[email protected]

And then there's this. Poor kids.
~Kelly


SCHOOL AT MY HOUSE
Susan Wise Bauer
Fall of 2000: a day with a fourth and second grader, a four-year-old and a
newborn.

7:30 AM. I wake up because my husband has brought me a cup of coffee and a
hungry baby. This the only way I get out of bed in the morning these days,
what with feeding new baby Emily at 11 PM and again at 2:30. She’s slept
since 2:30, though, so I’m feeling semi-human. I sit up and drink my coffee
while feeding the baby, while Peter gets ready for work. Today is my “long
day” with the children. Peter and I both work; we used to divide each day
in half, but since the new baby’s arrival we have divided our weeks so that
I have the children from dawn to dusk on Mondays and Wednesdays, while he
has them on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fridays we split in half; he works in
the morning, I work in the afternoons. Since Peter is schooling the boys in
math, reading, and art, he does double math and reading lessons on Tuesdays
and Thursdays.

8 AM. Peter leaves. He has a meeting at 8 PM that won’t be over until
midnight, so I don’t expect to see him for the rest of the day. I get up,
change the baby’s diaper, and put her on my bed while I dress. I can hear
the boys rattling around in their room; they know they’re not supposed to
emerge (except for necessary bathroom visits) until I come get them. When I
’m dressed, I go in with the baby on one arm and tell Christopher (9) and
Ben (7) to get dressed. I put out Daniel’s clothes; he’s four and going
through a serious do-it-myself phase.

8:15. Christopher and Ben are running around in their underwear and
giggling. Daniel has his sweatpants on upside down with both feet sticking
out of the waistband. “Something is wrong here,” he says. I tell
Christopher and Ben to STOP TALKING UNTIL ALL THEIR CLOTHES ARE ON and
reverse Daniel’s sweatpants.

8:30 Breakfast; Emily was happy to lie on her mat and look at her mirror
this morning, so everyone gets scrambled eggs and toast. On mornings when
she’s fussy, they tend to get cereal with a spoonful of peanut butter for
protein (disgusting, but effective).

8:55 I tell Christopher and Ben to STOP TALKING UNTIL THEIR BREAKFAST IS
GONE because we are due to start school at 9 AM.

9 AM. No one is finished eating. I am now carrying Emily on my shoulder.
She spits up all down my back, so I go change my shirt.

9:15 We start school. I have a chart for each of the older boys.
Christopher’s says: Morning – Spelling, Grammar, Writing Strands, History,
Piano Practice. Afternoon – Science, Latin, Penmanship, Extra Reading. Ben
’s says: Morning – Spelling, English for the Thoughtful Child, History,
Piano Practice, Phonics Pathways. Afternoon – Science, Spanish, Penmanship,
Extra Reading. We vary the order in which we do these subjects, but I try
to check them all off each day. I tell them that they can pick their first
subject and I’ll pick the second. Christopher decides to start with
grammar; Ben wants to practice his piano. Christopher’s grammar is about
principle parts. Ben starts playing the piano, which makes the principle
parts even hard to understand, so I tell him to go and play with Daniel
until I’ve talked through Christopher’s grammar lesson. They disappear into
the boys’ room. Christopher and I slog through the present and present
participle. Emily starts screaming. We take the book over to the sofa and
I finish explaining past and past participle while she nurses.

9:20 Christopher is doing his grammar exercises; he usually does two pages
per day. I call Ben out to do his piano lesson. Emily is still nursing, so
I tell Daniel to bring me a book. I read to him while Ben plays. This
raises the noise level in the house to something approaching an airport
runway. "I can't think!" Christopher says. I tell him to take his grammar
book into his room to finish.

9:30 Ben is finished with his piano (ten minutes is about all I can keep
him interested in). I take Emily to the table to burp her, pour Daniel a
bowl of Grape Nuts (it takes him FOREVER to eat Grape Nuts), and start
explaining Ben’s spelling rule. Emily begins to scream, Daniel dumps out
the Grape-Nuts, and Christopher appears in tears because he can’t figure out
his next exercise. I tell Ben to get the vacuum cleaner, Christopher to
take a break, and Daniel to stop yelling over the spilled cereal. I sit
down and rock Emily until she drifts off to sleep, while Christopher vacuums
and Daniel winds himself up in the vacuum hose and yells, “A snake! A snake
is biting me!”

