The night before our first day, I had all the butterflies and nerves that any mom might have. I looked over my lesson plans a billion times and made sure I got to bed sort-of on time.
But Littlest, who had just caught his first cold, had other ideas. He woke up a little after midnight and was up ALL night. He’d doze a little as long as I was holding him but screamed and cried every time I tried to lay him down—which is absolutely not typical of my laid-back little guy. I got about two hours sleep that night plus a little dozing here and there, and those two hours were thanks to my sweet husband who took over the morning shift with the kids in spite of his own bronchitis and overall misery.
I was still determined to have school. Littlest or not, homeschool must move on. So, up at 8 a.m. I stumbled to the shower and then to the breakfast table (where my once again hero-hubby had made eggs, bacon and toast!) It was then that I discovered that the other two had contracted some germs—Littlest’s cold? Daddy’s bronchitis? Who knew! But sniffles and coughs or not, we were going to have school!
A little after 9, we filed into our little room and started our opening routine: some songs, a Bible verse and poem to memorize, the Pledge of Allegiance, calendar time, etc. The day progressed pretty well overall.
Middlest did really well with all of her activities and loved every minute.
Oldest didn’t have a full day of assignments because I knew it would take time to explain what each day would look like. He did get to play his beloved Reflex Math, which totally made his day. Otherwise, he wasn’t feeling so hot. Definitely not his enthusiastic self.
And Littlest did fantastic.
I wasn’t sure how it would work to keep a formal school schedule with Littlest around, but he played contentedly with his toys, grabbed a snack at his usual time, and then the next thing I knew…
We finished the day and, believe it or not, all made it to our dentist appointments before the kids spiked fevers. A late evening visit to the doctor, revealed that Littlest (who had been the fussiest) was just fine and the other two had the flu.
Sigh.
But really, could you expect anything else from a first day of homeschool? It’s life! And we learn in the midst of it.
“First Day—Take 2” will be coming soon, after I Lysol everything and take a couple more Vitamin C pills.
