W.F.H. Working. From. Home.
Not just working from home. Working from home with two school-age kids. Kids who I have to homeschool because of the covid-19 quarantine. My kids are young. Six and ten. My six-year-old, especially, needs me to sit side-by-side with him. All morning. Every day.
We’ve figured out a routine that works for us, but even with all my years of training and experience as a teacher, I can barely get my own two kids to do just a few simple school things each day. Those things are:
A little bit of writing
A little bit of reading
A little bit of math
A little bit of handwriting for my youngest, and keyboarding for my oldest
These few things take all morning long. From 7:00 am to noon. With literacy, we rarely do what we’re actually “supposed” to do. With math, it’s mostly worksheets and games. After that, I throw in the towel and send the kids outside for the rest of the day so that I can maybe get some work done. On some days I exercise instead. I can’t seem to manage to do both on a given day.
I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night nearly every night, so I’m also just SO TIRED. I haven’t been this tired since the kids were newborns. That’s how tired I feel.
My kids are outside right now, as I type this. I’m so exhausted I can barely think. I have a few things for work I need to get done. Sample comments for covid report cards to share with my colleagues. Videos to make. Emails to reply to. I’ll go do those now, and if I’m lucky, the kids will stay outside the entire time. Wish me luck.