9:45. Emily’s in bed. I re-explain principle parts to Christopher and give
him a handful of chocolate chips to keep him going. Everyone now wants
chocolate chips, so I give Daniel a little cupful of them and tell him to go
eat them in his “fort” (behind his bed). I put Ben’s beside his spelling
book and tell him he can have one after each spelling word that he writes.

10 AM Emily is grousing again. I know she's not ready to get up, so I
decide to wait a couple of minutes and see whether she'll go back to sleep.
This drives Ben crazy. “Mom,” he keeps saying, “the baby is crying!” I
get
out his Phonics Pathways and tell him to think about his phonics instead.
He’s reading me two pages a day, as a review of phonics and spelling rules.
He reads the first two lines and then stops. "Mom," he says seriously, "are
you sure you know how to take care of a baby?"

10:10 Emily stops crying thirty seconds before I'm ready to go get her.
When I look in at her, she’s sound asleep. I check Christopher’s grammar
and give him his spelling book. Today he’s doing the second half of a
lesson, so I don’t have to explain anything. I start a pot of coffee, sit
Ben in front of his penmanship, and go to check on Daniel. He’s covered
with chocolate, (so is his sheet) but he’s happy, so I don’t wipe him off.
(I ignore the sheet, on the theory that it's been hit with worse.)

10:30 We take a snack and coffee outside for the men working on the sawmill
(I take the baby monitor with me.) Christopher and Ben go off to play. In
five minutes they reappear with Ben weeping. “Christopher says he has to
clean the bunny cage before he can play with me!” Ben wails. “Christopher,
play with Ben first.” “But he wants to play that we’re sweet kittens
playing in the woods,” Christopher says. “Why can’t you play sweet
kittens?” I ask. “Because it’s stupid,” he says, “and I want to pretend
that we’re raptors.” “Go play kittens for ten minutes,” I say, “and then
clean the bunny cage.”

11 AM Break is over. I collect Daniel, who has been in the sawdust pile
and now has sawdust sticking to the chocolate on his face. When I call
Christopher inside, he says, “But I have to clean the bunny cage.” “What
have you been doing all this time?” I ask. “Playing sweet kittens,” he
says. Ben adds, “Sweet kittens being hunted by raptors.”

11:05 Christopher is upset because I told him not to check on the bunny
until lunch time (“If you don’t do it when I tell you to, you’ll have to
wait until your next break”) and he is now convinced that the bunny is dying
of thirst. Emily is awake and crying. I sit down to feed Emily again and
read Daniel another book while Ben plays with Legos.

11:30 Emily is happy, so I put everyone on the sofa and start history.
Today we’re working on our Presidents Memorization Project – we color
pictures of two presidents from the Bellerophon coloring book, Christopher
looks them up in the encyclopedia and writes down two interesting facts
about each president, and we all chant the presidents in order. We’re up to
Andrew Jackson and Martin van Buren. I tell Christopher and Ben to STOP
TALKING UNTIL THEIR PICTURES ARE COLORED.

12:00 I fix lunch one-handed and call everyone to the table.

12:30 I tell Christopher and Ben to STOP TALKING UNTIL THEIR FOOD IS ALL
GONE because they still have work to do before rest time.

12:45. I put Emily in her cradle and clear away lunch half-eaten. Ben
bursts into tears because he isn’t finished. Christopher asks for dessert.
I tell Ben to sit on his bed, Christopher that he can’t have any dessert,
and Daniel to go potty. Emily is screaming. “Emily is screaming!” Ben
yells from his bed. “Do I have to do my Writing Strands?” Christopher asks.
“My pants are a little bit wet,” Daniel shouts from the bathroom. I yell
at
the top of my lungs, “Everybody be quiet before I lose my mind!” There is a
short silence. Daniel says politely, from the bathroom, “You don’t have to
be so loud, Mommy.”

