Weekly Report...Week 2

After the incredibly awful first week of school we experienced last week, I wasn't sure if we were going to make it through the second. Monday of this week left me doubting our year entirely. How were we going to make it? Would our relationships survive? Had we lost our love of learning?

I did some soul searching, some praying, and some thinking.

We are coming off a very difficult summer. The boys experienced death for the first time in a very real way. It wasn't a dear pet. Not even an elderly grandparent. It was their 22 month old cousin. A child. A baby. So many emotions. So many questions. So tragic. Many of the emotions and questions are still being felt and answered today. It's still with us. We miss Ben and I am still concerned about my sweet cousin, Steph.

Our 2009-2010 never really came to and end due to said tragedy. No closure. We packed up and went to IA weeks before we had planned. It's alright. It is what needed to be done. Family first. We were there for 5 weeks.

We have spent most of the summer without Collin. He needed to stay behind and finish classes so was unable to come to IA with us until his scheduled time for my brother's wedding. Then we only had him for a week. He needed to get back to CA to start his summer job. We're very thankful for his job. Really. It's been hard, though, because he is gone from 7 am to 9pm M-F. The boys miss him. I miss him. He misses us.

So, those are some of the things I thought about. No wonder we're having a difficult time. Lots of change. Lots of unsettledness.

I decided to give us a break. Even though we weren't doing much yet, we're doing less now. And that is okay.

I got back to my morning routine as much as I could with Collin being gone. The boys responded positively to their breakfast being laid out beautifully like it used to be. We didn't start our morning with the dreaded subject of math. We cuddled on the couch, instead, and read books about volcanoes and the geography of the US. Math came later. We baked together and met friends at the park. Cooperation and patience were present. Learning happened.

I am happy to report that week 2 of the 2010-2011 school year was good.

Weekly Report...Week 1

I'm hosting a pity party and you are all invited. This week was so far from the, "Yay, Mom! We are so excited about starting school!" "Great, boys! This is going to be an awesome year!" week I had envisioned.

It went more like this:

Me: "Boys. Time to get up. We're starting school today."

Boys: "Noooooooooooooooooooooooo. We don't want to."

Nice. Real nice.

The week was FULL of whining (them), lost patience (me), and illness (all of us).

Maybe they can sense that I am just not "into it" this year. It's our 5th year homeschooling, and I am having a lot of difficulty getting motivated. I don't even want to browse through the crisp, oh-so-good smelling homeschool catalogs that arrive in the mail.

This summer has been difficult. Rough. I thought that by putting it to an end, we'd be able to put it behind us. I don't know. We'll see what next week brings.

Oh...and would you believe that I didn't even take a "First Day of School" picture? Maybe that was the problem.

If you feel like reading some previous Weekly Reports you can click on these links:
Weekly Report 07-08
Weekly Report 08-09
Weekly Report 09-10

ETA: Barb is a big source of inspiration and encouragement for me. Her blog post today could not have come at a better time. Had me in tears.