I think one of the most frustrating things about homeschooling is that after you teach the kids for 6+ hours, you suddenly turn into the parent and now get to help them with the homework that they didn't finish during school hours.
Today as the teacher, I should have written a couple of notes home.
Dear Parent,
Today your son/daughter was extremely disruptive in class today. He/she was standing on his/her chair and making loud cawing noises at the ceiling while slapping his/her rear end. As a result, the other students were horribly distracted and were not able to complete their work in the allotted time. Amazingly, your child DID finish all the material that needed to be covered--as well as the next 4 lessons. Indeed, your child frustrates me to no end. Could you please find a better educational facility for him/her?
Sincerely,
The Teacher
Dear Parent,
I love the way your son/daughter writes. I just wish I didn't have to endure the 15 minute temper tantrum that ensues immediately after I assign a new writing assignment. I must say however, that his/her spelling has improved significantly in the last year. But of course, this has probably stemmed from the dozens of dictionary pages I have assigned him/her to write after all those tantrums. I am recommending that we do not push him into a desk job....
Sincerely,
The Teacher
Dear Parent,
Please review the addition and subtraction flashcards with your child this evening. Amazingly, the child seems to be regressing daily. It is quite evident that he/she needs MUCH more practice. Please incorporate these measures immediately to stop this downward spiral. Too much regression will land him/her in a special home or an asylum you know...
Sincerely,
The Teacher
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Thursday, September 19, 2013
No Order Please!
Lindsay and Courtney's room needed a serious overhaul. Their room resembled a re-enactment of a school class of ponies and barbies on a field trip to the local landfill.
Armed with a couple of garbage bags and 2 empty laundry baskets, I tackled the room. It took a couple of hours, but it looks GREAT now. There's nothing under the bed. There's nothing under the dresser. There's no garbage on the bookshelves or clothes stuffed under the mattresses. The beads have been vacuumed out from the baseboards.
Courtney HATED my work when I finished. With enormous tears and loud wails, Courtney surveyed the room and loudly declared, "I NO LIKE DIS!"
And she would NOT take her nap in the clean room.
I asked her if she wanted me to throw all the garbage back in the room. "Yes!" was her adamant reply. Talk about getting no appreciation for your labour.....
She followed me everywhere, completely over tired and sobbing hysterically. When I put her in her bed she howled all the louder, telling me, "I DON"T LIKE ROOM!" "I NO SLEEP HERE!!"
Finally I had to administer some serious discipline. Sulkily accepting her fate, Courtney settled into her bed and promptly fell asleep.
Today she still tells me she does not like the clean room. Every time she steps in the room she lets me know. Hmmm, I wonder what her house will look like one day.....
Armed with a couple of garbage bags and 2 empty laundry baskets, I tackled the room. It took a couple of hours, but it looks GREAT now. There's nothing under the bed. There's nothing under the dresser. There's no garbage on the bookshelves or clothes stuffed under the mattresses. The beads have been vacuumed out from the baseboards.
Courtney HATED my work when I finished. With enormous tears and loud wails, Courtney surveyed the room and loudly declared, "I NO LIKE DIS!"
And she would NOT take her nap in the clean room.
I asked her if she wanted me to throw all the garbage back in the room. "Yes!" was her adamant reply. Talk about getting no appreciation for your labour.....
She followed me everywhere, completely over tired and sobbing hysterically. When I put her in her bed she howled all the louder, telling me, "I DON"T LIKE ROOM!" "I NO SLEEP HERE!!"
Finally I had to administer some serious discipline. Sulkily accepting her fate, Courtney settled into her bed and promptly fell asleep.
Today she still tells me she does not like the clean room. Every time she steps in the room she lets me know. Hmmm, I wonder what her house will look like one day.....
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Nothing a Little Cereal Won't Take Care Of...
I awoke to my son crying outside my bedroom door at 4:30 this morning. In my groggy state of mind I asked him what was wrong. He claimed he had a really bad stomach ache. I told him to go to the bathroom and see if it would go away if he, well, you know.
I went back to bed and lay awake for awhile, analyzing who should stay home from church with Paul in the morning, and who should stay home in the evening.
Anyways, as I got up 2 hours later, I came to the kitchen to see this:
Paul had made himself breakfast using a huge mixing bowl, 1/3 of a box of cereal and a pile of milk. There is nothing wrong with this boy's stomach except that it was very, very empty at 4:30am. My grocery bill is going to be horrendous when he's 14.
