Saturday Catch-All: A Week Off

We took a week off last week. I know many homeschoolers use the six weeks on/one week off routine. We are six weeks into our third term, and up till last Friday I wasn't sure if I'd take the week off in the middle. The thing is, we were doing so well. We had momentum, and we were reaching all our daily goals (possibly for the first time ever!). But it turned out I really needed to take the week off. We had a very busy week and I would probably have gone crazy trying to homeschool at the same time.

I noticed that taking the week off had some benefits for the boys. They pulled things out to play with that they haven't played with in a while...certain math games, and pattern blocks. SA played the piano more than ever, though I didn't require any practice from him.

After being practically housebound all winter, I am finally able to get out again because our van has been fixed! The first thing I did was make a dentist appointment. I've had a mild toothache for about five months. I knew it was a cavity, but was trying to tolerate it until my baby was old enough to be left with someone for a couple hours. It turned out the problem tooth was a wisdom tooth, so it got pulled forthwith. And now appointments are popping up like mushrooms all over the place. MM(2) had a dentist appointment last week as well, JJ(4) has a speech therapy appointment on Monday, and it seems like there's at least one appointment per week for someone or other for the next month and a half. 

After being home at least six days out of seven for months and months, the thought of this is a little overwhelming for me. Getting out with the four children requires beginning to get ready two hours before the appointment, in order to get out of the house an hour before. Then the children not having an appointment must be dropped off somewhere so I can manage to get to the doctor's office within five minutes of the appointment time. Needless to say, having an appointment practically wastes a whole day for me.

You organized and energetic women, you women that manage to get out of the house more than once a week with all your children in tow, tell me how to make this process better, please. In the meantime, I'm accepting my limitations. This week, I decided that going forward I will try to go out no more than once a week with all the children (besides church) until this school year is finished. I have further decided that I will not stress about schoolwork on the days I do go out. If the last six weeks of this term takes eight weeks, so be it.