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It took 3 weeks to get through one week of school w/ newborn
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Wow has it been difficult so far this year! My newborn is very “high needs” and so it has been so hard to get through lessons with my older children (7th grade, 4th grade, and 2nd grade). I can do school while sitting and letting the baby nurse but I can’t when he is fussing and/or I’m having to walk,rock,bounce, etc.
The baby is now 7 weeks old and just started to be much easier (thankfully!) and so we have been able to accomplish more and more each day. I have hope that next week we will actually get a normal week of school in, however, we are now 4 weeks behind (because we started a week late to give me 4 weeks to recover from the csection) and I really dislike having that hanging over our heads. It will shadow atleast the first half of our school year! I know there is nothing to do but keep plugging away at it, working through breaks and holidays. I keep trying to tell myself that it couldn’t be avoided and it will be ok but I am feeling so guilty about it…and stressed!
Anyone have experience with a situation like this? How did your school year end up working out?
Oh Kim that sounds SO frustrating and I’m sure other moms will weigh in, but I’m wondering – are you using SCM and/or a Charlotte Mason philosophy? The thing I LOVE about SCM is that really we are never behind, I mean there’s times when I wish we were farther along than we are, but there are never times when I feel a week or two or three behind. There’s times when we finish a school year without having completed a book, but if it’s a book that’s super important to finish then we just pick up where we left off the next school year or like LOTS of subjects in the public school I attended we stop where we stop and that’s it. If this laissez-faire attitude doesn’t work for you, then perhaps this would be a good time to start your children building more independent work habits, I find the better readers my children become the more they can do on their own, I also find that using Math U See videos helps them be a lot more independent in math. Working together might also help to, perhaps you can spend your time helping the oldest with his subjects and then he can help your 4th grader and your 4th grader can help the 2nd grader. Even my four year old LOVES to teach her barely 2 year old sister the alphabet. Perhaps you can sit down with your husband or a close friend and ask them to help you identify areas where you can pass the buck on to someone else. There’s just certain points in our lives where we can’t do it all no matter how much we’d like to, for me that meant eating off lots of paper plates with the birth of my 4th child (I’m SUPER cheap and HATE buying paper plates, but it has been very therapuetic for me because I almost hate doing dishes and the time it takes as much as I hate paying for paper plates.) I also stocked up on some frozen pizzas and chicken nuggets for right after her birth, again that’s something that I would never normally do, but healthy eating couldn’t be my master in those first few weeks after the sweet thing was born so frozen pizzas it was! Those are just examples, for you it may be entirely different things that you find to compromise on, but the next time you’re walking that sweet baby take a look around and figure out what you can give up doing in order to fit in the things that only you can do.
Blessings,
Rebekah
Kim, sometimes “the baby is the lesson.” I understand how you feel–all mine were born by c-section and they all were high-needs when little. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Your children learn a lot by what happens in your home with a new little child of God. Pick up the pace when you can–until then, enjoy the little one and try not to stress over being “behind.” Try to talk with your older children about the lessons you are learning as you care for yourself and this new little one. It’ll be OK. Sometimes learning compassion is more important than learning fractions, you know?
OH, and cuddle that little one for me. My last fussy baby is now 10, and believe it or not–I miss those baby days (if you’d asked me in the middle of them, you might have gotten a different answer! LOL)
Yes, I agree with Bookworm. The baby IS the lesson. They will remember those precious days more than anything else they will learn. And I agree with Rebekah that you are never really behind. You can always extend school or cut some things out…this was hard for me to learn, but since you make the schedule you can cut things out. Save them for the summer or another time when things slow down.
I would also advise you NOT to work through breaks and holidays, as you and your family will need to be refreshed by these special times.
I am about to have a newborn anytime now, and we’ve been through this before. (My children are 15, 13, 11, 6, 3). When the 6 and 3 year olds were born, we had the same situation as you. I made a point to slow down and cherish that time. Do some books on tape if you feel you need to be doing something, but those precious newborn days go so fast.
I also used an Ergo baby carrier so the baby was always with me and content, and that helped alot.
I appreciate the suggestions and encouragement. Hopefully my older children *are* learning big life lessons from this experience. I needed to hear that because it does help to put it into perpective. They have all pitched in so well with housework and they help as much as they can with the baby. I do feel less stressed about it all after reading the replies. Thank you ladies.
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