The First Week of Homeschool

I am not remotely caught up on blogging, still have piles of photos from spring and summer to upload. BUT if I don't blog about what's happening now, I'm gonna forget it all in the blur that seems to be normal life these days.

I had planned on starting school the same time as the public schools- August 7th. But my grandfather passed away and we had to leave town for the funeral. Then Ellie projectile vomited for 12 straight hours (5 of which were IN THE CAR on the way home from Knoxville). Then I went to Charleston to help throw an engagement party for one of my best friends.

So we officially started school on Tuesday, August 14th. I tried to make it as exciting as a 'normal' first day of school would be- chocolate chip pancakes, new school supplies, special crafts, taking pictures. It was fun and we were all kinda giddy. Nerds.

Anyway, there were challenges right away. Ellie wanted to be in the middle of everything and mess with Sam while he was working. Sam wanted to quit about 10 minutes into his seat work (this I was expecting- the child hates written work). They fought over who would sit in my lap during the read-alouds. Sam whined for a snack. Ellie stuck a BB in her ear.

Um, yeah. That's right. A BB. In. her. ear.

I was reading about dinosaurs to them on the back porch and she said, 'Look Mommy a bootiful joolry!' and I said, 'Yeah...' kinda not paying attention and then I hear, 'OH NO OH NO OH NO OH NO!' to which I reply, "What?!?' and she screams, 'IT STUCK, IT STUCK IN MY EAR!'

And then Sam cries, 'Is she gonna DIE?????' and runs sobbing from the room.

So. Where's the school nurse? Oh yeah, that's me. I take her upstairs, calm her down, calm Sam down (who is still whispering 'is she gonna die?') and look in her ear. I see a tiny silver bead. Awesome. I try to shake it out (is there such a thing as shaken preschooler syndrome? I hope not). I try to pull it out with tweezers but I think I just pushed it in further. I even tried sucking the thing out with the hose attachment on our vacuum.

*By the way, she was remarkably calm through all of this. I think Sam would've fainted by that point.

No luck, so off to Urgent Care where we waited FOR. EVER. but then sweet Dr. Jennings (I loooove him, he is so kind and gentle and wonderful with kids) got the thing out with a tiny little magnet he stuck down in her ear canal. And then told me it was a BB. I didn't even know what a BB looked like before that. Or how one got on our back porch.

And so, after what I like to call our Human Anatomy lesson, we headed home for my favorite part of the school day- naps.

Day Two would have to be better, right?