So tired–I could use encouragement

Art, I do not have the same problems as you exactly but our school got way off track because of circumstances. We moved to the US in 04 bought a house in MS and just prior to moving in found out it was full of mold, this was in August, we could not live in the home as it was dangerous – so we ended up paying mortgage and having to rent a place while it was renovated. None of the repair was covered by insurance and it took everything we had to repair the home to the point we could move in. During this time our school stuff was in military storage and they would only deliver everything, and we had no room for everything and so school was done in a very minimal way – just reading, a bit of math and writing. Having just arrived from England, the girls were horribly disoriented and the mold thing caused all kinds of insecurities to surface for them. We moved in at the end of February 2005 – we were so happy and started to get settled. However in August 05 Hurricane Katrina came to call and took our home and most of our stuff, except some things we had in storage – we had evacuated but a new nightmare started, we moved so many times during that period it made my head spin – all our school stuff was gone, furniture, a lot of our clothes and while husband had to stay in Biloxi, we were moved to a base house in Arkansas until he could join us in January. This put a lot of stress on us as a family, the time apart was very hard on us all, and the girls insecurities got worse. Eventually we were able to move to where we are now in the MidWest because my daughter with Cerebral Palsy could not get specialist medical care in the hurricane zone anymore – so we moved into an apartment here, while we waited for our home to be finished, we had chosen to buy a new home as we did not want to face another mold problem – it came ready in the summer and we moved in. We arrived here on January 5th, and on the 28th January I got the call to say my mum had died unexpectedly in England – the girls and I were completly shattered by this – we were all so exceptionally close. We had to go to England and spent a couple of months getting her affairs settled. When we got back we set about replacing our school things, insurance took a long time to pay for the hurricane losses, but thankfully they did pay and we did have flood insurance also which helped. Then one of my daughters got a serious concussion and was suffering terrible headaches and dizzy spells, many days she could not do school and so there were more delays. Through it all I just kept them reading or read to them and we did what we could. In 2009 my daughter got very ill with a gastrointestinal illness and she is still struggling with that today – she has been in hospital many times, unable to function many times and in pain a lot of the time – they are trying to get it all under control but it is a long process. Emotionally both girls and the family have been through the ringer in the last years – faith and love is all that has kept us going – hubby and I decided early on in all this, the health and well being of the girls had to come first, and if they graduated late so be it – education can be finished anytime, emotional health and physical health cannot wait. So we have had many ups and down, many stops and starts – we are still standing, though somtimes I am not sure how – also during this time we lost my husbands mum and my dad – so there has been much heartache and pain. My daughters are now 19 and have at least a year and a half before I would consider they will have done all they need to do to graduate – I get lots of wierd looks from people, who don’t understand why they are not in college or at work – but we don’t care – our daughters have to come first and the education will get done, just not at the same time as everything else. During this time we were hit with another terrible event which shatterd one of my daughters and has made her illness much worse. I pray daily for the strength to get through and to do my best by the girls. Their safety, well being and health is all that matters to us – everything else is secondary. Do I worry – yes I do – I wonder how we will get things done – I wonder what they will do in their futures, I don’t know if college is in their futures and neither do they yet – my daughters health is still fragile and of course her sister (twin) is so worried about her and has her own cerbral palsy to worry about – will she be able to drive etc. It has been hard, but we are still standing – the girls are lovely well mannered girls who care about everything and everything. They read and write really well – are behind in math and we need to play catch up in history a bit, especially the daughter who is ill. I have to have faith that we are handling this right – there was no guide book for all this, no one to tell me I was doing the right things, with my mum gone, I had lost my best friend – so I soldiered on and have done the best I can – you will do this too – they will not end up totally stupid. My daughter’s doctor told me my daughter was a beautiful speaker who had so much knowledge of books and horses, and was an all round delight – that encouraged me – it may not be enough to get her into college, and we likely cannot afford it anyway – but I felt good hearing it. Your children will be fine and so will you. The feelings you are having are normal, and I understand better than you know – bless you and your family – keep the faith – with God all things are possible – remember??? Husg and sorry if this is more info than any of you wanted. Linda

Thank you for sharing that, Linda.  Thank you for reminding us of what is really important and to trust in God to guide us.

art, I am not a seasoned homeschooling mom, but I was thinking along the lines of a light schedule such as 6boys1girl suggested, but to make a schedule for each child for them to be responsible for doing each day, either with a time schedule or time boxes.  You could customize it for each child as you see fit and give it to them.  This way they have something to go by and they know what is expected out of them.