Been Busy Again...

Wow is time ever flying! Yesterday was my birthday, and it went fairly well. Only a few minor hitches. Things are going well, just day to day mundane little things.
We are doing our school routine, just trying to keep it constant. The kids need a lot of direction some days. Of course so do I as of late, and I keep second guessing myself as to whether or not this is going to keep working for us. Really, on paper it all works, its just in real life that it sometimes gets gummed up.
Gabe has done much better most days on following simple directions and even though he still dislikes school, he's at least willing most days to at least try. He still struggles with retaining information that he learns, but it's progress however slow it is. Some days I really feel I need a break, but then I feel guilty, because they're MY responsibility. Not someone else's.
I've been told by quite a few that homeschooling is a bad choice, and that it's something that I can't succeed at because of the kids special needs. Some days I feel that way as well. But then I have to sit back and realize that everyone learns at their own pace, and just because my kids aren't perfect doesn't mean anyone else's kids are either. My kids have challenges, and my patience isn't always the greatest. But I'm trying. That's the most important thing to me.
I've had to really kick myself in the butt as of late to really get in the mood to do anything. School-wise that means that this week has been more about journal work, reading our library books and doing workbook work. Not really any extra stuff, but they did get some excellent books on cd that kept their attention well. And Caitlin is currently doing her own "research" so to speak on rocks and minerals with the books that she checked out from the library. She's interested in learning more, and wants to start a collection of semi-precious stones and gems.
Caleb is still having troubles with his reading comprehension and has been very discouraged. He gets so frustrated with words. I've been trying to make time for he and I to have some one-on-one time for reading and going over material to make sure that he understands it. It's been difficult to do though as mornings are hectic and chaotic. I'm thinking of breaking up our school day, instead of doing it all in the morning. Maybe just journal in the a.m. and do workbooks in p.m. and reading for an hour or so before bed. Not sure how well it will work out, but either way, it's a learning experience for all of us.
James is doing well, he's been reading more on his own and learning some harder math. What I find so ironic about all this is that I was in public school my whole life, and I've never used even 1/2 of what I learned. To me that's a LOT of wasted time and energy put out. Who really needs to know how to do long division like a math whiz when everyone else is using calculators? Or how to multiply a billion different numbers in your head? James knows his basic multiplication tables, but really has no use for them. None. Right now anyways. And if a time comes when it's something he feels a real need to learn, then we'll do it. But for right now, I think all the kids need a better reading base than what they have.
Our focus in the next few weeks is going to be on improving our reading skills and our listening skills. And of course along with reading comes spelling. Which is atrocious at the moment. I've got some words to put up on the walls in the hall on our cork-board, but then realized we don't have one anymore, so tomorrow I'm off to Staples to get another and some tacks to put our words up.
Obviously it was a good idea to post tonight because I already feel better about my new resolve and my new plans. My mind is going a mile a minute sometimes, so it's a good idea for me to get things down while I'm thinking of them.

Bugging Me...

Okay, so there's a few things that are bugging me right now. One, is people who say that their only child is so hard to deal with, but then in the next breath tell me that they're trying for number 2(or 3 or whatever). If you can't handle the one you have, why are you trying to have more? Only children can do fine, they don't HAVE to have a ton of siblings to make things ok.

Two, the way that my own kids act when I tell them "one more time and you lose xyz privilege for the day" and they feel the need to keep at whatever they are being told not to do in the first place. Today for example, Caleb is making LOUD obnoxious noises, I tell him nicely to stop please several times. Then, I tell him this is his last "nice warning" and that if he continues to make those noises he will lose the love of his life (which right now is Xbox). He looked right at me, opened his mouth and smiled while he made the same noises over and over again. So obviously he has lost that privilege for the day, and possibly for tomorrow if he doesn't straighten up.
Ok, all better on that one too.

Three, people who think they have to tell me every time they see me that my child should be doing xyz because their child is, and how slow my kid must be because he's not. Mind your own business and take care of your own kid. Yes, your little booger may be able to add 3 digit numbers, but he can't operate the washer or dryer, nor can he make (or even pay attention long enough to help) dinner. My kid may not be the next Nobel Prize winner, but he's not the next little thug that's gonna get picked up for throwing bricks through windows and snatching stereos either. Yes, I'm proud to say that I'm the most over-protective mom on the block. But that means while your kid is out running the streets and catching god-knows-what from his little girlfriend, mine is at home, staying out of trouble, not taking a chance with his health or getting some girl in the family way.
My kids may be naive, but I'm proud to say that I'm hopefully not the one who's gonna be a grandma in a couple years when my 13-14-15 yo gets knocked up or gets someone else's little girl knocked up because he/she/they were not being properly supervised and taught that those activities can cause babies (or diseases that can harm or kill later down the line).
I'm not trying to play holier-than-thou games. Kids make mistakes, and it is our job to teach them the correct way of doing things. I was a teenager once, been there done that. I wasn't a perfect child, I made plenty of mistakes, but I was also taught to learn from the mistakes I made.
When Mike and I got married, we were 18. He had already graduated, and I was in my senior year of high school. When we married, we had just found out a few weeks before that I was pregnant. Was it a good decision to mess around and get pregnant? Not really, but the fact of the matter was, I wasn't going to not have the baby. I knew that once I made the decision to have sex, that it was my responsibility if I got pregnant. That's not to say that there weren't times where I wished that I wasn't pregnant. There were, plenty of times in fact. But I don't believe that it was an option for me to not have the baby. It's just the way I was raised. If I had it to do over again, would I do it the same? Probably not. I think I would have waited to be with Mike, waited to have a baby. But I wouldn't trade him or the other kids for anything.

Sorry, I'm just in a rant-y type mood today. Dealing with a lot of things right now, and very frustrated with the way things are going.