The kids had a 2 hour delay Tuesday, a full day Wednesday and a full day today of school. In the past two weeks that’s all the school they’ve had due to snow and ice. Our unexpected downtime has made me realize a lot of things (like how lucky I am to get to spend so much time with them, how awesome they are, how much we can entertain ourselves with very little available), but the biggest realization is how incredibly tired and stressed out my kids are. The reason for this stress is one word: school.

School has worn them out. The first year we were here the kids took the bus in the morning. The bus shows up at 7:00am. Which means they had to be up by 6:00- those mornings were hell. Fortunately by the next year I realized that if I drove them to school it gave them an extra hour to sleep in. That made a huge deal. But, still they are tired.

They go to bed at 7:30. Jenna is lights out then, Jacob at 8:30. it’s hours earlier than their friends go to bed, but they’re tired. The best way they can have those little brains learn and grow is to let them rest and rejuvenate at night.

Watching them rest and relax these past couple of weeks has made me realize how much all this being over tired and over stressed changes them. They turned into different people, they were more relaxed, funnier, more patient, happier.

This morning I had to wake them both up at 7:00 for school. It was tough, they were both sound asleep. They look so peaceful it goes against my instincts to have to wake them up. They need rest. They need to be happy. But, they’re school kids so I woke them. Both of them cried. I’m not exaggerating. They both sat up in their beds and burst into tears and said they were so tired and school stressed them out so much. That feeling sits in my tummy like a hard little rock.

We were driving through the parking line at Jenna’s school. She was turned sideways ready to get out the door and I heard her mutter to herself “when I get home I”m going right upstairs and getting into my jammies and bathrobe. The only time I’m getting out of them this weekend is when I have to change into new ones. It’s only one day. I can do this.”

Here’s a Facebook update from a friend of mine who homeschool’s her kids:

My sons had to fill out an email questionnaire for an Anatomy+Physiology class, and each was asked about their “career goals”. I was forwarded the responses:
G: “Whatever is the least stressful and pays the most.”
S: “None, I’m just trying to enjoy my youth.”

I’m finding it harder and harder to justify why I’m not homeschooling my kids (I’m a certified teacher but a stay at home parent).

My happiness moment for day 33 of the 44 days came this afternoon with Jenna. I’d just made her an after school snack and had just poured myself a cup of tea. She was sitting at the table and I was at the counter having just taken a huge gulp of my tea. I made eye contact with her and she gave me a bug eyed look and then did a fake finger nose pick while wiggling her eyebrows. Tea caught in my throat, throat closed up, stomach started laughing, tea spewed (Jenna said) like a sprinkler all across the kitchen floor. We laughed for a good 10 minutes after that. Belly laughs. They rock.