Feb

14

The Gift of Spare Time

Posted by Homeschool_Dad

February 14, 2009 |

Whew! Are you tired? Worn out? Too much to do?

I know this may sound like the beginning of a bad, late-night commercial that’s going to sell some product that will solve all of your problems. But don’t worry, it isn’t. But it is a lament to how busy things can get — if you’re not careful.

A homeschool family works on a schedule different than most. In my family’s case, we get to sleep in during the weekdays (if we want to). Since I teach college classes, my schedule isn’t as tedious as a standard 9-to-5 career. During most mornings, I imagine other families are rushing to catch the bus, grab some coffee, and join the rat race (whether its at the public school or the office). While all that rat-racing is going on, I have to say that I feel very blessed to be gradually waking up with the kids, making them breakfast while their Mom sleeps in, and talking about what fun we’ll be having today.

Yet, even though we don’t have a typical schedule, our homeschool lifestyle can get pretty hectic. Here’s a brief list of things that occupy our time:

General Homeschool Studies
Field Trips (About Twice a week)
Girl Scouts (Cookies anyone?)
Work stuff
Tutoring
A Monthly Dinner with fellow homeschool families
Holiday parties (Happy Valentine’s Days, by the way)
Sports, sports, and more sports. (My wife recently finished coaching soccer, and soon the girls will be in track.)

All of these activities make life fun, but they also complicate things. Do yourself a favor: Make some time each week (if not more often) for you and your children to have spare time. No pressure. No errands to run. No deadlines to meet. Just time to hang out and do (or not do) whatever comes to mind.

Every once in a while, spare time is a wonderful gift to give yourself and your kids.


Comments

1 Comment so far

  1. singlemom on February 17, 2009 11:47 am

    We are taking a vacation from everything school related this week. It is giving us opportunities to do other things. I am launching a freelance writing business and Zowie, 16, is socializing. LOL! Like she doesn’t do that every day anyway.

    Last Firday night she spent with her best friend, and went to the Winter Carnival dance up there. Today she is visiting the library to see what they have available that she may not have read yet.

    Thursday she is leaving for the night for TRIO Days, which will lead her into workshops and college tours - okay, this one really is school related, but she lves this stuff!

    Then a family day at the bowling center with her Upward Bound peeps. I have to work, but my sister is taking my place.

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