January 2013 Daybook

Our new addition

Having Adrian has added a fullness to my day that I've missed. It almost feels as if there's another person in the house. He's almost human in some of the things he does and just watching him, taking him out on walks or nature calls, playing with him...these activities are really helping me to feel less stressed.

With Adrian here, our schedule has also changed. It turned the first month almost topsy-turvy but after five weeks, I've hit a routine that I'm comfortable with. I now have to wake up earlier which in turn is helping me to sleep better because I'm both more tired and more sleepy when it's time to head to bed. I wake up less often in the middle of the night. He has finally settled into a routine himself and is more comfortable with his crate and sleeping arrangements. He's definitely one sly little fella when it comes to comfortable sleeping arrangements.

Homeschooling and parenting...

...is going as well as it can although I'm still hit by periods of self-doubt. What I worry about most now is giving kiddo more group opportunities, especially since he's an only child and is very, very people-oriented. It might be easier with an introvert but that's something he obviously is not.

Studies-wise, he works completely independently now but I do help out with little things like suggesting better sentence construction if he needs to email an instructor and also keeping general track of his work through my master binder of all his syllabi. I'm still managing schedules and hope to hand that over to him one of these days. To be honest though, I enjoy managing schedules lol. I'm not as regular as I used to be with read-alouds but I'm trying to sneak it in whenever I can. Mostly though I'm just chauffeur, cook, book provider and an occasional discussion buddy right now.

If asked, I would say taking the early years to read widely and deeply and keeping his love of math intact...these have been the two most winning strategies in our homeschool. Parenting-wise, keeping the spirit light and the bond tight have helped loads. Kiddo is in his tween years and judging by how fast time is flying, the teen years are just a blink of an eye away. More than anything I want our relationship to be as close then as it is now. I want to see him smiling and laughing as often as he does now. And I can only hope that our mutual respect will last through it all. I am confident that the academic side of it will take care of itself as long as he is mentally and emotionally happy.

Reading and watching...

We are immensely enjoying our informal sojourn through Shakespeare's works. We watched BBC's Hamlet with David Tennant recently and it was heartwarming to see him being able to predict what lines were coming next. I am so happy that he loves classics and Shakespeare as much as he does. It makes me feel good because you see, I'm not much use at inspiring him on the math and science fronts. So the fact that my literature-loving genes have rubbed off on him...well, it's very gratifying. I'm being positive and optimistic of course. There are a ton of other things I wish he could do but I will be happy and mindful of the ones that he does do! :) Why stress right? :)

Currently, he is also reading The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins and enjoying Malcolm Bosse's Tusk and Stone as a read aloud.

We are also listening to The Iliad on audio CD. Not exactly age appropriate but the action and adventure makes up for that I suppose. It's one thing to discuss myths and legends when your child is 6 or 7 and quite another when they've attained some maturity and want to discuss it more deeply when they are a tween. I suspect we will have even more fabulous discussions when we listen to it a few more years from now.

And oh, for entertainment, we are watching old seasons of King of the Hill and liking the show immensely! I can't remember why I was so opposed to the series when kiddo was younger. Boy do things change!