how does my dear friend erin brewster do it? that girl has 7 kids. seven. 7 kids under the age of zoe, and 5 of them are in school- i think from grades 1-8.
i'm talking about homework. i'm taking about that questionably necessary evil that exists and is supposed to be completed between after school and the insane dinner/ bath/ bed time hour. i'm talking about what i hated as a kid and what i possibly hate more as a parent. i mean come on.
i have only 4 kids- and right now only 2 of them have homework, the 2nd and 4th grader. thank God kindergarten is still sacred. thank God that zoe has a full-time teacher/assistant who knows that homework with zoe would be a big mistake. so how can i complain?
but i will.
my kids get up at 5:45 and leave for school before 6:30. they spend an hour in the car- then they are at school for 8 hours, then they drive home at least an hour, then between 4:30 and 6:30 they are expected to have a snack- do homework- play- relax- do a few, actually only one chore and then wash up for dinner. then after dinner, they have to do their reading log- which apparently is somehow separate from homework, but requires about as much time. they need to read and then record what they read, for how long and what they thought about it. i mean come on!
this week, now that they have thankfully settled into some sort of routine, mike is away. away deeper in the heart of africa- he's in congo- leaving me to manage the above scenario ....alone.
he left on friday morning early, as in before the kids were up. let the games begin and they did. it was raining torrentially. our giant beast of a dog, out of fear of the thundering rain storm and shear hunger, had wound himself around the front porch pole so tightly that he couldn't move, but he could bark and whine - so that is what he did. there i was in the rain, trying to unwind this soaking wet, muddy animal who weighs more than i do, while he is trying desperately to climb on me, get away from the storm and get to his food. the kids found this way more interesting than eating breakfast. the cat found this the perfect time to make a run for it and come inside herself. thankfully i wasn't driving that morning. thankfully no one had peed her bed. but still.
i had promised the kids that because they had been working so hard all week with above said schedule, and daddy was away, i would take them to KFC after school. yes. kentucky fried chicken. let me pause to say that KFC in uganda is a BIG DEAL. it's "american"- only better. it looks like america, smells like america, and tastes like america- only better. it has kiddy meals and prizes and soft serve ice cream and the 'original recipe'- only it's somehow all better. and unlike america- it's expensive. so it's a BIG DEAL. they had been looking forward to it ALL WEEK.
because it was still raining and traffic can be disastrous, i got in the car a bit early for pick up. and it was dead. the car was completely- not turning over- dead. oh dear. i considered my options. i could call a driver to get the kids- but that is expensive- and worst of all....the KFC plan would be out the window.... and i'd promised.... and truth be told... i REALLY wanted KFC too. so i called some friends for a jump- no one had cables. eventually i got my friend who is a mechanic to come and jump it and refill various empty car fluids and i was off. late, but quickly forgiven because of KFC.
on saturday morning, the cat, in thanks for her safe refuge from the storm the day before, delivered a huge disemboweled rat on the front porch. good times. it rained again most of the day and when the afternoon sun came and we ventured outside, the car was once again, completely dead, so we battened down the hatches, made cookies and watched some movies.
sunday passed relatively uneventfully- except for a birthday lunch at a neighbors house which we attended empty handed and with zoe in her full sticky glory, announcing that she knew she couldn't handle it and why had a made her come. there were looks of sympathy and forgiveness saying wordlessly, 'wow i'm glad that's not my life...and it must be so hard to single parent that."
now it's monday. our mechanic thankfully jumped the car at 5:45 and we headed into the city. the kids got to school, the car is in the shop- and it's going to cost waaaayyy more than KFC. the clinic has called 4 times about my patients who didn't know i had car trouble, oops. the marketing will have to wait because i don't have the car, so it's looking like breakfast for dinner....again. i called mike and he told me with words, 'wow, i'm sorry about the car, and i know how hard it is to single parent all that!'
now i'm gearing up for the impending drive home, in the rain with six kids, and the delightful few hours of homework, which will be crammed into one hour because i need to give a lecture at 5:30- which will perhaps be the calmest hour of my day.
back to homework....really? isn't 8 hours enough? what about the "home-learning" that isn't prescribed? what about dirty feet and tree houses and slingshots and bike riding? what about family time and chores and untangling dogs and cleaning up rat guts? i think those things have value too.