12:50 Daniel has dry pants, Ben is copying three exclamations from his
English for the Thoughtful Child Book, and I’m explaining Christopher’s
Writing Strands exercise to him. He takes it off to do it in his room. I
correct Ben’s penmanship and send him and Daniel to bed for mandatory rest
time. Daniel is listening to “How to Eat Fried Worms” on his tape recorder;
Ben is listening to “The Dark Is Rising” and playing with Legos.
Christopher brings me his writing exercise. I tell him to save his piano
lesson until after rest time.

1 PM. I leave the baby monitor with my mother (her house is attached to
ours) and go for a walk.

2 PM. I get back from my walk and answer a couple of e-mails before Emily
wakes up and wants to be fed.

3 PM. The boys get up. I’ve learned not to try to leap directly into
school after nap time; I let them eat cookies and play for a little while
until they start to bicker. “School time!” I say, and send Christopher to
play his piano. I give Daniel scissors and colored paper, and he promptly
begins to make a phenomenal mess all over the kitchen floor. Ben reads to
me from his current “Extra Reading” book – a book that goes along with
history or science (Peter does their imaginative reading with them on
Tuesdays and Thursdays). Today he’s reading Can’t You Make Them Behave, King
George? I sit down to listen, but Emily cries, so I get up and walk around
the kitchen while Ben reads. Halfway through the first page, Emily dirties
her diaper, my shirt, her blanket, and her sleeper. Ben follows me into our
bedroom, still reading, while Christopher bangs out “The Bells” for the
fourth time, Daniel sings along, I change the diaper, and Emily screams.
The noise level has once again reached airport level. I say, in an
unnaturally calm voice, “Ben, could you please stop reading to me until I’m
finished with Emily’s diaper?”

3:30. Emily doesn’t want to be put down. I had intended to do another
Latin lesson with Christopher today, but I’m starting to feel like I’ve HAD
it, so I tell him to review his vocabulary cards and then send all of them
outside to run around while I start supper.

3:45 I give up on supper and rock Emily.

4 PM I’m still rocking Emily. The boys come back in. “Go outside some
more,” I say.

4:15 I nurse Emily again.

4:30 Still rocking Emily. The boys come in again. I tell Christopher to
read Daniel a book and Ben to get his penmanship book out.

4:45 Emily is asleep. I threaten everyone with instant death if they wake
her up. They think this is funny and start to howl with laughter at the top
of their lungs. Emily cries. I go in the bathroom, shut the door, and
count to twenty. Daniel sticks his fingers under the door and says, “Look,
Daniel fingers!”

5 PM. I decide that we should all walk down to the mailbox instead of
trying to do science. I give Mom the monitor again, and we borrow three
flashlights from her (it’s already dark, and I have no batteries. Ever.)
The mailbox is a quarter of a mile away, and the night is beautiful. By the
time we get back I feel better. I fix everybody sandwiches and potato chips
for supper. (They think this is great).

5:50 I tell Christopher and Benjamin to STOP TALKING AND EAT or I will take
their potato chips away. They cram all the chips into their mouths. I
decide that we will save manners lessons until Emily is older.

6 PM. Emily wakes up. I get out the Science in a Nutshell kit that we’re
doing (Gears) and give everyone gears, then sit down and nurse Emily while
we go through the project. Christopher loves to keep his Science Journal,
but Ben has to be prompted for every question and answer. I’m still writing
them down for him, since his penmanship is very slow and difficult; today my
hands are full, so I tell him he gets the day off from recording his
experiments. Daniel puts gear stickers on his head and says, “Look, I’m a
gear machine.”

7 PM I tell Ben that we’re not doing Spanish (again). “We never get to
Spanish,” he says. This is unfortunately true. Maybe I’ll outsource it to
a neighbor next year. I check the lists; Christopher didn’t do his cursive
practice, but I decide that his life will be complete without it. I tell
the boys to get their pajamas on and clean up their room while I rock Emily,
who is screaming (again).

