Monday, November 07, 2011

Wasn't Prepared For This

PA231916

I clearly didn't think this out terribly well when Andrew and I decided to have another child. Of course, we never intended for there to be a nearly 9 year age gap between the two - but at times that has served us very well - Willow is a great short-term babysitter if I need a shower, am cooking dinner, or am down in the basement doing laundry. Other times, like tonight, not so much. I guess what I never took into consideration was how these two children's needs could be going in complete opposite directions at one time. Willow's biography book report is due tomorrow, and she did a fabulous job and learned quite a bit about Amelia Earhart. Last night as I was putting stuff away, I read through the rubric, and noticed that the instructions say that the project must be handwritten in cursive or typed. What had Willow done? Printed the entire project out by hand. Gah! So, she had to painstakingly erase (it was a poster where you had to populate in bits about the person's life) then re-write bits in cursive, and then type the rest. Which meant I had to help her by proofreading the typing and help with the spelling. Piper had a problem with all of this. Piper is teething hardcore, sleeping scant amounts of time, doesn't want to eat - is a big crankypants in general right now. I'm trying to help Willow, but Piper is being a little clingy monkey who capped it off by vomiting. Great...

So, I left Willow to her devices, took Piper upstairs and bathed her. I came downstairs and Piper and I played for a bit while Willow finished up. Andrew got home and was able to take over Piper while I helped Willow with her formatting. Her project is done - and all's well that ends well. And I am exhausted.

2 comments:

Shan said...

Homeschooling two of different ages is difficult too. Same sort of problems. Get one onto something, turn to the other. Get the second one working, check on the other. repeat to end. It's a nightmare sometimes...especially when the younger hasn't learned patience yet, and can't read therefore can't progress without you.

So frustrating. But good luck with everything...these days fly by!

Discoknits said...

What's that old saying about the years are short, but the days are long? Yes, that! Hope today, Willow can be more of a helper ;0)