SQUIRREL!
With great amusement Dan and I enjoyed watching this squirrel try to get off the trampoline the other morning. I'm not quite sure what possessed him to get on in the first place. He was extremely twitchy.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Kittens
"Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy........I need a kitty."
That's what I've been hearing every day from this little girl for the last while. Today we found her 3 free kitties.
That's what I've been hearing every day from this little girl for the last while. Today we found her 3 free kitties.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
A Delightfully, Delectable Dinner
Supper was memorable the other day.
We had company that stayed till just past 5. We usually like to eat somewhere between 5 and 5:30. So I threw a couple of chicken breasts in the pan and set a pan of water and rice to boil. Paul was pestering me relentlessly about helping me cook so I set him to the task of stirring the rice as it softly boiled. Off I went to do some other things in the house.
Soon a burning smell reached my nostrils. I ran to the kitchen to find that Paul had abandoned the rice and it was cremated beyond recognition. Sigh. On the other hand, my chicken breasts were beautifully browned. So it looked like the chicken ceaser salad was thus far the only thing edible for supper.
With the lovely charcoally aroma of cremated rice wafting in the air, I set a pot of water to boil on the stove. It was now 6:00. I threw a couple of handfuls of spaghetti into the boiling water and heated up a jar of sauce. By 6:30 we were all seated at the table staring at a large chicken Caesar salad and a pot of spaghetti. I salvaged Monday night's meal in decent time and felt pretty good about it
We prayed and everyone's plate was filled. At my right, Seth began to wail. I looked over at him wondering what on earth was possessing him. Supper too close to bedtime? Perhaps supper is NOT what he expected? Did I bump him or forgot to fill his cup with water?
A slight pause ensued and then a volley of vomit spewed from his mouth. A foul smelling waterfall cascaded from his mouth, splattered against his small mound of spaghetti and rebounded onto mine.
1.................. 2............... 3............ yes we got 3 waves of vomit rain down upon our supper table that night--the supper that was painstakingly made twice over. When the horror ceased we surveyed the damage. Seth, coated in puke, was smiling. "I feel WAY better mom!" was his charming reply. Regurgitated noodles hung from the side of the table....still dripping. Clear, mucousy vomit had pooled, covering half of the table and dripped off the side--every drip of course splattering a nearby chair. At this point however, one could no longer smell the rice that had been burned earlier. Nope, the air now smelled MUCH different.
Dan ran a bath for the sick boy. I cleaned up. Then we all sat down and finished our supper. One would think that this was normal in the Gordon household. I don't know...it just is what it is.
We had company that stayed till just past 5. We usually like to eat somewhere between 5 and 5:30. So I threw a couple of chicken breasts in the pan and set a pan of water and rice to boil. Paul was pestering me relentlessly about helping me cook so I set him to the task of stirring the rice as it softly boiled. Off I went to do some other things in the house.
Soon a burning smell reached my nostrils. I ran to the kitchen to find that Paul had abandoned the rice and it was cremated beyond recognition. Sigh. On the other hand, my chicken breasts were beautifully browned. So it looked like the chicken ceaser salad was thus far the only thing edible for supper.
With the lovely charcoally aroma of cremated rice wafting in the air, I set a pot of water to boil on the stove. It was now 6:00. I threw a couple of handfuls of spaghetti into the boiling water and heated up a jar of sauce. By 6:30 we were all seated at the table staring at a large chicken Caesar salad and a pot of spaghetti. I salvaged Monday night's meal in decent time and felt pretty good about it
We prayed and everyone's plate was filled. At my right, Seth began to wail. I looked over at him wondering what on earth was possessing him. Supper too close to bedtime? Perhaps supper is NOT what he expected? Did I bump him or forgot to fill his cup with water?
A slight pause ensued and then a volley of vomit spewed from his mouth. A foul smelling waterfall cascaded from his mouth, splattered against his small mound of spaghetti and rebounded onto mine.
1.................. 2............... 3............ yes we got 3 waves of vomit rain down upon our supper table that night--the supper that was painstakingly made twice over. When the horror ceased we surveyed the damage. Seth, coated in puke, was smiling. "I feel WAY better mom!" was his charming reply. Regurgitated noodles hung from the side of the table....still dripping. Clear, mucousy vomit had pooled, covering half of the table and dripped off the side--every drip of course splattering a nearby chair. At this point however, one could no longer smell the rice that had been burned earlier. Nope, the air now smelled MUCH different.
