A New Plate

     As I sit here writing this post, I can hear the startling melodies of the recorder whistling from the backyard.  I can also hear the kids laughing and carrying on as they are running back and forth around the yard.  We just finished dinner and there is no urgency.  The kids are free to play while day turns into night on this beautiful 75 degree spring evening. 

     Last year at this time of night, life at the Carter household would look much different.  I would be feeling frustrated and overwhelmed while I attempted the feat of forcing my children to sit down to do their homework, while the dinner dishes piled high in the sink.  I'm sure I would be anxiously waiting for my husband to get home so that he could help me bathe the others and get them to bed.  I remember feeling the weight of the world as I tried to help my struggling reader make sense of all of the assignments that she had misunderstood at school.  I would ask her how her teacher had explained the assignment and wonder how I could teach her to help her understand.  Through both of our exhaustion I would try to maintain composure as I wanted to lose my patience and give up.  I felt like I was failing her.

     My oldest was in the throws of the fourth grade.  She came home almost every day angry and upset, crying about the injustice of the day.  I knew that girls were emotional but I wasn't prepared for the social warfare that was already going on at the ripe old age of 10.  I chalked it up as part of growing up.  "Kids will be kids," I'd tell myself.  Her grades were suffering but I wasn't overly concerned.  As much as I tried it seemed that we could never finish all of her homework by the time we got home from dance and activity days or soccer.  Again,  I felt like I was failing her. 

     Facing the idea that one of my children would be held back I was forced to consider . . . dare I say it?  HOMESCHOOLING.  While talking to one of my dearest friends I expressed my fears that I would never be able to teach my children.  I described the catastrophe that ensued every night when we sat down to do homework.  I insisted that the dynamic would never work.  She encouraged that it would be different.  She said, "You are not putting more on your plate, you are getting a new plate entirely."

     Something clicked.  She could be right.  Instead of doing homework at the end of the day after everyone was worn out, we could start while everyone was fresh and alert.  Instead of having stressful evenings filled with activity, dinner, baths, homework, bedtime, etc. We would enjoy quiet evening such as tonight as I sit here typing to the sounds of my children playing while we wait for the banana bread that is baking in the oven. 

     We have our challenges, but things are different.

         


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