Un-normal Routine

Today is not normal.

It used to be that I had nearly 7 hours each day to clean house, craft, lunch with the ladies, and blog before I picked up the kids from school and started my afternoon routine.

Homeschooling changed all that.

Since August 11, 2008 I haven't really ever been at home alone during the week.

I'd forgotten.

Forgotten the wonderful quiet...

Forgotten the kitchen that always stayed clean...

Forgotten the way I longed for those kids to come home.

Today I remember.

Yesterday we took The Girl to camp. We helped her set up her bunk, kissed her head, and left her for a week in the woods.

Secretly, I had hoped we would drive two-hours to the top of that hill, and find a dilapidated building with mean people in it so we could turn around and come home and tuck my baby to bed.

Of course, it wasn't.

It's beautiful, and the people were nice... and she's no longer a baby.

Hrmph.

The Boy is gone (during the day) this week as well. I'm so glad he isn't sleeping away this week...but next week is a different story.

I'm determined to use my time wisely.

To enjoy the quiet.

I'm going to do my best to not fill these wide open hours with busy-ness and sounds.

I wrote this post: Don't Blink five years ago....who knew it wouldn't get any easier?

The good news is that I do have a few things planned - both time alone and time with friends - that I am really looking forward to. I purposefully scheduled this day to be wistful and contemplative...but then it's time to buck-up and be done!

Tomorrow I am hoping to get some progress in planning and preparing for a study I am going to do with The Girl starting in July based on the book "Eight Great Dates for Mom's and Daughters: How to Talk About True Beauty, Cool Fashion and....Modesty" by Dannah Greshen.

I'm also going to spend some time cleaning up my office and watching my new favorite show: Larkrise to Candleford. Its from the BBC and honestly, its wonderful. I'm in the end of season two and it gets better and better with each episode!

All right, six hours have passed in this first day alone, and I have one more hour to fold some laundry and go get The Boy!

Ahh! I little piece of normal.

Parenting a Teenager: Can't Get Away With Anything

Sitting down this morning to discuss the school agenda for the week, I informed the kids of their assignments.

We began with highlights of the history assignments, going over geography and timelines. I explained that this week they will continue to study Ancient Greece, reminding them that they should take note of the prominent character of the times, such as Hippocrates, Pythagorus, Socrates, and Plato.

I made note that there wasn't a ton of reading (of the text) this week and told them they would need to "look up men on the internet."

To which the 13 year-old replied, "Uh, mom, don't you think that's a little inappropriate."

It's going to be a long week.