Hey! (pt 2)

Hey!

When the going gets tough why do we insist on making it tougher? This thought is not just based on the experiences gained running a home ed group for 5 years but also from looking in the mirror. When our third baby was born our eldest was 4 and, convinced that with both a toddler and a newborn to care for I was in no position to teach her the maths and English that she needed to know I enrolled her at a place called Explore Learning which didn't open until 3pm and involved a twice weekly 30 mile round trip. She was very happy there for about 11 months until I drove into a rock in the car park thanks to tiredness and before we realised that the £100 per month (excluding transport) could probably be better spent and life be generally all round less stressful for all involved. To start with it wasn't too bad with a sleeping newborn and toddler and occasionally I would get to drink hot chocolate in the cafe and read the paper but, as the time wore on, entertaining them became increasingly difficult and so, we stopped going.

I know I am not alone here though as I frequently read about home educators who decide that the period immediately after a family birth or death or major house move is clearly the right time to introduce lots of new projects, commitments and structures often to make sense of the new chaos and try and reduce outside pressure I guess.

The reason I tell you this now is because life is good, very good, from a vantage point where we are all happy, healthy and secure these things can be clearly seen. Should I ever start making daft suggestions about timetabling our weeks or similar please send me a virtual shove.

Thank-You