It appears to be another gray snowy day. Very deliberately did not click on any of those articles about how Sweden is the happiest place on earth. I thought that was Disney. Gosh so many happiest places I have no desire whatsoever to visit. How ’bout some Takes?
One
Spent a chunk of the last two days trying to think through the next scholastic year. There’s nothing like elevating the panic and anxiety of the current moment by trying to anticipate the unknowns of the future. Should this child take that? Or that? Will this schedule work? Or be the worst thing ever? How much work can we really handle? What happens if everyone is sick for months and months?
Some years I guess wrong and it’s the worst thing ever. Other times I guess right and we have a pretty decent time. Next year I’m going to be juggling Two, let that sink in, Two High Schoolers, Two Middle Schoolers and Two Elementary…are they schoolers too? Anyway, I’m gonna suck it up and go to a homeschool conference tomorrow because, spoiler alert for next year, I’m out of my depth.
Two
Had a really pleasant conversation recently with someone about homeschooling. That person said the important thing to remember is that schooling at home does not have to resemble schooling at school. You don’t need to be regimented and sit at desks. That’s for school. Make it work at home. To which I replied, ‘but see, I have these adorable little old fashioned desks and so, by gum, They All Have To Sit At Their Tiny Little Desks.’
Still though, even with desks, our day probably looks nothing like a day in an actual school, the biggest indication of which that it is 8:20 in the morning and two of them are out playing in the snow. Blech.
Three
Had to say goodbye to my parents this week, for the next few months. They are wending their slow way back to Nairobi. It’s very sad for them to leave, after having them here long enough to establish a new kind of rhythm of life. At first it was all doctor visits and anxiety. But then after Christmas my dad started to improve day by day. It is such a miracle that he is up and walking around and feeling better. God has been so very merciful.
Four
Did I mention that it’s almost Holy Week? As in, not next week but the week after? Fortunately that’s our spring break so I’ll have ample time to run around like an insane, crazed, excitable–what’s an animal that’s like that? I need a Holy Week spirit animal.
The best thing about this year is that I don’t have a child needing a birthday celebration on Good Friday, like last year. Boy that was awkward. I mean, we did have cake, but we felt So Guilty. This year the birthday lands just about on tax day. So we will have cake, but we will also probably be counting our pennies and squinting our eyes at the government. Actually, scratch that. We’re going to be Super Grateful for the child because of the child tax credit money we get as a result of his precious existence.
Five
Have been noticing adds for Facebook here and there, even on this esteemed site. Feel, somehow, that this must be a pretty fantastic happening, and certainly due to the downfall of something or other. I mean, don’t you buy advertising when your free advertising isn’t working any more? Or maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about. Which is lots more likely. Still, I haven’t seen adds for Facebook in ages so it must Mean Something.
Six
My mother did leave me her hot water bottle when she left. Said it’s called a Victorian Husband or a Widow’s Husband or something. Seriously, the best thing a person could hope to own. My heat up blanket is nothing compared to the sheer volume of heat put out by this magical object. What you do is, you boil water and pour the boiling water into the hot water bottle, which isn’t a bottle, of course, but a sort of rubber bladder thing covered in its own knitted sweater. Then you stick in the bed and put your feet on it. It doesn’t matter then if your husband, who is selfish and refuses to warm your icy feet on his person, gets in the bed or not. He can stay up till ten, or all night, and keep all his body heat to himself. You are warm, finally, and don’t have to suffer the usual bone chilling cold that is winter. Think I’m going to refill it and carry it around with me for the rest of the day. Seriously, we are so far past the point of hygge it can’t even be articulated with words.
Seven
Go check out more Takes! I must now go shovel the drive, again.
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