I'm not sure I should admit his. But I am the queen of procrastination. I'm not proud of the title, and each year I do improve, but this week I found myself wondering "Why did I not start this months ago?" Actually I did when I did the Growing Up Wild-Review back in November. Then I got distracted by oh so much in November and December and it ended up on the back burner.
Tomorrow the kids and I are to present on Papua New Guinea for our homeschool groups geography club. What did I do today? I spent the afternoon putting things together that should have been done last month. I am happy to say it is done except for the kids and I to run through it a few times...oh and we are making lemonade and banana cake (Papuan style!) for everyone to snack on after our presentation.
It will get done and it will go well but...I do not like this trait in myself at all. Feeling badly about it can at times lead me to compare myself to other homeschoolers. (big mistake) I do not think I completely realized how bad it is to do the homeschool comparison game until recently I heard some of it come out of a fellow homeschool moms mouth. She was comparing herself to me and pretty much saying that I did a lot more with my kids than she did. What type of measuring tool is there to get this type of estimation? Fortunately it only exists in our own minds.
I am sure there are homeschool parents out there that perhaps are not doing anything with their children and providing a huge disservice to them. I am happy to say though...I have not run across a parent that I have ever thought this was the case for. There are so many different learning styles, learning disabilities, and different family dynamics that I do not believe it is right to judge another homeschool family on how successful they are.
I think that homeschool parents should sometimes cut themselves some slack (myself included) and not compare their own homeschool journey to their friends. I find myself learning everyday along side my children and sometimes you have to give yourself the same grace you give your children. Try and improve your shortcomings but do not become caught up in them to the point you have a difficult time moving on. (talking to myself here)
So tomorrow we will be working on some kitchen skills, making lemonaid and banana cake...(native to Papua New Guinea) and we will have fun teaching our friends about this unique country. We also may do some vocabulary context
games in the afternoon afterwards and if the weather is nice go for a walk. What we won't be doing is stressing about our presentation. (repeating to myself 10 times before I go to bed)
games in the afternoon afterwards and if the weather is nice go for a walk. What we won't be doing is stressing about our presentation. (repeating to myself 10 times before I go to bed)
Unfortunately, I could give you a good running for that title of Queen, lol. Like you, I am trying AND seeing tiny bits of improvement. It's so funny...people think because I homeschool, that I must have the patience of a saint, be SUPER organized and on the ball, ALL of the time. I'm am the polar opposite, on all counts. :D
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I did stop comparing myself to the "supermoms" in my homeschool group. Everyone is different, and everyone learns differently. My boys are having fun AND learning, so I'm ok with who I am. For now. :)
Thanks for sharing!
Katie
I know what you mean! People are always telling me that I must be so organized, patient, and be superwoman. Not So Much. hahah. I am pretty patient but I have my limits and right now? My house looks like a tornado struck it. I'm just happy that today we were able to get our chickens out of our basement. YES, we had chickens in our basement for way too long. (In a huge container not running amuck ;)
ReplyDeleteOur geography presentation went very well I think. There was only one snafu, I forgot to add sugar when I made the banana cake. HAHAHAHA! My kids still loved it as we do not eat a lot of sugar but I'm not sure the rest of he bunch were that impressed.