Burnout

I hope to return to regular blogging soon, as I recover from what I'll call mom burnout. Not homeschooling mom burnout, because frankly we've not done that much that's educational recently-- I'm talking plain old mom burnout, where you feel like "Okay, if we can't do X or Y or Z without winding up with an exorcist-style tantrum and the older child simultaneously crying, then we're just going to STAY HOME and watch TV all day and forget it."

I know the stuff I'm dealing with is the same stuff all moms deal with, which is why I've so far resisted posting a whining burnout diary. It's just normal stuff: fish emergencies, eyeglasses missing a screw, tantrums, sandals that need exchanging for the correct size, stuff due at the library, constant requests for pizza, and pants that have mysteriously shrunk 6 inches in length (surely Anya couldn't have grown that fast!). That's the list so far today, as of 9:15am. (Oh-- and I've got to send that gift to my friend who had a baby a couple of weeks ago. Now we're up to three separate errands for the day and it's supposed to thunderstorm... sigh.)


Over the past 14 months since we decided to homeschool, I've been amassing all kinds of plans and ideas. Homeschooling blogs and The Unschooling Handbook and my own family all provide oodles of great educational ideas. And here I am with a toddler whom I cannot take across a parking lot without reserving 10 minutes for the resulting tantrum (because I didn't let him run around on his own, touching all the cars). The thoughtful folks at our local library put benches just outside the door, which have been useful as a place to hold my screaming 32-pound child until he can forgive me for carrying him across the blacktop, and settles down enough that we can enter the library. Afterward we have to wait again, this time in the car, until the tantrum subsides enough that I can get him strapped into the carseat. By this time, after trying to get books and videos while chasing Tristan around and after the two requisite tantrums, I am ready to go home and stick them both in front of the TV for a while.

I know, of course, that Tristan is 23 months old and that in another 6 months my life will be starting to get much easier. One of these days, he will accept the idea of walking across parking lots while holding my hand. One of these days, he will allow me to use the computer without having to play him the Pixar Cars movie trailer every five minutes. Anya and I will be able to play games without him wanting all the checkers, dice, dominoes or whatever. Art projects will be do-able because he won't be shrieking at his lack of access to Anya's paints. Negotiation will be possible, and I'll be able to get certain concepts across to him, like sharing and taking turns and the meaning of "Okay-- in just a minute".

Assuming we get through these 6 months with everyone's sanity intact, I've got big plans!