Perimenopause, just great
I think I was incorrect in saying that my hormones have not been a factor in my mood lately, since it appears I’m entering the world of perimenopause. It just dawned on me after experiencing night sweats and full blown dizziness yesterday that my body is deciding it needs a change. The irony of perimenopause is that not only do you get the future symptoms of menopause such as dryness in areas that shouldn’t be dry or what every husband wants to hear “decreased libido”, but you still experience all the womanly things you’d be having as a teenager like heavy flows and bloating! Come on!! And you may linger in this phase for years. Great. So, now in addition to making my organic anti-wrinkle cream agents, I also need to purchase a cooling pillow and keishi-bukuryo-gan. It’s very depressing, really. I’d take menopause over this peri stuff anyday.
Alright, TMI..
What coherent thoughts I had yesterday were centered around Junior FLL and math. I’m working through the WeDo software with my little guys in their club. Math-I’m researching what path to take with my oldest son. If all goes according to plan, he needs to take Algebra in eighth grade. I’m using MiF right now, so it appears I need to double up on this program for a year to get him into true algebra. The country is in limbo right now with their curriculum options and common core nonsense, so it’s challenging trying to make a wise decision for him.
Well, it’s Saturday. Off to the races.
Blepharoplasty for homeschoolers
So many businesses these days offer homeschool discounts. How nice it would be if plastic surgeons would offer eye and face lifts at a discounted price for homeschoolers, really for any teacher. I was looking through some photos and noticing how tired I look around my eyes. Granted, I am actually tired, but I don’t think I feel as tired as I look. So, I could go for a blepharoplasty. I’ve never had Botox injections, although I know many people who have. I just can’t see myself having to keep up with the maintenance, and truthfully, I don’t need paralysis of my face. I need to have my skin stretched and the excess cut off. So, I’m thinking I’ll try to get a homeschooling discount from a plastic surgeon sometime. Maybe he would have some sympathy for me?-ha! Yes, it’s superficial, but I admittedly hope to do this one day.
Speaking of sympathy, I had a long, long day in the books with the kids. We started around 9 a.m. and ended around 10:30 tonight. There was a break this evening from 6:00-9:00, but math problems weren’t finished until after 10:00. During the break, my daughter and I went shopping for birthday happies for my son. We have the family celebration coming up, so I needed to buy a few things.
It’s bedtime now, but what I should do is go visit the elliptical. Maybe I’ll do a little pilates before retiring. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could lengthen your skin like you can lengthen your muscles? Middle age..
Math, math, math, math, math, math, math-Did I mention math?
I sound like a duck: quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack.
Math is on my brain and has been for the past couple of days. It’s interesting teaching math to my little guys. I’m having to relearn topics that I haven’t used in years. I’m currently making a list of math sites/apps that I like. There are so many. I’ll have my kids use these sites periodically during the day to aid in math proficiency (I hope). These will not replace one-on-one with me, however.
Once I get a decent list created, I’ll post it here.
Of note, I recently learned of a math site/tutorials called “Tabtor”. I cannot speak for the program itself, but it’s another site that may be of benefit to review. Looks to be for children in K-6.
Gotta cut footloose
These past 2 days have been busy with activities and errands. Dental visit, home and clothes shopping, Futsal, gym, gymnastics banquet, playground time, soccer, library reading program, and an audition in the city to name a few. And my house is still a mess!
I was up late last night looking at curricula for our next school year. I’m trying to figure out how best to spend or not spend money. The price tag can get high very quickly when you have four children, and we are a single-income family. Sometimes, I wonder what it would have been like if I had kept practicing medicine. Maybe I’d have a nice salary and would have likely enrolled our kids into private school. But here I am completely out of the medical scene and spending loads of time at home. I do miss the professional world, but I’m so thankful to have this time with our children.
It’s 1:00 a.m., and I’m exhausted. I danced on the dance floor like a mad woman tonight at my daughter’s gymnastics banquet along with the other moms. I love that Cupid shuffle! What a great way to release stress. Just dance around like it’s nobody’s business. You may look funny, but you’ll feel better when it’s over. It’s a good thing I didn’t have any alcohol, because I probably would have started break-dancing and that wouldn’t have been pretty in a dress! Sleep…
So many pieces
Likely the next couple of months will look something like this for me because we are in crunch mode with our academics. I want a summer break. We need a summer break. So, getting to an appropriate stopping point for all of us is paramount. I covered a variety of topics today: research paper on our state, decimals, fractions, phonics, weather, seasons, testing, metals, civil war, adjectives, 4-paragraph composition, poetry, creative writing, literature, vocabulary, cursive, spelling, art history, desaturation, and journaling. The kids also had their piano lessons in-house.
I wake up running, and I don’t stop until the early hours of the following morning. At this point, I’m thrilled to put on clean clothes including underwear because the laundry has once again multiplied. The afternoon was spent taxi driving and getting a work-out in. Love my gym classes-great release from the stress of juggling so much. Our outing also included snacks from McDonald’s and a library run. More academics were after dinner. I know I’ve got to revise how I manage our schedule next year because it’s feeling too pressured.
Off to retire soon. My oldest just watched a little of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” as a reward for reading the series. I sat with him as we ate Oreos, and I went over some Jr FLL items. Marathon…..Hoping to get a date in with my husband this weekend.
Better with the algebraic concepts
We spent sometime yesterday morning going back through math word problems and discussing them with our tutor. Singapore’s introducing algebraic concepts in elementary school but teaching you how to solve them in an easier fashion compared to how we learned them.
While at some point it’s likely I’ll farm out their math, I still want to know and hopefully understand what they are studying. I think it’s important for homeschooling parents to learn with their kids and not to just remain as a parallel participant. My kids’ studies seem to fare better when I stay engaged in all aspects.
Ivy League Homeschooling 