Oh, if life had a fast forward button. I wouldn’t press it often, but I bet I’d fast forward school every year starting on April 1. Fast forwarding the last month of school sounds like a good plan to me.
Why? Because we are emotionally and mentally exhausted. We’re tired of each other. We’re bored of the schedule and routine. We don’t want to start the next unit in math or be tested on another list of vocabulary words. We certainly don’t want start the day off with negotiating terms of school work and behavior.
I’m confident every teacher and parent knows what I’m talking about here. Even though we’re mostly fresh off of spring break, our hearts aren’t in it. We’re over it, cooked and done.
I recently bought a hammock and Chuck strung it up between two trees in our back yard. Within minutes of settling inside the nylon pouch, I decided that I greatly preferred laying in the hammock over homeschooling in April. (By the way, I’m listening to season two of Serial. Are YOU?)
Even when the first week of May rolls around and we finish our last week of co-op, homeschooling won’t be completely over. Like last year, Jeremy will continue with math throughout the summer. There’s no way around it because he needs the extra time. Jackson will have a hefty summer reading list and I’ll likely have weekly math worksheets for him too. It won’t be a full-on break, but the daily routine will be upended and we won’t be in each other’s faces all day.
Speaking of faces, how cute is this one?
Salem likes the hammock too.
Hurry, summer. We’re fading fast.