Any suggestions???

Momtofive,

I am going to pass on a recommendation that was recently made to me by a very wise older woman. STOP! Take the next two weeks and work on survival mode only. Your job will be to sleep as much as possible. You can assign some individual lessons, but plenty of younger sibling time for the older ones is a must. Think: Bible time, meals, basic chores, outside time, prayer time for you. I did this and felt like a new woman.

There is only so much our bodies and minds can take. God made us in His image, but our bodies are finite. Realize that a broken down you can be even less help to your children later and for a longer period of time. You need to protect your health. A nagging thought you may be having is that your older ones will get behind. They won’t miss anything that can’t be redeemed; especially since they are so young.

I’m feeling like I’m sounding sharp here. I apologize, my heart just goes out to you and I will pray for you. (I’m getting a nice prayer list tonight; I just told Christy I would pray for her!)

Blessings,

Cindy

Oh no! You are not failing; God is giving your children an opportunity to be strength for the weak. Communicate to them that God is after their hearts. He is allowing this and you are not after them. I tell my children that Mom and Dad really do not sit up late at night thinking up ways to torture them :).

Have you considered letting them choose some things to research on their own? You may be surprised at what they come up with. You will end up with the rest you need and they will be learning to learn and record their findings. I remember the first time I said this to my oldest and he chose dirt biking to research. I kept the goal in mind and let him go for it because it is not necessarily the subject matter, but the process.

You probably already have leveled with your children as to where you are. And I’m sure you have communicated to them that homeschooling them was not your idea, but God’s. Therefore, the circumstance ya’ll find yourselves in is a goldmine of opportunity. Perhaps you could ask your children to commit to seeking, with you, the mind of Christ in this situation and agreeing with Him on it. It is okay to ask, “I wonder why God might be doing this?” Then you have the opportunity to seek out what He is doing and get on board with Him.

If you can wake up each day with a attitude of expectancy, your children will undoubtably catch it. Remember Webster’s definition of attitude: “In painting and sculpture, the posture or action in which a figure or statue is placed.” We have learned to ask ourselves, “Where is our heart pointed? Is it pointed to God and all He would have for us or at ourselves and what we think is best?”

Blessings,

Cindy