I'm So Flexible

That title makes me want to laugh out loud. This is just life now: Be flexible or go crazy. Super Hero's hours have been cut at work. We are finally feeling the effects of the bad economy. Just when you hear that things are picking up, his company is taking a hit. He lost 3 days of work last week and two this week. So I'm flexible. I work around him. Which isn't all that easy when you're trying to homeschool, clean house, do laundry, cook dinner, drive and drop off kids, deal with doctor appointments. I was hoping he'd see how busy I am and give me some slack. He has helped, but sometimes (and moms everywhere know this), it's more work to have them home, even if you think you'll get some help. It's too much 'splainin' (in the words of Ricky Ricardo).

Yesterday Super Hero took Holland to his OT appointment. That was such a big help, because it gave me time to work on sewing projects for this bazaar I'm doing tomorrow at Romania's school. But when they got home, I had to pop him back in the car, get Egypt, get schoolwork together, drive to my sister's, drop off Egypt, pick up my nephews, drive to their charter school for fencing and Holland's speech class. Then work on school work in a noisy room with a bunch of teenagers playing guitar. Then take my nephews home, come back home with Egypt and Holland for lunch and more homeschooling. Which, I have to say, is pretty much a lost cause after all that. Talk about being flexible. I was getting ready to do more school with Holland when Super Hero, who had been perusing Craigslist found some free stuff. Of course Holland wanted to tag along. (That's actually what's fun about homeschooling - being able to do things at a moment's notice). They drove up to Kelso, WA in hopes of getting a table and 4 chairs, a snowboard, snowboots, a new bike, a new tv and some other things. Of course, it being free, I didn't get my hopes up. So when they came home around dinner and Holland bounds in the house "look what we got!" I was ready for some big ticket item. It was a digital TV antenna. "Just like grandma's!". Seriously. That's what thrilled him. Oh. And a big bag of potting soil. Yup. Not kidding. They drove to Kelso from Oregon City for a tv antenna and a bag of potting soil. But it got them out of the house, let me do more sewing and spend some time with Egypt before retrieving Romania from the bus stop.

So, while we're on the topic of flexibility, here we are on Wednesday and I feel like we've done no school at all this week. I know that's not true, but sometimes it feels like we move at the speed of a snail going backwards. Super Hero had a dentist appointment this morning. So he offered to take Romania to the bus (third time this week!!). I didn't even shower until 10.30. Woohoo! And Holland didn't get out of bed until 9.45. We had a leisurely morning of spelling games online, reading and mopping the floor. This idea is all Holland. He decided (my inner skeptic came up with this) that it would be a lovely idea to mop the floor for mom. How do you discourage a 10 year-old that wants to mop your kitchen floor? "Oh shoot, honey. Don't mop the floor, we need to do school". This is his way of getting out of work.

And now that it's 12.30, I'd better eat lunch and get him back to work. Mariel of Redwall is waiting.