7:15 Emily gets happy and everyone wants to hold her. We take turns while
I read to Daniel.

7:30 Daniel goes to bed. I play Uno with Christopher and Ben while Emily
sits on my lap.

8 PM. I read Ben a book and put him in bed. I rock Emily back to sleep
while Christopher sits on the sofa and reads.

8:30 I send Christopher to bed and put Emily in her cradle. She
immediately wakes up and howls. Eventually I pick her up and pretend I’m
doing aerobics, which sends back to sleep. I put her back down and sneak
out of the room.

9 PM Boy, it would be nice to go to bed.

9:30 Lights out for the boys. Daniel is asleep; I pray with the two older
boys, listen to Christopher’s worries, and answer twelve questions from Ben.
I know Emily will be up to eat again soon, so I decide to work on e-mail
again until she wakes up.

AND A FINAL NOTE TO THIS PAGE, added June, 2001: WE DID HAVE A GOOD TIME
THIS DAY! We played Uno, messed around with gears, went for a great walk in
the dark, dug in the sawdust and read three books that kept the boys
enthralled. It was ALSO frantic and tiring; that's real life with four
children under nine.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 1/7/2005 4:08:59 PM Eastern Standard Time,
kbcdlovejo@... writes:

>>>>>10 AM Emily is grousing again. I know she's not ready to get up, so I
decide to wait a couple of minutes and see whether she'll go back to sleep.
This drives Ben crazy. “Mom,” he keeps saying, “the baby is crying!”
..... "Mom," he says seriously, "are you sure you know how to take care of a
baby?"<<<<<




So smart.
Pam G


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Jenny Altenbach

kbcdlovejo@... wrote:

> And then there's this. Poor kids.


Yuck. Aside from all the obvious horrible things about this, what
really gets on my nerves is her delivery of the story. It's that
snarky, almost condescending way that some moms have when they describe
how difficult it can be to be a wife and mother. You know, like those
two women who had a tv show for a while--I think it was called "The
Mommies"--and they also did a bunch of commercials for aluminum foil or
something. Their "bit" was the sarcastic, put-out, knowing-look-giving,
kind of thing where they complained about their kids/spouses in an
effort to be funny. Another one that comes to mind is Vicki Iovine, the
author of "The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy" and other books. She's
the one that compared homebirth to animal slaughter (although I do have
to admit that some of her description of pregnancy symptoms were pretty
darn funny).

The overall impression that I get is that this woman's homeschool is way
more about HER than it is about her kids.

Jenny

Cally Brown

I couldn't read this all through - those poor poor children, and that
poor poor mother who cannot Be with her chilrden. My kids are 23, 21,
17, 14. I feel so lucky to have been able to share their lives. So
quickly they grow up and start moving away into their own independence
(not necessarily physically moving away) and I miss them so, at the same
time as rejoicing in their independent lives. I want to shout at this
woman: "Just sit down and cuddle your baby while you listen to you
little boy playing his piano, stop being to busy to see their Being". I
can't believe:

>Ben starts playing the piano, which makes the principle
>parts even hard to understand, so I tell him to go and play with Daniel
>until I’ve talked through Christopher’s grammar lesson.
>
>I call Ben out to do his piano lesson. Emily is still nursing, so
>I tell Daniel to bring me a book. I read to him while Ben plays.
>
>9:30 Ben is finished with his piano (ten minutes is about all I can keep
>him interested in).
>

can't she see the connections?

and all the STOP TALKING UNTIL....

I feel sick :-(

CAlly

[email protected]

In a message dated 1/7/05 3:15:17 PM, danielle.conger@... writes:

<< Stooooooppppp! Please, no more! I can't take it anymore! I refuse to
read another thing about these people. >>

I kinda had fun deconstructing it. The first one was fun, but I couldn't
read the second one. Even though I can listen to Stephen Lynch, and South Park
stuff, that Bauer humor was just TOO TOTALLY DISGUSTING.

