How To Get Your Preschooler to Stay in Bed Longer, Please Don't Judge Me, and Other Thoughts...

One improvement in our lives around here is that Boy now "doesn't" get up till 7am. Seeing my post from a year ago about 5am and earlier, I am appalled that we didn't institute this rule earlier. But we did have psycho neighbors below us at that point and so I had to get up and let him get out of his room and keep him quiet watching TV to avoid getting the police called on us, or worse, the actual neighbors themselves pounding on our door at 5am (insert shudder and mitigation of panic attack here). So anyhow, I heard some friends with 3 year olds talking about a special clock they bought that has a red light and a green light and the light will turn green when they are allowed to get up and I thought "huh!". Boy has known his numbers for several years, why didn't I think of this before??? So I went to Walmart and bought a $5 digital alarm clock and put a sticker over the minutes and said, "See? when the clock says 7 you may get up." Now of course their are various reasons to get Mom up before 7--can't find one of his bots or cars or whatever he was trying to play with while waiting for the clock to turn 7. But mostly, the rule is followed. SO a few days ago, I got up a 6 and had coffee and watched I Love Lucy ALL BY MYSELF!!!! It was awesome. I do have my alarm set for 6 am on my days off, but I only get up then about half of the time. My theory is that as they say that people should keep their bedtimes fairly regular that since I get up on my work days at 4:45 and 5:30 there is not a good reason to get up past 6 on the other days unless I want to severely shock my poor sleep deprived body at 4:45 again the next week. 

Also, ever since leading up to my surgery my back pain has been getting worse. And by that I mean that I often cannot get out of bed in the style of a normal person in the morning. My surgeon said my endo was so bad that it may have been causing my back pain, but alas when I quit taking pain meds my back pain was right there waiting for me. So I started some yoga based on a friend's recommendation, then also ended up starting physical therapy. I've only had one PT session so far but the exercises are good. However I have been fairly regular and yet my back still seized up last night. So I think I gotta do yoga and PT. And as of 2 days ago my intestines have been trying to murder me. Dunno why, thought maybe it was the fast food (Sonic burger) I had Thursday night but it's Saturday and I'm still cramping up off and on.  Getting old sucks, especially when you're not old. So ya I gotta eat right and get in shape and not look back. Especially if I want to have another baby. 

So anyway, it's fall and school has started for most of the known world and I have been asked far too many times if my 5 year old is starting kindergarten this year. And man I get a lot of mixed responses when I say I'm homeschooling, even from church people. Now, I really do feel like homeschooling is the best option for him, especially since it seems his learning style is a very strong mix of kinesthetic and some visual. He is also very active and I'm pretty sure he would get kicked out of kindergarten or labeled as ADHD or something due to his inability (at this point) to sit and focus on books without someone sitting next to him keeping him going. He is not a follower and could care less if the rest if the class is sitting if that's not what he wants to do. Thank goodness his Sunday School teacher homeschooled her own little boy who was just like him and is not at all bothered by having to make him sit still! But you see, it's not ADD or ADHD, it's just lack of interest in certain things--he can play for hours with cars or trains or bots, but drawing letters is a little boring. So he needs something to help make it more interesting to connect with him as well as learn a little discipline about doing what we don't really want to do, and who better to teach him that than his own Mom and Dad who are personally vested in giving him the best tools possible for a good start in life? I know there are many awesome teachers out there and I have known many of them who I would be happy to have teach my child, however they have a class full of children to educate and cannot do "one-on-one" constantly with one child and still teach the rest of the class. So here goes...taking it a year at a time and praying for God's grace and guidance each and every day.  Seriously, how else do people think we homeschoolers do it? Some blissful ignorance of how easy it will be? Some notion that the kids will absorb the material? Well for the record, it is hard work and dedication to doing the best that we possibly can as parents for each child, along with the recognition that the method will look slightly different for each child. I should get off my soapbox now before I go overboard. Happy Saturday to all you Mamas out there!