I had a disastrous first day of homeschooling.
First days for me will always be a mystery because of the very nature of what they are: First Days.
Mine have been many and varied and never go as I expect. There is no set-in-stone preparation for what may happen during the course of a first day, I can prepare as if I know what should happen at a new school, on vacation somewhere I’ve never been, as a newly-wed, as a first time mother, at a new job or any other firsts that come along in my life. No matter what, the flutter of anxiety will never abate and I find the best-laid plan is better abandoned in the midst of the novelty, thrown overboard with the pre-conceived notions and in its stead to go with the flow.
My first day of homeschooling would have been perfect had I not had to deal with the children.
My one roomed schoolhouse was ready, there were flowers on my desk, the lesson plans were drawn up, the books were in place, the chairs were pushed in and the sun was shining.
The children, my key elements for homeschooling, would have none of it. On paper I hadn’t paid any attention to the domino effect of real life.
Had my husband taken them out for the day everything would have been perfect.
Of course they had to be there because they were the whole point of what I was doing.
In hindsight I should have factored in:
a formula induced spit–up brought on by my haste to get the feeding of the baby over with so I could proceed to the next subject on time;
a stinky diaper just as a new subject was being introduced;
spilled water, cereal, cat nip, pencils, anything, every few minutes;
a dog who appeared to want to go outside every time I turned around;
a snack precisely when the clock said so;
a toddler who needed extra-curricula attention because she was bored with Thomas the Tank Engine, and
a distracted student who didn’t want to play school simply because of Thomas the Tank Engine.
But I hadn’t. Children didn’t feature in my theoretical plans at all.
I should have known better, at college I had learned about theory and practice. In theory everything works out just right and if it doesn’t parameters can be adjusted, numbers can be tweaked, lines erased and ideas moved around until they dutifully fall into place. Add people, in my case children, into the mix and poof, something quite unrecognizable emerges.
And true to form, it did!
After a couple of hours and just before naptime for the baby, I closed my Academy for the day and we went back to the flow of enjoying another day together.
After all homeschooling is a unique lifestyle.
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