Sandra
(what? It wasn't HUMOR!?)

Seth W Bartels

oh my goodness! what's with the bribing with sugar stuff?

*sigh* at least she's nursing the baby??

yuck...i feel awful!
lisa

On Fri, 7 Jan 2005 16:05:33 EST kbcdlovejo@... writes:
And then there's this. Poor kids.
~Kelly

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Faith Pickell

Yep, this is the blog I was talking about.

Faith
On Friday, January 7, 2005, at 03:05 PM, kbcdlovejo@... wrote:

>
> And then there's this. Poor kids.
> ~Kelly
>
>
> SCHOOL AT MY HOUSE
> Susan Wise Bauer
> Fall of 2000: a day with a fourth and second grader, a four-year-old
> and a
> newborn.
>
> 7:30 AM. I wake up because my husband has brought me a cup of coffee
> and a
> hungry baby. This the only way I get out of bed in the morning these
> days,
> what with feeding new baby Emily at 11 PM and again at 2:30. She’s
> slept
> since 2:30, though, so I’m feeling semi-human. I sit up and drink my
> coffee
> while feeding the baby, while Peter gets ready for work. Today is my
> “long
> day” with the children. Peter and I both work; we used to divide
> each day
> in half, but since the new baby’s arrival we have divided our weeks
> so that
> I have the children from dawn to dusk on Mondays and Wednesdays,
> while he
> has them on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fridays we split in half; he
> works in
> the morning, I work in the afternoons. Since Peter is schooling the
> boys in
> math, reading, and art, he does double math and reading lessons on
> Tuesdays
> and Thursdays.
>
> 8 AM. Peter leaves. He has a meeting at 8 PM that won’t be over
> until
> midnight, so I don’t expect to see him for the rest of the day. I
> get up,
> change the baby’s diaper, and put her on my bed while I dress. I can
> hear
> the boys rattling around in their room; they know they’re not
> supposed to
> emerge (except for necessary bathroom visits) until I come get them.
> When I
> ’m dressed, I go in with the baby on one arm and tell Christopher (9)
> and
> Ben (7) to get dressed. I put out Daniel’s clothes; he’s four and
> going
> through a serious do-it-myself phase.
>
> 8:15. Christopher and Ben are running around in their underwear and
> giggling. Daniel has his sweatpants on upside down with both feet
> sticking
> out of the waistband. “Something is wrong here,” he says. I tell
> Christopher and Ben to STOP TALKING UNTIL ALL THEIR CLOTHES ARE ON and
> reverse Daniel’s sweatpants.
>
> 8:30 Breakfast; Emily was happy to lie on her mat and look at her
> mirror
> this morning, so everyone gets scrambled eggs and toast. On mornings
> when
> she’s fussy, they tend to get cereal with a spoonful of peanut butter
> for
> protein (disgusting, but effective).
>
> 8:55 I tell Christopher and Ben to STOP TALKING UNTIL THEIR
> BREAKFAST IS
> GONE because we are due to start school at 9 AM.
>
> 9 AM. No one is finished eating. I am now carrying Emily on my
> shoulder.
> She spits up all down my back, so I go change my shirt.
>
> 9:15 We start school. I have a chart for each of the older boys.
> Christopher’s says: Morning – Spelling, Grammar, Writing Strands,
> History,
> Piano Practice. Afternoon – Science, Latin, Penmanship, Extra
> Reading. Ben
> ’s says: Morning – Spelling, English for the Thoughtful Child,
> History,
> Piano Practice, Phonics Pathways. Afternoon – Science, Spanish,
> Penmanship,
> Extra Reading. We vary the order in which we do these subjects, but
> I try
> to check them all off each day. I tell them that they can pick their
> first
> subject and I’ll pick the second. Christopher decides to start with
> grammar; Ben wants to practice his piano. Christopher’s grammar is
> about
> principle parts. Ben starts playing the piano, which makes the
> principle
> parts even hard to understand, so I tell him to go and play with
> Daniel
> until I’ve talked through Christopher’s grammar lesson. They
> disappear into
> the boys’ room. Christopher and I slog through the present and
> present
