Thursday add-on

For a better picture of how cool flexibility can be:
Today I had planned on helping the younger girls with their chores and some school work while Sports Nut was at band. Then Sports Nut and I would bake banana blueberry muffins and do school work while Drawing Diva and Mini Marvel played. Instead when I got up, the girls' mattress was in the living room; someone had wet the bed. The girls had stripped the sheets and Sports Nut brought the mattress down so we could sun it outside. I helped the girls get their sheets into the washer, started their bath, and waved Sports Nut off to band class. By the time Drawing Diva and Mini Marvel were clean, dressed, and breakfasted, Sports Nut was back. He came in so excited to tell me about the new notes and terms he had learned this morning. He was also anxious to compose his own song. I gave him the option of cooking or composing and he chose composing. He Googled sheet music and printed blank sheets for himself, found an unused binder and some plastic protective pages, and set to work on his symphony.
Meanwhile Mini Marvel and I set about this muffin-making business. She now has a new word in her vocabulary: improvise. We were out of wheat germ so we improvised and used wheat bran. No sour cream to be found in the fridge so we improvised with yogurt. Drawing Diva couldn't allow Mini Marvel to have all the fun so she came to the kitchen to assist. Drawing Diva can now tell you that there are 4 sets of 3 and 3 sets of 4 in 12. Three bakers can each pour four sets of batter into a twelve-cup muffin tin. All this while being serenaded by a budding trumpet extraordinaire.  All awesome, although none of it was planned. All learning, although none of it is from a book.

So, how is it going?

This is a question posed to me at least once a day. I'm amazed at how many different ways the above 5 words can be spoken to ask what is basically the same question. I am asked sympathetically, by those concerned by my terrible, last-resort choice; excitedly by those who think our new life is fun and adventurous; guardedly by those who know I'm crazy but feel the need to pretend I am still redeemable; earnestly by those with a genuine interest in the journey. Depending on the asker's inflection, my answer varies in length and depth, but mostly revolves around AWESOME. Not awesome as in always perfect and easy, but rather equated to inspiring, exciting. My kids are awesome. It's just that simple. Taking away the pressures of school and rigid schedules has allowed me to appreciate that more fully. I am no longer responsible for shaping my children into someone else's view of normal and that is extremely freeing. Sports Nut is having fewer anxiety-incited meltdowns and I have more patience and empathy to pull him back to a good place when a meltdown occurs. Drawing Diva is confidently creating art and stories and trying to run the show. Mini Marvel is still her amazing self, unencumbered by others' expectations.

Oh, but you meant how is it going academically? We are doing well. Some days are very busy with activities and we don't get around to doing any 'school'. Some days the kids are in a great sponge-like learning mode and we do lots of 'school'. We are learning to adapt to each other's moods and styles. We read a lot. We play a lot. We have two new exciting research projects proposed to us by friends who are business owners. Classes taught by other homeschool parents began this past Tuesday at our community center. Sports Nut is dissecting a frog, learning about medieval times, and taking acting and a 'crazy concoction' classes. Drawing Diva is also in the medieval times class, as well as art, dance, and hands-on science classes. Mini Marvel goes to Best Preschool Ever in the afternoons and has amazing adventures everyday. Today we are attending the first session in a three-part series on wilderness survival and Native American history. It will be a beautiful day to be outside walking, listening, asking, and thinking. The kids will bring their nature journals to take notes and cameras to take photos. Although our days typically have less that 1 hour of structured, school-esque activity, I am confident that my kids are learning and growing. So yeah, we're good, thanks for asking.