so hats off to erin brewster! i just have two questions.....what's your secret and what's for dinner? (and ohhhh i miss you so!)
i'm talking about homework. i'm taking about that questionably necessary evil that exists and is supposed to be completed between after school and the insane dinner/ bath/ bed time hour. i'm talking about what i hated as a kid and what i possibly hate more as a parent. i mean come on.
i have only 4 kids- and right now only 2 of them have homework, the 2nd and 4th grader. thank God kindergarten is still sacred. thank God that zoe has a full-time teacher/assistant who knows that homework with zoe would be a big mistake. so how can i complain?
but i will.
my kids get up at 5:45 and leave for school before 6:30. they spend an hour in the car- then they are at school for 8 hours, then they drive home at least an hour, then between 4:30 and 6:30 they are expected to have a snack- do homework- play- relax- do a few, actually only one chore and then wash up for dinner. then after dinner, they have to do their reading log- which apparently is somehow separate from homework, but requires about as much time. they need to read and then record what they read, for how long and what they thought about it. i mean come on!
this week, now that they have thankfully settled into some sort of routine, mike is away. away deeper in the heart of africa- he's in congo- leaving me to manage the above scenario ....alone.
he left on friday morning early, as in before the kids were up. let the games begin and they did. it was raining torrentially. our giant beast of a dog, out of fear of the thundering rain storm and shear hunger, had wound himself around the front porch pole so tightly that he couldn't move, but he could bark and whine - so that is what he did. there i was in the rain, trying to unwind this soaking wet, muddy animal who weighs more than i do, while he is trying desperately to climb on me, get away from the storm and get to his food. the kids found this way more interesting than eating breakfast. the cat found this the perfect time to make a run for it and come inside herself. thankfully i wasn't driving that morning. thankfully no one had peed her bed. but still.
i had promised the kids that because they had been working so hard all week with above said schedule, and daddy was away, i would take them to KFC after school. yes. kentucky fried chicken. let me pause to say that KFC in uganda is a BIG DEAL. it's "american"- only better. it looks like america, smells like america, and tastes like america- only better. it has kiddy meals and prizes and soft serve ice cream and the 'original recipe'- only it's somehow all better. and unlike america- it's expensive. so it's a BIG DEAL. they had been looking forward to it ALL WEEK.
because it was still raining and traffic can be disastrous, i got in the car a bit early for pick up. and it was dead. the car was completely- not turning over- dead. oh dear. i considered my options. i could call a driver to get the kids- but that is expensive- and worst of all....the KFC plan would be out the window.... and i'd promised.... and truth be told... i REALLY wanted KFC too. so i called some friends for a jump- no one had cables. eventually i got my friend who is a mechanic to come and jump it and refill various empty car fluids and i was off. late, but quickly forgiven because of KFC.
on saturday morning, the cat, in thanks for her safe refuge from the storm the day before, delivered a huge disemboweled rat on the front porch. good times. it rained again most of the day and when the afternoon sun came and we ventured outside, the car was once again, completely dead, so we battened down the hatches, made cookies and watched some movies.
sunday passed relatively uneventfully- except for a birthday lunch at a neighbors house which we attended empty handed and with zoe in her full sticky glory, announcing that she knew she couldn't handle it and why had a made her come. there were looks of sympathy and forgiveness saying wordlessly, 'wow i'm glad that's not my life...and it must be so hard to single parent that."
now it's monday. our mechanic thankfully jumped the car at 5:45 and we headed into the city. the kids got to school, the car is in the shop- and it's going to cost waaaayyy more than KFC. the clinic has called 4 times about my patients who didn't know i had car trouble, oops. the marketing will have to wait because i don't have the car, so it's looking like breakfast for dinner....again. i called mike and he told me with words, 'wow, i'm sorry about the car, and i know how hard it is to single parent all that!'
now i'm gearing up for the impending drive home, in the rain with six kids, and the delightful few hours of homework, which will be crammed into one hour because i need to give a lecture at 5:30- which will perhaps be the calmest hour of my day.
back to homework....really? isn't 8 hours enough? what about the "home-learning" that isn't prescribed? what about dirty feet and tree houses and slingshots and bike riding? what about family time and chores and untangling dogs and cleaning up rat guts? i think those things have value too.
so hats off to erin brewster! i just have two questions.....what's your secret and what's for dinner? (and ohhhh i miss you so!)
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