> participle. Emily starts screaming. We take the book over to the
> sofa and
> I finish explaining past and past participle while she nurses.
>
> 9:20 Christopher is doing his grammar exercises; he usually does two
> pages
> per day. I call Ben out to do his piano lesson. Emily is still
> nursing, so
> I tell Daniel to bring me a book. I read to him while Ben plays.
> This
> raises the noise level in the house to something approaching an
> airport
> runway. "I can't think!" Christopher says. I tell him to take his
> grammar
> book into his room to finish.
>
> 9:30 Ben is finished with his piano (ten minutes is about all I can
> keep
> him interested in). I take Emily to the table to burp her, pour
> Daniel a
> bowl of Grape Nuts (it takes him FOREVER to eat Grape Nuts), and start
> explaining Ben’s spelling rule. Emily begins to scream, Daniel dumps
> out
> the Grape-Nuts, and Christopher appears in tears because he can’t
> figure out
> his next exercise. I tell Ben to get the vacuum cleaner, Christopher
> to
> take a break, and Daniel to stop yelling over the spilled cereal. I
> sit
> down and rock Emily until she drifts off to sleep, while Christopher
> vacuums
> and Daniel winds himself up in the vacuum hose and yells, “A snake!
> A snake
> is biting me!”
>
> 9:45. Emily’s in bed. I re-explain principle parts to Christopher
> and give
> him a handful of chocolate chips to keep him going. Everyone now
> wants
> chocolate chips, so I give Daniel a little cupful of them and tell him
> to go
> eat them in his “fort” (behind his bed). I put Ben’s beside his
> spelling
> book and tell him he can have one after each spelling word that he
> writes.
>
> 10 AM Emily is grousing again. I know she's not ready to get up, so
> I
> decide to wait a couple of minutes and see whether she'll go back to
> sleep.
> This drives Ben crazy. “Mom,” he keeps saying, “the baby is crying!”
> I
> get
> out his Phonics Pathways and tell him to think about his phonics
> instead.
> He’s reading me two pages a day, as a review of phonics and spelling
> rules.
> He reads the first two lines and then stops. "Mom," he says
> seriously, "are
> you sure you know how to take care of a baby?"
>
> 10:10 Emily stops crying thirty seconds before I'm ready to go get
> her.
> When I look in at her, she’s sound asleep. I check Christopher’s
> grammar
> and give him his spelling book. Today he’s doing the second half of a
> lesson, so I don’t have to explain anything. I start a pot of
> coffee, sit
> Ben in front of his penmanship, and go to check on Daniel. He’s
> covered
> with chocolate, (so is his sheet) but he’s happy, so I don’t wipe him
> off.
> (I ignore the sheet, on the theory that it's been hit with worse.)
>
> 10:30 We take a snack and coffee outside for the men working on the
> sawmill
> (I take the baby monitor with me.) Christopher and Ben go off to
> play. In
> five minutes they reappear with Ben weeping. “Christopher says he
> has to
> clean the bunny cage before he can play with me!” Ben wails.
> “Christopher,
> play with Ben first.” “But he wants to play that we’re sweet kittens
> playing in the woods,” Christopher says. “Why can’t you play sweet
> kittens?” I ask. “Because it’s stupid,” he says, “and I want to
> pretend
> that we’re raptors.” “Go play kittens for ten minutes,” I say, “and
> then
> clean the bunny cage.”
>
> 11 AM Break is over. I collect Daniel, who has been in the sawdust
> pile
> and now has sawdust sticking to the chocolate on his face. When I
> call
> Christopher inside, he says, “But I have to clean the bunny cage.”
> “What
> have you been doing all this time?” I ask. “Playing sweet kittens,”
> he
> says. Ben adds, “Sweet kittens being hunted by raptors.”
>
> 11:05 Christopher is upset because I told him not to check on the
> bunny
> until lunch time (“If you don’t do it when I tell you to, you’ll have
> to
> wait until your next break”) and he is now convinced that the bunny
> is dying
> of thirst. Emily is awake and crying. I sit down to feed Emily
> again and
