It was worth it

Some days are horrible and I just want to send my kids on that bright yellow bus and have a few hours of peace and quiet.  Some days are just ordinary and I can handle it.  Yesterday was one of the good days, when I remember why I homeschool and we laugh and enjoy ourselves.

For those who don't know, I started playing the flute at age eight, piano at ten, did a year of french horn in school, and was in chorus from fourth grade all the way through high school.  I love music.  I have not done the greatest job of passing that love on to my kids.  We've tried doing piano lessons and learning how to read music, but my kids were never terribly interested.

Out of desperation, I got Beethoven's Wig, a CD of classical music.  The first time you hear the piece, they've added lyrics.  The next time, it's just the piece of music.  My kids love it!  However, I realized the other day that the kids couldn't identify instruments by ear.  So I hunted down a website where they could learn more about instruments.  It's called The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, by Benjamin Britten.

My kids - all four of them - loved it and sat through the whole presentation and game, which was probably an hour or so. Then, we pulled out all of our instruments.  I have a violin, clarinet, flute, and trumpet.  I always hoped to have a Music Room where my children would play.  They all tried all of them and we're going to start lessons on the instruments they liked best!

It was so cool to see which instruments the boys gravitated to (Peter to the clarinet, Jonathan to the violin), and hysterical to hear the girls get the best sound out of the trumpet!!

Extra-curricular

I hate extra-curricular activities.  No, wait, let me explain.  When I was younger, kids got to be kids.  We played with our neighbors, did our chores, spent time with family and played (did I say that already?).  Extra-curricular activities were for junior high and high schoolers.  Now, everyone starts their kids at age five in some sort of sport or artistic activity.  Parents pay big bucks for their kids to be involved in these activities and family schedules revolve around them .  Pfffttt...

If you decide to buck the trend and make your kid wait until he or she is older, they're simply screwed.  My younger son just turned 11 and has started asking about baseball.  The neighbor's dad (the son is in baseball) made the off-hand comment that my son should really start practicing because every other kid has been involved since they were five.  So can my kids ever compete?  Will they always be woefully behind because I didn't have them in soccer every season since they were six?

I have news for you.  Kids need time to play.  To figure things out on their own.  To learn how to handle peers without the structure demanded by adult-led programs.  Kids need to know that the world does not revolve around them.  Kids need to know that relationships are more important than activities.

We're raising kids who don't have responsibilities at home and whose families' lives revolve around THEIR sports/arts.

And we wonder why young people think that everything should be handed to them.

A Schedule?

Ugh.  Just that word, "schedule", drives me nuts.  I know I need one, I know the kids need one....I even LIKE schedules....I just don't like to follow one.  No, check that, I don't like to feel like I HAVE to follow one.

However, as more and more gets added to our lives (and I work REALLY hard to control how much is added), I see the need more and more for a schedule.  A flexible one.

I have to be up by 6:30 or I don't exercise or read my Bible.  I'm a much nicer person if I read my Bible in the morning - trust me.  Or ask my kids - they know!

All the kids need to be up by 9.  There's only one kid who has a problem with that, and I know it's going to get worse as he gets older (he's only 13).  I get the whole "teenagers need to sleep" thing, but in the real world, he wouldn't get to, and I think he needs to know that.

Chores have to get done in the morning or they don't get done.  School needs to be mostly done by lunch, or it's not going to get done.  I have to meal plan.  This is a biggie.

Here's the crazy thing.  Everyone likes having a schedule.  They don't say so, but they're happier when they know what's coming.  I hear less complaining and they work harder.

Fine.  I'll follow a schedule.