These days I feel like I'm running out of gas.
It's like the first weeks of school when I had four hundred kids. I was prepared, I was planned, I was organized, and I was ready, but man, it is tiring. After the first day you're feeling tired, but good. By mid week, you're dragging. By the weekend, you're exhausted. And by Monday number two, you can't believe that you have to start the week feeling this run down.
Except I'm not with four hundred kids. I'm with two. I should NOT feel this exhausted.
But...it is an adjustment.
I'm trying to adjust to teaching two kids two completely different things. I'm trying to give them each enough attention. I'm trying to keep their work organized. I'm trying to keep the supplies organized. I'm trying to make sure they're each giving their own work focused attention. And I'm trying to make sure they don't totally hate school.
And keep the house reasonably clean. And keep everyone fed. And the laundry done. And the errands done. And the extra curricular schedule maintained. And MY writing done. And my husband given at least a LITTLE attention. And. And. And.
I am running out of gas.
If your car runs out of gas, it's a hassle. It's a problem. Now, because you let that tank drain to the absolute bottom, you have a much bigger job to get things moving again.
When my tank runs dry, it's not pleasant. I'm cranky and sarcastic and short tempered with my family (I'm still perfectly pleasant to strangers, but we'll figure that out another day). I start dropping balls. I start forgetting things. I look at what needs to be done, and with no energy to do it, I make it so much worse.
Homeschooling moms (and all moms, obviously) need to keep themselves topped up.
We need quiet time at some point during the day. Not quiet time to clean or organize or plan, but quiet time to read. Or write. Or think.
We need time away from the family that we love so much that we opted to have them home all the time (not why we chose to homeschool, but it's a perk). Not time away to grocery shop, but time to get a coffee or tea or our nails done or to meet up with friends.
We need our husbands and our kids to fill our tanks with words and deeds. Helping without being asked. Telling us we did a great job.
Once we're full, we can go like no one's business. And once we're settled into our groove, we can run for a while before the tank starts to bottom out.
And really, if a cookie, a clean sink, and a cup of tea is all you need, isn't the stop to refill much easier than the hassle of running on empty?
