5 minutes because the steam from the shower cleared my head. Get dressed. Choose clothes that are as comfortable as I can get without actually wearing pajamas.
10:30 am - Having no idea what happened to the last hour, decide that I should read some history to the masses so we A) do something constructive and B) keep up with our school schedule. So, I read about castles.
Noon - Lunch. Happily let big people get lunch ready. I begin blog post that tries to find something amusing about feeling as though the inside of ones head is slowly expanding and will soon not be able to be contained by ones skull.
12:45 pm - Eagerly waiting until 1 pm when I can take more sinus decongestant.
1:10 pm - Read pre-quiet time books to little girls and then tuck them into their beds. (This is a very long and involved process.)
1:30 pm - Give one last hug to L. and race out of the house with TM to head to his therapy appointment an hour and fifteen minutes away.
1:35 pm - Realize that I got distracted by multiple things and forgot to take the decongestant.
2:50 pm - Buy large cup of hot tea from the coffee store.
4:00 pm - Finish with TM's appointment and feel better for a few minutes. Almost as though I'm getting well. Of course, talking with
5:30 pm - Arrive home. Not feeling quite so much better as I was an hour an a half ago. The house smells lovely, though, since it is HG's night to cook. Everyone should be grateful for that fact because if it were up to me, they would be having toast and scrambled eggs. (J. teaches late tonight, so is unavailable to help with dinner.)
I anticipate the rest of the evening going like this.
6:15 pm - Eat dinner. Tell various children to stop shouting. Tell other various children to use their silverware and not their fingers. Tell at least one child not to sing.
6:40 pm (or thereabouts) - Finish dinner and send everyone upstairs to get ready for bed.
7:30 pm - Read to younger group and let the older group (once again... I've haven't felt well enough to read for three nights now) watch something on the TV.
7: 50 pm - Tuck the younger group into bed.
8:00 pm - Get ready for bed myself and take a decongestant.
8:15 pm - Read my fourth book in 48 hours (I really didn't do very much on Sunday) until it's time to say good night to older group.
9:30 pm - Turn out lights, go to bed, and hope I feel much better in the morning. Mothers should not be able to get sick.
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