Dan ran a bath for the sick boy. I cleaned up. Then we all sat down and finished our supper. One would think that this was normal in the Gordon household. I don't know...it just is what it is.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Facebook Post Update
Today we have a guest blogger. he's the other half of me that is responsible for all the 'activity' that goes around our house. I am stealing (with permission) some of his facebook posts. In addition I will add some of mine. That should get us all caught up a bit here. I know most of you have read most of these posts already, but one reason I blog is to have a bit of a record of our busy life with 5 young kids.
Dan's Facebook Posts:
* I got a brand new shiny tooth brush yesterday. All because my 2 year old daughter needed to use mine to clean her toes.
* Cutting the lawn today Eric & Paul decided to water balloon me and their younger brother Seth. Upon interrogation, they told me their mother was helping them. Eric, Paul and Mommy were throw into the pool. Insurrection destroyed!
* Engagement party for my brother was really fun. Norm put on a fireworks show to end the night that was pretty awesome. Lots of food and folks. Really great evening.
* Courtney's favorite. She stole and ate a whole bag a couple weeks ago. (then follows a bag of the chalk droppies.
* My 2 yr old daughter got my chair for me this morning. What a sweet child. On another note, I was carrying a plate of bacon.
* My wife exclaimed today 'all children are to be in bed by 7:30pm'. The cheers I made were heard throughout parkland county. True story.
Anita's Facebook Posts:
* Last week Paul and his cousin built a city in the sandbox. Then they flooded the sandbox with water and called it Calgary. This week my boys were building a tall mountain out of sand. They built a little town at its base and are calling it Turtle Mountain (aka Frank slide). It's natural disaster month here.
* My 4 year old workaholic son wants a pair of barn gloves, a squeegee and a disinfecting pressure washer wand for his birthday.
* Well, VBS is almost over. It's been a lot of fun and I loved my class a lot, but I am thankful that I only have 5 kids everyday and not 15. I am exhausted!
* It takes a VERY special 2 year old who will grab a box of bean seeds, open it, trot all around the yard and return a half empty box to her mother again.
* Of all things, Paul wanted me to 'draw' a giant silk worm on his birthday cake......so that's what he got. Needless to say, he is ecstatic.
*Well, I'm giving our school year 5 more weeks and then I'm pulling the plug...done or not. We've worked hard, tried our best and besides, we're all completely fed up with it anyways.
Dan's Facebook Posts:
* I got a brand new shiny tooth brush yesterday. All because my 2 year old daughter needed to use mine to clean her toes.
* Cutting the lawn today Eric & Paul decided to water balloon me and their younger brother Seth. Upon interrogation, they told me their mother was helping them. Eric, Paul and Mommy were throw into the pool. Insurrection destroyed!
* Engagement party for my brother was really fun. Norm put on a fireworks show to end the night that was pretty awesome. Lots of food and folks. Really great evening.
* Courtney's favorite. She stole and ate a whole bag a couple weeks ago. (then follows a bag of the chalk droppies.
* My 2 yr old daughter got my chair for me this morning. What a sweet child. On another note, I was carrying a plate of bacon.
* My wife exclaimed today 'all children are to be in bed by 7:30pm'. The cheers I made were heard throughout parkland county. True story.
Anita's Facebook Posts:
* Last week Paul and his cousin built a city in the sandbox. Then they flooded the sandbox with water and called it Calgary. This week my boys were building a tall mountain out of sand. They built a little town at its base and are calling it Turtle Mountain (aka Frank slide). It's natural disaster month here.
* My 4 year old workaholic son wants a pair of barn gloves, a squeegee and a disinfecting pressure washer wand for his birthday.
* Well, VBS is almost over. It's been a lot of fun and I loved my class a lot, but I am thankful that I only have 5 kids everyday and not 15. I am exhausted!
* It takes a VERY special 2 year old who will grab a box of bean seeds, open it, trot all around the yard and return a half empty box to her mother again.
* Of all things, Paul wanted me to 'draw' a giant silk worm on his birthday cake......so that's what he got. Needless to say, he is ecstatic.
*Well, I'm giving our school year 5 more weeks and then I'm pulling the plug...done or not. We've worked hard, tried our best and besides, we're all completely fed up with it anyways.
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