I'm Melting.....

No this isn't another chocolate post. It's too cold out here for the chocolate to melt. Have I mentioned lately that I hate the cold? No? Well, I guess that post will be coming soon. Anyhooo...

It is my Merciless Mommy heart that's melting. This same Mommy who refuses to allow snow days (see above...I hate the cold) has granted my children a two week Christmas Break. What??? I know, shocked the stuffin' out of me too. Even Ella looked at me like I had lost my mind.

We had planned for them to have next week off because Major Dad has the whole week off from work and my Mom will be visiting. But I intended to make them work this week. Including Christmas Eve...I know what a Grinch, right? And my sweet children were blissfully unaware that pretty much every other kid in the US has this week off too.

Well, I finally decided that working on Christmas Eve was too mean, even for me. So I gave them the week off. Yeah, yeah I'm going all soft and squishy. But it was worth it to see Ella do her little happy dance in the kitchen. And then Jack, who didn't know why he was happy, joined in too.

And the Merciless Mommy's heart grew three sizes that day and all the Who's down in Homeschool Who-ville rejoiced in their goofy Who ways.

When Independence Backfires

I posted a while back about creating a weekly work card for Ella so she could have some control over her schoolwork. We've been using the work card system for about a month now and it has been great for Ella. Until today.

We had a couple of extra curricular activities come up this week and Ella's 7 year old time management skills were not prepared for the change in schedule. First, we put her skating lesson back on the schedule. New rink, same coach. So that knocked out a couple of hours on Thursday. Then we had a belated Valentine's Day party for homeschoolers on Friday. And that knocked out a few more hours. The result...two math lessons and a reading assignment on a sunshine-y Saturday. And one very annoyed 7 year old.

In all fairness I did remind her repeatedly throughout the week about the out of the house fun days. And she kept saying, "I know, Mommy. It's ok." And I did tell her that if she didn't get all of her work done by Friday she would have to do it on Saturday. There's no schoolwork allowed on Sunday. And once again she said, "I know, Mommy. It's ok." But she just kept doing the bare minimum of work each day.

So now it's Saturday, and Ella is sitting at her desk working on her math problems and looking just a little pitiful as she glances longingly out the french doors at the sun shining on the snow in the backyard.

Maybe I should feel bad...let me think about it. Searching my merciless mommy soul...nope, don't feel bad at all. I think she'll be working really hard next week.

Holiday? What Holiday?

Don't yell at me, I'm only kidding. I know it's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. A day set aside to honor the life and work of a great man who truly understood justice, courage and walking out his Christian faith. His legacy is one that should never be ignored or taken for granted. But I'm still making the kids do schoolwork. If I had thought ahead I would have planned a history lesson on Dr. King for today. But I didn't. Sorry Dr. King.

See, I know it's a holiday. I'm not ignorant...I'm just mean. And I'm oddly ok with that.

Here's how I justify my mean Mommy-ness. I'm trying to get Ella caught up in her math. When we started homeschooling she was already behind in math so I started her at the beginning of a second grade curriculum. And being the slightly goal-oriented woman that I am (cough) I want her to be ready to start third grade math in the fall. So I'm taking every opportunity we have to work on math.

The good news is that she's really doing well. Things that she told me she was having trouble with in school, she's starting to understand. Today we were working on addition with carrying and when I asked her if she had done it before she said "Yes, I'm just not good at it." But by the end of the lesson she was carrying like pack mule...or a bellhop...or a celebrity's underpaid assistant. Pick a metaphor, she was carrying like a champ.

And on this day when we remember one man who was willing to stand up and speak out, I thought of this Scripture:

"In that day the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people. He will be a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate" Isaiah 28:5-6