> read Daniel another book while Ben plays with Legos.
>
> 11:30 Emily is happy, so I put everyone on the sofa and start
> history.
> Today we’re working on our Presidents Memorization Project – we color
> pictures of two presidents from the Bellerophon coloring book,
> Christopher
> looks them up in the encyclopedia and writes down two interesting
> facts
> about each president, and we all chant the presidents in order.
> We’re up to
> Andrew Jackson and Martin van Buren. I tell Christopher and Ben to
> STOP
> TALKING UNTIL THEIR PICTURES ARE COLORED.
>
> 12:00 I fix lunch one-handed and call everyone to the table.
>
> 12:30 I tell Christopher and Ben to STOP TALKING UNTIL THEIR FOOD IS
> ALL
> GONE because they still have work to do before rest time.
>
> 12:45. I put Emily in her cradle and clear away lunch half-eaten.
> Ben
> bursts into tears because he isn’t finished. Christopher asks for
> dessert.
> I tell Ben to sit on his bed, Christopher that he can’t have any
> dessert,
> and Daniel to go potty. Emily is screaming. “Emily is screaming!”
> Ben
> yells from his bed. “Do I have to do my Writing Strands?”
> Christopher asks.
> “My pants are a little bit wet,” Daniel shouts from the bathroom. I
> yell
> at
> the top of my lungs, “Everybody be quiet before I lose my mind!”
> There is a
> short silence. Daniel says politely, from the bathroom, “You don’t
> have to
> be so loud, Mommy.”
>
> 12:50 Daniel has dry pants, Ben is copying three exclamations from
> his
> English for the Thoughtful Child Book, and I’m explaining
> Christopher’s
> Writing Strands exercise to him. He takes it off to do it in his
> room. I
> correct Ben’s penmanship and send him and Daniel to bed for mandatory
> rest
> time. Daniel is listening to “How to Eat Fried Worms” on his tape
> recorder;
> Ben is listening to “The Dark Is Rising” and playing with Legos.
> Christopher brings me his writing exercise. I tell him to save his
> piano
> lesson until after rest time.
>
> 1 PM. I leave the baby monitor with my mother (her house is attached
> to
> ours) and go for a walk.
>
> 2 PM. I get back from my walk and answer a couple of e-mails before
> Emily
> wakes up and wants to be fed.
>
> 3 PM. The boys get up. I’ve learned not to try to leap directly into
> school after nap time; I let them eat cookies and play for a little
> while
> until they start to bicker. “School time!” I say, and send
> Christopher to
> play his piano. I give Daniel scissors and colored paper, and he
> promptly
> begins to make a phenomenal mess all over the kitchen floor. Ben
> reads to
> me from his current “Extra Reading” book – a book that goes along with
> history or science (Peter does their imaginative reading with them on
> Tuesdays and Thursdays). Today he’s reading Can’t You Make Them
> Behave, King
> George? I sit down to listen, but Emily cries, so I get up and walk
> around
> the kitchen while Ben reads. Halfway through the first page, Emily
> dirties
> her diaper, my shirt, her blanket, and her sleeper. Ben follows me
> into our
> bedroom, still reading, while Christopher bangs out “The Bells” for
> the
> fourth time, Daniel sings along, I change the diaper, and Emily
> screams.
> The noise level has once again reached airport level. I say, in an
> unnaturally calm voice, “Ben, could you please stop reading to me
> until I’m
> finished with Emily’s diaper?”
>
> 3:30. Emily doesn’t want to be put down. I had intended to do
> another
> Latin lesson with Christopher today, but I’m starting to feel like
> I’ve HAD
> it, so I tell him to review his vocabulary cards and then send all of
> them
> outside to run around while I start supper.
>
> 3:45 I give up on supper and rock Emily.
>
> 4 PM I’m still rocking Emily. The boys come back in. “Go outside
> some
> more,” I say.
>
> 4:15 I nurse Emily again.
>
> 4:30 Still rocking Emily. The boys come in again. I tell
> Christopher to
> read Daniel a book and Ben to get his penmanship book out.
>
> 4:45 Emily is asleep. I threaten everyone with instant death if
