The main reason why I blogged about the Ady thing – I have been saying to him for a while, and more so since Melrose, that he should get in on the whole blogging thing. Not necessarily by posting but certainly by reading them.
So if you make it here Babe, welcome & perhaps this will start to make sense 🙂
I think this was a going to be a bit of a round in circles type conversation really – part of it was me saying he does not ‘get’ what I am trying to do either with the kids HE or with my own life goals and balance, and part of it was him asking how he was supposed to when I spend all my time blogging about it instead of telling him.
The thing is, I so don’t want to be one of those wives who bores their husband rigid with every single detail of their day – aside from anything else it would be boring for me to go over it again – as we all know I am the queen of the monologue – monoblog hey new word phrase for me ‘monoblogue’ 🙂 which does not sit well with a real life conversation.
But perhaps I have neglected to tell a little too much. Maybe I do a bit too much of my musing and working through stuff here and not quite enough with Ady. He is 100% supportive, behind me and in agreement with HE. He and I share opinions on why it will be the best thing for the children – and for us as a family. I just don’t think he has grasped quite how it is going to work. I don’t think he is aware (and I guess why would he be if I don’t tell him) that our week is a carefully constructed range of stuff meticulously planned by me to meet as many of mine and the childrens’ needs as possible.
To the casual observer – and even the husband who comes home after a long day at work and asks what we have done today I am far more likley to summarise (see Chris, I can do it 😉 with ‘went food shopping, had lunch, kids played up, I shouted, Davies read a sentence’ which is possibly more about getting my needs met in terms of an ‘oh darling, have a cuddle’ than about feeding back what happened educationally. I am more likely to blog about the fact that during that food shopping trip we spent 15 minutes in the fruit and veg section with Davies and Scarlett naming as many different types as they could.
So, Ade, if you get here, this is how our weeks are arranged:
Monday – food shopping – used as an educational opportunity from the planning and discussion about which supermarket to go to and the benefits and drawbacks of each; discussion and negotition about whether Davies will sit in the trolley or walk, persuading Scarlett to sit in the trolley, listening to some stimulating music in the car there and back, talking about what we are buying, what the other products are, deaing with requests from the kids for different foods, talking about stuff like why they shouldn’t touch the raw meat, why the peas are frozen, why it is so important to pack the bags correctly and so on 😉
Monday afternoon – schooled friends come over after school for playtime and communcal fish finger and smiley face eating / chucking about – chance for kids to eat with other kids which they miss out on by not being schooled, chance for them to see how school effects kids and talk to them about their different sort of day to their own, chance to play and socialise and interact etc.
Tuesday – our nothing planned day. Often a day for going to the library, round the shops, doing other errands or staying in and doing not a lot. Again always something with educational value happening though.
Wednesday – our local Home Ed group. Set up with the kids future as HE children in mind on my part. Also gives me a chance to mix with other HE parents IRL.
Thursday – meet up with Julie and the twins so covers socialisation and family time at once. Usually at soft play venue so allows kids to have some exercise, meet and make friends with other children, test and challenge themselves on the play equipment. Usually involves having lunch out so again eating in company, choosing from a menu and so on.
Friday – TT1 TT2 – both structured, organised groups helping to deal with socialising, PE, music and movement, taking turns, being with a larger group, being part of a team and so on.
Actually got bored myself with that, hence it tailed off a bit but you get the idea. It is not all random and slapdash. It is the end result of me analysing, planning and working on getting the balance right and providing as many opportunities for autonomy to happen as possible. It strikes the balance between boring the kids with mundane day to day crap and some fun kiddy orientated stuff, it exposes them to a range of other children in small and large groups, it covers plenty of stimulating possibilities for spin offs and is constantly being monitored by me to ensure it is still appropriate and worthwhile for all 3 of us.
In the background I am working on my online learning course, trying to make a real go of the local group, blogging 🙂 , starting the prep work of being an EO Local Contact shared with 2 other people, working on at least 2 business ideas, chatting with friends and also still trying to be me.
It is now 4.20am, I am up cos Scarlett was awake, she has now been asleep for about 15 minutes but if I hadn’t blogged this it would still be spinning in my head. I will now go back to sleep and hopefully this post will make sense in the morning 🙂
Steve (when he’s working late and not getting home until after the kids will be pretty much in bed) sometimes rings me around teatime and says ‘where’s the blog then’, which is quite nice really. Although he has got pretty bad at keeping up with things on other blogs recently …
Comment by Sarah — 13 March 2005 @ 9:55 am
Lol Sarah, which other blogs do you think should be required reading for him?
On Friday, our internet access was screwed up, so I couldn’t blog until C came home and worked out what was going on (some problem at this end). He got in, and I told him about E’s counting (which I have subsequently blogged), and he got all annoyed because he’d just walked in and I’d talked to him for about 3 and a half minutes. Which pissed me off no end, and made me even more thankful for blogging.
Be nice to see some comments from Ady here 🙂 *waves* Hello Ady!
Comment by Alison — 13 March 2005 @ 1:50 pm
Hi Ady *waves in sign LOL* We do need more men to monoblog/shout at LOL Steve and I have had an on/off don’t speak to me kind of week culminating in him not wanting to go to the HE dinner party last night – but of course he had to come! Everything is a bit more settled now though. Just keep doing what you are doing Nic. xx
Comment by Karen b — 13 March 2005 @ 4:01 pm
Alison – who, Steve, or Ady?!! Steve used to keep up with yours and Chris’s, and he does occasionally read round the blogring if he’s *really* bored at work. But since all the passwords he can’t be arsed. I did give them to him at work the other day though, so he might pop up more …
If someone posts something truly amusing (like the nativity, or one of Joyce’s comedies) I tend to tie him to a chair and tell him to read it, too.
Comment by Sarah — 13 March 2005 @ 5:03 pm
s’ok, I’m not sure I *want* Steve reading mine lately 😉
The passwords aren’t that bad are they? Once you’ve done them once, they’re in Password Manager or equivalent, surely?
Comment by Alison — 13 March 2005 @ 5:56 pm