Adults only
Yes, this would be a post not suitable for young eyes and ears. Tonight brought quite an R-rated conversation that I had with my oldest son. My day went like this:
Another extensive day of academics, then extra-curriculars beginning at 4:30 with soccer for the boys and Hip-hop dance for my daughter (It’s actually, thankfully, very tasteful-no “Funky Cold Medina”). I made a quick trip to the grocery store while my daughter was in class (45 minutes) because our cupboards were bare. I picked her up from class, picked up my youngest from soccer, and drove quickly to the gym to take a class (Tabata) Work! Then, I went back to the turf field to pick up the other 2 boys from soccer. We arrived home around 8:30, and I began dinner-chicken Parmesan with precooked hormone-free patties. We ate dinner around 9:30, and they finally went to bed around 10:00.
So, now to my adult conversation with my son. It started out with me telling him about a book I’d purchased for him to read going in-depth on many issues such as porn and masturbation and STDs written from a Christian perspective. Then, he chimed in with questions about things that he’s seen or heard. We talked about condoms, oral sex, masturbation, STDs, AIDS, girls, protecting his body, and so forth. I hadn’t planned at all on having this conversation at 10:30 at night, but this is what developed as I sat beside him on his bed. He’s hearing and seeing different things from his friends and so forth, so he needed clarification and guidance on how to handle himself and the conversations. We ended our discussion with me emphasizing that he can always ask his dad and me anything, anytime. Such is the season that we are now in. This is reality for us, and I’m of the approach to discuss topics in real time with real facts. I don’t dance around issues. That probably stems somewhat from my personality and partly from my medical background. Equipping them to make wise decisions is a primary goal of mine as their decisions can have huge impacts not only on their own lives but on others, as well. Homeschooling offers you many opportunities to have these types of conversations, because you are with them so much. I’m thankful for those sweet moments. Parenthood is a dynamic process, to say the least.
The constant racing thoughts in my mind
I get the question sometimes, “How’s homeschooling going?”. I kind of mumble and shake my head to myself before I answer because there are too many words to answer that in the shortened form that the person is looking for.
This is an abbreviated example of what I think about daily:
Did I start the coffee pot, is there anything in history or special about today that we should talk about, my gosh these toilets are disgusting, now when can I clean the house, did the kids make their beds, let me quickly check email and weather, can I get to the gym today, what time is the tutor coming, should we go back to fencing, are there squash courts within driving distance, what can we do to improve co-op, I need to get the kids’ hair cut, what’s going on in the world, I need to have them tested, wow I almost forgot his birthday, I wonder what my girlfriends are doing, I haven’t talked to them in a while, what should we be involved in next year, should we host a foreign exchange student, what do I need to cover in math today for each kid, oh I need to drill more math facts and do a better job, I wonder how many homeschoolers were accepted into the top schools this year, am I reading enough books to the kids, my hernia hurts but I’ll just ignore it because I don’t have time to address that, I hope I’m never pregnant again, reading to them is so important, Is my nose getting bigger oh my gosh I think it is great something else to deal with in middle age, what project can I do for history to make it come alive or do I even have the time to do that today, I need to cover more Latin and vocabulary with them, I wonder if I’ll run my own business one day, I wonder if my girlfriend from med school can quickly ablate my uterus so that I don’t have periods anymore, I need a date night with my husband, did they get a break, I didn’t work on my “Dr. Joy” books again, I should discuss the topic of sex more with my oldest, he needs to go do his spelling online, is my teaching effective, they need to win some national awards, I’m stressed that I’m not relaxed enough, we need to pick out a science project for the fair, did I cover all of their memory work today, I’m not doing enough, I didn’t spend enough time talking to my hubby today, wow the office is a mess, did I order plane tickets, we need to winterize the pool, I wish I knew how to sew, great it’s dinner and I haven’t planned a thing to eat, I wish I really knew where their true interests lie so that I could get them down those paths, I need to send a birthday present, is the contractor coming today and is he going to be sawing and hammering while I’m teaching, I need to brush my teeth, there are mountains of laundry, I need more time, I’m not doing enough, I’m not teaching my kids enough of the Bible, what are the activities today, are the uniforms clean, where are the uniforms, I need to learn more history, I need to learn the game of chess better, I need to learn French, did they each read enough today, I’m behind in our schedule, what are we eating for lunch, they need close friends, where can we travel, what am I missing for them, how am I going to do this, his handwriting needs improvement, should I change math programs, I need to teach composition better, are we maximizing our time in the car, must get some more books on tape, what family-friendly history movies are there for us to watch, need to lesson plan for tomorrow, and this is the kicker…
I didn’t have my quiet time with the Lord today-ugh..
Ivy League Homeschooling 