> they wake
> her up. They think this is funny and start to howl with laughter at
> the top
> of their lungs. Emily cries. I go in the bathroom, shut the door,
> and
> count to twenty. Daniel sticks his fingers under the door and says,
> “Look,
> Daniel fingers!”
>
> 5 PM. I decide that we should all walk down to the mailbox instead of
> trying to do science. I give Mom the monitor again, and we borrow
> three
> flashlights from her (it’s already dark, and I have no batteries.
> Ever.)
> The mailbox is a quarter of a mile away, and the night is beautiful.
> By the
> time we get back I feel better. I fix everybody sandwiches and
> potato chips
> for supper. (They think this is great).
>
> 5:50 I tell Christopher and Benjamin to STOP TALKING AND EAT or I
> will take
> their potato chips away. They cram all the chips into their mouths.
> I
> decide that we will save manners lessons until Emily is older.
>
> 6 PM. Emily wakes up. I get out the Science in a Nutshell kit that
> we’re
> doing (Gears) and give everyone gears, then sit down and nurse Emily
> while
> we go through the project. Christopher loves to keep his Science
> Journal,
> but Ben has to be prompted for every question and answer. I’m still
> writing
> them down for him, since his penmanship is very slow and difficult;
> today my
> hands are full, so I tell him he gets the day off from recording his
> experiments. Daniel puts gear stickers on his head and says, “Look,
> I’m a
> gear machine.”
>
> 7 PM I tell Ben that we’re not doing Spanish (again). “We never get
> to
> Spanish,” he says. This is unfortunately true. Maybe I’ll outsource
> it to
> a neighbor next year. I check the lists; Christopher didn’t do his
> cursive
> practice, but I decide that his life will be complete without it. I
> tell
> the boys to get their pajamas on and clean up their room while I rock
> Emily,
> who is screaming (again).
>
> 7:15 Emily gets happy and everyone wants to hold her. We take turns
> while
> I read to Daniel.
>
> 7:30 Daniel goes to bed. I play Uno with Christopher and Ben while
> Emily
> sits on my lap.
>
> 8 PM. I read Ben a book and put him in bed. I rock Emily back to
> sleep
> while Christopher sits on the sofa and reads.
>
> 8:30 I send Christopher to bed and put Emily in her cradle. She
> immediately wakes up and howls. Eventually I pick her up and pretend
> I’m
> doing aerobics, which sends back to sleep. I put her back down and
> sneak
> out of the room.
>
> 9 PM Boy, it would be nice to go to bed.
>
> 9:30 Lights out for the boys. Daniel is asleep; I pray with the two
> older
> boys, listen to Christopher’s worries, and answer twelve questions
> from Ben.
> I know Emily will be up to eat again soon, so I decide to work on
> e-mail
> again until she wakes up.
>
> AND A FINAL NOTE TO THIS PAGE, added June, 2001: WE DID HAVE A GOOD
> TIME
> THIS DAY! We played Uno, messed around with gears, went for a great
> walk in
> the dark, dug in the sawdust and read three books that kept the boys
> enthralled. It was ALSO frantic and tiring; that's real life with
> four
> children under nine.
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> "List Posting Policies" are provided in the files area of this group.
>
> Visit the Unschooling website and message boards:
> http://www.unschooling.com
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Tracey Inman

I agree with everyone....It made me sick to my stomach. I was just sitting
with my cup of coffee this morning thinking that my patience level with my
girls (9 &12) has been really short lately. I have had a lot going on in my
life and unfortunately I have let it spill into "our lives". I was telling
myself, before I read this horrific article, that I need to get a grip and
love on my girls today. So, even though I too couldn't get through the
entire second story, thank you, because it put in my face to remember not to
lose another day......

Off to enjoy the day...............

~Tracey I.

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