Notes on a Thursday Morning

It didn't start out as a good day. I hadn't "set us up for success" the night before. I let the kids play until dark, coming in only for dinner, which sounds good until you remember that Annika has homework each night and no chores were done by anyone. We all got to bed late for no good reason, so the morning was doomed by the evening.

One didn't want to do her homework, but had to. "I don't want to do my homework now. I want to do it yesterday." The wry grin didn't help, neither did my checking her spelling and realizing that she was lost on how syllables worked. The littlest chimed in with a declaration that she was "not going to clear her bowl!" and was promptly sent to her room. There was dallying over the dishwasher and conveniently "forgetting" to get dressed.

I tried chuckling over the absurdity of it all, tried to remember what it was like to be 12, 10, 7, and 5 and have all of your days planned by someone older according to their whim, seemingly not taking into account any of yours. In the end, I sent some children to their rooms to dress or calm down, another to please for the love of all that's good, get your shoes on, and another to practice piano. Because everyone knows that angry piano practice is the cure for a grumpy morning.

And then, one off to school with hugs and kisses, all forgiven on the drive and with discussions of Power Puff Girls and her own relative strength. Home to others doing their chores (probably because they believed the threat about boarding school this time). Another dressed and ready to begin the excitement of a new day. Finally clearing her bowl from the table.

And now...one is happily doing her mathwork under the watchful eye of a teacher that isn't me. Another creating an owl she read about in a book. Two others are "exploring" the new challenges of algebra and geometry. Humming, erasing, and the occasional "argh" echo through the room. I observe and offer a hand of help to my student-children, trying to keep us all moving forward. At least through tomorrow, when we get another chance to start better.