“Exciting is hardly the word I would choose.” – C-3PO, Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi
We three Jedi have seen our share of pavement lately (and concrete and bridges), and it’s taken a toll on our homeschooling routine. **Take a piece of paper, run it through the keep-your-identity-nice-and-safe chipper/shredder, toss them all up into the air with a forced “Yippee!” (knowing full well that you’re only going to have to pick up all those little bits in about 30 seconds) and you’ll understand what I mean.** I may be going to go out on a limb here, but I think even Padawan Learner is tired of the unexpected days off as we drive from one corner of the state to another and another and another.
One thing I’m learning in this whole Dad Windu lay-off situation is that routine is our friend, our really good friend. PL and I do our usual math, writing and history/science stuff in the living room each morning while Dad Windu goes upstairs to practice Spanish, do some more job search stuff, and keep up with his professional network. In short, he stays out of our way and we stay out of his as we all get down to work. After lunch, we go about our own special projects.
There are so many things up in the air, and some unpleasant realities that we’re probably going to be facing in the months to come, that our routine is becoming a bit of a security blanket for the three of us. Christmas and the scheduled week-long break that followed it were nice, of course, but a bit too distracting at this already wildly distracted period of our lives. Normally PL looks forward to these days stolen away from our day-to-day routine, but on our way home after our Dutch class today he said a little wistfully, “Tomorrow’s just a regular ordinary day, right?” I know I breathed a sigh of relief when I answered, “Yes. Yes, it is.”
I’m the same way about ‘neatness’… I find that no matter how crappy life is at the moment, I always feel much better as long as my immediate world is as organized and clean as possible. I guess that it’s a small way to retain control over the chaos, you know?
Here, here for regular, ordinary days, and good friends with which to share them!
After Indoor Games today, a homeschool gathering that is usually the high point of winter weeks, I took my son out for a croque monsier (fancy ham sandwich) at a chez chic little patisserie. It’s a favorite treat, and one we don’t get to often as it’s about 45 minutes away.
It should have been delightful.
But, we were late arriving to Indoor Games, so he wasn’t able to recruit his friends to play the favorite game of the moment, Dungeon & Dragons. And, as we sat at the table, I mentioned that we’d been invited to attend some function on Sunday. For the umpteenth day in a row, we were committed to doing something, somewhere, with someones.
You should have seen the wet sloppy tears running down my 10yo son’s face. “But, you promised I could stay in my pajamas all day Sunday!”
Routine is good, but what we really want is a few Do Nothing Days.
OMK – I’m hoping he gets a Do Nothing Day – in pajamas!! – very, very soon. We all need that now and then.